Party animal and fitness freak

June 15, 2015Leave a comment

Maria had four parties to attend this weekend. Mario had a 150 pound tire to pick up and turn over. Let me explain….

Maria is up for most anything. She went to the 4-8 grade swim party on Friday night from 8:30-10:30 pm with her friend Henley. There were only five fourth grade girls who showed up, including Ri, but lots of boys. She hung in the entire time going off the diving boards and eating chips and cookies.

On Saturday, she played softball and then went straight to her girlfriend’s house for a birthday party sleepover. When we walked in the condo lobby, seven girls ran across the hall to greet her. So precious. She didn’t even say goodbye as she ran with them towards the elevator.

I picked her up at 11 am on Sunday morning and she went straight to the basement to get revived for her 1 pm soccer party. She was ready to go at 12:45. She chowed on pizza and lemonade and ran around with her girlfriends while one of the parents got the Kaoroke machine running. Then they all let loose singing Lady Gaga and Katy Perry songs.

After some brownie batter ice cream (La Tavola ice cream is the BEST), we hit the road to go grocery shopping. We came home with 50 minutes left before book club, and cranked out some lemon zest cookies to take over to her friend’s house. I picked her up at 7 pm and we went home to throw the softball with the boys until 8:30. Party girl!

And then there’s Mario. I am sure he will follow in his sister’s footsteps in a couple of years – running around with his buddies to their different houses. But for now, he still hangs with mom and dad more often than not. He’s my biking and running buddy – we walked to Stauf’s and ran Rocco on Saturday.

On Sunday, Mario’s friend Henry was available to play. We biked over to get him at 11:30 am (it was blazing hot already) and decided to hit the football field.

These two ran the steps with me and threw the football together. While we were tossing the frisbee, we noticed two guys close to us who were doing a Crossfit workout with a huge tire and weighted sled. Mario was entranced. One of the guys asked if the boys wanted to help him flip the tire. Neither of them hesitated.

After the thrill of flipping it with one of the guys, they had to try it themselves. I tried to help them but Mario shoved me away. “We can do it, mom!” And they did.

The testosterone was pumping after the tire flip so they moved over to the weighted sled. They looked like mini weightlifters with their shirts off and muscles pulsating.

But what did they like most? Acting like hamsters in a hamster wheel when I let them run in the tire as I rolled it across the field. They may be strong men but they are still kids at heart.

Take me out to the ballgame

June 12, 2015Leave a comment

We are in the thick of softball/baseball season. About two more weeks of regular season left. You’d think it was mid-July with the temperaturs soaring in the 90s. That makes for sticky, sweaty games with complaints of thirst and bugs and fatigue. It also makes moods a bit more irritable…. Ri lashed out at me during our game because I put her at shortstop (“why would you put me there when I never play it!” and then a dramatic stomp off out to short).

But I wouldn’t change it for anything. I love coaching Ri and the other girls. I love the thrill of the inning – waiting to see the girls hit the ball and run to base with a huge smile on their faces and watching them make plays in the field (85% of those plays don’t result in an out but they are getting better). I had a come to Jesus moment in one of my first games – I saw how competitive I can be and how unnecessary it was at this level of play. I have since toned down my anxiety and competition genes and just tried to enjoy the play. It has been a welcome change to my soul. I enjoy the girls more and the fun of the game (but I still get goosebumps when my girl strikes a batter out).

It has also been a blast watching Mario play in coach-pitch baseball this year – so much better than tee-ball. Jon has been able to assist this year, which Mario loves. He is a complete daddy’s boy and has no issues telling me that again and again. He will choose Jon for anything. It is darling. The other night Jon acted as umpire because the ump failed to show to the game. After the game ended, Mario said “dad, I don’t want you to ump because I like you in the dugout close to me.” Mario’s a champ at bat – he’s got some good hits. We still need to work on the fielding, especially grounders. He gets so mad at himself when he misses one – after one of his games where he missed a couple, he asked Jon to stay so they could practice grounders for a while. My competitive gene got passed down to that boy, for sure.

