First Soccer Games

Today we hit the soccer field to watch Kaitlyn and Ryan play their first soccer games of the season.  They are both playing in a league our church runs called CCV STARS.  STARS stands for Striving To Achieve Real Significance and their motto is MTAG, which stand for More Than A Game.  Each week their is a new character trait that is introduced that can be applied to life both on and off the field.  This is the first year our campus has started this, but you can't tell.  This is the most organized sporting outfit we have ever been a part of.  We are all loving it!

Bill is coaching Ryan's team with our buddy, Matt, and Ryan loves that his daddy is coaching and that so many of his buddies are on his team, including his best buddy, Tyler.  Their team is the Thundercats and Kaitlyn is playing with her best friend, Morgan, for the Tigers.  Both teams got to choose their names and we pretty stoked to be a part of that.

Here is a slideshow of the pictures we took of their games.  Sorry there are so many, but if I actually had to go through them and choose, this post may not have happened and I know some people are itching to see them.  Enjoy!



 Here is the link to the album on Picasa. Until I can figure out how to share them on here without making them public you have to have a link.

Rockin' R Ranch Tour

Last month, we went on a fieldtrip with some random homeschoolers to the Rockin’ R Ranch in Mesa.  It’s the only  working ranch with it’s own stoplight in front of it, because it’s smack in the middle of the city.  A few of our dear friends were able to join us and it was great fun.  The kids got to learn about native life, check out a teepee, use a primitive grinder, weigh and pan for gold, create their own ranch name with native American symbols, turn a lasso and rope a bull, see how primitive tools were used, and pet some sheep!  They also got to watch a performance and see an old saw being used as an instrument.   A fun and educational day was had by all!  I hope you enjoy the pictures in the slideshow!

Sedona Columbus Day 2012

We’re driving to the Balloon Festival in Albuquerque today, so I actually had a bit of time on my hands to go through some pictures and blog.  And change our background from the Christmas theme we had!  We are finally feeling a bit more settled here in Arizona and, with the weather cooling off some, we have been able to get out and play a bit more.  Monday, Bill had the day off for Columbus Day and we got out of dodge.  We drove up to Sedona, which is one of our most favorite places and thoroughly enjoyed our adventure.  One of our favorite places in Sedona is a park called Crescent Moon Ranch and is a beautiful reprieve from the speed of life.  The last time we visited, Kaitlyn was in a backpack and had a four-legged buddy and this time, we were down a dog, up a kid, and each kid had their own packs.  It’s amazing how quickly time flies, isn’t it?  We had a great time hiking, playing in the creek (well, the kids did…it was freezing and just walking through it made the adults look like boring wimps with numb toes), and enjoying the amazing beauty God created over so many years.   Here is a slideshow of pictures from our adventure.   Enjoy!

A LONG Overdue Update

Wow!  Talk about neglect.  This blog has so many layers of dust on it, I don't even know where to begin.  Well, might as well start with the present.  After 8,000 air miles and 2,200 miles in the swagger wagon, our family is TOGETHER in Phoenix, Arizona.  The trip from Florida to Arizona was uneventful and the kids (and old people) did really well in the car for the 5 day drive.  Turns out the uneventful drive would be making up for our very eventful first couple months in AZ.  We are unfortunately STILL living out of suitcases after some crazy house hunting adventures, but thanks to the kindness and generosity of several sweet families, we will have only been in TLFs on base for about 3 1/2 out of the 10 weeks waiting to get our own home.  We are taking a huge leap of faith with the hopeful purchase of a home we love in an awesome location in the town of Surprise.  There are a lot of pieces that must fit to make this work, but they are all coming together in God's time (read "not mine") and it has His hands all over it.  We move into our home in an awesome planned community next week as a rental and hope to be under contract for the short sale of this place within the next couple of weeks.  The next biggest step is the bank's acceptance of the short sale.  Like I said...HUGE leap of faith.  There is a pretty big risk, but we're trying not to think about that.  :)  We'll keep you posted!

