New Layout

I have updated the blog.  I think it looks much more appealing and inviting.  I hope you enjoy the new look. :)


Kevin has just started a blog for his classes.  If you are interested in reading it, go to klassensclass.blogspot.com.  

YAY for warm weather! :)

It has been pretty warm the past couple of weeks and we've been loving it! :)  Today I went for a 2 mile walk, it was so nice! :)  Tomorrow, I plan on walking a little further.  Tomorrow night is Kevin's first softball game of the season!  I am very excited to watch and Kevin is very excited to play and get back into it! :)  The team looks like it is going to be a good one this year, we have a lot of younger guys so we'll see what happens this season.

I am starting my spring semester class on May 10th at GVSU as I continue to work toward my Masters Degree.  It's Teaching Writing, so I'm sure it won't be too hard.  I am excited to get that started and have one more class (3 more credits) under my belt.  I can't wait until I have the 18 credits I need to get my Professional Teaching Certificate.  Now if only I can find a teaching job. ;)  Kevin is starting his class on May 14th.  Lucky for him, his class only meets 6 times and his last day is the day after the last day of school!!  Kevin has also accepted a summer school teaching job which he will do in August.  He will work 4 days a week until 12, so that will be nice for him.  He is working for the City of Norton Shores in June and July.

Some of you know that I applied for a 5th grade teaching position at Muskegon Christian School for next school year.  I have been praying every night for an interview.  Last week, MCS emailed me and said they were still in the process of reviewing applications and calling references.  Please continue to keep me in your prayers as I wait to hear from MCS about an interview.  This would be a great job for me at this time. :)  We are also waiting to hear about Kevin's position for next year.  Right now, 12 people need to retire and so far 8 have turned in their paperwork and 4 have said they were going to retire but no paperwork has been turned in yet.  Please pray that Kevin will have a teaching position for next year.

Our next big project on our house will be underground sprinkling. We have purchased almost everything needed for it but are waiting to get started on that until we hear about Kevin's job.  Hopefully, we'll be able to install the sprinkling! :)

Softball Season

Kevin is starting his softball season tonight!  He is practicing tonight and next week.  The first game will be in May!! :)  This is a great time of year for us and many of our friends.  It means we can enjoy a game outside and know that summer is on its way!

We only have 8 weeks of school left!  Kevin and I are starting spring classes in May but luckily, they will end in June.  We will then have the rest of the summer to work and have fun! :)

We look forward to everything the summer will bring us.

Spring Break 2010 Chicago

Kevin and I enjoyed our trip to Chicago.  We stayed busy even though we didn't have much planned ahead of time.  We did a lot of walking and a lot of riding on trains.  We were very exhausted when we got home Wednesday night.  The weather was decent and we only got rained on once.

We took the South Shore train from Indiana, near Michigan City, into Chicago.

 This was the train station we got on and off the train.

This is the train we took to and from Chicago.

We stayed right downtown, one block from Michigan Avenue.  When we arrived, we spent some time at the Lincoln Park Zoo.  It was surprisingly busy for a Sunday afternoon.  We weren't expecting it to be as busy as it was especially since it was Easter.

Monday, we walked along Michigan Avenue and went to the Sears/Willis Tower to see the new sky decks.  It wasn't as scary as I thought it would be.  But it is weird walking onto the sky deck and seeing the outside of the building 103 floors up!

This is one of the sky decks.

We also saw the Bean and Millennium Park.

 The Bean with a reflection of the city.

Kevin and I in front of the bean.

 

Millennium Park

On Tuesday, we went to the Museum of Science and Industry and also Shedd's Aquarium.

 Lightning at the Museum of Science & Industry

 The human body taken apart to show each section.

 She is feeding the fish at Shedd's.

 Sea lion during the show at Shedd's Aquarium.

We had a great time in Chicago and want to go back again.  We feel like train experts since we road on so many of them.  We'd love to go back with some other people.

If you want to see more pictures, there are several more on my facebook page, so check them out. 

Spring is here!!!

Spring is finally here and the weather has been so nice!  We've been spending a lot of time outside soaking up the sun and working on the yard.  Kevin finished the fence in the front by adding a gate.  This was supposed to be his spring break project but he was so motivated that he got it done a day before spring break started. 

Today, Kevin found 2 of these little guys in our egress window.  The neighbor girls loved them but we had to let them go.

