Shane Sabraski Racing

One of those Days

2012-01-18T14:25:00.002-06:00

Hello everyone...today there will not be any pictures-sorry. I just felt like doing some typing as a form of stress relief, and figured, I could kill 2 birds with one stone by updating this. Today I was planning my evening trip to town to run errands (making lists & figuring where I all needed to go) & on my list was: make prints of family photos. We haven't had any professional family pics taken since Brae's been born, and finally decided to do it a few weeks ago. In an effort to save money (which still seemed to have costed more than I anticipated), I opted for the CD package & thought I'd print some myself. Well, of course I had the disk in my purse, and now I can't find it. Now, I'm not blaming Brae yet, but if I set my purse anywhere she can reach it, it's always dumped out & when I pick it all up I just make sure I still have my liscense and check card. Of course, I should know by now to keep it out of reach, but it's just habit to set it in the entryway & start my car to warm up while we put shoes on & stuff. Well, to make a long story short, I spent half the morning looking for it & ended up with freezing hands from standing outside digging through bags of trash, toys spilled out everywhere, cause the kids dumped out the toyboxes to help me look for it, and still haven't found it. I guess it's not that big of a deal, but just big enough to irritate me until I find it!

While digging through the trash, I found a toy & a pajama shirt, and wondered what else goes missing that I don't even notice. A few weeks ago, we tore the house apart looking for the tv remote, and finally found it in the dumpster. And I'd say at least she isn't putting toys in the toilet, but she does that too! I can say "at least she doesn't flush toys down the toilet"! Or at least that I know of... but I've found the wii remote among other things floating in the bowl before. I suppose it's only a stage and hopefully a short one, but some days are just more trying than others!

On a cuter note, Braelyn has been copying so many words lately. She knows: ball, baby, cheese please (cheese peas), nummy, hello (hewwo), poppa, bu-bye, Toga (Goga), puppy, ducky, doggy, uh-oh, owie, mommy :) , and all her old ones: hot, daddy, Heidi & uckies. The cutest one is "thank you", I'm not even sure how she says it, but whenever she repeats me, it's sounds so funny. And her other favorite is "HI", like to everyone we meet while in the stores, and she waves her hand and yells "Hi, Hi, Hi", and I'm not sure if she freaks people out with her persistance, but only about 1 of every 8 adults will reply back with a Hi or Hello! Kids on the other hand, get a kick out of it, and almost always reply! And whenever she hugs me she makes this noise like "ohhh" and squeezes my neck & lays her head on my shoulder. Of course every mom has the cutest and smartest kid, but gosh, it's just so fascinating when kids learn new things. :) And of course if you spend any time with her, you'll think I'm lying because she hardly ever does any of this last paragraph around others! (minus the Hi) :)

Mason is still loving school & yesterday his class got to go to the gym with the older grades and watch what he called a "basketball magic show", as he described it as kids doing tricks with basketballs & bouncing 2 balls at a time & under their legs and stuff. He thought that was pretty cool. The teacher sent home a note one day, stating how she just loves being his teacher and he is such a wonderful boy & a good leader! I thought she maybe handed it to the wrong kid by mistake, but the top read: To Mason & family, so there is proof that kids do act totally different when parents aren't around. But honestly, I think for the most part, he is a great kid, I just like giving him heck about why he's such a good listener at school and not at home!

See now that I ended on a positive note, I'm not near as bothered as I was before! :) I suppose I'll have Shane dig through the trash one more time, just in case I missed it, and from there, I'm sure it's bound to show up somewhere!

Another month gone by...

2011-12-07T15:47:00.000-06:00

Wow...It's been over a month. I think about updating quite often, but it requires me to get the camera & cord out of the closet and actually upload pics to the computer, so I kinda put it off. I usually putz on the computer at naptime, and once I sit down for that peace and quiet time, I really don't feel like getting up! :) Today I must have a little extra ambition!

So, like a month ago we had the Wissota national banquet here in St. Cloud (which is super handy for us). We had a good time, but sort-of were crunched on time because Shane had shot a deer that evening before we went and he left it lay, so we had to go it because it was rather warm out. I never knew looking for a dead deer at 1am, after a few cocktails could be so entertaining. Thanks Scott for being our sober cab!

The Midwest Mod Group (minus the champ).

The superstock Group (minus the champ)

Shane and Terri

The Guys

The Gals

Sidenote: I really liked my dress for the banquet, but boy was my hair awful. I'm working on the ~~annoying, difficult, never ending~~ easy task of growing my hair out, but it is just taking FOREVER. I really like pics of me with short hair, and it was so fast to dry and style, but for some reason I just want to wear a stinkin pony tail! I also darkened it more to my natural color so it makes it seem to grow even slower cause you can't see the change in color at the roots! lol :)

The kids haven't been up to a whole of new things. Mason went on his first snowmobile ride while we had that nice snowstorm a few weeks back. And I would sure like another one like that before Christmas! :) He's still loving school (and the fact that Grandpa takes him to get a happy meal afterwards), but doesn't like to wake up in the am. He is into cartoons alot, which is wierd because he used to hate TV (unless it was a shooting movie), and gosh, the commercials are so annoying during Christmas time. It doesn't matter what I'm doing, or how loud our house is, about every 8 minutes, I hear him yelling "I WANT THAT! MOM, I WANT THAT!" I told him to write down everything he wants, and Santa will pick a few. He even wants the "Slushy Magic". And if something comes on that he doesn't want, he blames it on me....for instance, some kind of foam that you spray on showers and it changes from blue to white?? He says "mom, don't you want that? Put it on your list!" No, son, I don't want scrubbing bubbles for Christmas!!

Braelyn had a visit to the ER one day because she was vomiting ALOT and not eating, and I called the doctor office to see if it pays to bring her in, and they said to take her to the ER. She had fluids via IV and perked up, so we went home that night. It was probably some viral bug, and thankfully it only lasted a day.

She just loves to be outside! She doesn't care how cold it is, she will sneak out the back door if the kids leave it cracked open; freezing cement and no shoes (or socks) and doesn't bother her a bit. Drives me nuts that she won't leave a hat & mittens on ~~(or leave her ponytail in, or leave her shoes on in the carseat,~~ and that she opens drawers and sits in them, and won't go in her carseat without a fight (like a wrestling match type fight) or that she still won't sleep through the night, and that she STILL finds entertainment in digging in toilets, and that she sat on my printer and broke it, and takes my jewelry and loses it), but otherwise she is just as sweet as can be!! :)

Shane did some rifle hunting and is now muzzle loading, and has got 2 doe so far. Mason hasn't been interested in going with this year, but he likes to go shining if Brae & I go with. I'm hoping him or his dad get at least one more deer so that we can have some more venison for sausage and jerky!

I'd say have a good week, but I'm gonna say "Have a good MONTH, just so that way I"ll have ya covered til next time!! :)

October Recap

2011-11-03T15:19:00.000-05:00

For some reason I just haven't been in the mood to blog lately, nor has there been a whole lot going on to write about. The month of October was spent finishing up the 2011 race season, turning the big "30" for me, turning the big "1" for Brae, a small 4-wheeling trip, halloween, and house cleaning.

We put our house up for sale two weeks ago (with mixed emotions on if we really want to leave this place or not). But we found 8.5 acres not far from here and we have needed more land (room for all our crap/toys) for years. The house needs some remodeling, but we love the location/land and it's potential! If our house doesn't sell, we will look at tearing down our garage and building a decent shop (and continue to store stuff at my dads and Shane's grandpas :). We go back and forth on what the best decision is, but truth is, we will be happy wherever we are!

We celebrated Braelyn's birthday this past weekend. She got lots of nice gifts, and by the looks of it, enjoyed her cake! And oddly, the Vikings won so that made it an even better day for those who continued to watch them after all those losses!

We got her a little 4-wheeler for birthday and she knows how to run the throttle, but has no clue how the steering works. So when she crashes into a wall, she keeps it pinned while the tires spin. Soon she'll be riding with the big boys!

And for Halloween Mason wanted to be a cop (in the worst way), so we forced Brae to be the little Jailbird! Halloween always seems like such a fun and festive ocassion, but this year was pure stress (for Shane and I). Braelyn whined every time we buckled her up, my shoe broke at the 2nd stop so I went barefoot (yes I was wearing flip flops because it was warm out!), and Mason never wanted to leave the houses when it was time to get going. We only went to 6 houses, but I was exhausted at the end of the night. And now we have a crap ton of candy (stuff that the kids got and leftovers from what I set outside for kids who came to our house) that I don't know what to do with. Shane says "duh, eat it!" Well, Mason's teeth don't need it, nor does it need to sit there and tempt me everytime I walk by the bowl. And the moms of the daycare kids probably don't appreciate their kids coming home with sugar highs! So if you missed trick or treating, you can come to our house, or it's going in the garbage.

Braelyn likes to grab things out of the fridge when I have it open, and this is how she eats the oranges! If I try to peel it she screams, and she sure is proving that girls are so much more whinier than boys. But thankfully she's too cute to even care!! :)

Time to Catch Up

2011-10-04T14:35:00.000-05:00

Sorry It's been a few weeks since I last wrote...just busy I guess. The weeks seem short (but the day drags on), and the weekends are even shorter. Lately my "to-do" list has looked much the same: grocery shop for the weekend, cook & pack for the weekend, go racing, come home, clean out hauler, do laundry...repeat the same for the following weekend. This week, I added "update blog" so it actually gets done! I am such a "lists" person. I used to keep a notepad on the counter, and have a list of jobs for each day. Then when I had too much crossed off it started to look messy, so I'd re-write a new (cleaner looking) one. But then I felt unproductive that day cause I couldn't see all that I had done. I ditched the notepad and got a whiteboard for the fridge. Daily chores on one side and extras for this week on the other. Works great!

Ok, so now I'm sure you're thinking "I don't really care about your list obsession, get on with it".... but it got me to update this, and I'm sure you care about that or you wouldn't have read this far. :) Lol!

2 weeks ago we raced at Willmar for their fall festival and final race of the year. I know he won both nights with the superstock, and won 1 of the nights with the B-mod, but the rest I can't remember (must not have been too impressive). I do remember everyone laughing after Shane raced his A-mod, cause he got out of his car and walked around the front and saw this....

Look closely and you will see a wrench that rode there the whole race! DJ must have thought he didn't get enough grief for leaving the fuel cap off! LOL :) I suppose after all his endless help, he's entitled to a few mistakes every now and again! :)

This past weekend we headed up to Good Ole' Bemidji for their final race of 2011. There's something about the track that you just have to experience for yourself. Though I wasn't too impressed with the place, I will give props to the pay. It was below average (compared to other tracks we race) for the first place position, but the pay from 2nd on down, I was quite surprised with. Compared to the previous weekend, Shane took home almost double from Bemidji, with similar finishes.

Mason started school a few weeks back, and has really adjusted well and loves it! He cried at first because he didn't want me to leave, nor does he like waking up at 8am, but now he runs right in! They emphasize on social & life skills rather than so much academic (which will be overwhelming come kindergarten anyway...so I appreciate that they let them be kids)! He really enjoys playing with his new friends and his favorite part of the day is songs and outside!

This was the first day as I was walking out...He was sad :(

I walked around the corner of the hall, and peeked in through the window, and he was already fine, clapping and talking to the teacher! I could sit and watch through that window all day if I could! It's so fun watching him answer questions, wait his turn, and play with others. He's like a different kid when I'm not around, so it's fun to be there when he thinks I'm not there!

And on the way home!

Braelyn hasn't been doing much new... She turned 11 months last week. We never put shoes on her before, but now that she is walking, I've been putting them on her, which she's had to adjust to walking with objects on her feet. She loves dancing and hates going on walks. I always have good intentions of going on my 3 mile route, but she's done after a half mile, so we make the 1 mile loop and head home. A new gym opened up in Rice, so I might have to take advantage of that! It's either that, or have another baby and breast feed til I die, because I'm really missing my breast-feeding body (ear muffs, dad...Lol!)...easy weight loss and big boobs. :) And I've lost most motivation for at-home workouts. I need a change of pace.

That's all for now...Get out and enjoy this beautiful weather! Hopefully it sticks around for the weekend!

Wissota 100

2011-09-20T14:10:00.000-05:00

I will give a quick run-down of the Wissota 100 from this past week out in Huron, SD... Quick becuase I didn't snap a single pic and right now I'm too tired to think...I'm guessing I just still haven't caught up on sleep yet...And it didn't help any when we went to bed at 9pm on Sunday and Braelyn thought she should wake up at least 10 times throughout the night. (No, I'm not exaggerating!) So I took her in Monday evening to have her ears checked, and the doc said everything looked good. She woke up Monday morning with a bloody nose (probably from the dry air and furnace on), and she's had a stuffy/runny nose for a week, so I thought something was up, but NOPE! no ear infection, tubes looked great, and throat was fine. So I put a humidifier in her room and she slept all night last night! Thank God!

But anyway, back to the Wissota 100... Let me just warn you that I could be wrong on some of these, and i'm too lazy to look it up! (scratch that-I can't even remember his heats) And besides, the format is so dang confusing for most people to understand, so I will just say that he made the feature with all 3 cars. You race your heat, then a qualifying feature, then the top 12 from the qualifying feature (each night) go to the big feature. He finished 4th in the mwm feature, 11th in the super, and DNF'd in the mod. He did pick up a win in the Race Of Champions with the mwm, so at least we went home with a little money. And by home, I mean, spent waayy more than we made :( The weekend was hard on everyone's wallet (I think Buzzy Adams, Lance Matthees, & Tim Johnson made out alright though ;). The track ate tires like candy, the 10 hour round trip does a number on hauler fuel, and there's ALOT of racing (wear and tear on car, fuel) that takes place just to try to earn a spot in the money-paying show. We had fun and enjoyed our "mini vaca" (other than the cold temps), but are glad to be home!

Harvest Cup Weekend

2011-09-12T09:55:00.000-05:00

Regular weekly racing has come to an end, and from Labor Day on, is weekend specials (or week long, as is the case this coming week). This past weekend was racing at Ogilvie Raceway for their annual Harvest Cup. It wasn't the best finishes, but it was an improvement compared to how he normally finishes there! Shane has never done all that well at Ogilvie...Not sure if he just can't figure out how to set the car up for that track, or if he needs to change how he drives there, or maybe just more laps around it would help! But anyway...typically he goes backwards in the feature, so it was a nice change to actually move forward (or hold about the same position)!! It is good to make progress!!

Friday night he finished 4th with the mwm, 8th with the super, and 10th with the A-mod. Saturday he finished 2nd with the mwm, 3rd in the super, and 11th with the A-mod.

Mason and Braelyn both like helping on the cars now!! Mason puts the axel caps back on, and Brae's favorite thing to do is to put lug-nuts in her mouth & play in the tire grinding dust...both YUCK!

This week we will be going to Huron, SD for the Wissota 100. It's always a good time, but not too excited for the 5 hour drive...Oh, wait!.. a 5 hour nap...I can handle that!! The kids will be staying with my parents and sisters, because late nights and B's 7 o'clock wake up call make for a long day! It's not unusual for racing to go from 5pm til midnight, and my kids don't even like watching the races. They love to go with (play in the dirt & run around on the wheeler), but watching...not so much. Braelyn hates her earmuffs and won't leave them on, and Mason is always "boorrreedd" and wants to go back to the trailer!

On another note, Brae had tubes put in her ears a couple weeks ago, and as we IMPATIENTLY waited in our room, I decided to walk the halls (hoping to get her mind off of wanting a bottle/food, since you can't have anything after midnight). As we were walking back I noticed what room we were in.......

Kinda funny!!

Mighty Axe Weekend

2011-09-06T20:59:00.000-05:00

Sorry I forgot to do an update last week, kind-of slipped my mind, I guess! Yesterday would've been a good day to sit down and write, but we all sort-of slept the day away...T'was a long weekend of late nights! Friday we drove to Grand Rapids, MN for a special they had (my first time there since the short tracker days!). Shane finished 2nd in the mwm, won with the super, and 14th with the A-mod. We spent the night there and headed to Brainerd in the morning for their Mighty Axe Nationals. Saturday, we won the feature in all three classes (mwm, super, and mod) and took home 3 axes (instead of the typical trophy, they give golden axes)! Sunday he ended up winning two of the features (mwm & super) and took 2nd in the A-mod! It turned out to be more than we ever expected, and we can't thank everyone who helped out enough!! Thank you to all our crew! From changing trannys, drawing such good starting positions (which is half the battle), and getting the cars ready to go, you all are appreciated!

