Bill's Fini Flight

Bill's last flight at Shaw

Bill had his last flight at Shaw today and had initially thought that he didn't want to make a big deal about it. He just felt like it wouldn't be the same without all his bro's there and just being attached to a different squadron. We were talking last night and it came up that this might be the only time we would be able to be there for one of his Viper fini flights and I told him again, that if he wanted us there we would be there. This morning on his way out the door he told me that he thought he may want to order pizzas and have us come up if we could. Of course we could! So we scrambled to get things in order and do a few extras. After I picked Kaity up from school (and tracked down a picture), I started the process. Knowing how much it would mean to him if the rest of the squadron could be there, I decided to print a picture of the guys that was recently taken in Iraq. It turned into me getting it blown up, mounted, and laminated. It wasn't the same, but it was still fun.

Kelso's crew and the Shooters celebrating the fini.

We brought the guys to the fini, had them hanging out while we were eating pizza, and had them drinking at the bar.
One of the funniest things is that we were actually ready, out the door, German Chocolate cake (Bill's fav) made, cookies made, and pizzas picked up, and at the squadron EARLY. By 20 minutes. Bill landed 45 minutes early. I know! Not quite what we had envisioned (like the deployment reunion, which I will blog before he leaves again), but they wouldn't let him shut down his jet before we all got out there, so we missed the taxi, but that's okay, it worked out.

Bill's legs are taped so he can't run away. If our squadron would have been here, he would have also been taped to the ladder in the background. He was glad he didn't have to go through that, but it would have been worth it to have his bro's there.

We have some cute pictures of Kaity hosing Bill down at his fini flight at Laughlin when she was 15 months old and thought Ryan would be all over it, especially with his love of inappropriate uses of water, but he just stood back, took it all in, and let Kaity do all the work.

Not only did she hose her daddy, but she also sprayed some innocent bystanders. Ooops! Bill was very thankful that we made a big deal out of it and also that we thought to include his bro's the only way that we could.

Us with the VERY MISSED Shooter guys (and out of town gals). Thanks for the ride! We will miss you dearly friends.

The Power of Advertising

I just sat down in the living room with the kids and thought I would blog quickly about Ryan and our trip to the park yesterday while the kids ate their snack and watched a little bit of a show. I had just got them settled and logged on when Kaity engages me in conversation.

Kaity: Mom, do we have ly-salt?
Me: Ly-salt?
Kaity: Yes, ly-salt...do we have it?
Me: Do you mean Ly-sol?
Kaity: Yes (in a very excited voice).
Me: Yes, we have something like that. Those are the wipes we use in the bathroom (of course we use the Costco brand), why?
Kaity: Because I can make a mess with sugar and you can clean it up with Lysol.

Ahhh, the power of advertising.

This brings up another sweet and funny moment we shared through advertising when Kaity was two and I was pregnant with Ryan.

Kaity and I were shopping at Target and I was just aimlessly chatting with her as we were walking through the baby section when something we passed grabbed her attention. She told me we needed to pick up some Johnson's so her baby brother could sleep better when he was born. The week before we had been watching tv and a commercial for Johnson and Johnson Lavender baby wash had come on, informing the viewers (my daughter apparently) that if you bathe your child in that wash it would help the baby sleep better. Well, the advertising worked, because a week later when she spied it on a shelf at the store she remembered the commercial and told me her brother would need that. She is a thoughtful girl!

I just recalled another advertising moment and thought I would write this one down too. On the weekends Bill will watch have the news on while we are getting up and around and there is an infomercial (I know, even worse) trying to sell a blanket with sleeves. This contraption is called a Snuggie. One morning last weekend we were all hanging out and I told Kaity I was going to get my robe because I was cold and she told me that I needed a Snuggie. Because then I could be all wrapped up in a blanket, but my arms could be free, but still warm. :)

Happy New Year!!!

 

We rang in the New Year with Bill's sister, Teresa, and her family. We wrapped up the six day visit enjoying drinks, spades, and each others' company. It was a great trip with many adventures. You will want to check back and catch up on our adventures with a cabin in the mountains...you will be laughing out loud! I will try to get it blogged soon.

 

As we wrap up the old and start with the new, I find that I am having a huge internal battle that started when Bill was deployed and is only getting worse as he is getting ready to leave again. A huge part of me just wants to skip 2009 because we will not be together as a family and know it will be a very difficult year. I joke that I am ready to ring in 2010! I am torn because I want this year to go by fast, so that we can all be reunited again, but I don't want to wish away the time that I have with my children at this age. I know that time already goes so fast and I really don't want to miss a thing. I feel like as adults Bill and I don't really change too much, but the kids...that is a totally different story. The bottom line is, even though I struggle with wanting time to speed up while we are apart, I truly am looking forward to ALL of the adventures that 2009 will be bringing our family, both together and apart. It will be a memorable year for sure and will make 2010 that much sweeter. We wish you and yours a Happy, Healthy, and very Blessed New Year!

Merry Christmas

We enjoyed a wonderfully quiet Christmas just the four of us. In fact, we even stayed in our pajamas and played all day long. It was fantastic. The kids were a lot of fun this year and played with their toys all day. We really delighted in having young children on Christmas morning, and tried not to get too wrapped up in the Santa and the presents, but that is so hard with the excitement of giving and the joy on the children's faces. In order to keep the meaning of Christmas in our home we have a couple of traditions. When Kaity was a baby, a very dear friend told me about a tradition someone she knows does with their family and I thought it was a great idea for our family. On the very first Christmas, baby Jesus was presented with three gifts from the wise men. Now, each Christmas our children are given three gifts by us. Before we let the kids open presents they (really just Kaity for now) have to tell us why they get three presents from us. This has worked out really well. First, Kaity can tell you why we celebrate Christmas and can tell the story of the wise men and it is meaningful to her. The second, is that it keeps Christmas under control. I love giving people gifts and seeing the happiness on their faces, so I tend to want to go crazy even if we can't afford it. :D Our next tradition, which we stared this year, is to bake a birthday cake or cupcakes to celebrate the birth of Christ, because, after all, it is His birthday. Hope you all had an enjoyable day and made some wonderful memories!

