Big Changes Ahead

We've got some big changes coming for us.  Our time abroad is coming to a close.  We have movers coming the end of October then leave Brussels mid-November to fly to Dallas.  Ryan will have a week off of work then will start again at Deloitte US the week of Thanksgiving.

As of now I'm thinking it's pretty good timing for us.  We'll get 2 Belgian holiday's at the beginning of November, then he'll have 2 more holiday's in the US for Thanksgiving so we're playing it right from a time-off standpoint.  It's also a nice that I'll only be 30 weeks along when we fly out so traveling shouldn't be an issue.

Yep, 30 weeks as in surprise we're pregnant!  We're having another baby boy due January 27th.

My doctor was just leaving on vacation when I got back from the US and tried to schedule an appointment and I was 13 weeks along at that point.  So my first appointment wasn't for 5 more weeks.  On the upside I was feeling fine (aside from headaches on hot days) and I don't enjoy doctor visits, plus I was able to find out the gender on the first appointment.

When we told the kids, Kherington went into detail about how a baby eats under the blanket and you can't look under there...haha...that little piece of knowledge is thanks to Auntie Dana.  We asked when they wanted to name the baby.  Kherington instantly decided on Johnny and Kevin wasn't far behind deciding on Poopy.  Yeah, the new one is going to rock his world. 

Kevin's School Progress

Kevin and Benjamin had school two days in row this week because that's what worked with our schedules.  The first day we at our house.  We learned about the letter 'B'.  I hadn't decided for sure what we were going to do so the night before Ryan told Kevin he'd learn about a color or the letter B.  Kevin went to sleep saying he was going to learn about the color 'B' at school.  Not quite.

I was surprised at how much 'B' stuff I had to make learning fun.  We started with a little song on the magnet-o-letters toy.  Then glued balls (and feathers) onto a big 'B'.  After that they had recess and blew Bubbles.  Snack was bread, butter and banana and we finished up by threading bead and bell bracelets (or necklaces).

They both came to pick Kherington up from school and it was so sweet watching Kherington hold both their hands for the walk home and making sure they stopped and looked both ways before crossing the road.  She is such a sweet big sister/friend. She noticed their 'B' jewelery right away and wanted to make sure she could make one too.  As soon as we got home I set her up making one.

Jenny hosted today, which meant I got my house to myself for a couple hours (last week when she hosted Kherington was home 'sick'...she totally faked it...not cool).  It was perfect timing because I was able to get our clothes packed up for our upcoming UK trip.

They learned about the letter 'C'.  The boys decorated a 'C' and got to watch a neighbor cut a fallen tree and load some of the branches.  Plus she made hot dogs and carrots for lunch which my kids devoured.  As we were driving away Kherington started telling me how it was going to be sad when we move and we can't see Jenny and Seth and Benjamin.  So true.

William Tyndale Monument

I finally found the location of the William Tyndale monument in Vilvoorde, Belgium.  It has been moved a couple times so it is not in it's original location making it hard to track down.  Originally it was in the center of the town square which is just 15 minutes from our house, but was initially moved due to road construction and was never returned.

William Tyndale dedicated his life to translating the Bible from Latin into English so the common people would be able read it.  Because of this he was captured and burned at the stake in Vilvoorde Belgium.

The monument is in a smaller corner corner of the park.  The remainder of the park has a cement soccer court, small skate park, a sand playground and some stationary workout equipment.  We didn't go until the evening and I was shocked at how many kids were running around (with very few parents).  Then again, it's really quite removed from the Vilvoorde town center and is in a more residential area.

Comic Book Hot Air Balloon Festival 2013

We thought Ryan would have to work this weekend so we didn't have set plans on Saturday.  So when he got his work done half way through the week we realized we needed to do something fun.  Ryan figured out that the comic book hot air balloon festival was happening downtown.  The kids love the bus so we jumped on and headed downtown.  By going a little earlier, the kids were able to do all the ids activities without standing in line.  It worked out perfectly.  Kherington had recently been asking to get her face painted and jump on a bouncy castle so being able to do both for free was pretty sweet.  She decided she wanted a butterfly.  Kevin didn't want anything...not even a glitter tattoo.  They also made comic buttons by choosing a picture from a comic book and having the worker snap the button together right then and Kherington started on a dog mask but didn't finish it.  The bouncy toys were way more fun than coloring pictures.

They had some of the hot air balloons already tied up and ready for the parade.  The kids thought it was pretty silly to walk under them and let the wind blow the balloon into them.  We also got to watch superman being blown up.  We opted not to wait the couple hours for the parade and instead headed home for naps.

The evening we went back downtown for a comic screening.  It didn't turn out as expected though.  First we were 30 minutes off on the start time so we had to wait an extra 30 minutes on top of our early arrival.  Then when they started they were just drawing cartoon.  Pretty disappointing since when they were working on the lighting they had the building all lit up (see pic) for a comic movie.  we held out a little while before calling it quits and didn't even get to see the comic show.  We do a lot of random things...sometimes they workout and sometimes they don't. This was definitely one of our fails.

Ryan's Big 3 - 0 Celebration

Ryan hit the 3-0 milestone this week. 

Since he's been busy at work (and I had an activity on his birthday), we decided to celebrate a couple days later.  Kherington and Kevin were in the charge of the cake.  Kherington did the eggs all by herself.  Kevin was charge of dumping the mix in and adding the water.

The kids also decorated.  I just got down the birthday box and let them choose what they wanted to use.  For dinner we had jalapeno cheddar burgers topped with a bacon weave and guacamole.  I'm not a big burger person, but these were delicious. 

After dinner we broke out the pinata that the kids filled earlier that day.  We started out with the kids blindfolded, using plastic bats to hit a dangling pinata.  That was way too difficult.  We dropped the pinata to the ground and let them hit it there without a blindfold. From there we went to Ryan hitting it with a broomstick.  The broomstick broke in half.  Haha.  That was one rock solid pinata. We eventually got it open, then we'd hit some candy out and let the kids gather it up before knocking some more out.  I think this should be a new birthday tradition.

Next up was cake.  It ended up being a chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting that I had been saving in the freezer.  The kids were in charge of sticking all the candles in and helping blow out the candles.  After cake they gave him his presents we picked out when were in the states. 

We all had a fun time celebrating Ryan.  I initially felt a little bad for not doing something big, but looking back at these pictures we had a lot of fun together as a family and that's what counts.

Pinata Progress

Our pinatas finally dried and the sunny weather continued so I set the kids up outside to paint them.  Kherington painted her 100% on her own, I helped Kevin thin out his clumps of paint.

A couple days later once the paint had dried, we decorated them.  They got to choose pom poms, feather or leaves to glue on then any stickers from the sticker box (best thing ever to have if you have little kids).  I just propped each of the pinatas in a bowl so it was easier for them to work with then let them have at it.