Halloween 09"

Halloween was so much fun this year! Our boys are a little old to be trick or treating but never to old to have friends over for a good time.. So they invited a few friends and we did too! We grilled out and had yummy desserts and just lots of fun! There is nothing like a house full of family and friends and chit chat and laughter lots of laughter!:) After it started getting late upstairs was filled with boys and the game of rock band was on, so of course this momma had to go rock out with them a little bit and I am sure they thought I was a weird momma but oh well I was singing Eye of the Tiger better than any of them!!lol!! Anyway all I can say is that God has truly answered our prayers when we asked for friends for our boys, good friends that have the same morals and values that we are trying to instill in our boys. They were all so well behaved, very polite, very respectful and very very appreciative!On Sunday morning we all got up and had breakfast and they all went to church with us, we had a pew filled.. Thank you Lord for hearing our prayers and knowing the desires of our hearts. The boys all made a pack that this would be a traditional event every year which is just fine with us!!!!

My Visit to St Louis

I have been wanting to go back to St Louis for a visit by myself so bad and probably about the middle of September, I thought I was gonna go crazy if I did not get there soon. I seriously think it was because it was Fall and it still felt like Summer here.. I was missing all of the fall colors and the crisp cool air and the cute fall clothes and of course all of my friends.. I remember telling my friends here that the day it turned cool in Texas we were going to putt on our winter coats and boots and go to Starbucks and sit outside and drink our coffee.. Oh yes I am now a official coffee drinker:) cant do the black coffee yet but hey I am doing it ok!! It was time to grow up and drink coffee with all my friends here:) Ok anyway I think Chuck got tired of hearing me say I wanna go to St Louis I wanna go.. I miss my friends so finally he said OK... set a date and book your flight.. So I called all of my friends to make sure they were going to be there and to make arrangements with who I was staying with and I got all that settled and booked my flight.. When my boys found out that I was going, of course they wanted to go too but no no no I needed a Momma Getaway.. I left on a Friday morning at 7:00 a.m. and got there at 10:00 a.m. When we were flying in to St Louis it looked like a box of fruity pebbles, it was gorgeous, I got so excited and could not wait!!! My sweet friend Margy picked me up with her son Cole and we took off shopping and then we went to a new restaurant by the name of 54th Street it was yummy and then we shopped more. Her husband Steve came and we all went out to eat St Louis Pizza and toasted ravioli( STL thing) we had so much fun just visiting and laughing with their 3 boys.. They were our old neighbors so I was staying right down the street from my old house which was a little sad...:( The next day their boys had a wrestling tournament and they wanted me to come watch and I wanted to see them because needless to say I have never watched wrestling up close and personal.. Well!!! that was very exciting and very entertaining!! I was so tempted to go out there and pull their opponents off of them and scream get off of my boys!!At noon that day my friend Karen came and got me and we took off to meet my sweet friend Kathy and sweet friend Sue for lunch and then we went shopping in the little old town of Cottleville, it has lots of cute old houses that have been turned into shops.. Oh I had so much fun and bought a few things, the weather was honestly picture perfect!That night I spent the night with Karen and her family, we have known them since Phillip and her son started kindergarten and they have a sweet daughter named Kirsten who is Peyton's age, she is a sweetie pie and has turned into a beautiful young lady...That night that had invited several friends over for a chili cook off and it was a blast, the chili was delish and the games we played were so much fun, they introduced me to a game called sequence oh how fun, I had to come home and buy it,, The next morning my friend Jenn came to get me with her daughters J and Livi.. Oh it was so good to see them and be with them.. We went to church at our old church and that was a really good feeling seeing all of our old church family and hearing our old Pastor preach..I was really looking forward to going to church and seeing everyone but also was afraid of what my feelings might be... I prayed some mighty prayers that God would really reveal to me that this is where he really wants me at this time in my life..And I am happy to see say that he clearly let me know that this is where I belong.. I missed my church here and all my sweet friends.. Its just so funny how life moves on with me and my friends. Of course there are some friends there that I did not want to leave and had thoughts of bringing them with me...But those friends will have a special place in my heart and in my life forever.. One particular was my sweet Livi, after church on Sunday we went to lunch and she said she wanted to pray so we all held hands and she thanked God for letting her step mom come to visit(me) how cute is that.. She has no idea what step mom means but I think she was just thinking of me as her second momma xoxoxomuuuah~~I love you Livi lou!!!From there we met the other girls and needless to say I felt like I had died and gone to girl heaven... I love those girls so much but I have to honestly say sometimes I have a hard time keeping up with their conversations, they all talk so fast and they talk in stereo, lol:)I have to say ok wait wait wait slow down your turn now your turn...lol.. I wonder if I would have stayed in St Louis if I would have been able to keep up with their talking?? lol Oh how I miss being with them!That night we dropped the girls off at home and went out to one of my favorite places Chevys, oh how I hated that place when we first moved there but by the time we left it was one of my favorites..I have so many fun memories there. We met some girlfriends from church and had dinner and chatted for a few hours, it was fun having a girls night out with all my old friends.. The next day, Jenn and I shopped shopped shopped and came up with project after project. We had our annual friendship lunch at THE CASTLE... mmmmmm yummmm it was so good.... The next morning we met Beth,Sharon and Sweety for breakfast and had a great time catching up and then it was time for me to go to the airport.Before we went to the airport we needed to shop just a little longer to get everything in.. We went to the mall and I bought the boys new cardinal tshirts because YES we are die hard Cards fans and always will be~~ and then we had to go to Garden Ridge to get a few more decorating items for Jenn's house...And then it was off to the airport, such a sad ride:) When it was time for me to say goodbye we both cried and cried it is just so hard to say goodbye when you love someone so much and you know you live 14 hrs away.. Some friends are like family and all of these friends definitely are! Thank you all for your sweet hospitality and please know I love and miss you all so much and now I am waiting for your visit!! xoxoxo Hope to see you soon!!!!