My Favorite Girl

We have the sweetest kids. Yesterday I was upstairs and Kaity came up to give me love. She gave me a huge hug and kiss and then a funny conversation ensued.

Kaity: I love you Mommy.
Mommy: I love you too. (big hug) I love you SO MUCH. Did you know that you are my favorite girl?
Kaity (with a twinkle in her eye): No. If you have another baby she will be your favorite girl.
Mommy: You're right. Mommy would have two favorite girls.
Kaity: You could have two babies one more of each and then you would have two favorite girls and two favorite boys.
Mommy: Four babies, huh?
Kaity: Yes you would have four babies and I would help you take care of some of them.

We snuggle a little more and then go downstairs to relay the conversation to Bill, who thinks he is done having kids (we have tabled this conversation until we get our next assignment since we are not on the same page).
We have had this conversation many times recently with Kaity, though this is the first time she has thrown down with a reasonable number (usually she says she wants 20 more babies). I have told her that she would probably have to share her room and she says she is totally fine with that.
We go through all the sacrifices she would go through in our next conversation. She said she would share her room and that it would be okay that she wouldn't have mommy or daddy at some of her games or recitals, and that there would be less time with just mommy and daddy. She said that it would be worth the sacrifice to have more brothers and sisters. The proof is in the pudding and only time will tell, but we now have record of the conversation.

Our Christmas Letter

Season’s Greetings from the South
Wow! What a year we have had. It has been a bit of a whirlwind for us, and even though we say this every year, we have no idea where the year went. This is a little long, we are making up for last year, so grab a cup of coffee or a glass of wine and catch up with us.
We started out the year visiting some of our favorite characters at Disney World. Bill’s parents gave the kids and grandkids 3 day park hopper passes for Christmas. When we turned them in for tickets the theme parks were running a special for an extra day free. So, I drove down again with the kids in May for a quick visit and Bill met up with us on his way home from one of the many TDYs he was on. We got to visit all of the favorite characters that we missed the first time, and even had breakfast with Mickey, Minnie, and the rest of the gang. Ryan was a trooper and Kaity was at the perfect age to enjoy the park. We had so much fun!
Bill has made a lot of professional advances this year. He finished the 4 FLUG (4 ship Flight Lead Upgrade) and became one of the Flight Commanders for his squadron in February. He continues to maintain a 4.0 in his Master’s courses and is currently meeting his Major boards. Bill has been gone this year more than he has been home it seems. The Ops tempo here at Shaw picked up last fall and continued going strong with training TDYs (where he goes somewhere else to work). Beginning last October, he escaped (I mean had to go) to Las Vegas, the Florida Panhandle, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, Alaska, and back to Las Vegas (I know…again!) where he helped to support the Weapon’s School pilots and got to play war games and practice some of the things that they can’t practice while at home. Totally cush, I know…but by the end, they were all a bit worn out. He finished up the year with a deployment to Iraq with his squadron. We are incredibly blessed that he was able to make it home by Thanksgiving, about two months earlier than the others, but it is bittersweet because he is getting ready to leave again after the holidays for a really long time, but I digress. More about that later. Despite his CRAZY work schedule and his even CRAZIER TDY schedule, Bill has always made time for the kids and I and we never felt that he didn’t meet our needs. Frustrated…absolutely, but never neglected. This year has continued to remind us how precious family time is and has taught us to be creative when balancing family time with working and studying at home. We are so proud of him, the role he plays in protecting our freedom, and the husband, father, and man that he is.
Kim has been busy holding down the fort while Bill has been away, but has still made time for friends, family, fun, and a bit of work. The bow business is going fairly well and she began selling to some local boutiques this year. She is so thankful to be involved with such a great group of gals in the squadron, especially since they all get together so often to make the TDYs and Deployment not only bearable, but a bit of fun. The distraction for the ladies and the children is most welcome. They get together for fun girl stuff quite frequently which makes the time pass quickly.
Now for the stars of the family. Kaitlyn, who is 4 ½ going on 15 at times, started 5 day a week preschool this fall and goes from 9-12. Mom is still not a fan of her going every day, but thinks it is good practice for next year when she sends her baby to Kindergarten. Kaity is a social girl, who makes friends easily and whose teachers find her a joy to be around, so it really is a good fit for her. Kaity is maturing every day and can put a smile on our faces in a heartbeat. She is a sweet and funny girl who is quickly becoming her own person. She also became involved in dance and gymnastics this summer and continued dance (we made her choose one thing) this fall. She is really enjoying it and we have been able to see some small performances and are looking forward to the big recital in the spring. Kaitlyn still loves books and has started to read on her own. It has always been fun to listen to her “read” stories from memory, but is so cool to listen to her sound words out now as well. We have discovered that our spelling days are over, as she has figured out many of the words we try to spell when we don’t want her to know what we are talking about. I guess we will have to move on to Pig Latin. Kaity is still an awesome big sister, and although there is a lot of fighting over toys, she is so sweet to Ryan and always wants to love on him and play with him. They make each other laugh all of the time and are truly best buds.
Ryan has gone from a baby to a boy seemingly overnight. He really is still a baby, but it shocks us how much he grows every day. He is nearly 18 months and is quite possibly the sweetest, most loving little boy we have ever met. Which is a really good thing, because he is also one of the busiest. Our boy who we once called “baby chill” is anything but. He is into EVERYTHING! Ryan is constantly doling out kisses and hugs and when he sees us sitting on the couch or the floor runs up for a quick snuggle and some kisses. He charms the ladies already! Mommy was worried because he was never interested in books at all, but recently has fallen in love with them and anytime we sit on the floor, he runs and gets a book and backs up into our laps so we will read to him. It is the only time he is still! He has hit many milestones this year, from crawling, to running (he seemed to skip walking), climbing, and talking. Ryan has quite a few words, though many are hard to understand. It is so funny how different two children can be. Kaity was speaking in clear, few word sentences at his age and his only clear words, are mama, dada, Kaity, JD (for any dog that he sees or hears), vroom, and train. We aren’t worried though. He knows what he is saying and talking will be like walking was for him. It took him a while, but once he got it, he didn’t slow down. Ryan adores his big sister. He looks for her when he wakes up and when she is at school. He follows her around wherever she goes and wants to do whatever she does and have what she has. The quintessential little brother. She eats it up most of the time, though. They both bring so much joy, love, and laughter to our lives. The Lord has blessed us!
As we wrap up this letter we ask for your prayers for our family as we encounter the greatest challenge we have had to face as a family. This recent deployment was tough on us, but all four of us handled it pretty well. The reason Bill came home before the rest of his squadron is because he had an unexpected assignment handed down this summer. Though unexpected in timing, we knew we would probably have to face this at some point in his Air Force career. Bill is to report in January to Kunsan, Korea for an unaccompanied remote assignment. He is thankful that this flying assignment will keep him in the F-16 and has the potential to be great for his career, but we are heartbroken that our family will be separated for a year. Two months was hard and a year is a really long time, both in the eyes of small children and in the eyes of a daddy who will leave a baby and come home to a little boy and miss many milestones in both children’s lives. This year has been a good preparation for that, but not anywhere close to the same thing. Many things are uncertain about what comes next for the family, but of two things we are certain. The first is that we are committed to making this a positive thing for our family and our marriage. We have plans to see each other both with and without children and although many days will be difficult, we have a lot to look forward to and a lot to look back upon fondly. Fortunately, we have technology on our side, which should make it easier on the kids. The second is that Kim will be buying a lot more coffee and wine as a single parent for the next year. Buy stock now!
We joined the computer age this year as well and started a blog. Please stop in often and check out our blog where another family adventure usually awaits. Kim is getting better and better about blogging and posting pictures and you may even be surprised by a posting now and then done by the man of the house (or the Korean bachelor pad, as it will be). Our site is http://livelaughlovepcs.blogspot.com. We started this blog right after we found out about this assignment, so for those of you who don’t know how PCS fits in our blog address, it stands for Permanent Change of Station, which is quite ironic because nothing is ever permanent in the military. Bill didn’t want anything with our family name in it, so this made sense at the time. We hope you are all having a delightful holiday season and that health and happiness are abundant in your lives. Much love!
Bill, Kimberly, Kaitlyn, and Ryan