Mason won the pace car ride on Sunday night!

This was well after the races, but as you can see, the dirt particles are everywhere and pretty much ruins all the pics!

And the best part of the weekend was coming home and picking up Braelyn from my sister, and seeing that she had learned to walk! She was doing 5-6 steps before the weekend, but now she is walking the whole length of the house. Mason was about the exact same age when he started walking (10 months), and hasn't been able to sit still since. Let's hope she is a tad more mellow than him, but so far, no such luck! (Not sure if the video will load)

One Last Camping Weekend!

2011-08-24T14:17:00.000-05:00

We spent last weekend camping once again before we are back to racing full time. This time we went to South Long Lake near Brainerd, which was a completely redone campground (we were there 10 years ago or so). It had a brand new play area, a sand volleyball area, new docks, and was very clean. The only downfall was that since it had been closed for, oh, 5 years, the swim area had grown some weeds from not being used. The owner had just put loads of new sand on the beach the day we got there, so the beach was nice!

Mason caught LOTS of fish! He was so excited every time he reeled one in!

Sunday, we came home at about noon, cuz Shane was getting antsy to get back to racing. (We went and spectated twice, and it's just not the same!) He threw his B-mod in with the Superstock & crew and made the trek to Bemidji where he won both features! The time off was was very refreshing, and we did enjoy our camping, county fair, & even a dinner & movie night... But it also made us realize that racing is where we belong! It is where our friends are, it is what we love, and it is what we enjoy most! SO WE ARE BACK! (and glad to be so! :)

Kids Update

2011-08-16T19:31:00.000-05:00

Braelyn has been doing a lot of "new" things lately. She was never good at eating baby food (except carrots) off a spoon...of course she'll take icecream from a spoon, but fruit or veggies...NOPE! So I got this brilliant idea to put the baby food in a bottle with a super fast flow nipple, and she'll suck it right down! I feel better knowing she's actually getting something nutritious, and not just eating snacks all day. Her all-time favorite food right now is cottage cheese! She also loves noodles (tuna noodle & ramen mostly), and is getting very good at a sippy cup!

The other day I didn't see her anywhere in the house, so I asked the daycare kids "Where's Brae?" Here the gate at the bottom of the stairway had been unlocked and she crawled up ALL of the steps (without falling) and was playing upstairs! She hasn't had a tumble yet, but was very close one time when I heard her screaming, I ran over & her hands were on one step, and her feet were 2 steps above that...she had caught herself with her hands (belly down)! She can also stand for a good while, but falls when she takes a step!

Her hair is getting so long, that she almost always has to have a pony in or it hangs in her eyes! I wanted to cut her bangs so bad, but Shane wanted it to grow out. It's cute as long as it's in a pony or clip, otherwise she looks like a sheep dog! :)

Mason has learned how to ride bike without training wheels! Shane and my brother, Paul, pushed him back and forth one evening in the grass (for a softer landing), and within a couple weeks, he was taking off on his own around the driveway! He still has his fair share of diggers, but he's getting better!

This one makes me literally LOL!! :)

He is also sleeping ALL NIGHT in his own bed! He loved the security of being on the floor in our room, but was starting to complain that it wasn't very comfy anymore, so I started a "sticker chart" and if he wakes up in the morning in HIS bed, he gets a sticker, and after 10, he will get a reward (space aliens, bounce depot or a movie)! It's taking a while to get 10, being that he's been at Heidi's, grandmas, currently camping for 3 days with my family, and this weekend we're going camping again! The kid likes to bum! :)

Camping

2011-08-06T14:00:00.000-05:00

It's been a week ago already, but I thought i'd post some pics of our camping weekend (last weekend)... The weather was beautiful (except a short shower on Saturday), but the water was perfect temperature and we couldn't have asked for a better weekend! Mason's favorite activities were making sandcastles and riding the jetski (which he was so afraid of at first that we couldn't get him on it). Braelyn had her fifth tooth popping through so she was not quite her happy self. She had a runny nose and light fever, so she kind-of slept alot. It didn't seem to get any better as the week went on, so I took her to the doc and she had a double ear infection :( It was a fun weekend that we all enjoyed for something different, but we did miss racing a little when everyone started sending results! :) However, we are already half-way through the 30 days off, so it seems to be going by pretty quickly. This week we've enjoyed going to the fair two evenings and tonight we'll go cheer on DJ in the demolition derby!

That's all for now.... Enjoy the weekend! (I can't believe I just posted on a Saturday...maybe I do have too much time on my hands without racing) :) LOL!

THE VERDICT IS IN...

2011-07-26T08:06:00.008-05:00

….And we were told to continue enjoying our new boat and go ahead and make camping reservations! :) All jokes aside..Most of you have probably heard that Shane's A-mod motor was protested on Thursday night in Willmar. After tearing down the engine, the tech officials found that it did not meet Wissota's guidelines and they deemed his heads illegal.

I debated whether or not to write our situation, as I know once all those 20/20 screen name hiders get wind of it, their keyboards will likely go up in smoke. I don't mind a good old debate with an actual person, but some people feel empowered by writing, and put things they wouldn't normally say to your face. So that's why I don't post on 20/20...If you have a question or are just nosey and want some answers... Call me, find me, ask me! We have been honest with those that have called and came to us in person and have a ton respect for the fans/drivers that have wanted answers.

We bought this engine used from another Wissota racer. Our engine builder made us aware of the fact that these heads were borderline of following the Wissota rule book, but based on the cost to fix it we opted to leave it as it was. For safe measures, we had a local tech guy to our house to inspect it, and he ok'd it here in our garage. Scott's Engine shop did not do the work that was in question (as it was purchased that way) and we will continue to do business with him. We didn't fix what should have been fixed and realize it was a huge mistake on our part! But we will live, learn, and move on. The consequence is loss of points, a $1,000 fine, and a 30 day suspension from Wissota tracks. That last one could possibly be a blessing in disguise, as we have not been on a camping trip in over 10 years! We may possibly take a trip to Wisconsin Dells, and just do family things that we have sacrificed for the love of racing.

I know that this may have tainted our reputation, but I think back at all racers that I know that have been found with illegal parts and know that with time & proving them wrong, they have come back and done great things and are still respected in the racing community. I've learned that people will think what they want, regardless of how little or much they know. And I've learned that all people will have an impression of you and it's hard to change their mind-good or bad! A facebook friend posted this the following day, and really has changed my outlook on the situation...[One year from today, will the stress of today be such a big thing?] My answer is NO! We have always tried to keep things in perspective and not take things for granted, and remember that who you are in racing, does not defy who you are in life. Yes, racing is our life, but it's not real life. Our home is happy. Our jobs are happy. Our family is happy, and we grateful for the things we have.

We apologize to our fans, family, sponsors, and competitors for any ill will this may have caused. And we thank all of you who have continued to show their loyalty and support to us.

Have a great week!

Hot! Hot!

2011-07-19T14:11:00.002-05:00

Good afternoon, all! I keep up with weather according to facebook...which apparently it's pretty warm out there. One advantage of working from home, is just that...not leaving the house! :) The kids are required (by law) to go outside daily, "weather permitting"...I decided it was not permitting! Shane, however, is required to work outdoors & work some more when he gets home! Somehow he conned Mason into helping! :)

They managed to cool off with a water gun/pressure washer war! They say "it's all fun and games til someone gets hurt" and sure enough Mason ended up aiming the pressure washer at his foot and blowing the skin off the top of his foot. I was in the house and Shane was doing something and he notice Mason throw the handle down and run away yelling "I don't wanna wash the cars anymore!" He wouldn't tell Shane why he quit, but just kept repeating "I don't wanna wash the cars anymore!" Finally Shane seen the red line across his foot...I bandaged him up and gave him the miracle medicine (tylenol or a teething tablet...heck, if they made a chewable vegetable tablet that'd work too)! And he was better!

This past week Shane raced on Wednesday in Fargo, ND for a mwm special where he ended up 5th in the feature. This was the only class they ran that night. Thursday was rained out. Friday, our usual Princeton was rained out so we headed to Fergus Falls, MN where Shane won with the MWM, took 2nd in the superstock, and only made a half a lap in the mod. Saturday he finished 2nd in the MWM, DNF'd in the superstock (well, not really...he finished 4th but had a flat right rear tire for the last 2 1/2 laps and the flagman was pointing him to the infield. He was holding a steady line so decided to stay racing, but later was docked at the payout window). He won with the A-mod!

*reminder MWM = midwest mod & DNF = Did Not Finish (the race)

Kids News!!

I was so excited when Braelyn started crawling (as with any parent with any milestone!) because I thought this would give her some independence and not long to be held all the time and go everywhere I go. She could now go where she wanted to go (or just follow me everywhere)! Well, I found out real quick that it doesn't make things easier. Now I long for the time I can set her down and she stays put while I get things done. She definitely was occupied while I was getting chores done, little did I know she was only making another chore for me to do (clean her and the wet floor up!)......

Mason always played in the toilets at this age too! Just as long as everyone flushes! :)

And speaking of making more chores for mom, I went to take her out of her carseat and found she got ahold of the puffs and dumped them all over herself and was eating them. She usually hates the car ride and I thought she was awfully quiet, but figured she fell asleep. Thankfully she didn't choke on one (or on the plastic bag for that matter)! :) The little turd still has a way of making me smile even when she's into mischeif!!

This video is several weeks old...It's when she first learned how to clap, but I'm mostly just trying to see if I know how to load videos to blogger!

I suppose with "Kid News" I should probably post something on Mason, but other than his foot mishap, nothing's real new. I received an email of his preschool supply list today, and started to panic. Not because it made me aware of the fact the summer is half over :(, but because I'm worried how he'll do in a different setting. It's only 2 days a week for 3 hours a day...It can't be that bad, right?! If he can make it through the year without a trip to the principal's office, we should be in good shape for the next 13 years! :)

Play-Rewind-Repeat

2011-07-11T16:45:00.000-05:00

Our weekends seem to be on play-rewind-repeat mode....Which isn't a bad thing because it's been beautiful weather, fun on the water, and enjoying ourselves at the race track! Thursday Shane and Mason went to Willmar, while Brae and I enjoyed the night at home. He finished 3rd with the midwest mod, and won with both the mod and the superstock!

Friday we went back to Princeton (seems like it's been a month since we've been there), and ended up winning with the midwest mod and mod, and 2nd with the superstock! Saturday we raced in Brainerd, and finished 3rd in the midwest mod, won with the superstock, and broke a ball joint in the A-mod so he was unable to finish the race.

Braelyn hanging out at Princeton!

It's been a while (like last year) since we've won at Princeton, so it was a good feeling to finally get a win again there!

Sunday we debated on going to Bemidji racing because they were having an A-mod special with NASCAR driver Kenny Schrader racing there, but it was just too dang hot! Shane's clothes were soaking wet from sweat every night after the races, and the boys were tired of working on the cars in the heat... So to the river we went! Butch (the superstock owner) took us out on his boat & we did some tubing and relaxed on the sandbar.

Bubba & Shane

Even Mason went tubing (on Shane's lap), and he gave orders to go slow, but even when we sped up he did great! Thankfully he never flipped off or he might've been afraid for next time!

TJ and DJ

Until next week.......

Mod Nationals Weekend

2011-07-05T10:36:00.001-05:00

This weekend was the 7th annual MN Mod Nationals in Alexandria, MN. The kids came with and I just have to say that they were quite the troopers! When we debated buying a hauler (camper/semi thing that pulls the trailer), I was kind-of against the idea, but it has turned out to be the best thing ever (minus the fuel mileage)! Especially with a baby needing to be fed, changed, and napped.

We had our kiddie pool at the track which we used 1 of the days, but the 2nd day we drove to a big pool to cool off for the day!

Even Mason needed a 2 hour nap both days...I think the sunshine all day wore him out!

But back to racing... We have raced this show since Shane started racing A-mods in 2006 (the year he won it), and have been fortunate enough to qualify every year so far! This year there was 58 modified in attendance and 44 midwest mods. They used passing points to determine who transferred to the main event. So the heat winners don't necessarily make the show, it's who passes the most cars. In the Midwest Mod, Shane went from 5th to 2nd in his heat, which was 6th best?? of all the drivers. He won the qualifying feature so that earned him a front row start for the main feature. He ended up winning after a good battle with Travis Saurer near the end of the race!

This pic was taken by a track photographer (CRP photography); which you can view more of his photos here

The A-mods also went by the passing points system and Shane went from 8th to 4th in his heat. That was 16th best of all drivers, which was extremely crucial because they only took the top 16 cars from the heats. We JUST MADE IT! Had he done worse, he would've had to run a consi (b-feature) to try to make it in. It's always a relief to make big shows from your heat, to take the pressure off for the next day! The goal was to make the main event, so we were happy! He ended up 13th in the main event, with Ryan Gustin taking home the $7,000 check!

They also ran Superstocks on Saturday night, where Shane finished 2nd after a good race with Cody Lee, who picked up his first win ever! He was so excited he hugged Shane when he came to thank him for racing him clean and congratulate him on a good race! Whether it be your first win, a big win, or just a good hard race between 2 drivers, it's fun to see the joy and pride that the drivers experience, and really puts into perspective why we do this...Because we have fun doing it! And even losing is fun (sometimes...LOL! :)

Monday (the 4th) we spent the morning/early afternoon cleaning out the hauler and unpacking from the long weekend. We then spent the late afternoon/evening out on the boat on the river with some friends on the sandbar, then watched the fireworks from the boat at dark! It was the best weekend of July thus far! ;) And a short week to boot...Doesn't get much better! :)

Pool Day!

2011-06-29T09:04:00.002-05:00

Two posts in one week...It's your lucky day! LOL :) Yesterday was MY lucky day! Mason had a dentist appointment (his final one), and I didn't have anyone to watch the kids...maybe I didn't look very hard, but regardless, I had to take the day off! I also wanted to have the day off so that we could go do something fun after his appointment. The last time he went, it was pretty painful, so I sort-of bribed him into going again (without throwing a fit) by going to the pool afterwards! Mason has always been "a tough guy". When he gets hurt he usually just clenches his jaw and punches the air. I would prefer he just cries, but nope! he's tough! In the case of the dentist, I'm glad he has a tough attitude, because it makes it much easier for the dentist to get the work done. He does cry when we get to the car, but not as bad this time as the last. I think last time was part shock for not knowing how bad it was going be, but this time he knew it wasn't going to be fun like a cleaning!

His left side is still numb! :) He drank some juice out of a straw and it ran all over his shirt...He's like "mom, why can't I do it?!?!"

Braelyn usually loves the water, but it was COLD. By late afternoon it had finally warmed up!

She preferred to crawl all over and chase the ants, rather than go in the cold water. But I think her knees were beginning to get sore/raw, because she started doing this ----->

And speaking of the ants...brings me to my next thought. I understand being cautious of safety issues (like drowning or falling on the cement and hitting your head), but geez, some moms need to lighten up a bit! There was a mom (or possibly aunt, or babysitter), who did NOT STOP talking, and it was "get away from there", "come back here", "don't run", "dont touch them bugs, that's yucky", "do you have to go potty", "play nice with him", "get the toys out of your mouth"! It was borderline annoying- to the point we maybe should've went somewhere else since we were there to relax...but I ignored it, and let my daughter chase ants, and chew on a chlorine logged toy. And I let my son scoop the bugs out of the pool with his hand, and if he peed in the pool, I wouldn't know! But when you go to a public pool, expect other kids to pee in it, cuz that's what kids do! When I observed her 2 children, they seemed well behaved and acted normal to me, so just lay off, and let them be kids!! And maybe she was thinking I was the worst mother ever for letting my children go about doing what they wanted... And maybe she's blogging about how I laid there and tanned while my kids were seemingly unsupervised.... but to each there own! :)

Weekend Recap

2011-06-27T10:24:00.000-05:00

I just realized I didn't post last week at all....whoops! I can't remember all of the finishes from last weekend, nor do I want to take the time to look it up :) This weekend was rained out on Thursday. We raced Friday in Fergus Falls, MN and finished 3rd with the mwm and 5th with the A-mod. The track and facility is very nice and it's too bad that we can't get there more often, but it just doesn't work out too well with it being farther away, and with our work schedules and things.

Hangin out at the races...

Saturday we raced in Brainerd with all the Wissota classes plus the USMTS mods were in town. Shane ended up winning all 3 regular features (mwm, superstock, and modified)! The USMTS heats went by passing points and Shane was the highest qualifier of all drivers going from 7th to 2nd in his heat. He was the "AFCO shocks Pole winner" but redrew a 6 starting spot. If you had only watched this feature, you'd never know that he did so well prior to this event! He backed it up to a 20th spot finish, but we will take it!!

