Merry Christmas and happy holidays! We wish everyone a safe and wonderful holiday season! We hope that you're able to spend these special times with those you love and care about.


Wishing you all the best,

The Scappa Family

I know I'd made a big deal leading up to this post about our busy fall/winter. With tons on our plate and not enough time in a day...blah, blah, blah. But then I don't even back it up with posts to report back on it? That's not cool and for that I apologize. Hopefully these two posts of pics(make sure to see the Fall/Thksgiving post below) will make up for it!;) Since most of you have made it clear that you're not interested in my self acclaimed literary prose and you'd like me to keep all the meaningful insight to a minimum, I'll keep it short.

Sorry for all of the blurry pics! It was a tough night for the camera to say the least! We had a great time at Boo at the Zoo for the second year in a row! Unfortunately though, we got started off at the bottom part of the Zoo which threw us off for meeting up with the Schneider's! Sorry Guys! Glad we were at least able to meet up for a hot second though!:) Man it was one heck of a windy night!

This past weekend we headed over the Patriot Center to see Disney's Princesses on Ice - Princess Wishes. We went into this not knowing whether or not Olivia would enjoy her first real show and in the back of our minds were kinda of planning for the worst case scenario(meltdown and wanting to leave). I mean we knew she loved ice skating, she's always slipping and sliding at home on the hard wood floors pretending she's ice skating. I think she picked it up from our trip to Rockefeller Center this past January. Anyway, we also know that she l-o-v-e-s princesses so we were kinda hoping she'd stay entertained for the full hour and a half or so. OMG, she freaked out! I mean Disney really knows how to put on a show for these kids! We were also surrounded by like a million little princesses in the crowd.(Sorry, we didn't get the parental memo requesting that you dress your kids up in a costume, I mean sheesh!) Needless to say, we were forced to buy the $20 Little Mermaid wand that lights up and sings the "Under the Sea" song, the $20 Princess Program that comes with a "complementary" fake princess rose, along with the $10 cotton candy bag with "complementary" Mickey Mouse crown thingy, $10 collectable popcorn box thing, $5 soda, $5 pretzel and $5 hotdog(okay, the dog was for me!;)). Didn't really mind forking up the cash for the Little Mermaid wand or the Program/rose because they were HUGE hits with Livvy, but they really knew how to push the other stuff on ya! I mean how's a parent gonna get out of buying a huge bag of bright pink and blue cotton candy when the annoying vendors jam it in your kids face! As a parent, and like I’ve mentioned before, you really learn how to avoid conflict whenever possible, especially in public. So of course we bought the popcorn, soda and cotton candy.;) She can't get enough popcorn now, she loves it! Anyway, it was her first time eating cotton candy, so that was kinda fun for her to experience. For those of you who haven’t had it in a while, I definitely recommend it. I forgot how it melts in your mouth! Olivia was beside herself! And how can you put a price tag on that, you know? Anyway, we all had an incredible time! You know, it's pretty amazing how your kid can turn something as dreadful as "Princess Wishes" on a Saturday night into a lot of fun for all of us! I mean the look on her face when this big dragon thing came out and sprayed fire all over the ice, was truly priceless! I would give up any amount of money or any night of the week for moments like that!:)

We took a trip out to Pumpkinville in Leesburg this past Sunday with The Schneider's and Linda, Chris' Mom. In the early am it was looking really gloomy, but it quickly cleared up and it turned out to be a b-e-a-utiful day! We all had a ton of fun and we ended up coming home with 5 pumpkins! I'll send some pics of the jack-o-lantern we're planning to carve up this weekend a bit later. Anyway, see the pics below and don't forget to click on them for a caption. Hope you all enjoy!

THERE SEEMS TO BE AN ISSUE OCCURRING WITH INTERNET EXPLORER BROWSERS ON BOTH MAC'S AND PC'S CAUSING SOME OF OUR FONTS TO BE EXCESSIVELY LARGE ALONG WITH SOME SPACING ISSUES. PLEASE TRY USING FIREFOX OR SAFARI.