We had the Clippers game last night. All the Grandview teams got to walk the perimeter of the field and see themselves on the giant tv screen. My girls were hilarious as always – we have some real cards on the team this year. They performed cartwheels on the field and made faces when the camera landed on them.

Meanwhile, I didn’t get to see Mario walk around the field since I was honing in my girls. It looks like he was having a good time from my girl friend’s picture.

But then I walked up the stairs with my girls who were bouncing around and screaming, and found this sight before my eyes. Mr. Cool.

I could have eaten this kid up right in the stands but he would have killed me for embarrassing him.

I don’t think the kids watched a lick of the actual game; rather, they played in the fountain, ate hot dogs, ran around the stadium, and got caricatures drawn of themselves.

Who needs a game when you have all that?!

Play Ball!

May 24, 2015Leave a comment

The start of baseball/softball season has arrived with the Memrial Day weekend. Ri played on Friday night, which was strange since we have always played on Saturday after the parade. We are hurting for pitchers this year so I’ve been working with Ri on the mechanics of fast-pitch. She’s got the strong body to swing that ball over her head and swivel those hips and whip it over the plate. During practices, she just wasn’t consistent and didn’t have her groove. She also doesn’t have the desire to go out and practice for hours to improve. But the times I’d get her out with me, we’d continue to work on it. And then one day, I had her concentrate on turning her hips so they pointed to the side and then return them center towards the catcher. She did it and pitched it perfectly. And again. Something clicked in her. And so it was – she started our first game as pitcher.

And she pitched awesome for her first time. She only walked one batter and struck out a few! I was so excited for her. And it made the game go so much faster watching her pitch two innings because she was the main attraction. It made Jon and I nervous as heck but it was cool. And it’s even more fun for me because I was a fast-pitch pitcher; so to see Ri going at it makes me smile.

The girls lost the game but held their own throughout. They had one bad inning that doomed them but I was much happier about their play than I thought I’d be. They were bummed for three seconds about the loss but then quickly recovered when they found out they got a free treat from the concession stand .

Mario got to be in his first parade this year since he’s finally in baseball and not tee-ball. He was excited to be able to ride in a truck with his buddies. I made him promise over and over that he would not pelt anyone with candy. I should have made Ri promise it, too, because her and her teammates were winging candy at kids.

By about half way down 1st Avenue, the girls started to get tired and thirsty. They began to peter out. Surprisingly, they still had candy (in years past 25 pounds was gone in three blocks). But Ri got them pepped up again by cheering “we’re number one not two not three not four….” We arrived at the field and participated in the Opening ceremony. Grandview feels like Mayberry on this day. Everyone is lined up for the parade and everyone comes to the field afterwards to watch the ceremony and running the bases.

Mario played his game later in the day at 3:45. We went home after the parade and wrestled a while to get him ready (he is my child – he’d rather stay active than rest before a game). Ri got invited to the pool with Henley – her first pool trip of the year.

Mario looked like a bad mo’ fo’ out on the field with his shades and his snug baseball pants.

He refused to go out on the field without his shades. He didn’t have a chance to catch a pop up fly but he did get a grounder hit to him… and he missed it. But he did decent hitting – went 2 for 3. Of course, he struck out once which really irked him. He stomped out of the box and whipped off his helmet. “My coach can’t pitch” he told Jon. He was accurate in his statement – his coach threw some horrible ones to him. But, he needed to brush it off. I’m sure he likes Jon being in the dugout with him even if he acts like he doesn’t.

The game finished an hour and a half later. It was rather long but much better than tee-ball. I can’t wait to see him snag a pop-up next game; he gets a DQ gift card if he does!

We lost – get over it.

