Shiny Happy People

I had every intention of updating my little blog quite often.  Really, I did.  Then my old dinosaur of a computer started rebelling.  As in, it wouldn't let me sign in to update my own dang blog.  Or leave comments on other blogs.  Blogspot took a hit out on me and I couldn't do anything but hide out...until my new baby arrived.  New baby?  Huh?  Well, Pete the FedEx man delivered an anniversary present from my sweetie last week in the form of a shiny new laptop!

Not bad for 21 years of wedded bliss, huh?  We laugh because for the last four anniversaries, we've celebrated by sitting in the bleachers of various high school gymnasiums, eating popcorn and Tootsie-Pops, watching our first-born play volleyball.  This year went something like this:

Ferry ride to South Whidbey:  $21.60

Admission to Volleyball match:  $10.00

Dinner (Cup O' Noodles from snack bar):  $1.00

Sitting with my honey watching our kid play volleyball on our anniversary:  PRICELESS.

We've been busy in these parts with work and volleyball and bowling, so it took a day or two to unpack the 'puter and get her all set up and I'm still learning the in's and out's of working on a laptop, but wowza...it's pretty cool.  I feel like such a grown-up now.  {{ If I could just figure out why my nice big text just got all small...what did I hit?  Gahhhh!! }}   Sorry, I need to turn off my internal dialogue...

Okay, so what's been going on?

So, today is my Daddy's birthday!  Happy Birthday Daddy!  Yes, I'm 46 and he's 78 and I still call him Daddy.  =)  I just got off the phone with Josie Grandma and Grampa after wishing him a Happy Birthday.  It's raining where they are (in hot, dry Arizona) and I had to chuckle because it's pretty darn gorgeous here in the stereotypically rainy Pacific Northwest.  Regardless of the weather, I am glad to report that all is well with the Josies.  =)

It's been a lovely day, starting off with coffee with my dear friend Diana.  Can I just say I love my Tuesday mornings with Diana?  Then it was off to the bowling alley for my weekly league.  I threw a 183, 126 (oops!) and a 201.  Good stuff!  Then I got a message from a friend telling me that Hayley made the Everett Herald today!  She was selected as their Prep Athlete of the Week for Volleyball!!  Cool beans!

 She's having an awesome season this year and having a blast doing it.

Last Thursday night, she broke the school record for Kills in a game.  She landed 22.  Sa-weet!

None of it is possible without a great team...and this is it.  The Dream Team.  It's a good year to be a Cougar.  Football, Girls Soccer and Volleyball  are all doing so much better than anyone ever expected (well, we did, but our opponents didn't!) and they're all quite the talk of the town!  Go Cougs!

By the way, that is Brian in the back row, right side in the team photo.  He is one of the team managers for the 2nd year in a row.  He and his bud Nick take stats, set up all the video equipment, run errands and basically do whatever the coaches or girls ask of them.  Good men!! 

Then there's this little bit of joy...

Our Girl has a Boy.  His name is Luke and Hayley's not the only one that likes him.  We think he's pretty neat, too.  He adores our girl, treats her well, they go to church together and he's there to cheer at all of her games.  And he seems to like Dano's cooking, so there's that!  =)

 

And so with that, I'm off to another Volleyball match.  We're only halfway through the season...thankfully!  This being Hayley's last season of volleyball ever, we're enjoying every minute and soaking it all up!  Thank God Brian has two years of high school bowling and baseball left!  What will I do when I have no more of their sporting events to attend??  Luckily I don't have to contemplate that reality yet!   Whew!  =)

 

Edited 10/05/10 10:15 pm:  Just got home from an awesome match vs. Cedarcrest.  Our Lady Cougs took 3 of 5 games for another notch in the Win column, elevating them to 6-2 this season!  Added bonus:  our Libero, Allie broke the school record for Digs tonight and Hayley tied the record she set last Thursday with 22 Kills!  And our Girls Soccer team won again so they're still undefeated at 8-0!!  I'll say it again...IT'S A GOOD YEAR TO BE A LAKEWOOD COUGAR!!

A new beginning...sort of.

I'm back.

My apologies to those of you who checked in now and again to see if I'd had anything to say...and left with no news. And many thanks to those of you who asked if I was ever going to update my blog...I have a hard time believing that more than a few people read it, until one of the kids friends mentions it (and the lack of posts...Hi Jared!)  Plus, I got on Facebook and its so easy to just post a photo with a caption and carry on.    But for some reason, here I sit at my computer, and I want to write.  I could post a photo or two on Facebook, but I think some photos just need more than a one-line caption.  For instance, this photo:
 

Holy Cats!  Who is this 6' (at least) dude?  In front of his own car?  Smiling?  On the first day of his JUNIOR year of high school? You know where this is headed, right?