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day Pictures

We have taken so many pictures in the past few days, the best way to see them and the captions explaining them is to click on the link in the top right had corner that leads to our Picasa photo gallery. Or just go straight to www.picasaweb.google.com/kaityry. Enjoy!

Christmas Traditions

One of the best things about marriage during the holidays is the holiday traditions that are brought to the table. One of our favorite traditions is one that Bill had growing up and that we have continued since we got married. Each person gets to open one present on Christmas Eve and it is always related to pajamas. That way, each person has a new pair of pjs to wear on Christmas morning. The kids loved their pjs and house shoes. Ryan's pjs were fire trucks and he is totally into the movie Cars, so we picked him up a pair of lined croc style house shoes in the shape of Lightning McQueen. Kaity's pj's were pink and green (of course) and she got a pair of Tinkerbell house shoes. Bill and I really didn't need pjs, so we both got some L.L. Bean scuffs and I got a little fleecy robe from Victoria's Secret.
My family always made pancakes on Christmas morning, so we let Kaity make the batter and we made snowmen pancakes for the kids.
We started our own family tradition this year, and it may be my favorite (or at least the most convenient) one yet. I decided that since we spend so much time in the kitchen on Christmas Eve and Christmas day and since there is so much to clean up and so much to do on Christmas Eve, why add to it. We ordered pizza from Papa John's and ate on paper plates! The kids were thrilled (pizza is still Kaitlyn's favorite food) and clean up was a snap. That will be one we're keeping.

Baking Goodies

This year was a lot of fun baking with Kaity. We made Oreo and cream cheese balls covered in white chocolate, buckeyes (which Kaity kept calling BUG eyes...gross!), spearmint and peppermint bark, peanut butter balls, and will soon make truffles and birthday cupcakes since today we are celebrating the birth of Jesus. We decided at the last minute not to make Santa cookies because he already had a ton of treats.

 

 

 

 

Trinity Day School Christmas Party

I was the mom in charge of the Christmas party, so I put Ryan in Parent's Morning Out for my own sanity and hung out in Kaity's classroom this morning. We had a lot of fun making reindeer food, playing Christmas bingo, eating yummy cupcakes, popcorn, and reindeer snacks (carrots and apples), and opening presents.

Tis the Season...

...for a marshmallow in your hat! That's right, not a typo. Bill had the great (but potentially dangerous) idea to roast marshmallows for s'mores in our fireplace. We told Kaity she could have hot chocolate and make s'mores since we had to leave the Festival of Lights before doing that because the kids, Ryan specifically, were beat. But first, she had to pick up her room which really just consisted of putting all of her books back on her shelf. After about ten minutes, I went to go check on her and she was fast asleep on the floor in her dress (again, why did we buy her a bed?). So, we put the hot chocolate in the freezer and the ingredients back in the pantry for another day.

 

The next night the three of us (we waited until Ry was in bed because having an open fire with a stumbly toddler is never a good idea) had a great time roasting marshmallows in the fireplace and making s'mores.

 

Now Kaity discovered a Santa hat and a jingle bell in our Christmas decorations Sunday afternoon and has hardly taken them off. You see where this is going. She wanted to wear them to school on Monday, so we let her wear the hat, but she had to leave the bell in the car. Remembering my teaching days, I thought we should spare her sweet teacher. Kaity was happy with the compromise.

