Soccer Season

 As you can see, soccer season has begun.  Ellie is on the Fireballs while Owen is an Avenger, a team made up primarily from his friends at CPA.  Ellie played most midfield last game because she tends to run a lot.

 Ellie bossing the field

 Owen in his preferred position - with drink on side (and his highly tolerant coach Ingle Martin)

Owen leading the horde

Katelyn is also playing this year for the tongue twisting team SSA Chelsea Harpeth 04 Girls Premier.  Hard to work a cheer in on that one....

Engrossed in books

Introducing Margaret Thatcher

I am so proud of Katelyn Calhoun. She worked her tail off getting ready for the Living History Museum. She had to read Margaret Thatcher's biography, write up a report, memorize it, create a 3-fold board, come in character, and then recite her report to anyone who came by and pushed her button.

Katelyn Calhoun aka Margaret Thatcher

Click here to see a video of her speech.

A few recent pictures

Katelyn cheering at CPA basektball game

Amy and her cherubs during Grandma Karen's recent visit

Ellie with her first basketball team

Thumb reward

Katelyn got a pedicure as a reward for over one month of no thumb sucking. Unfortunately that night she might have had a slip. The girls were giddy though. It was fun to watch.

Growing up too fast

This weekend was an eye-opener for me as I watched my girls transform from the little girls I know and love to something I can't quite identify. I think society would term it tweenhood, but for me, it was a glimpse down the road ahead, mixed in with a trek down memory lane.

For the last two years, Ellie and Katelyn have been begging to get their ears pierced. I got mine pierced at 6, so I had always thought it was a mini rite of passage. For Alan, 13 was the arbitrary date. I think he equates wearing earrings to boys, dating, womanhood. However, after much persistence from the girls (and a little from me) he caved and as an incentive for Katelyn to stop sucking her thumb, we were going to let them get their ears pierced. Try as she may, Katelyn can't seem to make it past two weeks. I think in an effort to reduce her own stress about it, she announced Friday that she was waiting until next year and going with a friend. And in an act of I'm not sure what for her sister, she decided Friday was the night for Ellie to get hers pierced as long as she got to pick the earrings out.

So on Friday night, Ellie sat bravely at Claire's and had peace earrings shot on her ears.

 Before the ear piercing

 We loved our piercing lady. She was so gentle and sweet to Ellie.

 Post ears pierced



I think Alan was right about the transformation that occurred because our next stop was to Justice to spend some Christmas gift cards. Here is where  pre-puberty seemed to cry out. First was the shopping frenzy as they each tried to maximize their money. For my family who has never been to Justice, it is a mini-heaven for the tweenyboppers. Lots of flashy neon clothes with jewels, sparkles and glitter. Not to mention the nail polish and accessories. I am thankful that Ellie still gravitated towards the stuffed animals. However, my sweet Katelyn seemed to overnight catch the One Direction flu, and I mean she got it bad. After touring the store for about an hour, all of her purchases kept coming back to the One Direction wall. We ended up leaving with two posters, a key chain, t-shirt and CD. Apparently, she loves, loves, loves Niall. Now to show my uncoolness, I didn't even know who he was. So our drive home consisted of Kiss You blaring from my car, followed by posters plastered to her wall.

I keep thinking back to my own awakening to tweenhood and my walls plastered with Teen Beat magazine pictures. Does anybody remember Cory Haim and Cory Feldman? Enough said.

So as I venture into this new phase of our lives, navigating the road to full-fledged teen, I am thankful for each moment as I get to walk through life with these two girls as they grow into the women they are meant to be. From the looks of Friday night, it promises to be a fun ride.

Some Holiday Happenings

These are a few photos from the holiday season.  Amy has been real busy recently so I'm trying to help her out.  Notice that Owen now has a Thor hammer which he uses to fight all bad guys.  If a bad guy is not available, he just attacks anybody... Katelyn and Ellie each sang for their Christmas program.  Even though they don't like Princess things anymore they do truly enjoy dressing up.  They are each pictured with girls in their class.

Happy Birthday Owen

Happy Birthday to my little man, Owen. He has grown into such a big boy over this last year. I thought I'd share a couple of pictures from his last three years. I can't wait to see what God has in store for him as he continues to grow. He is so full of spirit, determination and personality. He owns my heart when he climbs in my lap and says, "I wub you mama." Then with arms wide open, he continues with "THIS much!"

