blog archives

Links

• Google News
• FAMILY ALBUM - To link to our Family Album, use the password, vanbesouwfam
• Edit-Me

contact...
me Tell me how much you like my blog

Alison going off to Northern Kentucky University.....you're not ready for college yet Sean! 

posted by Gretchen 1:38 AM

Hmmm, it's been a busy September!

Alison is settled into her dorm at Northern Kentucky University (NKU) but misses her friends and family. She has applied to Kent State University so we'll see what school she attends Spring semester! Alison has been a lifeguard at the NKU pool and told me that it sure is different working there than at the Ledgewood Pool (thanks for all your good boss skills Kris Justice)!

Sean just loves his Garden Preschool. He has been working on pictures and the teacher writes his description about the pictures each day. He even writes letters at the Writing Center, complete with student mailboxes! One of Sean's favorite places is the Construction Area....lots of wooden trucks and blocks. He also likes the Science Area where they've found worms, slugs and lots of outdoor things. They can use magnifying glasses, binoculars, and telescopes to see the things from a different view. Sean reads books in the little Van Gogh room in his classroom (what a nice reading cubby). Another favorite part of Sean's school day is playing outside when he first arrives - the giant sandbox is great for digging and exploring. Everyday Seans brings about 1/4 cup of sand home from his shoes!

Sean is really liking going to the library every week or two. His new favorite type of books are the non-fiction ones about airplanes, dams, waterfalls, and bridges. He's quite the expert about airplanes! The Strongsville Library also has an awesome children's play area complete with a barn, puppets, a magnetic table, puzzles, play blocks, and vehicles. It even has mirrors where you really look silly!

We found inexpensive airline tickets for the Netherlands so we'll be off to Assen from 28 December 2004 until 6 January 2005.

Gretchen's been busy with school and selling items (mostly Sean's clothes) on E-Bay.

Bas now has 2 patents from Vita-Mix and 1 on the way from Hubbell.......what an inventor Bassie! What a great influence on Sean too......he adores his dad and can't wait to hide from him everyday when Bas comes home from work! They're also having a lot of time together when Gretchen goes to school on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.....you'll usually find them swimming on the pirate ship at the Strongsville Rec Center.

Bas and Gretchen are also exercising.......you'll see the results soon!

Hunter is doing well. He likes the Brunswick Dog Park and is very friendly with the other dogs. At home, you'll usually find that he's a couch potato, literally!

posted by Gretchen 8:14 PM

Announcing October 1, 2004.......SEAN finally POOPS on the potty. Bas was at his swearing in ceremony for his U.S. Citizenship at the Justice Building in downtown, Cleveland and Sean smelled up the whole bathroom, boy was it the talk of the town!!

posted by Gretchen 11:15 PM

Congratulations BAS on your U.S. Citizenship!

posted by Gretchen 2:00 PM

Hi,

After some time on the waiting list and prayer, Sean has been accepted to The Garden Preschool at Cuyahoga Community College! This is a model classroom using the Reggio Emilia approach to learning. The children are the guide to the curriculum and it is project-based! The philosophy is that children have many languages:

The Hundred Languages Children

The child
is made of one hundred.
The child has a hundred languages
a hundred hands
a hundred thoughts
a hundred ways of thinking
of playing, of speaking
A hundred always a hundred
ways of listening
of marveling of loving
a hundred joys
for singing and understanding
a hundred worlds
to discover
a hundred worlds
to invent
a hundred worlds
to dream.
The child has a hundred languages
(and a hundred hundred hundred more)
but they steal ninety-nine.
The school and the culture
separate the head from the body.
They tell the child:
to think without hands
to do without head
to listen and not to speak
to understand without joy
to love and to marvel
only at Easter and Christmas.
They tell the child:
to discover the world already there
and of the hundred they steal ninety-nine.
They tell the child:
that work and play
reality and fantasy
science and imagination
sky and earth
reason and dream
are things
that do not belong together.

And thus they tell the child
that the hundred is not there.
The child says:
No way. The hundred is there.

Loris Malaguzzi(translated by Lella Gandini)


Sean visited the classroom for a little while today while I dropped off paperwork and was especially interested in the sand table and the airplanes and helicopters! The teachers will make a home visit on Friday....more later!

posted by Gretchen 2:02 PM

On Friday, August 20, 2004 we all drove Alison to NKU. She is in a dorm with 3 other girls and will be a lifeguard at the college pool. More updates later.

posted by Gretchen 9:38 PM

It's been winter since I've told you what's been happening to our family. Hmmmm, let's see.

