Not very good at this...

So I am not very good at keeping everyone up to date! Not sure if anyone even stops by... 

It has been so busy this year, which is not new. I have gone back to work at Milan Institute of Cosmetology doing accounting for the school. It is a great place to work and a great environment. Ray has changed jobs this year; which was a blessing. He went from Clearwire to Comcast; went from working 24-7 to a pretty normal 9-5 schedule. Our family actually has my husband back, a father, a partner, a friend. Not that he wasn't there before, it was just different. 

Michael is 16, driving, did hold down a job for a while (then his schedule got way too busy). He is playing academy soccer for a team in Clovis (which is 45 minutes away). The academy team is a step up from Club soccer and not yet professional. They are getting the kids ready for college level and above soccer and the academy team gets scouted from a lot of colleges. It is a great opportunity and experience to be involved in this program. 

Matthew is 15, he will get his drivers permit in February. He has been concentrating on Football, he was the JV's team 'everything'. Matt went from receiver and kicker (for all kicks), then added defense, special teams, and I couldn't tell you what else. But by the middle of the season Matt was pulled to the Quarter Back...he did unfortunately broke his clavicle while making a touch down and with only 3 games remaining. He went to his 2 weeks follow up for his clavicle and it took 2 1/2 hours...ti find out that he was not healing at all. The doctor put him in a different style of brace to hold his shoulders in place. So hopefully by his next appointment it will show us something better. At the last game of the season, Matt was told by the Head Coach the next the Quarter Back position for Varsity is his if he wants it. We are very excited for him and very proud! So with that Matt is going to concentrate on football and weight training and not play soccer this year. He has finally found his own sport and something he really enjoys!

Macey is 13, oh man is she ever 13. She had an outstanding summer of travel softball. She ended her season in Scottsdale/Phoenix Arizona for Nationals, which her team took 8Th out of 100's of teams. ray and I were able to take her this year and it was a fun experience. She is now concentrating on school sports and finishing her 8Th grade year and getting ready for High School. She has made the decision to move in with her mom full time. Which is a good thing for her and a very hard thing for her. There was a lot of things that happened to make her decision and it was very hurtfull to me. She finally came and stayed the weekend after about a month, which was nice.  She is a very busy girl socially and is all 13, Macey will be 14 in February.

Madison is 11 and has been playing AYSO soccer this year. Her team is very good and they are going to Championships this weekend. Madison scored her first goal last weekend in the first play off game. I was unfortunately working and missed it...darn it! But I was told she had to work for it and she did very well. She is sad that soccer is almost over but also excited for the next season. She will be going into Junior High next year, which will be a huge step for her. Now we need to find something for Madison to do until next year sports start. She does so much better with an activity on her hands!

I think that sums everything up for right now. Hope all is well with everyone else!

Macie

1st Year Wedding Anniversary

So on May 19th Ray and I will share our 1st Year wedding anniversary...

It is amazing that the 1st year has already come. It seems like not that long ago we were planning a wedding and getting married. This year has been busy, stressful, joyful, exciting and I could go on...

For our 1st year anniversary I have requested to go to a restaurant that we have not been to in a while. I am looking forward to a nice, romantic evening with my husband. We have recently posted some of the 100's of wedding pictures on our picture page. Please enjoy them. We received a canvas wedding picture in black and white from our photographer which is amazing. I still need to frame and get in hung on the wall (yes, I know Dawn I promised).

Madison remembered that our one year anniversary is coming up, which she is excited that we get to eat the top part of the wedding cake now. Michael, Matthew and Macey could not believe that it has been a year already, they said it feels like the wedding was just a week ago. Sometimes thinking back, it does feel like it was just yesterday.

I am very blessed to have meet the man for me as well as the whole package with wonderful and loving kids. I am very happy that they shared our experience with us and wanted to be there.

Thank you to all of our friends who have supported and loved us throughout the year! I am excited and look forward to another wonderful year.

