Extra, Extra, Read All about It!

Every summer, I try to find the perfect balance of constructive activities and free time.  I want our summers to include scheduled times of learning, as well as lots of time to simply have fun.  That balance is not always easy to achieve, and I freely admit to erring on one side or the other quite often.  And even when I think I have a pretty good plan, God has a way of stepping in and rearranging the schedule.  He's good at that, you know.  ;-)

This particular week turned out to be one of the busiest of the summer.  Besides normal life, which is full in a household of seven people, we had two extras thrown into this week.  One was Vacation Bible School for the three oldest boys each evening, and the other was Musikgarten classes for Tobin and Shav each morning.

When Josiah was young, he got to take some Musikgarten classes...and then David came along and had his turn...I've been waiting for the time to be right for Tobin and Shav to do it...and this week was it.  With them only 18 months apart in age, they could be in the same class, which was extra special for me.  I had a ball doing this with my "little" boys!  (I'll mention here that one day this week, I had to take Moriah along with me, so I prepped Tobin and Shav that I would probably not be able to participate in all the activities because I would have to care for her if she got fussy.  But as it turned out, the mother of one of the other boys in the class asked if she could please get Moriah out of her carseat and hold her.  This boy's father was there, too, and he participated some with the child, so the mother was sort of an "extra."  She held Moriah for quite a while, and I kept asking her, "Do you want me to take her now?  Are your arms tired?"  She always answered no.  When she had to leave to go check on her other child in another class, she handed Moriah off to her husband; and he actually held her until she fell asleep.  As it turned out, I was able to participate in the whole class with my boys after all.  Kind acts - no matter how small - give such pleasantness to life and are so appreciated!)

This first picture is fuzzy, but it holds a happy memory for me because it proves I was actually there.  ;-)

I'm so grateful that all of my boys have gotten to have Miss Christy as their teacher.  The best thing about her is that she really cares about her students.

Wouldn't you know, her students really care about her, too.  ;-)

I Was Looking for Something Else...

...but when I came across these videos of Josiah on Jeff's external hard drive, I couldn't resist pausing to watch them...and now to share them.  These were all filmed in our apartment in Israel.  I don't know how old Josiah was in this first little video clip of him walking with shaky steps...

...but this next video of him saying his first memory verse was taken on April 1, 2005, when he was two years old.  At the end he says, "Now pa-pa-pa," which meant that he had done everything he needed to do before bed and now would be allowed to have his pacifier (we let him sleep with it until he turned three).  I had completely forgotten that "pa-pa-pa" was his word for pacifier.

This next video was from the following night - April 2, 2005.  His nightly ritual was to do this countdown before he ran into his room to go to bed.

On May 11, 2005, Jeff took Josiah to a shopping mall (Dizengoff Center) that was fairly close to our apartment in Tel Aviv and let him ride on this motorcycle.  With such a small apartment and such a hot country, we discovered the entertainment benefits of an air-conditioned mall with room for a toddler to run and explore the play area and sometimes even get a special ride on this.  :)

On June 9, 2005, four days before Josiah turned three, Jeff filmed this little conversation with him.  "Mi Ohev Otah Yoter Mimeni" was a popular Israeli love song at the time; it basically means "Who Loves You More Than Me."  If we had stayed in Israel, it would have been so much fun to watch as Josiah became fluent in Hebrew.  Maybe someday...  :)

Lastly, Josiah singing the ABC song on July 13, 2005, when he was 3 years and 1 month exactly.  This was about 2 and a half weeks before we left Israel.

These videos put such a smile on my face...and, honestly, a touch of sadness in my heart.  I miss that sweet two- and three-year-old Josiah.  But even more, I LOVE the sweet ten-year-old Josiah who's sleeping under my roof tonight!