This upcoming weekend is Willmar on Thursday and the mod national in Alexandria, MN the remainder of the weekend.

Mason being quite the helper.... if he's not losing tools all over the place :)

We had to race the orange mwm on Saturday because the purple one's engine was "knocking". One of the car owners came over to listen to it, and preferred we didn't run it.

Race Results

2011-06-14T08:09:00.000-05:00

Quick Results: Thursday in Willmar: Shane finished 2nd in the mwm, behind Matt Wiesman!! (Yay, Gordy!..Very happy for you!) He ended up 5th in the modified, and DNF'd in the super (flat tire).

Friday we raced Princeton and ended up DNF'ing in the MWM and Mod. Took 4th with the super.

Saturday he won all 3 features at Brainerd (MWM, Mod & Super)! It was also kids night, and they announced Mason's name for something...I knew it wasn't a bike, so I assumed Junior Fan. Later I thought it was probably the pace car ride because I didn't see any other kids go out for junior fan. Oops! Well, he got a kids trophy anyway...But he really wanted a bike! Oh well...

Mason and Axel!

Braelyn's Big Moves & Zoo Pics

2011-06-09T14:48:00.001-05:00

Braelyn sure has been on the move lately! She doesn't crawl on all four yet, just scoots like an inch-worm across the floor. Today she clapped during circle time with the kids (they were clapping too) when singing "hello everybody"! It could've been coincidence and she may not know what she is really doing, but the kids thought it was the funniest thing! (And I got a kick out of it too)! She has started pulling herself up onto things. Not couches or tables as that's all too tall, but she can reach her rocking chair and her crib railing, so she will get up like this----->

I was hanging her clothes in the closet when I noticed she learned how to do this. I moved the mattress down a few pegs immediately (well after a pic of course)! She also has her first tooth popping through (her bottom right). I can just see the start of it, and if I push hard enough, I feel something sharp. Not noticeable enough yet for a picture, but soon!

This was from our trip to the zoo on Memorial Day! It was a bit warm, but we enjoyed the day and the animals. I don't think Braelyn noticed there was even animals there. I would point to the giraffe, or monkey, or bear, and she would just stare in the grass or at the people walking by.

The most fascinating were, of course, the monkeys. Mostly because their actions resemble humans so much. You are not suppose to feed the animals, but someone was throwing bread or something down, and this orangutan would point at the person, and then point to his mouth, and open wide. It was cute. He (or she?) even put the white t-shirt on himself. The mom and baby was also fun to watch! The baby would try to run away from mom, and she would grab it's arm, as if saying, get back here!!

June 2-5

2011-06-06T14:46:00.001-05:00

This is going to be quick...

Thursday-Willmar: mwm- 4th, super- 3rd, A-mod- something broke in the engine during the heat, so he was unable to race the feature.

Friday- since the engine broke in the A-mod and the tranny broke in the mwm the night prior...we went to Princeton to spectate, OH! I mean, race the superstock. It was an easy/relaxing night with only 1 car to have to worry about. Shane ended up 4th in the feature!

Saturday- Brainerd: Won with the mwm, 6th with the A-mod, and 2nd with superstock! Remember the bounty that I talked about in a previous post (on Ebert), he needed to finish the race in order for Shane to be eligible for the bonus money. He (Dan) got a flat during the feature, voiding the bounty bonus. However, he had already raced past Shane before he got a flat, so I'm pretty certain Shane wouldn't have got the bonus money anyway (if you know what I mean!) ;) But hey, a wins a win!

Sorry no pics this week, and/or details. It's 90* out, so me and 10 kids are going to run through the sprinkler to cool off!

Another wreck, another rain out...

2011-05-31T15:36:00.000-05:00

Ogilvie Raceway had a special on Wednesday, so we headed there, where Shane ended up wrecking his midwest mod. He didn't fare so well in the A-mod either.. finished 6th in his heat and 6th in his b-feature, so didn't make the big show. Props to Buzzy Adams for leading the whole race, but WOW! was Clayton Wagamon on a mission! His B-feature was my favorite race of the night, with him making a last corner pass for the win! I'm not usually one to get worked up about a race, but that kid had me on my feet in anticipation!

My last post had pics of the same car damaged... but here's some more. :/ It needed a few repairs, so we had to dig the old car out of the shed for Willmar the next night.

The purple Affordable should be done by this week, and this car (the orange one) is for sale. Anyone wanna buy a racecar???

Thursday he won with the superstock and the midwest mod, and finished 3rd with the A-mod! Friday was (once again) rained out. We headed to Rumor's (the local bar/restaurant) for some grub and drinks and were home by 8:45pm. Shane and DJ were snoring by 9pm! The busy week had caught up with them!

Saturday we raced North Central in Brainerd, where Shane got wrecked in the mwm (geez, these past 2 weeks sound a little rough). It really isn't as bad as it sounds...He was battling for 2nd, and I guess both guys wanted the high side, so he ended up hitting the wall and DNF'ing. He finished 3rd in the A-mod and 6th in the super. Another guy who needs a congrats....Dave Read winning the Superstocks! Not often that I cheer outloud, but I was rootin for ya! It was long overdue, and I'm sure he'll be seeing victory lane a few more times this summer! Dan Ebert now has a bounty on him in the mwm's, for winning 2 or 3? times in a row. An extra bonus for anyone who can beat him... Which I'll tell ya...it ain't gonna be easy! :) That kid has been untouchable! (Not sure why I call everyone a kid...they are in their 20's for cryin out loud ;)

We stayed the night in Brainerd, and drove to Alexandria on Sunday, finishing the weekend with a 2nd place in the mwm, 4th in the super, and 5th in the A-mod. Monday we took a trip to the Como Zoo with the kids for the day, and spent the evening at a BBQ with the Princeton Peeps! T'was a great weekend!! :) And what's the best thing about a long weekend??... A short week! 2 days and we're back at it again!

Oh, and our funny little girl learned how to do the army crawl!! She got herself into here... :)

Race & kids Update

2011-05-24T15:00:00.000-05:00

I guess it won't be much of an update because I can never seem to remember to actually 'update' this site. Nor do I remember where he finished last week (and I forgot to post then, as well)...May 14th-ish. Sorry! I do remember that this past Thursday we had KRA Speedway's opener in Willmar, MN. Shane won with the A-mod and the B-mod (or midwest mod). He finished 5th in the superstocks, with Shawn Nolan winning the feature! Friday we had the night off, due to rain! Saturday we loaded up and make the trek to Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, MN. They don't race Wissota mods, so we only had the mwm. Shane ended up wrecking in the heat race. The leader broke (a driveshaft, i think) and shane hit him wide open. Thankfully it was mostly cosmetic damage. They were able to get it race ready for feature time. He finished 6th in the feature. We stayed the night, hoping to race again on Sunday, but the weather changed our plans and we headed back home.

Break time in the hauler...

Mason was 'reading' to Braelyn, and she fell asleep. I was in the kitchen listening, and he didn't know it :) Kids are funny how they memorize books!

The kids have been doing well, for the most part. Braelyn came down with a runny nose and raspy voice. It came on after Thursday night's race, so I'm thinking the dust may have upset her (even when she's covered with a blanket most of the race, it still seems to be everywhere) or she could be having teething issues or a cold (a few daycare kids have runny noses, and one had pnuemonia). She has been waking up often at night, which we need to fix NOW! :) The night in the hauler she slept all night (of course I was in the same bed as her) and last night she only woke once. But her bad nights make bad days!

Mason had his first (and second) trip to the dentist this past week. He had a cleaning and x-rays done last week and he LOVED the dentist. He was so excited to go back, so I didn't dare scare him by telling him how horrible it actually it is. Typically they don't like the parents to come back becuase kids behave better without their parents around. Which I can so vouch to! (There's a daycare parent who says I need to hold her child down to give him meds and he will scream bloody murder). Wouldn't you know it, he gave himself the medicine and didn't make a peep! Back to the dentist.... I did sit in on the cleaning/x-rays, but stayed in the lobby for his follow up appointment (fillings and a cap), and when they came out, she said "he did great"! We chatted about the work that was done, and out the door we went. His lip started to quiver, and then, an all out ball session. "Mom, I don't like all the tools they put in my mouth, and my tooth and cheek hurt real bad!" He cried for 10 mins until I got him some tylenol, then we were good to go. He now has a reason to sing his "pants on the ground song (gold in yer mouth), only his is silver :) He never wants to see Dr. David again, so maybe he'll learn to brush his teeth at bedtime. He's pretty good about morning, but night is more important. And please, quit giving my child candy!! :)

Weekend Review

2011-05-09T15:22:00.000-05:00

Finally....Some nice weather (I know it seems to be raining an awful lot, but the temp sure feels good)! Friday we raced at Princeton, where Shane finished 3rd with the mwm, with the win going to Bud Martini. He finished 2nd in the A-mod, behind Keith Tourville. And 5th (I think) in the superstock, with Dave Mass picking up the win. I never minded Shane running 3 classes a night, until Friday when I realized I am in the stands the majority of night... Shane was up first, then Mason would ask to go back, and I was like...Oh, wait, let's watch papa Tom & Kyle, then it was oh wait, lets watch Christina & Dexton, then oh, dads up again, and again! I do enjoy watching races, but the kids don't have much patience and we need breaks to go to the hauler to eat, nap, and burn off energy! I never really cared for intermission much, but it sure has come in handy!

Saturday we played outside all day because it was just too nice to do anything else!! Me & the kids stayed home to prepare for B's baptism the next morning, and get to bed at a decent time. Shane finished 2nd in the mwm, behind Dan Ebert; 3rd in the A-mod, with the win going to Jeff Hart; and won with the superstock! 6 top 5's over the weekend = so far, so good!

Sunday was Braelyn's baptism (along with Mother's Day, and my mom's birthday)! She slept for most of the service...until they poured the water on her head :)

No racing photos yet...And likely won't have time to take many this year...I will work on finding someone to steal/borrow them from :) Have a great week!

Easter & 6 months!

2011-05-02T14:10:00.000-05:00

EASTER 2011

I'm a week late...but last weekend we celebrated Easter with both our families (lunch at my sister's, and supper at Shane's parents). We had a few hours to spare in-between, so being that it was gorgeous weather out that day (it's hard to remember that it was actually nice out this year...but it was!), we decided to go for a 4-wheeler ride. Now, most probably think we are crazy/dangerous parents (because who straps their 6 month old on the back of a 4-wheeler anyway?!) ;), but none of us have had an ER visit, or broken bone, or major accident (yet)... Minor yes! This was one of those days!

Mason rode his own wheeler for over 2 hours that day, and within the last half mile of being to our destination, he got a tad too close to our big 4-wheelers front tire, so he jerked to the left (to avoid hitting us), rode up on 2 wheels, tried to correct it by jerking right, and his body flew off the other side. He managed to run his leg over, while never letting go of the handlebars! I jumped off our 4-wheeler before Shane was even stopped, to check on him, but he seemed ok. I offered to drive his the remainder of the way, but he insisted he was fine. :) I suffered a minor heart-attack, and he had a large bruise on his leg...Otherwise, no injuries. He said it was a good thing he had his helmet on!

Braelyn slept the entire time! Don't worry, she'd tied down tight, and I sat next to her and held on to the carseat...just in case!

Today, was Brae's 6 month appointment. She weighed in at 16 lbs. 12 oz. and 26.5 inches tall. A little above average on both, but healthy and right on schedule for development! Next up: teeth & crawling!

Brae is getting so big!

2011-04-19T13:57:00.002-05:00

Braelyn can now sit by herself without us helping her! She definitely isn't as much of a "Go-Getter" as her brother was at this age, but that's fine by me! We try to prop her up on all four, but she just rocks back and forth til she does a face-plant! :)

Mason went to say goodnight and came out telling me he covered her up! I don't know if he thought she was cold, but he piled 5 blankets on top of her! :) --She has always loved sleeping on her tummy (most kids do), but I don't recommend it (you should put Baby to sleep on their back). We have a SIDS monitor that alarms if no movement is detected, and that eases my mind some.

One of the few days that it was actually nice out this Spring...

--Hoping we can ditch the snowsuit one of these days! :)

We've started solid foods (not sure why they call them solids, when they're as runny/messy as ever! She loves to grab all of our food and put it in her mouth, but will lock her lips shut when baby food comes near her! I trick her with a piece of puffcorn to get food in :) I've been dehydrating venison jerky the past couple days, so she's been gnawing on that as well.

Poor girl has a blue nukie in her crib, a blue carseat/stroller and blue highchair... No wonder people make comments, like "he's so cute!" or "how old is he?" Whoops!! :)

Car Pics

2011-04-14T15:50:00.000-05:00

I think I have pics of the A-mod somewhere on here, but here's a look at the others....

Midwest Mod

Superstock

A-mod

Today is the first race of the year (at Elko Speedway). Shane, DJ & Jared are on their way now and it's currently like 38* and raining there. Perfect for opener racing...NOT! I think with the rising fuel cost, we need to reevaluate this traveling deal when the radar looks iffy :/

Coupon addiction?

2011-04-05T09:29:00.004-05:00

This is a wierd/random post - I know! But I thought it would help hold me accountable for what I intend to do.... Not buy another grocery item (except produce and dairy) until both freezers and the pantry are emptied (or at least have some room in them)!

I starting using coupons at the beginning of the year, because a friend had a new years resolution to only buy items that were on sale or had a coupon. She recently started a blog (that I have yet to read, but will later today). You can check it out by clicking HERE for money saving tips! Last night I saved $84 with grocery coupons!!!! It has made me so much more aware of the value of $1.50.....for instance, once I got home and realized I had a $1.50 coupon that I forgot to give the cashier, and I actually debated going back with my receipt and coupon (another day I was in town-not to waste gas). Shane said "you're worked up over $1.50? I'll give you a damn $1.50 if that helps!" LOL :) But saving money just has a good feel to it!!

Back to my post though.... I have managed to take it a little out of hand by buying too much! It is all things we will eat (eventually), but I now have food stored in my laundry room because my pantry isn't big enough. The other 'downfall' is most coupons are for not-so-healthy foods. This isn't a big problem being that I need to purchase food for daycare kids, but I don't always have the will power to choose my 3 egg whites for breakfast over an Eggo waffle with lots of syrup or bowl of sugary cereal :/ I thought about going healthy and organic in our entire house, to win the battle of unhealthy urges, but my checkbook can't afford to do that for 12 people.

The other thing with coupons, is sometimes knowing I'm getting a good deal makes me buy things I normally wouldn't buy--like pop. I haven't bought pop or juice in months but it was super cheap with coupons, so I stocked up. So saving money actually cost me money because I wouldn't have normally purchased it. However, the other day DJ said "what happened to the good ole days when I could open the fridge and grab a pop :)?!" Lately his choices are water or milk, so with racing season around the corner, maybe it's not a bad idea to stock up for the trailer cooler!! (and me and Mason used to have a nightly tradition of Root beer freezes....now we can make it a weekly treat)!

Other news:

Braelyn turned 5 months old last week. Nothing real new with her.
Mason is no longer 'addicted' to Mario Bros on the wii, and he actually rode 4-wheeler for hours on Sunday.
The race cars are coming along...although it's fine that they have been pushed back a week to allow more time.
I put in an order for racing T-shirts this year, will let you know when they come in (early May is my guess).

~Have a wonderful rest of the week!

Day off

2011-03-18T15:20:00.000-05:00

Today I had a glimpse of the 'good life'...a day off during the week! (FYI: My life is the 'good life'...today was just a bit better!) I've been having 8 kids everyday full time now, but today, most were not scheduled to come, so I took Mason & Sky to their great grandma's & I took Braelyn to the doctor for stupid thrush & ran some errands. The weather was beautiful and I just wanted to drive around all day with the sun shining [my new car has 2 sunroofs ;)] and radio playing! And the baby never fussed in the car at all (she typically hates her carseat!) I've realized a couple downfalls of not taking her to daycare/working out of the home.....1) she's not a good traveler since we don't do it regularily, & 2) she doesn't like new people. She freaks out at the sight & voice of new people-It takes her a while to warm up. I think if she went to a different daycare she would adapt better... Unfortunately, she has no choice :) The plus side of not bringing her (& Mason) to daycare....Every Friday I envinsion my paycheck to be $225 higher, because money saved is money earned, right??!!

