The Mellish Family

My sister, Alyson, her husband, Calvin and Baby Mason on their 4th anniversary

November 28, 2008

Olivia's Room Re-Invented

Olivia has been in the extra bedroom for about six months and I finally got motivated enough to move her stuff into the room so that she feels like it's her room -- some stuff still needs to be moved once we move the computer into our room, but it's a start! I think she likes it! And now I'll have to get boy stuff to make Cole's room a manly room - no more flowers and butterflies for that boy!

Cookie Monsters!

I suggested we make some christmas cookies, but Olivia decided she wanted to make

chocolate chip cookies

instead - still a yummy treat! I tried to help Cole do a little mixing, but he'd rather eat the batter. :) I think that's all Olivia was waiting for too - the tasting! I tried to replicate Sheri's famous chocolate chip cookies (if you have never had them, they are the best you have ever tasted!), but alas, to no avail, they did NOT turn out like Sheri's - more of a flattened version, but we tried! Oh well, they still tasted yummy and we had lots of fun!

Completely Out of Character....

The snow today wasn't unexpected, but the volume of snow was! And I decided to do something spontaneous and completely out of character for me...With us still in our pj's, we threw on our snowsuits and went outside to play! Cole didn't even have boots, but it didn't stop him ~ It's his first time playing in the snow! Olivia wanted to make a snowman, but it was so fluffy, we opted for snowangels instead! New snow always tastes the sweetest!

As you can see, Cole spent more time in the snow than playing in it! We only stayed out for about 20 minutes, but we had a great time! We really missed Daddy today - he's the one that always gets to play in the snow because Mommy has southern blood and really can't stand to be cold and wet! We'll wait for him to make our first snowman! Christmas is coming and so is Daddy!! Yay! We can't wait!

Bowling with Olivia

After being cooped up all day on Friday and avoiding the after-Thanksgiving Day crowds, we decided to take the kids to the Bangor-Brewer Bowling Lanes. They have candlepin bowling, which is a little like ski-ball (like at an arcade) but I have found to be much more difficult than traditional bowling! The balls are super small and I think they are a lot harder to control where you want them to go. But Olivia loved it and had a blast! About half way through our games, they turned on the "glow" lights and the disco balls and we experienced "Glow Bowling"! It was a lot of fun and wore the kids out! Yay! We are definitely taking Daddy when he comes home!

(Apologies in advance ... due to low lighting, the pictures may be a little fuzzy.)

IT'S ALIVE!!!

Well, yesterday morning, my sister called and asked for some information that I had saved in my microsoft outlook folders....and what happens, but the computer starts downloading email ... all 163 messages from the past couple of weeks!! ...and Voila! The internet is working again! I have no idea what happened or how it happened, I'm just happy that it did! So, although I'm now having issues with Outlook, at least I can upload pictures to the blog with greater ease! Yay! Check back and see....

Luci and Eli at 1 week old!

Two peas in a pod! Too Cute!!

Happy Turkey Day!!

Happy Turkey Day!!

We really missed Daddy today, spending time with family makes us really notice his absence. But we are thankful he is safe and we are over half way through our IA! Yay! Hope he had a yummy turkey dinner too (and not an MRE)! :) We love you Daddy!

Welcome Little Ones!

Announcing the arrival of the newest members of the extended Raymond family....

Lucianna "Luci" Marie Raymond

weighing 5lbs 2oz

&

Elijah "Eli" Stephen Raymond

weighing 4lbs 13oz

to the Proud Parents

Danny & Carrie

Sorry, no pictures yet as they were just born today! But I'm told we can't tell yet if they have red hair (like their Mommy) as it is too dark to tell. Mom and babies are doing fine; the twins are in incubators as they were still 4 weeks early, but everything looks good so far. Dad has a lot on his hands - Good Luck Dan!

HAPPY HALF WAY DAY!!! YAY!!!

YAY!! HAPPY HALF WAY DAY!! 203 Days down!!

(203 more to go....)

I can hardly believe this...it has felt like an eternity, but yet, I am so glad we are here! It's hard to believe Gary has been gone for so long, and yet we survive. Here are some of the things Gary has missed:

1. Cole's first steps

2. Cole's first birthday

3. Our trip to California and Disneyland

4. Summertime and sunshine in Maine

5. Olivia's first day of Kindergarten

6. Cole's first word - bye bye

7. Olivia's first (and second) tooth - GONE!

8. Our anniversary and my birthday

9. Fourth of July fireworks with the kids (even though they fell asleep)

10. Our annual trip to the pumpkin patch (and apple picking)

11. Halloween and trick-or-treating!

12. Cole first (but not definitely not last) major tantrum

13. Daddy's favorite dinner with Olivia, Colvin and Mommy

14. Our first tent in the living room

15. Navy Ball

16. Pop losing his car at a campout (and finding it again)

17. Our trip to Beantown and the Aquarium

18. Meeting Baby Mason (my sister's new baby)

19. Season's last day at Jordan's

20. My new haircut

21. Blue Hill Fair 2008

22. Olivia's graduation from Preschool

23. Summer days at Sandy Point Beach

24. Our "In Their Boots" Episode and Preview

25. Olivia's End of the Year Gymnastics show

26. 2008 Olympics

27. Father's Day

28. Putting the kids to sleep at night

29. Romantic nights with Mommy (after the kids are sleeping)

30. David and Matthew's move to San Diego

31. Mowing the lawn on his John Deere

32. The dreaded computer crash

33. Half Moon Tea Party with Olivia

34. Giving the kids hugs (anytime)

35. Reading bedtime stories

36. Chasing Colvin

37. 2008 Presidential Election (knucklehead didn't request his absentee ballot in time)

38. Cole climbing on the ottoman

39. Ice cream at the Dairy Port

40. ....the past 203 days with his family. :(

Onto brighter thoughts...2-week R&R COMING SOON!! Yay!

A little note from us:
Daddy - we miss you and we love you always!

It finally happened...

Well, the ultimate crisis finally hit...the damned computer broke. Or something in it. Gary thinks it's the ethernet card, but he won't know for sure without looking at it. So, I can't access the internet using our computer - OMG! I was frightened by what I would do without email!! (I can't believe our society has become so dependent on technology, but we have!)

Thank God for small miracles...mom is letting me borrow her laptop. :) Yay! So my only complaint is I may not to be able to post pictures for a while, unless I take the time to install the software for our camera on mom's laptop (which I might when I find time). You know, I love computers and everything we can do with them, but I hate them, hate them, hate them - they are awful creatures because they are extremely precarious machines. I think computers are like men...you have to love 'em but they drive you freaking crazy when you can't figure them out! ;) Love you babe!

I do have to make one note .... actually it's a BIG note for a BIG feat from a BIG BOY!!! He crawled up on top the ottoman for the first time by himself today!! Just now as I was typing an email to Gary! Which is extremely SCARY because now it means it's only a matter of time before he figures out how to climb on EVERYTHING and then I will have to watch him like a hawk! Right now I have the furniture arranged to box him in the living room, but I think I'm going to have to put gates up now because he'll figure out how to climb over the furniture. Oh Boy!

Tent City

Mommy's amateur attempt to make a tent for the kids in the living room - yesterday was Girls Only Day and we had a picnic underneath while we watched TV. Today is Tent Day Two and we decided to let Cole join us. Today we are watching Land Before Time, one of Cole's favorite movies. It's a small diversion to keep Cole still ... but it doesn't last long....when Cole decides he wants to play and it all comes crashing down! Oh well - it's fun while it lasts!

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!