Wordless Wednesday {Even Her Eyelashes Are Precious}

A Funny Thing Happened in the Living Room

This morning, Moriah and I were the first ones downstairs...or so I thought.  After I carried her down the steps, I gently laid her in the playpen because I needed to use my hands to finish preparing for our day-trip to Pennsylvania today for a family reunion.  The rest of the house was quiet with everyone still asleep, and I was looking forward to getting a lot done without interruptions.

And then, I heard breathing.

What???  The sound was unmistakable.  Someone was in my living room breathing audibly.  But who???

And then I found him.  See?

A little hand was my first clue, visible under this sheet that I'd thrown over the couches yesterday after I'd pushed them together so the little ones could have a "tent."

I peeked down and discovered...

...Tobin, fast asleep.  I shouldn't have been surprised though.  This boy has proven time and time again that he can sleep anywhere, in all kinds of positions, in all kinds of surroundings.  This "tent" is actually one of the cozier spots he's picked through the years.

Sweet Tobin Bear.  :)

From My Kitchen Window...

...I recently spotted something precious.

 On a hot summer day...

 ...Tobin and Shav were enjoying the shade of an English walnut tree while watching their daddy work on a project.

 When lunchtime rolled around, I couldn't stand to call them in...

 ...so I spread an old tablecloth on the grass, carried their plates of food outside, and let them have a picnic.

They had fun watching their daddy, and I had fun watching them...

...all from my kitchen window.

What Stood Out to Me {at the 2012 HEAV Convention}

Two weeks have passed since our homeschool convention; but before any more time slips away, I want to be sure to jot down some things that made this particular convention stand out in my mind.  Every homeschool convention we've ever been to has been refreshing, inspiring, challenging, thought-provoking, affirming, and all-around wonderful.  But this year, these are some of the things I noticed.

~ The worst part of the whole weekend occurred right at the beginning.  After a pleasant, uneventful trip to Richmond, we arrived in the city and started looking for a parking place.  We could not find one.  It was our first year taking the Big White Van, and we discovered that, as wonderful as that ol' beast of a van is, it was NOT made for city parking.  We drove around and around for at least an hour, and...well...I shudder as I remember the frustration of it all.  To make matters worse, several of us in the vehicle had to go to the bathroom so bad that we were probably envying those who were fortunate enough to be wearing diapers.  ;-)  Finally, in desperation, Jeff yanked the antenna off the roof of the van, then cautiously drove into a low-ceilinged parking garage and drove up many levels to find a spot on the top level.  Whew!  After that, the rest of the weekend was great!  :)

~ We got to meet up with a friend on Friday and have a picnic lunch with her.  Since we live on opposite sides of the state, we rarely get to see each other in person, so it was a special treat to have that time together.  :)

~ There was one major item I was hoping to buy at the Used Curriculum Sale; but after looking around for a while, I concluded that it just wasn't there and I was so disappointed about it.  But then I happened to bump into Jolanthe from Homeschool Creations, and she pointed me to a table in another part of the room and said, "Have you checked there?"  Well, no, as a matter of fact, I hadn't.  Lo and behold, much to my delight, I found what I was looking for - thanks to Jolanthe.  :)

~ I noticed a lot of dancing at the convention this year. ;-)  It wasn't line dancing or Irish dancing or anything like that.  No, this was a peculiar kind of mommy dance that women did at the back of conference rooms to keep their babies quiet and help them go to sleep or stay asleep.  :)  Many of these mommies were wearing their babies in some way, and often they were using movement of some sort to comfort the little ones.  Some of these "dances" were mostly bouncing lightly up and down, some involved twirling from side to side, but each of these women had their own unique variation of The Mommy Dance.  I suppose I noticed them a lot this year because I was one of them, too - holding Moriah and "dancing" with her to keep her quiet and content while speakers were talking.  :)

~ Speaking of wearing babies, this year I noticed every imaginable type of sling/snugli/wrap; and lots of parents had a wrap and a stroller, just like we did.  It's like when you buy a Honda Accord, and suddenly you see Honda Accords EVERYWHERE.  This year, I saw wraps (and the wrap/stroller combo) everywhere.  I was so glad to have the stroller: sometimes Moriah was content in it, sometimes Shav or even Tobin took a turn in it, and sometimes we just used it to haul our stuff.  

