Jan. 2, 2009 - Yep, Another Birthday Boy
This marks our last birthday around here for a long while. Josh is our New Year's boy. I guess we always know what we're doing on New Year's--having a birthday party!
He's our middle son, and the best way to describe him is "hands-on". He loves to tinker. He wants to take things apart and see how they work. Then he tries to put them together again. This trait of his has come in handy around the house. When the handle got stuck on the toilet, it was Josh who wanted to get in there and see "why" it was getting stuck. And to his credit, he did fix the sticking handle.
He is my child that makes me think "outside the box", especially when it comes to homeschooling. His learning style keeps me on my toes and forces me to ask myself, "What really makes up a valuable education?" I have found that answer to vary with each of my children. I know God made him a "tinkerer". And I want to encourage any gift God has given him; not kill it. There is a reason God made him to like to do things with his hands. And God knows better than I do how these gifts will be used in his future.
For his birthday, he chose to have an "Airsoft War" party. So we hauled six boys (plus 2 youngers) to our land and let them shoot it out for a few hours. We feel very blessed to have good friends and family who will spend some time with us on our special occasions.
It was so great to watch these boys enjoy the day together. Who else but a bunch of boys would call it "fun" to spend the day shooting and tackling each other?
So here's a few pictures of the "Airsoft Warriors".
I think the thing that sticks in my memory the most about this day is the laughter of these boys. They laughed heartily and genuinely. They laughed when they got tackled playing football, they laughed when they got shot with airsoft, and they laughed when the neighbor's black lab puppies wouldn't leave them alone .
Anyway, it was a wonderful day. It was a great "hands-on" day for a very "hands-on" boy. 