She's had a couple 'milestones' this past week... She learned how to roll. Right off the couch. She first did this last Sunday when I was gone, and Shane texted me that she did it but he caught her with his foot. Then, I made the mistake of putting her there while I made lunch for the kids, and Mason yelled that she rolled off again. Right onto her face...Ouch. I have yet to SEE her roll, but everytime I go in her room in the morning, she's not the way I put her. Nor is she in the same spot! The next wasn't a milestone, just another major mishap. We took a walk last night (her first time in the stroller) and when we got home I had her waiting by the door while Shane & I chopped the ice dam so water would flow off the driveway. Well, I didn't lock the brake so Mason had her pushed off the steps and upside down. Thankfully, they put 5 point harnesses in strollers nowadays! She never made a peep, and seemed content with the blood rushing to her head!

Last weekend we spent the night at the waterpark with Shane's family. Last year Mason wasn't brave enough to go down the BIG slides, but this year he was. He had a blast and was proud that he tried it! Braelyn isn't much of a swimmer, yet!

Racing is just 3 weeks away...Gosh, I'm not sure if I'm ready for the madness to begin. I am ready for the warm spring weather & not being so bored on weekends though, I guess!

Frustrating....

2011-02-28T09:17:00.002-06:00

This post is accidental and out of pure frustration! Remember several weeks back I wanted to smash this bleepin computer? Well, I took it back and she did a clean-up on it (although why should a new computer require clean-up? It's new for cripes sake) Nobody remodels or repairs a new house a week after being built! But anyway, since then, I haven't been able view music videos (or any video) on youtube, which I got by without, until this morning when I'd like to load pics onto snapfish & craigslist and realized I couldn't do that either. So I thought I'd see if blogger would upload pics. Well, of course the one thing that is not on my 'to do list' today, works! Oh joy.... :( In all my anger, I am at least thankful that today is Monday. Because the computer place that I bought this from is open late on Mondays (they usually close at 5pm & I can't make it)! Hooray for me! Sorry for her!

So here's a few things that make me smile....

(her dimples) :)

(her wide open smile)

This makes her teeth happy...her little chew toy!

Speaking of her teeth... Braelyn was a bear on Friday. She wouldn't eat very well, and wouldn't sleep either. She'd lay down, sleep for 5 mins and wake up screaming in pain. I decided to take her to express care (which I rarely do), thinking she must have an ear infection that's causing her to scream. NOPE! The doc said her ears were beautiful and her throat looked fine. So all he could think was maybe her teeth hurting her. Who knows?..she was fine from that night on. I even told her to not wake up until after 9am, cause momma was going to sleep in, & she listened! (of course we were up at 5am for a quick 15 min visit)

My boys building a snow fort!

Ok, I'm better now!!! :)

Snowmobiling

2011-02-18T15:08:00.001-06:00

I mentioned earlier that Shane was doing a vintage snowmobile race. He finished 6th out of 50 sleds in his class, and was awarded an "iron man" trophy for ridin out all 100 miles himself. He couldn't walk the next day, but it was fun! Thanks to DJ, Neil, Bubba, Keith & Greg for all their help on raceday and getting it ready!

To my suprise, the snowmobile held up...my early prediction was it would only make a few laps and was bound to break!

Unfortunately, Bubba's did not hold up..... :(

And they're off...(well, waiting for the first group to take off)

Last weekend we took a snowmobiling trip to Tower, MN. The cabin is out on island of Lake Vermillion, so we had to pull our luggage/food behind a snowmobile to get there. In the summer they use boat, and to build it they had the materials hauled out by barge. Kinda neat. The cabin itself and the view were spectacular! We had some great riding, and great relaxing! Definitely didn't want to come home (other than to see my kiddos)! Thanks Butch for the hospitality!!

Enjoying the fireplace and some drinks!

Pics of the babe....

She is trying her hardest to roll over, but just can't get there. She tried so hard she fell asleep in this position!

And as big as he is, he's never too big to fall asleep on dad! I put Braelyn to bed last night and came out to them sound asleep!

No photos

2011-01-25T14:57:00.001-06:00

Because this started out as a racing updates blog, I suppose I should of updated how racing in Arizona went (over a week ago)! Well, not the greatest, that's for sure. The first night Shane wrecked...to the point of unfixable. (Well, fixable, but not something you can fix at the racetrack in your trailer). So they offered him to drive another car that they had down there. Pretty trusting people to give ya a second chance after you just demolished the first one :) A guy in front of Shane blew up his engine, so Shane slowed up and a car behind him got into the back of him and he hit wall pretty good. He made the feature the first 2 nights and on the 3rd night, had issues with handling and something leaking (IDK)....so they parked the car for the remainder of the weekend. On the up-side.....the weather was beautiful (or so they say)!! Sunny & Warm with not a cloud in sight!! A tad chilly when the sun went down though. Now if only I can find a way to get more vacation time out of my job! :)

I bought a new laptop, and being I know NOTHING about computers, I took the advice of the saleswomen at a family owned company and bought one for $650. She said it had "x" amount of ram, GB, yada, yada, etc. and it was quite a bit more than my $400 pile that crashed. Well, wouldn't ya know it, I liked my cheaper one better. Not to mention, this thing I'm currently on is SLOW and often says "internet explorer cannot display the webpage". Frustrating to the point that I sometimes want to smash it with a hammer (like mid purchase of online shopping) :) Anyway, I will be returning this one, or exchanging it or something, so I won't be uploading any pics to this computer. Sorry!

Braelyn is growing so fast... She is turning into a little chunker with legs like her momma (short and chubby ;) Although I do have to add that I'm pretty proud of myself for sticking to my workout routine and staying away from fast food (except Subway). We used to eat McDonalds at least 3 times a week, and just not eating there, and doing a half-hour workout a day has helped me drop the baby fat. Shane and I have both dropped 10 pounds since December, but now I just have to figure out a way to lose the extra skin :/

Mason is currently addicted to Super Mario Bros, both on the Wii and his DS. We have a rule that he cannot play during daycare hours, but he would definitely choose to play ALL DAY if we let him. Hopefully it's just a phase, and he's not a permanent video game junkie. :)

Shane's been working on a vintage snowmobile to race in Detroit Lakes the beginning of February. We also have a weekend snowmobile trip planned for mid february. Other than that, we haven't been up to a whole lot- just watching B (Braelyn) learn new things (like how to eat her whole fist, giggle when shes ready to cry, and starting to grab at things). I know it sounds like the pettiest things, but if you have kids, you'll understand! That's all for now!

Slowing Down.

2011-01-12T14:59:00.001-06:00

Hello all, sorry it's been a while. And to be honest, I had a thought of ending this blogging stuff. Mainly because it used to fun and now seems like a chore. I rarely have "free time" and I've come to realize this isn't what I like to do in my spare time anymore. There really isn't enough hours in the day, but I'm sure if there were more, they'd end up being working hours, not playing or resting hours. I love to read up on other people's blogs and get irritated when they don't blog enough! :) But I guess I don't like writing as much as I like reading. For now, I will do it when I feel I have something to say, but to do it just to do it seems like a waste of my time :( So I will apologize in advance for those that check it daily (like I do to others)...and maybe in the future I will get back at it more consistently!

So for now, here's the A-mod's new wrap! As I type, Shane is arriving in the warm and sunny state of Arizona to go racing. He was offered to drive a car for Mitch Johnson (the man behind J-car chassis), so he and DJ flew out this morning for 5 days.

Last Saturday we had the Eystad's over for some football and Wii playing! Braelyn made friends with their 3 month old daughter, Emma!

Sunday we celebrated Mason's 4th Birthday!! I can't believe he's 4 already...sad! Uploading pics was taking FOREVER so I didn't post many of his party.

Christmas

2010-12-29T13:18:00.000-06:00

We had 5 Christmas gatherings, and Mason & Braelyn made quite the haul! So on Monday we cleaned out old/broken and mismatched toys and brought them to the Goodwill. You can only see 5 garbage bags in the pic, but one is hiding underneath on the left, and after I took the pic, I added one in that open space and threw one in the back seat. Even after getting rid of the 8 bags full of toys, the kids still have plenty to play with. In fact I think they like this better because they can actually find what they're looking for, and the upstairs isn't so cluttered (which I like).

Mason likes his new work bench set he got from his Aunt Sonja, along with some power tools from Santa!

Santa brought Braelyn a playmat...she's not sure what to do with it.

Mason & cousin Skyeler

Mason kept getting games for a Wii (a gun for hunting games, steering wheel w/ mario kart, & some games), even though we didn't have a Wii. He was starting to get upset because we kept teasing him about it, but finally he opened his present from his Godmother, Jenny! He got his Wii!

The kids doing Cheers! Yes the boy on the right is a KID, he's just in disguise!

Marshmellow gun was a hit!

And so was the DS from Shilice!

Leaving cookies and milk for Santa

Christmas Morning presents from Santa

Mason and cousin, Ava, with their matching Pillow Pets

I'm Back!

2010-12-21T10:13:00.002-06:00

Well, only temporary! I borrowed my sister's laptop again until she needs it back. I will break down and buy a new computer after Christmas. (that is, only if Santa doesn't bring me what I asked for!)

This past weekend we had a get-together with Shane's highschool graduating class at JP's, which was alot of fun. We missed his 5 & 10 yr reunion because of racing, so we were thankful they planned this one over the winter! And speaking of racing (or lack thereof), I thought for a moment that Shane was in need of medical attention when he asked me the other day if he should quit racing. His reason for asking was because every year when he gets laid off, he works damn near every day in the garage putzing on his cars, and this year he says he can't even stand to look at them! I knew 2 days later that it was a short-lived thought as he planned a race trip to Arizona for mid January! :)

So back to what we've been doing.. the following day we had Christmas for my mom's side. This was the first Christmas without Grandma, as she passed away 8 days prior :( We've been doing a little snowmobiling (well, the boys have), and me and Braelyn have been shopping for Christmas gifts. Which reminds me, I still haven't got her anything yet :/ I've sort-of (like big-time) been the grinch this year...I didn't put a single light up outside, or even mail out Christmas cards. I did put up a tree, and that was the extent of my decorating this year. But thank you to everyone who sent us such great Christmas Cards, and sorry I'm not sending one in return!

And we have SMILES!!

The Raider Shane fixed up.

Just relaxin'

That's all for now, I better get going before the baby wakes up! Yes, it's 10:08am and both my kids are still sleeping. I hope I don't jynx it by saying that Braelyn is an excellent sleeper! She's out around 9pm, and well, today (& most days) is still sleeping past 10am. She did get up to eat at 3:30am. But I'm very fortunate for the sleep I do get!! Mason on the other hand, I don't know why he sleeps so much. He doesn't take a nap anymore so maybe 12 hours of sleep in the night is normal. Some days (most days) I wish I could sleep in as long as they do!!

Temporarily Out of Order

2010-12-10T13:20:00.000-06:00

being that my computer took a dive i wont be posting for a while. i was borrowing my sisters but she needed it back so this post is from my phone... i do normally use capital letters and punctuation but for some reason it wont let me. needless to say im hoping santa receives my wishlist of a new laptop. whatever did we do before technology. insert question mark. one would think id have so much free time without a computer being in our house. nope. now i attempt to use my phone as internet and it takes 5 times as long... however i do limit what i go on here for now. i used to google everything from recipes to kids crafts to baby questions. now its on a need to know basis. which isnt any fun. so im off for now and wont know when ill be back again. insert sad face.

merry christmas to all.

Today

2010-11-29T13:35:00.000-06:00

Today is not the day to be blogging, but I just realized I forgot to post a 4 week update...although not much has changed. Today Braelyn is one month old and today is also my first day back to work :( even though Mason insists "You don't work!" Sorry Mason, just because I don't pack a lunch and put on work boots, doesn't mean I don't work! Anyway, so far the day hasn't been all that bad, and my lack of sleep hasn't hit me yet...The biggest challenge now will be to get Braelyn on schedule with the other kids' naptime from 12:30-2:30pm!

These pics aren't recent, but I thought I'd post them here, for those that don't have facebook!

3 weeks

2010-11-20T17:15:00.003-06:00

Braelyn has been much better the past few days (thank God)! She has even been having a 5 hour stretch of sleep at night (usually from 9pm-2am). Now if only I would go to bed at 9pm when she does! She loves her crib! She sleeps in it for bedtime and naps! When she's not sleeping, she likes to be held, because apparently just sitting in a swing or chair is boring or something!

Mason still can't get enough of her!

She seems chubby in almost all my pics, but when I look at her (in real life) she's not...so maybe the camera adds a few pounds..LOL ;) Speaking of....she had her check-up on Wednesday, and is 9lbs 6oz (was 8-3 at birth). She was 20 inches at birth, but shrunk a lil to 19.5 a few day later (because of the whole cone-head affect from delivery), and at her appt she was 22.5!! I think maybe they measured wrong, cause growing 3 inches in 2 weeks seems unlikely.

This upcoming week will be extremely depressing for me (yes, I'm being negative)....It is my last week of maternity leave, and although I'm very grateful that I don't have to leave my children and send them to a daycare, I still dread that it will no longer be just Me, Mason & Braelyn. I'm not at all thrilled for the early mornings, or messy house, or bickering kids. And I have tried to come up with a way to not work, but unfortunately Shane doesn't make enough money for us to be a 'one income' family....So, I guess if I have to work, I can't think of a better job to have than doing daycare at my home & being with my kids! And Mason is pretty pumped to have people to actually play with, instead of watching movies all day, and shooting his toy guns!

Sleep when baby sleeps???

2010-11-16T13:55:00.001-06:00

When everyone's advice is 'sleep when baby sleeps'....obviously that only pertains to first time moms. There's no way to nap with an almost 4 year old. The moment I close my eyes, I hear "mom, who's gonna stay awake with me?" Well, now that you just woke me up, I will! I've been borderline zombie on some days, but we are managing to get by. It should be law that dad's get paid leave too!

Braelyn turned 2 weeks last Friday (and her 2week check up is tomorrow), and she has been having some issues! Through the research i've done, all I can come up with is what they call colic. I though colic meant a "fussy, spoiled, hold-me-all-the-time baby, because I will cry for no reason until you do hold me". But that is not the case (or not my case, anyway). One doctor recommends calling it the "hurting baby" because obviously something hurts. In her case, it's her tummy that's in so much pain. I can hear air rumbling in her tummy and she just can't seem to find a comfortable position, and it's always worse right after feeding, and seems to get better when she passes gas or burps. Although, Sunday is was ALL day long... We tried gas drops and gripe water, both with no luck.

So Monday, I took her to the chiropractor and during the appt she tooted more than she has her whole life, and finally pooped twice when we got home (which she hasn't done in days). So whatever the lady did seemed to help for the time being. I also am eliminating dairy from my diet for now, since that's usually the first culprit if breastfeeding, and I found a more natural relief called colic calm that just came in the mail yesterday to help soothe stomach issues. So, it's not by a lack of trying to figure out what works, that's for sure. However, I think maybe I'm trying too many things at once!!

Braelyn had a "real" bath finally, and as I'm dressing her, I hear "Mom, come here!" I went to the bathroom, and find Mason in the baby tub saying "see, I fit perfect!"

She likes to suck her fingers when shes hungry!

Getting so strong!

Bored one night, the boys decided to practice their aim....

and this was their target------->

Shane's deer... unfortunately whenever Mason went with they never seen any deer.

We also attended the Wissota National Banquet this past weekend, and unfortunately those pics didn't turn out real well. Shane placed 7th with the A-mod and 2nd with the MWM. Congrats to all 2010 National Champs!!

One Week

2010-11-05T14:17:00.000-05:00

Today, Braelyn is 1 week old and we are so blessed to have her in our life! She has been a great baby thus far (and I'm praying she continues to be). She is pretty much like clock-work for feeding...exactly every 3 hours she cries (and will not stop) until she is fed. We go to bed around 10pm and are up every 3 hours for a new diaper and food, and sleep til usually 10am. Gosh, how on earth will I be able to wake up at 5:45am when daycare kids come back?! Maybe I'll win the lottery before then!! However, that would include driving somewhere to get a ticket, and since Shane went back to work this past Wednesday, I haven't left the house. Mostly because I'm afraid to take 2 kids out (since we all went to Walmart on Tuesday and Mason was a handful to say the least).

More pics....

Sunday my sister (Tina) and her kids took Mason to a Halloween party their church put on, with games & candy, so we never took him out trick or treating, which was a relief with a 2 day old.

