Out!

We finally made it out of town with the kids over the weekend and got some pictures of something other than the kids just being kids : ).
Saturday we decided to take a drive about an hour south, down to Dinant, Belgium. You can look up information on the town on-line, but we enjoyed a brief walk about the town. The walk was brief for a number of reasons: 3 little kids, no stroller, cold weather, naptime, no stroller, and no plan. We did manage to find a tiny little playground consisting of two slides along the river and the kids were happy with that. We didn't spend much time there either (see above), but managed to bribe them with some cookies bought at a local bakery that town's also supposed to be known for. Chris and I weren't impressed as ours were hard as rocks (likely for dipping in coffee or tea?), but thankfully the kids' was soft enough for them to enjoy. Anyway, back to the town... The town was built on both sides of a river and along cliffs on one side. We actually drove through some of the rock and the kids enjoyed that. The bridge had many large painted saxophones (like the cows or other animals you see around some cities). I learned that was because the inventor of the saxophone was from there. There also was a Citadel on the cliffs overlooking the town, and... there looked like there were some cute shops that I'd like to get back to : ).
From Dinant we drove down to Bastogne. Another very cool looking town that we passed through quickly, but would like to get back to. We drove out to the WWII Monument for the American soldiers who fought there. The monument was very large and impressive. They had a museum there too, but we didn't make it through that. Actually, Mikayla and Chris walked around the monument itself while I stayed with the sleeping boys in the car : ). I can't wait to see what the area looks like in the warmer months when the trees are full and things are a bit more colorful.
Anyways... we got "out" for a drive at least and enjoyed the drive through some towns and the countryside too.
The kids did very well with the drive, so that was encouraging. Mikayla is off school this week for Winter Break, so we're enjoying having her home again. Keegan is Mr. Accident-waiting-to-happen... seriously, if there's something to run into or fall on, he'll find it. Cayden is just exploring his surroundings more and more to find out what he can get into before I catch him. He's also eating more babyfood now and enjoying that.
Well, that's all for now! Take care!

Man on the Move

Hello there, Friends. I wanted to inform you all that our little Cayden is now officially crawling - EVERYWHERE! He's found his way under and around couches. And as much as I try to keep him on the rugs, he finds his way to the tile pretty quickly and kind of slide/crawls on that. I've attached a video to show him off - and, yes, he IS that fast. Besides Cayden being more mobile, Mikayla has now started school and loves it. We knew she would, but has gone beyond our expectations in fitting in. She's gone a few half-days, but will be attending her first full day tomorrow. She's looking forward to staying and having lunch with the rest of her class. Apparently they'll be visiting the forest nearby as an outing too, so we're sure she'll have plenty to tell us about! Best include Keegan too... guess the newest thing on him is just how curly his hair is getting. It's getting longer and curlier. Very cute, but still all "boy". Will try and get a picture, if I can catch him for one!

Best Seat in the House!

Thought I would share some photos of Dear Keegan using his "special chair" to climb on the cupboards. He knows that's where I had the Belgian waffle "cookies" are which are his new favorite treat : ). He also used the little white chair to climb up and turn the thermostat to 90 degrees in the house. He's enjoying his stepstool in the bathroom too for reaching the sinks and helping climb in the bath tub himself! I think we've turned a new corner in trouble with this one!

We have arrived!

Hello All! Well, it's been a long time since updating this blog. Most of you reading this already know that things have changed considerably in our lives since Keegan's first birthday! Birthdays have come and gone again. Holidays too. We've had some fun family vacations. Our family was blessed with the arrival of our beautiful baby boy, Cayden David, back in June. And now we're living in Belgium! Yes, that's right, we're on a temporary "expatriot" assignment for Chris's work and we're now starting an adventure of a lifetime! The kids did great on the flights over and that was a real blessing. Chris has been sick, but he's finally starting to feel better. Mikayla's starting school tomorrow at the International School of Brussels (ISB). She's thrilled to go meet new friends. Keegan's enjoying using his little chair and stepstools to get into absolutely everything around the house (cupboards, sinks, and thermostats to name a few). And Cayden's just watching everything his siblings do wishing he could scoot faster to keep up! Oh, and I'm just trying to get some sleep here - still on Michigan time!
Pictures to come soon, but the house is still pretty empty since our shipments haven't come in yet and I haven't been out shopping! And we haven't been out any where exciting yet - the grocery store really wasn't photo worthy : ).
Stay tuned!