Thanksgiving holiday ~

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday... I was surpised with tickets to go see opening night of The Phantom of the Opera. Its something I have wanted to see since high school and it was wonderful! A great date night.....
Black Friday came and Chris and I went and watched some crazies.. and then did some shopping ourselves this weekend... a new TV thanks to a blown bulb in the old one... a new front loading washer and dryer for me.... we have wanted them for soo long and its just great to have something that will dry jeans in less than 2 full cycles... and the unexpected find was a very nice micro suede sectional couch in FANTASTIC shape and still packed from the movers...... at a steal of a price.. (paid less then 1/4 of what its worth) so even though unexpected just from the few nights we have had it, we have all 4 been able to stretch out and enjoy spending some time together watching football shows on TV. The boys love it.. the dog seems to approve and all is well with the world!!!!

Looking forward to Raynor Christmas this Saturday and getting to see all the relatives... its always a great time!!!

Time goes too fast sometimes...

Sometimes life goes too fast... things just keep moving forward and before you know it, several months have passed and leave you wondering where all the time has gone?

Work is busy as ever and just as it should be slowing down as we enter the holidays, no such luck. We are busy busy.... I was back in Ann Arbor Michigan in mid November for some more training and will be in Dublin Ohio the second week of December for my third and final class.

There just seems to be so much to write about... the boys are doing well... both in tutoring as we try to help them be as successful as they possibly can be. Trenton is just starting and Ryan is about 2 months in.... we are hopeful that it will make school easier and therefore more enjoyable for each of them.

Trenton is getting taller and taller... definitely did not take after me in that aspect, but he is skinny just like I always was at that age... that trait I do believe he got from me. We are back in slims for the first time since he was 8... 27x29 jeans so you find Levi's (boys 18 slim 27x29) anywhere, please let me know... lol.. he likes the 569 which I find at Penneys...

Ryan is fairly tall for his age, but thick... he is just starting wrestling and hopefully that will keep him active and let him slim down just a bit... he is probably only about 30 pounds lighter than Trenton... and there is a little over a 5 year age difference... hahaha!

Chris and Nora surprised me last night with tickets to go see The Phantom of the Opera. It was a wonderful show and is something that Nora and I have loved since we were in high school. It was so special to get to see it with her and enjoy a fancy double date night out!!!!

Chris and I braved the crowds today to get some shopping done, though mainly for entertainment purposes. If you go to find specific things, its not worth it. If you go with the mindset that you are just going to see if you get lucky and come across any deals, then it is totally worth it!!! You can stumble upon some good things and I found me a couple of cute new sweaters. I did get distressed when they didn't have a pair of shoes I wanted in my size anywhere in the state of North Carolina... can you believe it? Crazy I tell ya...

On the wedding front though, we did manage to pick up our invitations that we wanted at 50% off and also went and looked at wedding bands. We have less than 6 months to go and things are coming together pretty nicely... still working on the cake lady and also the flower lady/florist... but all in all.. coming together nicely....

All in all, Chris and I have had a wonderful 2 days... we enjoyed Thanksgiving lunch with my parents yesterday and then went by my aunt's house to see aunts, uncles, cousins and grandma... it was a short but sweet trip and always nice to see the extended family as well.

Looking forward to all the upcoming Christmas festivites and getting the house ready for decorating.... lots to do tomorrow to start preparing, starting with gretting all the stuff down out of the attic....

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!!!

Homework

Having two kids in school is hard... I can see the benefit now of me and Vic being as far apart as we were in school.... but at the same time.. with a 5 year difference between my 2, I can see where it would be easier if they were at least remotely in the same learning curve. I think having a 3rd grader and an 8th grader is quite challenging...

The good news of this whole thing is that by the time little man gets to middle school, we should have this whole middle school math down pat!!!

Soccer season is starting to wind down... just practices for now until our tournament weekend... 4 games on Saturday and potentially up to 4 more on Sunday (each boy has 2)....

Work is busy and there is just alot going on this week.. its been a bit crazy overall and I am using this week just to try to get alot done before month end gets here.

