2011: Day 53

This is our boy cat...known by a variety of names:  Willie, Willie Lunchmeat, Willie Big Mitts, Wilbur, Man-Whore, Willboy, Whoop-Whoop Willlie, Will and my favorite, Sir...as in, "Good morning Sir!  Would you care for some hambone with your kibble?"

Well, Sir decided to come home after a week-long self imposed exile to Lord knows where.  I guess you'd need a good warm sleep after carousing in this cold weather for a week, too. 

Yep, this was our boy one week ago today, trying out Abby's new bed (because that's how he rolls...what belongs to her belongs to him!) while watching Biggest Loser with us:

One angst filled week (for us humans) later, he strolled home, howling on the back deck for sustenance.  And of course, we're happy to oblige.  He's a little scraped up and dirty and I don't even want to know what he's been doing.  We're just relieved he's home safe and sound.

 Molly's excited too...can't you tell?  For the record, her back is facing him.  She's had juuuust about enough of his wandering shenanigans.  Again people, she's big-boned.  Heh heh... 

Abby is very excited as well...

Haha...actually I found these shots of her on the camera when I downloaded the Willie shots.  I'm not sure who took them but finding these was like finding a $20 bill in your coat...good stuff! 

Homework can really take it out of ya, huh?! 

And last but certainly not least,  I share another photo that makes me smile.  Actually, it's two photos in one!  Woohoo...double prizes!  I give you Hayley and Kryger...holding Hayley and Kryger:

Kryger is Hayley's volleyball coach extraordinaire.  She rocks.  I could go on and on, but that is a whole nother blog post.  Last week was her birthday and she came over to celebrate Liebel style:  with killer burgies, home made fries and Dew dumplings.  And she brought her dear friends, the Jacksons, over too.  So much fun.  One of her gifts was this photo taken at Hayley's Senior Night.  Hayley was presenting a team gift to Kryger and I happened to catch this great laugh between them.  It so sums up their relationship and this one truly makes me smile.  Like I said, this season of volleyball deserves its own post...and it will happen.  Awards night is March 7th, so it will be shortly after that.  

Now, I'm going to go hug on my kitty cat.  And have a word with him about his less-than-stellar behavior! 

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!!

It’s a BIG DAY in these parts…

Today is Hayley’s first day of school! Yep, she’s had a nice long summer and has been banking sleep hours in preparation for what is coming up…and that would be lots of homework and lots of volleyball!

Hayley has opted to take part in a school program called ORCA. It is part of the Running Start program in which high school Juniors and Seniors can earn college credits while earning their high school diploma. Instead of attending classes at the high school, Hayley will drive down to Mukilteo for her classes Monday thru Thursday (Fridays, too, though there are no classes…just occasional field trips and study time at the campus.) Then after school, she will zoom up to the high school for volleyball (either practice or matches.) This is a pretty intense school program and we’ve been warned that the homework load will be big. However, our girl thrives on challenge and is ready to take on this one!

After all, she’s seventeen now! We’ve been very busy with life lately, so I didn’t get a chance to update about the big 1-7. Hayley had her first volleyball match of the season that night over at South Whidbey. While the match didn’t go our way, we still celebrated Hayley’s birthday on the way home…with cupcakes on the ferry!

Chocolate with buttercream and white with strawberry icing. YUM. And yes…that is a Cupcake “H” for Hayley! The entire Lakewood High volleyball squad got off the bus and came up to the seating area to line the way for Hayley as they sang Happy Birthday! So sweet…they are truly an awesome group of girls!

Speaking of volleyball, check out this article in the Marysville Globe. (Hayley’s jersey number is #1 when you look at the slideshow.) Pretty exciting times around here. It was our 20th wedding anniversary that day to boot! We’re awfully proud of the young lady our little girl has grown into. And for the record (because people always ask!) she’s almost 6’…so when she’s rockin’ the heels, she’s standing a proud 6’3” to 6’4”. You go Glen Coco!! (Come on…name that movie!)

Unfortunately, I still can’t take a decent volleyball action shot so you’re probably only going to get written summaries…or shots like the one above! That was taken during pre-match warm-up and you’ll have to trust me that it was Hayley killing the ball!

Tonight, Hayley gets to play against one of her best friends, Hannah. (Hi Hannah!) She goes to a different school, but the girls have played Club ball together for two years now. It should be a fun night!

So, now that Hayley is back to school, I feel like Autumn is finally here. There is a briskness in the air, though we are due for temps in the 80’s this week!

Have a wonderful week!