July 11, 2014Leave a comment

My girls lost their tournament game last night by an unspectacular score of 3-0. They were not hitting anything and our pitching could have been stronger. The bottom line – the other team was more “on” then we were for the hour and a half we played. Oh well, you win some and lose some, right? WRONG!
I was so bummed for my girls. The night before I had been anxious about the game and had nightmares about forfeiting it. How ridiculous. A half hour prior to the game, I had the girls throw and hit to prepare. I got them all revved up and put black ink under their eyes.
We got up to bat and my three best hitters struck out. 1-2-3. Are you kidding? Then my best pitcher went out on the mound and threw balls. The other team was well aware she was off and the girls just waited for a walk. Nonetheless, the first two innings our infield made spectacular double plays and kept the score 0-0. But we had one bad inning in the third – combo pitching and infield errors – that allowed three runs to score on us. And that did us in for the season. We could not get ourselves on base to save our lives. The girls just did not have their game on the way we needed to beat the other team. And that happens and it is ok, right? WRONG!
I lined up the girls after the last out and counseled them to congratulate the Giants and be proud of what they accomplished this year. Inside, I was churning though. After we shook hands, we circled up and I told the girls how proud I was of them; how they’d grown; how they’d come together as a team. They were dejected, and I was too. But I kept the mood upbeat and did not show it. We put our hands in the circle and chanted 1-2-3 “Go Reds!” one last time. One of my assistant coaches said “let’s also do a cheer for the Giants in order to be good sports.” The girls cringed. I followed up and demanded it was the right thing to do. Hands in the middle. 1-2-3 “Good game Giants!” we all cheered. And then the girls dispersed. Parents left. And I cleaned up bubble gum wrappers and sunflower seed kernels. I felt like I hadn’t done enough.
What is this perfectionist gene I got stuck with and why can’t I ship it off to never never land? Somehow my mind warps an excellent season with my third and fourth grade girls’ softball players to a lame one. The parents are probably mad that I didn’t coach better. The girls are going to be in a state of ruin because they didn’t get trophies. I should have worked harder at throwing and catching with them. Stop brain. Just stop. Do these gals pictured below seem dejected?!
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Loosen up on the control, Mary. You can’t mold the future and what it will bring. You can’t do anything about a girl striking out or a missed catch. Life can suck sometimes and you don’t always get what you want. Life is messy and imperfect, girls, but you keep moving forward. It doesn’t help being a control freak and a bit OCD about needing everything to go perfectly but the game provided yet another teaching opportunity to me that things aren’t perfect and I can’t make them so. And DQ helped lessen the pain a bit, too….
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And so we all move on to a new season in 2015, and embrace the great memories we have from this 2014 season, right?
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Whoppin’ weekend

June 30, 2014Leave a comment

It started with a rompin’ tee-ball game on Friday night. Mario was his goofy self diving after balls and making silly faces while standing on the plate. He and his buddy, Ben wrestled each other for the ball and wrestled each other while waiting to bat. Tee-ball is organized chaos but the coaches are dedicated and patient with the kids – much more than I could be.