I need to start thinking about Halloween and there is so much to do in preparation for that.....

Overall though.. life is really good... we are thankful for our friends, family and thankful for our lives.

October

Yeah so not doing real well with this whole blogging thing... soccer has kept us very busy....the boys finished their last regular season games yesterday and the tournament is in two weeks! Ryan's team finished in 3rd I believe and Trenton's team finished in 1st place for their conference... second season in a row! Go Pulsars!!!

We are getting ready for Halloween.. trying to finish soccer... getting through school and enjoying a great start to the Bengals football season. The boys have been roller skating tons and hanging out with their friends. All the kids in the neighborhood seem to be coming out more and more and they spend lots of time in the cul de sac playing soccer and football and just hanging out. Its good to see them just being kids!!!!

We are getting close to getting a date picked.. I just have to check with the church and the reception place... so hopefully we will know within the next two weeks... how exciting would that be. Right now we are shooting for May 29, 2010!!!! Yeah!!!!!

Summer ends ~

And school begins.. for Trenton at least. We have started the 8th grade and so far... the first 2 weeks are going well! Ryan is getting ready to track out.. so basically finishing up his first 9 weeks... both boys are learning alot and we are adjusting to a double dose of nightly homework... ughhh!!!

Work is getting very busy for me... and for Chris at the same time. This leads to alot of juggling on our part, but busy is good and it keeps up going. I went to training last week in Ann Arbor, Michigan and had a good week.... it was beautiful weather, a great little city and lots of fun.

We are looking forward to the long holiday weekend... nothing major planned but its one of the first long holiday weekends that we actually get to have the boys. We are looking forward to some down time and some time just spent hanging out....

Soccer has started for both boys and its keeping life quite busy... in the month of September we have soccer games, a wedding to go to, and a baby shower as we get ready for baby Megan Martin! Lots of fun in the making...

August fun

Lots of things happening in the next couple of months... soccer just started for both boys. We have a bridal shower for some friends, their wedding and also a baby shower for some friends all within the next month. Add into that two boys with soccer practices, and games, me traveling to Michigan for work and Chris starts bowling again.. and you have a very busy couple of months!

Not much to report on... things are well in our world and we are planning on going to the wedding show this weekend to start getting some ideas....

Surgery is a success!

Surgery went very well this morning and as an added bonus... we get to keep the rod! Trenton asked the nurses, the anasthesiologist and then finally the DR. So we got to keep it. He is resting peacefully on the couch... letting all the drugs get out of his system...
This was the last step in getting him all fixed... a few more weeks of recovery and we won't have to see our orthopedic guy again for quite some time....

Trenton - more surgery

Tomorrow morning my little boy goes back into surgery again... this time to remove the rod from his arm. The rod has been there for 4 months now and its time to come out. His surgery should be shorter, he shouldn't have as much pain and his recovery time should be minimal... that is the hope at least.
Pray for a smooth surgery and a quick recovery!

Concerts ~

I love going to concerts ~
I love live music ~
I love the atmosphere, the energy and the FUN!!!

So far this year, Chris and I have been to the Brad Paisley concert, we took the boys with us to the Toby Keith concert (it was Ryan's first real concert) and then I have also gone to the Kid Rock/Lynrd Skynrd concert. All were fantastic times and just great music! The energy and the fun make it so worth while.
We have tix to go to Rascal Flatts tomorrow night and will have to see what the weather is going to do..... and in another month or so... bring on Kenney Chesney... he is one artist I have never seen before, so I am very excited about that.

Soccer Camp

Was a success !

We went down to UNCW this morning to pick Trenton up from soccer camp. His team won the 11 v 11 games and he was pretty excited about that. Overall he had lots of fun, made some new friends and wants to go back next year!

After some closing ceremonies and getting him out of his dorm, we went and hit the beach for about 2 hours... I got red of course.. even using 30 sunscreen I still seem to get red... oh well, just means more tan lines for me!! At least I am using sun screen right...?

After lunch at the Oceanic (had to get their crab dip) we headed back home... Trenton is extremely tired and in need of a good nights sleep in his own bed.