Alison went to her Senior Prom in May! Ask her to show you the pictures! She turned the big 18 on May 26, 2004. Alison went on her first road trip with the 1994 Nissan Sentra with her friend Hailey to Lexington, KY on Memorial Day Weekend. Alison also graduated from Strongsville High School and had her party at the Ledgewood Club House....in attendance were Wout & Riet van Besouw direct from Assen, the Netherlands! She has gone to lots of graduation parties and has been staying out late with all her friends. On August 20, 2004 we will be driving Alison to college at Northern Kentucky University. She will begin with 25 semester credits she earned at Tri-C while a senior in high school....way to go Alison (she got all A & B's while at Tri-C).
She got a lifeguarding job at the college too.

Sean has been a growing boy turning 3 this year. He is big into pretend play and has names for everyone in the family. Dad is Jumbo, Mom is A-320, Alison is the airport, Hunter is the control tower, Ojoe is Tug, and Sean is DC! He's been to both Put-in-Bay on South Bass Island and Kelley's Island on the ferry boat and now he is pretending to be a ferry boat. He also pretends to be a train, an airplane, a sailboat, and various other "things." Sean loves his new Middle Bass Island glow-in-the-dark T-shirt with a sailboat on it. He also loves swimming, going to Kiddie Park, riding in the kid seat on Dad's bike, and getting a kid's cup with sprinkles or eyes at Dairy Queen! Sean was in a family day care for the whole month of July and got peeing potty trained in one day! He also learned some good manners. He's also been going to Dalcroze Eurythmics at Baldwin Wallace College and has Mrs. Hunger as his teacher (she also taught Alison when she was Sean's age). Sean really like playing with Hunter and sometimes bugs Hunter a little too much. Sean loves the Noggin TV channel and likes shows such as Dora the Explorer, Sesame Street, Franklin the Turtle, and Maisy.

Bas has been working away at Hubbell Power Systems and will be there 2 years this October. He designs insulators for electrical power lines and teaches Sean all about them too. We probably don't have to move to Aiken for about 3 years.

Gretchen is still working on her Master's degree in Special Education (Mild/Moderate disabilities) from Cleveland State University. She has been doing very well in school (Cumulative GPA: 3.94)! Gretchen also decided on short hair this summer, first time in about 10 years.

posted by Gretchen 9:17 PM

Wow, usually winter is a time for me to relax a little, have longER talks with Alison, have fun playing with Sean, go sled riding, enjoy my Bassie, and just hang out but NOT this winter. I've been busy, busy, busy! Actually, we've all been busy. Alison is deciding on college choices and dresses for prom. She also has a full schedule at Tri-C and Strongsville High. Sean is busy visiting preschools for next school year. He just has to get busy with his potty....namely his poop training! Bas is busy with all of his Hubbell work goals and traveling to Aiken, Pittsburgh, and Columbus. Bas has a neat new PDA to keep track of all of his busy-ness! I'm busy working on my Special Education license so I can begin teaching again in August, 2005. Bas & I have also been working lots of hours doing our RGIS inventory job.....thank you Alison for helping out with Sean. I guess the only one relaxing around here is Hunter, the dog! A DOG'S LIFE......only a dream to us humans!!

Let's see what's been going on here amidst of our busy-ness......Alison got a 3.5 point average first semester and is attending award ceremonies galore at Tri-C as well as Strongsville High School. She has also been invited to join the Phi Theta Kappa society at Tri-C based on her educational achievement last semester. Way to go Al!

Bas has a patent for a blender container he designed while working at Vita-Mix Corporation!! Ask to see his new plaque honoring the patent! We also found out we will not be moving to Aiken before Spring, 2005.

Sean has become a smart little dude and is asking questions about the Earth and why it is round like a ball and why don't we fall off of it and, "Mom, can I see that ball of the Earth?" He is quite a singer, dancer, and jumper. He says so many things that make us laugh and just enjoy his inquisitiveness that it is simply awesome. He wakes up talking and ready to run and jump and goes to bed talking, running, and jumping! In about a week, Sean will be 3 years old already. He wants a choo choo train cake and to go to Chuck E. Cheese for a little birthday party. Sean is so ready for school.....just one minor detail has to be accomplished - potty training. Go Seany, go Seany!!

I've been going to school @ CSU and taking a grad class via Endicott College in Boston via the internet to become certified in the Wilson Reading Program to help students with reading disabilities. I have to tutor a student for 60 lessons as a part of this certification. As a part of another one of my classes, I've been observing special education students in urban, suburban, and rural settings. I've been doing inventory @ RGIS at such stores as Marcs, Sears, J.C. Penney, and mall clothing stores. Calling people's homes to ask for household donations has also kept me busy. The good thing is I can do this job from my home office.....MY comfy bed! And of course, I've been busy with potty training....cleaning up peeps and poops accidents and giving our smelly dog a bath regularly.

Bas, we need to take a mini vacation together and relax and enjoy the quiet of the moment.

Hope Spring brings us warmer weather, beautiful buds on the trees and flowers all around.

posted by Gretchen 2:36 PM

home Visitors since April 6, 2003