Love always

~M

Crazy Busy

I has been a while since my last post...

It has been really busy and crazy. We have been doing spring cleaning and some upgrades to the house. We desperately needed a new roof, which I had no clue about how to look for a good roofer, what to look for, etc. So if you know me and know how we did the remodel in the inside, you know it did not take me long to figure everything out. Got the roof done for a great price, good contractor and it looks great! Yeah, by the way we had a 'shake' roof, horrible! We now also have a sand color and white trim house on the outside, instead of a dreadful yellow and blue from the early 80's. Our home looks brand new from the outside. And of course with that the inside has been neglected like no other. Which drives me crazy, hate it! We also now have a deck that is stable. We found a contractor that does odd jobs, we really needed our deck from the upstairs loft to be fixed. It would sway, rock and bolts were starting to come off, very unstable. So our man started with the main posts, replaced them and then realized that our beams where rotting...bummer! So we pretty much have a brand new deck except the railing and the walking planks. But it looks beautiful, and now we won't freak out when our friend Troy jumps off of it into the pool.

If you have ever been inside our house, when we remodeled two years ago our entrance, hallway and loft wall was a blue/green color. Have you ever sponge painted before? Let me tell you, it is fun and all, but a job! We now have sponged walls, thank you to those of you who helped.

Among all the stress of dealing with contractors, kids schedules, husband schedule and 'my' schedule...I LOST the diamond out of my wedding ring...VERY SAD day for me. Ray was out of town, it was horrible. Lost it down the drain in my bathroom, had to take the pipes apart (wishing and praying) to see if it was in all the gunk...(this is when I hate the fact that my husband travels, because he is suppose to take things apart)...NO SUCH LUCK...no diamond, gone forever somewhere in the piping. It was not a good day for me! So I am ringless, when Ray and I go out it looks like he is cheating on his wife. LOL! Hopefully we can do something about it in the near future.

Kids are all doing really good. Staying busy as always, which is good, keeps them out of trouble. To follow up on the last post; Michael and his team lost their next playoff game. It was a really good game, the team did a GREAT job. So now club soccer has started up again now that school soccer is over. There are some really big tournaments coming up soon. I will keep you posted. Oh yeah...Michael got his driving permit...stay off the streets, actually he is a pretty good driver. Matthew has started guitar lessons, which he is having a really good time doing. If you have ever heard of Blink 182, it is a band in which Matt wants to learn some songs that they play. As my father would say it is the "We be jivin" music or not music at all. Macey has started school softball and club softball all at the same time, crazy schedule and a lot of games. Club softball will last all through summer. Madison will start playing soccer in a few months, which she is really excited.

Well now that I have talked your ear off...Have a great weekend!

Bragging Rights

Michael plays soccer on his Varisty high school team for Golden West. They played in the 'first' round of playoffs last night, which is single elemination. The team did a awesome job staying in the game that was tightly called by the referey. Here is the story in the Visalia Times Delta;

http://www.visaliatimesdelta.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080213/SPORTS/802130310

Outstanding game, it was heart breaking for Ray to miss it due to working out of town. Hopefully Michael understands that his dad was there in heart and soul. I will keep you posted on the next big game on Thursday night. It is round two, which GoldenWest plays a very difficult team from Fresno.

*Start*

So I decided to start blogging...this will give our family and friends that do not live near us a contact point other than the normal means of communication.

Ray and I have been together for over 3 years now. We just tied the knot in May of 2007. If was a beautiful wedding including the kids, family and friends. We are a family of 'six' two boys; Michael 15, Matthew 14 and two girls; Macey 13 and Madison 10. We have a very active family and busy teenagers and pre-teens. Full of soccer, football, softball, volleyball and dance. It is never ending on a daily basis. I would not know what to do with myself if I was not consummed almost everyday. I will have to get some pictures and more information for everyone very soon, it might take me a while to figure all of this 'blogging' stuff out. Wish me luck, it will only benefit you...