IF YOU'RE STILL ON EXPLORER, I HIGHLY SUGGEST YOU SWITCH TO FIREFOX OR SAFARI ANYWAY, IE BITES!!

THANKS IN ADVANCE FOR YOUR PATIENCE WHILE WE WORK TO CORRECT THIS ISSUE.


-WEBMASTER

I know, I know, i'm sorry it's been forever since my last post! Hopefully all these pics will make up for the blogger break I took. As you'll see from these pics, we've had a pretty jam packed summer! This doesn't even include pics from a wedding at the shore we went to and the beach trip with the Schneiders!

Anyway, it's been busy to say the least and with the new baby on the way, it's only gonna get worse! I mean better...;)

For some reason, I can't figure out how to get the images to view in chronological order, it's actually backwards. So the most recent are first and it works it's way back to May. Pics include: Reston Zoo, Water Park w/ Pentecost's, OC Solo Trip, Cali, Salisbury Wedding(to be uploaded soon), OC w/ Schneider's(to be uploaded soon), Rehoboth w/ Bill/Pentecost’s/Cohen’s

Anyway, please don't forget to click on the pics in the slideshow to get a quick caption! Hope you all enjoy!

Ladies and Gentleman, I'm pleased to FINALLY be able to officially announce the newest member of The Scappa Family(see above sonogram)! We're really excited for our wonderful new addition due on January 23rd(as of now). We feel extremely blessed to soon be adding a second beautiful baby to our family! We're not sure of the sex just yet, but I'll report back as we know more in a few weeks.
Chris is finally getting over her terrible nausea and is just getting her energy back. I say that as she's passed out on the couch next to me! Love you sweetheart!:) Olivia doesn't really get it yet, but she's quickly made friends with Chris' new little belly. She comes and gives it kisses and hugs. We try and explain that there's a baby growing in mommy's belly, but she keeps thinking we're saying that "she's" in her belly. It's all very funny to us, yet terribly confusing for her!:( Anyway, she gets really excited if you ask her if she wants to be a big sister, which is really neat to see. She's going to be a great big sister!:)

I hope you all like the new look and feel to our blog! It's juuust about finalized. I just need to test any possible PC/Mac font issues and a couple of other minor tweaks. It looks great on my mac, but so did the last font!:) I hope you all enjoy!

I know, it's been a while since my last post on the Blog. I apologize to all of my devoted and inquisitive readers for my lack of dedication to 'The Scappa Family Blog'.;)

Here's a quick recap for the months of June and July:

Trip to LA - Went to go see Bill and Derrick again. We tried out one of the Bungalow's at the Beverly Hills Hotel. I have to say, it was really nice. They really know how to do it right there...Livvy loved the pool and the amazing breakfasts at the Polo Lounge and the guitar act at dinner. We had a blast and got in some good shopping at Fred Segal and of course had to pop into crazy Kitson! We also had a confirmed Tori Spelling sighting at dinner and I could have sworn Lindsay Lohan was eating across from us at lunch one day at the hotel, but that’s unconfirmed! My last trip to LA, Natasha Henstridge asked me to take HER picture at the Mondrian! For the record, she was drop dead gorgeous in person!
Another confirmed case of strep - Yes that's right folks, the whole family is on antibiotics AGAIN. It so ridiculous and unacceptable, so over it!
Olivia's first ear infection - To top off the strep, Olivia's dealing with an ear infection too! Poor thing, she can’t catch a break!
Boys trip to the beach - Had an unforgettable trip to the beach with Egan, Alexander and Palumbo at his father-in-law's b-e-a-utiful home right on the beach between OC and Bethany. It was good getting the band back together even if it was just a few days! Good to see you guys again! This BETTER turn into an annual thing!
4th of July - Fairly quiet 4th, but we can see the pretty decent Falls Church fireworks show from the end of my block. So I gave Livvy a late pass tat night since they didn't start until 9:30. We walked down and enjoyed her first fireworks show together. She had a perfect unobstructed view over the bike path. She was in awe as she sat on my shoulders and saw the beautiful colors and felt the “booms”! "Another one, another one! Look Papi, a big one!"
Trip to the shore for a wedding - This weekend we're heading to OC for Chris' cousin's wedding. Her parents are helping throw and host, so it should be a good time! Livvy's asking to make a sand castle, so we'll need to fit that in somehow!
Memorable Moment - Every now and then your kid will say or do something that amazes and/or touches you. I remember when she was a newborn it might have been something as simple as a smile or a giggle. Well I had one of those moments tonight. Olivia climbed up on a chair and picked up her peach fruit cup, shimmied down with it one hand and her spoon in the other and darted into the family room. As I was watching her from the kitchen, I immediately recognized that she was trying pull a fast one while she thought I wasn't looking! I quickly raised my voice in my typical fatherly authoritative fashion, which i've been using all too frequently since she turned two, "OOOlivia, where are you going with your fruit cup?” I questioned. She quickly shot back, "It's okay Papi, I'll be careful. Don't worry....". I immediately had visions of her as a teenager trying to run out the door because she thought I went to bed and grabbing my car keys......"Like don't freak out Dad, I'm meeting the girls for a movie at the mall, I'll be home later! God, leave me alone!" Yeah right baby....

