I Had Help...

...wrapping Christmas gifts this morning.

In other news, I apologize again for abandoning my little blog here. No excuse. Just busy. And I was sick for a good seven days. Winter crud.

But seriously, we've been really busy.

Check it out:

1. Brian bowls an average of four days a week on a high school league. That is a lot of driving time. Trust me. But bowling is a story worthy of its own post and I'll get to all things bowling early next week. Trust me, it's THAT good!
2. Hayley was inducted in the National Honor Society last week. Smarty-pants.
3. She also had her high school volleyball awards night last week and then this past Tuesday night, she tried out and made her Club team again! Same coach (Hi Ron!) and some of the same girls from last year (Hi Hannah, Jodi, Kate, and Shelby!) But get this: Hayley (at a solid 5'10") is shorter than three of the new girls! Yowza...we gots ourselves a tall team! And oh, distressing news: This team was supposed to travel to Anaheim in April for the SoCal Qualifier and we were going to have the biggest cheering section (especially for an out of town team) because come on, between SoCal friends and family, we would have rocked the place and then there would have been Disneyland and........BUT NO! Due to a scheduling snafu, we will not be traveling to California. Instead, we will be traveling to....Minnesota. Sigh....I can't even talk about this right now. =(
4. Christmas decorating. Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a decorating fool at Christmas time. I'm almost done...just have to do the wet bar, the powder room and finish up on a new valance over the kitchen sink! Oh, and our room. I'll post some photos next week. Then you will understand.
5. Then there was this:

Ahhh, Thanksgiving. We four PNW Liebels stayed home this year and cooked up a fresh little hen with all the trimmings. For the record, those rolls....YEAH! Everyone pretty much agreed they were the best part of dinner. Here is the recipe. You will not be disappointed. I promise.

About 10 mintues after dinner, while we were still loosening our belts, the kids stormed the kitchen demanding pie pie pie pie pie! This year, we asked the kids to decide what kind of pie they wanted. Hayley chose Coconut Cream and Brian chose Pumpkin, but I persuaded him to go with the Chocolate Cream. Again, no disappointments.

Feast your eyes:

Luscious. I made these. And yes, I made that chocolate curl. All by myself.

I'll give you a moment to take in the glory of pie.

All done? Okay, moving on.

Hayley and I got up very early the day after Thanksgiving and met up with our friends Karen and Kathy for some shopping fun. And a little IHOP noshing. Good stuff...we all agreed that we have a new girls tradition! Woohoo!

I'm going to leave you with this vision of manliness.

Can you stand it? That is my Hubs. Well, kinda sorta. It is his head. (teehee) But the fish really was that big. (Hi Crusher!)

My mad Photoshop skillz are gettin' pretty good, no? Just having a little fun (at Dano's request...)

