Okay, so my birthday isn't today or anything, but it sure feels like it! I got my presents, we made birthday cake, and I even sang "Happy Birthday" to myself a few times... Monday will be pretty anti-climactic!
This week seemed busy to me, especially toward the end of the week! Luckily, most of my students were behaving well, and one is even working hard to get all A's and B's for my birthday present (she's worked really hard this quarter and is getting close!). Even my more squirrelly kiddos toned it down this week, and I had a great talk with one of my stubborn ones.
On Tuesday, we went to community group and, once again, enjoyed sharing each others lives and talking about the sermon. It is still one of the highlights of our week. On Wednesday, I went to youth group. We had small groups to talk about how to be so radically loving that people take notice and "know you are Christian by your love". My small group was small: one girl! But we had a great conversation, so I'm glad.
On Thursday, Kayle came to school after work and attended the 2nd annual Jaguar Arts Festival. The parents and students transformed the school into an art museum with black paper all along the walls, decorated with student paintings, drawings, and even science diagrams. In one corner of the school, the orchestra played. In another hallway, the jazz band gave a performance. Throughout the night, there was also a talent show and fashion show in the auditorium. With free food, a photobooth, and a silent auction, it was quite a fun showcase of Meany talent. It also made for a long day for me: about 12 hours! On Thursday, we also decided to take on a new project for Washington Reading Corps. We're going to put together a booklet of student poetry, short stories, and art to commemorate the year. And we have one month to do it... Crazy? I hope not!
On Friday, I made dinner for Breanna's family, and we went to a Terminator movie night. It was supposed to be a double-header of T-2 and T-3, but we couldn't stay awake for a second movie and had to leave early. It had been kind of a rough day for both of us, and we needed the extra sleep!
Today, Saturday, we picked up my birthday present from Kayle: a tandem bike that he found on Craigslist. I am SO EXCITED! What a great and romantic idea that reminds me of our honeymoon on Mackinac Island! The bike was new and still in the box (never even opened), so we took it home to assemble it. Five hours later and Kayle is still tweaking the brakes and shifter! We rode it around the neighborhood for a while, but we still don't have it switching to all the gears smoothly yet. It should be ready soon for a full test drive. Today we also made dirt cake and I got my package from mom and dad, so it basically seems like my birthday came early this year! Of course, I'm still planning to bring brownies to school on Monday and use my birthday to its full tutoring advantage...
I'm writing a day or two earlier this week because tomorrow looks like it's going to be a very busy day! We're waking up early to do children's ministry and run video at the early service before attending the 11:15 service. Then, in the afternoon, I want to go to a ballet that one of my students is performing in. At night, I have a meeting for youth group that Dustin (our leader) says is "very important." I'm excited for tomorrow!~
Hopefully, we'll be able to send some pics of our living room and tandem bike soon! We keep intending to take some but then forget to charge the batteries. We love you and miss you!!
Angie and Kayle
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Monday, May 11, 2009
Movie Nights!
This past week seemed really busy, especially since we had a social engagement every day of the weekend!
Work was fine for both of us. I'm still striving to keep the kids motivated to boost their grades in the final quarter of the year. We also had an after-school field trip to the local African American museum with the kids from Jaguar tutoring. It was fun, but a little hectic to keep track of 13 kids on a crowded Metro bus! I was mostly worried that we'd leave someone on the bus and they'd end up who knows where! Kayle's been busy at his job too and enjoying the debugging work. He said he's been pretty productive lately...
On Tuesday, we both felt tired and sick, so we missed community group. Kayle ended up with a sore throat for most of the week but I felt better the next day. On Wednesday, we had a 4th week feed with parents and siblings coming to join us for pizza and discussion about worship. I started a new mini-project to set up a small library for our youth group to give them greater access to solid Christian books. I posted a note on Facebook and now have a list of over 100 book recommendations from friends. Hmm...gonna have to narrow that down a bit, I think!
