Three

This is what three looks like.

And this.


And, after a long day with no nap, this.

I had plans for a super hero party to celebrate Jack's third birthday. I've been collecting ideas for awhile which included cardboard boxes painted to look like buildings and personalized capes and different super hero abilities given to each party guest. But when Chris' Dad called to invite us down to the desert the weekend I had pin marked for the celebration, I was relieved to put it off - it's been a rough winter.

I know we've had fairly elaborate third birthdays for both Athena and Zoe, but the third time around reaching three, I also know that this birthday is not the most remembered. Plus, I was at a loss as to who to invite. There is some mention of "Nicholas" and "Keenan" at school, and a budding friendship with little Leo across the street, but other than that, his sisters are his favorite playmates.

And we love a trip to Palm Springs, especially when it includes a golf tournament for Chris. For me, the most recent cool thing about visiting Grandaddio and Grandma Andree in Palm Springs is that Baba and Nana now live there too! It's the Land of Grandparents and its pretty easy ricocheting our crazy crew between the two households when the chaos and noise become too much in the usually quiet and sedate homes.

So we were happy to abandon plans for a big party and postpone for next year. Instead we left the planning up to the Granddads.

Baba prepared a sweet 3rd birthday breakfast, as is the family tradition.


With super yummy chocolate cake, the strawberries made it "breakfast."

And lots of presents to open. Many we brought with us, sent by family members across the country.

In true Third Child tradition, Jack's main present from us was unwrapped and still in its Sears bag from whence it came. It was a long couple of days before we had to pack our crew and road trip to Palm Springs. Sigh. I promise I will make it up to you my darling little Dude.

Regardless of my lack of birthday preparations, this little Dude loved all his presents and celebrations.

After Birthday Breakfast, a day at the ZOO was the next on the agenda. Palm Springs has an excellent Zoo for African and Central American animals, "The Living Desert"
not a bad way to spend one's third birthday.


Athena tried to show Jack "three" but he kept on saying he was "six."


The Living Desert Zoo was nothing short of awesome: cheetahs, zebras and warthogs.

The girls declared it the "best day ever" even before the day was fully complete.

Any day that includes BABY GIRAFFES has got to be one of the best days ever.


Zoe had to have her picture taken with the giraffes as they are her second favorite animal in the world (Zebras being the first, of course).


And poor Baba was on triple piggy back duty, carrying little ones all throughout the park, nevermind the 89 degree heat.

There was also a massive train model train set that we could have watched all day.

And a carousel.

Which the little Dude preferred to enjoy for a bench rather than an ostrich.

While the girls chose a more wild ride.
And then we all went home for naps.

And stayed up way too late snuggling and talking by the fire pit.

The reason for the trip, besides being able to celebrate Jack's third with family, was so that Chris could be a part of a long standing family tradition - a men's golf tournament at Grandaddio's club. All the uncles were there, and David, cousin Matt, a hearty sampling of Liebels. In past visits to Palm Springs, its been alot of work for me because Chris always wants to golf and when he golfs, I am left with all three kids for hours. Either nervously by the pool (I dislike being with all three non swimming kids and just myself in the pool) or impatiently at the condo. But, now with Dad and Patricia just 10 minutes away, Chris can golf the day away and we...

have Bocce ball tournaments in Baba's orange grove, or

go kitty hunting, trying to catch sight of one of the four kitties who live there and make themselves scarce when they see little people, or


chill in the sun by the pool, or

swim the day away.

Each day of our trip started with a very early dip in the pool. The girls begged to get in the pool the minute they woke up and it was hard work getting them to wait until the grownups had had their coffee and the sun was fully risen and it was warmer than 68 degrees outside. At 9am one morning, Zoe complained that she hadn't been in the pool "all day" and when was she ever going to get to swim.

See Baba heats the jacuzzi up to a comfortable degree and they would spin around their "little pool" for hours. Its shallow enough so they don't have to be attached to a parent and the pool is cleaned by salt, not chlorine, its practically a large bathtub. They spent so many hours in Baba's pool they nearly grew fins.

We had such a lovely time. Thank you Baba and Nana!
The kids are already begging to go back.

****

Grandaddio (and Aunt Barb, Andrea, Aunt Fran and Grandma Andree) also threw Jack a little third soiree. Making his one birthday dream come true, a "Star Wars" cake. See the little finger marks on the bottom left hand corner, yeah, that was Uncle David...

We got a chance to reunite with our lovely summer bride,
Andrea, now happily married to the Big Guy, Matt. So great to see them and catch up.


And Jack got a Liebel serenade. Uncle David filmed and promptly put it on Facebook.


followed by lots more presents to open.


And with that my little Dude is officially three.
We love you to bits and pieces little boy.
I can't believe its only been three years as I can no longer imagine life without you.
Even your big sister Zoe thinks your awesome.

Athena's 7th Birthday Sleepover!

