Knoepke Christmas Countdown

Here are a few fun snaps from the last few days as we gear up for Christmas in the Knoepke household.











First, there's Ollie Cat, who continues to practice his poses, as he aspires to be a featured cat model in some sort of calendar or publication. Much like Derek Zoolander, he has his signature poses - (1) the "who me?" (coy yet innocent, which he's demonstrating here) and (2) the "almost feral" (nothing innocent about it and typically destructive).

Next, there's what I came home to yesterday. Matt put all my presents in the stocking (we just do stocking gifts for each other) and it was too heavy for the hanger so it sat on the ground. Then I put all of Matt's in his stocking and, long story short, ended up breaking the glass in the frame hanger for the same reason but with less foresight. We've since taken some of the heavier gifts out and sat them on the mantle. Glad to see all that education is serving us well.

The third shot is of some of the batch of fabulous rolls that just came out of the oven. Matt's been baking for the last couple of hours and they turned out as pretty as the pictures in the magazine he took the recipe from (this month's Cooking Light)! The Mullers are sure to enjoy these fancified rolls at tomorrow's meal - I "tested" one and it was fantastic!

Lastly, the kitties wanted you to rest assured that they are getting plenty of rest this holiday season. They thought you might be concerned. (HA!)

Merry Christmas - will blog again this weekend to report back on all the fun of the next two days!

Christmas #1: The Schmiedeknecht Shindig

We headed to the Mitten State for our first Christmas celebration this past Sunday. On Saturday, I talked to my cousin Ryan (version 2.0, the youngest member of our close-in family with the Schmiedeknecht name) on the phone and he asked me to spell Schmiedeknecht. He was impressed with how fast I could do it, so he was satisfied I definitely knew the password to get into the party!

The party was definitely all about the little ones (as it should be), which made it a raucous good time for all. If there's any doubt, just check out my mom getting hugged to death by three little ones!

Some of my other favorite moments were Dylan yelling "SWEET!" after opening gifts, including the Cars game we got him that he's holding in the first picture below. Anna was cracking me up with the lip balm she found in the purse we gave her - here she is in two shots - first, opening it with her teeth (that's my girl!) and then applying it with great aplomb! Ali was in more of a snugglebug mood and she cozied up to her Aunt LeAnne (my cousin) when she got sleepy. And of course I always love the chance to hang out with Ryan and we had fun playing a surprisingly complicated game of Disney Yahtzee and much more.

It was also good to see all my aunts, uncle and cousins. Matt got to hang out with Ryan (1.0, that is) a fair bit as well, and it gives my old heart cockles a good warm-up to see them talking and telling stories.

We also gave some love to ol' Frosty the dog (though some claim he's part horse as he's a big guy), who was not the slightest bit fazed by the cold weather.

A great way to kick off this year's Christmas festivities and I was so convinced it was really Christmas that I had a really hard time going in to work Monday and Tuesday!

Festive Fun

The last couple weekends have been so festive! The Christmas spirit is alive and well with the Muller and Knoepke clans! We had Thanksgiving, the Wreathing of the Lions at the Art Institute, decorating the house, and A Christmas Carol at the Goodman Theatre all in a four-day weekend. The first four pics below are from the Wreathing of the Lions - my hubs sure is a handsome devil, isn't he? (Even when he's finding his inner child while chomping on a candy cane!)

And then this past weekend we had our 5th annual tea (me and the Moms) - this year we went to the Atwood Cafe in the Hotel Burnham (picture below), which was very nice. So far over the years we've checked off the Drake, the Ritz, the Four Seasons, and the Peninsula as well. All really nice. We've got quite a few more options left before we'll have to repeat any! I think next year is going to be the Walnut Room - the wounds of the Marshall Field's to Macy's conversion are starting to heal finally. :) And the Walnut Room tree is really beautiful this year (picture below, taken from the 8th floor furniture department/viewing platform!). I'm also uploading a video to share because it's too darn big to get in one photo! Sorry about the shaking the first couple seconds - I'm getting used to the new flip video camera!

Then on Sunday we went to brunch with the Mullers - another fun tradition. This coming weekend will be all about finishing up the shopping and crafting and starting the wrapping of presents!

Women's Half Marathon

The whole trip to the St. Pete's area was fun (see previous post) but I thought it would probably take up a whole post to talk about the race, the Women's Half Marathon (full name: Women's Running Magazine Women's Half Marathon benefiting the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society), that I did this past Sunday.