Just yesterday Brian was still letting me send apples for his teachers on the first day of school.  Ten years people.  TEN YEARS....poof!

In case you're wondering where the girl-child was on this fine September 1st morning, she was around.  But since she's on the college schedule, Hayley doesn't start school until the 20th.  So, instead of heading to school, she headed south on the freeway to meet up with friends at the mall to do some back-to-school shopping.  Sniffle sniffle...almost 18 and she doesn't need her mama for that anymore.  Honestly, I can't wait to see what she comes home with.  So before she left, she posed with her little brother on his first day of school.

Seems we need to do some measuring tonight.  Hayley pointed out that Brian is now taller than she is.  I measured him a few weeks ago at an even 6', but she's just shy of that so he must've grown...again!  (You have to say that like Forrest Gump, "...and I got invited to the White House.  AGAIN."   Heh heh!

So, that was our morning.  I met my good friend Diana for coffee.  Then Dano and I took our morning 2 mile walk through the neighborhood.  Then I read the local newspaper and found Hayley's picture in it with an article about how awesome her school volleyball team is hoping to be, which was kind of a nice surprise to come across that with no warning!

Hopefully, soon I'll have some posts catching up on the Liebel Family Summer 2010.  It was busy (visits from Missy Laura and Corey, Uncle Pat & Aunt Andree, Josie Grandma & Grampa, Uncle Keith, Uncle Pat (AGAIN) plus two really cool volleyball coaches for our school VB camp, a visit for Hayley and I down to SoCal, Brian kicking butt at the bowling alley and life in general.) 

But for now...I'm back.  =)

A Blast from the Past

I got tagged again! This time from the lovely, pregnant with a Liebel baby boy, Julie! Julie is married to our nephew Chris and is already a wonderful Mommy to two adorable little girls, Athena and Zoe. Hi Julie! Hi Chris! Hi Athena! Hi Zoe! Hi Baby Boy Lump!

Anyway, here are the rules of the Tag:

1. Go to your Picture File.
2. Upload the 4th picture of the 4th folder.
3. Post it.
4. Tag four friends.

I love this! Behold, the 4th photo in my 4th file:

Now, normally this photo would never see the vast expanse of the internet. (Honestly, why would anyone ever post a photo of the mess in that closet??) But this photo has always cracked me up. Here's why: This is a photo of Brian's First Holy Communion outfit that he hung up, all by himself, during the little shindig at the house after church. Now, I hadn't even had the chance to take any photos of Brian with anyone at the party while he was all gussied up. He just went and changed all by himself because he was ready to play! BUT, my little man remembered what I'd always told him: Hang up your clothes! And so he did. On the little pegs on the wall. I guess the pants didn't stay hung up for long.

I think this is the effect he was going for:

I will always love that memory of him showing me how he had hung up his good church clothes!

And just how dapper was Little Liebs in his First Communion ensemble? (Dan does not allow me to call boy clothes "outfits"...they are "ensembles!" )

I digress.

The dapper dude, pointing to his artwork on the altar banner. That, my friends, is a handsome little man.

So now, I will tag:

1. Missy Laura
2. Heidi
3. Jenny
4. Any takers?

Have a great weekend everyone!

I'm Baaaaaack!

Once again I shirked my blogging duties. Sorry about that! We were pretty busy around here with visitors, volleyball, bowling and everyday life in general. Here is a little recap of late October.

First of all, we had to say goodbye to my dear friend Susan and her awesome little guy, Steven. We had such a good time catching up, crafting, shopping and eating. Dan took Steven fishing (no fish, though!) and on a hayride (I don't know who enjoyed that one more!) and all the kids had a good time playing video games and goofing off in general. I miss my buddy, but I guess that is what the phone and email is for!

I decided that if I ever got a big front porch, I was going to decorate it up for Halloween. Danny and I made these cute trick-or-treating ghosts and Rosie had to be out there with them, of course! Rosie is in the Tiger costume that Brian wore wayyyyyyy back in the day. My boss Caren back in SoCal let me adopt Rosie (actually she is a Patty Playpal, but we named her Rosie due to her very rosey cheeks.) Caren and I both like to dress our dolls up in holiday clothes and costumes. (DON'T JUDGE!) Now, Rosie tends to freak people out because she looks so real, so of course she had to go hang out on the porch with the other trick-or-treaters. One year, I had several dads trying to engage Rosie in conversation...serious laughs for us. Anyway, this was our front porch this year, complete with flying bats!

