Swimming Lessons

In July the kids took two weeks of swimming lessons. Thanks Grandma Silly and Grandpa! (The swimming lessons were their treat because Grandpa thinks a child can never have too many weeks of swimming lessons.) The kids had a fantastic teacher - Miss T. She is the coach of our local swim team. She did a great job with the kids and they really learned a lot. Meagan can swim all on her own now, even in deep water. She is still working on diving and learning different strokes. She also needs to work on breathing while swimming. Right now, when she takes a breath she stops swimming.

Garrett is going great too. As long as he has his noodle he will go anywhere or do anything in the water. When you take the noodle away, he knows what to do but acts like he can't swim. Next summer he will work on swimming independently. (Considering last year he told me, "No thanks, I'm just going to sit on the side of the pool." We are really proud of him.)

This is Garrett jumping off of the diving board with his beloved noodle.
This is Garrett doing a toothpick jump. When you do this type of jump you wind up going quite deep into the pool. He came back up just fine!
Here he is swimming to Miss T. after one of his jumps.

Here is Garrett swimming to the edge of the pool after one of his jumps. This proves to me he can swim when he tries because Miss T. wasn't even there to catch him and send him to the side. He jumped off of the board, came to the surface, and swam to the side of the pool all by himself.
This is Meagan swimming to the shallow end of the pool after jumping off of the diving board.
Meagan does a handstand in the shallow end of the pool. We need to work on keeping those legs straight!
Meagan doing a cannonball.
The kids had a blast and keep asking, "Are we going to Miss T.'s next week?" Unfortunately, she was booked/we were on vacation/busy, etc. for the rest of the summer.

The kids have had the chance to practice their new skills this summer though. As I have posted about before we found a great pool in Aransas Pass that the kids have really enjoyed. Maybe one day Alice will have something like that!

Random Thoughts

I added a new post on the movie Wall*E. Well the post contains a few of my thoughts and a review by Roger Ebert. I had started the post a few days ago so it posted in chronological order. You can find it in the archives under Wall*E.

We played Jenga last night as a family. Garrett and Meagan actually did very well. Meagan is really getting the concept of finding a piece that is willing to move. (If you have never played Jenga before - as you touch each piece some of them "give" and some of them don't. You only want to move the ones that "give" because you have a better chance of not knocking down the whole tower.) I really like that Garrett is getting old enough now that we can play games together as a family.


Jimmy and I are going to see Ron White tonight. I can't wait. Jimmy and I love to watch his comedy routine on T.V. We are going to go to dinner and then go to the show. Yea! A night out without kids!

We have plans for the whole family tomorrow but shh. . . don't tell the kids. We are going to drive to Aransas Pass. They have a really cool pool with slides. It looks like a whole lot of fun. I'll post pictures as soon as I can.

Yesterday I spent an hour printing out directions for vacation. With what I spent on paper and ink I probably could have bought one of those GPS things for the car. I am very excited about the hotel that Jimmy and I chose. It is very close to all of the things that we are going to do in Houston.

I also added some new music to the blog. I found some David Cook songs that I love. I was so excited that he won American Idol. I heard him on the radio for the first time yesterday. I can't wait for his CD to come out.

I told you this post was going to be full of random thoughts!

Summer Fun

By fun I really mean children aggravating you to no end of course.

It is very difficult to be a teacher. The ten months of the year when you are teaching are emotionally draining and physically demanding. (Stop laughing at me! Until you have walked a mile in my shoes, don't judge me. I challenge each one of you to go to a school and observe, or better yet, volunteer and get a glimpse of what it is teachers do on a daily basis. And I say glimpse because what you actually see me do is just a small part of what I actually do.) And then to go from working constantly (because teaching is NOT an 8:00 - 4:00 job) to not working at all and being home 24 hours a day, seven days a week . . . well the transition isn't always so easy. Add to that two kids who are used to being in school with a scheduled day who are now at loose ends . . . it can be frustrating. I just want to be ALONE and they want to be played with! Imagine that - they want some of my time and attention. (Said sarcastically okay??)

Whoo boy . . . I sound a little . . . bitter about teaching. In truth, there is nothing else I can imagine myself doing. I really mean it.

I just had a wonderful year with great students who I really enjoyed working with. I work with great teachers - E and V I couldn't have done it without you - and a great staff and principal. I know that I make a difference in childrens' lives and that is why I do what I do. I just get a little tired every now and then!

I also love being a mom. I just wish that there was a week where the kids were in school and I had the week off.

So, what's a mom to do? Well I try to keep some sort of schedule for the kids and me. I try to find things for them to do (VBS, swimming lessons, etc) We go do simple things like go for ice cream and to the local library. That still leaves a lot of time where they need to occupy themselves. Don't get me wrong. I know a little boredom is good for kids. They need to know what to do with themselves. I just wish it was easier sometimes.

What do you do to juggle it all??