We are all thrilled to be back in the Valley of the Sun and reunited with many lifelong friends.  Bill is looking forward to the family friendly pace of Luke AFB and instructing in the F-16.  He is also loving that flying is his number one job again, though that is a little harder to remember while sitting in the cockpit, all suited up, waiting on the tarmac when it's 110+ degrees out.

Here are a few drive by pictures of the outside of our home.  We'll get some better ones once it's ours.  The little room on the right of the driveway is what they call a casita.  In spanish it means little house.  To us, it means guest house.  It's our 5th bedroom and has a closet and full size bath, so we have plenty of space for guests.  Hint, hint. ;)  We should be here for 1-3 years and are working on our Arizona Bucket List.  We ran out of time to fit everything in the last time we were here, as we were only here for about 10 months, and as for the things we already did...well, half of us were either too young or too insulated in a belly to remember, so the list will be pretty long.  Let us know if you want to come out and explore this part of our beautiful country, we'd gladly host you and cross some stuff off our list.

Our White Christmas

The night of the 23rd we went caroling with the flying squadron.  We had a lot of fun singing at each person's apartment and adding to our off-key choir.  After everyone was picked up, kids were taken home (or to friends' houses) and the adults caroled the group commander's house.  While we were enjoy great company and great food, we noticed that the snow was falling from the sky.  It was a beautiful and magical snowfall.  After the excitement wore off, I was a little disappointed that the prediction for snow on Christmas Eve was a day off, but it just kept snowing.  An hour or so later it was still coming down and Bill and I had a romantic walk back to the apartment towers.  We picked up the kids and drove home.  It took us about 3 times as long as usual.  Tow trucks were everywhere and the snow was still coming down.  Once safely home (well after midnight), we felt free to share our amazement with the beauty of all that snow.  And we were excited because it was probably going to stick around for Christmas!

Kaitlyn woke up on Christmas Eve and about 10 minutes after waking up she remembered it had snowed the night before.  She pulled open the curtains and gasped!  Then grabbed her robe and shoes and went upstairs to our balcony to check it out.  She didn't care that the temps were in the single digits...she had snow!

Ryan woke up shortly after that and she brought him upstairs to show him too.  I got them suited up for snow play and climbed back in bed with Bill and some eggnog lattes.  Loved that we were able to let them play in the snow without having to get out in it before the temperature reached double digits!  A few hours later we bundled up and headed out with our sleds.  The snow was really too fluffy for sledding and the hill we used last year wasn't as good this year, but we had a ton of fun rolling down the hills, and pulling each other along.

We had intended to join some friends for dinner, church, and light viewing, but the roads and sidewalks were a bit too icy and after our safe drive home the night before, we decided not to chance our luck.  We had an impromptu dinner home (thank goodness for frozen food) and started the pies and eggnog french toast casserole.  The house smelled like Christmas, so we opened our traditional Christmas Eve present...new pajamas.  This kids got two pairs this year, as Ryan's came in a set.  Kaitlyn was thrilled with her matching babydoll pjs and her Scooby Doo pj's for girls!  We tracked Santa with the Norad app and thought about how much the kids new about geography from living over here.  Kaitlyn tried super hard to wait for Santa, but accidentally fell asleep.  Her words the next morning.

Our kids don't get a whole lot for Christmas.  They usually get 3 presents to represent the gifts that the Wise Men gave baby Jesus.  Santa also fills stockings.  Santa gave Ryan a remote control monster truck and Kaitlyn got a GoGo puppy.  One that walks with a remote control.  It was her top choice.  They also get one present from each other and one from us.  We added a set of painting books and some science stuff this year and they ended up getting 3 gifts from us.  Hey we tried!

We didn't leave our pjs on Christmas day and it was awesome.  We really enjoyed a long weekend of doing pretty much nothing and today we are working our way back to reality.  We are excited that our next Christmas will be in our home with our own things and thankful that God gave us the joy of a white Christmas.  You know that's not going to happen in Phoenix!  We hope your Christmas was a joyous and special occasion too!

Merry Christmas from the Far East

Merry Christmas from the Far East!

