Two Christmas Elves Make the Rounds (and Get Spoiled)

I dug out a couple elf hats and we surprised our parents and my grandma by wearing them pretty much all of Christmas day.

We started the day with gifts from Santa, and then Mom made us a great breakfast. We opened presents and all got fun new toys! We had a nice morning with my parents and grandma, but it went too fast as usual!
Then we went to Matt's parents and opened more presents (only children. . .spoiled rotten. . .) and had a wonderful dinner. The presents from John and Carol included our tickets to this weekend's bowl game in Houston! John and Carol bought us the tickets--they cheered the 'Cats at the Alamo Bowl a few years ago and now we're heading to Texas to hopefully get a win! Will post pictures from our adventure when we get back!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Christmas is for the Kitties

I often hear people say "Christmas is for the kids" and I think that's a very wise statement. But in our house, the "kids" are fur children, and we always have a good time Christmas morning with them.
For their stockings this year, I found adorable tins of "cookies" and "sushi" cat toys. The cookie ones came with little paper wrappers, which was brilliant because it (a) made it cuter and (b) gave the cats who like crinkly things (both of ours do) a bonus toy. The sushi one came with a rod, which is kind of a little fish joke I guess, but also added to the fun.

Harper with a cookie
Ollie with a piece of shrimp sushi
Christmas spirit? Bah humbug? Either way, we love him.

Christmas Eve: Cinnamon Rolls and Ugly Socks

We have so many fun little traditions at the holidays and I look forward to each and every one of them.

We always start Christmas Eve at Matt's parents. John makes scratch cinnamon rolls with scratch icing and pretends that the (also very yummy) fruit salad we eat with them somehow cancels out the decadence! The cinnamon rolls somehow taste better every year, which is hard to believe since we have such high expectations! It might have something to do with John's little secret (that I'm going to tell you): he doubles the cinnamon roll filling and icing recipe but not the dough! We also get to ice them ourselves, controlling how thick the frosting is, which adds an extra flavor profile for the control freaks (eh hem, me) in the family. They're ridiculously good and he makes eight so we can each have one as a leftover. Matt and I each ate our second today and it was terrific.

After a nice morning with John and Carol, we headed to my Aunt Leila's for the Muller celebration. My dad's side has gotten together on Christmas Eve for as long as I can remember, a cherished tradition for all of us. And several little traditions take place as well, some older than others. We always play the "Twas the Night Before Christmas" game--once you're about 10 or so, you know it by heart--where we pass presents each time my mom (the reader) says "and" during the poem. Her little secret? Sometimes she adds extra "ands" to keep us on our toes. Hope Mr. Moore doesn't mind. :)

Other traditions include little kids piling up on (trying to smother?) big kids. My mom has a picture that I absolutely love of me at toddler age sitting on one of my teenage cousin's backs while he was laying on the floor. So I suppose this one has been going on for at least 30 years! Matt somehow avoided the six-kid pile-up, but our second-oldest "kid" Beth got the treatment from Matthew, Chad, Erin and Erin's American Girl doll!
We also wear ugly Christmas socks. Though "socks" has expanded to include the whole footwear category. I have the pink kitty cats with the scarves, Matt has the reindeer feet (he wore them last year too; they're the only ones we've found actually big enough), Mom has the red slippers, Dad the striped ones. Lots of good ones this year!
We also took our annual group photos. . .

Dad, Mom, Matt and me
Courtney, Chad, Chrissy, Zach and Ron
Erin, Marianne, Matthew, Beth and Brian
All the kiddos with their Grandma Leila
All the kiddos with their Great-Grandma Mary
Matt and me. We were cracking up because most of the peanut gallery was jokingly saying "awwwww..." and "say LOVE!" and such embarrassing things, through giggles (ours and theirs). We didn't coordinate our outfits, but with how often Matt wears red and how often I wear green (our coats that day were those colors, respectively), this could have been any Saturday (well, except for the socks).

Another great, great day.

Christmas Week Commences: Schmiedeknecht Thanksmas

Last Sunday, we kicked off a week of Christmas celebration with what I call "Thanksmas" as the Schmiedeknecht side gets together on a weekend between Thanksgiving and Christmas to celebrate each year.