He has been a great big brother, and is my helper (throws away diapers, and gets things I need), but he refuses to let Dad spend any time with his sister. I think he thinks Braelyn is my kid, and Mason is dad's kid.

We've also had a few people ask how to pronounce her name..... Basically just like it's spelled. We say it as one name (Braelyn), not 2 (Brae - Lyn). It's hard to type how to say something, but the faster you say it, the more correct it is! (If that makes any sense!) :)

Nap time now.....gotta go!

Welcome Baby Braelyn

2010-11-01T21:13:00.000-05:00

We have spent the past 3 days adoring our precious new baby! Braelyn Jean Sabraski entered the world on Friday, October 29, 2010 at 1:56pm- weighing 8 lbs. 3 oz and 20 inches long. We just love her to pieces!

My original due date was oct. 27, and being that the doctor thought she was getting pretty big, I opted to get induced 2 days later (plus I was losing my patience and getting very irritable)! So, the night prior to going to the hospital I was having painful contractions but not close enough together to go in, and when I arrived to the hospital Friday morning I was dilated to 4 centimeters. They started the pitocin (to get more constant contractions going) at 9am, and I started pushing at 1:46pm..... She was out at 1:56pm! A whole 10 minutes of pushing (I know I'm lucky!!)

We had a scare when she arrived, as the umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck twice, and her face was purple. The doctor handed her to the nurse and they called more nurses in & gave her oxygen, and stimiluted her. Basically she was in shock from it, and we are thankful it wasn't more serious. Although, at the time, we were scared to death.

Mason has been a great big brother, and wants to hold her all the time (to the point of annoying for me), but I'm glad he loves her so much already! He has been doing pretty well, other than not listening to Shane or I very well, but he's adjusting pretty well to not being the only child anymore. The first day home Shane took him out for a 4-wheeler ride, and he couldn't figure out why I could no longer ride with. He said Braelyn could ride with too, but I told him she was too little. As they left the yard, Shane said he started crying and said he wanted mom to come with. Shane explained that I had to stay with the baby, but when she gets bigger we can all go. He quit crying, but Shane said he was sad the entire ride.

Well, that is all for now... I will put more pics up later and updates on how she's doing, but for now we are going to get ready for bed!

The End!

2010-10-19T09:32:00.003-05:00

Finally the 2010 season has come to an end... As always, it's a bittersweet time of year. We are relieved to actually have some time to do other things (things like hunting, house cleaning & having a baby!), and just to relax a little. But I know soon enough we'll be bored out of our mind! This year actually went by alot faster than previous years, mostly due to the fact of having Sunday's off...so having the season come to an end isn't as joyous as it used to be!

This past weekend was the final race (at Ogilvie Raceway), and so the guys thought they'd have a little fun with it, and so our pit guy (DJ) and Ryan's pit guy/brother (Chris) thought they'd give racing a shot!

All suited up and ready for hotlaps!

Mason woke up bucky, so Shane was trying to cheer him up...it didn't work!

Shane ended up 5th with the superstock, 3rd with the midwest mod, and 10th in the A-mod for the final race of the year.

He finished the year 2nd in national standings with the mwm, and 7th with the modified!

Well, this concludes racing updates on this blog, but continue to follow if you're interested in baby news or random things! Hope you all have a great 'off-season'!

Fall Classic

2010-10-13T12:52:00.006-05:00

We are finally in the homestretch (of both racing & pregnancy)!! This past weekend is usually the close of the racing season (but not the case this year). We raced at Viking Speedway in Alexandria, MN for their annual Fall Classic, where Shane won the feature with the midwest mod, and finished 5th with the A-mod. The superstock had some mechanical issues and didn't qualify for the main event.

So as I was saying, racing is still not over..... We have one more weekend left at Ogilvie Raceway for the "topless nationals". As seen in the pics below, it's the CARS that are topless! Personally, I think it's a horrible look, but some think it's cool I guess.

One of Mason's choices for Halloween this year... A boxer! Sorry bud, it might be a little cold trick or treating in that!!

As far as my pregnancy, not a whole lot to report....It's just a waiting a game now! I've been to the doc and she says I'm not progressing much (if at all). I was in this morning for my 38 week appt and she guessed baby is around 7 pounds. I was hoping to deliver a 7 pound baby, so a) I hope she's guessing way overweight, or b) I hope I go into labor soon! Speaking of babies....Some racing friends just had their first child this past Sunday. Emma Louise Eystad was born on 10-10-10 to Corey & Jen Eystad. Pretty sweet birthday to have (and no she wasn't induced)! Congrats you two on your beautiful daughter!

Willmar & Fargo

2010-10-04T13:10:00.000-05:00

Friday we raced at KRA for their final race of 2010. Shane finished 2nd in the MWM & won with the A-mod. He sold one of his A-mods a couple weeks ago, and purchased a new one (well, new to us).....It'll take some getting used to, but it's been good so far. After Willmar, we drove to Sauk Centre and slept at the truck stop, then went to Red River Valley Speedway in Fargo, ND for the first time. Shane placed 2nd in the MWM 4th in the A-mod.

This weekend was the first time we went with 'no help'. All of our pitmen were busy with other things, so Shane had 2 options for help: Me or Mason... (thankfully the people parked next to us were gracious enough to help out when needed!) Mason did however help with checking tires. I think he had them down to 4 lbs when he was done ;)

He was also in charge of getting Dad a new tire (Fargo was horrible on tires). He was so proud to drive through the pits like he was one of the big boys!

And he has a funny way of getting things off the wheeler... He pulls & pulls til it's ready to fall, then goes running so it doesn't land on him.

Sunday we did this most of the day....

...watched "The Terminator", "Speed" & "Happy Gilmore" with breaks in-between for a trip to DQ & look at hunting land.

Fall photo shoot

2010-09-30T09:21:00.001-05:00

The pregnancy countdown is now at 4 weeks to go, technically 3weeks, 6 days. But who's counting?! ;) And honestly, almost nobody delivers on their due date anyway, but I know it's winding down in a hurry! I'm not sure if I'm just being lazy, cheap, or after your first you don't get worked up with buying every new product on the market. But this baby has literally nothing but a carseat, crib, some diapers, and a few clothes. Oh, and Mason says she won't even like the carseat cause it's blue (it was his). :) I hope the saying is true that all a baby needs is food, sleep & love (all of which are free)!

So here is a few pics that we took the other night... Again, it feels good to not spend money at a photo studio!

Cute story about the hat he's wearing: He didn't want to wear it cause it was dirty and itchy. So Heidi (my sister) told him it was Grandpa Romey's (my grandpa). He then thought it was cool enough to wear. So when I was putting the pics onto the computer he told me to send this one to grandpa Roby cause he would like it! The next morning he asked me if Grandpa Roby wrote back yet, and what he said? Well, my grandpa has been passed away for years, and Mason had never met him. (and his name was Romey, not Roby)! But it was so funny how he thought he actually knew who this person was. Oh, and the hat really wasn't my grandpas, I have no clue where it came from!

Photo Friday!

2010-09-24T10:46:00.001-05:00

Riding down the ramp was fun until he got his foot stuck between the bike and the pedal....

Good Luck Hug :)

Mason & Skyeler got a tour of inside the train! The look on his face.....!!! They got to blow the horn and rev the engine!

Wissota 100

2010-09-20T09:50:00.000-05:00

This past week we attended the Wissota 100 out in Huron, SD. The place is nice, but man that's a haul! Well, I slept the whole way, so I shouldn't complain :) Mason stayed with my sister, so it got to be a long time away from him :( It was probably a good thing he didn't go, being the races went so late. And could you imagine him playing in this mud puddle?!....

It started raining midway through practice on Tuesday evening, and kept raining ALL of Wednesday. They did a good job of cleaning the place up on Thursday morning.

The A-mod had 'issues' all week long... The first night out he made a half a lap, and the car quit (the coil, I think), the next night out he was leading his heat, and the axle broke. And the final chance at making it to the big show....well, the car was junk and he went backwards. So, the A-mod did not make the big show.

The midwest mod did very well, taking 2nd in his heat to qualify for Saturday's big show, where he started 19th and finished 4th!! Shane also won the Race of Champions on Friday night! He was also in the Race of Champions with the A-mod where he finished 6th with the 9m machine! Thanks Dale for the opportunity to drive your car!! I didn't care where he finished, as long as it came off the track in one piece!

The superstock also was a success... Winning his heat and finishing 3rd in the qualifying feature, which put him outside the front row for the big show! He ended up finishing 2nd in the main event!

Mason was glad to be home, and so was I (well, only the seeing Mason part and having a king size bed--- the back to work I could live without)! We rode 4-wheeler, raced his new toy cars, watched the vikings (well, him and Shane did while I napped), then headed to bed at 8:30pm!

Harvest Cup

2010-09-13T14:29:00.000-05:00

This time of year is 'specials season', and this weekend was racing at Ogilvie both days for the Harvest Cup, along with the finale of the RaceMN Series. Saturday Shane finished 4th with the mwm and 7th with the A-mod. Sunday he won with the mwm, and finished 11th (I think) with the A-mod. I had to miss yesterdays races to cook & pack for the Wissota 100, which is this week already out in Huron, SD. One thing I will not miss when racing is over is the packing, cooking, unpack, do laundry, clean hauler.... All to do it again next weekend. This year has actually flown by, and for the most part has been alot less stressful than previous years. I think just by having Sundays off made the year go much smoother. So unless the Golden Spike switches to another night of the week, I wouldn't mind if they stayed shut down permanently. Not that there's even talk of it opening....I'm just sayin!!

Once again, no pics.... I'll do better next week! (Ok, so I do have pics, I'm just too lazy to go get my camera and upload them to my computer. Pathetic?! I know!!)

Baby is now 34 weeks grown! And according to comments made by strangers, I'm looking due any day now! Lol! They seemed a little shocked that I had to wait til the end of October. It'll come soon enough I guess! I don't take offense to the comments, well, except for the one where someone told me it looked like I had one coming out the front, and one coming out the back (referring to my fat ass)! She was a teenage girl & probably didn't know better! I did have a dr. appt last week and nothing's new...checked my weight, blood pressure, and listened to the heartbeat. I'd say it was a good 2 min appt!!

Mighty Axe Nationals

2010-09-07T20:50:00.000-05:00

Friday was the conclusion of racing at Princeton Speedway where Shane finished 2nd in the MWM, 10th in the A-mod, and 7th in the Superstock. Not surprisingly, today I've had more hits than usual on this webpage. :) Sorry to disappoint but I'm choosing not to go into depth about the engine claim that took place. It's clearly in the rules, we've been warned for 2 years that it would eventually happen, and nowhere in the rules does it state what type of motive or intention has to be behind your actions. And to look for the postive in a situation, the following night's heat race showed just how much support we have from such great fans/friends as the crowd was on their feet applauding after Shane won his heat!

The remainder of the weekend was spent camped out at NCS in Brainerd, MN for their annual mighty axe nationals, and the RaceMN show on Monday... Saturday he DNF'd in the midwest mod feature while leading (something broke in the right front-likely as a result from the rough track). He won the Golden Axe with the Superstock and finish 3rd with the A-mod!

Sunday was night 2 of the mighty axe, where he finished 4th in the MWM, won another Axe with the Superstock, and finished 3rd in the A-mod.

Monday started out with a makeup feature for the A-mods that was post-poned from the night of the accident back in June. Shane ended up winning the feature!! He finished 3rd in the midwest mod, and the regular scheduled A-mod feature was cancelled due to rain.

And I did have my camera along, but the battery pack thing was dead. Thankfully there's a wonderful photographer there who let me use some of her pics. Check out Vivian's website at http://www.vividcreationsmn.com/ for more racing photos!

Oops....

2010-09-01T06:26:00.002-05:00

I forgot to post on Monday, so here's the low-down on last weekend's race results...

MWM: 1st at Willmar, 1st at Princeton, 2nd at Brainerd, 1st at Ogilvie
Mod: 6th at Willmar, 3rd at Princeton, 5th at Brainerd, 13th at Ogilvie
Superstock: 1st at Princeton, 1st at Brainerd, 10th at Ogilvie

I know this is the worst post ever, but a) I didn't bring my camera along this w/e. b) i'm 2 days late already, so who really cares anymore anyway! c) monday & tuesday have been the start of stressful/crabby week for me....mostly irritable and impatient with duties of my job. and d) I plan on having a wonderful day today, and so far I can't complain (although it's only 6:23am), so I'm not going to push my luck and type til I'm annoyed! LOL :)

Have a great 'rest of the week'!!

Photo Friday!

2010-08-27T11:48:00.000-05:00

No, that's not sausage links sitting next to the shaving cream... I mean, we never eat breakfast in the bathtub. (Ok, maybe occassionally we do if Papa Steve's about to come pick him up, and we are in a hurry!) And the cell phone is for play, in case that's making you wonder too!

Mascara on your eyebrows?!?

As rough & tough of a boy as he is, he still has this fascination for makeup, glitter & fingernail polish! (I know when he gets older he'll likely wanna kill me for saying that). I know a few boys who went thru this stage, & though it seems wierd, it really isn't, if you keep in mind: kids want to do everything their parents do!

He came out of his room & says he saw a boy on tv do this???? I must not be paying very good attention to what my child is watching!!

KRA Special & King of Dirt

2010-08-23T15:16:00.000-05:00

This past week was a superstock special at KRA in Willmar, in which Shane was lucky enough to come home with the BIG trophy (made of wood & really heavy)! He also won with the MWM, and finished 5th with the A-mod.

The cool trophy made by Charlie Nelson... along with the Superstock Crew

(Troy, Butch-the car owner, Shane, Dexton, Pat, Zach)

Friday we raced at I-94 Speedway in Fergus Falls, MN for a special they call 'King of Dirt'. Shane won with the MWM, and had fuel pressure issues (or something) with the A-mod. It would act up every 3-4 laps, then he'd come in and think it was fixed, only to go out there, and have the car die after a few laps again. It ran fine the next night, so hopefully they found the problem!

Saturday, he finished 1st with the midwest mod, 2nd with the A-mod, and 3rd with the Superstock! Since he won the week prior with all 3 cars, he got to take all of them for the parade lap during the national anthem!

DJ, Jared & Shane takin a break!

Baby update: well, there is no update!! Obviously getting bigger, still no 'for sure' name, and this week marks the single-digit weekly countdown (9 weeks left).

Racing, Storms, & BIR

2010-08-16T11:11:00.002-05:00

This week was pretty eventful (and relaxing at the same time)... We raced Willmar on Wednesday instead of Thursday this week because of their fair. Shane got a flat tire in the MWM feature, so was unable to finish the race. In the superstock, he finished 4th, and in the A-mod he finished 13th. If you've kept up on recent results, you've probably noticed Shane hasn't been doing as well as he had been weeks prior (including demolitioning the superstock). I heard someone mention to him on Wednesday (after the races) "Well, that wasn't a good night!" Shane replied with "It could've been worse!!" Just because someone expects better of him, doesn't mean he didn't give his all, or that he didn't enjoy doing what he does. Lots of drivers would love to have the finishes and stats that he has accumulated, so to gripe about a 10th or 14th place finish occassionally is rediculous! Things can always go better, and things can always go worse....Nothing ever stays the same!!

And on that note, Saturday proved just that....He took a clean sweep (won the heat & feature) in all 3 classes that he raced (midwest mod, superstock & A-mod)! I don't think that's been done before (mainly because driving 3 cars on one night is rare...almost to the point of crazy :) But it was a 'perfect' night!

The superstock crew (Mason, Shane, Zach, Troy, Dexton & Pat)

That is all the racing we did this week, because Friday rained out -which we originally thought maybe we could go do something fun....well mother nature had other plans!! We spent the evening cleaning up the mess from the storm. Thanks to DJ, Chris & Genna for all your help!! It was very much appreciated!

Sunday we took in BIR (Brainerd International Raceway), which was a first for all of us. It was fun for something different to do, and everyone should probably experience it once in their lifetime... But it was too much walking for this prego lady (it probably doesn't help that I refuse to wear 'flat' shoes because I want to look a lil taller :) Oh, and if you go, make sure you go to the pits and stand right up front when they start one of the engines. That was unreal! I had no clue what to expect (other than knowing it was going to be loud). But right before they started it, a friend (Dave) said to me "it's going to be hard to breathe" I thought ok, me and mason will put our shirts over our nose/mouth like the guy next to us. Yeah right, after about 2 seconds we went running (heels and all), basically blind and choking!! It was pretty insane!

before they started it...

Mason just had to check this "mini" one out!

Liar, Liar, pants on fire!