Long time, no update!  So, it’s been a while.  Contrary to some of the rumors, we didn’t fall off the face of the earth, we just rolled on over to the other side of it.  I am embarrassed to say we haven’t done Christmas cards in quite a few years, and the last time we did them, only about half of them ended up making it out.  Turns out selling a house by owner and raising two small kids while your husband is halfway around the world takes a little bit more time and energy than I originally thought.  So, if you didn’t get one in 2008, it wasn’t because we don’t love you…it was because I hadn’t updated the address book.  If you really want it, it’s sitting in a file box waiting for me to get on my A game.  One day it will give up on us and head to the trash can.  Here’s a quick update, well as quick as 4 years can be anyway.  Grab a warm blanket, a cup of something yummy and snuggle in.

2008 was a very busy year for Bill with work.  Stationed at Shaw Air Force Base in SC, he was gone a lot, preparing for a 4 month deployment to the desert.  A couple of months before the deployment, we got word that he would be going remote (without his family) to Kunsan, South Korea in January.  This was a huge shock as we had only been in SC for about 15 months and had just bought our first home.  Bill ended up deploying for 2 months and was home for 8 weeks before his big move.  We relished every moment of family time and worked very hard living in the moment and not focusing on the dread of the upcoming year apart.  Ryan was 14 months and Kaitlyn was 4 when Bill deployed, so Kim finally caved and got both a Facebook account and a blog and Bill felt a little less like he was missing out on the kids’ daily lives.

2009 was character building.  While Bill was living the bachelor life, hard at work 8,000 miles away, Kim kept herself busy trying to sell the house and single parent two active kids.  She also decided to distract herself by setting a personal goal and both trained and competed in two sprint triathlons.  By the grace of God, we were able to sell our home in a struggling market, put everything we owned in storage, and Kim and the kids packed up what they would need for 6 months and started their journey of homelessness.  When the Lord takes away He also gives, and He gave us some wonderful extended family time that we wouldn’t have had if Bill were still in the country.  With the recent passing of Kimberly’s grandfather, the relationship our children have with our family couldn’t be more appreciated. Kim also went out to Korea to visit Bill and we spent a week in Thailand, in both Bangkok and Phuket.  It was to become the first of many amazing trips we had never even dreamed of taking.  We wrapped up the last part of the year with a 5 week family visit to Korea, made some great friends, and started scouting out what would become our future digs.  Bill found out that we would be moving to Osan, South Korea (this time as a family, even though the assignment would still be considered a remote) and he pinned on Major.  This was probably the hardest year we have had.  It was a good year, but a hard year.  Fortunately, the year went by pretty quickly, even though the days seemed to drag.  Those who have endured this know exactly what I am talking about!

We kicked off 2010 with the celebration of our family being together again and an amazing family trip to Hawaii on our move to Korea.  We were thrown a few curveballs, but managed to hit some out of the park.  We were told our move to Korea would be Command Sponsored, allowing us to live on base, the kids to go to school, and us to have all our stuff from storage sent to us, but God had different plans for our family and it didn’t work out the way we thought it would.  We decided to extend for an extra year anyway, got a great apartment off base, and bought a bunch of stuff we now have doubles of.  In hindsight, we should have bought stock in Amazon.  Kim became a homeschooling momma and we started exploring parts of the world we never thought we would see.  2010 found our family back in Hawaii standing in awe of a volcano, Bill and Kim exploring palaces in Japan, and Kim standing on the Great Wall of China.  Surreal.  Oh and Kim’s geography knowledge definitely improved.  Just proves you learn so much more when you actually have an interest.  Even if you were able to squeeze out an A in college geography.  Hmmm….