For Athena's 7th birthday party (I know, right, seven!) she wanted nothing more than a sleepover. Even though she has yet to sleepover anywhere herself (other than family) this was what she wanted more than anything else...even Disneyland. And since popcorn and cupcakes are a whole lot cheaper than the House of Mouse, I happily agreed.

For the first time I was able to keep the guest list small and resisted my impulse to invite everyone. No more than five friends we agreed, just our favorite friends, and with Zoe and Athena that made seven little girls in all.

At first she wanted to invite boys too. Her second best friend, next to Amelia, is Wyatt after all. She didn't get why boys weren't allowed at a girls sleepover. Girls only, we said. So even Jack and Chris got out of there after this picture.

They were so sweet when they all sat down to a table of subway sandwiches, cheese puffs and juice boxes. You could really see their personalities come out as they chatted back and forth telling jokes and trying to make each other laugh.

I told them I wanted to keep every one of them and live in a house of seven girls. Amelia agreed that this was a great idea and that we should send Jack to live with her brother.

I was so proud of my Zoe, holding her own with the big girls. She kept pace with every one of them. I resisted inviting one of her friends so that she wouldn't feel left out. And she never did, not for one minute, she was an honorary seven year old.

While the girls were eating I showed them the basket of scrolls that each held a fun activity idea, "Oh" said Vanessa, "Sort of like a 'To Do' list." Exactly, I said, when you tire of one activity you can pick a scroll for the next one.

Athena got to pick the first scroll, which I think was Flashlight Hide and Seek. Following that was Nail Salon. Then...

Pillow Case races! And...

XBox Disney (Thanks, Baba!)

And a Pillow Fight!


a quiet game of Hello Kitty Bingo

and just simply throwing confetti. Seriously, if you ever find yourself in a house with seven little girls (and you don't mind sweeping) you've got to get yourself a bag of confetti.

I laughed so hard at their pure joy.

Eventually we made our way to cupcakes in a jar and candles...

That's right, I said "cupcakes in a jar"...they were delish!

Especially with the pink milk!

Athena's friend Vanessa shares the exact same birthday,
so we all sang "Happy Birthday Cha Cha Cha" to her as well.

Finally presents were opened...

and then played with in the girls room.

Around 9 o'clock we settled them down with a movie, and then tucked them into their sleeping bags on the living room floor around 10:30. They wiggled and giggled until I fell asleep around 11:30 and a couple of them stayed up even later than that (i.e. Athena and Amelia). And then wouldn't you know, we heard giggling at 6:15 the next morning.

See the thing about sleepovers is that they keep on going, and are still going on in the morning. We woke to an early am balloon fight. Oh to have that energy before coffee.

After a couple of iCarlys, we sat down to breakfast of homemade cinnamon rolls, fresh fruit and eggs. Plus more pink milk.

Then the girls all got dressed, gathered their stuff and played outside until the Moms and Dads came to pick them up one by one. It was exhausting but so much fun! Even I had fun.

Fifth Post of Christmas

Poppop flew in today and was immediately put to work reading stories, playing Princess card games and zooming cars across the kitchen floor. He was tired from his long trip but still fresh and easily engaged in our ongoing chaos, he hasn't tuned it out yet. The reinforcements have arrived just as Yiayia is getting tired.
Later that evening, we got a call. A prerecorded message from Santa himself, first to Athena, then Zoe. He said how wonderfully they've behaved lately (luckily catching them just after they cleared the dinner table) and that he would be sure to stop by our house first. The look on Zoe's face was priceless. Athena is sometimes teetering on disbelief, I know she's over heard some things on the play ground, but she has yet to ask a direct question. And we are doing everything possible to reinforce the myth.

My sister and I wholeheartedly believed in Santa at their age. Even when my Dad tried to convince us that Santa would prefer beer and peanuts to milk and cookies, we still believed. We even tried to stay up all Christmas Eve to catch a peek at him. I think that was the year my parents put a red cloth over a bouncing flashlight and jingled bells outside our bedroom window, perpetuating our belief for at least three more years.

So are we going to keep up the myth, you betcha! It's endless fun to see their faces every time they find their elf in a different place. This is such a special time of year and Santa is the embodiment of the excitement and joy and indescribable magic of the season. Besides who wants literal children, I want mine to believe in fairies and magic and that they can fly if they just wish hard enough, you know, at least for a few more years.

P.S. Thanks Uncle Stu!

Sixth Post of Christmas

The girls are getting so excited about Christmas coming soon. Every night as I tuck them in bed, they count down the days, "Six more days until Christmas!" they said breathlessly, "only six more days!" Only six more days, g'ah, there's so much more to do!