Okay, take it easy people! What is this, a birthing frenzy? Seriously, I know waaay to many people that gave birth within a few weeks of each other! It's kinda creepy! Makes me think I wasn't invited to some out of control party last year !;) Actually, now that I think about it, thank God I wasn't, YUCK!

No but seriously, our warmest congratulations go out to Jim and Laura, Celina and Joe, Jack and Becca and Lisa and Chip(twins)!

Can't wait for all the future bbq's together with the little ones running around eating dirt and grass! God i'm getting old....

forgot to post this and it was sitting in my queue. click on the headline to see some interesting facts that i'm sure you're all dying to find out about!:)

Okay now this is just getting ridiculous! As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, right at easter the family had the wonderful pleasure of coming into contact with group A streptococcus bacteria, otherwise known as...."STREP THROAT"{in a big loud echoing voice}. No biggie we thought. We all got on antibiotics the next day and following ten days of treatment, we thought we were in the clear! We were all feeling better, going for walks and bike rides. Olivia was doin' it up in school, eating and sleeping well. But sure enough, yesterday, we were all diagnosed with it again!

Here’s how it all went down……

Olivia developed a small flaky rash next to her ear. I took her in thinking it was gonna be a simple routine topical prescription and we'd be out of there. It almost was until the Dr. noticed something that Chris and I had missed. There were strange oval like welts on the back of Olivia’s neck! He immediately told me she hadn’t been cured at all and ordered a new strep test. Sure enough....positive. Chris and I immediately went to get tested....positive, positive. I then ordered my parents who'd been spending so much time with her recently to go get tested....positive, positive! Is this an epidemic? A virus that can be apparently pretty dangerous and cause much discomfort, living in your bodies without any real noticeable symptoms? No cough, fever, swollen glands….nothing! If I wasn’t for a little rash on Olivia’s head, how long would have this gone on for? How many others would we have infected? Ugh, I hate antibiotics....I can’t drink wine!

For those of you who know don't know me, I'm not what you would call an avid reader or book worm. I never run down to the local book store and pick up the latest copy of whatever made the new york times best seller’s list that week or pick up Oprah's latest addition to her book club. Nor did I rush out to pick up a copy of the da vinci code when it came out even though my wife was raving about it telling me how I’d love it. Love you baby, but I'm waiting for the movie to come out this weekend(side note...i think i'm kinda excited about that). Well anyway, you probably get the point by now. I rarely, and I REALLY mean rarely, pick up a book and read it all the way through. And to be honest, I wouldn’t have read this one if it weren’t for a few important factors:

1) if my boss didn't pressure me to read it on a daily basis.
2) if it wasn't seriously only like 175 pages.(still took me weeks)
3) if it wasn't written in a bunch of little tiny short stories.
4) if I didn't have to return it to a co-worker and not expect to be quizzed.
5) if it wasn’t written by a group of really bright and successful business people

All things aside, it was a fun and motivating read! The whole premise behind the book is how to differentiate yourself and emphasize the importance of reprogramming your natural instinct of just wanting to fit in and shows you why overall complacency is bad in the marketplace. It really touched on several points that we've found continually arise when trying to establish yourself in our industry as a small business.