Back to work tomorrow to finish the end of the week and then a weekend of relaxing with the boys and the nieces!!

July..

We must not enjoy very much downtime because just as the sports were ending... the boys got recruited to the swim team... funny how that tends to work for us.
Its been great exercise for the both of them and they have really enjoyed it. It has also given them great opportunity to meet other neighborhood kids which is great especially now that Ryan is here more.

Both boys are growing... and how! Ryan is 'filling out' alot like Trenton did.. but he started a little younger I believe.... definitely no slim jeans for him anymore... his 10's fit nicely though... he is both tall and thick... should be interesting to see how that ends up! Trenton on the other hand was 118 pounds in February and by June was down to 111.2... he had lost a little over 7 pounds and has grown a good 3 inches or so. Needless to say he is looking alot thinner than we have seen him in YEARS!!!!

Ryan has started back to school and so far 3rd grade is going well... Trenton is off at soccer camp at UNCW and will return tomorrow... we are going to spend the day at the beach just for some afternoon fun after we pick him up at the closing ceremony.

Katie and Kellie have joined us this week and both of them are sharing in Chris' addiction to Batman Legos... I haven't watched tv on the big screen in dayssss!!!

All in all we are having fun and hoping to maybe get the kids pictures taken this weekend per maw-maws request!

Colorado 2009

For our family vacation this year we decided to go to Colorado to visit cousins Tracie and Jerry. We arrived last Friday the 26th of June and and had some fun just hanging out. On Saturday the 28th, we went to the Wild Animal Conservatory and saw some amazing lions and tigers. They were beautiful and I got some amazing pics of the cheetahs and tigers. On Sunday the 28th, we rode up to Rocky Mountain National Park. We hiked up to Alberta Falls and got some great pics of all of us. We then proceeded to go up to the 12,005ft mark. At this point the altitude was starting to get to Chris and I, but Trenton seemed unaffected as he jogged up all the stairs to get to the top... We made it though even though I was uncertain that I would make it at times... my lungs were having a hard time.
We saw some beautiful scenery, played in some snow (yes, high enough up for snow) and saw some amazing wolves, elk and some moose. Apparently the moose sighting is a very big deal as my cousins have lived here a year and a half and this was their first moose sighting as well.
Today we went White Water Rafting and I believe I have found my new favorite sport! We had such a great time... the boys loved it though they were both nervous at first! But they stepped up and we had an absolute blast. We went down La Poudre River. This is something that we all definitely want to do again soon!!!

All in all we are having a good time here and we are grilling out some dinner right now and opening some wine! More to come on vacation 2009 soon.....

Lots of updates ~ June 2009

Wow.. have I been a really bad blogger and let things slip by... so to catch up.... here goes....

1. Trenton got his cast off
2. Ryan's soccer and baseball seasons have come to an end.
3. Ryan turned 8 years old
4. We worked through all the custody stuff finally and will not be going to court for a permanent hearing in the fall (yeah.. thousands of dollars saved!)
5. Work is busy, life is good, the boys are great!

That's a brief wrap up...

April showers bring May flowers

Things here in the McRaynor household are going quite nicely. We are doing lots of fun things and playing a little ball along the way. Well.. little man is playing ball and Chris is coaching.. Trenton is still stuck in his cast.
He is keeping his fingers crossed for Wednesday though...

The spring weather brings allergies and soccer games and baseball games and lots of time outdoors... its all good and I am celebrating the ROCKIN' farmers tan this year.

As I have mentioned before, I have found my 'sister' and it seems we have so much to catch up on.. every minute we have, we talk.. and can just keep talking and talking... she is helping me feel better about things and is so supportive of me, my life in general and really likes Chris alot. Its a bit of an odd situation, but its been so nice to have her and the kids back in our lives. It has done us both a world of good I believe....

Scott is turning into an amazing young man and I am so proud.. not that I did anything to help, but still am very proud of him. That young man has a bright future.. and you read it here first!!!

