2008 Navy and Marine Corps Birthday Ball

Dinner .... YUMMY!!


Paul and Joanna


Part of the Gang - Chevonne, Brian, me, Renee, Steve
(& Baby Goocey-to-be)

Sheri and Brittany (in Pink) & Brittany's friend

My two favorite people! - Mike and Sheri

Last night I was finally able to get out without the kids (Big THANKS to Don and Christine for babysitting!) and I went to the Navy Ball at MMA sans Gary. :( It was a little bittersweet driving down the Castine Road and walking in without him (I was silently praying I wouldn't trip and fall in my three-inch heels without him to hold on to) and I got a little misty-eyed when they sang the National Anthem and had a silent moment for those who were out protecting our freedom, but overall it was a GREAT night! Sheri was awesome and I FINALLY got to sit at her table! Big Yay!! The company was great, the food was spectacular and it was a riot to watch all the dancers! A pretty good 'last memory' of an MMA/UMaine NROTC Navy Ball! The only thing missing was Gary....

He's going to hate me....

This is the winter hat Gary's mom made for Colvin - he looks so cute...and yet so funny! He's going to hate me when he gets older for torturing him like this and showing all his friends embarassing pictures!

Halloween at Memaw's house....

Our Little Witch! Our Little Monster!

Last minute, Olivia decided she wanted to be a witch and not a princess! And we have a little three-eyed monster running amuck...and he did just that...he ran, and ran, and ran! Half of my pictures are fuzzy because he wouldn't hold still! Either that or bad lighting...Sorry!

This Halloween, we decided to go to Memaw's house to celebrate and went to the hospital where Pepaw works to go trick-or-treating. We only visited about 10 offices and 5 houses and the kids were wiped! Night-time activities don't go over well in the Raymond house and as you can see the kids were passed out by 7:30p. But it was a lot of spooky fun ... our twist on our traditional Halloween chili - White Chicken Chili, lots of fun carving pumpkins and eating candy, and lots of laughs watching the kids run around in their costumes! We sure missed Daddy today, hope he likes the pictures!

At the end of a fun, spooky night, the little goblins are

OUT LIKE A LIGHT!

a budding artist...

Let me set the scene. Olivia has been sick with a fever (very high at times) for the last week. Although her fever wasn't completely gone (only mild, low-grade), today I let her go to school, against my better judgment, so she really doesn't feel well now - and her temp is back up. Well, today was the day we were to fill the perscription for the antibiotic if her fever wasn't gone ... and this is Olivia's depiction of herself and the medicine that she absolutely does NOT want to take. Notice her frown and the little shape on the high left - that's the medicine. :) I got a little chuckle when she showed it to me. Poor little girl, I just hope she'll be well enough for Halloween tomorrow! What a bummer that would be!

TV Eyes

As hard as I may try, Colvin is ... well, just that, a Colvin (for those of you who don't know, that is my mom's maiden name). He's watching tv while gnawing on his shoe - you'd think I didn't feed the kid! Maybe I should have titled it "Hungry Eyes." :) Beware of the teeth - you may draw back a bloody stump if you get in his way of watching Little Bear!

A Halloween Treat

Uncle Ron and Aunt Sharon sent the kids are very cute Halloween treat! Two little bears in costumes, which Olivia thought was hilarious! Thanks guys for making our day!

Our First Craft Fair

Saturday was our first craft fair, selling our adorable rag quilts. It is a lot of fun making them and seeing how different patterns can be combined with others to make something awesome; even ugly ones that one would never think to buy alone - like a diamond in the rough! Technically, we didn't sell any, but if you count the ones I paid for to give to the kids (pics above), then I guess we sold two. :) They are adorable and really warm and whatever we don't sell will make great christmas gifts! The slideshow has mulitple pictures of each quilt, plus some from the day of the craft fair - 23 quilts in 21 days! Whoa!

Six Months Down!

Yesterday marked six months since Gary left. I can hardly believe it. It's a little bittersweet because many of those Gary arrived in Iraq with are getting ready to leave, but I'm trying not to focus on that. It has been an exhausting six months, but we are in better shape than I thought, which I think says something about me as a person. At least I've learned that I'm stronger than I ever thought I was, although much of the time I wish I had someone to be strong for me. But we are keeping busy (it's the only thing that makes the time pass faster) and looking forward to Gary's 2-week R&R, tentatively scheduled for sometime around New Year's. We are very excited about that! I can't think of the months that will follow before his homecoming, not only is it too long to comprehend, Maine winters are in no way shape or form a southern girl's friend. :)

Cole's First Attempt to Eat with a Spoon!

Cole is getting so big and I thought it was time to attempt eating with a spoon - ON HIS OWN! I've been fighting it, not only because I don't want him to grow up so fast but also because of the mess I KNOW he will make! We started with mashed potatoes because I figured it was sticky enough for him to actually get some into his mouth ... about half went in his mouth and about half of it he wore! :)

A "Toof"less Little Girl

Olivia lost her second tooth this week ... on the bottom, so now she has a great big gap in her bottom teeth until the big girl teeth grow in. It's so funny to hear her speak now, with a 'wittle wisp'. :) Ha!

(Poor little thing has also been sick, so her cheeks are bright pink!)

Pictures from Daddy

Gary took a tour of one of the many bases in his area of Iraq.

Camp Slayer is what I think he called it ... a lot of stories in these walls, though Olivia thought he was at the beach! But I am more interested in seeing him in the pictures. He's my honey and ooh, ridiculously cute!

Mason

Getting soooo big! Cute as a button, too!

Beantown

To break up the monotony of the days since school started, over Columbus Day weekend, I decided to take the kids (with the help of my mom) to the New England Aquarium in Boston, Mass. After seeing Cole mesmerized by a fish tank at the doctor's office, I thought both kids would love it. I was a little disappointed because I've been to aquariums in Virginia Beach, Va.; Monterrey, Calif.; and New Orleans, La. but it was fun to see the kids and their curiosity and amazement. The coolest were the giant sea turtle and the sharks in the center tank - that stood all three stories of the building! Cole would look at me with this great big grin as if he couldn't believe his eyes! And Olivia loved the tidepool where she could touch starfish and hermit crabs. Afterwards, we walked around Quincy Market, had dinner at Cheers where Olivia lost her first tooth, and then we stayed at the Constitution Inn before heading home the next day. What a great weekend!

(Some of the pictures were a little fuzzy with the bad lighting, sorry!)

Perfect Afternoon

Driving around one afternoon (I know, there's not that many ways to go in Bucksport) I found this awesome park for the kids to play ... we've lived here three years and I didn't even know it was there, right behind the police and fire stations. That day, the weather was perfect, sunny with a light breeze and unseasonably warm. The kids had a blast - swinging, climbing and just running off energy. Now if only I could bottle that energy... We totally loved it and Colvin was out like a light when we got home! A few pics to peruse....

Busy, busy, busy...

We've been so busy over the past two weeks, I haven't had time to get on the computer to post pictures and stories of our recent experiences. Here's the first of many ... Last sunday Olivia lost her first tooth! I couldn't believe it! I didn't even know it was loose - we were sitting at dinner, I had my back turned feeding Cole and she says, "Mommy, here," and hands me her tooth. I almost freaked, but she was great, which actually helped me be calm and collected. And that night, a visit from a long lost friend... the tooth fairy! My little girl is growing up!