Bottom line, is this going to turn into Mauro's Book of the Month Club? No, definitely not. But I highly recommend this book to anyone who feels that they've lost their mojo and perhaps is looking for a different angle on their business. It really allows you to start thinking about your business differently. Whether it be a product or service you’re providing, it begins to help you see how to improve things from the macro level which is hard to do when you're in the trenches on a daily, weekly and on monthly basis continually pressured on improving the micro in order to grow what you already have in place. Be extraordinary!

Even though we all apparently had strep throat, just didn't know it at the time, Easter was a blast. We all especially loved Preston and Olivia on the egg hunt! Was great seeing them run around the yard and finding the same eggs under the same trees over and over and each time having it be just as fun as the first time they found it! I love kids!

p.s. - Don't mind the neighbor's nasty yard or chain link fence, it should be a nice new wood fence soon enough!:)

Click on the link in the header above. Kinda sad to see them make the move, but it might pay off and allow for a whole new world of fun and exciting leaps in the software realm!

So yes, through the years there have been some up's and downs with the Cowboys and Terrell Owens, and I'll admit, they were mostly down. Actually, what am I saying, they were all down! But everyone knows that he's an incredible athlete and is easily the best receiver in the game right now. So if the opportunity presented itself, and you're the Cowboys, you kinda need to look past the bad times and pick him up....quickly. You have to admit, it's better to have him on your side, right? He apparently had 7 offers on the table, so someone was going to sign him! Imagine if the Skins or the Giants picked him up, fo'get about it, right? Now imagine this, rather than Terrell dropping the ball on the star at Texas stadium(twice), picture him spiking it at the Eagle in Philly or even better, doing something creative with the washington redskins indian logo guy. I'll leave the creative ideas up to him. However, i'm thinking these days are pretty much over...for the most part anyway. He’ll have his moments though, that’s for sure.

What I’m mostly excited about though is that it will certainly heat things up in the NFC East and I’m really looking forward to seeing that! With the obvious baggage from Philly(McNabb) along with them recently signing Jeff Garcia, can’t wait. Keyshawn is apparently talking with the Giants and he HAS to be pissed about losing his job to Terrell! And the Redskins will always be the redskins. And having sweeped the 'Boys this past year and keeping them from the playoffs, I think Terrell will have something to prove as far as being that "X" factor in getting them to the next level of competition. But they did recently signed a few old 49'ers too. So this year's NFC East rivalry is bound to heat up even more than last! I can’t wait!

Thanks to everyone for making my second birthday party so special and SO MUCH FUN! As you can see, I really loved my dress up clothes the most! But thank you for ALL of my presents, it all meant so much to me!! I'm still asking mom and dad for more presents! Seriously, it was great seeing all of my closest friends and family! Thank you all so much for making my special day so wonderful!!

Love,
Olivia

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY GIRL!! Where have the last two years gone? Chris and I couldn't help but look back through some old pics from the hospital when Olivia was born 2 years ago today. Man it's really amazing to watch her grow up on film....it’s actually a really weird feeling. Although it’s only been two years and it seems as though it’s flown by, there was so much we forgot! I can't imagine what it'll be like looking back 5 or even 10 years from now! My advice to new parents.... take a ton of pictures! You'll never be able to get back those random and/or spontaneous moments, that then, might have felt meaningless or insignificant. However a few years or even months later, you’ll be kicking yourself that you didn’t get the old camera out and take a few pics!!

