So, school has started back up and we are more or less back in the swing of things. It was pretty tough getting used to getting up before 8 o'clock every day! But, I've survived. I know, rough life.
This school year is great because it's my second time around. Lesson plans are already finished for the most part and I don't need to work too hard to make sure I know how to teach the curriculum. Now I can focus more on improving what I'm already doing. I enjoy my classes but realy miss the 7th grade advanced math class from last year. The kids were super fun and kept me laughing all the time! They also cared about what they were doing and worked really hard. I loved that class! Because I don't teach 8th grade advanced math I don't get to see them anymore. :( At least I can say 'hi' to most of them in the hall.
I've definately found that each class or group of kids is its own beast. This years seventh grade class has some great kids but also some kids that I'm quite sure will drive me bonkers before the end of the year. The other day the kids were all quietly and a 7th grade boy came to my desk and asked what my four favorite colors were. WHAT?!?! Ummm... I'm trying to get things done, just like you should do. You shouldn't care what my favorite colors are! Don't bother me with pointless questions! Oh well, he's a nice kid, just a little annoying every now and then.
I had QUITE the crisis a few days ago. It all started when Mom came to visit a few weeks ago and told me I shouldn't drink so much pop! So, I've been trying to drink more water at school. There is a water machine in the office so I can just keep refilling my water bottle which works nicely. Last Tuesday I was doing great! I filled my water bottle first thing in the morning and had it all gone by the end of 2nd period. I filled it again and had about 1/2 of it gone by lunch time. At lunch someone came in and asked what had happened to the water machine. Then I found out that they had taken it out to clean it shortly after I had refilled my bottle because a bunch of ants had crawled into the water reseviour and everyone who got water that morning was getting ants in their water. WHAT?!?!? AGH!!! How many ants had I consumed! SO gross! I wanted to throw up. I ran back to my room to check my water bottle hoping that it would be ant-less. There were 3 dead ants in the bottom of my half consumed water bottle. GROSS!! So that was my Tuesday. Very anty. I got home from Volleyball practice and had to bring Henry to the airport right away. He flew down to Los Angeles for work. When I got home I made a BIG batch of Potato Soup! YUMMM!! I've been eating it all week.
Wednesday morning: Chapel Day. I put on my favorite brown dress pants that are wide leg with a cuff sewn into the bottom of the legs. I also wore my favorite brown heels. As I was coming in from taking Chief out right before leaving for school tragedy struck. Just before getting to the front door, my right heel got caught in my left pant cuff without me noticing. I tried to take a step and... splat. Down I went. Immediate pain. I looked at my hands that had kind of caught me and they were all scraped up and bleeding. I looked at my knee and there was definately a hole in my favorite pants. Chief's leash broke. Bad deals. I had to run upstairs and try to quickly find something else to wear. I had to clean out the cuts on my hands and knee. Ouch! After a couple of band-ades and a different outfit I was out the door a little late. R.I.P. pants, R.I.P.. Wednesday night I was home and getting ready for bed. Chief was laying on the bed and I went to go lay next to him. As I went to put my head next to his, he jerked his head up to look at me. BANG! He caught me right in the bridge of my nose. OUCH! I thought it might be broken. But, as Prof. Vander Berg taught me in First Aid and Athletic Injury, when a nose breaks, it bleeds. So I don't think it's broken. But is sure is sore! So far it hasn't bruised, which I'm very thankful for.
So, now it's Friday and I've averted disaster for almost 48 hours, hoping to keep that streak going. Henry comes home tonight, which is nice. Tomorrow we're going to 'Do the Puyallup'! It's the Puyallup Fair in Puyallup, WA. The fifth largest fair in the United States. It's always a lot of fun with plenty of good food! Henry loves the fair and this weekend is 'Christian Schools Days' so we will visit the Seattle Christian booth and hear the SCS jazz band play. Tomorrow night is the first night of the Tacoma Christian Reformed Community Church's BOWLING LEAGUE! It's Henry's favorite time of the year. College football and bowling leagues. It should be a lot of fun. This year Eric & Carla and Steve & Harriet are doing a 'Bowl-share' on our team. So Henry and I will be the regular bowlers and Eric & Carla and Steve & Harriet will take turns bowling with us.
I think that's all I've got for an update at this point. We're looking forward to a busy October and November and then Thanksgiving and Christmas! Pumkin carving! Volleyball games! Maybe Spokane to meet Mama H and Cebu Daddy? Henry's birthday! Lots of fun stuff on the horizon.
Hope you all are doing well! We miss you and love you lots!!
- Lindsey, Henry, and Chief Walter Winston III (who has a hard head)
Friday, September 18, 2009
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
An Extended Absence
Hello! I'm writing to let you know that I am alive after all! It's been almost 2 months and I have been less than motivated to make time to write my blog. Here's a run down of what has happened in the last month and a half.
Michelle was here and staying with us for a week and a half in mid-July. We (I?) had such a wonderful time! We spent hours floating around the near by lake. We cooked, we rode 'The Duck' in Seattle, we shopped. We had a marvelous time finding things to keep us busy. This will have to become a yearly tradition. :)
Michelle left on July 24th and I'm honestly not sure what all has happened between then and now. Henry has golfed a LOT... nearly every Saturday.
At the beginning of August we had a retirement celebration for Tacoma CRC's senior pastor, Pastor Rod. Pastor Rod has been the pastor at Tacoma CRC for 36 years. 36 YEARS! He is dearly loved and we're beginning the stressful process of trying to call a new pastor. I know that all of you in Montana know what that's like! We had a program and a picnic with games and the like. It was a fun time of fellowship.