2011 found Kim and the kids in Hawaii again, but this time they were flying home on military planes and based themselves there trying to catch a flight to MacDill in Tampa.  Again, God’s plan wasn’t ours and they didn’t make the flight.  In a last second change of plans, they found themselves on a KC-135 to Phoenix.  What a blessing!  This plane (and the ones we didn’t make) was escorting the Homestead F-16s from Kunsan back to Miami.  Not too many kids have gotten to see their daddy’s jet refuel at night.  One of the best sunrises ever.  F-16s off the wing, flying into the sunrise.  Not your everyday occurrence.  They also spent a much needed week in Phoenix catching up with some of our best friends and meeting several of their newest family members.  Back in Korea, we made the tough choice to pass up Europe on our dream sheet and list Phoenix, AZ as our number one assignment choice.  Then the wait began.

We distracted ourselves with another amazing trip to Thailand in April, this time with the kids and to Koh Samui.  It was unforgettable.  We saw a pink dolphin while kayaking in the Gulf of Thailand, rode elephants, and just had a really fun time hanging out as a family and enjoying another spectacularly beautiful place.  In November we got the wonderful news that we will be moving to Phoenix for our next assignment.  We won’t be moving there until May, but we are more than thrilled to be getting back to the States, having a yard and a house again, and getting our stuff out of storage.  So, what started as a 1 year remote to Korea, turned into more than 3 adventure filled years.  169 weeks to be exact.  Kim and the kids will be returning to Florida in February for a couple of months visiting family, so if you are down that way, shoot them a message.

We just returned from THE trip of a lifetime and are officially world travelers.  And out of travel money.  We’ve crossed both the International Date Line and the Equator and have an overwhelming amount of pictures and stories to prove it.  Just before Thanksgiving we left Korea for a 3 week trip to Australia and New Zealand.  Incredible!  In Australia we hit Sydney, Cairns, and Uluru/Ayers Rock and were amazed by the beauty there.  In New Zealand, we rented a campervan and traveled the South Island.  There, we were blown away.  The beauty of the world never ceases to amaze me.  God is the ultimate Artist.  Truly awesome!  We also got to see tons of wildlife and we can’t wait to share our adventures with you.  Hopefully we can get it up on the blog soon.  Did we mention, we have an overwhelming amount of pictures?

While it sounds like Bill has been busy playing during our time here, we can assure you that hasn’t really been the case.  In fact, we’ve had to leave the country to get him away from work. We are super proud of his accomplishments and achievements and beyond excited that he is now Master’s complete!

Whew!  That’s 4 years in a nut shell.  If you would like to follow our adventures as a family, please check out our blog.  I update it as often as I can, sometimes it’s a couple times a week, sometimes once a month, depending on how busy life gets.  It’s more often when we aren’t together, so look for more posts soon.  Swing on over and check it out.  www.livelaughlovepcs.blogspot.com  We hope this letter finds you healthy and happy and that our paths cross again very soon.  Kim’s cell will be up and running in February (830) 719-1345 and you can also reach us through e-mail at themaclins@gmail.com.  Our warmest wishes for a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Bill, Kimberly, Kaitlyn, and Ryan Maclin

Christmas Card Failures

We were totally on our A game this year and had our Christmas cards done the beginning of November.  PLENTY of time for us to get them shipped to Korea and for us to get them sent out.  All I had left to do was was order them and write the letter.  And then the ugly APO shipping demon reared its ugly head.  For all those stationed overseas, you know exactly which monster I am talking about.  So, basically, I spent an embarrassing amount of time creating a really nice CHRISTMAS card, that I wasn't going to be able to get out anywhere near Christmas.  Ugh.  I feel like such a holiday card failure.  Anyway, someone special sparked a little idea in my brain and I took a picture of our card.  I will probably end up ordering a few and sending them out when we get back to the States in February, but if you are on facebook or read this blog, then this is going to be it for now.  Expect a change of address card this summer in a hard copy.   Until then, please enjoy the next post with our Christmas card and a letter that summarizes the last 4 years that you have all missed while we have been living in the Castle of Christmas Card Failure.  Please don't give up on us...we WILL be better next year and we really like getting all your cards!  If you do need our address, it's PSC 3 Box 1276, APO, AP 96266.

