Laziest blogger ever!!

So I am the laziest blogger ever, I know this but I have a hard time finding time to blog and find face book a much easier way to update people with the goings on of life. Then again not everybody uses face book nor do I want to share everything about my life with random people I went to high school with and my blog has a much smaller audience of mostly family and a few friends who I am comfortable sharing my more personal stories with.

Anyway, it looks like the last time I blogged was clear back in March when Ray and I went on vacation to Vegas, that was a really fun trip, well all except for the ride home and our introduction the douchiest (sorry Mom, I still say it is not a bad word!) cops in the whole world. Since then our Kids have had birthdays, finished 4th grade and kindergarten and started 5th and 1st grades and Soren is of course still as adorable as ever. Ray and I learned we are expecting our 5th child, we were actually pretty sure of this before the Vegas trip but waited to announce until 14 weeks. We are having another little girl who we have picked a name for and because the kids know her name some people have learned it, however for the most part we have been able to keep it a secret and now have only 7 1/2 weeks or less until we get to announce it. I will say that her name is somewhat unique but I am in love with it and am excited to meet her.

My little Ryan is doing so well in school this year and I have to say I am grateful for teachers who take the time to really get to know a child and learn what makes them tick. Ryan's fourth grade teacher was absolutely amazing and I know that the time that she spent with Ryan has had a lasting effect that will be with her for the rest of her life. She was the first teacher to ever make Ryan feel like she could complete the same amount of work as her peers and that she is as smart as her peers. Ryan went from a level J to a level T in one year, that doesn't happen without a very dedicated teacher and Ryan and her had a very special bond. This year Ryan is in a different class than Rayden for the first time ever and it seems to be to both of their advantage, Ryan doesn't get compared to him anymore and is able to thrive because he isn't in the same room to outshine her (not that he does it intentionally, things just come to him more easily.) She has a different resource teacher which has been a great help and she gets to be herself instead of Ryan and Rayden, though Ryan typically goes by her middle name "Athena" at school because of the multitude of Ryan's in the class. She is very strong willed and wants to do what she wants to do, we often butt heads because I am what some might call "over-protective" especially when it comes to her, I can't really help it. I don't allow any of my kids to go into their friends houses because you never know what happens behind closed doors and I don't want to risk their innocence. I allow them to play outside at the park at our apartments which is directly outside our apartment and I can watch them from the patio. Ryan gets very angry with me for not allowing her into her friends houses and the other day when she asked me if she could go do something that I felt was too dangerous and I told her " No, I don't want you to get hurt!!" she replied with a very snotty " How can I? you never let me do anything!!" I couldn't help but laugh a little though I told her not to get snappy at me. Ryan is a wonderful, pleasant 11 year old as long as she has been recently fed and I wouldn't change anything about her. She is spirited, feisty, love able and wonderful!!

Rayden is my little artist. He has made some of the most incredible artwork I have ever seen and I have to remind myself that he is only 10 years old when I look at it. He is very talented!! He is also very intelligent and has a mind that reminds me of his Papa. He sometimes says words that are so far above what I would expect a child his age to know that it shocks me. He asks intelligent questions and sometimes I think he already has accumulated more knowledge in his somewhat large head in 10 years than I have in my 31 years. He is a sweetheart for the most part and is definitely my most sensitive child personality wise, though at the same side he seems to have a little bit of an anger management problem. Rayden does very well in school, the only thing his teachers ever say is a problem is that he is very shy and that he has to be told several times to stop lining up his pencils in his tote tray, he is also a bit OCD. Rayden is like me in that he is very cheery in the morning, he jumps out of bed whistling while he walks to the shower, he loves to laugh and tell funny stories. Rayden is also musically inclined and we are hoping to be able to get him into orchestra this year, which would be great because he would learn how to read music and could get really good at playing his guitar, which he strums on now and makes up his own music that actually sounds pretty good but he could get even better. Rayden is my little sweetie pie and I can always count on hug, a funny story or a beautiful piece of art.

