Time for a Break

 This week has been a bit intense at school. After the May holiday they are changing up all my third year math classes, mixing the kids up similarly to the way they will be in the fall. It is supposed to help with the transition, but I think it will just make things more difficult for them. Definitely not the right time to try messing with the routine - during a pandemic. As math teachers, we aren't really sure how or what to teach them for these next couple months, but at least we only see each class once per week. 

On the business front, our very reliable and trusted teacher just quit on us, so that is a bummer. Luckily we have a backup, so we can shift over her classes, but it is not good for the students or the parents. Seems like finding reliable teachers might be the real challenge here. 

The girls have a different schedule for the May holiday, which is really annoying, but not such a big deal as we aren't allowed to go on a vacation anyway. There will be a few days where we are at home and they are in school, and vice versa, but okay. It will work out this year. 

Our school also gave us new laptops, and they are quite expensive. I don't really like the idea of being responsible for such an expensive machine that I didn't get to pick out, but it will come in handy as I should be able to use it for my business as well. Not sure why people want the touchscreen/tablet option, but maybe I will find out!

Fun at Helene's house.

Abigail started a journal.

Dressed up for the King's day celebration at school.

War Grenades

 Here is the best excuse I have ever gotten from a student who shows up late for math class:

Dear Mr. Cook.

I'll be a few minutes late because we've found old world war 2 grenades near our house. The EOD is going to blow them up so I have to leave the house for a few minutes.

kind regards,

Viggo

Speaking of school, had some conflict there this week with the other math teachers. We gave different tests to our students due to some miscommunication with the management, so now there are complaints from parents followed by the blame game. It will be hard to last for two more years when these situations continue, but things will probably just continue getting worse.

We had a really nice BBQ yesterday with some friends - the twin boys and their parents. It has been a long time since we have seen them. They had a rough time with schools being closed as she is a nurse and there was little understanding for her situation. Thankfully the weather is warming up and the kids had tons of fun playing together - for once Abigail and Amélie were not so shy.

We also got to celebrate Ron's birthday in Amsterdam last Sunday. We tried to drive through the center of the city because there weren't any tourists, but it was all blocked off due to continued protests over the lockdown. Still got to see some cool stuff though. 

Happy Birthday, Ron!

The table that I started and Ron finished.

Improvised wrist guards - Amélie lost hers.

Amélie lost her second tooth too!

Three Videos

 I have been working on updating my Dutch Domes website for the past half year or so, trying to model my designs for the house we want to build. Finally finished three of the five or six videos. It will take a lot more work to update the website completely, but this is a great start!

The girls had a lot of fun playing with friends this week and practicing a dance that they will perform for their class on Tuesday. They are also busy with swimming lessons - three sessions instead of two this coming week!

The weather has been terrible. Sure would have liked to spend a bit more time at the skate park, but oh well. At school we have a terribly organized test week. Causing lots of problems for lots of people, but instead of my lessons, I just have to show up for an hour of standing in a gym and watching kids take a test. Wish we could play basketball instead!

Special Easter dinner.

Special Easter cookies from Rijssen.

Instead of decorating Easter eggs...

Yes, it snowed. That doesn't happen in April!

Happy Easter

 It sure is disappointing to not be able to see Claire again this year! We also have a week of really crummy weather to look forward to after 70s earlier this week. The tomatoes are confused. Hopefully in a few weeks I can plant them because they are already outgrowing their pots.

The girls had a lot of fun on Friday playing with friends. They had the day off. I had to work though. Spent a bit too much time on the new business yesterday, so I will take it easy today. Managed to work in a trip to the skate park though. Amélie fell again and hurt herself. Maybe this afternoon it will go better!

Today we have lots of special food lined up. Naomi is trying to make a particularly tasty cookie from Rijssen, the town her family is from, for the first time. Hopefully it will work!

The tadpoles started hatching!

Finally figured out how to integrate my model with Google Earth.