Happy Halloween

Here's the Halloween low down for our little family.  Kaitlyn has been really into Mary Poppins (can you blame her?) and decided that's what she wanted to be this year.  Ryan decided early on that he wanted to be Spider-man, but that lasted less than a week and then he wanted to be a firefighter again this year.  Easy for me and it made him happy.  My grandparents got him this fire fighter outfit with a fire truck for his 3rd birthday and he's definitely gotten his money's worth out of it.  Ryan's Pop Pop was a DC fire fighter back in the day and loves that Ryan wants to follow in his great grandfather's footsteps.  Kaitlyn and I picked out a plain back hat from E-Mart about 6 weeks ago and stashed it in the hat basket, only to be taken out on Halloween afternoon, of course.  Last week, I picked up the flowers and berries (stashed those as well) and we hot glued them to ribbon and wrapped it around the hat.  I threw together a simple black skirt with some extra material, made a little bow tie, and we scavenged our wardrobes for something that would work.  We came up with a shirt, tights, and shoes from hers and a jacket and purse from mine.  Nothing like having a great idea for a couple of months, but waiting until the last minute to pull it together.  :)

I wish I had a better picture from behind her.  This one has Ryan's hat, but you can see how Kaitlyn totally pulled off the Mary Poppins look.  She looked just like a mini Mary from behind.

We visited a very haunted house and went to the Officer's Club for Kids' Membership Night and a costume contest.  Here's the kids on stage modeling their outfits.

Kaitlyn ended up winning 1st place for her costume in the 3-8 age group.  She was so proud of herself!

Each participant got a participation prize, including 3 Dum Dums and a pack of 3 crayons.  You can see Ryan was not only super proud of himself, but that he was also lightning quick in unwrapping all three suckers and putting them in his mouth at the same time.  Personally, I think he was most proud of getting them all in there before I noticed and ruined his fun. :)

She yelled, through clenched teeth, "I WON!!!!"  Not only is she proud of her costume, but she is also very proud of the lolly pop stick trick she can do now that she has finally lost her first tooth.

Halloween is always an exhausting night for my little ones.  Apparently for their daddy as well.  Or maybe that's just his job.  :)  They fell asleep together talking after they finished reading books.  Hope your Halloween was ghoulishly, horrifically, terrific!

Clipboards and Base Ten Blocks

I just downloaded a bunch of pictures from the camera a couple of days ago and thought I would share a few craft things we have done that I managed to remember to take pictures of.  I am going to be intentional about taking more pictures and documenting our adventures better.  We'll see how that actually goes.  :)  The first set of pictures are just the kids decorating clipboards with stickers about a month ago on another really rainy day.  We had 5 days of any sun whatsoever in a very rainy 2 and a half months.  You can see where their different interests lie based on the stickers they chose.  Love Ryan's "can't see me" eye.

I mentioned in the last post that Kaitlyn officially started school last week.  In this little activity we reviewed place value (hundreds, tens, and ones) and made some fun base ten blocks with popsicle sticks and black beans.  After making the hundreds block and seeing that it was definitely not square, I wished I had smaller sticks, but we used what we had and it was still a lot of fun for us all.  We also added a little painting with glue to our morning before heading to Splish and Splash (the super fun pool at Camp Humphreys).  How many kids do you know that get to do school in their bathing suits.  Makes for a much easier clean up, for sure!

First Day of School - Fall 2011

Kaitlyn officially started second grade last week as we continued our adventures in homeschooling.  We've made some major changes in how we are running our little school and after a challenging year in first grade trying to figure it out, we are going back to the style we used in Kinder.  Relaxed!  I learned a lot about myself as a home educator last year and about how my daughter learns best and about how best to be her teacher.  That's another post for another day...if I get around to it.  She has an amazing love of learning and reading and I am so blessed to be her teacher.  I am learning a lot with her as well and am finding true joy in being a homeschooling momma. I am sure we will still have some speed bumps along the way, but I just know it's going to be an awesome year!

Ryan started his first day back at Mission Baptist Academy as a big pre-K-4 student.  We can't believe how much he grew this summer!  He was so excited to start school with Ms. O'Hara as his teacher and spend 4 mornings a week with his little 4 year old buddies.  Here are some first day of school pictures for you to enjoy.