Here's a new tradition we started this year, which I hope to keep up. The kids love mail and love all the wonderful mail we get around Christmas. So, after school pick up we've come home with bundles of card-like handwritten mail and made a snack of hot cocoa with whipped cream and candy canes for stirring. A Christmas cookie makes a nice garnish. The hot cocoa is homemade with milk, cocoa and powdered sugar and it really does taste great with candy canes, however I prefer mine mixed with heated up, leftover morning coffee - so yummy.

Then the kids get to open all the holiday mail.

"Yay, Uncle Stu!" Zoe says. "I got Bailey!" says Athena. Then they look at Jack's card, a card from a dear friend of mine from Kentucky. "Who is that?" the girls ask, looking over Jack's shoulder at Nicole's darling little two-year old girl, Taylor. "That's my friend!" Jack says confidently.

Ever since that afternoon, Nicole's card has become Jack's card, he even asked to take it with him during naptime once ("my card! mycard!") and as I closed the door I saw him staring at the picture before cuddling up with it. Now Taylor's picture is on our fridge (slightly wrinkled) where Jack can see her everyday, and Jack knows her name "That's Taylor! She's my girlfriend."

I know he doesn't really know what a "girlfriend" and that he is just using the language of his sisters, but it is so darn cute.

So, I'm wondering how old they need to be before I can set them up.

Seventh Post of Christmas

These are ready to go out in the morning. Each year we promise ourselves we'll get started earlier, and each year we're just getting them in the mail to hit before Christmas Eve. This pile of Christmas CDs represents quite a few hours of work getting them created and assembled, not to mention the photo shoot (oh the photo shoot!) and updating all the new addresses! But it is a labor of love. And we are very pleased to present our fifth annual Liebel Family Christmas CD. Look for it in your mailbox shortly, or PM me to receive one. Let me know when you get it, so I can post the outtakes, they are dooseys!

Eighth Post of Christmas

I left to run a few errands and hit the mall, by myself, for a little solo Christmas shopping. The traffic lines to get into the parking lot were overwhelming, but I had great shopping mojo and got a few great finds, can you say Gap Long and Leans for 40% off!

When I got home, hours after I was expected, I found Yiayia playing Uno with the girls and these chocolate raindeer looking at me from the kitchen counter.

They are way too delicious, my new Long and Leans are already tight....oof.

Ninth Post of Christmas

Nothing terribly Christmassy happened today, so for the ninth post of Christmas I'm going to catch everyone up on our Elf activities, as I've had questions. First, no, we did not invent the elf. The elf exists at many a Barnes and Nobles and can even be found at Target, however OUR particular elf came from Santa himself...

See it all started when the girls wrote their letters to Santa.

The very next day (speedy Santa delivery) a package arrived at our doorstep.

The brown paper package tied up with string (Chris asked if Santa put the string back where it he found it) arrived mysteriously. Inside was an elf with a book that explained how the elf helps Santa determine who is naughty or nice. The elf watches you during the day and flies to Santa with his reports at night. Every morning he is in a different place, but you must never touch him because that will take away his magic. We named our elf "Bob the Happy Elf" and he is very silly and mischievous.

Isn't he cute? Chris thinks he's slightly creepy.

The first night he made us a snowflake to decorate our home.

A few mornings later we found him making flour angels on the counter.

He brought gingerbread friends, that were very delicious.

Although Jack cried a little when he ate them.

Then, after we decorated our tree, all the elves who normally adorn different branches
all met on one branch, having what seemed to be a party...or, perhaps, a meeting.

The next morning all the elves were dispersed to different rooms of the house, we even found one in the car. Perhaps they became elfish minions of Bob and are now helping him supervise our activity?

"Mom!" Athena exclaimed, as if she had just discovered something amazing,
"The elves are alive!"

The following morning Bob was found like this, with quite a few Christmas cookies missing...hmmm.
and then the following performing a puppet show for the Smurfs.
Bob has provided lots of entertainment. He's the first thing the girls look for in the morning and are so surprised when they find out what he's been up to as they sleep. He's brought them snow globes and Christmas socks, hung from the chandelier, windows and snuggled in their stockings.

What on earth will he do next?

Tenth Post of Christmas

Tonight was Athena's Christmas concert. The kids, all K through 2nd graders, were amazing. I simply cannot believe how many new songs they learned, one in spanish even, and all the spoken word filler telling the Christmas story from A to Z. It was pretty impressive. I know they've been working hard on this program as I've heard bits and pieces of it throughout the last few weeks, when Athena sings to herself, but it was wonderful to see it all put together.

Before the performance I had time to snap a few pictures of the little ones all dressed up.

Athena and her BFF, Amelia...

My darling Zoe totally scrumptious in her Christmas dress...

and Jack who really was not into it.

My photo session was cut short by Chris meeting us at the performance,

he came straight from work.

Remember what I said about "parent papparazzi" -
few point and clicks here, they go for the full on telephoto lenses. I'm soo jealous.

After the performance we came home to attempt a few more photos, with Yiayia this time.

Yiayia arrived last night, Christmas has officially begun!