On Friday, I made another meal for Breanna and her family (who had a baby a few weeks ago). I also started applying for summer jobs, mostly in community centers and tutoring places right near our home. I also applied for United Way, which has an office in Bellevue (where Kayle works). We wanted to have me work closer for the summer, so I wouldn't spend so much time riding the bus in nice weather! It would be nice to get one of the positions in Redmond- then I could easily bike to work everyday... After finishing a spreadsheet for work (compiling fund-raising information for all the schools), my day off flew by pretty quickly for a change!
At night, Joe and his roommates were hosting a Pixar movie night. We didn't realize what a big deal it was! Kayle and I arrived early and helped cook an eggplant roll appetizer and more meat than I've ever seen at one house. Apparently, over 35 people responded that they were coming! The boys even took two couches and arranged them on cinder blocks to create stadium seating in their living room. I'm not sure any of them are truly out of "college mode" yet! It was fun to see so many people and even some young kids, and we enjoyed watching "The Incredibles". The idea for a Pixar night started when one of their roommates from Africa (Fabini) said, "cartoons are for kids." I guess they wanted to prove how funny and clever Pixar "cartoons" can be! Pictures to come?
On Saturday, we were invited to another movie night at Jeff and Paula Irwin's house. This one was a smaller affair, watching Terminator 1 in preparation for the upcoming release of the new Terminator movie in a few weeks. Jeff and Paula love hosting parties on the few weeks leading up to an anticipated movie release to watch all the movies in the series leading up to the new one. Next week will be Terminator 2 with, perhaps, some of the Sarah Conner Chronicle episodes...
On Sunday, we went to the earlier service. It was our campus pastor's last Sunday preaching before he plants his new church in California. It was sad for a lot of people who know Pastor Jesse better than we do, but, since he grew up in Cali, is well suited for church planting (this would be his 3rd), and loves surfing, everyone agrees that his family will be happy and effective in ministry there. The new pastor is also well-known and recommended by both Pastor Jesse and Pastor Mark (the primary preaching pastor at Mars Hill). The new pastor and his family seem nice, and next week will be his first week preaching...no pressure!
After the service, we ran home to eat lunch before Kayle dropped me off for Brenda's b-day outing with the girls. Nine of us went to a garden show/botanical garden festival, enjoyed an authentic Korean dinner, and finished off with ice cream from Dairy Queen. Here is a link to some pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Angie.Hinkle/BrendaSBirthdayParty#
Anyway, today was another typical day at school, except each grade got to participate in an hour-long drum circle assembly with some local Brazilian drummers. It was fun but LOUD! You try controlling middle school kids with drums! I tutored all day like usual and came home early, because I wasn't needed after school. Then, Kayle and I biked to the grocery store and library to pick up some things and exercise a bit. Hopefully, tonight will be a relaxing night before another pretty busy week!
Happy Mother's Day to all the moms and grandmas!
We love you and miss you all!!
Angie and Kayle
P.S. Our couch and loveseat also arrived this week on Thursday! With the floor lamps we bought last week, our living room finally feels complete. I'm sure we'll post pictures of the couches soon and hopefully be inviting people over soon...
Work was fine for both of us. I'm still striving to keep the kids motivated to boost their grades in the final quarter of the year. We also had an after-school field trip to the local African American museum with the kids from Jaguar tutoring. It was fun, but a little hectic to keep track of 13 kids on a crowded Metro bus! I was mostly worried that we'd leave someone on the bus and they'd end up who knows where! Kayle's been busy at his job too and enjoying the debugging work. He said he's been pretty productive lately...
On Tuesday, we both felt tired and sick, so we missed community group. Kayle ended up with a sore throat for most of the week but I felt better the next day. On Wednesday, we had a 4th week feed with parents and siblings coming to join us for pizza and discussion about worship. I started a new mini-project to set up a small library for our youth group to give them greater access to solid Christian books. I posted a note on Facebook and now have a list of over 100 book recommendations from friends. Hmm...gonna have to narrow that down a bit, I think!