Kaitlyn's school day started with handwriting/letter formation practice in the shower with shaving cream and continued with some spelling practice as we played Appletters at Starbucks over a fancy coffee drink for me, a strawberry milk for her, and a doughnut for each of us.  I can assure you that the treats at Starbucks are not part of our everyday homeschooling routine, though the creative learning is.  ;)  Next we headed over to Sophie's for some independent work and our last hair appointments before our awesome stylist takes a couple of months off to have a baby.  Here's a picture of our spelling...taking and posting pictures of our handwriting would have been wildly inappropriate! ;)

4th of July - AKA Ryan's Birthday

What's that?  A blog post the same WEEK the event actually occurs?  Holy smokes!  Can you believe your eyes?  I know, I know, but it turns out that taking (and uploading) pictures, keeping a blog, a house, two kids, and a husband actually take time.  A lot of time.  Throw in my work and Kaitlyn's school, it just isn't an immediate priority.  It is officially summer here, although the kids will still have some school stuff, and I expect to have a bit more time on my hands.  Hopefully I will catch up on some blogs and also chat with friends and family every now and then instead of rushing to get the little guy to school and doing school work with the little gal.  One day, I may just find the balance of life I am searching for.  Until then, it is the computer that gets the boot first, and unfortunately that means sharing pictures, blogging, and social networking.  Definitely a bummer for me now, but at least our family is having fun and (mostly) enjoying each other and in twenty years when our house is empty I will know that we made the right decision.  So please bear with us when it seems as though we dropped off the face of the earth.  We're just on the other side of it, which complicates communications a bit! :)

I digress.  Monday was Ryan's birthday and we had a great day!  We started the day out with a special breakfast, presents, and playtime with new toys.  Daddy took the kids to the gym while Mommy sewed some 4th of July outfits for the kids and after no nap for the birthday boy (not for a lack of trying though) we headed out for a birthday dinner, song and shake at Chili's.  

Red, White and Blue Birthday Breakfast

 Planes from G'ma and G'pa to go with his aircraft carrier from them.

 Gifts Kaitlyn picked out on her own for Ry.

 A McQueen card from Nana and G'daddy.  He loved that Mater's hook was holding a cake!

His gift from Mom and Dad - this was the one thing he really wanted and kept asking for (besides the aircraft carrier).

After filling our tummies, we headed over to the flight line where the base was having a HUGE celebration for Ryan's America's birthday.  There were bouncy castles galore, lots of freebies, face painting, a special presentation from Korea's Drum Cats, and of course, fireworks.  Oh, and there was one of Daddy's jets there, so you know he we had to take pictures. ;)  

Can you believe this guy is 4 already?!

 

 

I asked Kaitlyn if she could give Ryan a kiss on the cheek, but while I was saying, "on the cheek," they gave each other a sweet little kiss.  One day, I am sure this will embarrass them, but I hope they always love each other this much and couldn't help but capture it and share it.

Here's the picture I was aiming for.

Racing around the "track" by Chili's.  I love how Kaitlyn is letting Ryan win here. 

 Round two declares Kaitlyn the winner.

Best seat at the party.  I love these guys!

The Drum Cats.  These ladies were pretty awesome.  Almost as awesome as their red pleather pants. ;)  All joking aside, they put on quite a show...in a good way!

Sometimes Korea can be very pretty and the weather on Monday was perfect!

We had a fabulous day!  And only one meltdown (you would have thought it was about yogurt sauce and chicken on a turkish kabob making lunch super yucky, but after a little bit of prying we discovered it was because someone gets fireworks on his birthday and someone doesn't), which was great considering we didn't get to bed until after 10:00.  We weren't quite that lucky on Tuesday.  Well slept kids are happy kids, and ours weren't well slept or terribly happy the next morning.  It took a lot less to set them off on a whining spree and reminded me of what I have to deal with when we make our next trip back to the States.  :)  Needless to say, we stayed home and had a great day chilling out as a family.  Four day weekends ROCK!!!