Daddy's Home!!!

Finally, this morning, I got a call and Gary has arrived in the states! We picked him up in Bangor around 1:30 p.m. today! Hooray! It'll be great having him home, even if it's only for two weeks! More to follow....

Killing time, waiting for Daddy....

Baking cookies is never dull ... tonight we watched Dora Saves the Mermaids and Olivia had to make Dora and Marianna cookies. If you can't tell, they are mermaids. :)

8 Months - a sad day...or is it???

Today, December 27th, marks 8 months that Gary has been gone! It has definitely been the longest period of time he has been gone, and doubly for the kids, and thanks to Maine winters, it has completely sucked for me - no, today I'm not focusing on how strong it's made me or how far we have come and how we are on the downhill slope from here (only 5 and 1/2 months left)! It would definitely top my list of bad days ... however, as we speak, Gary is somewhere en route home for his 2-week R&R!! So, I guess I'm focusing on how GREAT it will be to see him!! I don't know if he's in Iraq, Kuwait or mid-air, but he will be home in the next 2-3 days! It will be so great for Olivia and Cole - they miss their daddy so much! And Mommy could really use a hug! We can't wait!

A big HOORAY!!!

WE WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

We will be celebrating our Christmas when Gary gets home, but we hope everyone has a wondeful Christmas and you cherish this time with your families!

God Bless and Merry Christmas!

(Shhhh, we can't say it to Olivia or she'll think it's Christmas and there will be no living with her!)

Caution: Watch out for Stray Reindeer

A word of caution: watch out for the REINDEER when you are finishing up your Christmas shopping at this late hour! (Shame on you if you really are still out - it takes a brave soul amongst the crowds!) Keep a sharp eye, I hear the reindeer don't stop for pedestrians and Santa's age makes the validity of license questionable!

Merry Christmas!

Santa Visits Daddy in Iraq

Gary owes me BIG TIME!

[Don't forget to pause the music to hear me chastise Gary :)]

Does anyone have ANY IDEA how incredibly hard it is to shovel 14 inches+ of snow to get off your porch??? EXTREMELY! This is absolutely the worst because even though we have a plow man, he doesn't plow the walkway to the house and he can't get close enough to the garage to let me out, so I have to shovel AGAIN - I swear Gary owes me ...

BIG TIME!

He is so lucky I love him! :)

Before and After the storm...

I have no idea how many inches we got, but we are snowbound until the plow guy comes...here's a couple of pictures. Totally not looking forward to shoveling the walkway!

The backyard last night...

The front porch last night...

The front porch this morning...

The front yard this morning....

Blizzard Warning

Tonight we are experiencing our first 'Nor'easter' of the season - whiteout conditions, average of 16 inches of snow across the state, winds 25-35 mph, and blasted cold temps! Come to think of it, I can't remember the last time I saw this much snow at one time. Right now, I'm not liking Maine very much. Snow is still falling (I'll post pictures later) and it's hard to guess how much we have because of the winds - but as of 11 p.m. it reaches the second step! I'm going to have dig my way off the front porch in the morning! At least, we still have power (and heat!) because everything we have is electric and we have no backup generator. Thank God for small miracles tonight because tomorrow I'll be cursing up a storm as the snow creeps up my pantlegs! Gary is going to owe me big time!

This is my kind of snow!!

Olivia and I made paper snowflakes today and put them up in our living room window - so cute! This is the kind of snow I just LOVE!! It's a No Shoveling Zone!

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas...NOT!

Okay, I'd rather be dreaming of a White Christmas than actually being in one right now...in my dreams I don't have to shovel! We are expecting 3-6 inches today, (I have shoveled the walkway and in front of the garage twice and it looks more like there will be six to me) and Friday calls for more snow in coastal areas (that means us!).

But WAIT, THERE'S MORE...

this Sunday, our weathermen are predicting a BIG snow storm - and for me, more shoveling. Grrrreat.

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree....

Here is a look at our christmas tree...before and after. I went into the basement last night and pulled out the boxes with all the christmas decorations. I don't have a lot, just enough to put in the living room, but it's about all I have the patience for at this point. Olivia was so excited to decorate the tree, but now the hard part is waiting to open presents!

She was supposed to wait for Daddy to put the star on top, but the anticipation was killing her...luckily our tree wasn't as big as the past two years and I was able to lift her fairly easily. :) It looks great! We can't wait to show Daddy in person!!

Our New Outdoor Decor...

Let me tell you how difficult it is to put these mechanical reindeer together ... the instructions aren't worth reading!! But after multiple tries, I finally got them working and on display! Gary would be proud of me (I'm not technically inclined)! But as you can see, Olivia absolutely loves it and it makes it worth the trouble!

Where's my plow man?!

Try shoveling freezing rain..... THIS SUCKS!! I'm already so sick of this weather!

Gary's parents let me borrow their old tractor to plow, but Pop hasn't had time to fix it, so I'm stuck shoveling. We've had three storms that brought snow - the first was about 2 inches of fluffy stuff, the second was followed by rain that washed it away and this one. I usually only do just enough to get by ... the walkway to the house and right in front of the garage, and part of the turnaround so I have a place to pull in and out of ... just enough so we don't have to trudge through it to get to the car. I have hired a plowman, but we haven't seen him yet. :( Hopefully, when the real big snow storms come, I won't have to track him down. I would hate to have to shovel the entire driveway!

Olivia's first handwritten letter to Santa....