Ten for Ten

It's official: Josiah is...

He's left the single digits behind forever, the thought of which made him a little nostalgic the day before his birthday.  But he got over it and was SO excited for this birthday...and rightfully so.  Turning 10 is a big one!

Since I wrote a sentimental post last week about Josiah, I decided to do this birthday post a little differently - a little more matter-of-factly.  This post will be a series of 10s.  And the first 10 is a list of significant moments from his life...maybe not significant in any big, obvious, splashy way, but for some reason, significant to me.

I remember...

1. nursing him in his room in our Calla Avenue apartment in Imperial Beach, California...the room was lovingly decorated as we had prepared for the arrival of our firstborn, and it was such a peaceful place to me...I remember sitting in the rocking chair with only a lamp on and nursing him during the night...it was so cozy...so wonderful

2. eating strawberry ice cream at Ben & Jerry's on the Tayelet (walkway along the beach) in Tel Aviv...a bite for him, a bite for me...just me and my boy, savoring life

3. pushing him on the swings in the Tel Aviv park that we often walked to...he got so much joy from those swings and would sit contentedly for a very long time while I pushed him...he even fell asleep in those swings a time or two

4. playing games with him, particularly card games like Uno, Skip-Bo, and Phase 10, but also games like Aggravation and Risk...he has always been a big fan of games, and I remember how, especially right around the time of Tobin's birth, Josiah and I would often play a game together first thing in the morning...we would be sitting on the couch, I might be nursing Tobin, and we'd have Phase 10 or another game spread out between us...I love to have fun with him

5. the day he almost drowned (the story is here, here, and here)...it still remains quite possibly the single most terrifying moment of my life

6. the wonderful way he's welcomed all his younger siblings...each time I've been pregnant, he's seemed to really enjoy having a new little one on the way; and he's been unfailingly tender and loving towards the babies that have come along behind him...I think having four younger siblings is helping to prepare him for fatherhood someday  :)

7. his tenderness towards me...for example, bringing me his teddy bear to sleep with one time when I was sick (a number of years ago!)...another example - lagging behind to walk with me at the Christmas tree farm one year when I was heavily pregnant with Tobin and could only walk up and down the hills at a snail's pace; his decision to be with me, rather than zoom ahead to be in on all the action with Jeff, made me feel loved

8. watching him glow as he talked to Chuck Black, the author of Josiah's favorite series of books, at the homeschool convention last year and this year...I'm sure Josiah was a little nervous about being in the presence of someone whom he holds in such high regard; but Josiah conducted himself well, with friendliness and confidence, and I was so proud of him

9. similarly, watching him perform with the SVCC fills me with great pride, too, and I cherish the memories of seeing Josiah on stage in that "famous" plaid vest and bow tie

10. in my early morning quiet times (particularly the first three months of this year when I was focusing so much on my goal of "arising" - but at other times, too, when I've been faithful about getting up early to have time with God), having Josiah come downstairs, too, and cuddle on the couch with me and read his Bible or another book...Josiah tends to be an earlier riser than some of his siblings, and those times in the morning with just him and me awake are special to me

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The next set of 10 is simply 10 pictures I love from when Josiah was quite young.

1. I decided to include this first one, not because the photo quality is great because it's not, but because I think this picture of Josiah as a baby looks a lot like Moriah now!  :)

2. Josiah and I on the beautiful island of Cyprus.

3. Our little family of three at the Sea of Galilee.  (We definitely used that Snugli A LOT when Josiah was little, and we're still using that same one these days for his little sister.)  :)

4. Another family picture, this time in the shephelah of Israel.

5. Josiah on the soft alpaca rug in our apartment in Israel.

6. Isn't he a cutie pie with his little tummy sticking out and his look-at-me! grin on his face?  :)

7. At the pyramids in Egypt.

8. Swinging with Daddy at a seaside park in Tel Aviv.

9. Silly boy.  I don't think he was really talking on the phone to anyone in this picture, but he sure liked to pretend.  :)

10. In our apartment in Tel Aviv, with his bedroom visible behind him.

Seeing all these pictures reminds me of what a great little world traveler he was in the first few years of his life.  We actually had to get more pages added to his passport because all the original pages were filled up with various stamps from all the countries we had visited!

