Easter in Louisville

Spent a wonderful Easter weekend in Louisville with the family.  Good Friday is our traditional Easter egg dying night when all the kids/grandkids go to Grandma Karen's. Loved visiting with Grandma Libby and Mema Shirley.

Aunt Joyce's new puppies

Family Beach Trip

Every year we are blessed to be able to go down to Amelia Island for a family vacation during spring break with the Boston Calhouns and the grandparents. It is always a special time--not just because we are at the beach, but because my kids absolutely adore their cousins. Even Owen got into it this year, tagging along after his favorite "Becca."

We were treated to a tour of the White Oak Conversation Center, a magnificent 6500 acre wildlife preserve. Apparently it is near impossible to get a tour, but my resourceful mother-in-law scored one for us. We rode in an open-aired van (felt like we were on a mini safari tour). The most amazing part of it was seeing and feeding the giraffes. They were right next to us with only a cable separating us. Those are my favorite pictures.

The pool was a hit with much simultaneous jumping along with some beach time. Not to mention the annual adult/kid soccer game.

A family vacation wouldn't be complete without the customary family photo. We had a photographer, but we all snapped a few of our own. I am attaching some of my more favorite non-professional ones. I ended up with a ton of Ellie as she has decided she loves the camera. Every five steps, she would stop and say, "Hey, take one of me," then give her sweet five-year old pose, trying to look all grown up. 

Alas we are back in Nashville, dreaming about next year. Until then. . . . some of my favorite photos to document the trip.

OK, so this isn't the best, but it was the best we got. Hoping photographer captured a better one :)

Tribute to Nick Bibelhauser

It's been two and half weeks now since we got the stunning news that we had lost our Papa Nick. No one is truly prepared for the loss of a loved one, but in our case it was so unexpected to have left us breathless. I had gone up to Louisville the weekend before to visit Papa in the hospital with pneumonia, thinking I would do my part and take a shift or two as we tried to make sure he was never alone. Keeping him from being alone was more about not letting his stubborn self get into trouble and knowing how much he hated hospitals and doctors rather than any great fear that he was in danger.

So I got the pleasure of spending two great evenings with my papa, with the television on and him sitting up asleep, his usual position. I learned that they moved to the basement so they'd always be safe from storms and tornadoes. I had always wondered. I got to hold his hand and kiss his forehead. On Sunday, as I was preparing to leave, we set up a Meal calendar, so he'd have some good cooking when he was released on Monday.

But Monday came and went, and there he stayed. First a heart issue, then it is as though the hospital itself was staking a claim on his life. After decades of smoking and just living a hard, working man's life, his body gave up on him.

I remember that Wednesday night so well. Sherry and I had been at church for a Praise and Worship night and the song How Great is Our God was playing. Our church does a wonderful mix where it flows right into How Great Thou Art. For years, every time I have heard that song,  I have thought of my Papa. He wouldn't have wanted to be recognized and thought of as great, but he was. He was our spiritual rock and my walking Jesus. When I think of Jesus' life, his servant's heart, his loving all people regardless of sin, it reminds me of Papa and the way he loved everyone so well. The way he loved his family at Thanksgiving, but could always be counted on to leave right after dessert to go love his other family, St. Dennis AA group, because they needed him more on that Holiday night. I was floored to hear the stories at his funeral, about comments from people of how he had literally saved their lives in the 30 years he helped lead the AA group.   

I remember that Wednesday evening as the song was playing, feeling so close to Papa, and yet, feeling that something wasn't quite right. . . and then getting the call not long after I got home that he was being put on the respirator, and then before it seemed I had even hung up, that he was gone. 

In the two weeks since, I have reflected on the life he lived, cried my buckets of tears, but then began to feel a sense of joy in my heart. I remember so vividly talking to him on one of our family beach trips and his faith. I remember him saying that the best part of his week was taking communion on Sundays, taking in Christ and being clean again--starting fresh and new each week. I envision him walking through the Pearly Gates and meeting his Jesus, greeted with "Welcome, my good and faithful servant," in white robes, clean and sparkly. He'd reach out to hug my dad with a "How ya doing?" Then he'd be directed to the most emerald green garden with packs of seeds and told, "It's yours." How he would have loved that, toiling in God's garden, waiting patiently for the day when we will all reunite. 