Easter Sunday ~

Chris and I had a nice get a way this weekend to Lake James. It was our first motorcycle ride of the season and we are both a little sore from the driving... it was a very lovely time though. We stayed at a great B & B and one we will be returning to for sure. It was called the Fairway Oaks and its in Morganton, NC. This weekend was a time to clear out head some as tomorrow is the temporary custody hearing for Ryan. We are pretty early on the docket, so we think our case will be heard tomorrow. We have been told we probably won't leave with a verdict, but should get one sometime this week. Keep us in your thoughts!

In more news, Trenton got his cast on and is doing well... he has spent Easter with his dad and I miss him very much! It's hard, but I keep telling myself that sacrifices are good.

On another note, Trenton's aunt and I have found our way back into one another's lives. It has truly been a blessing to be able to spend a little time with her, talking to her and seeing her kids. I have missed them so over the years and she was the best friend and sister I lost out of the divorce. We all hope that we can continue to be in one another's lives.

Today and always, let's remember the true meaning of Easter and I hope all of you have had a wonderful Easter day!!

The Month of March

So my posting efforts have not gone all that well.... so here is one LONG update....

Both boys started soccer in February and in March the games started. For those of you who are local, we have had soo much rain that CASL is now having to extend the season because the kids have missed so many games. This pushes the tournament all the way out until the first weekend in June.

March was a busy month for Trenton - he had his physical in February and it was determined that he needed glasses.. at least for school and reading and such. So we had his eyes checked and picked out a nice pair of glasses for him... shortly after that came the braces. We too have known this was coming and it was just a waiting game... the stubborn tooth still hasn't fallen out, so we decided to move forward anyways...then came Trenton's 13th birthday and a very successful 13th birthday party!!!

In the course of all of this, the boys had school and soccer and just regular life stuff. Things are going pretty well here for us. We are making plans for the summer and hoping a trip to Colorado is in our future for June!!

On the 29th of March, Trenton flipped his 4 - wheeler and broke his arm. He broke the inside bone of the right arm and bent the outside bone. It was pretty bad and on Tuesday the 31st, he had surgery to have a rod put in the broken bone and to straighten out the bent bone. It was just one of those crazy accidents and luckily he was wearing his helmet. It was certainly scary though because when Chris and I got to the ER at Wayne Memorial Hospital, he was on a back board with a neck brace on... not a sight for mom's to see their little boys like... he gets his cast on tomorrow now that the swelling is down from the surgery and will be back on the mend!!!

In other exciting news, on the 25th of March, Chris proposed to me.... yes, after all this time, we are going to make it official and become man and wife... it may take us the next two years to do that... but we are doing it! He asked Trenton first and then the two of them asked my parents... it was perfect. Ryan went with him to help him buy the ring... so they all saw it before I did!! I am very excited!!!!!

On the custody note, things are moving very slowly and her lawyer's have tried to push things out, so we decided to move forward with the temporary custody hearing... its coming up in April and hopefully it will at least give us some more time with Ryan and allow us to enjoy more things as a family. It looks as if the permanent trial won't be until September or October, so its probably good that we can hopefully get a little more time in the mean time!!!

Other than being busy, we are looking forward to more spring weather and getting to do more things with the boys... of course Trenton's goalie career is over for right now, but I think he will still be able to play some of his games, just not as goalie!!

More later ~

It's been a long time ~

It has been a long time since my last post ~

Christmas was great this year, lots of family, lots of fun, lots of presents and lots of love. We are really blessed to be as lucky as we are.

January brought about some mixed emotions as Uncle Banks passed away rather unexpectedly... he apparently was sicker than he let on at Raynor Christmas in mid-December and all I can say is I am so glad that he was able to make it to Christmas and am thankful that he is no longer suffering...

February has brought about Chris birthday and Valentine's day ~ its been a bit of a rough emotional time as the custody situation just keeps dragging on and the weight of it and the unexpected just seems to weigh on everyone at times.

The boys start soccer soon... I have reconnected with my very first best friend ever, Becky Harrison through facebook and I made AVP at work...

I guess those are the highlights and I will try to do better about keeping things updated... ;-)