While I laid everything out and fixed up my race-day outfit Saturday night, the TEAM DI-NAMITE CHEER SQUAD--comprised of Mom, Dad and Matt--plotted out their viewing strategy for the event.

We got up around 4:30 Sunday morning and headed into St. Pete's to meet the Team by 6 AM. Our efforts were rewarded with a GORGEOUS sunrise a little while later. While we greeted the team and took pre-race photos, I did my best to hydrate and stave off my nervous nausea. I've found the only way to do so, though, is to just start the darn thing! :)

While I lined up with the rest of the 5,000 participants, the Cheer Squad took time to grab some breakfast and get to their first cheer spot, around mile 1.5. That's where this "Where's Waldo?" picture was taken. If you click on the photo and blow it up, you can see me. And when you do find me, you'll laugh because they got me mid-yell and I look really goofy. :) (If you can't find me, I'm the one in purple.) It was hotter and more humid than I expected (which means I'm dumb, 'cause it's Florida for goodness' sake) but the spirit of the event was great. I had several folks comment on my shirt message, some of them not even TNT participants. Every one rooted for each other along the course and there was a definite camaraderie.

Among the course highlights were, of course, seeing the Cheer Squad at four different points on the route, running along the water and through some neighborhoods with huge waterfront mansions, and doing part of mile 11 through Tropicana Field (home of the Tampa Bay Rays). At first I thought they were going to have us run around the outside of it, but we actually did a lap inside the stadium on the field (which is now set up for football). The finish was fun and, even at the late hour I was finishing, there were still a lot of folks cheering and the announcer said each and every name as we crossed the line.

I got my medal, with its hot pink ribbon, and my TNT 13.1 pin, along with the congratulations of my fellow Team members. I also brought the Cheer Squad into my finisher photo, as they were a big part of my finishing the darn thing! :)

I'm once again very happy I participated with TNT and continue to be impressed with the operation. I hope to find ways to continue to support the organization. Whether that will mean putting my feet to the pavement for 13.1 or 26.2 miles again, we'll have to wait and see on that. . . I have retired and unretired from endurance sports before, so who's to say?

Thanks again to everyone who supported me, and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, in reaching this goal. I celebrated you the whole way, and will continue to do so every time I look at my medal.

Trip to St. Pete's / Treasure Island

I'm going to break up the trip to St. Petersburg (FL) for the half marathon in to two posts, the first all about the trip as a whole, and the second to focus in on race day.

Mom and I headed down to St. Pete's on Thursday and got settled in our (very inexpensive but very, very nice) condo on Treasure Island (one of the Gulf Beaches). We had a good dinner (hello, lobster!) and started to find our way around. I was excited to see the Women's Half Marathon made the airport welcome board, even if we were at the bottom!

On Friday, we had a luxuriously lazy morning (one of several over the long weekend) and then headed into St. Pete's for lunch and the race expo, which was pretty nice and full for a first-time event. Then we walked around St. Pete's awhile and found a movie theater and caught "The Blind Side," which we both enjoyed a lot. Then we picked up the boys (Dad and Matt) from their late-evening flight in from Chicago and headed back for a good night's sleep.

Saturday we took a nice long walk on the beach and enjoyed scenery ranging from photogenic kids to prehistoric-looking birds that we at first thought were fake.


Later we snoozed a little in the condo, and then headed to the Team in Training Inspiration Dinner and Pasta Party. I got to know some of my team members a little better and the speakers were inspirational, funny, and informative. John "The Penguin" Bingham, who I've heard speak before, was as entertaining and funny as ever. The founder of the race, Dawna Stone, was there and said a few words, as did one of the country's preeminent running coaches. A mother and daughter from New Mexico left not a dry eye in talking about the mother's battle with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma - she is not yet in remission but did the 5K that was held in conjunction with the half marathon, while her daughter did the half as part of Team in Training. They also celebrated the funds raised by the 200+ TNT participants (over $800,000) and we applauded both first-timers and folks who've done literally dozens of these fundraising efforts. Simply amazing, and definitely inspiring.

Speaking of inspiring. . .we also got a great surprise Saturday morning when the front desk called to say I had a package - Carol and John sent me a good luck fruit bouquet! It was such a nice thing to do, and it made for great breakfast the rest of the weekend!