On Friday, I made another meal for Breanna and her family (who had a baby a few weeks ago). I also started applying for summer jobs, mostly in community centers and tutoring places right near our home. I also applied for United Way, which has an office in Bellevue (where Kayle works). We wanted to have me work closer for the summer, so I wouldn't spend so much time riding the bus in nice weather! It would be nice to get one of the positions in Redmond- then I could easily bike to work everyday... After finishing a spreadsheet for work (compiling fund-raising information for all the schools), my day off flew by pretty quickly for a change!
At night, Joe and his roommates were hosting a Pixar movie night. We didn't realize what a big deal it was! Kayle and I arrived early and helped cook an eggplant roll appetizer and more meat than I've ever seen at one house. Apparently, over 35 people responded that they were coming! The boys even took two couches and arranged them on cinder blocks to create stadium seating in their living room. I'm not sure any of them are truly out of "college mode" yet! It was fun to see so many people and even some young kids, and we enjoyed watching "The Incredibles". The idea for a Pixar night started when one of their roommates from Africa (Fabini) said, "cartoons are for kids." I guess they wanted to prove how funny and clever Pixar "cartoons" can be! Pictures to come?
On Saturday, we were invited to another movie night at Jeff and Paula Irwin's house. This one was a smaller affair, watching Terminator 1 in preparation for the upcoming release of the new Terminator movie in a few weeks. Jeff and Paula love hosting parties on the few weeks leading up to an anticipated movie release to watch all the movies in the series leading up to the new one. Next week will be Terminator 2 with, perhaps, some of the Sarah Conner Chronicle episodes...
On Sunday, we went to the earlier service. It was our campus pastor's last Sunday preaching before he plants his new church in California. It was sad for a lot of people who know Pastor Jesse better than we do, but, since he grew up in Cali, is well suited for church planting (this would be his 3rd), and loves surfing, everyone agrees that his family will be happy and effective in ministry there. The new pastor is also well-known and recommended by both Pastor Jesse and Pastor Mark (the primary preaching pastor at Mars Hill). The new pastor and his family seem nice, and next week will be his first week preaching...no pressure!
After the service, we ran home to eat lunch before Kayle dropped me off for Brenda's b-day outing with the girls. Nine of us went to a garden show/botanical garden festival, enjoyed an authentic Korean dinner, and finished off with ice cream from Dairy Queen. Here is a link to some pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Angie.Hinkle/BrendaSBirthdayParty#
Anyway, today was another typical day at school, except each grade got to participate in an hour-long drum circle assembly with some local Brazilian drummers. It was fun but LOUD! You try controlling middle school kids with drums! I tutored all day like usual and came home early, because I wasn't needed after school. Then, Kayle and I biked to the grocery store and library to pick up some things and exercise a bit. Hopefully, tonight will be a relaxing night before another pretty busy week!
Happy Mother's Day to all the moms and grandmas!
We love you and miss you all!!
Angie and Kayle
P.S. Our couch and loveseat also arrived this week on Thursday! With the floor lamps we bought last week, our living room finally feels complete. I'm sure we'll post pictures of the couches soon and hopefully be inviting people over soon...
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Bring on the Pig Flu!
So, maybe I shouldn't have titled my last post "Easy Week #2"... This past week was a tough one at school! It seems like tons of kids are suspended or in detention and a few were even expelled. Bummer for them and for all the staff trying to keep behavior under control! I gave out my first in-school suspensions this week...now you know I had to be beyond annoyed to resort to that!
On Thursday, the Seattle Public Schools announced the week-long closure of a nearby middle school for a suspected swine flu case. The next day, two more local schools were shut down for a week as well. Unfortunately, this means the kids at my school, many of whom have siblings/friends at the other schools, were FREAKING OUT all day Friday about getting sick. The school nurse was swamped with worried kids and had to send an e-mail about being discerning about student requests to go to the nurse. Also, one sixth-grader was going around school purposely sneezing on people and declaring he had swine flu- not helping!! Since none of the three possible flu cases were confirmed and the flu turned out to be milder than expected, the school system decided to reopen the 3 schools earlier than originally planned. And just like that, the temporary craziness/panic subsided...