~ Before the homeschool convention last year, we ordered a rolling cart to use to carry purchases.  We had seen so many other people using those carts and realized what a great help that would be.  Unfortunately, we didn't order it early enough; and it didn't come in time for us to take it to the convention.  Ironically, it was delivered to our home the day the convention started, but we were long gone by the time it arrived here.  Bummer.  During this past year, I've put it to good use, however, especially during trips to the library, so the money we spent on it wasn't wasted.  This year I made sure to pack it in the van to take to the convention; but ironically, we didn't use it once there.  We actually left it in the van and just used the stroller to transport the items we bought there.  Maybe one of these years we'll actually use it at the convention!!  :)

~ In previous years, the convention center was freezing.  An absolute icebox.  This year, despite the hot temperatures outside, I wanted to be prepared so I dressed rather warmly and made sure the boys had long pants instead of shorts, etc.; but for some reason, it didn't seem nearly as cold this time.  I wonder if enough people mentioned it and the convention center decided to raise their thermostat a little bit.  Or maybe it just felt warmer to me.

~ Once again, Josiah got to meet and talk with Chuck Black (his favorite author in the whole world) who, like always, was very warm and friendly in their conversation.  That was the best part of the whole convention for Josiah.  :)

~ Since we took all the children with us, Jeff and I took turns caring for Tobin and Shav.  Josiah and David were old enough to be in the children's program, and they enjoyed those activities very much.  But Tobin and  Shav aren't old enough for that yet, so Jeff and I got to entertain them.  Actually, Jeff did the lion's share of that; he graciously let me go to basically any workshop I wanted, and he kept the younger boys.  They did lots of walking through the exhibit hall, sitting out in the wide hallway, playing with paper airplanes he made, etc.  I really appreciated his help in this way.

~ On Saturday, it just so happened that I was having a turn caring for Tobin, Shav, and Moriah while Jeff was in a session.  We planned it so that I would go through the little cafeteria there and get our lunch before the session was over and the crowd gathered, then Jeff would pick up Josiah and David from their program and we would all eat together.  It was a good plan, and it all worked out, but it definitely wasn't the easiest thing in the world to juggle my three youngest children, a stroller, a tray of food, money to pay with, etc.  Thankfully, a woman in the seating area hopped up and came over to offer her assistance in getting the food, the kids, and the stroller over to a table.  As it turns out, she is a mother of triplets (who are teens now), so she could relate to how I was feeling.  :)  I was reminded again of how meaningful even small acts of kindness can be.

~ One of the most special things about this particular convention was the place we stayed.  Since we're now a family of seven, we've sort of outgrown a regular hotel room.  (That's not to say that we haven't squeezed into one from time to time...)  But for this, Jeff searched for something a little better...and needless to say, he found something a whole lot better!  He looked on a site called airbnb, and found a guest house in the countryside outside Richmond, and the setting and hosts were wonderful.  I don't want to tell you much more about it because I'm really hoping no one else discovers this particular place and rents it for next year's convention before we reserve it.  ;-)  But if you're interested in it for any other time of the year, I'll gladly tell you more about it.  :)  Anyway, we loved it!  So much better (for us) than being in a hotel.  On Friday evening, we went for a walk through the beautiful countryside.  Josiah decided to jog part of the time...

I'm quite fond of this picture of Jeff with all of his children (Moriah is in the Snugli on his chest).

Little legs were getting tired, so I turned back with the three youngest ones, and Jeff continued on with Josiah and David until they got to this lake.  (Josiah and David are blurry, but at least you can see the water!)  :)

There was a pond right behind the guesthouse, and I took these pictures of Jeff and Josiah when they strolled onto the dock the next morning before we headed back to Richmond for the second day of the convention.

