Softball at Rizzo

Shelby Lynn is just finishing up her last games of softball. I tried not to be the screaming crazy Aunt on the sidelines but I kind of couldn't help it. I played baseball with the boys growing up. They didn't even have girls softball. I was actually pretty good and played second base. It was almost painful for me to watch and keep my mouth shut!

I vowed to "work with" Shelby if she plays again next year. Confidence is the main thing missing. If she could get that built up she would be great!

Tracey and Shelby at the park

me and the boys

Just me and the boys this weekend. Daddy is gone on a golfing/gambling bachelor party. Using his new Father's Day gift golf clubs even! Hoping he has a relaxing fun time. I know the boys and I will find something fun and relaxing to do...if it warms up, we are headed to the beach!

the little black dress

5 years ago today, our girl Davina got married. She lived in Vegas at the time and Elvis didn't marry her and JP. They simply called to tell us they were getting married the next day. It was going to be a quiet, justice of the peace deal. No big deal, no party, no dance, no parents, you get the idea. But, they planned on having the wedding the next year, on their one year anniversary-which fell on a Saturday. Davina, being an only child, the only daughter her parents would ever have, etc...you can imagine the freaking out that was going on. Once we all calmed down and realized that this is the way Davina does things and it's perfect for her and JP we began to see the perfectness of it all.

Davina asked us girls(gina, jen, gretch and I) to be her bridesmaids. She was so easy to please...pick out some black dresses, find your own black shoes and go with it. I was pregnant at the time she is asking me to be in her wedding in one year. I quickly calculated the months and figured that I would have an 8 month old at the time of the wedding and could surely get my body back by then. What the heck was I thinking! I also told her it would be my last wedding. My last bridesmaid dress and I would go out with a bang. I counted up the number of weddings I had been in and this was like #14!!!

I really think Jen and I picked these dresses on our own. Gretch and Gina just kinda had to go with it. Jen and I drove part way through a blizzard in March to pick these out. Us girls have 4 totally different body types, but it really did work for all of us.

The day of the wedding comes, I lug my breast pump into Canada along with the little black dress and hope for the best. At one point Miss Marvel (whose like 80 and talks real loud) comes up to my chest and has a conversation with "my girls"...stating "my God Becky, I had no idea you were so busty!" Did I mention I had an 8 month old??!!

Anyways. Jen, Gina and I have all had 2 kids and have each struggled with our body image, baby weight, sagging boobs, etc...I got this idea to get us back into this little black dress by JP and Davina's Anniversary-June 24th-and take a picture. Gina lives out of the area, but this is her official shout out-"put the dress on girl and send me a pic! And don't tell me you lost it in the move because I'm not believing you!"

So, Happy Anniversary JP & Davina! Two of the best people we have ever had the pleasure standing up for. Two people who know the true meaning of love, friendship and happiness.

a family so similar...

This is Summer and Jon. 2 years ago, I started getting these emails from Jon's mom...saying that we are related and that their family is moving to Int'l Falls and they needed some guidance. Come to find out that Jon's grandfather and my grandmother are/were brother and sister. That makes us second cousins-who had never met each other.

Jon and Summer and their boys, Jake (6 now) and Garret (4 now) moved to town when Emmitt was just a baby. They moved on the same Avenue as us, just 2 houses away! It took us awhile to get connected. One day we sat down and started visiting and find out that Jon, who is a State Trooper, went to school at Moorhead State with Dave Karsnia! Dave Karsnia is a great family friend of Bear's and mine. Freakishly crazy, I know!

Jon is 33, Bear is 33. Summer is 30, I am 30. They had 2 boys, we have 2 boys. They added a 3rd child, a little girl-Gracie Lyn...we are not. Okay, pretty similar. Jake and Parker are further apart in age but play together the most. Garret sticks with Emmitt. Gracie just follows all the boys around and squeals. Emmitt ripped out her ponytail no less than 100 times on Saturday. Garret is special to me. He likes me. He asks about me. He was just diagnosed with Aspberger's and is a fantastic little boy.Saturday we ventured out during my boys' nap time and I took some family pictures for them. It was quick and painless and they turned out beautifully.