As I spent that weekend in Louisville, visiting with Papa's family and friends, one song buzzed in my head the whole time--Great is Thy Faithfulness. It was like my mantra. I've attached it below along with some pictures.

 Great is Thy Faithfulness

 

 A devoted blood donor

 A loving, faithful husband

 Just "Dad"

Full of stories if you were one of the early risers camping.

 Papa to all the little kids and big kids alike

 This is my favorite picture. How handsome he was and full of life!

Rest in Peace my good and faithful servant

Nicholas John Bibelhauser, Sr.

September 16, 1930

February 22, 2012

Another biker in the family

Look what Ellie learned to do today. . . . . . .

Ellie had been asking to get the training wheels taken off of her bike, so with the beautiful weather we had today, we decided today was the day.  So armed with her pads and helmet, the training wheels came off. She semi-mastered it by the time we made one loop around our block. Her goal was to be able to ride "as fast and good" as her sister and dad by the end of the day so she could go riding with them. She isn't that skilled yet, but is making excellent progress. She was so proud of herself when she realized she was riding unassisted.

Learning Basketball

We signed the girls up for basketball. With a soccer fanatic in the house, soccer has been the kids' primary extracurricular sport. However, working next door to our Girls' basketball coach (who my kids absolutely adore) has prompted us to get the girls involved in basketball (with Katelyn's prompting). With zero to little experience, we decided for their first exposure to be low pressure and instructional.  We found it at the JCC. The girls attend on Sunday's, practice and learn technique for about 45 minutes and then play a 10-15 minute game against another team that is spending that same time learning.

The girls are on different teams. Ellie plays for the Heat, and Katelyn is on the Magics. They actually played each other last week, although I don't think either team scored any points. This is a very beginner league :)  But they learned a lot and seemed to enjoy it. Katelyn dominated for her team, stealing the ball and running it down the court. Now we just need to work on her accuracy in shooting.

Poor Ellie just kept saying she wasn't any good. I had to remind her that she is only five and has never played basketball before. She has high expectations for herself and expects to be perfect at everything she does on first attempt. Wonder where she gets that from. . .

Bedroom Make-over

My sweet sister took the girl up to Louisville for the weekend to visit my mom. While they were gone, we did a total bedroom make-over. We had ordered new bunk beds after Christmas, but hadn't had the time to put them together, so when Sherry offered to take them away, we took her up on it.  We also bought some new bedding. For those who have seen their room before, there was so much pink in it that it looked like a Pepto bubble gum room. Entirely way to much pink.  So in addition to our much loved date nights, we redid their room.

I also did a mini-video when they got home, but I can't get it to load.

Catching up on January

Keeping up with my blog always ends up being more difficult than I intend. The busyness of the days gets the better of me and before I know it, it is bedtime. However, I must say that I love looking back at the blog to see how my children have grown. Some people have baby books or journals, for me, the blog keeps track of my children's milestones. Although if you just go by the blog, Owen has had very few--poor third child.

So it is with a bit of sadness when I come on here to update and realize that I have missed a month or six weeks of my kids lives. So I am going to post a few pictures from the last month, if nothing else but to document that they did happen.

We had a very brief dusting of snow two weeks ago. The kids thought it was a blast and pulled Owen around on his sled in the dark. 

 We had a visit from our very own Ellie penguin--part of the traditional Penguin Day at CPA kindergarten.

 The girls asked for crystals for Christmas. No one was really sure what that meant, so they were surprised with some geodes. Notice Katelyn is wearing her safety classes as she prepares to smash hers open.

MLK weekend was made all the better by a visit from the grandparents.

The girls performed at halftime of the Girls and Boys basketball games. They were part of the masses of elementary girls coming out to support their Lions. Ellie was hesitant since was sick the first day of cheer girl camp, but she did great!

So that is a quick roundup. I will say that I miss the quiet nudging of my cousin to keep me on track and up to date. Allison, where are you????

New camera--Favorite Christmas shots

My hubby bought me a new camera for Christmas so I wouldn't get so frustrated waiting for it to reset before I took pictures. For those of you with kids, you know how nice it is to have a camera that can take back-to-back pictures pretty quickly, especially when you are trying to keep up with a two year old.

So here are some of my favorites from Christmas Break.

 Pogo Sticks from Santa

Coombs Cousins

 The annual breaking of the pinata

 Our dear Santa at Grandma Libby's

Sherry and I with Grandma Libby (91)