2010-08-09T10:23:00.001-05:00

So Mason has learned the tricks of the trade to stay out of trouble! Just lie! While I showering, apparently Mason had went into the pantry and started snacking on the chocolate chip cookies & potato chips. When I noticed what he doing, I told him to put them away by the time I get out of the bathroom. He yelled "Mom, I put them away! But don't come out here!" So I came to the kitchen, and sure enough he put the packages away, but I noticed he wouldn't show me his hands...

Yep, he had a handful of cookies...

And the next day, I noticed he was being awfully quiet, and was hiding behind the couch. Yep! he was hiding something in his hands AGAIN, and I asked him what it was. He said, "Oh, it's just something healthy, like chicken you made me!" Ya right, it was a starburst & a sucker. He is such a stinker, and of course lying is wrong, but it was pretty funny!!

We finally went to visit baby Jessica (Ryan & Rachel Studanski's baby)...what a doll!

Friday night we went to I94 speedway in Fergus Falls, MN & we sat in the stands cause kids aren't allowed in the pits... Surprisingly, Mason sat pretty still, and he enjoyed the candy toss, and some cotton candy.

Race Recap: Willmar: he finished 4th with the MWM (which was probably the most exciting race I've watched in a while!!), 4th with A-mod, and 5th with the superstock. As I mentioned earlier, Friday we tried Fergus Falls for the first time, where Shane finished 2nd with the MWM, and unfortunately wrecked the superstock. Thankfully everyone involved was ok. Saturday, we went to Ogilvie cause Brainerd had the night off... He finished 8th with the MWM, and 10th in the A-mod.

Baby Update: Still no name :( We are having the hardest time finding one that fits, or where you just KNOW that's the one!

I am 29 weeks and haven't been to the doc for over a couple months. Mostly because it's a personal choice that I don't feel like giving them anymore money than I have to, so I will go to the appointments that I feel are worth-while, and skip those that are pointless...weighing me, and checking for the baby's heartbeat. I mean, I do have a scale at home, and being that she's kicking, I can guarantee she's got a heartbeat! But I'm sure none of you want to hear me whine about medical bills and health insurance, so we'll leave it at that!

Have a great week!

"Are you dizzy yet?!"....

2010-08-01T22:07:00.001-05:00

....Was a question someone asked Shane after this weekend! He has been driving 3 cars now, 3 nights this week! That's a total of roughly 235 laps!!

He has been having a blast with a different class (a superstock), but don't worry....He will not be purchasing one anytime soon (or ever probably)! I think what he likes best about it, is that someone else washes it, works on it, fixes it, and brings it to the track...He just gets to drive!! Of course, who wouldn't like that!!? Thanks to Butch, Pat, Dexton, Zach, & Troy (& whoever else I missed) for the fun opportunity! Thursday he finished 2nd in the heat & 2nd in feature at Willmar. Friday he wasn't able to race the heat, cause he had a flat tire before the race started, so he was forced to start last in the feature, and drove from 19th to 8th at Princeton. Saturday he got 2nd in the heat, and 2nd in the feature at Brainerd!

Dexton gettin him ready to go!

Kids night again @ Brainerd...

Ernie, TJ (helped pass out candy to the kids), Shane & Axel

The MWM he finished 2nd at Willmar, 5th at Princeton, and Won at Brainerd! The A-mod he finished 4th at Willmar, 12th at Princeton, and Won at Brainerd! This past race at Brainerd was a qualifying event for the Race of Champions for the Wissota 100 in Huron, SD (in mid Sept). So since he won, he is entered into that event with both cars!

New Looks!

2010-07-28T21:30:00.000-05:00

We'll start with the kids' bedroom (which has been in a previous post)! We left the wall color the same, but added some 'firework' decals to the walls. Mason had the choice of a pink/orange combo, or purple/green, and he chose purple for the baby, and green for his bed!

Also this week, one of the racecars got a new look as well! The black A-mod (previously with green & blue in it) has been changed to a flourescent red/orange scheme. This was the one he took to Florida this past winter, so it was due for a new body....(well, new sides anyway). As always, thanks to Greg George Grafix out of Princeton for the cool new look!

Papa Steve and Mason's cousin, Sophia, came over to check it out, and started a race of their own...

Pit stop.........

Ryan's Race

2010-07-26T09:34:00.001-05:00

Since Monday's are tough enough already, I'm keeping this post to a minimum! Thursday, we raced at Willmar, where Shane finished 2nd with the MWM, and 8th with the A-mod. Friday was a special night at Princeton because it was "Ryan's Race"... A race in memory of Ryan Thom, family member of the 2R & 4R race team of Stan Thom & Steve Alsaker. They put together a race at the end of the evening for the MWM's where Shane picked up the win (along with $1,000). They also gave out tons of other awards & prizes, and we were grateful that they did so much work/effort to put the event together!

Saturday we raced at Brainerd, where Shane won the MWM feature and finished 2nd in the A-mod. Shane also had the chance to drive the 44Y Super Stock and finished 6th in that class! Sorry I didn't get any pics...No camera along! But I did manage to steal some from Ashley's facebook :)

Corey and Mason in Brandon's hornet!

Mason and Ashley with her 1st place trophy!

Also, before I go.... Congrats to Studanski Racing on their newest pitcrew member!! Ryan and Rachel Studanski welcomed baby Jessica last Monday (July 19)! And look at all that beautiful hair!

Getting Ready for Baby!

2010-07-19T10:20:00.006-05:00

Well, I am approaching 26 weeks of pregnancy (rougly 14 to go)! I don't know why when talking about pregnancy you go by weeks, but in months, I am 6 down, with 3 to go! So with the event nearing, I've been trying to figure out sleeping arrangements, and get the things needed to care for a newborn! Mason and his new sister will share a room for a couple years....Yep, you read right, siblings will share a room! I know, pretty uncommon in this day and age... And a boy/girl combo? I should be ashamed! Ha! You might be thinking that Mason can move upstairs (cuz he's old enough), well I don't think he is, and I'll move him when I'm good and ready! :) And when he comes in my room in the middle of night to sleep on the floor next to me, I will let him! Because I know that when he gets older, he's not always going to want his mommy! So I will cherish the time he does want me! I mean, really, do you honestly know of any teenage boys that still want to sleep in their parents' room?! :)

Anyway, the crib bedding came in the mail the other day, so I was setting it all up, and cleaning out the dresser & closet to make room for more clothes & shoes.... And noticed, someone must be sensing a little less attention.............

Yep, as I washed/folded pink clothes, someone played guns in the baby crib!

(Can you seen him off to the left, with his pistol sticking out near the front?!)

And a few days later, as I sewed curtains (which I don't like now that I have them done...so will be making new ones) and hung wall decoration.... He pretended to nap like a baby, and asked me to get him a bottle ("but just water in it, mom")!

And so far, we have not decided on a definite name for our baby girl, but have narrowed the list of 15 down to 4! Shane says anything over 6 letters is too long, I haven't liked any name he's come up with, some of our choices come with interesting intials, and well, basically, we just can't agree on one!! I'm sure I will ultimately convince him to like my favorite (after all, I'm the one doing all the work)!! And if Mason had it his way, she'd be called "Foxy" (off of a movie) or "Ashley Mehrwerth" (cuz she races a hornet, and is Corey's sister)!

And this is the first belly shot that I have of this pregnancy (25 weeks)... Geez woman!...Get with the program!!! Most women take one like every 4 weeks...Oops!

Race Weekend Recap: This past week we raced Thursday at Willmar, where Shane placed 3rd in the MWM and 5th in the Mod. Friday we raced at Princeton where Shane won with the MWM and finished 7th with the Mod. Saturday, Brainerd had cancelled due to rain, so we thought we'd try Ogilvie Raceway... The A-mod heats were just starting, when so was the rain.... So they were also forced to cancel as strong storms were coming!

Monster Trucks and Boats

2010-07-12T13:42:00.000-05:00

As I mentioned in the previous post, Mason & I went to see the monster trucks at the Benton County Fairgrounds. Other than waiting in line to get in for an hour, and waiting in the pizza line for a half hour, we had a pretty good time! Mason really enjoyed it...Me, not so much! It was too much dinkin' around for what the price was.

But afterwards, he got to meet 'Heartbreaker' and 'Martial Law'

(His 2 favorites), and they signed his shirt!

Sunday we went out on the lake/river, and tried some fishing, and swimming. We went fishing under the train bridge (with no luck), but had a laugh as the train came over us. It was extremely loud, and surprised the heck out of Mason (and myself). He nearly fell right out of the boat, trying to hit the floor as fast as he could. Then we cruised to the river to do some swimming. (Even this beached whale found a way into the water...luckily for you, there are no pics to prove it! ;)

If you're looking for race results, scroll down to the previous post.........

Ethanol Tour

2010-07-12T11:12:00.002-05:00

This past week Shane and Dale Mathison headed out for the Corn Grower's Ethanol Series for Midwest Mods. Tuesday was the start of the tour, at Viking Speedway in Alexandria, where Shane started 13th and finished 2nd. Wednesday was racing at Madison Speedway in Madison, MN (which he usually only gets to once a year) and started 12th in the feature and finished 2nd. The reason he was starting so far back in the feature is because of his 'poor' draw & heat race finish. Thursday was the final show of the tour, which was held at KRA in Willmar. Going into the evening, Brian Haben was 5 points ahead of Shane and Justin Jones (who were tied for 2nd). So it came down to how they finished that night's feature. Haben drew the pole with Shane starting right behind him.... Shane had a bit of an advantage being that he runs there weekly, and he ended up winning the feature, putting him in the lead of the Ethanol Tour Points!

The special "Charlie Nelson" trophy!
And yes, Mason wears his Dale Mathison shirt backwards, so that HE can see the car!

Aside from the Ethanol Tour, they also raced A-mods at Willmar, where Shane won the feature with that car. Friday we had planned on not racing at all, and taking Mason to the Monster trucks at the Benton County Fairgrounds...Well, somehow Shane got a bug up his butt to go to Ada, MN's (Norman County Raceway). He finished 1st with the MWM, and 5th with the A-mod. Mason & I still went to the Monster trucks with Sonja & Skyeler, and had a fun (but hectic) time! We also raced Saturday in Brainerd, where Shane finished 6th with the MWM and 7th? in the A-mod.

Saturday, Shane came in the house, and told me to come look at my son.... This is what I found when I went out to the garage! :) He's gonna be a good help in a few years!

Happy 4th of July!

2010-07-06T09:09:00.000-05:00

As tradition would have it (well, since 2006) we raced the Minnesota Modified Nationals at Viking Speedway in Alexandria this weekend. This year Shane started 2nd in his heat and finished 2nd, which was not good enough to qualify because the format is done by passing points (and he didn't pass anyone :) So, the next day he started front row of a consi and won it, so thankfully made the big show! He started 14th, was up to 8th for a while, and fell back to 11th... which is where he finished the 60 lap race! Congrats to Scot Danziesen on taking home the $7,000! They also ran MWM's where he finished 3rd on Friday and 2nd on Saturday.

Prior to the Mod Nationals, we raced KRA in Willmar on Wednesday, where Shane won with the MWM and finished 2nd in the A-mod.

Waiting for the fireworks to start!

Sunday and Monday we had off from racing... so Sunday was spent unpacking, cleaning the hauler out, doing laundry, and getting ready to head back to work (BLAH)... We also went to the fireworks in St. Cloud. Monday we played in the kiddie pool while Shane worked on the cars, then took a pontoon ride with the neighbor! I didn't bring my camera with, but Mason was swimming like a fish (with a life jacket, of course) in the 15ft waters of the Mississippi! He had a blast! I had to keep reminding him to relax, cause he thought his hands and feet had to kick a hundred times a minute to stay a float!

And since Shane was the one to take him in the water, and show him how to swim underneath the pontoon, he had to do everything Shane did the rest of the day... Not sure if that's good or bad! Me and Mason came out to the garage and Mason said 'Dad, why do you have your shirt off?' 'Cuz I'm hot'. So of course Mason says 'yeah, i'm hot too' and takes his shirt off! And even at bedtime, had to wear just boxers (like dad) and wouldn't put on his pajamas, and had to eat the same bedtime snack (chocolate icecream bar...even if vanilla was what he originally wanted)!!

Trying to organize Mason's room, Mason found this cool halloween costume from Noah, that he thought he'd wear all evening while riding his bike and sweating his butt off in the process! And I don't know why he doesn't have shoes on in any pics....well, probably cause he rarely wears them!

This week is the ethanol challenge series for the midwest mod, so we will be racing Tues, Wed, Thur, Fri, and Sat this week!

Midseason Already!

2010-06-27T19:03:00.003-05:00

This past weekend marks the middle of the racing season (not really, since we race into mid October) but most regular scheduled tracks are half done already. Being that we don't race Sunday's anymore with the Golden Spike being closed, this year has been quite a bit less hectic. Usually one, or both, of us are pooped out on racing by now, but it hasn't been all that bad (yet...lol!) The worst part is getting ready to go, and finding that nothing fits me. My bedroom floor will be clean at 3pm, but by the time the bus (aka: hauler) leaves, there's 4 pair of pants & 5 shirts lying on the floor. I'm almost 23 weeks pregnant, and I feel like I did when I was 33 weeks pregnant. Thankfully, 17 weeks to go, doesn't sound all that bad! However, on the contrary, 4 months to go seems like forever! :)

Mason and I having our own race at Willmar!

Skyeler and Mason goofing off in the bunk of the hauler!

Mason and Papa Steve watching the races at Willmar.

Shane finished 2nd in the MWM, and won the Mod feature at KRA in Willmar.

Pep talk before the feature!

Waiting outside Tim's unit..No kids allowed! (Mason, the camera's this way---> )

Princeton on Friday was rained out, so we decided it was the perfect day to go visit Tim (the promoter from Brainerd, who was hurt in the accident a couple weeks ago). I assumed by his caringbridge that visiting hours were Fridays only from 6-8pm, but I was mistaken, they are all week-days from 6-8, so any of you that know Tim and would like visit him are more than welcome. His family says that the more and more people that come may spark parts of his memory back!

We drove in horrible storms the whole way, with Clearwater looking like the worst damage...trees all over the road, an irrigator in the field tipped over, a farmer's market building leveled to the ground, stop lights, and power out.... But anyway, we made it! The nurse said kids under 16 weren't allowed in the unit, so DJ and I took turns in the waiting area with Mason. We found out first hand why they aren't allowed! People with brain injuries tend to be aggressive (and I do remember this with my sis Jenny after her accident...in fact, she still likes to pick a fight with Shane and start hitting him....lol!) But yes, a patient and nurse got into it, then another patient tried to defend her, and all hell broke loose! The patient was sent to his room, and all was calm again! Tim looked exceptionally well!! He knew who all of us were and we had a nice chat! His sense of witty humor is still intact :) and we had some good laughs. Occasionally his mind would wander back to this past winter when he was in Florida for the races, but I believe he is doing awesome, and we are grateful for his wonderful recovery thus far!! God Bless Tim & his entire family! And please continue prayers for Keith Nelson who (according to his caringbridge) is still in a coma. I believe he's been off the sedation medication for a few days, so let's hope that he responds/wakes up soon!

Pics from the airshow

We went to an undisclosed location to get a peak of the airshow for free!

On the way home, I asked Mason what he liked better, the dirt piles or the airplanes? He answered "the rocks and dirt" So good thing we didn't waste our money going to the actual airshow grounds!

Saturday we raced at North Central Speedway in Brainerd, where Shane won the MWM feature and DNF'd in the A-mod feature. After leading about 13 laps, all of sudden the car died (turned out to be the coil?)...Thankfully it wasn't major, and better to happen now than at the upcoming Mod Nationals, which is already next weekend! Since I won't post til afterwards...Happy 4th of July-Stay safe!

EDIT: I forgot that we raced a midweek show this week. Tuesday was the 2nd round of the RACEMN series and was ran at Ogilvie Raceway. Shane finished 6th in the MWM and 10th in the modified.

Sorry so late!

2010-06-22T11:07:00.005-05:00

Sorry I didn't post anything last weekend (June 10-12), we didn't do a whole of racing, except for Friday. And the rest of the weekend we drove around truck shopping. Since Shane traded his dually for the hauler, he was in need of a pick-up for plowing in the winter, and finally we found one in Litchfield, and went to get in on Sunday. It's nothing special, but it'll get the job done!!

