London En Route to Belgium

~ Heather Walter ~ Leave a comment
We landed in London late last night after an overnight stay in Chicago. I would say which days they were, but frankly I’m not sure what today is! I know I’m on my second morning without snuggles from my babies… Today we leave for Belgium, though, and I couldn’t be more excited!
It has been a thoroughly interesting trip so far. I packed 2 small bags. 

It was exciting even before we left Austin because I packed in such a hurry that I forgot several essentials, including my airplane boarding pass! I also neglected to pack dress shoes, toothbrush, face wash, all moisturizers, and a comb/brush. Thankfully our hotel in Chicago was close to Target…
Chicago was a fun place to land for an accountant. The whole city is set up on a grid, so there were lots of rows and columns.
We flew out bright and early yesterday morning for London Heathrow. We flew Business Class thanks to Todd’s system-wide upgrades and it was an easy trip with movies and ebooks for entertainment. Fully-reclining seats didn’t hurt, either.

We navigated Heathrow with no major challenges, caught the Heathrow Express (train) to Paddington Stain, took the Underground to King’s Cross and stayed in the smallest hotel room I have ever seen. The bathroom door didn’t fully open because it ran into the foot of Todd’s bed, but we were thankful to have a private bathroom. It was clean and the beds were comfy with lovely down blankets. We even slept with the window open because Europe.

The lighting situation caused a great deal of hilarity last night at 12:45 a.m. as we were finally checked into our room and trying to get ready for bed. This is the light switch for the bedroom:
If you turn on switch A, the overhead light turns on. Switch B turns on the light over the mirror. Tap Switch A again to turn off both. Switch A can turn OFF both lights, but will only turn on the one. Then, because that wasn’t confusing enough, the lights in the bathroom were on a sensor, but we didn’t realize it when we originally opened the door. But we were in fits of hysteria trying to figure out how to get the room dark enough to sleep in it.
As we were in King’s Cross Station this morning, we had to stop for a quick photo or two. I was exactly this giddy to be here:
 
Sadly, as Muggles, we couldn’t breach the barrier.

This morning we were again on the move before the sun was fully up. As I type, we are on the Eurostar riding through the Chunnel. We have had a lovely breakfast and are awaiting our arrival in Brussels and then we will be off to Leuven.

Braving Brussels?

~ Heather Walter ~ Leave a comment

Todd & I leave for Belgium on Friday. The purpose for this trip is house-hunting. Unfortunately, we learned this morning that the place which looked to be the best fit for us is now under contract until April. In a perfect world, we’ll find a furnished 3-bedroom space with a reasonable commute for Todd. We had hoped to find corporate housing, but there are only a couple of places in Leuven which offer that.

We had our first contact with our realtor this morning. We will meet him in person on Monday and see what we can find. The realtor has told us that a couple of hours Monday afternoon will be plenty of time to see all of the options because there will likely only be 1 or 2. Fun fact: a “short” lease in Leuven is 3 years long!! People don’t tend to move as often, apparently.

The realtor also suggested we consider looking for a place in Brussels. This is less than ideal because it will mean a longer commute for Todd, but Brussels also looks beautiful, so that may be what has to work for us. We’d like to find something furnished with at least 3 bedrooms so we have room to homeschool without climbing on top of each other at every turn. Laine would also like us to live in a castle. I’ll keep you posted on how that works out…

Todd’s parents are going to stay with the kids in Austin while we’re gone. I am sure they will all have a great time while we’re gone, but I’m still a little nervous leaving my babies behind while I travel across the globe without them. We’ll be back next Wednesday and I am sure we’ll all have grown and learned new things in the interim.

Meanwhile, I recommend that you brace yourselves. I will be arriving in Leuven (and maybe Brussels) for the first time this weekend. I am sure I will be posting alllllll the pictures on social media and will try to blog about some of my first impressions.

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From my previous post:

I *think* all of the paperwork we need to file has been completed and turned over to the people who are working through the immigration process on our behalf. We’ve been reviewed by the FBI, examined by our doctors, and met with the surveyor to review what we can air-ship. (They think the 2 crates will weigh less than 200 pounds. I think they don’t understand how many books and games we use for homeschooling).