October Glory

That is actually the name of this maple tree. The color is this amazing fiery orange~red. Sometimes I like to pretend I'm a photographer (with real skill) and I have these little photo shoots. I thought this would look so cool with the blue sky in the background. The white is the sun...YES...we have sun!

So where, pray tell, was I having this little photo shoot??? Yup! We've been busy planting luscious flowering trees along the south side of the driveway. Then we planted a bunch of rhodadendrons and other bushes between the trees. Pretty, no?

For a little added color, I went nuts with the selection of kale and cabbage. Behold:

This beauty is called "Coral Prince." Sigh....

I don't recall the name of this one, but it looks like a gigantic rose sitting in the dirt.

This one is very frilly. We also have some white ones like this that look like heads of cauliflower sitting there. Very cool.

But I think the stars of the show right now are the maple trees.

Speaking of stars... ...in our book, at least! Tonight is our last home volleyball game, so it is Senior Night. The girls have been working hard preparing goodies and speeches to say "farewell" to the Seniors on the team. I'm bringing kleenex...no one warned me last year and it was quite emotional.

Have a GLORIOUS day!

Volleyball...YEAAAAHHH!

We here in the Liebel household love volleyball. Love it. Check out Hayley. That is her with the big gold bow in her hair. She looks all sweet out there. She is anything but. While our little Bo is still pretty reserved and quiet, she turns into a Beast out on the court.

This is right after she's served the ball. This might be the clearest action shot I've gotten all season.

Allow me to explain. We have a nice little digital camera. It takes nice photos. As long as you are not in a gymnasium. Then, the color goes all wonky and if anyone so much as moves a hair, it blurs. Example ~ during warm-up: Therefore, I don't take any shots during the games. It would be a waste and I might miss some of the action.

So, there is a tradition that for every home volleyball game, the team gathers right after school at one of the girls homes and eats an early dinner. And they do homework. And hair. And play video games. And nap. And bond. We had all the girls (and manager) over before the Homecoming Game and Dano served up his best Mexican feast. They seemed to enjoy it...

Missy Laura, this one's for you! (I love you!) =D

So, Coach Kryger showed up straight from school. Oh yeah, it was Wacky Hair Day at school. (As if you couldn't tell.) Hayley, not wanting Kryger to feel so alone, ran upstairs and did her hair in the same style. Shear Genius, no? Okay, somebody please tell me they watched "Shear Genius." Anyone? Hello???

Every year for the home game during Homecoming Week, the team opts to wear a "throwback" uniform, complete with the less-than-flattering old style bloomers. Since the girls are truly more modest than that, they wear the bloomers over their spandex shorts. But they do come off for the game. This year, they wore these thick rugby-style shirts for the game, which seemed to be a little annoying, especially when the ball would just "thud" off of the shirt sleeve when hit. So, for this game, our #1 became #22.

I love this team! They've bonded like crazy and end up taking fun shots like this in the locker room before the game.

Along with the throwback uniforms and hair (side ponytails y'all!) their warm-up soundtrack is all 80's hits. Think Cindy Lauper...and can you guess what is playing in this photo? It doesn't matter what year we're in, all kids know how to respond when "YMCA" comes on. Love it!

The introductions..."She's a sophomore....#22....HAYLEYYYYY LEE-BULLLL!" Of course, this was after a gentle reminder from Hayley to the announcer that it is LEE-bull, not Lie-BELL! (Anyone that was at our wedding reception will appreciate the humor in that.) We ended up winning that night, hot long-sleeved jerseys and all!

This Tuesday at home, we played against the #1 team in our conference. I think they've only lost one game (and no matches) so it is always a tough go. They took the first two games (we play best 3 of 5) but our girls fought back hard in the third game and were victorious! Behold: Please forgive the crappy photo. Between the gymnasium lighting, the crowd going nuts and jumping on the bleachers, and me trying to hurry but hold still long enough to get the picture off, there was no way I was going to get a clear shot of the scoreboard. The proof is there though! We did lose the match in the 4th game, but the team played as one and we couldn't be more proud.

Last night, we played a team we lost to (3 games to 2) earlier in the season. It was a bit of a grudge match, going to 5 games again. Our girls had an amazing night, with our setter even breaking the school record for assists...GO PEYTON! This is some video (from my regular camera...hence, no audio) of Hayley hitting during warm-up.

The third times a charm!

So today, we head to the Mt. Baker Tournament. I believe there are 16 teams playing and it will be an all-day affair. (Dare I say I've missed the all-day Club tournaments???!) I'll let you know how we did later. Have a great weekend!