Summer and I have gotten really close. We can tell each other anything and laugh a lot. We parent the same way, we enjoy the same kind of wine...we have fun.

Jon and Bear have gotten really close too. They have a lot of likes and some differences that bring them together. Differences like Nascar versus Hockey and Frog legs versus a steak.

This family is so similar to ours that it is sort of crazy. They are family, real true blood family. It's so cool how things worked out for us to have our kids-third cousins-actually get to know each other!

family reunion

Over Memorial Day weekend we had our real first ever Family Reunion on my mom's side. We always used to travel down to New Ulm right after Christmas to celebrate Grandma's birthday. When she passed away in 2008 it's been harder and harder to make the trip down there. Not that the rest of the family isn't worth making the 7+hour trip for, it's just not the same without Grandma there.

But this year they put together a reunion get together and it was worth it.

There gets to be quite a few people there when we are all together. We all brought a dish to share and by the end of the afternoon the food was gone and we had all visited with each other.

Derek-making a face as always.My cousin Ryan and Kate due in August with their first baby.

It's funny when we get to a gathering like this. We all tend to congregate with our immediate family in the beginning until we warm up to each other again. Then we spread out and 3rd cousins meet each other for the first time and play together. We've all changed over the years but you end up visiting with the cousins who have the kids the same age and compare stories and get to know each other all over again.

Chris, my brother-in-law, brought enough baseball equipment for every person to play ball with! It was so fun. My uncle shut off the electric fence, moved the cows to a different pasture and grabbed the shovel. We played a full 9 innings with players coming and going when they wanted. It was an automatic double if the ball flew in the little river and a timeout in the game to fish it back out of there.

Grandma Audrey playing 3rd base

I had to post this pick of Scott swinging out of his shorts. I love how I captured the ball behind him as he misses. So mean of me, but he rarely misses and I love teasing him. He kept saying his back hurt because he was wearing sandals, not because he was swinging so hard! Right Scott.

My cousins little girl and Emmitt are just months apart. They hit it off wonderfully. It was fun to see these cousins play together all these years later.

Emma Rae just chillin'. She was of course a big helper with my kids, as always.

Hope this becomes an annual event. It was great to make a whole weekend trip out of it. It was fun to catch up with all the relatives. It was nice to see the farmhouse where my mother grew up and hear the memories.

mr. potato heads

Don't you just feel like some things just don't fit quite right sometimes? yeah...me too!

My Milo

I love telling people the story of my Milo. After 25 years there are people who still don't know the story of how I got him and how he got me. I smile when I go way back to 1985 and my big brown eyes twinkled at him. Father's Day is such a sweet day for me. Not bittersweet, but sweet. I am blessed to have 3 fabulous father's in my life, none of them actually having a bloodline attached.

This man has made the best father ever and the worlds greatest Papa to my boys. God handpicked him just for me and I thank him daily for that.

Golfing in Pink to Save the Ta-Ta's!

Golfed again yesterday for the Rally for the Cure, Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. There were 66 women-the most ever-and we raised over $2,100.

I golfed in honor of my Godmother/Aunt Jeanne. She is almost done with her radiation treatments. I made my shirt with my big, ahem, hands. It says Save the Ta-Ta's...proudly supporting my girls. On the back I put Golfing in Honor of Aunt Jeanne. What an honor it was!
My group. We rocked it out there and shot a 77 and tied for 3rd place.

My Jo-Jo. An 80 something year old who golfs with us on Wednesdays. Her name isn't really Jo-Jo, it's just Jo or JoAnn, but I call her that and she smiles and giggles every time!

The lady on the left beat me out this year for best dressed in pink...but I was ready to pass along my title. I got asked all afternoon where my pink hair was this year.

What a great way to spend an afternoon. I love being a part of this tournament and hopefully one day we can golf it and celebrate because they have found a cure for all cancer.

my other job...and family

My other family. My other job. My other set of friends. My other life. Friday nights, I seem like a totally different person. I love working at the Spot. I have worked there since it opened, February 14th, 2009. One year and one day after Emmitt was born. I jumped right in, shocking right? I know! And it has been a total blast!