We headed to Doris and Kim’s house to catch the Grandview bike races. The kids were in heaven with all of the partying along our old street, 2nd Avenue. Bounce houses, lemonade stands, soccer balls. Mario wrestled with his buddies on the curb for most of the evening – they are lucky they didn’t roll into the street and get pummeled by the bikers.
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Meanwhile, Ri and her girlfriends played barbies at one of her friend’s house and were content staying out of the chaos for the rest of the evening. I left around 9:30 to go make party bags for my softball gals. Jon partied hard with the kids and pulled up to the house around 10:45 with both kids still wide awake.
We got a visit from the Overbeck crew on Saturday morning. They partied hard at ComFest on Friday night and visited us before heading back to Cincy. Mario loved having Robert and Cy watch him throw baseballs and Ri ran to Aunt Laura when she arrived. Ahh, the love.
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Ri’s last softball game of the regular season was at 3 pm Saturday – right in the thick heat of the day. The girls kicked it up a notch and won 11-2. I was so proud of them.
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Ri rocked it at bat – had two hard hits down the third base line. She is a muscle up at bat – little compact thing. After the game, we had root beer floats and I gave the girls each a gift bag with a picture frame and picture of the team, a card, and candy and sunflower seeds (their favorite during games). I had so much fun coaching them and watching them come together as a team.
Jack and Sofia came to watch Ri play and she was pumped. Then they took her to Noodles with them to grab dinner. She talked the entire dinner telling them stories about the family and asking them questions about themselves. At one point, Ri burped. She looked a little embarrassed and Jack chimed right in saying “it’s ok girl I just let one out myself.” She smiled and giggled. That’s my bro, always making us laugh. Next they played Wii. Ri and Mario made Mii characters of Jack and Sofia, which was hilarious. Then they played baseball with Jack. More hilarity. Then we had to hit Jeni’s so Sofia could experience the goodness.
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A huge downpour occurred as we ate outside. Everyone was scrambling towards the indoors or under the awnings but not Ri and Mario. They ran right out into it and got soaked. That’s my babes.
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On Sunday, I woke up with a killer migraine. I knew exactly what it was from. Dehydration. I had ran, lifted, biked, done hot yoga, mowed the grass, weeded, and stood in the heat for two hours. I wonder why I was dehydrated…. Jon took Mario to Big Mario’s and Ri stayed to nurse me. She got out pictures for us to look at and rubbed my feet. Then she asked “do you want me to go to Sofie’s house so you can sleep?” I knew what that meant – she was bored to death. And so she went and I slept the entire afternoon. I finally woke to somewhat less of a headache. I drank more water. I rested. I was finally able to take a walk with Rocco and the girls at 5:30. I hate wasting a Sunday like that but I now will gulp water all day. Ri and Sofie enjoyed Stauf’s bagels and acting like they were guzzling wine (Stauf’s syrups).
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Meanwhile, Mario was not playing around. He was dead serious as he shot his beebee gun at his target. Jon said he stood in the rain for a half hour shooting. It’s his nirvana. He loves heading out to Mario’s with Jon and Jon loves taking him. It is their bonding experience now and I’m sure for years to come. Mario absolutely is smitten when Jon tells him they are going.
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Jon rang the doorbell at 9:45 pm with a sleeping boy in his arms. He transported him to me and I took him to his room. He looked like a sleeping cub. I checked on Ri and she was sprawled out like a starfish. Love.>

Take me out to the ball game!

June 16, 2014June 16, 2014Leave a comment

It is baseball/softball season in the Ionno household. We are in full swing this month with Mario’s games on Friday nights and Ri’s games on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Mario is still in tee-ball even though he was not happy about that deal. He wanted coach-pitch this year (“babies hit off tees,” he said to me after I signed him up.) He does have a heck of a throw on him – he throws it back to the coach and nails it nearly every time. And he has some buddies on his team and on opposing teams so he has fun.
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They still all move in one big mass when the ball is hit in order to try to be the first to get the ball. It is no holds barred with elbows and kicks being used at any cost. And rarely does anyone cry about getting hurt – if this behavior happened in any other setting, it would be chaos but there is something about a ball field that makes it tolerable.
Mario got to play 1st base on Friday night. He needs to work on scooping up the ball but he was ready for it every time. I love watching him play. He hit some good balls, too. He loves to hit last so that he can run all the bases at one time like he got a home run. Very Mario-like!
After his game, he asked if I could coach his team next year like I coach Ri’s now. Warmed my heart that he’d ask me. I don’t know how I will swing both but I will find a way after that request.
He and his buddies partied it up after the game. They played keep-away and tackled each other to the ground. It took all our might to make him leave. But he had a sis that was dying to get to a swim party so she put down the gauntlet.
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Ri had a game on Saturday. Peepaw and Mama Meg came in to watch it. I get so anxious watching my girls play – I want them to play well and win so badly. They are all making great strides in their playing. The defense is making outs and we have a girl who could not hit to save her life getting hits! The girls are great about cheering each other on and patting each other on the back when they miss a ball or strike out. That was one of my goals – learning teamwork – so if all else fails, we accomplished that one.
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Ri had a great play at third on Saturday – she scooped up a grounder and tagged third for an out. She scared me because she was confused at first about whether to tag the girl or the bag and when she went running for the bag I was worried the girl would pass her (she’s strong as heck but not the quickest!). But she got an out and she was charged up because the girl she got out was the girl who had gotten her out the previous inning! Little did I know that she likes her some revenge!
But what she likes more are after-softball hot dogs and ice cream. Those girls run for the concession stand like bandits!
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And, of course, she loves having visitors cheer her on like Peepaw and Mama Meg (even if they are carting two mattresses in a flat bed truck to the game!).
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Whirlwind

