The Summer of Swimming

This summer we decided to join a pool with our friends. I love swimming and now that Wes is older I just knew she would too. So we hit the pool.

 

One problem, she would NOT leave the 2 inch deep water....it was going to be a long summer. So we decided we better try swim lessons. A few things though 1. She hated going in water deeper than a puddle 2. This chick has trust issues, you kinda have to trust someone who's throwing you in the water (and yes that does make life so much easier if you were wondering) and 3. Most people don't give swim lessons to 3 yr olds, 4 is the age they are physically more ready.

But we had to try something. Luckily our great friend Laura has an awesome sister-in-law who teaches swim lessons. The reason this is better than finding any ol' swim teacher is she has a 3 year old too! This means Wes could watch him trust his mom and watch him enjoy swimming. Plus she knew exactly what to say and do with a three year old in general! This was invaluable. Look at Wes after FOUR days with Mrs. Erin. (remember she was terrified of "deep" water days before)

Are you amazed?!?!?! We were! The pool immediately became more fun. Wesley could not be stopped, she was swimming the entire pool and wanted me to stay on the side. Now I admit she's not "swimming" because she has to wear a puddle jumper still, but hey, close enough when you're three!

The one thing she did not want to do is go under. Even with all her confidence she could not be convinced that putting her face under water, where you can't breathe, was a good idea. I can't say I totally blame her instincts, but still we needed to jump this hurdle. Well folks here we are, a month down the road from swim lessons, 60 days in the pool, 2 accidental going unders and finally in the bath she decides, and I quote "This is super awesome fun Mom"

SUMMER OF SWIMMING IS A SUCCESS!

Sewing Update

Just as a quick update, I have been sewing like crazy but....I cannot post ANYTHING, yet.

See, I have SEVEN preggo friends who are all due within two months of each other, so I have been sewing baby gifts. Onesies, lovies, hats, bibs, burp cloths oh my!

And, one of the girls is pregnant with twins which has been SO fun to sew for! Especially because she is having a boy and a girl so I got to come up with coordinating designs without being matchy matchy.

And one of the girls happens to be my best friend, whom I am co-hosting a shower for so I just can't stop coming up with ideas I have to make!

And one of the other moms-to-be is all the way in Scotland, so I really needed to get started on things for that wee lad so I could get them shipped by November!!

So you see why I haven't posted.

The showers start July 29th, and then every weekend after that until October (almost), so I will post pictures soon.

In the meantime, here's a non baby design I just finished for a friend. Happy Summer!

Look away, a post about the schools...

So with the upcoming merger and municipal schools vote and (blah blah blah) coming up, a lot of people have asked me how I feel. You people should know better. If I lose friends over this, well, it's been real.

Let's start with the obvious. Our city's children have so many more problems than the schools can address. So let me tell you why I think we are not doing what we should for these children - you know, the ones that we as teachers have signed up to serve.

1. Because of the rigorous, nationally mandated testing, teachers are having to teach so much material in so little time, they do not have time to focus on the "whole" child. Their jobs are literally on the line if these kids don't "pass the test." So heaven forbid you miss a math lesson to talk to a child one-on-one. And even if you wanted to, where are the other 25 troubled children while you do that?

2. We are not equipped emotionally (i.e. we burn out b/c of harsh conditions) to deal with these kids needs and meet them where they are. Every child has a story - EVERY. CHILD. But what do we do (can we do) with their story? Personally, I am not equipped to help every child in a tough spot.  But in the city schools you have a class of 30 kids, and every one needs you to be their mother, father, pastor, nurse and, oh yeah, teach them to read. And your heart aches for these babies. So we burn out.

So those are my obvious observations about the "failing" school system everyone is so terrified to join up with. And it's fair to be scared, by the way. I think fear is a valid emotion in all of this. But it doesn't mean we don't act.

Here are my reasons for continuing to teach in the public schools (and yes, send my baby girl to public schools next year).

I have a giant soapbox about public schools, because it is so obviously a vicious cycle - one that we have to be brave enough to break. Here's the deal - if all the "good" families pull their children out of the public schools, then all that is left are the children that have zero support, zero interest, and zero hope. 

This means that the schools and teachers feel like they are fighting a losing battle trying to educate these students, and often, they eventually burn out and give up (which I believe is happening in Memphis, to an extent). And as a parent, I get it - no one wants to let their baby be the guinea pig. It's scary. It is. 

But what if these kids were surrounded by other students that cared about school, or at least had a chance? They could see that there is more out there. There is a reason to care about school. And the teachers would have some support. The community is what fixes the schools. The people. No amount of money, given to the school board to buy computers, can fix a broken community. And make no mistake, Memphis is broken. I love it so,  I want so much more for it, but it is broken. And here's the kicker (been nice knowin' yah) - making more school systems only makes it worse.

By splintering off and dividing our assets, be them human or financial, I believe we are dooming these children. We are driving a fresh wedge between races and tax brackets. And I do not believe that is fair, nor is it what I am called for.

I think the decisions made should be based solely on the best interests of children, the ones who are innocent in all of this. Sure, the way that the merger came about was shady (at best). And there are some people involved in this initiative that were/are only looking out for themselves (not naming names). But I think the knee jerk, fear-based reaction to just build wall around your city and run away from helping all the children of Shelby County - all of them - is wrong.

