VBS round 2

So, some weirdness happened, and I ended up teaching a second VBS this week - Monday through Friday.  At the mega church here.  We had 3000 Tuesday, and the numbers go up a little each day.

Here's Eric in the tent in my room.  I am teaching 2nd graders.

There is a theme each day.  Wednesday's theme was crazy hair.

Eric and his buddy Bradley.  

Think I'll keep him, even with the crazy hair. 

Today was twin day.  His buddy Bradley dressed like him, even down to the glasses and red hair.  How cute is that?

Summer swim

June is only halfway over, but we are finished with summer swim team.  How crazy is that!  This season has been interesting.  It has not been my favorite in some ways, but has been so good in others.

Eric has made several friends on the team.  He has really bonded especially with Austin.

Austin just turned 12 a couple of weeks ago.  Eric is quite a bit smaller than most of the boys he swam with/against.  

Today was the awards ceremony.  All the kids got this trophy and a nice t-shirt.  

And then this happened.  

Eric got MVP in the 11-12 year old boys.  He earned the most points over the season for the team.  

I tell you, I would sit through a million crazy practices and a thousand long meets for this moment.  He was so excited and felt so proud.  

He told me the other day, "I love swimming!"

I have to tell you fella, I love YOU!  And I love to watch you swim.  

VBS round 1

We finished up our first VBS last night.  It was at our church and ran 4 nights - Sunday through Wednesday.  I am worn out.  Our church is a little drive from the house, so we add about two hours each time we go.  It made for some long nights.  But, the kids had a great time!  Eric chose to be a helper.  So he rotated with a group of boys that are a few years younger than he is.  I was in one of the rooms that they rotated into.

I was very proud of Eric and his desire to serve.  One teen and one other kid his age worked.  The rest of them had a class and then some very fun play time.  The teen was the co-teacher in my room, and he was amazing.

Here are a couple of pictures of Travis and me.  Travis has a twin sister named Tracy as well.  He did a great job!  

Eric also worked very hard all week, doing whatever was asked of him.  He is a such a great kid! 

At the end of the first night the game truck was still there.  This is what the teens and other kids his age had done for the last half of VBS that evening.  So Eric was able to get on and play for a while.  

Here's Eric with the crew leader, Mr. Kim, and a couple of the boys from his red group.  

The final night in our room.  Eric is in the front with his back to us. 

I loved Mr. Terry when I was a teenager.  He taught my choir class at Harding one summer.  I think it was Uplift.  It has been fun seeing him again.  He leads singing at our church once a month and comes back for special occasions, like VBS.  

We were studying Thailand, so the children removed their shoes before entering each classroom.  My feet were definitely tired of walking around barefoot inside.  

He was a super helper!  Love that kid!

Gladiolas

Robert brought me some Gladiolas tonight.  It was a wonderful surprise after a couple of weeks of craziness.  We used to live in the middle of a gladiola farm at our first apartment in Jonesboro.

We also have Dexter here for the rest of the week.  He is going to help Eric build a rocket.  Thanks, Nana and Poppy for buying the rocket.  Eric is very excited about it.  

Second Swim Meet

I know.  I still owe you a post on the first one of the summer.  But, I am determined to just keep moving forward with my blog.  If I get time to go back, great.

We had our second swim meet of the summer last night.  I made a video of Eric's leg of the 200 medley relay.  In this relay, each swimmer swims a 50 of a different stroke.  In the two meets so far, Eric has done backstroke.  He is the best at it, and it is best to use your swimmers where they are strongest.  Back starts first, since you can't dive with it.

He did great again last night.  The coach chooses his events, so he just swims what she tells him to.   He swam in the 100 Free. He got 3rd place in that with a time of 1:24.06

This was his first time swimming the 100 free, so this is his best time.  :) 

Then he swam the 200 medley relay.  His leg is in the video above.  His team took 1st in that one.  Usually in that relay it is just your team vs the other team; no other swimmers.  

His third swim was the 100 IM.  He got 1:32.34, which is faster than his previous best time of 1:34.97.  He got first place by 1.01 second.  Whew!  

His fourth swim was the 50 back.  He got a time of 43.25.  Not his best time, but still got first place. 

Last was the 200 Freestyle Relay.  He was the anchor again (last swimmer).  Each of the four swimmers did a 50 free.  He helped his team win first place in this as well.  

So proud of our super swimmer!