May 30, 2014Leave a comment

The last couple of weeks have been a whirlwind. I signed up to coach Ri’s softball team and had to participate in “the draft” and practices for the last two weeks. The kids had their last week of school prior to the Memorial Day weekend (yes, they get out way too early), which consisted of school parties and fretting about presents for teachers. Oh yea, and Jon was out of town all week. But we persevered with just a few rough spots (really rough). The kids biked (Mario) and scootered (Maria) to school every day during the last week of school, which was a god-send since it allowed me to start my day with some fresh air.
The last week of school was nuts. Maria had an end-of-the-year party at McKinley Park all day on Thursday. They wore bathing suits and took down tennis rackets and water guns. Ri was not happy about the fact that they had to walk to the park from school – she begged to take her scooter. By the time I made it down at noon, she was playing “family” with Riley and Anna and hanging close to Mrs. Pharion in the shade (she likes hanging with adults and listening to the conversation).

They all looked so tired – teachers and kids – and I knew softball practice would be dreadful that evening.
I got to Mario’s room at 1:45. The moms told me he had been looking for me the last ten minutes. He glanced over as they told me and ran over to give me a big hug. We worked on postcards and decorating frames. The boys ran around like nuts while the girls sat in place. Why is that?! Mrs. Page passed out “candy” awards to each kid. Mario got a peppermint patty award because “he is a burst of energy every day!” Who does that sound like?!

Friday was clearly going to be a free-for-all day for both teachers and students after Thursday’s insanity. Ri got to watch a movie and Mario got playground time most of the day. I picked them up with Patty at 2:50 and they were charged up. School was officially out! Grandma took them to get DQ and they played with Sophie and Quinn. Mario declared “It’s summer, we don’t have to do anything!” So he wishes….
Friday was a much better ride-to-school day than Thursday. The kids goofed around together and gave me a sweet picture to remember their last day of third grade and kindergarten.

Thursday was not quite as sweet. Mario woke up on the wrong side of the bed and was pissy the entire ride. I asked for a picture of him and Ri and he refused to look at me. After the third time asking, I said “fine, be that way, Mario.” The inflection in my voice told him I was disappointed. This creates quite a conflict in him. He wants to stay pissy but he doesn’t want to disappoint me. He stopped his bike and told me I could take a picture. When I went to take it though, he wouldn’t smile. So I said “forget it” and kept walking. He started crying and telling me he was just about to smile. He then flew past me on his bike mad as heck. We got to the school and he waited for me. I knew he wanted me to ask for another picture. He plays these games when he’s mad. Instead, we dropped Ri off at her classroom and went to his room. I said goodbye. He ran out as I left and said sorry and begged for a picture with Ri. This kid. Of course I did it (even though he still didn’t smile big) even though I probably should have told him too late to teach him a lesson that he couldn’t get his way all the time.
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And just like that, no more bike rides to school for two and a half more months. Now the bike rides are to Stauf’s for Black Russian bagels – yum.

On Saturday, Ri and I walked in the Memorial Day parade for our Reds softball team. I love this parade in Grandview. It has such a small town feel with everyone lining the streets and waving at you. We bought bags and bags of candy for the girls to throw and we still managed to run out blocks before the end. The girls chanted “We are the Reds” throughout the parade. It was a blast.
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Patty and Jon took Mario, Gio and Alana to watch the parade and scream for Ri. They got three full Kroger’s bags of candy. They were very happy campers. It was insanity when we got to the field. The kids were all hoarse from screaming the entire parade route. I was exhausted from working out at 7 am and then sheparding the girls for two hours. Parents were everywhere looking for their kids. Kids were begging for water. Craziness! But opening ceremony was awesome with the Star-Spangled Banner and old plane overhead and Ri by my side and all the kids ready to play ball. I’m a sucker for that stuff. We headed directly into our game at noon. There was confusion about who was home team so Jon jumped in to do the concession stand. Mario loved helping him. When the game ended, Jon pronounced he never wanted to see a hot dog again.
The girls were a little shell-shocked their first game. They didn’t look comfortable on the field and the pitchers were nervous. The girls didn’t bat as strong as I would have liked either. But I think it was first game nerves. The good news is that we came back from a 6-1 deficit to make it 6-5 in the end.
We were all popped afterwards. Jon’s feet hurt, my back ached, Ri was hot. So Jon and Patty and I sat on the deck and chilled (after I mowed the grass!). The kids played on the computer and ate parade candy.
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On Sunday, we found out the pool was open so we flung on our suits and headed down.