Henry's brother John and his wife Larissa came out for a visit the first week of August. The Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday that they were here the whole family went up to Leavenworth, WA for a little trip. Henry actually worked that Monday and he and I went up after work so we missed out on the tour of the Applet and Cottlet factory. I honestly wasn't that disappointed. I don't even like Applets and Cottlets. We had dinner when we got there and then went back to the hotel (The Enzian of course! The Vander Pol tradition) and played a 'fun' game of peanuts. Some of you know my love **sarcasm** for peanuts.
We started Tuesday off by enjoying the wonderful breakfat that the Enzian Hotel is known for. Then, during breakfast, the little old man who has been doing this for years walks through the dinning room with his huge 'Ricola Horn', for the lack of a more official name, and stands on the outdoor deck railing to play some songs. He's decked out in his old fashioned Bavarian outfit and plays the part well. After breakfast we all went down to the 'Champion Putting Course' for a game of mini-golf. The four guys played together so that they could be as competitive as they liked, and the 4 girls played together so we could actually have fun. After golfing we went lazy river rafting on the Wenatchee river. It was a beautiful day and we had a lot of fun rafting. The rest of the trip included other small activities and was an, overall, good time. Wait! I forgot. On the way home from Leavenworth Dad VP declared that there would be a hike. ... Really? Ugh... I survived.
Friday the bunch of us, minus Eric and Henry who had to work, went up to the Woodland Park Zoo. It was a fun day. Saturday we all went to a Mariner game. Another fun VP family event.
Whew! BUSY week!
I don't totally remember what I did the next week to stay busy. I painted some of my trim. I schemed about how to get Mom and Ashley out for a visit. I took Chief to the Vet. Ugh. Then, Saturday the 15th we had the annual Tacoma CRC golf tournament! Eric and Carla and Henry and I all played as our usual team. We were the defending champs going in. Second was the best we could do this year. Still fun though.
Last Tuesday, the 18th of August, at 9:00am I arrived at the SeaTac Int'l Airport and scooped up MOM AND CRASHO!!! We succeeded in arranging a trip for them to visit before I started the school year. Tuesday Mom and Ashely both slept most of the day... really exciting. We managed to do some cooking, some shopping, and some sight seeing. It was a REALLY wonderful week to have before school started. We saw Salmon running at the Ballard Locks. We saw people crab fishing off of the Des Moines pier. We had a great dinner at cousin Deanna's house with some of the Aunts and cousins that live around here. It was, all around, a great week. Thanks for coming, Mom and Crash!
Saturday Henry and I had the privilage of flying in a classic airplane to Friday Harbor, WA. It was a day trip that we had, more or less, ended up with at the Seattle Christian auction. We flew in a 1947 Stinson Taildragger. That probably doesn't mean much to many of you, but, oh well.
This week was the week. After I had been looking so forward to summer and summer had gone SO fast, school had to come. I still had Monday off, but had to report for duty yesterday. The day went pretty well, but I spent a lot of time in meetings. Today was the same. I'm starting to feel a little panic about whether or not I will get my room ready in time! It'll get done one way or another I suppose.
So, that's where we're at. Actually, we're on the couch watching the Mariner game. Henry's been sleeping on the couch for the last hour. He's becoming an old man in that was I suppose. Even so, he's a cute old man. :)Chief is curled up on his lap and they are snoozing away.
So, we hope you all are happy and healthy! Until we see you again, we love you!!
- Lindsey B. (now more commonly 'Mrs. Vander Pol'), Henry D., and Chief W.W.
Michelle was here and staying with us for a week and a half in mid-July. We (I?) had such a wonderful time! We spent hours floating around the near by lake. We cooked, we rode 'The Duck' in Seattle, we shopped. We had a marvelous time finding things to keep us busy. This will have to become a yearly tradition. :)
Michelle left on July 24th and I'm honestly not sure what all has happened between then and now. Henry has golfed a LOT... nearly every Saturday.
At the beginning of August we had a retirement celebration for Tacoma CRC's senior pastor, Pastor Rod. Pastor Rod has been the pastor at Tacoma CRC for 36 years. 36 YEARS! He is dearly loved and we're beginning the stressful process of trying to call a new pastor. I know that all of you in Montana know what that's like! We had a program and a picnic with games and the like. It was a fun time of fellowship.
Henry's brother John and his wife Larissa came out for a visit the first week of August. The Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday that they were here the whole family went up to Leavenworth, WA for a little trip. Henry actually worked that Monday and he and I went up after work so we missed out on the tour of the Applet and Cottlet factory. I honestly wasn't that disappointed. I don't even like Applets and Cottlets. We had dinner when we got there and then went back to the hotel (The Enzian of course! The Vander Pol tradition) and played a 'fun' game of peanuts. Some of you know my love **sarcasm** for peanuts.
We started Tuesday off by enjoying the wonderful breakfat that the Enzian Hotel is known for. Then, during breakfast, the little old man who has been doing this for years walks through the dinning room with his huge 'Ricola Horn', for the lack of a more official name, and stands on the outdoor deck railing to play some songs. He's decked out in his old fashioned Bavarian outfit and plays the part well. After breakfast we all went down to the 'Champion Putting Course' for a game of mini-golf. The four guys played together so that they could be as competitive as they liked, and the 4 girls played together so we could actually have fun. After golfing we went lazy river rafting on the Wenatchee river. It was a beautiful day and we had a lot of fun rafting. The rest of the trip included other small activities and was an, overall, good time. Wait! I forgot. On the way home from Leavenworth Dad VP declared that there would be a hike. ... Really? Ugh... I survived.
Friday the bunch of us, minus Eric and Henry who had to work, went up to the Woodland Park Zoo. It was a fun day. Saturday we all went to a Mariner game. Another fun VP family event.