There will be more school systems, and it probably won't ever be unified. I know this, and I wish them well - I really, really do. To be honest, I liked things the way they are. I like the two systems, and I like my job. But it's clear that things will not be the same in two years, and I just know I want to be were I'm called. 

And it isn't behind a wall.

Obligatory Beach Post

We hit the beach last week and it was glorious. This time we were a little nervous because Tropical Storm Debby rolled in with us, but lucky us we only got rain the first day! We all called it a 'Florida Miracle', because all signs pointed to a rained out beach trip, or worse evacuation. See, Jim Mann (Stephanie's Dad) says "Debby who?"

We got 5 straight days of sun, sand and clear water. Like I said, glorious. And it was a good thing we had 5 days, because it took 3 to convince Wee the ocean was fun. She loved the sand, but decided the ocean was too loud. Matt thought it would be a good idea to just take her out in it, that was SUPER successful....

Mommy, tried to reason with her, equally successful. In the end, just like every single thing in her world, it had to be Wesley's idea to go into the water. And once she figured out she could, with a little help from her new friend Josie (Cliff and Stephanie's niece), we couldn't get her out. 

We had to force her to take "safety breaks" once an hour to get in the shade of the canopy, eat, drink and reapply. Man did we reapply! I coated that sweet baby skin over and over, but I tell you she is still evenly brown everywhere! We covered her every hour (LITERALLY) and every once an awhile ourselves, Wesley is golden brown all over and Matt an I have some tan, some red and streaks of pale white. Oh well, at least no one was seriously sunburned, I call that a victory!

Other than spending time in the ocean we didn't do much, which was fine with me. We were there with our best friends and annual beach travelers Cliff and Stephanie, and we were fortunate enough to also get to know Stephanie's family this year, who were at the beach this week as well! So nights were spent swapping embarrassing stories and playing games. Perfect I tell you, just perfect!

City Museum:: It's not a museum

Yes, I know this is a month overdue, get off me bro, it's summer break.

The final day in Saint Louis, we hit up the infamous City Museum. It. Was. Awesome.

I'll let you in on a secret, it is not a museum, museum. It's more like a giant playground for grown ups. AH-MAAA- ZING (Californian's voice)

I am pretty sad we only spent a couple hours there. Not because we didn't do everything, but because we had to rush and I am old, I needed rest breaks in between. I can only climb, dangle, and crawl so much. Plus, I was wearing sandals. Big mistake. Huge. (name that movie).

Here a couple of bad shots. It was hard to capture much, for a few reasons. 1. It was dark 2. I was usually shaking from being too high up on a rickety structure made of "found" materials 3. No one was ever still and 4. I was busy playing!

Cliff and Stephanie climbing 

What we had just climbed through

My monkey 

Spinny wheel

Bwhahahaha

In the "museum" part

LOVE LOVE LOVE this quote, cause baby I'm a firework.

Magic by Night

Day two in St. Louis took us to the Chase Park Hotel in the Central West End neighborhood. We spent most of the day lounging by the pool and napping, which meant it was perfect. But later that afternoon we did venture out for ice cream and stumbled upon the world's largest chess piece. Pretty cool.

 After dinner we headed to the St. Louis Botanical Gardens for the Chinese Lantern Display::Art by Day, Magic by Night. And it was quite magical!

This dragon is made of china, not the country, the dishes.

See the plates?

The lanterns in water were especially magical.

For a $1 you could throw a "wish" into the Wishing Tree. I immediately saw through this scam, but Matt wanted one... 

After you "wish" you get to bang the gong, I think that was really why he wanted to buy one.

Remember these are lanterns, wire.....cloth...lights...sometimes dishes, that's all.

There were about 20 of these hidden in the bushes!

A picture to prove we were there.

The lanterns were super amazing. It was great fun, even with a migraine headache coming on, I was so glad to be there. The festival runs through the middle of August so you should check out if you are headed to Missouri anytime soon.

Meet me in St. Louis:: Part One

For Memorial Day weekend Matt and I and our good friends Cliff and Stephanie headed up to St. Louis. Our other good friend Dave and his girl Meghan live there and were gracious enough to plan a fun filled weekend for us. (Disclaimer: I am starting this post at 10:19pm so it will be unedited and rambly, but I have to get this one out)

Before we actually arrived in St. Louis we made a quick side trip to the Wal-Mart off of 55. Let me just tell you, whatever we needed it was not nearly as wonderful as this shirt.

When we arrived at Dave's house we had a drink waiting for us and an agenda. Man I love Dave.

In our packet we had tickets to a St. Louis Cardinals game, but not any tickets, 10th row behind home plate tickets! We had a great time, even though the Cards lost (which Matt enjoyed).

From there we hit up a patio, refreshed with cold drinks and got our second wind. Then we went to the best bar ever, Carson's. 

Picture this, Carson's is about 4 x 4 feet and fully lit at midnight. It also has non stop karaoke and guys who wear t-shirts with neon writing, that say things like "Hot Stuff" and "I'm Sexy" It also had an older gentlemen dressed all in black that did Ray Charles' "Tell me what I say" so well I thought he'd come back as an old white man. It was a rockin' good time. But by 1am we were all beat, we had drivin' 5 hours, sat at a hot baseball game and danced the night away so it was time for rest.

Tune in tomorrow for "Magic By Night"