And guess who jumped off the high dive without flinching?

Last year, he’d climb up a few steps and stand there terrified, and I would have to help him down. Amazing what a year will do. Ri continued her high dive jumps – this year doing mid-air splits. She was so proud of her little bro after he jumped off and told everyone we ran into afterwards.
On Monday, we traveled down to Cincinnati for the long-awaited pool party at Aunt Susie’s and Uncle Kenny’s house. Oh, how the kids were dying for this party. They love having a private pool to play around in with Jon and me and the cousins. We brought Rocco down with us after Susie invited him (she is the consummate dog lover). The kids and I threw on our suits and jumped in without five minutes passing from stepping into the yard. Guess who joined us? Yep, Mr. Rocco. He loved the pool, and refused to get out. I tried to pull him out to take a breather after 20 minutes and he hopped right back in when I turned my back.

Mario and I suffered serious cuts from Rocco’s nails as he swam by us but it was a joy to see him in his element. We had to pull him out for the spectacular pool volleyball game. The Heiles against the Non-Heiles! The Heiles dominated, and Jon joined me for some post-game fun.

And it remained all fun-n-games until one of the many dogs playing at Susie’s house decided to let loose on Rocco. Rocco was engaging in his friendly antics, sniffing butts, when one of the dogs attacked him. His ear was sliced and face gashed and blood was everywhere. It seriously was like a murder scene. Jon and I had specks everywhere on us. Mario was mesmerized with all the blood and Ri was scared too death about Rocco. My mom and Rod and Mario and I jumped in the car and headed to the emergency vet at 5 pm. We ended up there until 9 (par for the course on a Memorial Day). Luckily, they were able to glue Rocco’s ear. He also got to leave with a cone.
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Yep, it’s not a party until someone leaves in a cone. At least mom and I got some quality time together. And Mario learned how to make some killer Keurig coffee and tea.
Rocco keeps us laughing with his inability to maneuver around objects with his cone head. Ya gotta laugh at this crazy life or else you’re screw–, no I mean, you’re coned.

Magnificently wonderful

June 18, 2013June 18, 2013Leave a comment

Top Ten Reasons I loved last night…

1. Ri rocking out new polka dot Reds socks for her softball game!

2. My crazy Menkedick clan (all of them!) coming out to cheer Ri on at her game. She was beside herself happy!

3. Ri going three for three and catching a few grounders (she almost had an out at first but the batter outran her by an inch).

4. Mario sucking on his ring pop and playing a fishing game on Jon’s phone; he grabbed Peepaw every two minutes to report the type and weight of his catch.

5. Sar Bear informing me that she got an agent!!! She is on her way to being a world renowned writer (or a psycho killer if this picture says anything)!

6. Dude man announcing that he may be headed on a cruise ship to swoon the old ladies and party it up with the crew all while blasting out some sweet clarinet and saxophone.

7. Jon having all of us in stitches with his stories at dinner about past vacations and times at the Glendale Ave. house.

8. Mildred’s sauerkraut balls. Enough said.

9. Watching dad race Mario to the car and being so thankful for inheriting those Menkedick genes.

10. Spending an evening with such a gregarious, joyful, loving family. These are the moments you grab hold of and tuck away; they are what make this brief time on Earth magnificently wonderful.

Long live baseball

June 11, 2013June 11, 2013Leave a comment

Both babes playing baseball: this fast-pitch softball player is loving life! Ri continues to craft her competitive spirit asking each game “who are we playing?” When I tell her the team – no matter which one – she has some curt response like “oh, they can’t hit” or “they aren’t that good.” This coming from my “I don’t like winners and losers” girl from six months ago.