That night Jeff and Josiah had fun playing dominoes.

The other boys ran around, playing hide & seek and chase and "let's fight the bad guys" and other loud, rambunctious activities.  I was so glad we weren't in a hotel room.  :)  Meanwhile, I celebrated Moriah's two-month birthday by taking some pictures of her.  Of course.  :)

We had taken a small, portable bed for Moriah; and we ended up putting it in a large, walk-in closet in our room so she could have some peace and quiet.  She must have liked it, because she ended up sleeping through the night for the first time while she was there--from about 11:20 PM to 6:20 AM--7 hours straight!!!  In fact, both of those nights, she slept through the night (8 hours straight the second night).  It kind of made me laugh, because I had prepared her official two-month blog post before we left for the convention; and I had scheduled it to post on June 9, which it did.  In that post, I wrote that she hadn't slept through the night yet; but in actuality, she had just accomplished that feat on June 8 - and repeated it on June 9!  I had no way of correcting that blog post however, since I was disconnected from the internet during our trip.  But I was so happy that she very peacefully followed in the footsteps of her older brothers and started sleeping through the night at about (or, in her case, exactly) two months of age.  :)  I will add that since we've been home, she hasn't slept through the night every single night; but the majority of nights she has, and I'm more than happy with that.  :)

Sunday morning, David got some snuggle time with his little sister.

He sure loves that little girlie.  :)

On Sunday, we took the scenic route, following route 33 all the way home.  And that was the end of our convention trip.  :)


I loved this experience so much that I'm already looking forward to next year!  The convention always seems to land right after our anniversary and right before Josiah's birthday, so I think that, as long as we're able, we'll make attending the convention a merry family tradition to celebrate both major events that occur so close to it.  It may not be the most romantic way to spend an anniversary...it's not Italy, not a cruise to the Bahamas, nothing exotic.  But it sure is special.  


Because we're away from home.  Because we're together.  Because we're making memories.  Because we're a family!

A Funny Thing Happened in a Labor & Delivery Room

My friend Amanda came over this afternoon with her children Nolan and Kristen.  She is pregnant with her third child and is currently six days past her due date; and by inviting her, I was hoping to bless her with some cheerful distraction during these days of nearly-interminable waiting.  Turns out I was the one who was blessed.  Besides the joy of her companionship, I also benefited from her willing hands to help me take the seeds out of three gallons of sour cherries I got this morning and prepare them for the freezer.  I really didn't invite her so that she could help me do my work!  ;-)  But "many hands make light work"; and between her hands and Josiah's (who was competing with Amanda to see who could fill the most pints) and David's (who seemed to put more cherries in his tummy than into his container, prompting Josiah to say, "It's like Blueberries for Sal, except it's Cherries for David!") and Nolan's (for a little bit) and Tobin's (for an even shorter amount of time) and mine, we finished a job that would have taken me so much longer if I had been attempting the task alone.  It wouldn't have been nearly as much fun to do it by myself either.  :)

While we worked, we talked, of course; and in the course of our conversation, Amanda told me this story.  A true story, by the way.  :)

There is a nurse who works in our local hospital, as does Amanda.  That nurse happens to be pregnant, too, with a due date very close to Amanda's.  She (the other nurse, not Amanda) had found out that she was pregnant with a girl; and they had chosen a name for their daughter.  Only problem was, the lady's mother, who is also a nurse in that hospital, hated the name...until one day when she was working in labor and delivery and assisted in the birth of a baby girl, born to a family that the nurse really became fond of.  The baby girl was given the name that the new granddaughter would be given, and suddenly the grandmother had a change of heart and realized that she actually liked that name a lot after all!  :)

Maybe you've guessed already, but the name of both baby girls is Moriah, and the grandmother in the story who was initially so resistant to that name was Arlene, the wonderful nurse we had and whom I wrote about here!  :)

Isn't it so encouraging to realize that on that Monday morning back in April when we walked into the hospital and were assigned to a particular nurse, not only was God blessing us by letting us have her sweet presence with us during labor and delivery, but God was also using that encounter in that hospital room to change her mind about her new granddaughter's name?  I'm honored to have been a tiny part of that, and so grateful that Arlene's daughter happened to tell Amanda about this and Amanda told me.  So often, I KNOW God is working, but I don't SEE His hand.  In this case, I caught a glimpse of what He was doing, and it brings delight to my soul.