The Josies Came to Visit Us!

So, since I took almost three weeks off to search for my blogging mojo, I guess that is where we need to start! After having to postpone their summer visit, my parents (AKA: Josie Grandma and Grampa) finally arrived on Sunday the 14th of September. They made the drive from Arizona in a little over two days (ahem...leadfoot?) We were able to greet them with glorious, sunny weather. Behold, three generations!

We started off the visit with one of my current favorite activities: Blackberry picking. We hit the motherlode of berry patches and between the two of us, came home with about six quarts of blackberries. So of course, we made jam! And cobbler, of course! I know somewhere in the caverns of my computer, there are photos of the mountain of washed berries and pretty jars of jam. You'll have to use your imagination. Meanwhile, check out my dahlias. I grew these. From bulbs. In my dirt. And there are more still blooming outside! For the record, the blooms are six to eight inches across. Just sayin'.

Tuesday, which was our 19th wedding anniversary, was also Hayley's first volleyball game of the season. Danny had made dinner reservations for us at a fancy-schmancy place down in Seattle, but our girl was starting in her first Varsity volleyball game. We knew where we had to be! This is Hayley being introduced before the game..."she's a Sophomore.....#1.....Hayleyyyyy Leeeeee-bullllll! I'm sorry, hearing that will never get old!

Sadly, we lost that match, but they played well. Besides, ya gotta get those first game jitters out of the way. We'll touch more on volleyball later this week.

One of Danny's requests of my mom was that she bring one of her authentic German recipes with her and show us how to make Rouladen. Have you ever had Rouladen? You should. In fact, you can come to our house and we'll make Rouladen that will knock your socks off. You start with round steak, bacon and onions. And mustard and garlic and pepper. First, you have Josie Grampa beat the living snot out of the round steak. That gray blur is the meat tenderizer doing what it does best.

Josie Grandma approves of the tenderizing.

Then you pile the inner goodies on the meat, roll them up and dredge the whole thing in flour.

Then, you brown them and make a gravy out of the pan goodness. (Stop drooling.) Everything goes into the crockpot (because we were lazy and didn't want to tend a pot on the stove all day!) and a few hours later, you have to post a guard to keep people from "testing" the Rouladen.

Just check these two out. We were happy to have the Josie's here, but I think Dan was extra happy this day!

Behold: Rouladen. It has a very distinct flavor. A little Challenger Ridge Syrah...

...and some sides. This was a seriously satisfying meal. Sighhhh.

We spent the rest of the week eating, shopping, eating Peggy's Cucumber Thingies in the parking lot before watching more volleyball, perfecting Brian's bowling skillz and eating.

Alas, the cold weather soon infiltrated the region and the Josie's began longing for the warmth of Arizona. We had one last killer meal the night before they headed home: Filet with Bearnaise, bakers, french bread and killer strawberry spinach salad. I know...it tasted good, too!

Goodbye for now Josie Grandma and Grampa!

And by the way, I did start this yesterday afternoon, while it was still Josie Grampa's birthday!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

We love volleyball...and breakfast!

First of all, thanks to everyone for coming over last night ~ Kryger, Rooney, Adam, Kevin, Sam, Kerry and Alexa! What a fun evening! This was the scene on the lawn last night. After an awesome dinner of carne asade tacos, beans and rice (cooked by our own Top Chef Dano!) the coaches and players adjourned to the front lawn for a friendly game of three-on-three. We won't get into scores here, ahem, but let's just say the girls were awed by the jumping ability of the visiting coaches, Adam and Kevin. The boys have some serious hops! (Click on the photo to read my silly captions...) I will no doubt get grief for posting this shot, but that is our girl, serving up a jumping floater. Or is it a floating jumper? She and Kevin worked on that during lunch yesterday. After chowing down on sandwiches, of course. Here is Adam, doing his thang. These boys perform some rather nasty kills. Our girls weren't quite sure what to do with those bullets! And no, that is not an optical illusion...he really does jump that high! Abby had her own ideas about what kind of ball was going to be played! And finally, there seems to be some sort of contest to see which visiting coach is served the best breakfast. Behold, Dano's Wednesday offering for Kevin. (Yes, those are Red Vines. No, they are not for breakfast!) And yes, the plates were completely empty after Kevin was done! I don't have Day 6 photos of the ankle. Frankly, I'm too lazy to undo the six velcro straps, plus the inner bootie velcro. I'll share colorful Day 7 photos tomorrow! I can say that it is feeling much better and the boot is a huge help, even if it does feel like I have a sack of cement strapped to my foot! Have a great day!