Underwater

My husband is a photography nut. He always has his camera with him taking pictures of anything that looks creatively appealing.. buildings, animals, fauna, or people. He even takes pictures of himself driving..if you can image that. (Just check out his flicker account). He also reads photography magazines, listens to photography podcasts and keeps up with the latest cameras and their accessories. He even has some photography 'buddies' at church and most of the time, they talk about their cameras.

One area photographers may not have ventured into is taking pictures 'underwater'. My husband bought a waterproof camera just to do just that. So whenever we go to anyone's house for a pool party.. that camera goes with him.

It is an interesting view from underwater.. one that I've never experienced because 1) I can't swim so to have me hold my breath underwater is a definite no-no. and 2) I can't see without my glasses so everything is blurry anyway.

I've been told that it's not that easy to stay still underwater much less stay in one position as if one was out of the water. All in all, it's a neat viewpoint as a non-swimmer to see what goes on under the water.

The happy five-some all relaxed and posed!

What a change when they go underwater!

But it does look very relaxing doesn't it?

I must say you can't do that pose out of the water.

I wonder how deep he had to get to get this picture. He must have strong lung muscles to hold his breath for that long.

This is what happens when you're in the water 4+ hours.

Now what do you do if you weren't in the water? Pick lemons!

Thank you Michelle for picking all those lemons for us! I didn't know that you had to get that high to do it though. Heights are another thing I do not do.. but that's for another time.

Lessons

Summer started awhile ago with many days of heat (finally fixed our AC so that it fully works), a crazy one-day rainstorm a few weeks ago, some sun again and now .. overcast chilly days?!? What's happening?  It's either really hot or really cold! What a crazy summer it has been!

The girls finished their first and second sessions of swimming where Emily has graduated from taking lessons (after the 1st session). She was in the Advanced level and just needed to learn the butterfly stroke and the kick turn technique.

Emily 'jumping' off the diving board!

I've been told she has a nice form when she dives (like here) and she has a smooth splash-free freestyle stroke. See Hannah on the far right learning to dive at knee level first.

 Hannah has been promoted to Intermediate Level 4 where she will learn to perfect her strokes (that'll be next summer). I am so impressed with her quick advancement. She advanced two levels in one summer! (It took Emily two sessions to pass one level each summer.) During the 2nd session, I was surprised that she wanted to do something alone without her sister but she really is coming along in her independence. I guess her therapy sessions are working.

Hannah's free-style..when she comes up for air she always spits out water.. and her teacher commented that she is always smiling even underwater..

Hannah 'walking' off the diving board

Hannah also started piano lessons from our former CCS worship leader/music teacher, Mrs. Aimee. She is wonderful, very patient and has a great rapport with children. She is also extremely talented and a I love love love to hear her sing. She also gives flute and voice lessons and is always looking for new students. So if you're interested give me a ring.

 

Both girls are putting lessons to practice by going to the aqua park once a week. We got season passes so they can go swimming more frequently. It's been fun for them because I've been taking some of Emily's classmates to join in the fun. It's been nice break for their friends since both of their parents work full time and they would just be in summer school.

If you ever get to go to the aqua park in my neighborhood, check out one of the dining tables designed  by my wonderful gardener, Michelle! She did a beautiful job!

Other than swimming we've been taking day trips with my sister and her boys which is always fun and exciting. Sometimes my husband is able to join us which is a plus. Details of those excursions will be on separate posts.

Ahhh...Life Has Started ...AGAIN...2010

As I was rereading this post that was written last June I realized that I did not reflect on how God brought me through this year of teaching full-time and that it was a true blessing through the mist of very hard work. I can understand now when someone shares about having true peace and joy when they are going through tough times. It is God who gives us the peace. No one nor no thing can give us that in our hearts. 