No, it's not mean of me to have taken a picture of this evil little creature in her natural form, it's cute in a weird yet scary kinda way! I love her crazy curly hair! I feel as though it quickly turned to that crazy mess as she began to lose it down the stretch and threw herself to the floor in dramatic fashion. Almost like a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde type of transformation. Then the hornes began to mysteriously grow out of her head!;)
Man, she was really in the middle of an awesome tantrum when I took this pic, I had no choice but to document such a natural disaster! I also like how she has that one eye slightly open to make sure you're paying attention, she kills me!

You gotta find humor in these moments, otherwise you're sunk. Because truly, from here on out, the battle has begun. Yes that's right, she's already gotten to the point where she demands things. Yes people, the art of language is a beautiful thing, but at 2 years old it's far from refined! A couple of weeks ago we discovered she apparently learned the word, "mine"(must be from that damn daycare), which she tends to scream at the top of her lungs when she wants something you've taken from her. What kills me is, every day it seems as though she's added more and more words to her vocabulary, it’s truly shocking! She's even beginning to string them into sentences. She's learning so quickly, I'm thinking I might have her take a look at my taxes this year! Anyway, my point is, you feel as though her little brain has developed leaps and bounds from when she was a little helpless blob on the floor that didn't realize that the object she'd been staring at for 20 minutes was actually attached to her body and it was her hand. However she still has no logic, doesn't understand patience, empathy or sharing; just to name a few things. It's just so hard to remember important things like that as you're trying to rationalize with her and can’t believe she just grabbed the light bulb from the lamp on her changing table that had been on for hours. I mean that's piping hot and it's really gonna hurt, duh?! Or because she’s having a breakdown in front of the escalator which in turn is beginning to form a pretty long line.

Anyway, I'm not trying to make a list of her shortcomings and point out an adult’s superiority, but rather, the opposite. Even though we seem to think we’re essentially fully developed (emotionally and intellectually) as adults, it amazes me how children are able to so easily and quickly highlight our inferiorities. What's the saying, “what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger”, right??

...and violets are blue,
are you just another sucker,
who doesn't have a clue?

Look, a friend of mine put it perfectly(and you know who you are...Shad) "...there ARE 364 other days of the year to show her that you care, try using some of them!" I kind of agree with him here. I'm sick of all the Valentines day hype and gosh darn jewelery commercials! Red hearts, stupid ugly bears and balloons everywhere. Gross chocolates completely overpriced and lets not even talk about how much people will try and charge for a dozen tiny wimpy roses! All of it just really makes me sick. Now lets make something clear, it's not that i've lost my innate romantic nature. I mean being italian and all, you’re kinda just born with it and it comes natural! If you’re not Italian, you just don’t understand!(Chris, don't laugh too hard now)!;) But seriously, it's a completely useless "holiday" that gets "Joe Consumer" out there to buy their dumb $25 Mr. Squeeze-o-lot Teddy Bear, $60-$90 Roses, $20 chocolates and why not pick up a card and balloon while you're there? Ugh, drives me nuts! And the pressure!!

Don't get me wrong, I got a card for Chris, one for Olivia and one for Olivia to give her mother. Hey, I'm not stupid! You gotta get something!;)

Happy Valentines Day Everybody!!

Olivia Scappa seen here partying it up at the Grammy’s with some of her favorite Celebrities(from top left to bottom right). “Jimmy, tell that one about the Priest and the Rabbi again, it kills me!”, “Mariah, let me give a quick shout out to my dawgs over at Kindercare, you know what i'm sayin'? HOLLA!”, “Daaang Kanye, your breaf stanks!”, “If you ain't no punk holla, we want prenupt! We want prenupt! Yeah…”

Alright, so I got photoshop and i'm addicted, what do you want from me? You too can take it for a test run and download a free trial along with the rest of their kick-ass products, but consider yourself warned! You might end up having to pony up the big bucks to satisfy your cravings! Isn’t that the case with every addiction though?;)

I've been meaning to post this for a few days now. CNET's outlined the cool new gadgets for '06 from the recent CES show in Vegas! There were so many cool gadgets, it was hard to just talk about one. So I decided to cover a few, here are some that peaked my interest:
The Thunderbridge Media Extender, Freescale's wireless USB technology, Gigawork's Wireless Speakers and Sling Media's Mobile Devise.
And let's not forget to highlight this new fashionable gadget, that in my opinion is a must have for every woman on the go! It's perfect for those who insist on using their hands free headset, matching their belt/accessories while making a serious fashion statement!;) BLING, BLING!