Check back Saturday because tomorrow is gingerbread baking day and the flour is going to fly! And can I just express how happy I am that Top Chef is back on??? Anyone else???

~~~{{Doin' my happy dance....}}~~~

Proof

of #2.

I suppose this one is more for Missy Laura than anyone. But honestly, can you actually look at this lovely sight and not say, "Ohhhhhhmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm."

Hmm? I didn't think so.

Hayley and I are going to the high school production of "Class Action" tonight, after having dinner with our buds Kathy and Karen (Hi Girls!!) It should be a great evening!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

It's That Time of Year Again...

Time to make the GINGERBREAD HOUSES! The tradition in my family goes wayyyy back to my Grandpa who was a German baker by trade. We use the exact same recipe as he did back then. Every year, we start the three-step process of making the houses by first making the dough. And I do apologize, but the recipe cannot be shared. It just can't. Don't ask. =)

We start by heating some of the ingredients to blend them well.

Then, we add the warmed mixture to the dry mixture. This is when it starts to smell all yummy and gingerbread-y, when all the spices interact with the liquid.

Now comes the messy part. There is no other way to knead the dough but to plunge a hand in and work that dough. This calls for a strong arm.

Those with sticky food issues need not apply to mix the dough.

My hand hurts.

Sometimes, I ask for help. Yesterday, I recruited Hayley to help mix. Wait a minute...that wasn't yesterday! That was four years ago! Silly me. Teehee. (And obviously my camera was having issues because we generally don't make gingerbread dough in March.)

Mixing the dough is a good way to bond with your children. See what happened yesterday? Silly me...that was eight years ago! Just look at my little babies!

I digress.

When the dough is all incorported (or it is just too hard to mix anymore!) it is ready to be put into Ziplock bags to rest for a week. Thank God for Ziplock bags. How did we function before Ziplock bags? I'm just sayin'. (And on a side note, apparently there is no "K" in Ziploc! But this is my blog, so the "K" stays.)

Mmmmmmm! So, stay tuned. Next week, we will have Step Two: The Baking of the Gingerbread.

Have a great day!

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!

The Dorm Room

Let me start by saying that if you are one of those people that believes pets should sleep outside, you might want to move right along and skip this post. Trust me...I don't want anyone breaking out in hives over what they are going to read here.

Disclaimer: Check.

So, our house has four bedrooms. And a dorm room.

Behold: Our dorm room (aka: the Master bedroom closet) has two beds for its roommates Abby and Molly. Missy Laura, what was it you said about animals living together in harmony? Ahhhhh.

You'll notice that during my highly professional photoshoot, my subjects (or I should say my feline subject) did not cooperate according to the contract.

The photographer was not amused. At all.

It was much like trying to photograph a toddler.

See what I mean? What could possibly be so interesting that she can't just lie still so I could get the money shot???

Of course, the heating vent needed her attention. Whatever.

Being the professional photographer that I am...(heh)...I decided to regroup and try to capture the true essence of Molly. This is her divine profile. And her twinkle toes.

This is her backside.

She is booty-licious, no?

Any good photographer knows when the photoshoot needs to end. In my case, it was when the feline subject escaped from the closet.

But I am sneaky. I continued the photoshoot late that night when the subjects were fast asleep in their Dorm Room.

Uh huh. Proof positive. (On a side note, I'm not sure that I'll ever get that Pottery Barn endorsement deal...I don't think this is how they would feature their lovely pillowcases in their catalogue.)

The Money Shot.

Animals living together in harmony.

It's a good thing.

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!

I've been TAGGED!

Thank you Missy Laura! Okay, I'm going to do this somewhat on the fly because otherwise, I'll write a book. And none of us has time for that, right?

1. I always jingle my car keys when I get out of the car. I just do. That way, I know I have them and haven't left them in the car. Unfortunately, I have left my keys hanging in the front door lock too many times to count.
2. Everyone in the family has a different color hanger and when they are hanging empty in the laundry room, they MUST be grouped by color or I just cannot go on with my day. Don't judge.
3. I have a thing for men with accents. Colin Firth...Cary Elwes...Christopher Plummer...Lord have mercy! Don't tell Danny. Teehee.
4. I like the flavor of green peppers...I just can't handle actually chewing them. Can't and won't do it.
5. I could spend a whopping $3.00 on my entire summer shoe wardrobe and be perfectly happy. Flip-flops rule. Especially the cheap rubber ones from discount stores. And I'm sorry, but I grew up calling them "thongs" and I'm really sad that I can't do that anymore without people thinking I'm referring to my underwear.
6. I love to make stuff. That includes just about any genre of crafts...I'll give it a try. I rarely come across a crafted item and don't think to myself, "I could make that!"