We have a great friend lined up to house-sit in our absence. This is a huge answer to prayer – for her and for us!

I finished Laine’s quilt and I’m cutting the fabric for Isaac’s. No pressure there…

It appears Alexa will work in Belgium.

Planning Phase

~ Heather Walter ~ 2 Comments

Hello and welcome to my first post under the new title of the blog. If you’re not already aware of this exciting new chapter for the Walter family, we are moving to Leuven, Belgium for about 6 months. Todd is going to be the integration manager at a branch of National Instruments in Belgium. We leave January 28 and expect to be back here in time for the kids to return to our beloved Treehouse Learning Community in September 2019. 

We are so excited to be going on this grand adventure! Hopefully these blog posts will help you keep up with us. I will also post plenty of photos and updates on social media. This blog should give you more depth about life in Leuven and the many travels we hope to take while we’re living in Europe.

If you haven’t heard about what we’ve been doing, well… that’s because we’ve been so busy doing the things that we haven’t had much time for other things. Belgian immigration is no joke. There are a lot of hoops to jump through! So far:

1. We’ve asked Todd’s parents to take care of our sweet Jackson while we’re gone. Leaving our 11-year-old “baby” behind is definitely the hardest part of this entire process. I met with the vet last week and she assured me that leaving him with people who love him is the right thing to do. 16+ hours of travel, potentially both to move there AND to move back, in addition to quarantines is going to be too much for our little old man.

2. Todd and I have both had medical exams and gotten officially signed documents from our doctors that we’re safe to travel (or allow into Belgium). 

3. We’ve been fingerprinted by Williamson County Sheriff’s Department and submitted those fingerprints to the FBI for background checks. The fun part of this is that the FBI is going to mail us the results of these checks, but we’re not allowed to open the envelopes before submitting to Belgian immigration. I sincerely hope the return address label says “Federal Bureau of Investigation” so we don’t make a mistake.

4. Requested (and, thankfully, received) new copies of both kids’ birth certificates as well as our marriage license. Here’s a fun fact! They needed birth certificates to have been printed within the last five years and the marriage license had to have been printed within the last one year. Huh?

5. Scheduled an appointment with the kids’ pediatrician and a notary to get their official medical approval to move to Belgium. That should happen this afternoon.

6. Met with a moving surveyor to discuss what things we can send in a “small air shipment” in addition to what we can fit in our suitcases. I think we’re going to need bigger suitcases AND those nifty vacuum-sealing bags for our clothes. And possibly a temporary gym membership so we can haul a bunch of stuff through the airport. I’m hoping we can ship most of the homeschool books, however, so we aren’t carrying those.

7. Booked flights for Todd and me to travel to Belgium in early January so we can house-hunt. The kids are going to stay home with Grandma and Grandpa.

8. Discussed travel to about 1,000 different places! On the list of possible options: Poland, Macedonia, Denmark, Ireland, Croatia, Spain, Switzerland, and Italy. Places we’ll definitely go: Bruges (in Belgium), The Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, and Germany.

9. The kids and I have started Dutch classes through Pimsleur audiobooks. I understand that nearly everyone can speak English, but I’d like to try to learn the language of the place we’ll be living. I am also considering trying to find Flemish (Dutch) classes for us once we’ve moved.

Todd’s in Belgium this week so he could be there for the signing of the documents that will allow us to move. It’s official! The documents have been signed and we will soon be on our way.

A few things are still in the hopper:

1. Figure out who is going to live in the house while we are gone. There are a couple of people who’ve asked us about it. I hope we find the right arrangement. We don’t want to leave the house sitting empty for half of a year.

2. I am making new quilts for both kids so they’ll have them in their new rooms. And I haven’t finished either one. This seemed pretty easy until I realized that I won’t be home for much of the month of January… If you see me on social media in the next few weeks, feel free to remind me of this. LOL!

3. Find out whether Alexa works in Belgium.

4. Setting up new bank accounts, finding jiu jitsu classes for the kids, and learning where eggs and milk are stored in the grocery stores. 🙂 And maybe a few other things…

5. Scheduling our itinerary for your visit to see us.

Tap Tap… Is this thing on?