Whew! BUSY week!
I don't totally remember what I did the next week to stay busy. I painted some of my trim. I schemed about how to get Mom and Ashley out for a visit. I took Chief to the Vet. Ugh. Then, Saturday the 15th we had the annual Tacoma CRC golf tournament! Eric and Carla and Henry and I all played as our usual team. We were the defending champs going in. Second was the best we could do this year. Still fun though.
Last Tuesday, the 18th of August, at 9:00am I arrived at the SeaTac Int'l Airport and scooped up MOM AND CRASHO!!! We succeeded in arranging a trip for them to visit before I started the school year. Tuesday Mom and Ashely both slept most of the day... really exciting. We managed to do some cooking, some shopping, and some sight seeing. It was a REALLY wonderful week to have before school started. We saw Salmon running at the Ballard Locks. We saw people crab fishing off of the Des Moines pier. We had a great dinner at cousin Deanna's house with some of the Aunts and cousins that live around here. It was, all around, a great week. Thanks for coming, Mom and Crash!
Saturday Henry and I had the privilage of flying in a classic airplane to Friday Harbor, WA. It was a day trip that we had, more or less, ended up with at the Seattle Christian auction. We flew in a 1947 Stinson Taildragger. That probably doesn't mean much to many of you, but, oh well.
This week was the week. After I had been looking so forward to summer and summer had gone SO fast, school had to come. I still had Monday off, but had to report for duty yesterday. The day went pretty well, but I spent a lot of time in meetings. Today was the same. I'm starting to feel a little panic about whether or not I will get my room ready in time! It'll get done one way or another I suppose.
So, that's where we're at. Actually, we're on the couch watching the Mariner game. Henry's been sleeping on the couch for the last hour. He's becoming an old man in that was I suppose. Even so, he's a cute old man. :)Chief is curled up on his lap and they are snoozing away.
So, we hope you all are happy and healthy! Until we see you again, we love you!!
- Lindsey B. (now more commonly 'Mrs. Vander Pol'), Henry D., and Chief W.W.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Mid-July is Upon Us
Another two weeks have flown by! It's been SO busy lately that, unless a task is shoved in my face, it's easily neglected.
On July first (Canada Day!) I flew to International Falls, MN. Michelle Veldhuisen, a good friend from Dordt, met me at the airport and drove me to her hometown of Emo, Ontario, Canada. We had a wonderful weekend there spending lots of time with her brothers and sisters-in-law and her beautiful neice Jordyn. We were at Michelle's parents farm most of the day on Thursday and had dinner with her family. Friday Michelle's brother Joel took us fishing at a nearby lake. We were quite successful and caught some Northern Pike, a Bass, and a Walleye. We only ended up keeping 3 of the Northerns. After getting home that night we prepared the fish and fried them for dinner. They were pretty good! :)
Saturday we went to a family friend's wedding. It was a fun experience. The weather was beautiful as well as the wedding. Sunday morning we left early (haha... 8am) for Minneapolis. We flew out at 5pm to Bozeman via Denver. We had a few delays, but, overall, had good flights, but a long day! We arrived in Bozeman at about midnight Sunday night.
We did so many fun things in Montana! We went fishing (unsuccessfully), attended a few wedding showers and spent a lot of quality time with the family. Some of the highlights were:
-Going out to dinner with Ashley, Amber, and Michelle for Ashley's 'bachelorette party'.
-Seeing extended family at the wedding showers.
-Doing flowers for the wedding with Ashley, Hannah, and Michelle.
-Meeting new friends from far away places.
-The wedding rehearsal, even though it got slightly rained out, and of course...
- THE WEDDING!
The wedding went so well. Ashley looked positively gorgeous. The weather was pretty much ideal. The food was good. The hair-do's looked great. They said 'I DO'.
Saturday morning we had a brunch of Zach and Ashley. They opened their gifts and we spent some time with them before they went on their honeymoon to a cabin in Utah.
Sunday Henry, Michelle and I drove home to Seattle. The trip went well despite the flat tire in Courdelaine (I know it isn't spelled right, but I'm too lazy to look it up. You know what I mean). It was 94 degrees outdside. Good thing Henry and Michelle had things under control! We were blessed by dad's good thinking when he put a full size spare tire under the van. We cruised right along.
Monday Michelle and I had to run the games at Tacoma CRC's Vacation Bible School. It went very well. This years theme is 'Outback Express', an Australian theme. We did laundry and watched some TV in the afternoon and had Pot Eten for dinner. We also watched the MLB homerun derby and took Chief for a walk. Quite the ambitious day! haha.
Today we slept in and ran errands most of the day. We got groceries, brought Chief to the vet (ugh), bought a rice cooker!, and came home to make dinner. We made some delicious meatballs using a recipe from the Kaemingh cookbook that Michelle brought from Canada. Henry and Vip had a rec league basketball game, so we went to that. Then we came home and watched Deadliest Catch. Henry and Vip ate more meatballs and now we're ready for bed.
What a fun couple of weeks! I look forward to spending the next couple of weeks here in Seattle with Michelle. It was so great to see so many of you!
We love you and hope God blesses you until we see you again.
- Henry, Lindsey, and Chief Walter Winston (the most expensive dog in the world)
On July first (Canada Day!) I flew to International Falls, MN. Michelle Veldhuisen, a good friend from Dordt, met me at the airport and drove me to her hometown of Emo, Ontario, Canada. We had a wonderful weekend there spending lots of time with her brothers and sisters-in-law and her beautiful neice Jordyn. We were at Michelle's parents farm most of the day on Thursday and had dinner with her family. Friday Michelle's brother Joel took us fishing at a nearby lake. We were quite successful and caught some Northern Pike, a Bass, and a Walleye. We only ended up keeping 3 of the Northerns. After getting home that night we prepared the fish and fried them for dinner. They were pretty good! :)
Saturday we went to a family friend's wedding. It was a fun experience. The weather was beautiful as well as the wedding. Sunday morning we left early (haha... 8am) for Minneapolis. We flew out at 5pm to Bozeman via Denver. We had a few delays, but, overall, had good flights, but a long day! We arrived in Bozeman at about midnight Sunday night.
