Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Raising swimmers

Today was an excellent day for the Reinhart boys in swim class.  Well, it actually started yesterday, the first day of Session II.

Lewis was the only kid in his class yesterday so he had a lot of one on one time with his teacher Miss Sierra.  After class they both came walking over to me and she said "I did some testing with him today and I think he needs to move up to Level 3".  What?  OK.  Wow.  Lewis' face showed his pride and he was so excited.  As soon as we got home he had to call Paul to tell him the news.  They decided that by summer's end Lewis would be going off the diving board - a lofty goal for sure.

So today we go to class and Lewis happily joins his classmates in Level 3 and had no problem whatsoever doing what his teacher asked of him.  At the end of the class I see they're all walking to the deep end?  They line up at the diving board?  And for the first time ever Lewis went off the diving board!  It was great!  I was so nervous for him - I thought he may not want to do it and would be embarrassed but he went right to the end and straight off with absolutely no hesitation.  What a big boy!  He did it twice and the second time he actually ran and jumped off - so brave.

Still basking in parental pride I see William walking over so I get his towel and wrap him up.  He said "Mom, I swam in the big pool".  I say "yes baby, you sure did"  thinking he had a typical day with Miss Sarah.  But then Miss Sarah came over and asked him "William, do you want to show your Mom?"  He said "Yes" so she got in the pool, he sat on the edge, eased in and SWAM TO MISS SARAH!!!  Sorry for shouting but wow!  And then she turned him around and he swam back to the side!  Amazing.  For William the hurdle has been getting over his fear of the size and depth of the big pool and today he conquered his fears and swam.  Also a big brave boy. 

Needless to say we had to call Paul right away and tell him the big news, we're all so happy with the rate of advancement we've seen in the boys - we're definitely getting our money's worth.  Did I say that already?

The weather here is still really, really hot so we spend the worst part of the day inside doing school.  William is having fun with his preschool progam I downloaded from another homeschooling mom and Lewis is enjoying a new challenge in Math.  I found a great program called Math U See that he really seems to connect with.  It's a visual/manipulative based program that keeps him interested.  We're still waiting on the blocks to arrive to use it full force but I think it's going to be a keeper.

I'm entering into week 3 of my Bible in 90 Days challenge and so far I'm right on schedule.  The OT is difficult, I'm not going to lie.  After reading a book I look back and think - what was the purpose of that?  The good stories seem to be lost in many, many details making reading slow going.  I know God had a purpose for putting all of that in there, I'm certainly not questioning his reasoning behind all of this and I know there's something to be learned from it all.

Paul is going on a trip to Germany on Wednesday, returning on Friday.  We still have nothing concrete on Bahrain and probably won't until October.  We're hoping for orders in September but I won't hold my breath.  When it all happens it will be fast and furious - as usual.