A Big Day for Josiah

Yesterday was a significant day in the life of Josiah, but somehow I failed to take a single picture of him.  I did, however, take pictures of all his younger siblings.  Does that count for anything?  :)

The first exciting thing for Josiah was beginning a week of music composition lessons.  He gets all kinds of fantastic ideas musically and has spent a good bit of time arranging several pieces, but he needs a little help to pull it all together.  When I heard that a local homeschool mom was giving composition classes this summer, I figured that would be perfect for him; and sure enough, that was the one extra he wanted to do this summer.

After we dropped him off for his lesson, I took the younger kids to a nearby park; but it was too hot to really be fun (and in fact, David burned his palms on the monkey bars--not too badly, but enough to be painful), so what's a mom to do?  Knowing that we had some coupons for free ice cream at Dairy Queen through the library summer reading program convinced me that, for the remainder of our time until we picked up Josiah, we would hang out at DQ.  No one objected.  :)

 I tried to share my ice cream with Benjamin, but he was NOT interested.  That'll change.  :)

 After a little while, Tobin got creative with his ice cream and made a face.

 Then Shav made one (hard to see since his ice cream is white, but it's there)...

 ...as did Moriah...

 ...and David.

Me?  I just tried to eat my ice cream fast enough that I could help Moriah with hers before it ended up a soggy mess on the floor!  :)

And then it was time to go pick up Josiah and hear all about his lesson.  He talked pretty much the whole way to our next stop, and then came the most exciting part of the day.

For quite a long time, he has been interested in volunteering at our local library.  He LOVES books, appreciates organization, is level-headed and polite and helpful and mature, and has many, many happy memories of time spent at the library.  And so, he wanted to volunteer there.

As it turns out, you have to be 14 to be a volunteer.  Exactly four weeks after his 14th birthday, he had his first day there.  No surprise, he loved it.  :)

Twice yesterday, I dropped him off somewhere and left him there to have his own adventures, a vivid reminder to me that the apron strings connecting Josiah and I are getting worn pretty thin.  Thanks be to God, the heart strings that tie us together are stronger than ever as he grows up and becomes a man--a man that I am so very proud of!

Well, to end this post, here's a reminder that not all my little birdies are anywhere close to leaving the nest.  As I watch my firstborn stretch his wings, I'll give thanks that my lastborn is still at the stage of sitting on the couch and finding great delight in yanking on a balloon string!!  :)