THE RAY BOYS FACE EACH OTHER ON THE BASEBALL FIELD

I have been meaning to write this post for weeks now and have been so busy, I thought I would just post again when they played each other again but thats not for a few weeks so I thought I could go ahead and publish this one... As most of you know our boys played against each other in baseball a few weeks ago and it actually turned out very very good~Why is it as a parent when your kids have confrontations with each other you just assume the worst is gonna happen.. I just knew these two would smack talk in the week leading up to the game and then on the field and after the game and then of course for the weeks to follow.... But it did not happen that way :) Well, I take that back it did start at the beginning of the week and I stopped it immediately... and it did stop but Chuck was just as bad as they were toward Phillip as HIS team was playing against Phillips team, there is still some bitterness there toward him since he decided to play for our friend Coach Keith:) Keith laughs and says that is true loyalty towards him! Anyway we all got ready and took off to the game and of course they knew they could not say anything to each other or else they were gonna get it from Momma.. So lots of looks were going on and of course when we all got to the field and the boys took the field to warm up with their teams, their teammates did enough smack talk for both of them towards each other.. Of course everyone found it kind of comical but Not me..Ok so I made them pose for pictures before and they were cracking me up, they were not happy at all, we made them say good luck to each other and shake hands and we told them to hug and say they loved ea ck other..lol that did not happen.. They said I was pushing it..lol. Anyway they both played a great game.. Phillip pitched and Peyt got a couple of hits off of him and of course Peyt thought that was great and Phillip would just laugh.. It was really neat to see them playing together and I have to say we are very proud of them way they handled themselves.. It was very stressful for me and Chuck as their parents and of course as Peyts Coach and Phillips Dad.. He wanted Phillip to play the best he could but he also wanted his team to win.. It was so funny because when Peyt came up to bat while Phillip was pitching I was just so stressed and a little confused, I thought ok who do I yell for first what do I say... I was standing by Phillips dugout and I was yelling lets go Ray boys... Cmon brothers.. Keith steps out of the dugout and says Shannon, you need to say Good Hit Peyt, Good Pitch Phillip... Be fair Momma.. so needless to say Thanks Keith for keeping me in line:)The game ended with Phillip's team winning 12-7 but both teams played very well and our boys showed really good sportmanship manners:) I just knew at the end of the game with the teams shake hands and say good game, I just knew they were gonna break out and wrestle on the mound but they did not, they handled themselves very well and so did their Daddy:)lol...We are very proud of both of our boys and no matter who won the ballgame, they are both winners to us.. We will keep you posted on the next game when they face each other again.. Just pray that they keep their awesome qualities up~~~

MAGNOLIA HIGH SCHOOL HOMECOMING 2009'