~ Heather Walter ~ Leave a comment

Life continues to roll along here. We started back to homeschool about 6 weeks ago. Then co-op started a couple of weeks later – the day after Labor Day. The thing we’ve been enjoying the most at home has been a book called Time Traveler by Usborne. We have studied medieval castles, the Vikings, and are currently in the midst of the Roman Empire. All 3 of us are fascinated by it and it’s become the thing we look forward to reading about during afternoon snack.


Current status – Isaac:
He’ll officially be 7 1/2 in 4 days. His primary passions are Pokemon Go, Minecraft (discussions, not playing it), and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ). He started BJJ in July and has found his niche. Here’s are a quick video of Isaac and one of his favorite instructors, Israel. The studio is run by Professor Ruy (pronounce hooey) who is a black belt. Israel and Jojo are Ruy’s primary assistants and all 3 of them are amazing men. Isaac has gotten stronger already. He goes Monday through Thursday for an hour each day and he begs to go. Isaac’s co-op class with Miss Sevara has been creating all sorts of things. He’s recently brought home a bridge and a catapult he’s made. They’ve been fun projects.

Current status – Laine:
She’s been 5 1/2 for over a week now. Her passions are anything glittery, pink, twirly, princess, or unicorn. She’s in dance once a week and is still enjoying it. She gets to use the barre this year, so that’s exciting and new for her. Tap dance is harder than ballet, but she seems to enjoy it. She is also getting better at her reading. Today she read “Tin Raft,” which is the first story in her second All About Reading Level 1 book. She is moving slowly and steadily through the curriculum and I’m thankful that she’s pacing herself in such a way that she’s not getting overwhelmed but still moving forward. Laine has a new teacher this year, Miss Chris(tina). Her class is awesome. She’s working on mindfulness, studying human anatomy, and learning geography. She never wants to leave when I try to pick her up after class. I’ve teased Christina a few times that she’s going to end up with another daughter.

Both kids decided to continue swim lessons into the fall, so we’ve switched from week-long lessons to weekly lessons. This week was their first chance to go in the big pool. They did great, but they need to get a bit more comfortable with it before they move up to the next level. I expect that to take a couple of weeks.

Life is Good at 6

~ Heather Walter ~ Leave a comment

It’s been quite the week for Isaac. He finished Level 1 of All About Reading on Saturday, April 20. For those of you not keeping track… that means he finished his first 49 reading lessons in under 2 months. That’s INSANE. I expect Level 2 to take significantly longer as it covers meatier concepts and there are more lessons. I *think* we can expect to finish a lesson every other day. But who knows? He certainly doesn’t lack for determination. On a fun note, his friend Anderson finished a day earlier, so we’re getting together Friday to celebrate the boys’ accomplishment. But wait… there’s more!!! The best part? The boys want to celebrate by starting their work on Level 2 together!!! Ha ha ha! Every once in a while, things go REALLY WELL. This is one of those times. I’m writing about it so I can remember it on the Internet for all the rest of my days. He wanted me to take a video. Please forgive the terrible audio quality.


Here are a couple of pics of him not holding still long enough for me to photograph his excitement last Saturday.

We celebrated the completion of AAR1 on Sunday (Father’s Day) by getting breakfast from Rudy’s. It was a sacrifice Todd and I were willing to make for all of Isaac’s hard work.

This week he continued on his incredible growth streak in a completely new way. Isaac is suddenly mastering his swim classes! He’s always been worried about swimming and being away from the pool for months was enough to worry him all over again. Last year he had an instructor he really liked, so that was a massive help. This year, he didn’t want to take swim lessons again. I informed him that it’s a life skill and, thus, not optional. Them’s the breaks. Anyway, after a mere 3 hours in the water, he got bumped from Level 1 (Blue) to Level 2 (Orange). I am BLOWN AWAY watching him in the water. He’s so much more confident, he’s a great deal stronger, and he’s genuinely pushing himself to get stronger and learn more. 