This weekend was beautiful weather all weekend, and we got 4 nights of racing in! We were actually suppose to have 5, but Tuesday's special rained out. Wednesday was a special at Brainerd, where Shane finished 2nd in the MWM, and the feature for the A-mod will be made up at a later date due a horrible accident that ended the night. If you haven't heard, there was a bad crash that sent 3 people to the hospital via helicopters. It was so scary (and sad) to witness, and really makes you realize that this sport can be very dangerous. Thankfully we have heard awesome news from 2 of the victims, but the 3rd is still not in the clear, and may not be for some time. You can read his story by clicking here . Please keep Keith Nelson and his family in your prayers. Mason was drawn for junior fan for the mwm, so got a trophy and his pic with the winner (Dustin Scott).

And with Axel, of course!

Thursday was racing Willmar, where Shane won with the Midwest mod, and finished 7th with the A-mod. Friday was Princeton, where he finished 4th with the A-mod and 17th in the Midwest mod.

The boys hanging out!

I watch Tom's son during the week, and Friday night Mason would not leave Tom's side...so I joked that I probably owe him a free week of daycare for all the trouble!

Never say you're not strong enough... With a little leverage and body weight, he got it! Edit: I guess it's hard to tell in the picture, but he was jacking the car up, and it took alot of muscle. So he would hang on the jack handle and put his feet on the front bumper!

Saturday was an interesting night. I just wasn't in the racing mood with the tragedy that happened at North Central Speedway in Brainerd just 3 days prior. But the track had a nice tribute for the victims at intermission, and racing went as usual. We had make-up features from a rain-out a few weeks prior, and Shane ended up winning all 4 features (the midwest mod & mod make-up, and the regular scheduled nights midwest & mod feature). Obviously this was a first for Shane, being that it is pretty rare to even have make-up features. But the night turned out to be a success, and almost unbelievable! And check your "All the Dirt" newspaper, even Mason made the cover! He was pretty excited when I showed him!

This week is racing at Ogilvie tonight (Tuesday) for the RACEMN series, then Wed. off, and back to racing on Thursday again for the weekend. Have a great week!

Rain & Shine

2010-06-08T14:48:00.001-05:00

Thursday was racing in Willmar, along with their bike giveaway! Thankfully Mason was content with just holding the ticket in his hand. It must have been similar to a lottery ticket....As long as you haven't checked the winning numbers, there's still a chance you could be a winner! I checked the numbers and he did not win, but he didn't seem to really care. Shane had an excellent night, getting the feature win in both the A-mod and the B-mod! He tried to give his A-mod trophy to a little boy out on the front stretch, but the boy didn't take it. Shane's sister and I sat in the stands and joked that the kid didn't like Shane. Turns out he didn't think Shane was serious....Like why would a driver give away his trophy?! ;) Later he, his brother, and his mom came over to the pits and were very thankful that each recieved a trophy!!

Friday, we raced at Princeton again, and finished 3rd with the A-mod and 5th with the B-mod. After the race we camped out at Shane's cousins house, and headed to Brainerd from there. Unfortunately it rained most of the morning & afternoon, but Mason had fun having a squirt gun fight with his cousin, Skyeler! About the time we had to load up to leave, the sky cleared, and Mason & Ron built a fire to make some smores for dessert...although we never did make them :(

Brainerd started out sunny and beautiful, but it turned out the rain was still lingering around. We got in all the heats, and then the rain started. The track was forced to cancel the show, and the features will be made up next week.... Or as Mason refers to it: "Dad gets to race 6 times next time!" Geez, that's 86 laps around North Central Speedway in one night!

We race tomorrow...already?!

2010-06-02T13:53:00.000-05:00

Wow, today is already Wednesday, so I might have a hard time remembering results right....If you wanna check my accuracy, go to speednetdirect.com (find KRA, Princeton, & North Central) :) I could, but I'll trust my memory for the time being! I won't even attempt heat race finishes...

Thursday was racing at KRA Speedway in Willmar, MN where Shane won the midwest mod feature! Thankfully for us, he started outside front row, and there were no cautions...Cause the hard charging "medford monster" was coming :) Shane finished 2nd in the A-mod after running 4th most of the race, but passed 2 guys right at the checkers. The announcer announced Shane got 2nd, then in the tech shed, they said he was 3rd, but then he was paid for 2nd... That's how close it was!

Friday was racing in Princeton where Shane won the midwest mod feature! In the A-mod he was running 5th much of the time, until he flew over the edge of corner 3-4, and when he came back on the track he fell back to 9th... Which is where he finished.

Saturday we raced at North Central Speedway in Brainerd, MN where Shane won the midwest mod feature, and finished 2nd in the A-mod. He took 2nd to Don Eischens in the 9E, who also was Thursday's winner at Willmar.

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday.... Well, a week prior we had planned on racing Alexandria, but Shane just got new tires, and being that Alex track eats your tires like their cookies, he opted to go to Proctor instead (or so I thought). But when I mentioned to him (20 minutes prior to the bus leaving) that his Grandpa Bill might ride with us to Proctor, he informed me that we were no longer going there, we were going to go to Rice Lake, Wisconsin instead. There really was no reason as to why he changed his mind, but regardless, it turned out to be the wrong choice! We drove there, unloaded, and the rain started! We waited it out a while, but it just didn't let up, so they were forced to cancel!

Mason slipped in the mud...

Oh, and did I mention the trailer tire blew on the way there?!

On the plus side... the cars are ready to go for this coming weekend (tomorrow already)!

Hangin out at Willmar.... And tomorrow is their "bike-mania giveaway". They are giving away 50 kids bikes! I think I'll secretly put Mason's name in, and ignore the bike giveaway all together... hoping to avoid a repeat of Brainerd's Kids Night

Hang On!

2010-06-01T13:22:00.000-05:00

My pics won't load right now, and I don't have time to wait! So check back this evening or tomorrow for results on the weekend.............

Thanks!

Beautiful Weekend!

2010-05-24T09:45:00.000-05:00

The weather was finally perfect all weekend for racing! Thursday we raced for the first time in Willmar, MN. Shane ended up wrecking the B-mod on the first lap :( but made up for it by winning with the A-mod! Friday, we raced at Princeton, and finished 3rd with the A-mod, and 5th with the B-mod. Saturday night was kid's night at Brainerd, and being that Shane won the week prior, him and Mason got to carry the American flag for the National Anthem!

Then during intermission, all the cars came out onto the track to pass out candy & pictures, and autograph flags (as well as t-shirts, hats, foreheads, cheeks, arms)...yep, people want dirt track drivers signature on their body (thankfully it wasn't any inappropriate places :) !! They sure are diehard fans!

Even the big kids (Chris) enjoy Axel's company....

Quick story... Axel is a mascot and does NOT talk... However, Mason proceeded to yell at him that he didn't win a bike. He was saying something like "Axel, I put my name in that bucket and I wanted that red dirtbike bike." He repeated himself several times, because it appeared that Axel wasn't listening because he didn't respond! Mason walked away and punched Shane's racecar door in frustration. He won a bike last year on kids night, so he thought he would automatically be chosen! Still on Sunday (a day later), the neighbor asked him how he was doing. Mason said "weeelll, I didn't win a bike" (like it was the end of the world). The kid has like 10 bikes to choose from here, so i'm sure he'll survive!!! :)

I almost forgot results after that long explanation of Brainerd's kid night.... But results were just as awesome as kid's night! Shane won both the midwest mod & modified feature! He also won both heats, making it a double clean sweep night! (FYI: clean sweep means that you won both the heat and feature for that class)

Sunday we cleaned up the yard, mowed the lawn, washed the cars, and went for a 4-wheeler ride. No sooner than parking it in the shed, the raindrops started. It was perfect timing, except that Mason wanted to stay outside a lil longer!

In for trouble!

2010-05-19T17:21:00.002-05:00

Can you believe 2 posts in 1 week?! You'd think I'd had some free time or something.... Nope, not really! In fact, i've had tons of ambition lately, and doing some spring/summer cleaning. I've been finding new ways to get use my spendy vacuum (cleaning all the window screens, vacuuming matresses, and carpets, etc), planting flowers, mowing lawn...yada-yada... but anyway.... Here's what Mason gets into when i'm busy.....

Of course Mason said it was an "accident"!! Um, ok, Mason, I believe you....Just like the time your whole leg was covered in ink...It was an accident! (A 10 minute accident?)

This child of mine spazzes out by the site of an ant (like the teenie-tiny, baby ants)..... But yet, he has no problem with whatever this is (worm, caterpillar?)

Oh, and if you think kids only learn by watching their parents....Um, neither of us smoke!!!

And did you know a stick has more uses than a toy? It can be a sword, a gun, a green/checkered flag, a cigarette, a microphone, etc..... And, yep, just like a toy, the kids will fight over sticks!!

Happy Anniversary!!

2010-05-17T08:50:00.004-05:00

Today we have been married for 7 years!

Oh, to be that skinny again!! lol :)

I'll give a quick run-down on this past weekends' results, then me and the 10 kids are headed outside to enjoy this nice weather (and maybe i'll bribe them into helping me clean up the yard :)

Friday night was Princeton once again, and Shane won his B-mod heat, and finished 3rd in the feature! In the A-mod he finished 3rd in both the heat and the feature!

Saturday night we headed to Brainerd, and Shane won both his heats, and won the Midwest Mod feature, and finished 2nd in the A-mod feature after a fun race with Jeff Hart. Shane never had control of the lead, but he definitely gave it his all! Mason even found some friends to 'race' with (even if they were hotwheels)!

Mason joined right in on a game of football with the big boys...He even ran in a couple touchdowns (even if one of them was into the opponents endzone :)

Showing off his new shirt from his friend, Alesha! :)

More Cold and Rain...

2010-05-10T16:12:00.000-05:00

This past weekend was suppose to be KRA Speedway (Willmar)'s opener, and the radar looked iffy all day, but still we decided to make the drive; only to have it cancel before we got out of the truck! Friday was also rained out (pretty much every track in a 200 mile radius was)!

Saturday was racing in Brainerd! There were alot of tracks in the area cancelling because of the cold, or just too wet from all the prior rain; but North Central Speedway has some diehard workers, drivers, and fans, and the attendance was well above average. Shane won both heats, and was scheduled to start front row with both cars... Unfortunately, his luck ran out with both cars before 1 lap of the feature was completed. The B-mod got a flat tire, and the A-mod broke a suspension compotent (slider). On a more positive note, Tom Gill won the midwest mod feature!!! It was pretty exciting...just ask the guy who sat next to me!

Sunday, Shane and his dad put their cars in the trailer, and headed to Bemidji. They don't run A-mods, so the trailer had room for 1 more car, and why not split the cost of fuel, if you can?! Tom (shane's dad) races a mod-4, and had his best ever finish (to my knowledge), winning the heat, and getting 2nd in his feature!! Shane won his heat as well, and got 3rd in his feature. Dan Ebert won the feature, marking his first win of the season! Thanks to Christina (Dan's girlfriend), I got play-by-play results via text, as the race was going on!! I felt as if I was there, but instead spent the afternoon/evening with just Mason and I. We napped, went out to dinner, and rented a couple movies...Pretty much relaxed all day, which is the way Mother's Day should be!!

The weather this coming weekend is 'suppose' to be beautiful, and by next Wednesday (ya, like 9 days away:) is calling for a high of 83 degrees! I can't wait!!!

Weekend Update

2010-05-03T13:16:00.001-05:00

This past Friday was rained out (everywhere)..... We ate supper at House of Pizza, and planned on coming home and relaxing with the Nationwide race, cheering on Steve Arpin! Well, an hour after we sit down, there's a knock at the door....A man says "Can I have 15 minutes of your time to clean the spots on your carpet?" Me, in my mind, {My carpets are filthy and disgusting from daycare kids, so I should really let him in.... But I really don't want you in my house right now (not even for 15 minutes).} I replied with "You're sure it's FREE, and you're sure it'll only take 15 minutes?" He answered "yep, we'll clean those spots up in no time!"

So he goes back to his van, and out comes a huge box, and some girl, and he leaves. I'm thinking, now why are you leaving her here with no vehicle when it's only going to take 15 minutes? Well, I'll tell you exactly why!!! Cause he was a ~~big fat liar~~ man saying anything just so we'd let him in! Well, she was here until 11:20pm!!! (Almost 3 hours!!) She vacuumed our floor with my vacuum, then vacuumed wth her vacuum, showed us the difference and why hers works so much better, vacuumed our matress, read a book about dust mites to us, told us her vacuum would cost $2,300 (but she'd give an end of the month special for $1,800) shampooed our carpet, and finally called for someone to pick her up. The man came in (with much more enthusiam than her...which is probably what made up my mind), and of course he gave us his lowest offer possible (ya, right!)...$1,399. Well, after a ruined Friday night, guess who is the ~~proud~~ new owner of a Kirby vaccuum? Yep, this sucker!! :) It really is a good vacuum, and it should last forever (or so they say)! And it actually makes me want to vacuum cuz I feel it's doing such a good job...So I guess it's worth it, right?!

And, the jetboat that we were looking into buying for our Sundays off, sold anyway, so you could say that I saved myself some money, cause the vacuum was alot cheaper than a jetboat. Oh, wait..Boats, sun, water, family VS. pushing a freakin vacuum around.... Not Cool!

OK, enough of my whining..... Saturday we went to North Central Speedway in Brainerd for their opening night, and Shane did very well! He took 2nd in his B-mod heat, and won the feature! And won his A-mod heat and got 2nd in the feature! We did have to sit through a 2 hour rain/track packing delay, so it did get to be a cold, late night. But the track was in very good shape, and it turned out to be some great racing!!

Trying to stay warm!!

Mason lending a helping hand to the competition! :)

B-mod feature win!

The reason Mason likes going to the races so much...Axel throws candy!!

Sunday, Shane went to Kasson, MN (Dodge County Speedway) with just the B-mod, cause they don't have Wissota A-mods. He won his heat and finished 2nd in the feature to Brandon Davis! I didn't go with, but I heard it was a very exciting, close finish!! Instead Mason and I cleaned all day (although after a morning of 10 kids, you can't even tell), and we went grocery shopping. Mason thinks it's so cool that he can carry 2 cases of pop in by himself!

Kids say the Darndest things!

2010-04-28T10:21:00.003-05:00

Of course, all kids say the darndest things, but here are a few of Mason’s good ones….

“MOM, I WANT A HANGABER ICECREAM” -Referring to wanting an icecream sandwich! Hangaber is hamburger.

Driving home, I told Mason to look at all the stars…. I then took a left and he said “why are the stars turning?” I said the stars stay still, it’s us that’s turning. He then understood, and said “OH YEAH, CAUSE STARS DON'T HAVE STEERING WHEELS"!

Mason always wants to eat junk food before dinner, so when he grabbed some peanut M&M’s, I explained to him what was junk food and how it fills up his belly and he won’t have room for the steak and potatoes I was making. So, after I was done talking to him, I told him to give me a hug before he ran off. He said “YEAH, CAUSE HUGS ARE HEALTHY!”

Mason was outside golfing (with a toy golf set), and he swung and missed. I said “Oh, you missed.” He says “OH YEAH, I FORGOT TO PUSH 'A'.” Because on Wii golf you need to press A when you swing!!

We were getting Mason ready for his preschool open house, and he wasn’t too excited about going to school, so I was telling about all the fun stuff they have there (like a gym with cars and basketball), and he then became really excited to go! He said “Yeah, I wanna go to preschool, buttttt Mom…………… I really love you and wanna stay home with you!” (This one I wrote down to remind me how sweet he can be, not so much that’s it funny.)

I bought this juice that is supposed to be sugar free and healthy and stuff. And being it was so expensive I told Mason that he couldn’t have any cause there’s beer in it (Yes, I lied). He said, “No there’s not”. I said your right, but I bought it for me. Well, of course I gave in, and let him have some. And he takes a drink, and says, “Oh, this is so yummy!” About 10 minutes later we were watching tv and, he says out of nowhere: “MOM, THANKS FOR BUYING ME LIQUOR!”

Mason was washing his hands the other night, and we hear him yelling “WHOA, THAT’S A LOTTA PRICE!” (Not “that’s a LOW price” like it’s suppose to be). Of course he said it a gazillion times just like in the commercial. And to be honest, he’s probably right, cause nothing is a low price anymore!

One of the funniest things he said was when he dropped and broke the pickle jar and had to go on timeout while I cleaned up the glass, he yelled “I’M NEVER COMING TO YOUR HOUSE AGAIN!” cause he actually thinks he’s a daycare kid and can leave or something?!?!

