10 years ago at this time, I was snuggling my firstborn son, in awe that he had been inside of me, getting used to calling him by a name, and feeling my heart swell with love and pride. I get to experience each stage of parenting with him first.
And now here he is... a big kid. No longer interested in toy cars and too tall for the Chick-fil-A playground. It was difficult to imagine during the days of building train tracks together that we'd ever do anything else, but I love the things we are able to do together now: our conversations, playing challenging games, reading chapter books together...
William is a deep thinking old soul, something people used to say about me that I didn't really understand, but I see what they meant now. He contributes contemplative thoughts about our history lessons and Bible readings. Sure, his siblings get on his nerves sometimes, but he shows great patience and maturity with them... except when he doesn't, so I admit, he is human. A very good, authentic, loveable human. He is often too hard on himself... I understand that too.
I'm proud of William's dedication to karate, and if he keeps at it he may be looking at earning his black belt within the next year. I never have to remind him to practice piano, and he has spent the last few months perfecting "Hedwig's Theme." He enjoyed playing soccer this past season, though it stretched us parents a bit having activities every night! He has also enjoyed being a Webelo scout and performing in a play. He has been busy!
And chess. It started out that I could give him pointers and had to walk him through the game, but since he fills much of his free time playing other people online and studying chess books, now I'm the one getting pointers from him. We played twice last night... and I legitimately lost both times (it was close, though!).
It is such a joy teaching these bright kids. Here, William and Vera show their models of the layers of the earth. He enjoys a good book.
William LOVES his friends. It doesn't matter if a year has passed since he has seen some of them. He doesn't forget them, and he is loyal. He also makes friends quickly and isn't shy about meeting new people. The old and the new... he loves his buddies.
(William and MaMai)
William decided to celebrate his birthday with survival/great outdoors activities. Justin, my husband, took the reigns and developed an adventurous obstacle course, edible native plant search (well, I put that one together), fire starting, and shelter building. To top it all off they played capture the flag using cleaver (sticky weed) to tag each other. It was a fun and exhausting party. Those kids should sleep well!
Nature brownies!
Justin did an awesome job setting up cargo nets and ninja ropes.
Here is William's 9-year-old interview, and below are his thoughts as a 10-year-old.
What do you want to do when you grow up?
Become a priest or monk... or a professional soccer or chess player.
What's your favorite color?
turquoise
What do you like to do?
Play chess on the computer, play minecraft or roblox, and read books.
Also soccer and karate and piano.
What do you like to eat?
Pizza, hot dogs, apple and pumpkin pie
Who is your favorite character?
I like how Notch made Minecraft.
And Mega Swampert, a Pokemon.
What's your favorite song?
Hedwig's Theme and The Birth of Mewto (a Harry Potter and pokemon song)
What's your favorite book?
Redwall series and I'm enjoying the Phantom Menace.
What's your favorite tv show?
I'm not really into tv shows so much anymore, but I'll say the Pokemon series.
What do you like most about school?
I like when our homeschool friends come to do school with us, reading, and piano
Here is William playing Hedwig's Theme:
Here is a time-lapse video of Vera, William's sister, going through the obstacle course.
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