We did so many fun things in Montana! We went fishing (unsuccessfully), attended a few wedding showers and spent a lot of quality time with the family. Some of the highlights were:
-Going out to dinner with Ashley, Amber, and Michelle for Ashley's 'bachelorette party'.
-Seeing extended family at the wedding showers.
-Doing flowers for the wedding with Ashley, Hannah, and Michelle.
-Meeting new friends from far away places.
-The wedding rehearsal, even though it got slightly rained out, and of course...
- THE WEDDING!
The wedding went so well. Ashley looked positively gorgeous. The weather was pretty much ideal. The food was good. The hair-do's looked great. They said 'I DO'.
Saturday morning we had a brunch of Zach and Ashley. They opened their gifts and we spent some time with them before they went on their honeymoon to a cabin in Utah.
Sunday Henry, Michelle and I drove home to Seattle. The trip went well despite the flat tire in Courdelaine (I know it isn't spelled right, but I'm too lazy to look it up. You know what I mean). It was 94 degrees outdside. Good thing Henry and Michelle had things under control! We were blessed by dad's good thinking when he put a full size spare tire under the van. We cruised right along.
Monday Michelle and I had to run the games at Tacoma CRC's Vacation Bible School. It went very well. This years theme is 'Outback Express', an Australian theme. We did laundry and watched some TV in the afternoon and had Pot Eten for dinner. We also watched the MLB homerun derby and took Chief for a walk. Quite the ambitious day! haha.
Today we slept in and ran errands most of the day. We got groceries, brought Chief to the vet (ugh), bought a rice cooker!, and came home to make dinner. We made some delicious meatballs using a recipe from the Kaemingh cookbook that Michelle brought from Canada. Henry and Vip had a rec league basketball game, so we went to that. Then we came home and watched Deadliest Catch. Henry and Vip ate more meatballs and now we're ready for bed.
What a fun couple of weeks! I look forward to spending the next couple of weeks here in Seattle with Michelle. It was so great to see so many of you!
We love you and hope God blesses you until we see you again.
- Henry, Lindsey, and Chief Walter Winston (the most expensive dog in the world)
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Only two weeks later...
After a brief break from updating, I thought I should make a new post before I get TOO far behind.
We had a good trip back from Chicago. The following Tuesday, that being last Tuesday, Drew flew in from Montana to help us drive to Montana. We went to a Mariner's game that night, which was a lot of fun. After running some errands on Wednesday, we packed up the car and picked Henry up from work to leave for Montana. The trip went pretty quickly and we arrived safely in Montana.
The Montana weekend was wonderful! We got there early Thursday morning and got a few hours of sleep. Thursday we hung around the house. That night, dad cooked the fish that we had brought out from Seattle for dad for father's day. It was delicious. Friday morning started with Dad, Drew, and Henry teeing off at 6:30am at Cottonwood Hills. Ashley and I went and walked along with Henry after Dad and Drew left at the turn. Friday night we had a fabulous meal at Sir Scott's Oasis in Manhattan. Saturday morning Henry left early for breakfast at the Garden Cafe with Dad and Drew and Mom, Ashley, Karen, Sue and I went garage saling! We didn't really find much, but it was a lot of fun.
Side-note, Mama H made some fantastic cream of potato soup for us (me)! :)
Later on Saturday afternoon we went out to Martin Kimm's dad's lake and tried to do some fishing. The fish were NOT biting. After that we went out to Plunkett Lake and had a hotdog roast. Again, delicious! Drew, Henry,and I went back to the fishing lake to try again. Still no fish biting. :(
Sunday morning we did some packing and then went to Bethel CRC with the fam. It was good service and it was nice to be back at Bethel. After the service we came home and had a quick lunch and got on the road to head back to Seattle. We arrived there at about 10pm.
Monday and Tuesday were big time laundry days. Also, Henry's grandma was admitted to the hospital and wasn't doing well at all, so we spent some time there with her and other family members. Grandma had a sever infection in her blood and they weren't sure she was going to make it. However, she has improved a lot so we praise the Lord for that.
Wednesday monrning Henry brought me to SeaTac airport bright and early in the AM. My flight left at 7 on the dot. I flew Northwest/Delta from Seattle to Minneapolis and then from MSP to International Falls, MN. Michelle Veldhuisen met me there and took me over the border to her home in Emo, Ontario Canada. We've had a great time here! Thursday night we went to her parent's farm in the country. They have a beautiful farm house. Michelle's brothers were demolishing an old garage that they were replacing. It was quite entertaining to watch! Michelle's parents were out fishing, so we made waffles for dinner for us and her brothers. After dinner we ran some errands and then came home to fall asleep to a movie. Great day! Today we slept in and then went over to the farm again. We spent some time chatting with Mrs. Veldhuisen and watched the garage get torn completely down. Around noon, we went back to Michelle's cozy little house to eat some of what's left of her perishable food and to play some Nintendo Mario Kart! It was great fun. Tonight we went to the farm for dinner. We had excellent chicken and potatos (favorite!) and played with Michelle's little 4 month old niece. After dinner we went to a friend of Michelles house and visited with her. We watched her kids swim in their back yard pool and just chatted. It was pretty relaxing (as long as I wasn't the one watching the kids!). Now we're home and, again, playing Mario Kart.