I’m trying to fasten my seat belt and hang on for the ride. I’m excited for this latest “growth” spurt in his ability to work on new skills. It’s been so exciting from my seat on the sidelines and I’m happy that Isaac is remarkably proud of himself and he recognizes that it’s his own efforts that are paying off.

Meanwhile, little sister is also taking swim class. She’s also doing well, but we don’t have the opportunity to practice for an hour after every class like we did last summer. There was a baby pool available to us last year that was right next to the pool where their lessons were conducted. I think they’d both be up a level if we were spending more time at the pool and she had a chance to practice her skills. I’m not going to push her – she is usually the one who wants to work on the skills over and over again until she masters them. This was her today:


Acid Tastes Sour

~ Heather Walter ~ Leave a comment

In today’s fun science news, acid tastes sour. The kids and I did a taste test on different foods. Then, we boiled water and, in a separate pot, shredded cabbage. Mom warned me that boiling cabbage might leave an odor behind, so I set everything up on the picnic table after the water came to a boil. I poured the boiling hot water over cabbage leaves and we let that combo cool for 30 minutes. Then I poured the strained cabbage water (which was now purple) into separate jars. Here’s our initial set-up:


After we’d completed our taste tests and decided which ones we thought were sour, we added bits of each food to our cabbage water to see whether it changed colors.

The most dramatic color changes were from lemon juice and vinegar, which meant they were the strongest acids. The least changes were made from tea and whipped cream. It was a fun excuse to get everyone outside on a sunny, breezy, cool day.

Laine’s First Recital

~ Heather Walter ~ Leave a comment

Laine’s very first ballet recital is tomorrow. She had a dress rehearsal today. We did her makeup and put her hair in a bun. She wore the fluffiest tutu I’ve ever seen. I know the quality of the video isn’t great and I couldn’t figure out how to zoom in well, but you’ll get the idea. Our little ballerina is the first one to cross the stage. I think she did incredibly well!

Her performance is here.

Enjoy!

All About Reading

~ Heather Walter ~ 2 Comments

Hello Dear Readers,

Isaac informed me about 2 months ago that he didn’t WANT to learn to read. He has better things to do with his time. OK. I’m still breathing. Laine is incredibly eager to learn to read, so I’ll just teach her.

Anyway, I had been researching curricula for teaching reading. The curriculum we use for most of our homeschooling just hasn’t wowed me with the way it teaches reading. There’s a lot of emphasis on letter sounds and helping the kids learn to write letters properly. I think both of those are important. However, I don’t think that’s going to a) excite Isaac to want to read or b) allow me to feel like we’re covering all of the bases. In my research, I’ve come across the name All About Reading a few times. Then a fellow homeschooler I’d never met told me this was THE program as we were discussing kids and reading. I came home and went to work on Google. I gave both kids the assessments to figure out where their skill levels were. Both qualified for Level 1. After giving this a long hard think, I decided to call the company. The incredibly helpful woman at All About Learning could have been in my head. First, she said 2 different things that really captured my newly-6-year-old in a way that I myself couldn’t quite put into words. It’s honestly like she’d had a few chats with him and then called me up to talk it over. It was uncanny. Then she said something about how *I* was feeling about what we’d been doing and it was all I could do to keep myself from sobbing on the phone. She touched directly on my biggest fears. These people KNOW what they are talking about. She both understood the boy in my house AND the mom who wants to do this thing right. I am in awe.

At her suggestion, I purchased the Level 1 program for Isaac and the Pre-Reading course for Laine. This has been a great choice for us. Laine’s already up to letter I in her class and is motoring right along. (For reference, she turned 4 in late March, but will pour over books for an hour at a time while she looks at pictures and tries to read the words). She’ll work through all of the capital letters and then we’ll go through all of the lowercase letters via this program. There’s an adorable little Zebra puppet (Ziggy) who works alongside Laine and she is having a great time helping him learn. She gives him a lot of encouragement and hugs. It’s utterly adorable. I feel great because I’m working at her pace and we’re mostly doing crafts and playing games. She is picking this up VERY quickly and I don’t feel like she’s getting the short end of the stick because I don’t know how to teach this. I’m no longer reluctant to try teaching reading.