Mutual blessings.  Amanda and I in our time together this afternoon.  Arlene and I in that labor and delivery room.  How good God is to arrange such encounters!  What a joy to be a part of them!

Wordless Wednesday {Tobin & Shav at the Piano}

The First Man to Whistle at Her

Almost every evening after supper, my dad reaches for Moriah so my hands are freed up to either finish eating my own dinner or else get started with cleaning up the kitchen.  He usually sits in the rocking chair, holds her on his lap so she can see him, and then starts whistling to her.  Oh, not at all in a wolf-whistle kind of way.  No, this grandpa whistles songs--all kinds of songs--to his littlest granddaughter:  hymns, children's songs, anything that comes to mind.  And Moriah loves it.  If she's a little fussy as she sometimes is in the evenings, his whistling seems to distract her from whatever was making her uncomfortable.  It's a wonderful thing.  And the best part?  Moriah will always know that the first man who whistled at her was not some random guy on the street, not a classmate or coworker, not that sort of admirer.

The first man to whistle at her was...

...her grandpa.  ;-)

Does Josiah Have a Future in Advertising?

Just for fun, Josiah was trying to make a commercial today for a theoretical new product he's "developing":  Quick Flash Ninja Stars.  In the process, I think he discovered that it's not as easy as it looks to record a successful commercial.  ;-)

Take 1...

He said Omunga Stars instead of Ninja Stars.  Oops.

Take 2...

Just generally frustrated.

Take 3... (my personal favorite--the one that made Josiah and David and I roll on the floor in laughter when we watched the video)...

"Oh, forget it!" - I love it.  ;-)

Take 4...

Finally!  A more-or-less successful one!

It's been a while since I laughed until I cried; but thanks to Josiah's early attempts at breaking into the field of advertising, I got my chance today.  ;-)

This Is the Life

I'm not sure who's got it better:  David, who gets to read an exciting book while lying on the couch and having his baby sister cuddled on his chest...

...or Moriah, who's so content with where she's snuggling that she's actually smiling in her sleep?

Looks like a win-win situation to me!  :)

I'm so grateful that these lazy summer days are including a lot of such moments.  Indeed, this is the life...

...because this is LOVE!

Two Fine Men, and the Ultimate Father

In honor of the two fine men whom I am privileged to celebrate on Father's Day, here is a memory connected with each of them.  First, Jeff's...

My most memorable Father's Day occurred 10 years ago, when Josiah was just three days old.  At the time, we were living in San Diego, serving a congregation in Imperial Beach; and Jeff had the fun task of preaching on Father's Day.  Fresh from the newness of becoming a father for the first time, his enthusiasm was uncontainable, and it joyfully spilled forth into the sermon he preached that day.  Somewhere we have a recording of that sermon - on a cassette tape, I believe.  Someday I'll find it and listen to it again...and smile at the memories.  But I don't need a cassette tape to remind me of what happened the night before.  Jeff was in the room of our home that he used as his office, finishing up his preparations for his sermon for the next day.  The topic he had chosen was The Apple of My Eye, and he happened to stumble across The Cuppycake Song online.

He told me about it and let me listen to it, and I bawled like a...well...baby as the enormity of my love for my firstborn son swelled up and overflowed.  Although I'd heard plenty about the love of a parent for a child, nothing could have prepared me adequately for my own experience with it; it overwhelmed me in the best possible way.  It overwhelmed Jeff, too, and his sermon on that oh-so-special Father's Day reflected that passionately.  It was an amazing day; and that song, by the way, became the lullaby that I crooned to Josiah for years to come...and still do, every once in a while.  :)

Second, for my dad...