It has been a wonderful few weeks since school has been out! I've enjoyed getting to visit family and friends. This is definately one thing I LOVE about being a teacher!
Hope you all are doing well! I will most likely be seeing most of you next week. Can't wait!
Love from Canada to all of you! Have a blessed 4th of July.
- Lindsey, 'eh?
We had a good trip back from Chicago. The following Tuesday, that being last Tuesday, Drew flew in from Montana to help us drive to Montana. We went to a Mariner's game that night, which was a lot of fun. After running some errands on Wednesday, we packed up the car and picked Henry up from work to leave for Montana. The trip went pretty quickly and we arrived safely in Montana.
The Montana weekend was wonderful! We got there early Thursday morning and got a few hours of sleep. Thursday we hung around the house. That night, dad cooked the fish that we had brought out from Seattle for dad for father's day. It was delicious. Friday morning started with Dad, Drew, and Henry teeing off at 6:30am at Cottonwood Hills. Ashley and I went and walked along with Henry after Dad and Drew left at the turn. Friday night we had a fabulous meal at Sir Scott's Oasis in Manhattan. Saturday morning Henry left early for breakfast at the Garden Cafe with Dad and Drew and Mom, Ashley, Karen, Sue and I went garage saling! We didn't really find much, but it was a lot of fun.
Side-note, Mama H made some fantastic cream of potato soup for us (me)! :)
Later on Saturday afternoon we went out to Martin Kimm's dad's lake and tried to do some fishing. The fish were NOT biting. After that we went out to Plunkett Lake and had a hotdog roast. Again, delicious! Drew, Henry,and I went back to the fishing lake to try again. Still no fish biting. :(
Sunday morning we did some packing and then went to Bethel CRC with the fam. It was good service and it was nice to be back at Bethel. After the service we came home and had a quick lunch and got on the road to head back to Seattle. We arrived there at about 10pm.
Monday and Tuesday were big time laundry days. Also, Henry's grandma was admitted to the hospital and wasn't doing well at all, so we spent some time there with her and other family members. Grandma had a sever infection in her blood and they weren't sure she was going to make it. However, she has improved a lot so we praise the Lord for that.
Wednesday monrning Henry brought me to SeaTac airport bright and early in the AM. My flight left at 7 on the dot. I flew Northwest/Delta from Seattle to Minneapolis and then from MSP to International Falls, MN. Michelle Veldhuisen met me there and took me over the border to her home in Emo, Ontario Canada. We've had a great time here! Thursday night we went to her parent's farm in the country. They have a beautiful farm house. Michelle's brothers were demolishing an old garage that they were replacing. It was quite entertaining to watch! Michelle's parents were out fishing, so we made waffles for dinner for us and her brothers. After dinner we ran some errands and then came home to fall asleep to a movie. Great day! Today we slept in and then went over to the farm again. We spent some time chatting with Mrs. Veldhuisen and watched the garage get torn completely down. Around noon, we went back to Michelle's cozy little house to eat some of what's left of her perishable food and to play some Nintendo Mario Kart! It was great fun. Tonight we went to the farm for dinner. We had excellent chicken and potatos (favorite!) and played with Michelle's little 4 month old niece. After dinner we went to a friend of Michelles house and visited with her. We watched her kids swim in their back yard pool and just chatted. It was pretty relaxing (as long as I wasn't the one watching the kids!). Now we're home and, again, playing Mario Kart.
It has been a wonderful few weeks since school has been out! I've enjoyed getting to visit family and friends. This is definately one thing I LOVE about being a teacher!
Hope you all are doing well! I will most likely be seeing most of you next week. Can't wait!
Love from Canada to all of you! Have a blessed 4th of July.
- Lindsey, 'eh?
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Greetings from Sherriville, Indiana
Peanuts. The Vander Pol family is completely obsessed with the game 'Peanuts'. It's also referred to as 'nertz' or, at times 'blitz' and even 'pounce' as some of my students call it. Anyway, it's a card game that they are WAY too competitive during and I feel as though it brings out the worst in everyone. Not my favorite 'family activity' by any stretch of the imagination. So, they are all in the dining room playing and, because you need partners, we needed to pair off. Wouldn't you know it... we had an odd number because another friend is staying here from out of town. NOT A PROBLEM says I. 'I will be the gracious one and sit out'. :)
Our Chicago trip started Thursday afternoon when we boarded an Alaska Airlines 777 and made the trip from SEA to ORD, O'Hare Airport. We got in at about 11:30, got our rental car, and made it to the Days Inn Hotel in 'Libertyville, Illinois'. After a night of fairly lousy sleep (not sure why) we were up bright and early to head to Six Flags Great America theme park. The air was thick with storm clouds and all of the weather channels were predicting lightning and rain. The weathermen were right. We made it into the park and on two rides before the rain really started. And apparently when it rains here, it POURS! We found a little restaurant in the theme park and too cover for about an hour. Suzanne Clark was also going to meet us there, but her mom's basement flooded, so she was home helping clean that up. She didn't miss much. We were considering leaving several times, but weather man/brother John predicted only 20 more minutes of rain. I'm pretty sure a vast majority of people at the park went home at that point. We stayed and, about 20 minutes later, the rain stopped. We saw them getting several of the rides ready, so we decided to get to the one we wanted to ride most in case they shut them down again. After 2 more rides and just when the sun was peeking out, Suz and her boyfriend Jason showed up. It was sunny the rest of the afternoon. We did several more roller coasters and then grabbed a late lunch. By that time it was getting toasty. Jason and Suz didn't bring their swim suits and the Vander Pol family was itching to try out the water rides, so, Suz and Jason went to go ride some of their favorite roller coasters while we went to the attached water park. The rides were SO much fun and the water was really refreshing. About 2 hours later, Jason and Suz came and found us. The lines were incredibly short the whole time, mostly because the rain chased everyone away. We went back to get our clothes. Sadly, my favorite Reef Sandals were not where I had left them. Everyone else's shoes were there, but mine were definitely gone. I'm pretty sure someone walked off in them. :( So, we went and found some $7 sandals in the gift shop and made due with those. We had about an hour and a half left, so Jason, Suz, Henry and I went to see if we could get a few more roller coaster rides in. A typical wait for these rides is over an hour. We walked up and got right on. It was great! Just as we were finishing the day, the storm clouds rolled in, very black. Big rain drops started to fall just as we reached the car. We said good-bye to Jason and Suz and made our way to John and Larissa's house in a torrential downpour. 2 hours later, we were at their 'new' house. It's pretty nice! After showers, everyone went to get some much needed sleep.
