Sniffle, Sniffle

Yeah, that's the sound Matt and I have had for a couple days' straight now after both the Bears and the NU Wildcats lost big games.

Luckily our friend Jenny was with us this weekend to scream at the Bears game as we were all hoping we'd see another year like a few years back when the Bears lit up the Chicago skyline with hopes and dreams of Super Bowl glory. . .

It was very fun to hear from (and try to pick out) our fans-on-the-street, John and Carol, cheering on the 'Cats from San Antonio as they lost to Mizzou in a nailbiter of an Alamo Bowl.

We're comforting ourselves with dreams of next year . . .

A Jolly Holiday

We had such a nice Christmas holiday - starting off Christmas Eve morning right with John's cinnamon rolls, spending that afternoon with the Muller clan, and then opening gifts with our parents and Grandma Muller on Christmas Day. And yes, in case there was ever a doubt, we're still spoiled. Rotten. Our families were, as always, generous with their time, creativity and gifts. We're sleeping well this holiday season knowing how incredibly lucky we are.

Matt picked up the obnoxious-Christmas-sock gauntlet (yes, those are his HO HO HO toe socks in the background - you may want to click on the picture to get the full effect) thrown down by my cousin Beth last year (she performed quite well again this year with the red and white candy cane stripes) and we fear he has raised the bar for future years. I smell a throwdown. . .

Of course the little ones are adorable as always. Well, the big ones are pretty cute too, but you know, Christmas is for the tykes! My cousins Chad and Erin did a good job keeping Matt company as they lounged, chatted, wrestled - all of those normal Christmas Eve behaviors!

Snow Day

I had to capture the "perfect snow" today in our backyard, for posterity. Matt had a snow day from school and I worked from home (yes, really, I did work most of the day) so we didn't have to go outside and mess up the pretty snow.

Happy, Merry Thanksmas!

We had Thanksmas (my made-up word for Thanksgiving + Christmas, which we celebrate in between the two holidays) with the Schmiedeknecht side of the family on Sunday. The kids were very cute - just look at Anna's face! She's definitely our expressive one! (Note: Anna is my cousin's daughter along with her twin sister Ali below and Dylan, the little boy in the white shirt with Ryan.)

I think they had a good time, especially while playing the traditional "Twas the Night Before Christmas" game (or "Twas") as it's known to Mullers and Schmiedeknechts.

The basic premise of the game, for the uninitiated, is simple. 1. Everyone sits in a circle. 2. Everyone is given a wrapped present. 3. Someone (my mom, in our case) reads "Twas the Night Before Christmas" and each time he or she says the word "and" (about 20 times or so through the poem), everyone passes the box they have in their hands to the person on the left. 4. After the final "and" ("And to all a good night!"), everyone opens the gift they have in their hands. It's always a funny tradition as, even after about 20 years now, the adults get mixed up as often as the little ones.

The ornament of a house is the friends (and family) that frequent it.

I'm sure Emerson won't mind my amendment to his quote. . .we had such fun this past weekend with friends AND family as we celebrated Lisa and Baby Ruble, and I had my annual holiday tea tradition with the Moms!

I rode with Lisa's very cool friend Kathy up to Milwaukee on Thursday for the baby shower - a lovely evening hosted by a great group of Lindy's (Lisa's Mom's) friends. It was book-themed and completely adorable. I'll let Lisa blog about it and share pictures but I have to share this one - it's blurry but I've never seen a deer come up to a house like this! This was toward the end of the shower - evidently the little deer knew we were talking about storybook characters and wanted to add some authenticity!

We headed back to Chicago on Friday and had a girls' night of dinner at Cafe Spiaggia and dessert at Ghirardelli's. L-R: Amy (our very own matchmaker and Lisa's friend from HS), Kathy (Lisa's friend from HS and my very gracious ride to Milwaukee!), Kelly (a friend and fellow NU grad), me, Lisa (Preggers!), and Jenn (Lisa's sister, if you couldn't tell). We had such a nice time and fun to catch up with some old friends and realize some new and unexpected connections between members of the group.

Lisa, Kathy, Jenn and I headed back to Beverly for the night (it of course tickled me to have both guest rooms used at once). Mom and Carol joined us for breakfast Saturday morning and then the Moms and I headed downtown on the train for the One of a Kind Show at the Merchandise Mart and afternoon tea at the Peninsula. This is our fourth year of the tradition and I hope it's one we keep going for many, many years! They just keep getting better and better!

We finished off the weekend with pizza and game night with Lisa and Ed (soon to be Papa Ruble) Saturday night and then stuffed ourselves with breakfast at Lumes Sunday morning (Lisa ate for two, Matt and I each ate for three).

Such a great weekend - we were sad to see it end. But we are already looking forward to this weekend as it's Thanksmas (that's Thanksgiving + Christmas) with the Schmiedknecht side of the family this Sunday. Can't wait!