Ri has really progressed with her batting. Her swing used to be rigid and awkward but now it is pretty smooth. She has been getting out there with David and me and working on it, to her credit. Her fielding needs some work – she’s got muscle – she just needs to move more quickly. It’s like she gets the ball and is so amazed it’s in her glove that she can’t move. A lot if the girls are like that though. And Ri just began playing this year so she will get the hang of it next year (hoping there is a next year – she gave up cheer leading after one year but, for that, I didn’t complain…).

Mario was completely upset that his baseball wasn’t coach pitch like Ri’s.

“I’m not a baby; I don’t need a tee!”

He was going to give it up but I told him he’d miss out on making friends and he decided to go for it. And he made friends – immediately. He walked up to everyone at the jungle gym and struck up a conversation. He began playing with two boys on the playground and acted like they were best friends in five minutes time.

His baseball game was hilarious. At first, he wanted to bat first. But then he saw that the last batter got to run all the way around the bases at one time since he was last at bat so he decided being last was better. He likes to look over in the stands while he’s on base to make sure people are watching him.

The field play could have just as well been soccer rather than baseball. As soon as the ball was hit, every single fielder – no matter the position – ran towards it. One glove would touch it but then another glove and body would land on it, then another and another. The poor soul who actually grabbed it would be smothered until the little tykes got up one by one.

Each time Mario returned to his position, he would look over at Jon and me and give us a wave or a thumbs up. Sweet boy. I’m pretty sure we only have about three years left of that before he’s too cool to acknowledge us.

Long live baseball and softball!

Memorial Weekend Round-up

June 1, 2013June 1, 2013Leave a comment

Ri and I were short-term celebrities Memorial Day weekend when we got to walk in the Grandview parade. It took mad running around to find a truck for my girls to ride in Saturday morning but I found one and the girls had a blast throwing candy to folks lining the street. I had them whooping up “Go Reds” at every turn. And, we got a surprise visit from Grandma Lolo. She came up for Ri’s first game and joined in the parade with us.

Once we got to the field, the girls lined up and ran around the bases as their names were called. Half were charged up and the other half were scared too death (Ri was in the former, of course). Then mom and daughter got photographed by paparazzi.

Maria went three for three in our first game. I was so excited for her! Jon and I were worried that she’d strike out and get all melancholy about softball (like she did in practice) but she cranked it (and then started to get cocky saying “the other team doesn’t hit that well…”). It was a blast watching the girls hit and go around the bases so elated to have actually hit the ball.

Mario rooted on his sis and when I asked what his favorite part of the day was he said “seeing Ria in the parade.” Darling.

Mom blessed us with gorgeous ceramic mushrooms for our yard when we got home from the game. I love walking out to them every morning. It was so nice having her experience the chaos of the game with us!

Mom left in the afternoon and Jon’s kin drove up. We had his parents and brothers and niece over for a cookout. Ri is all about family – always has been. When I told the neighbor kids they could stop over in the evening, she scolded me “Mom, we have family over in the evening – we can’t have friends over, too!” She likes her family time. Patty made her potato salad and her chocolate truffle for the cookout. Double trouble. I will be wearing sweatpants for the next month.

By the time the family left at 9:45, I was dead to the world. My body was exhausted in so many ways and I could barely make it upstairs to bed. So what did we do on Sunday? Headed to the zoo with the neighbors! Why not just make it a completely insane weekend?!
However, I got to talk with Stephanie, another adult, while the kids played and that was a welcome activity.

I think we saw a total of eight animals during the time we were there because we had to stop at each statute and play on it. But it wore them out so we dealt with it just fine. It is so wonderful to have kids three houses down the street that get along so great with Ri and Mario. They will be spending a large chunk of the Summer together, Zi am sure.

By Monday evening, Jon and I were spent. Ri had another game on Monday afternoon and Jon got just as involved as I did as coach. We left the game, had two of Ri’s friends over and hosted the neighbor kids for Mario. I told Ri and Mario that dad and I better be sainted for all we do for them.

They both rolled their eyes … but then jumped on us with big hugs. They know.

"MOM!"

Adventures in the Life of a Working Mama

Tag: Softball