We had a really pretty drive to Michigan then ate a lot, opened presents, played "Twas the Night Before Christmas" and enjoyed the kids and each other.

A big hit at the party--with all the kids, big and small--was Capone, A.J. and Nichole's new puppy. He's ADORABLE and whines in the cutest baby dog sort of way! I know he's a handful, but snuggling with him was so sweet and fun.

Anna and Capone (she gets to live with him all the time!)
Ryan and Capone Matt and Capone

Ryan and Dylan playing with some of their new toys. There's not much cuter than kiddos sprawled out on their tummies playing together.

November, Month O' Tradition

Perhaps more than any other month, November is full of traditions for us. Some are newer than others, but all have a pretty strong hold.

HOT CHOCOLATE 5K
When the Hot Chocolate race comes to town, you know we're getting close to the holiday season. It's a huge race--something like 45,000 runners between the 15K and 5K races--and a lot of fun. It's usually chilly by the first weekend in November, so the hot chocolate and fondue at the finish line (or thereabouts) is a terrific treat! They did a nice job with the details this year to live up to its "Sweetest Race" claims. I especially loved the start-line music, including "Sweet Caroline" and "Sweet Child of Mine" and many other thematic tunes. Very clever.


MULLER GIRLS SHOPPING DAY XXVIII
Just like the last 27 years, we came to play. Marianne and I had our spirit shoes on (mine Northwestern purple, hers Purdue gold)--we had no idea we had the same shoes! And then later Beth climbed the shelves at Toys R Us in order to find the items on Santa's list.



THANKSGIVING
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving at our house. The company was the best, and the food was superb. Mom brought all our favorite football-watching snacks, Matt cooked an amazing meal (as always), and John brought pies and croissants made from scratch.

Dad, Grandma Muller, Mom, Carol, Aunt Leila, John


WREATHING OF THE LIONS
We think you need to be super brave (or nuts) to partake in Black Friday shopping. So instead we head to the Art Institute for holiday cheer while they place the wreaths around the famous lions' necks. This year was the 20th anniversary of the tradition for Chicago. There was as big of a crowd as ever (the gorgeous weather didn't hurt) and there was a wonderful choir that performed outside during the wreathing and then inside afterwards. The acoustics on the staircase were amazing!


Happy hubs, waiting for the wreathing


Crowd


Choir on the Women's Board Staircase

Wildcat Football 2011 (So Far)

Today was our last Northwestern home football game of the season. Matt and John went to all six; I made it to four. So there are pictures from four. :) This year, they opened up the golf course for tailgating and we were able to secure a parking pass, as did several good friends. And we had our same seats, at about the 30-yard line on the south end, right above the team families' seats.



THE FOOTBALL
We end the regular season with a 6-6 overall, 3-5 Conference record. My record for games attended was a not-so-great 1-3, but the games were exciting and we played well a lot of the time. The weather was also quite good this year, compared to past years. The last two games were cold and wet, respectively, but there's no room for fairweather fans in our camp.



Love seeing all the purple in the stands!


Time for the cold weather NU gear


THE FRIENDS
We were joined at games and tailgates by several pals, and even if they were rooting for different teams, we still enjoyed their company.

Bleeding purple to BEAT MICHIGAN (well, we tried)


Trip and Bliss counter with their maize tees


Liz, Bliss and me: Neutral, Michigan by marriage, and ALL WILDCAT, BABY!


Homecoming (v. Penn State)--Pedro and I worked at the Cone Zone together 15 years ago!


My KD ladies came home! Beth, Jenn, Liz, Debbie, me and Alison


Today's game v. Michigan State - Kwak and I were happy to have our wellies


Ryan, Carl, Jenny, Eric and me trying to stay relatively dry--we took another one with Eric's hood pulled back but I think this one is funnier


Can't help it - it's me, Kwak and a WET WILLIE!!!


THE FOOD
The Knoepke men don't mess around, let me tell you. We ate very, very well at each and every tailgate.

For the first two night-game tailgates (Michigan and Penn State), they did ribs and brats and all the accompaniments. YUM. And then for the last two 11 AM-game tailgates (Minnesota and Michigan State), they made bacon and eggs along with steak sandwiches for Minnesota and bbq pork for Michigan State. Add some mimosas into the mix and we lived very large!