This incident did not happen on Father's Day, but I share it anyway because it stands out in my memory as an example of the love I've received from my dad.  It happened one year in February when I was very sick and had a high fever.  Apparently we didn't have the best kind of medicine here at home for me, so Dad took a trip into town to go to a pharmacy and pick up some for me.  When he returned, not only did he have the medicine, he also had a heart-shaped box of chocolates for me.  This was highly unusual for him - in fact, the only time I ever remember him doing this for me.  Although he demonstrated his love in many ways, fancy boxes of chocolates weren't high on the list.  ;-)  But the uniqueness of that gift impressed me so much that I saved that box for years (it didn't take me that long to eat the chocolates however). ;-)  And obviously, I still remember it as a special expression of my dad's constant, caring love for me.

Two more things I want to share on this special day.  This song which never fails to touch my heart...

...and this picture of Moriah being held by Jeff this evening.

Safe in Daddy's arms.  Is there any better place to be?

And to think that we can all make the choice to run to our Daddy's arms!!

Recipe Box - Favorite Squash Casserole

Those of you who garden know how it is: what starts out as one or two small, innocent-looking squash plants turns into a monstrous squash-producing machine that spits out several new squash per day, it seems.  Being determined to not waste food, you eagerly set to the task of eating all that squash; but after a few days go by, you're scratching your head, trying to think of another way to fix it because, frankly, you're tired of the same old way of eating it.  Before too much more time goes by, you realize that you will not be able to eat all the squash your plants are producing, so you begin to look for friends and neighbors to whom you can give the excess.  If no other squash producers have gotten to them first, they might be genuinely happy to receive your surplus at first; but before long, your squash is piling up in their refrigerator, and the next time you see them and inquire as to whether they could use some more squash, they quickly reply with a "oh, no thanks, we really don't need any more right now."  If you're persuasive, you might be able to turn their "no thanks" into a "well, I guess we could use a few more," as their voices trail off weakly and they look away, hoping to avoid any future contact with you until squash season is over!  ;-)

If you ever find yourself in such a predicament, here is the answer to all your problems!  Or, at the very least, a new way to consume a few more of those abundant squash.  :)  

This is my absolute favorite squash casserole recipe; and, as I told someone recently, "you can hardly taste the squash in it!"  "Most good squash recipes are that way," he said dryly.  Hmmm, guess he wasn't much of a squash fan.  :)

This comes from my favorite cookbook, Esther Shank's Mennonite Country-Style Recipes & Kitchen Secrets; and she calls it "Baked Zucchini Squash."  I simply call it "Favorite Squash Casserole."  And on a personal note, years ago, I made a note in the margin beside this recipe; it says, "Donna says this is good!"  I'm grateful that I made that note because I love remembering that my sister was the first to recommend this recipe to me.

Here's what you need:

6 cups raw, cubed zucchini squash (although good ol' yellow squash would work fine, too)
1/2 cup chopped onions
7 oz. package seasoned stuffing (reserve half)
1 10-ounce can cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
1 cup grated carrots
1 and 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup melted butter

Here's what you do:

Cook squash and onions in a small amount of water for 5 minutes, then drain.  Meanwhile, pour half the stuffing into a greased 2-quart casserole dish.  Next, combine cream of chicken soup, sour cream, grated carrots, and salt; then mix with squash.  Pour that mixture on the stuffing in the casserole dish.  Mix remaining stuffing with melted butter, then sprinkle over the top.  Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until done.
Yield: 6-8 servings

I made this for our supper last evening and enjoyed it so much that I finished off the rest of it for lunch today. Right now I wish I had more of it.  It's a good thing I still have some squash in the refrigerator.  ;-)

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

**********

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!!!!!!!!!!  :)