Edited: Click on the photo for a closer look at our Rosie!

This year, Hayley was a cat for Halloween.

Oops...that was ten years ago in Kindergarten! Sorry...but honestly, can you stand it?

This is Hayley dressed as a cat for Halloween. Hmmm, still standing next to a little devil. Ha!

We debated long and hard over whether to let Hayley drive to a Halloween Party at Karen's house. Alone. In the dark. Did I mention it was Halloween? You know, when kids are all hopped up on sugar and run in the street? We decided to have faith (plus it was still light out when she left) and let her drive. Doesn't she look happy that I document every time she drives away from the house? Ahhh, teenagers.

Brian had three buddies over for pizza and video games. And yes, they trick-or-treated. Twice. (After changing costumes so as not to be easily identified.) I'm guessing this is the last year for them to rock the costumes and have fun like this, so...CARRY ON DUDES!

And there you have it. The decorations are put away. But Christmas is right around the corner!

Back to School Means a Trip Down Memory Lane!

Could someone please tell me how it has come to be that I am the mother of not one, but two HIGH SCHOOL students?

First out the door this morning was Brian. He had Freshman Orientation so he had to be to school at 7:30. Look, my high school man!!!

Hayley didn't have to be to school until 11:00 (being an upper-classman and all!) so she slept in. I mean, would YOU get up earlier than necessary so your mom could have a picture of BOTH of her high school kids TOGETHER on the first day of school? Oh well...

So anyway, just yesterday, my babies were posing on the first day of school...Brian starting First Grade and Hayley starting Second Grade. We always posed for pictures in the front yard. CAN YOU STAND IT?

Then, we'd always make our way over to the statue of Our Lady at school. It is a Liebel family tradition that goes wayyyyy back with Dan and his family. And I was bound and determined to carry on the tradition. Here we are in 2000. (I got out of the pictures after this!)

2001 ~ Our Lady does not look amused...

2002 ~ We had another tradition, too...the kids always brought their teacher a shiny, red apple on the first day of school. After much dissention in the ranks, I let them stop that one when they started Jr. High.

2003 ~ The navy skort was all the rage for Hayley that year. Brian: white shirt and navy shorts.

2004 ~ Jr. High meant only skirts for Hayley from here on out! Brian: still the white shirt and navy shorts (yawn...)

2005 ~ I think we must've been between cameras because I have no photos. Gasp!

2006 ~ My babies are growing up. And Mary was rockin' the flowers! And yes, Brian is still rockin' the white shirt and navy shorts.

2007 ~ Last year. Our first year in Washington and the first year we didn't have a statue of Our Lady to take a picture with. And no uniforms. (That is Brian in the brown, in case you didn't recognize him without his white shirt and navy shorts...heh.) First year at a public school. Big changes all around for the kids.

And there you have it. Nine years of Brian and Hayley all clean and shiny for the new school year.

~~sniffle~sniffle~~

Ryan arrives today!

You cannot imagine the excitement around here today! Brian's oldest friend is coming up from California today for 8 days! Ryan and Brian met at preschool when they were little men of barely 3 years old and they've remained close through the years. We lived around the block from Ryan's family and the boys spent many a weekend going back and forth between the houses playing and hanging out.

This was after the St. Cornelius Fiesta, circa 2003.

Brian and Ryan shared some really good times over the years and we're so lucky he gets to come visit! I'll be posting lots of photos this week so Ryan's family can see what he's up to! (Hi Mark, Diane, Alyssa and Dan-the-Man!)

Have a great day...we know we will!

14 Years Ago Today...

A little baby boy was born! Brian Thomas Liebel came into our lives on 6-1-04 @ 6:03 pm, weighing a whopping 9 lbs. 9 oz. I'd post a newborn picture of our little man, but those photos are up in the bonus room, along with five very sleepy teenage boys who were up most of the night playing laser tag, eating pizza, chips and root beer floats, playing hide and seek in the woods and playing Xbox and Guitar Hero. I don't want to bother them, though Abby is lying right smack in the middle of the heap of boys, hoping to find a stray chip somewhere! This is about as close as I can get to our dude with the camera these days! Happy Birthday Brian...we love you!