Spring Fling

Over Vanessa's spring break we flung in a bunch of randomness and deliberateness: play dates with friends, snow squalls, pizza, SuperGames, COSI, Dad's surprise half-day off to spend at Churck E Cheese . . . PJs, crafts, small group, treats, and "family" (as Vanessa would say) food and movie parties. The kids had a few little squabbles but got along extremely well. It wasn't till Friday that Vanessa wanted a few moments alone, to make bracelets in her room. So thankful we can spend these times together . . .

Spring Shoot

(Vanessa is surfing and Zane is playing the guitar on the shirt under his button up.)

I aim to grab photos of the kids in the spring since the time also marks half year for both.  Pretty soon both will be too old to bother and we'll be lucky to get nice photos for birthdays. This year we were waiting till consistently warmer temps but finally caved to do it on a whim this past week. Other than Zane being extra tired, we grabbed some great photos. That evening I uploaded them and organized them only to have Zane spill water on my laptop a few hours later. Ugh. . . . But at least the computer lasted me 5 years and through some intensive work contracts, so I didn't panic. Now I just have to do things at a much slower pace -- perhaps a test to slow down.

Spring Break With Skar

Yay! He's crossing the bridge we made!

 She carries him through the house like he's an accessory . . .

James T Gibson

In 1981, after another severe stroke, my great grandfather (William Osba Gibson; 91 years old) decided he wanted to assign his Bibles to his only great grandchildren. He attempted to hand write a note in each but his writing was very difficult to read, so Auntie sat by him to transcribe on a separate piece of paper, to also keep for her thorough documentation. It was soon after his passing that Auntie, my great aunt Helen presented each of us with the Bibles.

His thinking was that he wanted to give the youngest great grandchild his oldest Bible and then he continued the pattern in gifting the rest of his Bibles for my brothers. The Bible I was gifted was his father's, James T Gibson's. Its copyrighted 1907 and it was noted in the Bible that my great, great grandmother Sarah E. Sovine Gibson purchased the Bible from a Jef Roberts in 1908 as a gift for her husband.

James T Gibson passed in 1923. (Here's his family picture with him as the patriarch, in a post from August 2010.) My great grandfather's mother, Sarah then gave the Bible to him on June 8, 1927. He took amazing care of it. When he gifted it to me, the binding was somewhat broken and you could see it hanging on by threads, literally. I treasured the Bible and have taken pretty good care of it. Upon opening it around 2000, the top cover broke off, but I keep the pieces together, torn as to what I should do to preserve it. Until the last couple of years, before pulling it out of a keepsake cabinet that belonged to my grandfather Gerald Lumbard to place on our mantle, I resisted opening it, hoping to keep it safe.

It's funny how the meaning of the gift has transformed and developed over my years. W.O. Gibson's notes to me have different meaning to me than they did when I was 6 or so.

To me:

"To Vicky, This was your great great grandfather Gibson's bible. Please accept this as a guide for your life."

This was the same great grandfather that would play tricks on me by distracting me and then placing money in trinkets and furniture of mine, to discover later. I found $10 in a trinket box once. Another time I found $20 in a top drawer of my chest of drawers. I was able to track the $10 back to him but never ever able to prove the other surprises from him. Some would consider the money the most awesome gifts passed on, and perhaps I would have if I considered it at a younger age, but can I tell you that having his father's Bible has proven to be the most valued gift I received from him, beyond his unconditional love. I hope he knows that.

Here are his notes to my brothers and the Bibles he passed on to them.

"To Jeff, This was given to me by your grandmother Evelyn Lumbard in 1980. I hope this bible will mean as much to you as it has to me."

"To Danny, I have completely worn out 3 bibles and the Bible has been a great help to me all thru my life."

"To Philip, I hope you will cherish and live by it as much as I have."

Fancy Nancy Clancy

A couple of weeks ago Vanessa was to dress as a storybook character. She really wanted to dress as Meg from Magic Tree House but we don't see many illustrations of Meg and the ones we do, she looks pretty average, so I asked Vanessa if she wanted to explain herself all day and she said no. Vanessa went through a very brief Fancy Nancy phase when she was a preschooler and since has read a couple of Nancy Clancy Super Sleuth chapter books, and so it was somewhat easy to convince her to go as Nancy.

Although her hair is full of curls, we opted to pin curl her hair to get big and full curls. We then clipped and pinned with her fancy hair clips. Most recognized her dress up immediately. As soon as she walked in her music class, Mrs. Rittberger identified her first thing. Mrs. Rittberger even emailed me at home wondering if I would consider taking Vanessa to CCT performance of Nancy Fancy. Vanessa loves music class and Mrs. R, and often teaches Zane all the things she learns.

After school that day, Vanessa came home anxious to super sleuth an idea Grandma shared -- color ice balls. The kids loved ripping off the balloons and then as they melted a tad, the kids grew extra excited by the unintentional rainbow they created on the porch.  We then moved the balls to the snow to watch over the course of a couple of days. It was fun to see the color each left in the snow too.