The neighborhood is filled with laughter and running children.  Everyone is loving this weather! :)

We are going to Chicago for spring break ... just for a couple of days so we can get out of town for awhile and have a mini vacation.  

Here are some photos of things we've done around the house lately.

The new firepit Kevin put in.

Kevin added stone around the air conditioner and underneath the spicket to make it look much nicer.  It used to be dirt and looked ugly.

Our new camera allows us to take panaramic shots so this is one of our house and the neighbors on each side of us.

Washington DC

Kevin had a great time on his trip to Washington DC.  He left Holland around 1:45 AM and went to Detroit to catch their flight.  Once they were in Washington DC, they didn't get to their hotel until after 9 PM. Saturday, they had a full day of activities as well.  Sunday, they had another full day of activities and headed to the airport and had dinner there.  Kevin didn't get back home to Muskegon until 1:30ish AM!  He worked the next day! Unfortunately, it rained every day they were there.  He loved his bus driver and all the kids had a blast!  They did so many things in the 3 long days they were there.


Friday:
Arlington
Einstein Statue
Pentagon City Mall
Washington Memorial
Holocaust Museum
Jefferson Memorial
World War 2 Memorial
Iwo Jima 


Saturday:
White House
FDR
National Cathedral
Embassy Row
Library of Congress
Supreme Court
Capitol
Vietnam Wall
Korean Memorial
Lincoln Memorial
Museum of Natural History


Sunday:
Mt. Vernon
Ford's Theater
Air & Space Museum
American History Museum


This was Kevin's 2nd year chaperoning this trip.  He plans on going next year and many years to come.

All the 8th grade students who went on this trip.

All the chaperone's on this trip.

Iwo Jima

National Cathedral

The White House

The Capitol

Kevin with the boys he chaperoned.

Lincoln Memorial

Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation.  This is all writing.  In order to make the picture, certain words were bolded.

The bus driver, Joe, and the three chaperons on his bus.

Spring is in the Air!

It's been awhile since I've posted anything on here.  Looking at other people's blogs made me realize that I needed to update this.  


Spring is in the air!  I can finally hear the birds chirping and the snow is starting to melt!!  The neighborhood kids are even starting to gather outside riding their bikes up and down the road and laughing ever so innocently as they enjoy their childhood.  It really makes me wish I were a kid again.  But it makes me wish even more that we will start having kids soon.  

A lot has happened with the house since my last post and with our jobs.  Kevin is still teaching 9th grade Algebra.  He is going to Washington D.C. this weekend with an 8th grade group of students.  This will be his second year as a chaperone.  He is looking forward to the trip.  We will post pictures when he returns.


Laura is no longer working at Lincoln Park as a paraprofessional.  She was asked to teach in a CI classroom at Mona Shores High School but decided to return to subbing instead.  She is currently a substitute teacher still looking for that full-time teaching job of her dreams.  It's quite stressful being a subsitute.  The kids are usually very good and it's fun to be able to interact with different students and teachers each day, but having to spend a lot of time on the internet looking for subbing jobs isn't very fun.  Hopefully, next year will be the year, she can find a teaching job ... part-time or full-time will do.

Here are some pictures of the house and what else we've been up to this winter. 
 

Here's Kevin taking a picture of our freshly painted bathroom.  We decided to go with orange because our bathroom has a fish theme to it.  It was very shocking and bright at first but I absolutely love it!

The color looks awesome next to the white tub and it matches our shower curtain perfectly.

Kevin did some work on our bathroom downstairs this winter.  He installed tile above the stall.  This isn't real tile though, it's similar to paneling.  We needed to install this because the paint was starting to peel off above the shower stall and there was a hole underneath the showerhead.  We also installed a new showerhead, a rainfall one, because the old one was giving off too much pressure and there was no way of changing the pressure.

We were able to purchase a brand new car in October.  We bought a blue 2010 Toyota Yaris.  We've been very happy with it so far and haven't any problems.  Kevin is the primary driver of this car since he has to drive to Holland for work every day.

This winter we had some fun with the neighbors.  Here Kevin is snowboarding behind a snowmobile along the railroad tracks behind our house.  He had a lot of fun doing this.  We were able to go snowmobling up north this winter with our neighbors.  We had a lot of fun seeing all the property and cruising around on the snowmobiles.