JJ, Kari (the newbie) and I. Kari referred to me as a "machine". I know I talk too fast, but training her in was super fun! JJ and I are the usual Friday night Lounge girls. We communicate well, we work great together and we laugh! Man, do we laugh!

Once in awhile the boss has her man come in to work. We have been really busy Friday nights, so Jason gets to help out in the kitchen.

Krista and JJ. One of the benefits to owning your own business is hiring your friends. You tend to have more fun and at the same time tell them honestly how you feel.Me and Steph. Got her working behind the bar. We have a blast. She is the fastest tender in town! We still get asked once a week if we are sisters. I have started telling people that we kind of are. Feels like it.And my real sister! Tracey. She can serve tables around the rest of us with her eyes closed. She is the official lunch girl now that the Spot is open during the week serving a fabulous lunch menu.

Larry. Oh, Larry...he was our dishwasher and one of the funniest guys I have ever met. Always wore his iPod while doing dishes and would sing any and every song on the radio-loud and in tune! Britney to Nickleback...all of it.James. One of the Chefs. Bruce is the other, but wouldn't let me take a pic of him. Great guy, and gonna be a daddy for the first time. Due around Christmas. He and I graduated together but never knew each other back in the day. Our groups of friends never crossed paths. It's great to know him now. I am so glad I have no regrets from high school. Even though we were two totally different people, I was never rude or mean to him, nor him to I, and now we are friends.

I started working one night a week to make some fun money for my golf membership. My kids get one night a week with Daddy for a boys night. They eat pizza in the living room, don't brush their teeth, watch movies all night, wrestle, and go to bed whenever they want! The best part is, one night a week Daddy comes first rather than second best. They always want momma first. I can give them one night. I love it. I have a blast. I don't have the stress of a "regular" job, not because I don't care, but it isn't mine. I don't own it. It's not my responsibility, in a way it is, but it's not the same. Make sense?

So come see me on a Friday night in the Lounge.

A little plug for the Spot. Open for Lunch Tuesday-Friday 11:30-1:30pm. Dinner Tuesday-Saturday 5-10pm, Happy Hour from 5-6:30 pm! Tip Well!!

sold!

Officially sold the baby stuff. A lot of it anyway. There still is plenty in my garage so we decided to run the sale again this weekend. Then I am boxing it up and getting rid of the rest. Weather wise, it turned out well. It felt like a slow weekend though. It feels great to have the stuff go to somebody who wants it instead of just throwing it out. But I am still not sure all the work is worth the effort. I have gotten plenty of warnings about becoming pregnant now that I sold all that stuff...but it's not gonna happen people.

a parent of just one boy

See the older boy on the left? You know the one with the sweet eyes and baby face? Yep, that one. I could have killed him yesterday! And I'm not joking. Okay, maybe I am. But seriously!

Yesterday he and his little buddies were out in the fenced in back yard while us moms were in the garage getting ready for the big sale. We would check on them every 5 minutes or so and make sure they were okay. Well one time they weren't.
After talking about the dangers of the pond in the backyard just the day before, we come out to find 2 of the 5 stripped down to their underwear and soaking wet from being IN THE POND! This is no small pond. We're talking over 3 feet deep in the middle not to mention totally disgusting and full of mosquito eggs!I freaked out. There is the 2 year old contemplating if he should go in. The eight year old standing there in astonishment at my screaming. The two naked boys, I think, thought all the yelling and crazy mom arm waving was funny! I grounded Parker until he was 15. Or atleast for the week. No Birthday party for you on Saturday buddy. I almost could not believe how naughty Parker was. He demolished a bench I got for a wedding present and threw the wood in the pond. Laughed at me when I yelled at him. Then sassed me when I drug him in the house by his arm. I totally pulled the "you just wait until your father gets home" card on him. Now that scared him! As soon as Bear came home I filled him in and he dealt with the discipline and danger of the pond talk. I walked as slowly as I could to a graduation party and tried not to eat 5 pieces of pie...