J-Crab

It's been a big couple of weeks for Joshua-- or JCrab, as his friends call him.  He has finished his first lacrosse team and started a travel team after his first time "trying out" for a team.

He went on a 3 day field trip to a 4-H camp with Matt and the whole 5th grade, where they did things like make candles, climb ropes, play group games, and sing silly songs.  

He loved it and it wore him out!  

But no rest for the weary because Matt and Joshua had a trip to Chicago planned for that next day.  They got up at 4am and headed to the Windy City, where they watched two Cubs games, ate a lot of good food, and saw a bit of the city.  

Today, Joshua (and Gray) were able to participate in the "mile run showdown" at school.  A dozen or so of the fastest boys and girls in previous miles this school year get to have one more go at it and both boys made it.  I felt emotional as they got ready to run, just remembering my fears of Joshua's Perthes Disease becoming debilitating for him as we sadly watched him miss out on running around and playing sports.  Yet we made it through and that was not to be his story...at least not so far.  He can run and do the things he wants to do.  So thankful!  Thank goodness I didn't see his sweet teacher from last year during the run, as she told me she was crying tears of joy at seeing him able to do this race after sitting out all last year!!

Both boys got a bit slower than their time in the Spring and finished at the end of the group.  Many of Joshua's closest friends (see pic below) are super speedy, and though he has started to try to minimize his risk by not going all in when his confidence is unsteady, he has always been pretty competitive and it couldn't feel good to see them zoom past.  But both boys were all good by the time I saw them after school.  I did find myself thinking, not for the first time, how much we celebrate athletics in our culture and what it might look like to have the school screaming and cheering for kids excelling in other types of competitions too.  What is it about sports that gets us so worked up?!

Joshua continues to adore Allie and he's really good with her too.  He has a natural way of understanding and getting along with people (when he wants to!) and knows how to play with her and respond to her in a way that she likes.  

And speaking of his people skills, I have to record this so one day we can look back on his thoughtfulness and share it with his wife.  It's a sweet card for his teacher.  He's had a great year and I encouraged him to write down a specific memory or thing he has appreciated about her.  I found this on the table later:

Yes, his teacher is known for being quite enthusiastic in volume.  Apparently it's much appreciated by her students.  I guess I should have known that Joshua's not one to get sentimental about anyone but his immediate family...and even that is getting reduced more or less to just Allie as he's withdrawing into that in between little boy and teenager stage.  Just a few more weeks of elementary school for this guy.  I think middle school is going to go great for him, and probably life in general, being that he's mature, kind, and pretty good at most things he tries.  He's kind of hesitant about making decisions for himself, though he usually makes good ones, but once he gets a little more confidence, there's no stopping him!  Soon he will finish his communion class and join the church also.  He is committed to following Jesus and I'm excited to watch his faith grow.

Well finally, I must close with this--another gem of a school picture.  Joshua pulled it out of his folder last night and exclaimed, "These are horrible!!"  We all 6 (though of course Allie didn't really get it) had several good laughs over reading aloud the quote that came printed below and studying all the ways that this photo falls short of the ideal portrait.  :)  For me, there is nothing quite like the hilarity of my kids' school pictures.  Never gets old.