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!