 

Well, at pick up I was told that she kept playing with the marshmallow in her hat all day. My response was, "great, you guys had marshmallows for snack today - that's one of your favorites!" and, to Ms. Shannon "Sorry about the hat, but at least you didn't have the bell." See, I thought Ms. Shannon said the marshmallow and the hat. Turns out that our sweet sugar was saving a little something sweet in her hat for later (like, the next day!) and had been playing with it during preschool. Silly girl. Needless to say, I replaced the stale and germ laden marshmallow with a new one.

 

Children's Christmas Party

 

We are so glad we shelled out the ten bucks for the photo with the kids and Santa in Charleston because we thought our best pictures of the kids would be from this party. People we know taking great pictures, not as many people, hair done and cute holiday outfits on, you know the drill. Well, you know the saying about the best laid plans, right? They were laid to rest when Ryan puked all over the concrete in the parking lot as Bill was putting him in his stroller. That's right...we have another stomach bug! GRRRR! So, Bill cleaned up the baby and sat with him in the car watching Cars as I took Kaity to the party.

 

Santa flew in in an F-16 and handed out presents to the kids. All of the kids got a book and Kaity and Ryan got sweet little books about godly character. Kaity got I'd Be Your Princess and Ryan got I'd Be Your Hero. Santa did good, 'cuz these books are super cute! And something new for mom and dad to read to them. :)

 

Kaity had a great time bouncing in the bounce house, making a picture frame, decorating a cookie, and running around with her friends. I was bummed that Ryan missed out, but honestly I think Ryan was quite relieved to not have to see the dude in the red suit again...especially since Santa gave his gift to Kaity Mac to give to him. Don't forget to check our online album (click on the link to our pics on the right) to see the rest of our pictures.

Meeting Santa

 

Well, to say that Ryan wasn't impressed with Santa is a major understatement. Besides being incredibly overtired (a 45 minute nap down to Charleston and an hour past his bedtime), he is starting to be wary of us leaving him. As the parent of a second child, I handed him over anyway and laughed at his reaction while filming. It didn't last long though, because I felt too bad and rescued him from the jolly old soul. I then proceeded to take some video of Kaitlyn, who was very excited it was FINALLY her turn, telling Santa what she wanted for Christmas, only I couldn't hear over the crying her brother was doing in my arms because I was in the vicinity of the jolly man he will (hopefully) love next year. As you can imagine, all of the parents around us were laughing, most likely remmebering their child the previous year, and I could hardly see for the tears of laughter filling my eyes. Kaity never had this response to Santa as a baby, so I am glad I was able to capture Ryan's reaction. It will make a great story in years to come. The look on his face is priceless.

Holiday Festival of Lights

We took the kids down to Charleston Friday night to do The Festival of Lights again this year. It is such a great show. A three mile drive sporting an awesome lights show. Kaity's favorite was a great white shark that jumped out of the "water" with his jaws wide open. My favorite is the one with Rudolph measuring the chimney and the look of concern on both his and Santa's face because there is no way tubby Santa will fit. The thing that makes it so funny is that it is sponsored by Weight Watchers. We hope you enjoy all the pictures in the slideshow. All of the pictures after the sand sculpture were taken on the driving tour. Don't worry...no one was injured as I was taking photos through the sunroof, but I did get a little chilly. It was worth it!

We did half of the drive then parked and visited Santa's Village where we took a train ride through the park and got to visit with Santa (funny story coming up in the next post) then not only finished the drive, but went through again. The kids were exhausted and Ryan fell asleep as soon as we got moving. Kaity was too excited about the lights to sleep. She needed a potty break and we needed a pick-us-up before our drive home so we left the island and headed to Starbucks. It got really quiet and the next thing you know she was out cold before we even hit the bridge. She didn't even remember talking in her sleep or me carrying her into Starbucks. Bill and I were thrilled when we all slept 'til 9:00 the next morning!

Warming My Heart

A woman in our Life Group through church works for a children's home here and told us this morning of an emergency placement. The three children will be in the home for Christmas, but they were not planning on having them, so the company who is providing Christmas has helped with the current residents, but the need for the three unexpected children has not been met. She sent out an e-mail asking for help to give these kids a Christmas like the others in the home, from clothes to toys. I have a special place in my heart for helping children, especially during the holidays. Although she doesn't remember it, we have done the Angel Tree with Kaitlyn each year since she turned two.
This afternoon I told her that we were going to go to the store to pick up a gift exchange present for a little boy in her class and while we were doing that we would be picking up toys and clothes for these three little kids (one being a little girl her age). My sweet, gracious, generous daughter said, "Okay, we can use the money from my piggy bank, especially since I don't have a piggy bank anymore." Her brother broke it because she kept climbing up to get it to play with the money and Ryan grabbed it before we knew it was down...again, but back to the real story. This warmed my heart and made me so proud to be her mother. I know that she has no concept of money, but $5 for her is a lot, especially since is at that age where she doesn't want to share (and she actually has to do her chores to get paid). Now she isn't perfect (as we all know) and asked for all of the things we bought for others for herself, but was kind enough to take her money, pick something out, and pay for it herself for a complete stranger who is less fortunate than she.
As frustrating and defiant as she can be sometimes, it is times like these where I know we are getting through to her and doing something right as parents. She is a special and loving child, filled with God's grace and giving spirit, and for this I am so proud. I am writing this so I can remember how sweet she is on those days where I want to strangle her for not sharing with her brother. ;D

Failing Drastically

Well, there is a little princess who is failing drastically at The Pristine Castle Game.
To be fair, she is not the only one. I put her in her room for quiet time and like usual, she destroyed her room. I can't believe how quickly she can mess it up! Which begs the question...Is the two hours of quiet time each day worth the fight to clean up the mess she makes or worth cleaning it up myself? Maybe I should just let her watch TV. Just kidding, I know that her imaginative play (aka room destroying) is far healthier for her little mind and there will come a day where I laugh hysterically remembering her special talent. Right now, I might just become hysterical. ;D We have so many pictures like this from the time she was two and went into the big girl bed. Oh the stories we have! Maybe one day I will blog them.

