Merry Christmas and a happy New year to all of our family and friends! I think you all know by now that I am a little late on getting my christmas cards out. They are still sitting on my desk and most of them are even addressed! December has been a whirlwind of a month for us!

After we found out we will be moving back to the states, I immediately started looking for jobs in the area. The cost of living in DC is incredible and in order for us to afford a house, etc., I will need to work out of the home. It will definitely be an adjustment as I’ve been able to be home for the last 3.5 years, but you do what you’ve got to do! In some ways, I am looking forward to it!

So, what’s the plan for us? Well, Drew wants me to be the “advance party” which is fine with me. That means that by the end of February, I will be moving out there for sure to start visiting schools and figuring out the best place for us to live. The ideal situation, however, is that I will be able to secure a job BEFORE our move and will move out as determined by the employer. This will at least pay for a hotel (or furnished apartment) and rental car that I will need before the rest of the family arrives. The whole family will be out no later than the end of April.

I’ll try to keep everyone updated from here! I’ll leave you with a picture of the snow we had last week. It was really pretty!

We found out this week that we will be leaving Europe in just a few months to head back to the US! This is great news and we are all very excited. Long story short, Drew applied for an awesome program and was accepted so he has to report no later than May 15. At the latest we will leave around April 15, but I will probably go ahead of us and secure a house, etc.

Belgium has been really great for our family and we have done some amazing things here, but we are anxious to get back home! Just wanted to let you all know!

I’m not a huge history buff, but I do enjoy learning about the area around me. In the states, we have always been very good about getting out and learning the history and really experiencing the life that is around us. We have been doing the same thing here in Belgium, but more at a distance, rather than really looking closely.

Belgium has a lot of history and because of its geographic location, has played a part in so much European and World history. Since we’ve been in Belgium, we have done some pretty great things, been to some amazing cities and countries, but we often overlook what is right here, within a short drive.

Last week we were watching some special on the Battle of Waterloo. I had actually told Drew the week before that I wanted to head out there this past weekend so it was perfect timing that it was on. Before watching this special, all I knew was that Waterloo was where Napoleon was defeated. It was great learning about everything that led up to the battle and even the battle itself was so interesting.

This past weekend we drove 30 minutes out there (yes it’s that close) to see the area. It was pretty humbling standing there knowing that you were standing on the same ground that such an important battle was won on; one that surely changed the course of world events.

In one picture below is a statue that was built of a lion with his paw on the globe, “defending world peace”. The other is a view onto the town. You can’t really see much here, but this is pretty much an accurate picture of the weather in Belgium during the cold months.

I’m sitting at the airport about to embark on my journey to the states. I am going several places: New Jersey, Arizona, Georgia, and North Carolina…alone. You read that right folks… alone! I’ve got mixed feelings about this as sure it’s cool to have some time alone every once in a while and it’s a lot easier to travel by yourself than with kids, but I’m going to miss them! I think I’ve only spent just a few days away from the kids at a time and those times have been rare. This time it will be for a couple of weeks though. Drew definitely has his hands full. but he’s an awesome Dad so I know he will be just fine.

Getting to the airport was a stark contrast to my arrival here. When I got here not a single person would help me and I SO needed it. Coming here, I parked the car and took the train right into the airport. The person sitting behind me just grabbed one of my suitcases when I stood up and just started walking. So I walked with her. There was a head nod so I understood what she was doing. I tried to speak to her in English, French, and what very little dutch I know, to which she didn’t respond. I didn’t really need her help as I was managing but she seemed to really WANT to help so who am I to say no? We walked in silence for 10 minutes and she was walking fast, so I followed. When we got where we needed to go she nodded and I said thank you and she was gone. I don’t know who this masked woman was, but THANK YOU! It’s nice when you experience kindness when you least expected it. My flight will leave soon, so I’m off. I will update more later.

No, not THAT Brum, but this one!