Birthday party weekend

Owen and two of his best friends all have birthdays within 9 days of one another. Sweet Audrey turned 3 on Wednesday, Wright turned three on Saturday and Owen will turn three this Friday.

Saturday morning Owen and I attended a "fishing" party at Wright's Papa's to celebrate his birthday. I captured this picture of Owen, Wright and Nicklaus playing "tackle" with Wright's daddy. They were in the stance. I can just see this picture being in the football guide their senior year.

Then today, we celebrated Owen and Audrey's birthdays with a fall party at our house.  There was lots of trampoline jumping, smores, apple hunt, pinata, balloon stomping, and pumpkin decorating. I think the kids had a great time. A special thank you to Sarah Musser for bringing her creativity to the party.

I should also mention that Ellie won her very first chess tournament game this weekend. She was beaming when she got home and told me that she got her first checkmate. She had a good weekend with a win, a loss and a couple of draws.

Halloween

First Grade Hoe Down

After working on a unit about farmers and scarecrows, the first graders had a real live Hoe Down at school. First they created and stuffed their own scarecrows, then they showed of their square dancing. On the second dancing round, they got to choose a different partner and Ellie chose Katelyn.

Click here to see a video of the Hoe Down

Fall in the Smokies

Mid-October the Calhoun clan went on a getaway to the Great Smoky Mountains to meet up with Alan's parents. It proved to be a beautiful time of year for such a trip as the leaves were changing and it was the perfect weather. We ended up in a cabin in Bryson City--home of the Great Smoky Railroad. The view from our cabin was breathtaking.

The kids wore their costumes on a train ride to Charlie Brown's Great Pumpkin Patch where they were participated in a variety of fall activities--trick or treating, bobbing for apples, hayrides, inflatable slides, smores, and old time festival games. It was a magnificent weekend and we thoroughly enjoyed the visit.  Some of the most special memories were of my girls curling up next to their grandparents to read to them. We were thoroughly entertained by the stories of Heidi Hecklebeck and the Littles.

Cross Point Child Dedication

After much unrest, we finally had Owen dedicated in church. We went back and forth between getting him baptized in Louisville where the girls were baptized and having him dedicated in our church. We finally settled on the child dedication so he can decide for himself when he is older if he wants to be baptized.

The life verse we decided on for him is

"And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him." Luke 2:40

We were asked to write a letter to Owen outlining traits we wanted to see in him when he grew up. Here are a few as they relate to this verse:  This verse speaks some of the things we pray for you as you grow up. We want you to be strong in body, but also in faith and mind. We want you to be grounded in what is right and wrong and display a wisdom with regards to the world. To me, wisdom also means having a deep love for people and knowing that if you love God and love people well, you will have a full life.

The final part of the verse is my wish that the grace of God would be upon you. That He would find favor in all you do and bless you abundantly—not with worldly possessions but with inherent joy, peace, love and an unwavering faith.  

Sherry also joined us for this special day. We were able to shower her with belated birthday love, dinner and cookie cake.

 Slide of Owen at church as they read his verse.

 There were nine kids dedicated that day. Owen was a wiggle worm the whole time. 

 Owen trying to read the new Bible they gave him.

Happy Birthday Sherry!

Bibelhauser Family reunion 2012

I took Ellie and Owen to Louisville last weekend for a family-packed weekend. Katelyn stayed home with her daddy so she could attend her first travel soccer tournament. We were blessed to spend the morning with my Grandma Libby, who was recently moved to a nursing home. It is a very nice place, but it still makes me sad to see her there. My heart is heavy thinking about her. That will have to be another post.

Our second stop was the Biblehauser reunion in Elizabethtown. It was at my cousin's working farm. They have their own pond, stocked with fish. The kids LOVED it. Together, they caught six with the help of their Grandma Karen.


Saturday night was my 20th high school reunion.. . . Enough said.

Sunday we were able to bless my cousin Liz with a Baby Shower for her upcoming little boy. It was great to spend the afternoon with the Coombs Family, including Grandma Libby.  As you can tell, when we hit Louisville, we cram in as much family as can fit. I feel so blessed to have such a large family that shows me and my kids with love.

 Country version of train ride.

 Owen and his "favrit" cousin Dylan

 Between Owen, Ellie and Grandma Karen, they caught 6 fish.

 Picture of the pond in E-Town. It was beautiful, and the kids loved it. You wouldn't even have to go camping. Everything you need is right there including the outhouse :)