See where you and your friends rank on the www! Check out this cool site, it may surprise you! EgoSurf.com

We took a quick weekend trip up to NYC to see Bill. Since he moved to the west-syde, we wanted to take full advantage of his biz trip to NY. We flew up on 1/8 and came back 1/9. We scored a nice deal on a cheap flight and Hotel and it was a breeze, and I have to say, Olivia was great. Come to think of it, she's not even 2 years old yet and she's already been to NYC, Miami, LA and Boston! And technically she’s been to Jamaica too, but she was kinda still in utero(and I don’t mean the nirvana album)! That doesn't even include the fairly long drives to the beach and the shore! Hopefully all of this recent and early travel will get her ready for a potential Italy trip this summer! Somehow I think an 8-10 hour flight is a completely different story than a quick hour and a half shuttle to NY!

Anyway, Olivia loved it and when we got back to DC, she was asking to go for walks at night when we got home from daycare! So sad….”Go walk? Skyscraper…go walk? More skyscraper?” Felt so bad for her so I was able to dig up some pics we took at Rockefeller Center with the big tree that was still up, it was gorgeous. We had our pics taken in front of the tree with the NBC camera folks or whatever, I’ll see if I can dig up that link again. You just gotta love NYC, we all just had a really great time and it was great to see Bill and Derrick too!

Happy New Year everybody! I can't believe it's already 2006! What happened to '05? It was a complete and absolute blur! Well that's not true. It wasn't so much a blur as I feel like it was JUSTJan of '05!

Well we passed a wonderful xmas and new years. The Holidays were long but one of the best Holidays we've had in a long time! Here's a quick recap:

As I wrote in a previous post, we first hiked over to the "Crossroads of Delmarva". Yes you guessed it, Salisbury, MD. All jokes aside, it was actually a really nice couple of days out there. Definitely worth the drive to see Chris' Dad's side of the family and to hang out with those guys for a couple of days. We definitely don’t see them as much as we’d like.

We spent Xmas Eve at our house and had my fam over(see above pic). Great dinner(thanks again to Mom and Dad). They somehow were able to turn a simple dinner menu into like a 6 course meal. In any event, again another great time! Had a really nice bottle of a ‘97 Brunello di Montalcino, ah ye….that’s the life….. Most importantly, Olivia had a blast! After a little practice over at Chris’ Dad’s house, she quickly learned the fine art of ripping off wrapping paper in one swoop. Needless to say, she was ready to roll on xmas eve and as we’d hoped, she went to town! It was especially great seeing her eyes light up over her new tea set (thanks lisa)! It seemed like all she said for three days straight was either, “Teeeea paaaarty” or “Mo’ presents, mo’ presents?”!

Xmas day was nice and relaxing. It’s the first time in a really long time, we’ve been able to just stay at home and sleep in a bit(there’s no such thing with a 22 month old). I think livvy was a little thrown off guard by opening presents yet again at 8:30 in the morning. But as you can imagine, she go over it pretty quickly;) She absolutely LOVES her new gigantic toy house. She role-plays with the little characters, “aw don’t cry baby, it’s night, night time”. It’s just amazing how quickly they pick things up! Anyway, Xmas day was great. Chris’ Mom and Danny stopped by for breakfast and to open up presents. Seven mimosas later I hardly even felt my hangover from the night before!;) After Linda and Danny headed home, Butch and Maureen stopped by for another quick visit and to see the new house. We had a bite and hung out for a while…again, more mimosas and left overs….good times.

I think you’re starting to understand why Livvy kept asking for more presents days after xmas was over and done with! She’s just gonna love having three sets of grandparents!