Custom Home Page Issues

I am trying to create a HP that includes a jQuery slider under the header, and a few custom fields below that.

The issue that I am facing is this: I am trying to create a column that shows a “Top 10” list. The “Top 10” list will only show the top 5 snippets from the top 10 page.

I guess what I was wondering was, what would be the best way to create the “Top 10” page, and then what would be the best way to pull only the top 5 items with small picture into this area of my Home Page?

I don’t want to hard code it in, because this information will change relatively regularly.

I am new to WP and don’t fully understand how the category/page relationship works.

Any help that someone could provide would be great…and don’t be afraid to explain it to me like you would a 5-year-old. I feel like I need a simple explanation at this point…I am way over-thinking this…

Thnaks!