This morning we slept in a little. Henry and I went to the nearest mall to look for a new pair of sandals to replace my old ones. We found almost the exact same style, which was nice. Once we got home we were on party making duty. We blew up balloons, taped down table cloths and set up tables and chairs, not in that order I suppose. John and Larissa's house came with a HUGE above ground pool, so we got the floating chairs and beach balls out for that. It was a pretty hot day already at 10 am. Typical mid-west. Direct, hot sun, a warm breeze and muggy. It wasn't long before there were many of us taking advantage of the pool. It felt great. Wes and Janelle made the drive down from Michigan and got here at about 2pm. They had lunch with us and played some games. We chatted for a while and, about 3-4 hours after they arrived, they had to leave again. It was good to see them again! We packed up the party and headed inside to eat some left-over lunch for dinner. They got a bunch of Mexican from a restaurant and it was delicious. After dinner and some left over cake, we chatted for a while and watched some T.V. and now we're here.
Listening to the game in the next room, I'm happy sitting out. :)
Tomorrow we're planning on going to church with John and Larissa and then heading to the airport for our flight that leaves at 3:30. We should be in Seattle by 5:30, which is nice.
Hope you all had a wonderful weekend! Love from Indiana!
- Lindsey and Henry
Our Chicago trip started Thursday afternoon when we boarded an Alaska Airlines 777 and made the trip from SEA to ORD, O'Hare Airport. We got in at about 11:30, got our rental car, and made it to the Days Inn Hotel in 'Libertyville, Illinois'. After a night of fairly lousy sleep (not sure why) we were up bright and early to head to Six Flags Great America theme park. The air was thick with storm clouds and all of the weather channels were predicting lightning and rain. The weathermen were right. We made it into the park and on two rides before the rain really started. And apparently when it rains here, it POURS! We found a little restaurant in the theme park and too cover for about an hour. Suzanne Clark was also going to meet us there, but her mom's basement flooded, so she was home helping clean that up. She didn't miss much. We were considering leaving several times, but weather man/brother John predicted only 20 more minutes of rain. I'm pretty sure a vast majority of people at the park went home at that point. We stayed and, about 20 minutes later, the rain stopped. We saw them getting several of the rides ready, so we decided to get to the one we wanted to ride most in case they shut them down again. After 2 more rides and just when the sun was peeking out, Suz and her boyfriend Jason showed up. It was sunny the rest of the afternoon. We did several more roller coasters and then grabbed a late lunch. By that time it was getting toasty. Jason and Suz didn't bring their swim suits and the Vander Pol family was itching to try out the water rides, so, Suz and Jason went to go ride some of their favorite roller coasters while we went to the attached water park. The rides were SO much fun and the water was really refreshing. About 2 hours later, Jason and Suz came and found us. The lines were incredibly short the whole time, mostly because the rain chased everyone away. We went back to get our clothes. Sadly, my favorite Reef Sandals were not where I had left them. Everyone else's shoes were there, but mine were definitely gone. I'm pretty sure someone walked off in them. :( So, we went and found some $7 sandals in the gift shop and made due with those. We had about an hour and a half left, so Jason, Suz, Henry and I went to see if we could get a few more roller coaster rides in. A typical wait for these rides is over an hour. We walked up and got right on. It was great! Just as we were finishing the day, the storm clouds rolled in, very black. Big rain drops started to fall just as we reached the car. We said good-bye to Jason and Suz and made our way to John and Larissa's house in a torrential downpour. 2 hours later, we were at their 'new' house. It's pretty nice! After showers, everyone went to get some much needed sleep.
This morning we slept in a little. Henry and I went to the nearest mall to look for a new pair of sandals to replace my old ones. We found almost the exact same style, which was nice. Once we got home we were on party making duty. We blew up balloons, taped down table cloths and set up tables and chairs, not in that order I suppose. John and Larissa's house came with a HUGE above ground pool, so we got the floating chairs and beach balls out for that. It was a pretty hot day already at 10 am. Typical mid-west. Direct, hot sun, a warm breeze and muggy. It wasn't long before there were many of us taking advantage of the pool. It felt great. Wes and Janelle made the drive down from Michigan and got here at about 2pm. They had lunch with us and played some games. We chatted for a while and, about 3-4 hours after they arrived, they had to leave again. It was good to see them again! We packed up the party and headed inside to eat some left-over lunch for dinner. They got a bunch of Mexican from a restaurant and it was delicious. After dinner and some left over cake, we chatted for a while and watched some T.V. and now we're here.
Listening to the game in the next room, I'm happy sitting out. :)
Tomorrow we're planning on going to church with John and Larissa and then heading to the airport for our flight that leaves at 3:30. We should be in Seattle by 5:30, which is nice.
Hope you all had a wonderful weekend! Love from Indiana!