Outside of school, most of the week went as usual with CG on Tuesday night (yum- breakfast dinner!) and youth group on Wednesday night. On Friday, we met some other Microsofties for frisbee in the sun. As more people showed up, the nice throw-it-to-each-other-in-a-circle turned into an intense ultimate frisbee match, so I sat out for that part and played with a baby instead. Kayle got his exercise though! At night, we watch "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" together. I bought it from a garage sale thinking I had seen it and liked it- turns out it was a strange musical that we enjoyed watching together for Kayle's second time and my first.
On Saturday, I went to a "recipe exchange" at a friend's house. It was at 10am, so most people brought breakfast foods/recipes. It was still fun to get some "girl talk" in and exchange funny stories about how we met our husbands among other things. I brought Belgian waffles to the brunch but had homemade chili cooking at home (our first try- Betty Crocker recipe). Both turned out well, but I discovered that Kayle really doesn't like chili much. Oh well!
On Sunday, both of us worked in the toddler room again. It was fun, except, due to swine flu precautions, we didn't have snack time. That just means we had to stall/play for even longer than usual, waiting for the parents to show up at the end of the 2-hour service. I blew bubbles indoors for a LONG TIME! We also had a BBQ on Sunday to meet the new campus pastor who will lead our church in Bellevue. Our current campus pastor is leaving for southern California to plant a new church in the region where he grew up. We'll miss him, but, at Mars Hill, we've grown pretty used to growth and change for Jesus' sake!
This week is shaping up to be pretty busy too! School has gone decently well so far and I'm deep in "looking for a summer job" mode. Wish me luck!
We miss you and love you!
Angie and Kayle
On Thursday, the Seattle Public Schools announced the week-long closure of a nearby middle school for a suspected swine flu case. The next day, two more local schools were shut down for a week as well. Unfortunately, this means the kids at my school, many of whom have siblings/friends at the other schools, were FREAKING OUT all day Friday about getting sick. The school nurse was swamped with worried kids and had to send an e-mail about being discerning about student requests to go to the nurse. Also, one sixth-grader was going around school purposely sneezing on people and declaring he had swine flu- not helping!! Since none of the three possible flu cases were confirmed and the flu turned out to be milder than expected, the school system decided to reopen the 3 schools earlier than originally planned. And just like that, the temporary craziness/panic subsided...
Outside of school, most of the week went as usual with CG on Tuesday night (yum- breakfast dinner!) and youth group on Wednesday night. On Friday, we met some other Microsofties for frisbee in the sun. As more people showed up, the nice throw-it-to-each-other-in-a-circle turned into an intense ultimate frisbee match, so I sat out for that part and played with a baby instead. Kayle got his exercise though! At night, we watch "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" together. I bought it from a garage sale thinking I had seen it and liked it- turns out it was a strange musical that we enjoyed watching together for Kayle's second time and my first.
On Saturday, I went to a "recipe exchange" at a friend's house. It was at 10am, so most people brought breakfast foods/recipes. It was still fun to get some "girl talk" in and exchange funny stories about how we met our husbands among other things. I brought Belgian waffles to the brunch but had homemade chili cooking at home (our first try- Betty Crocker recipe). Both turned out well, but I discovered that Kayle really doesn't like chili much. Oh well!
On Sunday, both of us worked in the toddler room again. It was fun, except, due to swine flu precautions, we didn't have snack time. That just means we had to stall/play for even longer than usual, waiting for the parents to show up at the end of the 2-hour service. I blew bubbles indoors for a LONG TIME! We also had a BBQ on Sunday to meet the new campus pastor who will lead our church in Bellevue. Our current campus pastor is leaving for southern California to plant a new church in the region where he grew up. We'll miss him, but, at Mars Hill, we've grown pretty used to growth and change for Jesus' sake!
This week is shaping up to be pretty busy too! School has gone decently well so far and I'm deep in "looking for a summer job" mode. Wish me luck!
We miss you and love you!
Angie and Kayle
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