WOW WOW WOW IS ALL I CAN SAY!! THE QUOTE THAT WE HAVE HEARD OVER AND OVER SINCE BEFORE WE MOVED HERE IS "EVERYTHINGS BIGGER IN TEXAS" WELL, WE FOUND OUT THAT HIGH SCHOOL HOMECOMING SURE IS AND ALL THE TRADITIONS THAT GO WITH IT:) SO OK! THIS IS HOW IT WENT DOWN.."" PHILLIP SAYS I WANT TO ASK ANGELA TO HOMECOMING? OK GO FOR IT THAT WILL BE FUN.... SO A FEW WEEKS LATER SHE WAS OVER AT OUR HOUSE SWIMMING AND HE COMES IN WITH THE BIGGEST SMILE ON HIS FACE AND HE SAID SHE SAID YES!! YEAH!! SO OK... BACK IN OUR DAY... YOU WENT TO THE HOMECOMING GAME WITH YOUR BOYFRIEND OR GIRLFRIEND OR JUST YOUR FRIENDS ESPECIALLY IF YOUR BOYFRIEND PLAYED FOOTBALL OR YOUR GIRLFRIEND CHEERED...AND THEN THE DANCE WAS AFTER THE GAME.. WELL, NOT HERE ITS A ALL WEEKEND AFFAIR. I DON'T THINK ANY OF MY DATES EVEN BOUGHT ME A COURSAGE FOR HOMECOMING IT WAS JUST COME DRESSED CUTE IN CASUAL CLOTHES AND GO TO THE DANCE AFTER THE GAME AND THEN GO TO MCDONALDS...HERE IT IS FORMAL.SO YOU HAVE TO BUY FORMAL CLOTHES AND THE GIRL BUYS A FORMAL DRESS AND SHOES AND JEWELS AND GETS THE NAILS AND TOES DONE:) OK SO IT WAS A BLAST.. THE WEEKEND BEFORE THEY ALL CAME IN FROM SCHOOL AND SAID THEY HAD TO MAKE HOMECOMING TSHIRTS AND WEAR THEM ON THE DAY OF THE GAME... OK SO OFF WE ALLLLLL GO TO WALMART BUY SHIRTS AND PAINTS AND IRON ON LETTERS AND OF COURSE BLING FOR THE GIRLS.. SORRY BUT MY MOTTO IS EVERY GIRL HAS TO HAVE SOME BLING!:) SO FRIDAY NIGHT WAS TSHIRT NIGHT THAT ENDED UP INTO A PIZZA PARTY AND ROCKIN TIL MIDNIGHT, IT WAS FUN FUN!!SO ON SATURDAY I TOOK PHILLIP OUT SHOPPING FOR HIS OUTFIT:) FUN.. HE COULD HAVE CARED LESS.. AND THEN ON SUNDAY ANGELA ASKED ME TO GO DRESS SHOPPING WITH HER AND HER SISTER AND HER MOM WHICH WAS A FUN TIME, I AM NOT USE TO DOING THESE THINGS SINCE I HAVE BOYS IT WAS QUITE A EXPERIENCE BUT OH SO MUCH FUN AND THEY BOTH PICKED OUT CUTE CUTE DRESSES AND SHOES...SO THE NEXT FRIDAY MORNING WAS THE DAY OF HOMECOMING AND IT ALL STARTED AT 6:45 A.M. THERE IS A BIG TRADITION HERE THAT FOR HOMECOMING IF YOU HAVE A DATE YOU BUY THEM A HOMECOMING MUM FOR THE GIRL AND A GARTER FOR THE GUY..I HAVE NEVER EVER IN MY LIFE SEEN THIS...IT IS CRAZY.. YOU HAVE TO LOOK AT THE PICS TO EVEN UNDERSTAND WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT! I CAN NOT EVEN DESCRIBE IT.. YOU PUT ALL THEIR HOBBIES AND INTEREST ON IT..MY GOODNESS! AND THE BIGGER THE BETTER!!WE DID SO GOOD BECAUSE ANGELA WON BEST MUM IN THE FRESHMAN CLASS AND HER SISTER WON IN THE JUNIOR CLASS.. WOOT WOOT.. WE DID GREAT!! SO OK THEY EXCHANGED THESE AND WORE THEM ALL DAY AT SCHOOL.. CAN YOU EVEN IMAGINE WEARING THESE AND TRYING TO CONCENTRATE ON SCHOOL WORK AND CAN YOU EVEN IMAGINE BEING A TEACHER... OH MY I WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO THINK:) SO THEY GO TO SCHOOL COME HOME, HANG OUT HERE AT OUR HOUSE AND GO TO TO THE GAME WHICH WE WON 21-14 IT WAS A GREAT GAME.. TONS OF FUN!! AND SO THEN ON SATURDAY WAS THE BIG DANCE,THEY HOOKED UP WITH SOME FRIENDS FOR DINNER AND THEN ALL WENT TO THE THE DANCE TOGETHER, THEY HAD A BLAST!! AFTER THE DANCE THEY ALL CAME HERE AND HUNG OUT AND TALKED ABOUT WHO WAS WITH WHO AND WHO WAS WEARING WHAT AND ON AND ON AND ON.. OH MY IT BROUGHT BACK SO MANY MEMORIES:) TO BE IN HIGH SCHOOL AGAIN.. i HAVE MIXED EMOTIONS.. IT WAS ALOT OF FUN IN THOSE YEARS WITH NO RESPONSIBILITIES BUT YET THE HEARTACHES OF GROWING UP AND DEALING WITH BOYFRIENDS AND MEAN GIRLS:) I PRAY MY KIDS HAVE GREAT EXPERIENCES AND LOTS OF BLESSINGS IN THEIR HIGH SCHOOL YEARS.. NOW WE ARE EXPERIENCED TEXAS HOMECOMING PEOPLE SO WE NOW KNOW WHAT TO DO AND WHAT NOT TO DO!!:) WE ALL HAD A TON OF FUN AND LOOK FORWARD TO NEXT YEAR!!!