- Lindsey and Henry
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Busy, busy weeks!
The past few weeks have probably been the busiest of my year! Maybe not as busy as some of the basketball tournament weeks, but still really busy! Last week was finals week. Also the last week of school. So, I was trying to get some things finished up for the incoming 7th graders, getting tests made and given for this years 7th and 8th graders to wrap up their units and then making and giving finals. I made them WAY too long! It took the kids a long time to take them, but it took me a REALLY long time to grade them! I had 95 students who each took 7 page finals. That's 665 pages to grade! I gave them a portion that they couldn't use their calculators on as well. That was 2 pages, so 95 times 2 is 190 pages. That means I had 855 pages to grade! I had some help from a fellow teacher, but it was still a HUGE project. We also started volleyball camp this week, so I'm at school doing that for about 3 hours every afternoon this week. I have 2 days to get my room all cleaned up, do all of our laundry so we can pack for Chicago, and clean up the house so it's not a mess when we get home!
Having school over is definately wonderful! However, I will feel much better when I turn off my lights and lock my door for the last time in the next few months! Hopefully it will only take a few more hours to get the room clean! There's TONS of stuff that I could really do to clean the room out, but I might just have to get the necessities done and call it good.
I'm all geared up for a busy and fun summer! We start things off this weekend when we go to Chicago with Henry's family. His brother John and his wife Larissa each just graduated with their masters and they're having a little schindig. We'll fly out Thursday night and get into Chicago fairly late. We're staying at a hotel in north Chicago since we're getting in late and going up to north Chicago Friday anyway. Friday is our day at 'Great America', a Six Flags theme park. Suzanne and her boyfriend, Jason, are meeting us there and their spending the day with us, which is great! Saturday is teh graduation party. Wes and Janelle are hoping to make it down, so we should be able to see them this Saturday, which would be fun. Sunday we'll go to Church with John and Larissa and then fly home.
Monday I'm going over to Ann Collier (a mom of some of our basketball girls)'s house for coffee and to trade a few recipes. I will definately be on the receiving end of that. :) I'm excited for that.
Next Wednesday night Henry and I are hoping to drive to Montana for a quick weekend visit. It's supposed to be for our Anniversary sort of, but it's turned into a more economical, relaxing weekend in Montana.
We'll get back from Montana on Sunday and I will fly out to Emo, Ontario Canada on Wednesday morning. I'm speding a weekend with Michelle Veldhuisen in Canada and then we're going to Montana for 'THE BIG EVENT' on Sunday July 6th. We'll spend the week there hanging out with the Hoekies and other family there. Excited to see you all! Henry will come out on Wednesday night and then we'll all go home on Sunday, the 12th. It will be a VERY busy month! But it will also be a lot of fun.
On a complete side-note, Chief got groomed yesterday. He looks SOOOOO cute! I'll see if I can get a picture of him and post it on here. Don't hold your breath.
Henry and I just finished some spaghetti with Vip and now we're watching Henry's favorite teenage soap opera. It's cheesey.
Hope you all are doing well! We'll most likely be seeing most of you within the next month. Hooray!
Until then, we love you!
- Henry, Lindsey, and Chief Walter Winston
Having school over is definately wonderful! However, I will feel much better when I turn off my lights and lock my door for the last time in the next few months! Hopefully it will only take a few more hours to get the room clean! There's TONS of stuff that I could really do to clean the room out, but I might just have to get the necessities done and call it good.
I'm all geared up for a busy and fun summer! We start things off this weekend when we go to Chicago with Henry's family. His brother John and his wife Larissa each just graduated with their masters and they're having a little schindig. We'll fly out Thursday night and get into Chicago fairly late. We're staying at a hotel in north Chicago since we're getting in late and going up to north Chicago Friday anyway. Friday is our day at 'Great America', a Six Flags theme park. Suzanne and her boyfriend, Jason, are meeting us there and their spending the day with us, which is great! Saturday is teh graduation party. Wes and Janelle are hoping to make it down, so we should be able to see them this Saturday, which would be fun. Sunday we'll go to Church with John and Larissa and then fly home.
Monday I'm going over to Ann Collier (a mom of some of our basketball girls)'s house for coffee and to trade a few recipes. I will definately be on the receiving end of that. :) I'm excited for that.
Next Wednesday night Henry and I are hoping to drive to Montana for a quick weekend visit. It's supposed to be for our Anniversary sort of, but it's turned into a more economical, relaxing weekend in Montana.
We'll get back from Montana on Sunday and I will fly out to Emo, Ontario Canada on Wednesday morning. I'm speding a weekend with Michelle Veldhuisen in Canada and then we're going to Montana for 'THE BIG EVENT' on Sunday July 6th. We'll spend the week there hanging out with the Hoekies and other family there. Excited to see you all! Henry will come out on Wednesday night and then we'll all go home on Sunday, the 12th. It will be a VERY busy month! But it will also be a lot of fun.
On a complete side-note, Chief got groomed yesterday. He looks SOOOOO cute! I'll see if I can get a picture of him and post it on here. Don't hold your breath.
Henry and I just finished some spaghetti with Vip and now we're watching Henry's favorite teenage soap opera. It's cheesey.
Hope you all are doing well! We'll most likely be seeing most of you within the next month. Hooray!
Until then, we love you!
- Henry, Lindsey, and Chief Walter Winston
Friday, June 5, 2009
Fabulous Friday Fights... I mean Nights
The week is finally over! Just one more week until 2 1/2 months of vacation and traveling. I have SO much to do before then!