Now it's time to GO BOWLING! As of now, Matt and I are planning on going to whatever bowl we get, so let's hope it's a good one! And let's hope that we will be present for a long-overdue BOWL WIN! GO CATS!!!

Master Class: Napping

The boys put on a master class in napping yesterday. It was extraordinary even for two such talented and experienced nappers. I don't know if their busy schedule this past week just wore them out or what, but they schooled us big time in the daylight sleeping arts.

Here, demonstrating "the peaceful sprawl" is Prof. Oliver Woodstock Knoepke.*


Here Prof. Ollie demonstrates the rare "sweet snuggle maneuver" with the help of Prof. Harper Reginald Knoepke.**


*Also known as: Ollie, Olliewood, Crazypants, Orange cat, Whiny britches, Ollie Ollie Ollie Oy Oy Oy, Monsieur Le Holstein a l'Orange, Punk.

**Also known as: Harp, Harpy, King Harper, Gray cat, Harpity-Harp-Harp, Snuzzle-wuzzleface, Baby.

A Zucchini to Feed the World

OK, so we're not going to win any "biggest zucchini" blue ribbons or anything, but I was certainly surprised when Matt brought these two zucchinis in from the garden yesterday. I didn't even know we had any growing--these two grew fast and furious! There must be something to our "ignore it and don't think about it" strategy of gardening this summer that grows hearty, big veggies.

Seymour the Squash is another example--he grew out of our compost bin and is now covering a large area outside it. I threw decorative (but real) gourds in there after Thanksgiving last year and nine months later, Seymour! It's too dark to get a good picture tonight but when I think of it (or when we harvest him), I'll share a snap of him.

In the meantime, I believe tomorrow's dinner will involve zucchini/parmesan bake. And I also see zucchini bread in the near future! No complaints here.

It Just Wouldn't Be Labor Day Weekend. . .

...without a Muller-Knoepke Home Improvement Project! What I asked Matt for for my birthday was to switch one of our guest rooms with our workout room. The workout room gets more use (and it better since I'm training for a marathon) but was crammed into the smaller space.

I am thrilled with the transformation, the new workout room feels miles bigger and the new guest room is just as cozy and comfortable as the old one, just with fewer furniture pieces.

We gave the new guest room a much-needed fresh coat of paint. It was one of few rooms we hadn't painted since buying the house three years ago, and it needed some love. And Mom and Matt covered the valance boxes Matt built in a very cozy green chenille. A few details are left--namely, new lampshades--but it's ready to roll and very cozy. I can see myself hanging out in there a bit this fall and winter!


The new gym is just what I wanted! There's more space around the treadmill so it doesn't feel jammed against the wall, and I have floor/mat space to stretch, lift, and meditate. It's amazing what two extra feet of width will do for my workout space!

Most of the work in here was just moving all the equipment in, but we also did a little bit of decorating too to add color to the space and give it some verve. I found a cute red lamp at Marshalls and new purple-y curtains at Walmart for a steal on clearance. No joke, $9 a panel and they are lined! (It's time for me to give some more of my purchasing power to Walmart, since they are Dress for Success' biggest corporate funder in Chicago and doing some very cool work to help our clients in real ways.) And the empty walls made for perfect spots for wall-hangings I bought in Singapore's Little India in 2008.

Still to do: we are going to wall-mount a small flat-screen (that's lived in our bedroom) in front of the treadmill and we will have my Half Marthon/Team in Training medal and our 2010 and 2011 Hustle Up the Hancock medals framed in shadow boxes to finish out the wall decor. And I'm saving a spot on the other side of one of the tapestries for next March's medal from the LA Marathon! Got to think positive!




Something else I was pretty excited about was the closet in the new gym. While it's not a great closet given our house's advanced age, it is a perfect gym locker! It helps the room feel open to have all of this put away! Hooks for bags and equipment, shelves for everything else, even floor space for stability balls--I love it all!

Huge thanks and hugs to Matt, Mom and Dad for doing all this work for me! It is an amazing birthday present that I will enjoy all year long.