The Garden School Tattler

Monday was an exciting day at the pool. I've been going round and round with Abby about taking the swim test. She's avoided me all summer, but on Monday I coaxed her over to the deep end and had her jump to me. She was a little reluctant, but when Faith did it, she tried it out and loved it. As I moved back and created a bigger and bigger distance between the edge of the pool and me, Abby kept jumping and kept swimming until I caught her and smiled and said, "Guess what? You passed your swim test. You can go anywhere you want in the pool." She was so excited her smile just added about 100,000 candle watt hours to the natural lighting.

She was prouder than a peacock to return after lunch to the pool as a "swimmer," and she didn't hesitate to jump right into the deep end and swim back to the wall. I wouldn't be surprised to see her flinging herself off the board soon.

Caleb passed his test as well, and that makes 18 swimmers. We are sooooo delighted. We have some real young guys like Bilbo and Jay, and a few kids still timid, but nearly every child is dunking and loving it.

Today was a school day and we were more or less trapped indoors by the weather, but the kids made the most of it. They've been in the mood for building, and we've had all kinds of really interesting structures pop up around the school.

E and I have condemned the dress up area and are determined to make some new dress up clothes. If you have any fabric you don't want of questionable taste and even more questionable compatibility, we'd love to have it. The pattern is a long piece folded over, stitched, and a ribbon run through the casing and sewn in the middle so it won't come out. This way the children can make skirts, dresses, and capes.

Kids should get to be early on Thursday. We leave for St. Louis at 7:30.