Swimming Lessons

Our Brenna girl LOVES to swim! Last summer we chose to skip most activities and spend almost all our time hanging out learning to be a family of seven. The ONLY thing Brenna complained about was missing swimming! So this summer I am doing my very best to get her A LOT of time in the pool!

Although Brenna is NOT a morning person, she hops right out of bed with a smile in order to get to 9AM swimming lessons!

I think the diving board is her very favorite! She mastered diving this week, but still prefers to CANNONBALL. She adds a little "battle cry" for extra drama.

And how do I keep Joshua occupied during swimming lessons? We bring his "bag of tricks" every where we go!

I jokingly say that Joshua is spending his whole summer either in his car seat or sitting on the bleachers! Here is an example of his typical day this week:

7:15 Drive Krissy to school

8:30 Leave for swimming lessons (Brenna), and basketball camp drop off (Jamison)

9:00 Watch Brenna swim

9:45 Leave the pool and run errands or return home

11:45 Pick up Jamison from basketball camp

12:30 Pick up Krissy from school

lunch, nap, play time, supper

5:30 leave for VBS

8:45 home fro VBS

9:30 in bed!

It is a little more chaotic than the school year to say the least! He is handling it pretty well, but momma is TIRED! Trying to keep up with my job, housework, laundry, and squeeze in a workout, in addition to the kids' activities has been challenging! But... I would rather be TIRED than miss out on all the fun! I love to watch my kids do the things they love!

No pokes!!!

We just got back from the clinic and Sierra's foot is improving! We did not have to get it poked and drained! I am very relieved this afternoon, because as of 10 AM Sierra's foot was looking pretty yucky! I was very concerned. We are thanking GOD for this improvement!

We did return home with a pair of crutches, which Sierra thought sounded fun... until she tried them! She was shocked at how HARD they are!

I am so very thankful that the infection is improving. Please continue to pray for healing! Sierra asked me if I was going to blog about her foot. I told her I already had. She smiled and said, "They must be praying for me because my foot was NOT better this morning and now it is!" Thanks for praying for my girl!

Poor Sierra!

Sierra got an owie over the weekend. She jumped off a swing onto a garden tool. The garden tool punctured her foot. (as in she had to pull it out, ick!)

She is incredible brave!

Although her puncture wound did not need stitches, and looks clean on the outside, it is infected on the inside. We were in yesterday and will be back again today. Please pray that the antibiotics kick in like crazy so she does not have to have it lanced and drained.

VBS

Joshua has been so excited to go to Vacation Bible School! Thus far he has been "too little" to go to "meetings" at church. (In actuality, we used the time on Wednesday evenings when all the older kids were at church as some super-duper bonding time with daddy.)

Sunday evening was the beginning of VBS. He was pumped... until we got there and everything looked different than usual! Then he climbed up me, heart racing! Luckily we had arrived really early and he had time to watch the musicians practice and get used to the changes that had taken place in the building.

I am his small group leader and the evening began something like this...

He was sticking pretty close!

I am not sure what he was expecting, but half-way through one listening activity he stage whispered, "Mommy meetings are BORING!" I just had to giggle! Taking turns, sitting still, and listening to stories can be pretty boring for a 3 year old!

Do not be fooled however, because my Gubs is having a ton of fun at VBS!

He is so thrilled to make projects with Debbie!

This one is hanging by his bed.

Sierra has been my small group helper. When Joshua (or any of the children) are feeling hesitant, she is there to hang with them.

Another favorite for Joshua is game time.

Last night they had a relay race. Each child was challenged to walked across the lawn in flippers and a inner tube. Little Mr. Joshua was determined to try this race out!

Look at him go!

I can not explain the joy it brings to my heart to see the same little guy who could not walk up and down stairs a year ago successfully do a "flipper relay!"

It is so AWESOME!

Joshua is still too uncertain to leave my hip during the fun, kid-style worship - BUT he is brave enough to go talk his big buddies in the band! Last night they let him try out a "rock-star" microphone on for size! He liked it... can't you tell!

Bald Hair

Joshua woke up at 6:30 this morning. He was almost immediately alert. Sometime during the night he had come up with a plan, and he was READY to implement it! It was a plan that shocked both Chad and I. Joshua woke up this morning wishing for "bald hair!"

Yes, you can laugh! We did. Especially because having "bald hair" has been one of his fears! He has thrown an absolute FIT any time daddy offers to cut his hair because he has been sure daddy will make him have "bald hair." It has become a standing joke between daddy and Joshua. Daddy asks if he can cut Joshua's hair, then Joshua runs away with his hands covering his hair. He yells over his shoulder, "Daddy no cut Joshua hair! Joshua no I like bald hair! Only mommy cut you Joshua's hair!"

So when he was DETERMINED to have "bald hair" we were both very unsure. However, he INSISTED. So at about 6:40 AM, I was clipping Joshua's curls!

Here is a peak at the new do!

Joshua was disappointed when I was done. He wanted to have hair "just like daddy's." He tried to get me to shave it to skin so he would be truly bald, but momma vetoed that idea! (Cutting off all his curls was hard enough for this curl-loving momma! Truly bald was NOT happening!)

