A staple in the Southern diet for over 300 years, black-eyed peas have long been associated with good luck. A dish of peas is a New Year’s tradition in most areas of the South, thought to bring luck and prosperity for the new year.

peanut :: always willing to smile for her momma-razzi! love my girl.

 oh, how i {heart} this little treasure. in a nutshell…it is who i am.

my beautiful little family :: interpreted by klg-designs

Shutterfly Summer Freedom Contest

this has always been one of my most favorite photos…. 

if you wouldn’t mind…and you love my photo too…would you please take a minute and go over to shutterfly… http://contest.shutterfly.com/contests/showentry/325564  … and leave a comment and a vote! I’d really appreciate some love from you all!! Happy summer to all you water bugs all there. 

i know, i know…it feels like i’ve abandoned you all for the summer. it’s almost august, and i haven’t had one july post.  i swear i didn’t mean to. this summer brought on a whole new meaning of busy. i’ve been feeling a bit overwhelmed with it all…folder after folder of photos to share…i can’t even begin to explain the craziness that took place…i hope to catch you all up in one post…so hang on tight…it’s gonna be long…crammed with photos…and tons of stories. what have we been up to? one word….one guess…..BASEBALL. every night down at the fields, every weekend playing ball, spitting seeds, eating hot dogs. that’s been our life…in a nutshell…since the end of May. it’s been some good fun though. i love it. i love the sport. i love the people. i love watching my boys with their dad. i love it! it’s all a blur now that i go back through the photos…but it’s been a good blur.

leading off for the Larson crew…Alex Larson….pitcher…catcher…first baseman….outfielder…take your pick…he did it all for the Rockies! first year in midgets…took third in the tournament.

second up to bat…Ryan Larson…pitcher & catcher, infielder, outfielder for the Cal Ripken Yankees…Yankees won the championship in the League tourne…made the 12 year All-Stars…took 2nd at Prairie Rose games…traveled all over North Dakota….ended up at State.

third up…TRjr…clean up pitcher, second base, short stop….baberuth As…took second in league tourne…made the 13 year old all star…third at Prairie Rose…traveled all over ND…….third at west divisions in dickinson…6th at state in Fargo.

cleanup for the Larson crew…Dad….coach…helped out cal ripken team and on weekends had the kids down at the field with the bucket of balls…extra hitting never hurt anyone.

now for the bleacher butt awards….jhacie and mom!! {ignore the cute boy sitting next to us…he doesn’t get this award} …we sat on those hard bleachers cheering our boys on. got gatorades when needed…got seeds…when needed…we took photos all over the place.  not to mention…drove those boy’s all over this wonderful state of ND…day in and day…with smiles on our faces. can i get a {whoot, whoot} for all the baseball chaperones. what a season!!!

enjoy the photos from this year’s season…

 I’m so excited for summer to be here…and with that comes Urban Harvest. Every Thursday starting July 8th – August 12th. (10 am to 8 pm) Chance to check out the goodies, eat some good food, listen to great music. Fun date night with the hubby, or good times with the kids during the day. Relaxing atmosphere…friendly neighborhood revolution…my hope…someday…to set up my own booth down there…and sell all my prints …  someday. 

Here are the 2010 Urban Harvest noon and evening performances!

July 8th    Noon: Ben Suchy
Evening Opener: Blind Mice
                 Headliner: Midnight Noise Orchestra

July 15th   Noon: Sarah McMahon & Laura Knudson
Evening Opener: John Krueger Quartet
                  Headliner: The Vexed

July 22nd  Noon: John Wayland Harr 
Evening Opener: This Tastes Like Change
                  Headliner: Midwest Remedy

July 29th  Noon: Mike Swenson 
Evening Opener: Black Cat Rumble
                  Headliner: The Levee

Aug 5th      Noon: Grady Jackson
Evening Opener: The McMahon Bros.
                  Headliner: Human Capital

Aug 12th   Noon: Kris Kitko
Evening Opener: Trifekta
                  Headliner: The Dedbeats 

nanna and bampa took peanut back to MT with them. she got to visit for about a week…safe to say she had a blast.

dress up in our old formals.

after this…she thought we should get a horse…we could tie it up right next to our trampoline.

my mom came up to help me the week i taught at BSC…thank God for mom’s…is all i have to say. boys were carted to baseball, pictures were taken at games, my flower bed was spruced up, the groceries were bought, the laundry was folded, my kids were taken care of…all while I was at work. 8-5.  thank you, thank you, thank you!!

anyways…we survived and managed to have tons of fun in the process. mom took these pics while they were here. dad came up for the 4th of July…we took in the parade, art in the park, the rodeo.

Bowling.

had our own fire work show.

plant perfect always a summer stop.

shaking our tail feathers…mandan got the world’s longest chicken line dance in the Guinness book of records…and yes…we were part of it.

art in the park with nanna mary.

Mandan Rodeo :: Final Night

two weeks of photography classes at BSC…and we had so much fun!!

more pics posted on my digigirl blog => http://www.thedigigirl.com/blog/?p=1972

This is the necklace my mom won from the Star Hitched Wagon contest we held this spring. Customized to her wishes. Boo-T-Ful!! 

don’t you all wish you would have played now…next time…leave a comment.

spent sunday hanging out with dad. letting him know how much we love him. breakfast in bed. tons of uno, mario kart and legend of the seeker.

happy father’s day sweetie. you are truely an amazing dad.

set the puzzle out for the summer. we finished it in about 5 days. they never last as long as i think they will.

100 cats + 1 fish

So together with Stacey and some of her friends all over the US..including myself… Mrs. Curry hosted some fabulous fun ways to earn some goodies from her amazing shop…Star Hitched Wagon. Needless to say, i was the lucky winner of these wonderful earrings…i got to pick the color…and for summer…had to go with AQUA…it’s been my fav for a few years now….peek in my closet…i’m not kidding.

After all that excitement i was told i got picked for the gift certificate too!! holy moly, how much excitement can a girl take in one afternoon!! shopping was not hard for me to, as i love all her stuff, but i had to go with this beautiful pale green bracelet. i love the way it delicately entangles itself around these fun silver ovals…love this, love this!!

I so hope you all play along next time…it’s a great way to share with so many peeps that stalk the blog in hiding…so come out of your shells…and start leaving comments…you never know what you’ll win next!!

baby girl reading and relaxin in her room. this one…loves hanging out in her room.

enjoyed the beautiful night today roasting our first bag of mallows, playing shadow tag, and sleeping out on the deck.

it was a beautiful night.

pool…or…tramp…or…tramp…or…pool. we debated this spring over getting the kids another pool for the summer or a trampoline. i was hoping for a pool…but was quickly veto’d the night of my cousins grad party. after the kids spent the entire night on their trampoline, it was decided…tramp it is.

i just got word from Stacey over at Starhitched Wagon…and the name is in…the lucky winner of the 

It’s My Life – Retail Price $60.00 – A necklace that says who you are!  Customized just for you!

 is..

drum roll please……

Mary! Yipee! Skippy! Congratulations.

school’s out and summer time begins. the kids have been enjoying the new schedule…so far. lots of time for just playing out side, staying up late and sleeping in even later.

it was about that time. peanut had mastered her little bike without training wheels, she literally wore the tires out on her old bike so this summer she got to go bigger.

the boys shooting around.

My cousin Katie graduated from BHS…so we headed out to Kathy and Rob’s for her BBQ.

Katie, Rob & Kathy

TR, Ry, Katie, Alex and Jhacie

The whole gang….well almost….

…the other four jumped on the tramp the whole time…i think they came in for food a couple of times.