You are Enough

I recently posted about the great find I found in the I Am Enough bracelets - beautiful bracelets with a simple, yet very powerful message.

When I received the bracelets I ordered from Jan, the creator of these fantastic bracelets, a hand written note was included. That made my whole day and I let her know that it did. Jan and I have since exchanged a few emails and she recently sent me a bracelet to give to another person who needs the gentle reminder that they too, are enough. That's right - my first ever blog give away!

Jan sent me a pink bracelet - a favorite amoung her customers -


Does the simple message not say it all?



I know I find myself often wondering how I am going to get it all done - and I often times don't...and that's ok.
So...drop me a note and let me know what you have learned about being "enough" and in a few days...I'll take one of the I am Enough comments and reward that person with a beautiful bracelet courtesy of Jan and Loved Unconditionally.

Go TWINS!

Well, we decided that this past weekend was as good a time as any to take the kids to their first Minnesota Twins Game - We had complimentary tickets courtesy of a local radio station (the one that sold me the gift certificate for the company going out of business) Why not take them to the final, most important game of the year right??
Yes, we are a little nutty - but I think they had fun...







Though you'd never know it as this was Dmann in the third inning...seriously - this kid DOES NOT SLEEP at home...no wonder - he's soo busy snoozing out on the town that he just isn't tired when we are at home!








Waiting at the light rail station was pretty fun too -


And we snuck out of the game a little early so we could get a seat for the ride home - man, was that thing PACKED heading into the game! Standing up, on the train, holding a 25 pound kid and diaper bag, all the while trying to make sure you don't get knocked over and/or pick pocketed while smashed into a light rail car like a can of sardines - now THAT, is a good time!




While it's true we all had a decent time (I say that because I know Daddy probably has more fun going with his buds drinking $7 beers than trying to keep us all in check!) I totally can't wait for the outdoor stadium ~ that is going to be totally cool!

Good Ship Lollipop

seriously...one of the main reasons I get up in the mornings...sleep or no sleep...
It.

is.

all.

worth.

it.

My rising son...

Yep, don't need much more reason than this to get up out of bed each day (and a lot of nights)
...THIS, is my rising son...

The Story of Me

I've always been a person who is good at remembering dates and events...lines from movies like my husband? Not so much...but anniversary type dates - those come pretty naturally to me.

With that "gift" comes a lot of extra thought and emotion this fall. Our little girl is turning three next week. It has been amazing, simply amazing, to watch her grow over the last three years. It also has me thinking of myself as a kid...more specifically...at the age she is now. Just a couple of weeks before I myself turned three, 19 days before to be exact, my own mother died in a drunk driving accident.

I don't remember her. At all. I don't have one single memory of my mom. The only life I've known is the life I have. The woman who was my birth mom is more like a storybook character to me than an actual person that really was in my life. A story I've never been told. A story I don't know the words to. A major person in my life. THE major person in my life, at that time anyway.

I have a handful of pictures of her and of her and I - but not one memory (or story) to go with those pictures. It's like when my mom died so did her "legacy". I don't know that anyone ever mentioned her name after she passed away, not in our house anyway. The newspaper article about the crash and ensuing obituary were tucked away as were most if not all pictures of her. I only found that stuff by accident while digging around in an old dresser when I was probably around 12 years old.

Somehow my grandparents took over the parenting role and I began calling them Mom and Dad instead of Grandpa and Grandma. I often wonder how the hell that happened. As I look at our little girl now - literally the exact same age I was when my own mom went away and never came back - and I cannot imagine her ever forgetting me. I would hope if something did happen to me, my baby daddy...(my husband!) would not LET our kids forget about me...or at least do his damndest to help them remember me.

I had always wondered why when we'd be out somewhere, i.e.: Church, the doctors office, etc...people would say something stupid like "Wow, you look JUST. LIKE. YOUR. MOM!" Here I was wondering WTF! My "Mom" was short and stout, graying hair...and at age 12 I was already taller than her! I often wondered why my parents were so much older than my friends' parents, and why I was nine years younger than my next closest "sibling". Comments really never made any sense to me what-so-ever.
After stumbling upon those articles, including an obit that read something like - "survived by one daughter Darcie" - things made sense then...and I never questioned them. A few random questions asked over the years that followed were always answered with a short, quick - "I don't know" that always stopped the conversation dead in it's tracks.

The sad part is, I don't even know much about her. I know her name. I know she was 20 when she gave birth to me and 23 when she died. I know she died on her own mother's birthday and was buried on her grandma's birthday. I know she was a single mother. I know she gave me her middle name. I know she was supposedly at a party on October 20th, 1977 when an argument broke out and she supposedly got into a car (willingly) with an acquaintance/friend of hers who had had too much to drink. I know there was a single vehicle accident and my mom was the only casualty of that accident.

It's not like a person can pull up a newspaper article from 1977 and read a story that appeared in the paper or even read an obit from that far back...I suppose there may be some old microfiche somewhere with a few sketchy details. I have asked for any articles/obits/funeral home book that our family may have from my birth mom's death - at this point - I've heard no word back...I don't know that I will - the original house has since been demolished and our "life and history" has been moved twice since then....Things lost or tossed along the way.

*sigh*

As I've said...it's really all just a story I can tell - a short story as I have few details. I think this is one of the main reasons I am so fascinated with blogging and the internet these days. Should something happen to me...our kids will know a little about me and a lot about their lives WITH me ~ something that I think is the absolute best, most priceless gift ever!

Shortly after I came into this world??



A pic of my mom and I at her sister's wedding - LOVE the hat!


my baptism



Guess I've always had a big mouth!



I love how she has a sucker stuck in her hair in this one!


a four generation photo


My second birthday - my last one with my mom - see her in the background as I hold up my big dollar!



Her HS Graduation pics...

Family Date Night...

Coming back from over the river and through the woods we made a stop at one of our new favorite summer haunts...the Hastings Car Show - for the final time this year...

Saw some cool old cars...





Including DOC HUDSON...as in Disney's Pixar CARS! Waay Cool!


And a Gangster Limo...also waaay cool -




But the best part of the night...(as it always is at the Hastings car show...)
THE KIDDIE CONES~I kid you not - THOSE are the kiddie cones! I think the ice cream guy overcompensates for the long lines...or tries to...with the giant cones!

*the same day we had dippin' dots at Aunties I might add! EEK *



D was glued to his cone ~ and not giving it up for nothin' - (we had wanted to , um, clean up the sides to eliminate some spillage)



H humored us and traded hers for a couple of licks of "ours" (the man and I share one which means he eats it and I get a few tastes here and there)



But then...we all had a lick of Miss H's cone...and there was No. Going. Back! We were all quarreling over that one ice cream cone...


JUST LOOK AT HER EYES...


It. was. BIRTHDAY. CAKE. Flavored. Ice. Cream!
WOW! A last minute choice, in the dark, after waiting 15 minutes in the line, and being disappointed that they didn't have the Root Beer ice cream we had the LAST time...and now...where oh where can we get that stuff again?? I don't even LIKE ice cream all that much...it's something I can live without...but that...that. was. amazing.

Over the River and through the woods...

to Auntie's house we go...

Last weekend brought a last minute, impromptu trip to Auntie Christy's in Rochester...With very short notice and a million things going on, we had no choice but to just pick up and go ~ I think it's safe to say the kids didn't mind!!











I wonder how a person would tell if the kids had fun?? In our house...this is typically a sign that a good time was had by all ~