Happy birthday Abram, Abe, Brum, Brummy, The Great Destroyer, and every other name we call you. It’s hard to believe he is 3. Since we did such a big trip around Ian’s birthday for the both of them, we stayed close to home this weekend but still had some good times. Abe really wanted to see a castle and there is no shortage of castles here in Belgium. We actually ended up going to a citadel in the city of Namur. It isn’t quite a castle but more a fortress protecting the city. We saw some buildings that were built in the 11th century. Here is a picture from across the river:

It was a really cool series of buildings lining the hill. There was an old roman amphitheater there too, but a rock concert was being held there that same day so we didn’t get to explore the amphitheater. Here are some pics from up top:

Well, we all know how I like birthdays and I think they should be celebrated, so of course we celebrated all weekend long. On Sunday we spend the day at the zoo and playgrounds and out to dinner that evening. Ian even let Abe play his Nintendo DS.

Here is a pic I took of the birthday boy!

And here is a picture that Abe took of his big brother

Most of our friends and family know that we don’t do birthday parties. That doesn’t mean we don’t love attending YOUR parties, we just don’t have them ourselves. There are a lot of reasons for this so lets see if I can name them.

• They can be pricey
• It’s usually VERY stressful on the parents and quite often the kids
• I see a lot of parents just drop their kids off at parties and when your kids are ages 3 and 6, I have ni desire to babysit 20 of them
• I don’t want people to feel pressured to buy the kids gifts. If you want to get them a present, then that is awesome and very generous of you, but you should never be obligated
• Utter chaos
• If you have a party for one year, they will always expect them for every year

I’m sure I could list plenty more, but what it comes down to is personal preference and probably our lifestyle. If we are going to be spending money on a party, I would much rather take that money and DO something with it. Have some fun for a couple days, not just a couple of hours. Every year we have always done something special, whether it be go camping, spend the day or week at the beach, go to a hotel spa (and yes this was Ian’s suggestion, not ours), etc. Since the boys birthdays are just a month apart we took the time this year to try and experience more of Europe… so we went to LegoLand!

Legoland is located outside of London in the town of Windsor. We left bright and early one morning and drove to France. It took about an hour and 45 minutes to get to the French side of the chunnel. We drove our car onto a train which was an interesting experience and about 40 minutes later we were in England and driving on the wrong side of the road! That was pretty interesting. From there it was about another 90 minutes t0 the park. We got there 45 minutes before opening so it was really perfect timing. The park itself was really cool. So many things made out of legos, etc. What I liked about it versus other parks like disney world or 6 flags, etc., was that it is for little kids. You don’t have teenagers running around and you don’t have adults there who aren’t there with their young children. We bought two day passes to the park and spent two full days there. The kids had an awesome time and we had a lot of fun too!

One night we also went to the town of Windsor and toured the castle. It was impressive to say the least. The last day we went hiking around the White Cliffs of Dover. This was probably the highlight of the trip for me! Here are some pics of our adventure!

Ian and Harry Potter

Abe and Harry potter

One of the scenes created from legos

For most of the rides, they had a huge lego center so the kids could play while the parents waited in line. We were very grateful for this!

Abe really wanted to go on this swing and Ian amused us. They both had fun.

We finished our day in a few rooms that just had tons of legos to play and build with. Here is Ian

and here is Brummy

Below are some pics of the castle.

And Dover. It was just gorgeous there.

I’ve mentioned before that since arriving in Belgium, we routinely stumble upon parties and parades here! Well, this past St. Patrick’s Day was no exception.

We looked for any festivities in the area, but we couldn’t find anything so we decided we wanted to explore a city that we hadn’t been to yet, Tournai. Tournai is the oldest city in Belgium and really doesn’t get much attention from foreigners or travelers which is a shame. Tournai is considered to be one of the most important cultural sites in Belgium. The mixed Romanesque- and Gothic-style cathedral of Notre Dame de Tournai and the belfry, the oldest in Belgium, have been designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.

As soon as we leave the car, we start hearing music playing and at this point we are about 1/8 of a mile away from the city center. As we get closer, we can see people are dressed in costumes and it’s ironic that the first group of people are dressed up as Smurfs, considering the smurfs are a Belgium creation. And yes, that is beer in their hands.