The Sleeping Princess

The princess fell asleep during quiet time today on her makeshift bed, leaving us to wonder why on earth we bought her a bed. She is so sweet when she is sleeping! She is awake now and thinks this picture is cute and wants to see the rest. :D

Our Home is for Sale and A New Game

Well, I finally did it. We got the house "for sale ready" (well nearly anyway) and created an online photo gallery and have listed it with militarybyowner.com. If you know anyone moving to Shaw or the Sumter area, please have them check us out. We are ad number MBO92776. At this point, we owe entirely to much to be able to even think about listing with an agent, so we are hoping and praying that a great (or even good, as long as it covers our mortgage) offer comes in soon.

Until then, the kids and I will be playing a little game called The Pristine Castle.
The object of the game is to keep the pristine castle spotless. If the players fail to do so, the angry queen will come swooping in (trying not to spill her wine or coffee, depending on the time of day) to capture the little prince and princess and stick them in their towers until the castle is pristine again...and the game starts again. Sound like fun doesn't it?

I am embracing this new challenge in our lives and am hoping that it will finesse some positive routines in our lives (especially with the kids). Having to have the house in perfect order with beds made, sinks polished, and counters cleaned before we leave the house would make me a VERY happy woman. I love order and cleanliness!

Our House is FINALLY on the market.

Dad's Donuts and the Pumpkin Patch

On October 16th, Kaity's class had Dad's Donuts (a special day just for dad's and their little ones) followed by a field trip to the pumpkin patch at Aldersgate United Methodist. Of course it was impossible for Bill to be there, but we did take the creepy daddy doll we ordered as a substitute daddy just before Bill left. We kind-of thought it might come in handy in the next year or so. Each of the kids have one and they both love it. Kaity hugs hers all the time and Ryan gives "daddy" kisses...then chucks it like a football. :)

Kaity was pretty sad that her daddy wasn't there, but was pleased that I could be there. And loved the fact that she got to eat donuts for breakfast! The evidence was all over her face. Of course, Ms. Shannon made me well up b/c she started welling up about the two dads that just got back and about Bill not being able to be with us. Then she got us laughing with what Kaity wrote about her daddy. For Mom's Muffin's in May Kaity said I was 40 years old, but Bill got off easy at 29. Thank goodness they didn't ask what he weighed because she told everyone that I weighed "like BIG pounds." Gasp! She also said sweet things like I know my daddy loves me "because he gives me hugs" and I like to "read books with my daddy." The funniest comment by far was when she was asked where her daddy worked. She responded, "my daddy works on base for the Air Forest." That got a few chuckles.

The pumpkin patch was not quite what I was hoping it would be. I thought that I would be able to get some great fall pictures of the kids with the pumpkins, but Ryan wouldn't stop moving or running away. I guess there is always next year. The kids had fun though with a hay fight, some coloring, a story, and a pumpkin hunt.

Traveling and Updating

I am in Florida for a much too brief visit. It is always such a challenge for me to balance my time between all of the family we have here and seeing my friends too. Unfortunately, my friends usually miss out and I do too, because I leave wishing I would have been able to have seen them. Especially since so many of us all have kids the same ages now. I wish I could clone myself and the kids (though one less of each of the kids than me so I could go out with my friends or shopping by myself and not worry about having to find someone to watch the kids for me), so we could be everywhere we want to be and everyone would be happy. A girl can dream can't she? :)
Our trip has gone to the dogs. We brought JD with us and it was the hit of the trip. The kids were so excited to bring him. Ryan loves Sky and Meggie (especially Sky) and all he says is JD all day long. It is his word for all dogs. He lays on the floor under the table next to Sky, tries to ride him (I won't let him though), and grabs both sides of his muzzle for kisses. I tried to get a sweet picture, although like usual I was a bit too late.

I am enjoying the time with my parents. The kids are enjoying hanging out with Nana and Granddaddy and they are also enjoying the kids. Kaitlyn is not loving that there isn't enough light by the time that Granddaddy gets home from work so that they can take the boat out together. She'll live though. My mom and dad spent the weekend stone crab diving and got a lot of stone crabs, so my first night was awesome with fresh off the boat stone crabs and an ice cold Corona. Kaity and Ryan both loved the crab (we couldn't crack them fast enough) and I think Ryan could have eaten his weight in them had there been enough.

I am going to try to do some updating of both the blog and pictures while I am home and have the use of my parents' laptop while I am home, so stay tuned for more than a month's worth of pictures and updates. Don't forget to check out the link to our photo gallery for all of our pictures.

Walrus

Well, Murphy's Law is in still in full force around here. Since Bill has been gone we've all had the stomach bug, I thought we had a dead rat in our a/c ducts (I think it is just stagnant water stinking up the joint), and I found a dead bunny in our shed. Plus all of the little everyday things. Now I am home with a head cold and a sick baby with a really gross nose. I am making breakfast this morning and Kaity calls to me telling me that Ryan has a runny nose. I am on my way to take care of it and I hear, "Hey buddy. You look like a walrus.". I know, nasty, but totally funny because he truly looked like he had thick tusks coming out of his nose.

An Update

We have been staying very busy while Bill has been gone and are pleased to say that tomorrow will be four weeks. Yay! The time is going quite quickly for us, but the downside is that there isn't enough time during the day to get everything that needs to get done done. Including blogging. I have some funny stories to blog, so stay tuned.
Being on the computer is difficult for me for more than a few minutes at a time because Ryan is into absolutely everything up there. He thows files on the floor, takes printer paper out of the printer, and is into all of my ribbon. His favorite game is to raid the pen/pencil drawer and decorate the floor and stairwell with them. He also loves to sneak the mouse while I am typing and throw it down the stairs so I have to get up and look for it. Only to be done again. Seriously into EVERYTHING. At night I have been working on bows for a couple of craft shows I am doing. I should be able to blog a little more often because I got a new phone and can now have internet wherever. I'm loving it...especially because my communication with Bill is better and I am not missing his skype calls when I am home, but can't hear the computer ring. Pictures may be sparse this way, but I can always add those later and at least get the typing out of the way. Kaity and I are snuggling on the couch while I am typing and she just said, "That phone is like a computer Mama.". They learn fast.

