Wow, Wow, Wow!!!

A big day today!! Today, when I picked Calvin and Max up from school, Calvin was waiting at the gate to tell me that I needed to go upstairs and talk to his teacher.... Uh oh.... I didn't know what that meant and since he is the only one whose grades we haven't received yet, I was nervous! Of course, it was only good news!! Calvin's teacher could not say enough good things about him and although she spoke only in French, I could certainly understand "superior", "excellent", "super", "mature".... etc, etc. She then proceeded to tell me that she thinks he should skip 4th grade next year and move right into 5th. His French is excellent and she has already been giving him the end of the year 4th grade assignments which he has been able to complete without difficulty! Wow!!!! This is a kid that couldn't speak a word of the language when school started only 9 months ago!! Wow, wow, wow!! (French people always say things 3 times when they are trying to make a point) We are so proud, we could just burst! Calvin is thrilled and the timing is perfect as he will be changing schools to one closer to our home in the fall anyway so he isn't leaving any friends behind or having any of that awkwardness. His current teacher is excited to call his new school and tell them about how great he is. He just turned 9 so he would be a young 4th grader but will be a very young 5th grader. We will re-evaluate all of this when we return to the States and have to determine his grade level there.
I had another funny experience today.... After going out to lunch with my friends, Sabine and Valerie. We all walked to the community center so that I could sign up all 3 boys for basketball. Calvin and Quincy played in Sene this year since we had started there while living in our old house. But, for next year, we want them to play in Vannes so practices and games will be within walking distance. When we told the Vannes basketball club about this, we were told that Sene would have to give us written permission to leave their basketball club to join the one in Vannes! When I told the secretary that we had informed our coaches of our move, she told me that they did not have the authority to grant us permission, that it must come from the basketball club president! Apparently, since Vannes is so close to Sene and yet so much bigger, Sene often loses players to Vannes and they have become rather protective of their club. She was very nice and eager to have us in their club though and said that she would get this permission and that we could go ahead and sign up in Vannes today. I don't know if she was so nice and eager to help because of the fact that she was about 4 1/2 feet tall as were the two friends I was with so that I appeared to be towering over everyone! Maybe it was the suspected family height that appealed to her! After we left, Sabine told me that the Vannes basketball club president has asked to meet Josh. Apparently, his height reputation has already proceeded him! Crazy.....