A New School Year !!!

So sorry I have not posted in forever but we have been super busy as always!! Well, as you know Summer is Over and a New School Year has started and it could not be better.. Both of the boys started new schools this year and absolutely love them. Both of the campuses are alot bigger than they are use to but they have adjusted just fine and we have not heard one complaint from either one of them!Fall Baseball has started too and we are gearing up for the season to start, opening day is this Saturday so we are anxiously awaiting that! Chuck was asked to coach a team so of course he did not hesitate to say YES:) I think he loves it more than either one of the boys do,, now hear me if you know The Ray Boys that's all they love to do both of them, they eat sleep and dream baseball its their life and they get it honestly from their Dad! anyway he decided to Coach and he was so excited because this is the only time in both of the boys lives that they are able to play on a team together so we were more than excited YES! practice at the same time, games at the same time, get to watch one game instead of running back and forth to the other field..woo hoo... Will not have to be at the field 6 days out of 7 YES YES YES.. went to NO NO NO real quick.. Phillip says he would rather play on a team with his friends for the Coach he has played for since we have lived here.. Cant make it easy for us so we gave in and said ok that's fine have fun that's what its about right have fun and in the mean time we are both grumbling and Peyton is just thinking wow you would rather play with your friends instead of me and Dad hmmm.. so guess what its RIVAL TIME now oh my gosh I do not know if I will be able to stand it..... and can you imagine when they play each other OMG!!!! help!! Can you all come for that game so I do not have to go it alone?? Anyway it will be fun!!So school has started and Fall Ball is on the way so Life in the Ray house is getting back to normal!Stay Tuned for the first Texas Homecoming Game and Dance post.. It is more than you can even imagine..... Thanks for making us a part of your day!!