Our First Week

Well, we've made it through our first week with not nearly as many tears as I thought there would be. On Friday I woke up feeling back to my good ol' self. I am sure there will be more days down the road where the sorrow hits, but for right now things are good. I am staying busy and that is the key I think. As it is, I can't believe a week has already passed. We have gotten into a routine and have gotten used to the "new normal." Unfortunately, it really isn't that much different that the old routine with Bill gone as much as he had been. My house stays cleaner though. Probably because I don't have him to hang out with at night. I love the clean, but miss the man. :)

I have been able to talk with Bill daily since he has been gone with the exception of Saturday, which actually worked out since I was working a craft show all day. I think the hardest part about him being gone right now is that I can't just pick up the phone when I want to hear his voice and I don't know when the next time he will get a chance to call will be. They start flying out there this week to learn how to train the rest of the squadron, who will be leaving the end of this week.

The small group of girls whose husbands went early have been keeping busy and hanging out a good bit. The day the rest of the squadron deploys I will be having everyone over here again to offer a distraction for the gals who will be going through what we went through last week. We also have a bunch of stuff planned for the next several months which should make the time fly. We are so blessed to have each other and be a part of such a great group of gals. It is sure to make the time fly by faster.

Unfortunately, Murphy's Law of Deployments and TDYs hit our home last night and after coming home from a b-day/ADVON party, Kaity fell asleep and woke up covered in puke. Horrible. Both for her and me. Turns out Ryan ended up getting sick too, but not nearly as bad. Could have been from the diet cherry pepsi he stole. Another story for another blog. It really was funny. I told Bill when he called this morning and his response was, "Well that didn't take long after I left." He knows the drill. I kept Kaity home from school and, naturally, she was fine. So was Ry. She was so sad this evening knowing that she missed school, but before I put her to bed she said she had fun at home with me. Makes me wish she didn't go 5 days a week. She will be there tomorrow and will be going to snack pack and I will be going to Florence to shop with no kids. We are both very excited!

Bill's Arrival

Just a quick little note to let you guys know that Bill has made it safely through all legs of his journey. I have been able to speak with him briefly each day of his journey, but now that he is there I am not sure how often he will be able to call. I discovered that a 15 minute morale call is definitely too short and it was hard to say goodbye. Bittersweet for sure. I has been great to hear his voice and see his face through Skype Tuesday. We do have contact through e-mail which is great and if you would like his e-mail address please let me know and I will get it to you. We will be figuring out the communication details as the trip progresses. The kids are doing great and every day is getting easier for me as well. Gotta get Ryan up, feed the kids, and get Kaity off to school. We'll be in touch soon.

Swan Lake

We took the kids to Swan Lake on Sunday to feed the ducks, geese, and swans. The weather was cool and we got to see Ryan interact with the animals for the first time since he was a baby. Kaity was his age when we took her for the first time in Del Rio. I threw in a picture of her at his age with the ducks too.

Swan Lake is a beautiful place, but this time of year they should call it Canadian Geese Lake. The geese were everywhere, and they left evidence of that everywhere too. We definitely had to watch where we walked.

Kaity enjoyed feeding the birds and Ryan enjoyed watching. The geese are a little aggressive and we didn't want him to get caught up in the mix. He sat and took it all in for a few minutes, then started climbing and wanted to touch them. They wanted to touch him too (baby fingers are tasty), and you can see Bill's protective daddy thing going on when he was throwing bread to (or maybe at) the geese. :)

Kaity kept telling the duck, "I like your webbed feet." Now she pretends she is a goose (we all know she is a silly goose), strutting around the house honking and saying, "I'm a geese." She doesn't quite understand the explaination of singulars and plurals with irregular words. Maybe next year.

When all the bread was gone we hit the park and treated ourselves to ice cream at Marble Slab. It was a great afternoon!

Always our Monkey

Ryan was playing with the kitchen stuff this afternoon and he tried to climb on a little bench that goes with the kitchen set. Knowing that he is the little climber that he is I took the bench away and tucked it behind the kitchen underneath a little window ledge on the kitchen. I left the room, leaving Ryan to occupy himself with the pretend food and went to tend to Kaitlyn. I came back to check on Ryan and in less than two minutes he had gone behind the kitchen set, pulled out the bench, climbed up it, and was standing on the ledge leaning through the window reaching for the faucet in the sink. He had already picked the flower out of the window box. The first thought I had while removing him from his perch was, "I really hope this isn't indicative of his teenage years."

Deploying

After a weekend that seemed to fly by, we packed Bill up and dropped him off at the DPC (Deployment Processing Center) on base yesterday at 5:00. He caught a flight up the coast a bit and spent about ten hours in the terminal waiting for the next flight on the second leg of his trip. I spoke with him this morning just before they boarded and he sounded good. Tired from sleeping on the floor of an airport, but good. :) I will write again when I hear that he has arrived safety to his destination.