7. Sometimes, even after 19 years of marriage, I still look at my sweet hubby and think, "How did I get so lucky to land such a perfect guy?" (Think Fräulein Maria singing to Capt. Von Trapp..."I must have done something goooood!") Mushy gushy...yes. But it is the truth!

So, there you have it. Random bits about me. Now, since anyone I know with a blog has already done this, I'll leave it to you readers to leave your random-ness in the comments! Or better yet, this is the perfect opportunity to start a blog of your own...and this can be the subject of your first post!

10:30 am....

One third of my heart just drove away in a white BMW.

Yes. Hayley passed her Driving Test yesterday!!! Woot woot!

This shot was taken by me, hiding behind a pillar so the Driving Examiner wouldn't laser me with his eyeballs. I was intimidated...I can only imagine what Hayley was feeling pulling out for her test. She aced it though!

So, imagine my surprise when she asked if she could meet her friend Karen this morning over at the Cross Country Track meet at the school. I didn't think she'd actually want to drive anywhere by herself! But then, as we parents must do, I handed over the keys to the car and stood in the window and waved goodbye. She wouldn't let me take a picture of her driving away, but I did get the promise that she would call and let me know when she arrived.

"To our children, we give two things, one is roots, the other is wings." Author: unknown

There's the phone ringing now....Sigh. Have a wonderful weekend all!

Hey Ken...Do You Know This Kid???

Due to blogging difficulties, this shot didn't get added in the right order...but it must be shared! More on this part of the day later in the post.

My Susan and her Steven arrived safe and sound yesterday morning! What a treat for us!

Since it was morning, we headed straight for the original Starbucks at Pike Place Market and loaded up on nice, hot beverages. Little dude was very happy with his hot chocolate.

Susan and I agreed that this photo needs some explanation. (For the sake of our vanity!)

See, we had Steven take the photo and he is a tad shorter than we are, so his trajectory with the camera was from such an upward angle, it makes us appear that we have double chins! Everyone knows we really don't!

Moving right along...

We stopped off to say hi to the fishmongers at the Fish Market. There were no crowds, so they were busy setting up the fish for the day and weren't putting on their usual show.

Consider yourselves lucky to see Steven so close to the Monkfish...

We then walked up to catch the Monorail over to the Space Needle. This was a pretty big hit with Steven. I think there were only a few other people riding so it was like our own private coach.

This is my new favorite shot. It doesn't matter that I sit on the ground with my eye at butt level with the person in the photo.

Susan and I are sure that Tara Whitney would be so proud of my photo composition!

Even though we were just about the only people in line to take the elevator to the top, we still had to wait (for the elevator to return from its previous trip to the top.) Steven was less than thrilled!

Just kidding...I made him do that face!

Once up top, we played with all the cool machines they have to highlight the features of the Needle and then posed for pictures.

It really was a beautiful day to be up there. After riding back down in the cool elevator, we Monorailed back to our car at the Market and drove to Ballard to do a little chuckling and shopping at Archie McPhee. (Erica ~ be prepared!) Anyway, that top photo is Steven with just one of the fun things he tried on.

We got home, barely said hello to the family and had to head out to take Brian to bowling practice and we realized we hadn't really eaten lunch. We had to wait half an hour until the restaurant re-opened for the afternoon, so Steven bowled two quick games and then we went over to Cristiano's for amazing Chicken Caesar Salad and Pizza (for Susan and I) and a Cheese Pizza (for Steven.) So good! They brought a paper to cover the table for Steven to color...and color he did! He was cracking himself up here.

Well, that was our busy day yesterday. Today wasn't quite so busy (though check back tomorrow...BIG NEWS to report from the Liebel household!) We're getting ready to sit down now for some of Dano's burgers, chicken strips and home fries!

Schaeffer ETA: 9:34 AM

This is Susan, one of my dearest friends from the Old Country (aka: Southern California.) And she is arriving this morning for a visit! And she is bringing along her cool little dude, Steven, who is a big Second Grader this year! We're going to do a little Seattle sightseeing, a little fishing, a little eating, a little guitar playing and a little crafting. And I believe Susan is going to bask in the cooler temperatures while her husband and daughter bake in the SoCal heat!

Did I mention that Susan is my crafting soulmate? She is. We just "get" each other and we totally share and support each others interest (okay fine, obsession) with creating things. I am always blown away by Susan's creations...and she never fails to inspire me. How can you not adore the friend who sends you a purse that she sewed...from "Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer" fabric? I am so blessed that she is coming to visit, for the second time since we moved up here.

So, I'm off to the airport in a little bit. We'll try to update with some "What are we up to?" posts this weekend. Hi Ken...Hi Erica! We'll take good care of Steven and Susan for you...

Later dudes!