Thanksgiving 2009

This year we decided to go to Arkansas to spend Thanksgiving with my family.. My parents have a home on Eden Isle which is located in Heber Springs.. It has to be one of my favorite places to go.. It is so peaceful there! When you drive in the gates it is honestly instant relaxation.. I was telling someone the other day that truly the only thing you can complain about is a bird singing to loud so now you see.. So we got there on Wednesday night and everyone was there and it was just so nice, I felt like we were HOME~ We had a great time being with my parents and my brother and his family.. The boys love being with their cousins and their Nana and Papa.. We had alot of chit chats and we played games and ate and shopped and ate some more.. It was a great time.. The boys got to play alot of golf with their Papa and that is one of their favorite things to do... We also got to see our sweet friends The Ennis Family who we met when we both lived in St Louis, they moved to Arkansas about 6 yrs ago and just happen to be about a hour from the lake house so that is another reason its one of my favorite places to go.. We love being with them, they are just like family to us and always will be. They have 3 cuties who are growing up way to fast for me...I took a ton of pics of my family and my friends and for some reason my pic card is not copying on my computer, it just makes me sick.. If I can some how get them to pull up I will post them as soon as I can... We were suppose to come home on Saturday but we decided to stay another day and it was just us with my parents, my brother and his family went home so Chuck and the boys played golf with my dad and me and my momma went to the little town of Heber Springs and shopped in all their cute boutiques and bought some of the cutest things...I just truly enjoyed being with my momma... She is alot of fun to shop with:) Thanksgiving of course is a holiday to eat lots of food and not feel guilty and boy did we do that but it is also a holiday to realize what you are Thankful for and I am so Thankful for everything in my life~~ God has truly blessed my life with my family. friends, health and just everything HE does for me.... I hope that you and your family had a blessed Thanksgiving too...

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!!