holding hands on the way to drop Bill off
I was an off and on wreck all day yesterday and felt like my heart was breaking. I am used to Bill being gone a lot and we get along here just fine when he is gone and there usually aren't many tears, but this is different. I just sent my husband off to war. I can't even begin to tell you all of the emotions I am feeling right now as I type this. My heart is filled with pride for this wonderful man, who selflessly serves his country and protects the freedoms we get to enjoy each day, usually taking them for granted. I am scared for him and for our family. I know, I know...he is safer over there in the air than he is here just driving to work. But again, he is going to a war zone and that scares me. I have so much respect and admiration for his desire to protect our troops who are fighting on the ground. It is his job to protect the people who are fighting to make the lives of other people better and he wants to do it. In fact, he has been waiting 8 years to do it. Me, no thanks. I don't think that I would risk my life for complete strangers and I am a pretty giving and selfless person. I wouldn't have asked to go and I would have tried to weasel out of it. Not him though, he saw it as an opportunity he didn't want to miss. And to top that off, I have been thanking God that he hasn't used my husband for this mission in his 8 years in the Air Force. I think the boy has me beat in selfless acts.
My heart is aching from the love that fills it. It is aching from the memory of seeing my baby girl so sad and calling for her daddy as we drive away. I hurt with how much I miss him already. After he walked through the doors I wanted to chase after him and pull him back to be with us. To say I didn't want him to leave us is an understatement. Then I have to pretend that I am not crying as I listen to Kaity call for him all the way home. This is by far the hardest thing I have had to do as a wife and a mother. Although, as much sorrow as I feel, my heart is filled with so much joy. We have so many awesome memories that we have created and we look forward to sharing so many more. I am blessed and proud to be his wife and the mother of his children, and I know I don't tell him that enough.
Last night I had the rest of the ADVON (people who leave a little early and get set up) girls over for fondue and whine. It was a great distraction for a few hours, but reality hit again when everyone went home. Fortunately, Bill IM'd me from the airport as i was checking my e-mail and we chatted for a bit and then he called to talk a little bit later. It made my night to hear his voice again and after a hot bath and a little reading, I had a good night's sleep. I woke up to his call this morning and started my day. After getting dressed, doing my hair and makeup, and doing a little cleaning I thought the worst was over and I was doing better, but around 8 the sorrow hit again. And again at school when I saw some great friends of ours dropping their daughter off. I totally did the ugly cry thing when Erika hugged me. And again when the man on the other end of the phone at USAA thanked me for my sacrifice. I don't usually think of it in those terms, but he's right, and I could hardly say, "you're welcome," and hang up the phone before the ugly cry started again. Maybe I should invest in some waterproof mascara for the next couple of weeks. My friends who have been through this before says it takes about 2-3 weeks before you begin to feel normal again and don't fear breaking down in public. We'll see. For now I can only listen to the Backyardigans and Laurie Berkner or the radio will make me cry. It is funny how music can move you that way.
The kids seem to be doing okay today and Kaity and Ryan and I had fun doing some fun stuff for daddy. We are keeping busy, because it is easier that way. At least for the first week. :)
I'll be in touch and keep you posted. Please pray for Bill's safe return and a successful mission.

Long post, please click on the story link on the right for all the pics.

saying good-bye at the DPC

at the house before he left

at the DPC

Fall is here!

I made a big breakfast for the family and while I was cleaning up, Bill took the kids out back to play and I swear it was in the low sixties. I am not sure if fall is actually here or if this is a huge tease, but we opened up the house and redressed the kids for the day.

After we cleaned up from breakfast, we all went for a bike ride. This is one of our new favorite family past times since we picked up a bike trailer at a neighborhood yard sale in May and bought bikes for our birthdays this summer with birthday money from my grandparents. I finally got around to taking pictures of us enjoying our bikes. As long as Kaity has her hair pulled all the way up, the kids get along very well in the trailer. If not, Ryan loves to pull Kaity's hair and there is tons of screaming back there. Kaity puts her arm around Ryan while they ride and when I ask her to check on him and tell me what he's doing she says, "he's just chillin'."

Yup, that's my crew in long sleeves and pants. Crazy huh? After taking a spin around the neighborhood, Bill and I actually had to swing back by the house and get sweatshirts. The sun is peeking in and out of the clouds and we think it is going to be a beautiful Saturday, and with only two days left, we are thrilled to all be home to share it.

Google Account

Okay, so it turns out that you have to have a google account to be able to sign in and read our blog when we add that feature to our site. I'll look into some other options, so you don't have to have and yet another account, but it might be our only option. More to come in a few days.

Safety and Security

Hello friends and family! As I mentioned when I first started this blg, I have been trying to figure out the best way to be able to let you all know what is going on in our lives, but also protect Bill from people who may want to cause him harm or threaten him with information about his family. With the nature of his job, this will be something we always have to face, but is especially sensitive with his upcoming trip. Even if I am vague about what I say, after a feww blogs it will be easy to put two and two together and figure out where we are, that he is gone, what he does, et cetera. One of the things I do not like about blogspot is that you can keep accessing the "next blog" from the top of each blog site and see a complete stranger's blog. I do not want to be found (hence the web address not having our name in it) by people I don't know. So, the only way to keep this from happening is to restict it to authorized people only. Within the next few days, you will have to type in your e-mail address to be able to view this blog. If you cannot get in, please shoot me an e-mail and I will put your e-mail address in right away. I suspect that it will take me quite a bit of time to input all of the information, so bear with me, and like I said, if you can't get in send me a reminder to add you. Crazy friends and family are allowed...crazy stangers aren't. ;D I know this will be an inconveniece, but I think you will all agree that protecting our family is worth making you log in and we thank you for understanding. Much love!

Cranky

So, again at the breakfast table. This is why a family should eat as many meals as possible together. It all happens at the table.

Kim: (to Ryan) "We've got a cranky boy. Why are you a cranky baby today?"

Kaity: (to anyone who wants to listen) "I'm not a cranky boy; I'm drama girl."

Man, does she have that one right! :)

Maybe It's Gold

So we were having breakfast this morning and the conversation went from ordinary to funny pretty fast.

Bill: "Is that banana or a boogie in Ryan's nose?"

Kim: "I don't know."

Kaity: "Maybe it's gold."

Kim: "I think it's bananna."

Kaity: "Because sometimes I dig for gold in my nose."

We couldn't stop laughing after she said this. I love that she says things so matter of factly. Goes to show you that the things we say stick with them, even if you haven't said them in a while.