Happy Birthday Momma!!!!//Nana!!!XOXOXOXOXOXO

Today is My Momma's Birthday and I wanted to take this time to honor her on my blog today~~ Wow! Where do I even begin!? There is a TON to say and I am not sure where to even start! But I will start by saying Happy Two Two Momma!! I hope that you have a amazing day and that it will be filled with lots of love and a ton of blessings because that is what you are to me and my family! My Mom is my Momma and she is also My Best Friend she is My Boys Nana and she is My Husbands Other Mother.. We are so blessed to have her in our lives! I Thank God every single day for this woman! I Thank HIM for hand picking her to be My Momma.. I can honestly remember when I was little how she would hug me and tell me that she loved me, I remember her telling me I could be anything I wanted to be, I just had to do to my best, I remember her laying with me when I was sick, I remember her sitting outside watching me ride my bike and roller skate..I remember when I was about 6 years old, I was so excited that it was her birthday and me and my friend snuck off, there was a field behind our house and then there was a IGA grocery store, we took 100 pennies and bought her a birthday cake and it had to have yellow roses on it because that is her favorite flower( or so I thought:)I just remember I wanted to have a party for her because she always made sure I had a pretty cake with flowers on it and always made sure I had a party!!We moved quite a bit while I was growing up and I will always remember my mom always made sure that we were happy and that we made friends.. After I became a teen, I was very rebellious and just loved to make her mad,, I guess it was being the age and thinking I was grown and I knew it all, I am really surprised that she did not kill me because I think back and think how blessed I am that she did not give up on me and that she continued to pray and pray for me and that she still loved me! Oh I can remember some times but I sure will not share those not so sweet moments that will be between me and her..haha:)After many prayers.. God really started working in my life and I realized that friends come and go and even boyfriends came and went but My MOMMA was there forever so I thought it would be best if I got all my priorities right.. Chuck and I started seriously dating right after our senior year and he just loved my mom, he saw pics of her when she was in high school and he would tell her he would have given my daddy a run for his money if he was back in their day:) My Momma was beautiful and she still is!! She always would quote to me "Beauty is as Beauty does" she always told me to be myself and never ever feel like I had to hold someones hand to make it... she told me the first quote for as long as I can remember she still does:) but the last one was when I was in high school, I remember her writing me a poem and a letter that I still have! Anyway Momma if you ever really wondered if I ever listened to you and really took what you were saying to heart YES I did and I still DO!! When Chuck and I got married my parents made sure that our wedding was beautiful and that everything I wanted they made sure I had it! My momma was at my side with all of the planning and all of the showers and just everything...My momma has always played a very important role in my life not just as a MOTHER and FRIEND but everything a Mother should be.. She has always always set a example of what a Mother should be, what a wife should be, what a friend should be!! She as set the example of what a southern lady should be and act like, she has set the example of what a daughter of Christ should be... After our boys were born, SHE was there and she was very excited, she was there when they both were born, she was there when they both came home from the hospital, she stayed with us and helped us adjust, she would cook and clean and take care of me and the baby, she even would spend the night with me and let me sleep after they were born and she would get up and take care of them the first week, I think that was when Phillip was born by the time Peyton was born I had it, I was a pro..hahaha!! She was always there and I appreciate that and will remember that forever!! When the boys were 2 and 4 we moved to St Louis, Mo and I can honestly say I was sick I missed my momma so much!!They have always helped us move into our new homes when we have moved and after they left to go home from St Louis, you seriously thought someone had died.. I missed her so much!! My Momma has always been there for me and my family and I seriously do not know what I would do without her.. Now please do not think we have this lovey dovey relationship all the time we have the Mother/ Daughter relationship just about everybody has, I am sure there are times when she wants to kill me but I know she would not trade me for the world and me either~~ Momma, Thank you for being who you are and being the best Momma and Nana that could ever be~ Thank you for always being there and loving me and doing all the things that you do.. Thank you for making sacrifices when I was little and even now! Thank you for being the christian woman that you are and Thank you for loving me like no one else in this world does! You are one in a million and we are so glad that you belong to US!! Happy Birthday Momma/Nana.. We love you more than we could ever tell you and we wish you nothing but many many blessings today and always!!

D-Now Weekend

Wow! What a amazing weekend! It was incredible and I can not say enough about it!! There are no photos with this post because of privacy reasons for other peoples children who attended this weekend retreat that I do not have the parents permission of putting their childrens photos on this internet blog.

Anyway the weekend was more than I could have ever imagined! Our church offered a retreat weekend and the title was "Pursuit to Purity" it was from ages 6th grade to College age and we had different christian speakers come in and talk about different topics for the girls it was on Godly Submission and Beauty with Modesty and then virginity and dating for the boys it was on Chivalry and Respect and Lust and Purity of the mind and also virginity and dating.. These leaders did a incredible job, they shared their personal stories and their struggles and their praises and how God was so incredible faithful to all of them. We had a pastor speak and teach the truth on how God feels when we sin in those areas and then they had incredible worship. It was so so so good..

We saw God move in this place and move in these kids hearts and we saw conviction and brokeness, we saw Him lift them up and give their hearts and souls to Him.It was so incredibly awesome!!We were asked to be a host home for 6,7,8th grade boys so we said yes we would love to and we are so glad we did. They were the best boys I have ever seen! They were all so polite and very very respectful to us and our home and very grateful for everything and made sure to let us know.. We will be praying for all of these boys and their Counselor who was Tony the Youth Pastor at First Baptist Kennard, what a guy! he was so good with these boys! One of the students from our youth group was saying that he was so impressed with the kids from Tony's church that they all knew their bible from front to back and knew where to find it in the bible if you even said a quote.This speaks volumes for Tony and his teaching, these kids are truly blessed to have him in their lives! We just want to say Thank You to all of the leaders, counselors and families who invested in our boys lives and all the other children who were there. Retreats like this set strong foundations in a teens life and we feel so blessed that our boys got to experience this! We pray that all the teachings that they received this past weekend and all of the feelings that they experienced good and bad that they will remember those for forever instead of days or months! We pray that the leaders and counselors will be blessed beyond measure!! Not only were our children moved and blessed this weekend, we were too!! I hope that if you have teens of your own that you will try to find something like this and let them experience a life changing event! Have a great day and Thanks for making us a part of your day!