Joshua has become his daddy's shadow! It is so fun! Last Saturday morning he climbed in bed with daddy while I was working out, snuggled in, and went back to sleep! This was HUGE! Joshua loves to be in our bed, but normally will only snuggle with mommy. Even when I put him in-between Chad and myself, he has made sure he is only curled up into mommy. So going to sleep with daddy was a BIG milestone!

He has also begged to ride in daddy's truck with daddy, not with mommy several times this week!

In play, he works - just like daddy - all the time. His favorite thing to play this week was "sandy bagging." He would haul invisible sandbags on his biggest truck and trailer and then help me unload them. I, for one, was really glad that this week's sandbags were pretend!

Daddy and Joshua in their "at working hats."

(Notice Joshua's little hand gripping daddy in a cheek hug? Aaaaaahhhhh!)

"Sunny Burns?"

Sunday was a beautiful 80+ degree day, so we took the boat out for a cruise after church. While preparing to expose our glowingly white skin to the sun for the first time this spring, I doused ALL my kids in sunscreen. Joshua had forgotten about sunscreen. He asked, "Why you put lotion on me?"

One of the kids quickly responded, "So you don't get a sunburn... um, Mom? Can Joshua get a sunburn?"

Joshua yelled, "No! Joshua no I like sunny burn! Joshua no havie one!"

And thus began another opportunity to talk about skin color!

I explained that Joshua's dark brown skin will not turn red and sore from the sun like the rest of our family's skin will, but that it is still important to protect his skin from skin cancer.

Krissy, who is most interested in a tan, told Joshua over and over how lucky he is to have such pretty skin that will not burn!

He was proud, but he was also totally confused! In typical Joshua fashion, he asked lots of questions! Why Krissy skin get red and sore from the sun? Why Joshua no havie whitie skin? Why sunny burn hurt? Joshua, I love it mommy whitie skin. Mommy, I love it Joshua brown tummy? Joshua needie sunscreen on my hand. My hand not very brown. Joshua no I want my hand sunny burn!

A few days later we were reading a book before bedtime. It was the story of Jesus' birth. The wise men were drawn as dark skinned men with beards. Joshua pointed to them and asked, "Why they all dirty?" I responded that they were not dirty, but they had brown skin. Joshua gave me a HUGE grin and replied, "They lucky like me! No get a sunny burn!"

I appreciate these "starter" conversations about race. I am glad for his preschool sensibility! I do not look forward to the harder ones.

Some claim that race does not matter. I disagree. While the color of your skin has nothing to do with your intelligence, abilities, or worth - it is central to how one sees them self and how others see you. After all, it is the first thing you notice about someone. And like it or not, there are still a lot of unfair and untrue preconceptions that come with race. Those preconceptions are not something I have ever experienced first hand. I have no idea what it feels like to be the minority in the room. Living in the upper midwest, I have never been the minority... not once.

I DO get concerned about how to prepare our son to be a black man. Right now when we enter a room all eyes go to him, and they are loving! He is so cute, and as (usually) the only black child in the room he is quickly noticed... in a very positive way! I wonder if this will always be the case? As he grows will people become less enthralled and more suspicious? (Some of you gasp and say that does not happen any more... but are you sure? Are you equally comfortable when followed into a dark parking lot by a black teenager, a white one, and/or a Native American teen? I think if many of us are honest, we may be more guarded with some than others.)

Racial prejudices do exist, and I want to prepare him for whatever may come! I never want to ignore his differences, instead I want to help him see how wonderfully he was made. I want him to be proud of who he is. I want him to be secure and confident.

I have the exact same dreams for Joshua Gubs as I have for my older kids. I do not mean to say that because he is Ethiopian he will have self-esteem troubles. That is not my belief at all - each of us have things about us that are "different." These "differences" can easily create self-esteem hurdles. I clearly remember jumping a few! But I am also sure that the "taboo" topic of race will need to be discussed, freely, openly, and often in our home. I pray for much wisdom (and a sense of humor... some things just need to be laughed at!) in these discussions. I also pray for an African American man to enter our son's life to love him and mentor him in the moments his glowingly white parents just don't get it.

Forgotten Treasures

When shelf in our closet broke, I was annoyed. All my unorganized and nearly forgotten treasures spilled all over the floor. I did not have any interest in taking the time to sort through the mess... at first. It did not take long, though, before I had lost all track of time as I sorted through the many treasures I have tucked away.

I am far from a pack-rat. I tend to throw things faster than my family wishes. But cards, letters, and drawings get tucked away. I treasure handwritten notes. I have notes that Chad folded and tucked under the windshield wiper of my 1990? Geo Metro in 1992! I have Birthday cards, Mother's day cards, Thank you cards, Thinking of You cards, and I am Praying for You notes carefully saved. Each one was saved because it touched my heart in some special way.

So what started as a pain in the rear, ended in a few tears and a lot of special memories! It also made me realize that I need to send fewer emails and text messages, choosing to invest a few minutes and send a handwritten message instead!

If you have taken the time to send me a "hug in an envelope" THANK YOU! I treasure your words!