The week went well. It started off warm and only got warmer. Monday and Tuesday were in the low 80's, which is quite unusual for June around here. Wednesday and Thursday got up to the high 80's, even 90's in some places. Let me tell you, those temperatures are hot enough in a classroom. Then 24 sweaty 7th graders come charging in! There was lots of sweating and some complaining, but we all survived. Today was finally cooler, in the mid 60's, which was actually a welcome change! We'll save the sunshine and heat for days where I can go to a lake or pool. Not be in a stinky, sweaty classroom with whiney kids. :)
It was a BUSY week with everyone trying to get ready for finals. There are also award ceremonies, yearbook ceremonies, and faculty meetings packed in. We had our middle school yearbook party this yesterday. The only problem was the yearbooks aren't here yet! We had to keep the schedule because the high school had things scheduled and there would be too much cross-over with high school and middle school teachers. So, we had a 2 hour party, in the 90 degree heat. Again, lots of sweat. the kids all brought different food and activities. I brought our Wii and a few games for the kids to play. There was much rejoicing. We had a whole line system set up so that we could rotate kids through. I thought it went really well! We had more food than an army could have eaten, so we all ate leftover snacks today. Overall, a very fun party.
The girls basketball team started their summer league program this week, so I was at practice Monday night and games Tuesday and Thursday nights. I guess I like and care about those girls or something. We have a good time. I love every one of them. :)
I LOVE Friday's! Mainly because I can wear jeans to school. Everything just seems so much better when I'm wearing jeans (or capri's this week!). Today we were reviewing for finals in all of my classes. We're all a little testy and ready to be done with the year! After school I had a few students in my room playing card games. I didn't have time, but played anyway. That's when you really get to know the kids! After they left I started trying to organize the mess that is known as my desk. I got all of my current grades recorded and entered, which is quite the task! Henry got home at about 5:30 and put dinner in the oven (the casserole that I made last night and put on time-bake while we were at Henry's game. Apparently the power went out while we were gone. We got home to blinking clocks and a stone cold casserole. Chicken Nuggets to the rescue! Vip had dinner with us.). I got home at about 6:15 (LONG DAY!). dinner was delish, if I do say so myself. We took Chief out for a nice walk and I'm now watching Henry trying to do Yoga on the Wii. Apparently he's frustrated the 'trainer' told him to 'picture your spine stretching'. Henry said, 'picture me punching you in the face'. That must not be his best activity.
Anyway, we're just having a boring night here at the Vander Pol house. it's nice after a long week. Vip might come over later. Or, we'll just put a movie in and fall asleep on the couch. We'll have to see.
Henry is golfing tomorrow and I'm undecided as to what I'm going to do. Steve and Harriet invited me to a parade with them and then to a farmers market. It might be fun, but I might just want to bum around the house and get things done. We'll have to see what happens.
Hope you all are doing well! We love you!!
- Yoga Henry, Typing Lindsey, and Snoozing Chief Walter Winston
The week went well. It started off warm and only got warmer. Monday and Tuesday were in the low 80's, which is quite unusual for June around here. Wednesday and Thursday got up to the high 80's, even 90's in some places. Let me tell you, those temperatures are hot enough in a classroom. Then 24 sweaty 7th graders come charging in! There was lots of sweating and some complaining, but we all survived. Today was finally cooler, in the mid 60's, which was actually a welcome change! We'll save the sunshine and heat for days where I can go to a lake or pool. Not be in a stinky, sweaty classroom with whiney kids. :)
It was a BUSY week with everyone trying to get ready for finals. There are also award ceremonies, yearbook ceremonies, and faculty meetings packed in. We had our middle school yearbook party this yesterday. The only problem was the yearbooks aren't here yet! We had to keep the schedule because the high school had things scheduled and there would be too much cross-over with high school and middle school teachers. So, we had a 2 hour party, in the 90 degree heat. Again, lots of sweat. the kids all brought different food and activities. I brought our Wii and a few games for the kids to play. There was much rejoicing. We had a whole line system set up so that we could rotate kids through. I thought it went really well! We had more food than an army could have eaten, so we all ate leftover snacks today. Overall, a very fun party.
The girls basketball team started their summer league program this week, so I was at practice Monday night and games Tuesday and Thursday nights. I guess I like and care about those girls or something. We have a good time. I love every one of them. :)
I LOVE Friday's! Mainly because I can wear jeans to school. Everything just seems so much better when I'm wearing jeans (or capri's this week!). Today we were reviewing for finals in all of my classes. We're all a little testy and ready to be done with the year! After school I had a few students in my room playing card games. I didn't have time, but played anyway. That's when you really get to know the kids! After they left I started trying to organize the mess that is known as my desk. I got all of my current grades recorded and entered, which is quite the task! Henry got home at about 5:30 and put dinner in the oven (the casserole that I made last night and put on time-bake while we were at Henry's game. Apparently the power went out while we were gone. We got home to blinking clocks and a stone cold casserole. Chicken Nuggets to the rescue! Vip had dinner with us.). I got home at about 6:15 (LONG DAY!). dinner was delish, if I do say so myself. We took Chief out for a nice walk and I'm now watching Henry trying to do Yoga on the Wii. Apparently he's frustrated the 'trainer' told him to 'picture your spine stretching'. Henry said, 'picture me punching you in the face'. That must not be his best activity.
Anyway, we're just having a boring night here at the Vander Pol house. it's nice after a long week. Vip might come over later. Or, we'll just put a movie in and fall asleep on the couch. We'll have to see.
Henry is golfing tomorrow and I'm undecided as to what I'm going to do. Steve and Harriet invited me to a parade with them and then to a farmers market. It might be fun, but I might just want to bum around the house and get things done. We'll have to see what happens.
Hope you all are doing well! We love you!!
- Yoga Henry, Typing Lindsey, and Snoozing Chief Walter Winston
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