Sunday was race day (see next post), which we followed up with a good (salty) lunch and then we had to take the boys back to the airport so they could report to work on Monday. Mom and I were pretty knocked out so we laid low, had a good shrimp dinner, and then tried to stay up to watch TV with very little success.

Monday we headed to The Pier (kind of like if Chicago's Navy Pier was shrunken and then molded into a shape not dissimilar to the Starship Enterprise) for a belated birthday lunch for Mom at the Columbia Restaurant.

More good food and excellent pelican watching (I heart pelicans - I snap dozens of pictures of pelicans on every tropical trip we take). After a stop at the mall, we went over to Emily and Dane's (Emily's a friend and IEG colleague of mine who works out of a home office in FL) for a really nice, relaxing dinner and a peek at their gorgeous new home.

Tuesday we headed back to the airport and made it back home safely to be greeted by some ugly Chicago weather. But Matt was there to greet us too, and we have Thanksgiving to look forward to, so that made it easier to swallow that we had to leave the sun and relaxation. :)

A great trip all around, and I would definitely go back to St. Pete's for a long weekend once again! Huge thanks to Mom and the guys for making it a great trip.

Muller Girls Shopping Weekend

Delayed post here, but wanted to share these cute pictures from the 26th annual Muller Girls Shopping Weekend. This was my 21st, as you have to be 10 to participate (ten-year-olds usually have the requisite stamina and ability to keep gifts secret). Always before Thanksgiving, we girls have a big breakfast and then hit the mall (and every big box store we can find) in search of bargains and to hang out while crossing gifts off our lists. The teenagers among us (Beth and Courtney) keep things fun, and they looked the way the rest of us felt when they crashed out on Grandma's couch after about 14 hours of shopping (no exaggeration). Can't wait til next year!

Purplepalooza and Birthday Fun

We had a great Halloween weekend, even though we didn't do much Halloween-related! On Saturday, John and Carol were generous (as always) and gave us their tickets to the Northwestern game (versus Penn State). And since it was Halloween, it was “Purplepalooza” and they encouraged folks to wear purple and handed out ponchos. I stepped up to the occasion with no less than four different shades or purple (though, admittedly, you could only see two!) and we bought Matt another NU winter hat so he was in the spirit too. It was my first time wearing my fabulous new purple polka-dot headband-cum-ear warmer my friend Rebecca made and it was a very appropriate first outing for it! Matt needed his hat too as it got pretty cold as the sun went down (maybe that explains why our team froze up the last quarter and a half?). We had a really fun time – thanks again John and Carol!

Then on Sunday we celebrated Carol's birthday with more football (what else?) as we hung out and watched the Bears at their place. Then we went out for a very nice dinner and just spent the day enjoying the company and having good talks. Happy, happy birthday, Carol!!!

Matt is a Frosted Mini-Wheat

Matt and his HF Science Department colleagues are all going as cereal box characters this year. The obvious choice for Matt is a Frosted Mini-Wheat, don't you think? Here's Matt, and here are a few images of the Frosted Mini-Wheat guy, so you can see what we were going for. Happy Halloween!!!

Craft Show. . .Continued (50 photos), by Diane Knoepke

I created a snapfish album of remaining inventory from this weekend's craft show - if you're interested, please e-mail me or give me a ring. Be sure to view the photos with the captions turned on if you look at the slideshow as there are descriptions and information on availability, etc.
Click here to view photos

TNT Craft and Bake Sale at Our House

On Saturday, we had a successful first foray into a Craft and Bake Sale to raise funds for charity. We'd done in-home craft and bake sales before, but this was a different animal since it was benefiting the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society as part of my Team in Training (TNT) participation.

FIRST AND FOREMOST, I have to thank everyone who donated their time, materials, sweat, and talents to the sale. In no particular order, my thanks and love to Mom, Dad, Matt, Aunt Rae, John, Carol, Rebecca and Lisa (sure hope I didn't miss anyone!) I could NEVER have done it without all that wonderful support! It's overwhelming to me that I have so much crafting and baking talent within my inner circle of family and friends.

Next I have to thank all the friends, family and neighbors who stopped by to shop the sale. We only had a few minutes in the afternoon where there wasn't anyone over, and we really enjoyed the visits as much as we did raising the funds.

We did really well, raising nearly $600 for TNT on Saturday, and we're still selling items this week to help me get over the hump to reach my goal. I would definitely do this again, but I know I for one will start crafting more than two months out next time!

Thanks again to everyone.