Along the same lines, he was with my sister Jenny one day, and apparently she made him mad, so he said “I’M NEVER WATCHING JENNY AGAIN” … Like she’s the one that needs the babysitter! Well……sometimes maybe….Just kidding, Jenny!

Quick post before bed.

2010-04-25T21:50:00.000-05:00

I know I have an extremely busy and stressful week ahead (just looking at my daycare chart about gives me a mental breakdown :) so I will just do a quick post of results before I hit the hay, and call 'er a day!

Friday was Princeton's opener, where we will probably be going most Friday's from here on out, being that I-94 in Sauk Centre is shut down. Shane would like to try out a few other tracks too if he can get off work early enough. But anyway, he won his heat with the midwest mod and also won the feature later that evening! With the A-mod, he finished 2nd in heat, and 4th in the feature!

Saturday, we were scheduled to go to Brainerd, but they cancelled due to rain, as did every other potential track we thought about going to (Ogilvie, Alexandria, Rice Lake, Deer Creek, etc). But then I got a text that Arlington was still racing (tho they don't run A-mods). So we loaded up Shane's car, and Denis Czech's car (they split the cost of fuel, so it wasn't all that bad) and we were off. Shane won his heat and feature! Denis finished 2nd in his heat and 3rd in the feature!

And yet again, I left my camera at home........Oops!

Long Overdue...

2010-04-19T11:14:00.003-05:00

So I haven't updated in weeks (maybe more). I've been so busy with daycare (I got 2 new kids, and have no openings, which I guess is good for the money, but not so much for my insanity). And now that racing has taken my weekends, I really don't have much time (and when there is time, I can usually find something better to do than type :) And usually the people that care how Shane does send me a text asking for results, so I'm not too sure if this blogging is even worth my time... But for now, I'll continue to write when I get time...

But the races have been up and running for the past 3 weekends (since April 3rd). We raced at Chateau Raceway, Deer Speedway, and Viking Speedway since then. Shane has picked up 2 wins with the midwest mod, and has been so-so with the A-mod. He has done fairly well with "new" A-mod at Chateau and Deer Creek.

Pics from Deer Creek 2 weeks ago

This past weekend was Viking Speedway's annual Fall Classic (which was post-poned til Spring). Thursday night was practice and we brought both A-mods there to test and tune. He said the "white" (new) one felt better driving, but he kept getting better lap times with the black "old" car. He says the engine in the black car is way better than the white car, so he opted to race the black one.... Well, he couldn't seem to get out of his own way come feature time! He ended up placing 13th.

Shane redrew a 1 for his midwest mod starting position, and led all of it, for the $1,000 paycheck! Guess who else hit the jackpot?! ...... ME! I won $446 on the 50/50 drawing, which I spent $5 on tickets! No shopping spree for me though.... I think I'll save it for entry fees for me and Mason!

So I always used to keep my camera in my purse, and now, since it takes up more room than my old one, I keep in the closet. Well sure enough, that's where it sat all weekend. So sorry for no "Fall Classic in the Spring" pics!

The weather this weekend was beautiful, Sunday Shane took the cars to Brainerd's practice, and Mason and I spent all day outside, riding 4-wheeler, biking, raking, and then he helped Shane wash the cars when he got home. I was hoping the day wouldn't end, cuz I hate Mondays just as much as you do!

Last, but not Least...

2010-03-30T13:39:00.000-05:00

Here is the 3rd (and final) car with the graphics on! It started out as a bare frame just to have as a spare, and he'd put it together if and when he ever needed it. Well, someone offered him a complete roller at a steal of a deal, so he put it together with some spare parts laying around (and a few new ones). What's he gonna do when he needs those spare parts for his primary cars? I don't know...take this one apart!

Friday we are off to the first race weekend of the season (besides Florida), Chateau Raceway in Lansing, MN...weather permitting, then to Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, MN on Saturday. Neither of these tracks run Wissota modifieds in there program, so it will be with the Midwest mod only. Hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful weather lately!

Thanks to Greg George Grafix out of Princeton, MN for doing such a great job on the wraps!

Happy Birthday!!

2010-03-27T09:52:00.001-05:00

Two years ago today I gave birth to one of my beautiful baby boys.... Brady Louis! We Love and Miss You everyday! I know I have a cute picture of Mason holding Brady somewhere, but I can't find it in my computer right now. And I also realized just last month that the engraving people forgot an "s" at the end of sleep. I guess it's a reminder to everyone that nobody is perfect, except Jesus!

Work before Play

2010-03-22T09:50:00.002-05:00

Mason chopping ice! This was a good time occupier.

And he actually likes to vacuum (which is good, cause I could use the help)!

This was right after he crashed into me while I was riding my pedal bike.

Shane then taught him how to pull the brake. But he took a break to say HI!

Saturday we took a day trip to the Mall of America to go to Underwater World, and rode some of the rides at the Nickelodeon Park. It was a fun, but exhausting day! Way too many people for me! Oh funny story about Underwater World.... Adult admission was $18.99 per person, children 3+ were $13.49, and children aged 2 and under were free. So, in an effort to save some money we planned to say that Mason was 2. So when we get there, the greeter lady tries to convince us to buy a family membership for $95 (for Shane, I, Mason, Neil, Kloey & Kaydence-some friends of ours) and we wouldn't have to wait in line either, but I said "No thanks that will cost more cause he's free cause he's 2". Mason says as loud as possible...."Mom, I'm 3...Mom, I'm not 2, I'm 3!" I whispered to him "Mason today you're 2, now be quiet!" So, the whole time we waited in line (like 45 minutes) to purchase our tickets, we had to rehearse to Mason that he is 2. And if he didn't cooperate we would feed him to the sharks! So, finally he understood (in a very confused way), that today it was ok to fib. But I didn't trust that his little mouth wouldn't blurt it out at the register, so we coaxed him into pretending he was sleeping on dad's shoulder and I would do the talking. So, I pay for Shane and I and say that he's 2, she gives us wristbands, and says he doesn't need one unless he wants. I said Yes he'll want one when he wakes up. She said she needs to put it on him, so he has his eyes closed as tight as possible (to the point he's squinting, and doesn't looked relaxed one bit), and flops his arm off of dad's shoulder and over to the lady. She had to have known he was faking, but we pulled it off and saved our $13.49. And to be honest, it wasn't all that great. It was good, just definitely not worth the $40 we paid, and the $50 Neil paid. The money would've been much better spent on more rides!

Sunday we spent the day outside. Shane and Mason on the little 4-wheelers, and me on my pedal bike, until Mason crashed into my front wheel when he was turning around and bent my handlebars! Needless to say, he does know how to use the brakes now!

Say Cheese!!

2010-03-05T09:28:00.004-06:00

Because I haven't posted in a while, and we actually haven't done anything real exciting since Florida, except play wii for hours on end, ride the vintage snowmobiles, and work on racecars.... I'll post some more pics of Mason!

And yes, most parents usually get their child's picture taken on or near their annual birthday, but I tend to procrastinate at things that involve making an appointment and paying for services... Hence, why Mason turned 3 on January 11th, and still hasn't had a 3 year check up with his doctor (which will probably just get bypassed til he's 4).

But back to pictures...... Mason dropped my camera and broke it! And then Shane and Neil tried to fix it, and well, broke it MORE! And yes, I told Mason that he was buying me a new one, and he replied "I don't have any monnnnney!" To which I told him that I would take his birthday money to pay for it (because I was so upset at him for always being so clumsy and careless). But of course, I did not take his money, because broken things are a given when raising children! And he's just too cute to get mad at!!

So, we were shopping one night and were looking at new cameras, and I said that I'd go home and do some research as to which one would work best for me (and to be honest, I didn't even have enough money in my checking account to buy it that night)... Well, Shane went and bought the one I had been looking at and gave it to me for Valentine's Day!

So I finally did Mason's 3 year pics (with my new camera)! And for $25, I got all the 5x7's and 8x10's needed for the family, instead of the normal $80-$100 that I used to spend! And it's good to be able to save some money, cause in about 7 months we'll be having to buy diapers again!!! Yes, we are having another baby! But I promised Mason he would always be my "Best Bud", so I gotta figure out a way to explain that to the new one! :)

It was dark and I had the kitchen light on, that's why he looks like a 'red head' in this pic!

Happy Valentine's Day (a li'l late).....

2010-02-19T15:48:00.000-06:00

We spent Valentine's Day at the Eystad's house watching the Daytona 500. It was a relaxing, fun day (and the finish of the race was worth watching). Normally when the Nascar race is on, I take a nap...Wait, I did take a nap during the track surface repair job! Sorry Corey and Jen if I left a little drool on Corey's Spongebob blankie! :)

Mason after eating his "Fun-Dip" (aka...green sugar)

His new movie (Brother Bear 2)

We went to the neighbors house for a little guitar hero, and Mason loved it. We had this one laying around, and played it once a year ago, and kinda forgot about it....Keeps him occupied, even if he does get booed off stage after 10 seconds. :)

Watching his new movie with Heidi's puppy!

The daycare kids usually sleep in separate areas, but I forgot to separate them on this day, and then I realized they were awfully quite...Which either means: trouble or this (sleeping)! They were wiped out!

Things I've done

2010-02-09T12:49:00.009-06:00

Flew to Tampa
Drove to Barberville, FL
Drove to Orlando
Met the biggest jerk that I've ever met (should not be allowed to interact with customers)
Met the nicest person...He was the owner of BLP products and should really fire the guy I previously talked about.
Got a tour of BLP.... Actually quite interesting on how they build/assemble carburators.
Drove back to Barberville (racetrack)
Drove Back Tampa to watch Late Model racing
Spent $35 dollars to watch them follow eachother
Drove back to Barberville (racetrack)
Slept
Did Laundry for 4 men
Went to the gift shop
Sat on the beach
Listened to the waves
Went downtown Daytona Beach
Sat at the bar next to Clint Boyer
Went whippin' shitties in a rental car with Clint Bowyer
Sat and watched boys work on cars
Watched Shane buy a Ryan Bunton hoodie
Watched everyone make fun of Shane for buying a shirt when he has no clue who was on it (it was on clearance and he liked the colors!)
Watched Denis chase 2 bears that kept coming out the woods to eat people's leftover food (literally 20 feet away from people)
Watched Denis swim across the gator pond for $96 (length-wise, mind you)
Watched Brendon and Shane get attacked by fire ants
Sat at dinner to the table next to Robby Gordon
Had Robby Gordon take a group photo of us (and he purposely cut all of our heads out the pic)
Took a group pic with Robby Gordon flicking off Chris (I think cuz of his wierd mustache)
Drank a "fish bowl"
Went Gator hunting (or searching)
Saw 2 gators about 100 yards from the pond that Denis swam across earlier
Watched them chomp at rocks being tossed near them
Woke up at 4 am to watch the shuttle launch, only to have it be cancelled til the next day
Watched the Saints win the Superbowl
Went to the arcade/go-kart track
Woke up the next morning at 4 am to watch the space shuttle launch
Went to the airport to catch my flight home
Came home to icy roads and snow everywhere
Seen a van rolled over in the ditch
Watched a guy try to take a turn going too fast and ran into the stop sign in the ditch
Picked up Mason
Home Sweet Home
Showered a 'real' shower, only to realize the water heater wasn't working
Fixed the water heater
Unclogged the sewer (yes, by myself cuz Shane is still in warm Florida)
Wondered why our in-floor heat isn't working in our bedroom
"HOME BITTER-SWEET HOME"

The gator pond Denis swam across....

The gator in a pond at the end of the pits

The crew + Robby Gordon

Racing around the gator pond with Clint Bowyer

Jen sure drank hers fast.... JK, it wasn't Jens!

Searching for gators

Waiting in line for go-karts

The directv van upside down on my way home from the airport

Night 5 (Sunday...shoulda been Saturday)

2010-01-31T16:49:00.003-06:00

Both our guys place in the top 10 for the finale of East Bay racing!

I flew into Tampa on Saturday evening, and unfortunately brought the cold weather with me. Saturday night's races were cancelled due to rain, so they ran on Sunday afternoon. Shane started outside pole in his heat, and had a very impressive run, coming up short (once again) in a battle with Jared Landers, who passed him on the last corner coming to the checkered. It was a crucial move on his part, as only the winner transferred to the main event. And it wasn't too disappointing, cause Jared Landers (of Batesville, Arkansas) is sort-of a big deal! I mean, he did win just about every race here in Florida last year during the winternationals!

Shane is then in a B-main, and finishes 2nd (the top 4 transferred). That set him in 9th row outside on the starting grid for tonights 75 lap main event. He did exceptionally well, starting 18th and finishing 8th after the grueling 75 laps. They were allowed one manditory pit stop to fuel up, and get water, but nothing else. If you chose to change tires, you would be put to the back, which only a couple guys opted to do. One of them being Jared Landers, who flew from the back of the pack to the front in a hurry. He took the lead, but Rodney Wing had other plans in mind...Like becoming the first driver to ever win the East Bay Winternationals twice! He did succeed in doing so, with a pass on the white flag lap!

Dale won his heat with a pretty big lead over 2nd place, which put him 6th row outside for the feature. He raced his way to a10th place finish in the main event! And we are now headed to Volusia Speedway near Daytona Beach, where racing will start on Tuesday! Thankfully they have a day off...The cars are looking pretty beat up, and could use a little cosmetic fixing!

Night 4 (Friday)

2010-01-29T23:12:00.001-06:00

Things are starting to turn into a blur... tonight's results look similar to last night, and I can't seem to keep track of who finished where! Shane started 5th in his heat and finished 5th. I can't remember much of his B-main, but I think he finished 8th. Tonight he was chosen for the strawberry dash, which him and Brady Short put on a heck of a show, with Shane coming up short on the last corner. It was such an exciting race, and fun to watch....I sure got my $50 worth of fun (the cost for the pay per view). Well, that race, and the killer move that Dale Mathison put on to take the lead in his heat, was worth of every penny!

Shane did not make the main event tonight. I figured he'd be getting a little bummed out with his performance, but he says what he's doing is the best he can do with what he has to work with. He said the car is setup perfect and hasn't felt better. Tonight he was flat footing around the entire track, and he still can't pass anyone. I told him if he goes again, he better have the 'right' motor to be able to keep up... He replies with "then I won't have an excuse to suck". It was a good laugh!

Onto Dale....He was the announcers pick to keep an eye on in his heat, and boy did he ever call that! I can't even explain it in the amount of intensity it was. But basically he got held up by a couple cars in the beginning, and was running 5th. He broke free from them, and drove into turn 3-4 harder and faster than anyone I have seen in my life, and surprised the crap out of the announcer. This killer slide job put him in the lead (is it still a slide job if no contact is made and I don't think either of the other guys had to lift, cause by the time they saw him, he was gone!) The video people have instant replay, and every time they replayed it, my jaw would drop in amazement!

Feature time was not quite as exciting....He (Dale) was running 6th, and was holding his own when apparently he got a little high in corner 4, and as another car was passing him, that car slid up (I'm assuming he thought he had Dale cleared, but clearily did not, when they made contact. The announcer said Dale was starting to come down, but I thought he had two choices: hit another car, or hit a concrete wall. So that sent Dale to the pits, ending his night.

*Note: this my recollection of the way things happened. There is always three sides to a story: yours, their, and the truth!
*I probably won't be doing updates as much when I'm in Florida (it's vacation, so I should really stay off the computer). But Dale's got his laptop along, so if I get bored I'll update this. Sunday and Monday there is no racing, that is when we will head to Volusia Speedway (near Daytona Beach). The weather prediction is looking horrible, with lots of rain in the forecast, so we'll have to see how much racing they get in.

Night 3 (Thursday)

2010-01-28T23:22:00.002-06:00

So tonight's race didn't go the greatest.... Shane started his heat 2nd row inside and finished 3rd, which was just one shy of making the main event. He then had to run a B-feature, which he started pole and finished 6th...Not so good! So that was the end of his evening. They do have a race for non-qualifiers called The Strawberry Dash, but the way I understand it, they do a random draw of the non-qualifiers, and he wasn't chosen tonight.

Dale (Mathison) had a strong run going in his heat, when all of a suddened he slowed with troubles (I think it was a flat tire). He also had to run a B-feature, which he placed 7th (I think). He was chosen for the Strawberry Dash, and was running 4th when he and another car tangled, causing another tire to go down. He seems to have a very fast car, just needs a little more luck. And you know they say: "It's one part hard work, one part skill, and one BIG part luck"

And the winner is.......Rodney Wing! 2 nights left at East Bay, then off to Volusia Speedway!