At this point we still have no idea what is going on, so we just decide to make our way to the Grand Place which is the city center. There is confetti all over the street and people adorned in various costumes. The food and beer is plentiful! As we’re walking, we come across the gorgeous cathedral. This building is just overwhelming in size and presence.

The streets are getting more and more packed as we wind through the cobblestoned streets to the Grand Place.

We finally make it to the square and it is just one huge party. People of all ages are there and we are in the minority because we don’t have costumes on!

The boys had a blast and so did we. It was quite an unexpected surprise. We didn’t even get to really explore the town or the sights as we were too busy having fun!

There was a huge parade which was great to watch.

And here is another view of the town:

Tournai is only about 20 minutes away so we will go back one of these weekends.

Last Friday we took the train and rode into Brussels to see Dave Matthews perform live in concert. The show was amazing. It was just him and Tim Reynolds playing an acoustic set. Some friends of ours watched the boys and we had an awesome time. The city was so alive. Every time we go down there we see things we hadn’t seen before. I can’t wait to go back to that part of town and just enjoy the night life.

The next day, the whole family went up and explored the city some more. We started off in what is called the Grand Sablon. We walked around a nice antiques market they have every Saturday and Sunday and stopped by a famous chocolatier, Pierre Marcolini.

The chocolate is some of the best I’ve had and living in Belgium, I think I’ve tried the best! Afterwards we walked down to the main square in brussels called the Grand Place. On our walk we stumbled across an interesting parade and I have no idea what it was for. People painted themselves with black and wore pink and black while carrying this little baby. This isn’t the first time we have stumbled across interesting things like this in Brussels. I still have no idea what it was for, but it was interesting nonetheless!

So, we were in Brussels earlier today running some errands and after the train ride, we all had to use the bathroom. Here in Belgium, and i think across Europe, most bathrooms have a person who looks after the cleanliness of the bathrooms and you pay a small fee to use it; usually about 50 cents. Ian and I were going to pay and I thought it would be funny to tell him what the lady or gentleman who is in charge of the bathroom is called: Madame Pee Pee or Monsieur Pee Pee. He just kind of smiled and said, “Ohhhh.”

I take him with me into the ladies room and he goes into the stall next to me. While we are doing our business I hear him in there snickering to himself and then I hear him say, “That is disgusting!”, and he laughs harder. At this point I’m a little concerned that Madame Pee Pee has not done her job adequately and there is some foul thing in Ian’s stall.

So we come out of the bathrooms and I ask him, “What was so disgusting?” and he just starts laughing and says, “I can’t believe they are called Madame and Monsieur Pee Pee!!” and he just laughs the whole time while we wash our hands. I probably shouldn’t have told him, but I couldn’t help but laugh at the fact he had been sitting there thinking about that.

Yes, I’m up for mother of the year.

Why?

That’s all I want to know. Why do I have to watch dancy, prancy French looking things during the pre-game show of the Superbowl? Why? I get enough of that crap where I am, so I why must I suffer through it on US TV. Am I being tested? Have I sinned? I don’t know and after the artsy opening I just watched, I don’t care.

If this game sucks it will not be because of bad players or bad refs… it will be because everyone is so creeped out by some dips attempt to make art out of a base and violent thing like a football game. Where do they find people to make this crap. Is there beauty in this stuff? Yes. There is beauty in all things, but why do they have to make it weird and creepy? Crap!

Double crap!! It’s Midnight here and this had better not be crap. That’s all I’ve got to say. I hope it goes better, cause I can’t take anymore football player glamour shots or weird sequences about growing up and doing ballet AND football.

Billy Joel’s voice cracked!! Then he got artsy. This is going to go on all night. WTF!! Some deaf chick was signing, waving her arms everywhere!! I didn’t know Florida was the new Seattle. The thing that really sucks is I’m watching on the armed forces network, so I don’t even get to watch the commercials, just public service announcements about really strange things like how to own a pet. Really. How to own a pet. Yup.