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I asked Josiah what his 10 favorite foods are, and this is the list he came up with after much thought and discussion.  :)

1. canned mandarin oranges
2. turtles (which he chose to be his birthday "cake" this year)  :)
3. home-canned peaches
4. white rice
5. nectarines
6. spaghetti/noodles with butter and parmesan cheese
7. brownies
8. grits with butter and salt
9. grape pie
10. home-canned cherries

It's obvious that he loves fruit and carbs!  :)

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I also asked Josiah what are 10 places that he would love to visit - either places he's been before or places he's never gotten a chance to visit yet.  Interestingly, all of his choices were places he's already been.  If I were making such a list for myself, I'd probably say things like Ireland, Tahiti, Italy, Alaska, etc. - all places that I've never been to.  But he was a little more realistic than I would have been.  :)

1. California (to visit family there)
2. a swimming pool (especially the Leichty's pool)
3. Pennsylvania (to visit family there)
4. A Dream Come True park (a local park)
5. Purcell Park (another local park)
6. Disneyland
7. SVCC concerts
8. Kings Dominion
9. Massanutten Waterpark (which we were so blessed to be able to go to this year on his birthday!)
10. home (awww, how sweet that he loves being at home!)  :)

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I had one last question for him, and this was a tough one for him to narrow down.  What are his 10 favorite books?  It took him a while to answer this; and even after he came up with these titles, he reminded me that there are many other books that he loves, too!  Of course.  I know just how he feels.  :)

1. Sir Quinlan and the Swords of Valor by Chuck Black (part of The Knights of Arrethtrae series)
2. The Pearls of Lutra by Brian Jacques (part of the Redwall series)
3. Sir Bentley and Holbrook Court by Chuck Black
4. The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien
5. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
6. The Young Carthaginian by G.A. Henty
7. The Lost Prince by Frances Hodgson Burnett
8. The Whirlwind by Bill Myers
9. Mystery of the Whale Tattoo by Franklin Dixon (Hardy Boys #47)
10. Kingdom's Reign by Chuck Black (part of The Kingdom series)

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Another set of 10, this one being pictures from his birthday on Wednesday.  :)

1. opening his card from Grandma Fisher (with a $30 check inside!)  :)

2. opening his gift from Grandpa and Grandma Huffman (a $25 gift certificate to Walmart which he wants to use to buy another Star Wars LEGO set, and a book about Abraham Lincoln by Aileen Fisher)   :)

3. one of his gifts from us (his first Erector set)

4. looking at his card from us (a musical Star Wars card with Anakin waving a light saber on the front) - I love how all his brothers are always crowding in and trying to see what's going on, too  :)

5. one thing Josiah asked for was a larger board for making things with perler beads, so we got him that

6. and we got him another set of perler beads, too - he and David and even Tobin have been really enjoying making things with these beads during the past few days

7. even though they're really beneath his reading level, we gave him six books from the Adventures in Odyssey: The Imagination Station series - books 2-7, to be exact...interestingly, now that I look back at his pictures from last year's celebration, I realize that the book I couldn't identify at first is actually the first book in the series...now a year later, we gave him six more; and he (and David, too!) have devoured them in the past two days...they both love them!...we also gave Josiah another set of books, The Peleg Chronicles by Matthew Christian Harding, and he's nearly done with that series, too...he's done a lot of reading in the past two days  :)

8. kindly letting Tobin look at the books  :)

9. one thing that made this birthday so special for Josiah was the fact that we got to go to Massanutten Waterpark on his big day...it "just so happened" that his birthday landed on a Wednesday, Jeff's day off from work...and it "just so happened" that our library and the waterpark teamed up to give free passes to all the kids that signed up for the summer reading program, and those free passes were valid for this past week...and it "just so happened" that Jeff was able to get free passes for himself and me through a friend...so we were able to go, our whole family, for free!

10. the boys were SO excited...well, we all were!...and we had a really super time there...it was a GREAT way to celebrate Josiah's birthday!

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Lastly, here are 10 blog posts from years past that make me smile - and sometimes laugh - when I read about what Josiah did or said.  I know there's no way I would remember all these things without a blog.  This, in a nutshell, is why I blog.   :)

1. First Day of School

2. Uncherished Moments (and a follow-up post)

3. Mom

4. The Way They Lived

5. He'll Be a Great Dad...

6. TTT - Your Mother's Flowers

7. TTT - Josiah's Mispronunciations

8. TTT - Women, Eggs, Mammals, Oh My!

9. TTT - Christians in the Bible?

10. The Funniest Thing I Heard All Day...

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Ah, my dearly loved Josiah!  There's no one like him, and I thank God continually for choosing our family to be Josiah's.  He is a gift!

Welcome to the world of double digits, my son!  Welcome to being 10!!!!!!!!!!  :)