Meanwhile, there’s Isaac. Level 1 teaches with a combination of phonics/phonemics (the sounds letters make) and sight words (words like “the” that you just have to recognize). He’s also playing a lot of games – some of them are even games that have him sounding out words on flash cards – and he’s really having fun with it! He’s knocking my socks off every single day because he’s not only asking me if we can do schoolwork, I’m finally watching this click for him. The focus is on getting him to read, but it’s not done in an obnoxious way and it’s done so well that we are both genuinely enjoying the time together. There are letter tiles on magnets we’ve put on a baking sheet (so we can use it at the dining room table) and we put together lots of words there and he sounds them out or spells them to ask me to sound them out. That’s also been unexpectedly fun for him.

This program is everything I’d hoped to find in a reading program. I’m thrilled with the teacher’s portion of it because it is remarkably well-organized and I am able to follow a plan. It took me about 20 minutes to set up Laine’s Pre-Reading stuff. It took about an hour to set up Level 1 for Isaac. Then I went back a week later and ordered the Reading Games with Ziggy book for Isaac and he asks for these games with the zebra puppet all day long (I know Grandma will be surprised that he wants to play a game over and over and over again!) There won’t be gaps in the kids’ learning. They’re both moving forward and having a fantastic time without me feeling like I’ll have to force them to work on their reading skills (#1 on the list of things I’m not about to do…) It’s self-paced, so Isaac has been on Level 3 for 5 days (because I’m really and truly not going to rush this). Here’s where we were today:

Tap the pan (Sentence)

and

Sam can nap (Sentence)

I can’t figure out how to post a video within the blog any more, so you’ll have to click on the links to watch them. 

I also didn’t video me hugging him and then jumping up and down in my excitement. You’ll just have to imagine what that part looked like.

Science

~ Heather Walter ~ Leave a comment

Science has become everyone’s favorite subject. In addition to studying outer space at co-op on Mondays,

…we’ve done some fun science work and experiments at home.

We learned about how plants send water to their leaves. Then we demonstrated it using blue food dye, water, and some celery stalks. The kids had fun checking the celery every 15 minutes to see whether it had changed. After the leaves turned blue, the kids cut the celery stalks to see the blue capillaries. Laine displays the end of hers…

We read about leaves and how they work and then collected leaves from various plants around our yard. We got a fairly impressive collection of them and used them to do leaf rubbings.

We all had quite a bit of fun with that one. The ones that involve going outside to work are definitely the favorites for all of us!

More Kindergarten

~ Heather Walter ~ Leave a comment

Homeschool is continuing on really well, but I’m not doing a good job at updating the blog. I’m going to do an update for about 2 weeks’ worth of schooling because Todd left with my laptop power cord… for Austria. I’m not able to do much with my blog on the old computer upstairs because it is painfully slow and my new power cord won’t be here until Wednesday. Bear with me…

This is the pile of books and manipulatives we’re going to be using this school year. I meant to post this photo in the beginning, but forgot about it.

Isaac continues to work on his letters – he LOVES to write them BIG on the easel!!!

We made a weather vane when we were learning about wind.

Not school-related! Laine was helping Todd work on the shed and I loved this shot of her in her little work gloves.

You needn’t worry that it’s “all work and no play” around here…

Painting and crafts aren’t a part of our daily plans, but I know the kids would like them to be. I’m trying to get better about that.


Isaac working on his “Explode the Code” workbooks. The kids and I are crazy about these books. I actually had to hide them from Isaac for a while because he wanted to work on them *constantly*. They’re a fantastic tool for learning phonics/phonemics.

Using the magnifying glass to inspect some leaves and debris from around the yard.

Sorting the leaves out:

Working on the letter t in “Explode the Code.” 


These are some of the pages from his “Explode the Code” workbooks. You can see where he’s really mastering the letter sounds. I’m ecstatic about how quickly he’s picking this up.

I promise there will be more soon. I have the photos loaded onto my laptop and I’ll work on updating again as soon as I get a new power cord – hopefully Wednesday afternoon!