Family Pictures

We finally did it! After nearly two months of trying, we were finally able to get family pictures done. We wanted to get them done the weekend Ryan turned one, but didn't want to subject Bill's mom and dad to the drive to Columbia and home again, plus the photo shoot on their last day visiting us, so we decided to wait a few weeks until Bill got back from the Vegas trip. Well...while he was gone, Kaity was running in Target and tripped and fell, busting her mouth, lip, and tooth. There was blood everywhere, but even worse, her front, right tooth was overlapping her front, left tooth. It went back into place, but stayed loose and turned gray. I took her to the dentist almost two weeks later, when I stated to notice it was becoming discolored. Fortunately, even though it was still a little loose there was no root damage, but the dentist said the tooth could get darker or lighter. Bill got home a few days after that and inspected the damage. It made me so sad when he walked past her photo and said, "She lost her smile."

We let her mouth heal and were ready to go again, but I got a really bad highlight (think frosting), so we put it off for another week until I could get that fixed. Well, then Bill was alert and we couldn't go that week, so another week past. Unfortunately, before we made it to the weekend, Ryan was reaching for Kaity's cup while sitting on the tile floor and Kaity pulled it out of his reach and he fell face first on the tile floor. Bit the inside of his lip and the outside of his lip, resulting in an immediate fat lip. I swear we do not beat our children; there were witness for both incidents! :) Well, that healed pretty quickly, but the next weekend was our Myrtle Beach trip, so here we are getting one year pictures done at 14 months. Kaity's were taken about 3 weeks before she was one. First born vs. second born, anyone? Turns out, it really worked out because just in the last week or so, Kaitlyn's tooth has really started to fade. The difference between these pictures and the one of her three weeks after the injury (pic of her with the blue bow in the r/w/b dress under the blog with her name) is pretty incredible. It is definitley still noticable, but not nearly so.

The photo shoot was a lot of fun and the kids did a great job. You can definitely tell which pictures were taken at the beginning of the session and which at the end, but even tired (we had to wait and were well into Ryan's naptime) they were still awesome. Ryan didn't really want to sit on the block, but thought climbing on it and trying to pick it up and move it would be more fun. I think it turned out better because now we have this great picture of him climbing on the block, which is totally fitting since he is such a climber. Kaity's were sweet too. She is all about matching her babydoll right now, so I thought we should take pictures of that, because I am sure she will be too cool to take pictures with her baby before we know it. I love that their pictures this year tell a little story about them. Check out the rest of the photos at our photo site www.picasaweb.google.com/themacfampics.

Kaitlyn's First Day of School

Kaitlyn had her first day of school last Friday. She returned to Trinity Day School, which is the warmest and most loving preschool of which I have ever walked through the doors (helps make it a little easier to leave her). She will be attending five days a week, which is a lot for me to handle, but the only option I had. She goes from 9-12 each day and is loving it so far. Her teacher, Ms. Shannon, is a doll and is so loving with the kids. She is scheduled and consistent, which as a teacher and a parent, I love. She also seems to do a great job balancing discipline and a warm, calm, and loving environment. Kaity, who ran in right away without even glancing back at us, naturally, fell in love with her and all of her classmates immediately. It helps that she is in the same class with one of her best friends and sees the kids in her class from last year on the playground at recess.

I can't believe how quiet the house has been without her here. It is quite odd after having her home every day all summer. It will take some getting used to, but I am sure I'll make it. Bill was on nights this week, so it was nice to run errands without any kids and also to have some time to hang out with him. I think he returns to a regular schedule next week, so that may be a little more difficult for me, but I am glad I will have the time to focus on the last minute things to get done before Bill leaves.

Ryan is still on two naps, so we don't get to hang out much while she is in school, but I am really looking forward to having that one on one time I had with Kaity with him once he does transition to one nap. Until then, I have a ton of stuff to do to get ready to put the house on the market and to get things ready for Bill to leave both this fall and for Korea. I just found out today that it takes about two and a half months for his stuff to get to Korea, so we will have to pack everything he wants to take in the next two and a half weeks as well. Whew! Maybe next week won't be so tough having Kaity in five days a week after all. Just kidding.

As much as Kaitlyn loves school, as soon as she gets home, she runs to her room to play with her ponies, pet shop, or dinosaurs. I practically have to drag her to the table for lunch. Absence makes the heart grow fonder I suppose. At least I know she loves her room and being at home. Sometimes it is hard to tell with all the hoopla school gets and the way she races to get there. I hope this love for school continues throughout her school years.

It's Official...

Well, at least as official as things get in our world. Bill was finally given the word on Thursday as to whether or not he will be going on the big squadron trip. He will be leaving in a few weeks and should be returning a month to month and a half before he has to be in Korea for his year remote. Although we are very sad to have to spend this additional time apart as a family, it is a good thing that he is going. It will be an awesome experience for him to go do what he has been wanting to do for 8 years and will be great for his career. He is happy to be getting the opportunity and I am really happy for him. I know I won't be very happy when I send him off though. I have a lot going on with the kids and the bow business to keep me busy when he is gone this fall and although we will miss each other dearly, we are committed to making this a positive experience both for our family and our marriage. We know it will be a great opportunity for us to grow together while we are physically apart and we will appreciate each other far more in the end. I surprisingly have a huge sense of peace about the decision that was made for us, but I truly think that it has more to doing with knowing one way or the other if he is going, as we have been in limbo for two and a half months. At least that wait is over! :)

My sister put it best...we hope that the time we are apart speeds by, but that the time we have to spend together slows down. We can only be so lucky!

And He's Off!

Well, after a couple of months of taking small steps, our little guy has FINALLY gotten the balance and the courage to truly start walking. Over the past week he has gone from mostly crawling, taking no more than a dozen or so steps at a time, to walking more than crawling. Last week he started crawling to a point where he was comfortable walking from and standing up on his own and walking the rest of the way, and a couple of days ago he started standing up from where he was and walking to wherever he wanted to be. It has been fun for all of us to watch him progress and we are so happy that Bill has been here to see the progression, from his first steps a couple of days before Ryan's first birthday to full blown walking just shy of 14 months. Way to go Ry!