Alex is still my Oopa, he is such a big boy. He is much bigger at 6 then Rayden was at 6, he weighs more than Ryan (not a hard thing to do) and wears the same size shoe as Ryan. He still hops everywhere he goes and is my little China-man, it is hard to understand a single word he says because he is a mumbler and he giggles a lot while he talks but it is super cute. He is a total sweetie and doesn't ever retaliate against his bully of a little sister when she chases him around the house, pinching fingers at the ready. He just runs in to Mommy or Papa yelling "Soren's gonna pinch me!" so that we will stop her. He idolizes Rayden and wants to do everything Rayden does. Alexander loves school but has had a problem with one of his classmates who thinks it is funny to pance him in the bathroom and push him on the playground, he has told the teacher and hopefully this little punk knocks it off or he may meet the craziest Mommy on the planet!! Last week while Alex and Rayden were playing outside with their Nerf swords another little boy came over to play with them and hit my poor little oopa right in the face, he came in the house bleeding all over the place and scared the crap right out of me, I ran down the steps asking Rayden which little punk hurt my boy and that I was going to kick their butt, the poor little kid was so scared he ran home before I could find him. Raymond said to me " There I am in the bathroom trying to take care of Oopa when I should have been holding you back from beating up a 4 year old, you gotta calm down" anyway there was a lot of blood and we couldn't tell if it was his nose or his teeth so I rushed him to the instacare which turned out to be a little bit of an over reaction, it was just a bloody nose! Alex is sweet, love able and always ready to play.

Soren is my little monster. She is of course adorable but she is a bit of a bully. She terrorizes her siblings daily, chasing them around the house making them do her bidding, I have never seen a 3 year old exercise so much control over their older siblings. She also has her sweet side and loves to hug everybody. She still has her Papa wrapped around her little finger and can get him to do anything she wants, it is a little pathetic to watch actually, She has him more whooped than I ever have!!! Soren is convinced the babies name is Sarah and still tries to call her the name we have picked with Sarah mixed in in various combinations. We have decided we will have to get her a baby doll when we have the baby that can be her baby and that she can name Sarah. I love how feisty she is but seeing how feisty my girls are has me a little nervous about the little bun I am cooking now. I don't know how well Soren is going to adapt to having to share her Papa with this new baby, hopefully she will do okay. Soren is my adorable little monster butt and I love her to itty bitty little bits and pieces.

Raymond and I are doing pretty good. Ray has started going back to work as a flagger for a temp service, he doesn't really like it but it is work and he will take what he can get. He is hoping to be able to start school part time taking some creative writing classes and start submitting some short stories to science fiction magazines, he is hoping to eventually get a gig writing for SyFy (Dream Job) He can do it if he puts his mind to it and works hard.

Things have been going pretty well at my job, in fact I just got promoted again this past week. I have just accepted a position as the Production Supervisor on 1st shift (My current shift) responsible for about 60 employees & will be starting training in October. I was pretty shocked to get offered the position while 32 weeks pregnant and with barely 3 years experience in the industry but I am very excited for the opportunity and hope to do be able to do a good job.

Well that is just about everything for now, hopefully I will find the time to blog again before another 6 months passes by!!

11 Years

Yesterday Raymond and I had our 11Th wedding anniversary. We didn't really do anything yesterday because we are celebrating next week by taking our first ever Vegas vacation. We have not gone anywhere, just the two of us, since our honeymoon and we are really looking forward to it. We plan to stay at the Venetian and to see a Cirque Du Solei show, probably KA. We have also heard that we have to go to Smith and Lewinsky's Steakhouse and get a pass that lets your ride all of the roller coasters. Some "people" are under the impression that we will be bringing a "little souvenir" back with us, I keep telling them that I am pretty sure it is illegal to buy babies but I will look for one!!! Anyway I just wanted to tell my Raymee that I love him and Happy Anniversary!!!