I do believe that it had to have been me to teach this class last year because of the challenges that I was faced with: I had to create, foster and maintain stability with parents in regards to the many changes that had happened to their children at the beginning of the year and this was the first year that all of the 3rd grade students were together in one large class, the largest class in the school that year. My familiarity with the students and their parents definitely helped me become accepted so quickly. I received a tremendous amount of support and help from not only the staff but from the parents also. I could not have done my job effectively without their support and generosity. I  have grown to love these kids as if they were my own and since they were also Emily's friends that was very easy to do. The parents have also become treasured friends. To have a parent-friend teach your child can be a difficult transition to make but they were all very gracious and kind. 

Teaching my own daughter was not as hard as I thought it would be. I made sure that she did not receive any additional 'help' from me since it would not be fair to her classmates. My husband took on the responsibility of helping Emily with her homework and studying for her tests. Not only did he help Emily, but he also helped Hannah since I was so overwhelmed with work. How much work? Well, I had 28 students x an average 6 assignments per day per student.. so you do the math on how much I had to correct and prepare for. Plus I had some very involved parents in which communication between parent and teacher was key to them helping their child be as successful as possible. 

Lastly, I was able to build some precious friendships with the staff. If you don't get along with your co-workers, going to work can be very very hard. They really came along side me and helped me 'keep my head above the water' when I felt like drowning. 

In other aspects of my life, my co-bible study leader took the reins and lead the study even when I came without doing my homework and was utterly exhausted from the workday; and my women's retreat committee ran like clock-work with everyone doing their respected duties without any help nor reminder from me. My dear husband cooked most of the meals, cleaned the house and took care of the kids when I was 'working'. I even had four worker-Yees that came to my classroom every Sunday after church to prep the class for Monday morning. Yes, God was good and took care of everything. 

I had the great opportunity to continue to teach this year part-time as a substitute at CCS thus giving me the chance to continue teaching my former students. I was kept very busy subbing for grades Kinder through Fourth. And since I know how the school runs, it became very natural for me to step right back in and do what I love doing.. teaching.. but part-time.. for now.

Written on June 22, 2010

It is Tuesday, June 22.. the 2nd day of summer and I am starting LIFE again... LIFE meaning.. getting to all the 'stuff' that has been backlogged in the house since I started to work full-time in November. It was an exhausting non-stop work for 9 months but it was extremely rewarding and God definitely wanted me there.

This past weekend I put away all my teaching materials back into the garage; returned everything that I had borrowed (BIG thank you to my sister-in-law); ironed all of mine and my husband's clothes that had been piling up since who had time to iron?!?; wrote all my thank you letters to my students for their gifts; filed a huge stack of mail/papers in the "To Be Filed" box; read 5 magazines cover to cover; vacuumed the whole house; sorted through the 1000+ pictures to print to scrapbook for our 2009 family album and even cooked dinner last night!  What a difference NO job makes! We even squeezed in a 'fun' outing on Saturday night to the Chabot Space and Science Center (with one of Emily's classmates/my former student's family) to look through their telescopes.. we saw the moon and Venus but that's about it.. too foggy and very cold!

Summer has started with swimming for the girls (Hannah in Level 1- see her on her back float and Emily in Level 4- see her jumping off the diving board) and gardening for me!!

Well not me.. "I" did not physically do it ..but my very efficient gardener, Michelle, who by the way drove herself to my house now since she has her driver's license. She even brought her little sister to come play with Emily. I did go buy the plants and soil and told her what needed to be done. 

After 5 hours of her hard working labor... she transformed my over grown weedy-yucky backyard into a neat and organic garden. After weeding for 2 hrs on Saturday, she planted bush green beans (the plant on the ground and beans in the circle planters);

... pumpkin and rosemary in the rectangular planter; and annuals in the front yard today.

The only thing left from last year that is still growing are my green onions and broccoli! I can't believe my broccoli started sprouting just now! It's been a whole year!! Did not know it takes that long for broccoli to grow!!

Hope your summer is starting out grand!!