No Really, Is Winter EVER Going to End?!

Umm Mom, Seriously will it ever stop snowing?!  

I don't remember what it is like to have my pasty thighs being kissed by the sun!

So as you can tell, we are really really over winter!  All the news channels say this may be the worse winter in Minneapolis history.  Friends tell us if we make it through this one we are true Minnesotans.  We just say this STINKS!  The temperatures have been insanely cold, almost 30 degrees lower than average temps, even for Minneapolis.  In addition, the snow totals were down a bit but because it is SO COLD nothing is melting!  We literally have mountains by our front door, our backyard is something Boomer won't even attempt any longer and our driveway has to towers on either side that could rival most mountains!  

Yep this is what childhood looks like for Minnesotans!

This was a fairly quiet week in the beginning.  We enjoyed having our random President's day off thanks to Cargill.  Maci went to daycare and Clint and I got things done that never happen when Maci is around, or at least that quick!  We were coasting through the week when Thursday hit!  It started to snow around 10a and did not stop until around 2a Friday morning!  I left work early on Thursday (3p) because I heard the roads were getting bad.  Miss M was not too happy that I picked her up early from daycare, especially at snack time - goof ball!  She was even less happy when we told her we wouldn't be going to swim lessons due to the weather, ugh I was disappointed too!  We then waited out the storm and on Friday morning made the smart call to both work from home and keep Miss M with us.  MN Dept of Transportation said  these were the worse roads they had seen in at least 25+ years!  I mean seriously, I don't need to see these records being broken.  The problem wasn't the amount of snow, about 10 inches, nothing for these parts.  However, Thursday was fairly warm ~30+ degrees and so the snow was melting and almost a rain at times.  Therefore, it all froze over and when they would plow the fresh snow, ice remained.  In addition, the temps then dropped back down to our lovely average this winter of maybe 10 degrees, if you are lucky.  So there you have it, ice on roads, cold temps and nothing melting!  Clint and I couldn't believe how bad the roads still were when we ventured out for gym on Saturday morning, but we had to get out!  :)  Afterward, we grabbed yummy brunch at Coopers (West End near our house) with our friends Halston/John/Baby Harper and Ryan/Baby Natalie (Jacey was out of town) followed by some regular Saturday errands and vegging!  

Proof for my mom of Maci climbing her stool to watch dad snow blow!

We did a lot of vegging this weekend which was nice since Clint is in Chicago Wed-Sat of this coming week with work.  He no sooner gets home Saturday evening when I have to turn around to China for work (Sun-following Sat).  That means we may be a week behind on the blog unless I can teach Clint how to update :)  umm yea we will be a week behind on the blog!! ;-)

Boo on Winter!

We hope the rest of our family and friends are enjoying slightly warmer temps and we are about to start a countdown to spring!  I did order Maci some fun spring/summer clothes online this weekend in hopes that she will get to enjoy wearing them. . . .one day!

Lots of Love,

C, K & M

Happy Valentine's Day!

Yet another cold snowy week in MN but at least we had a little extra special fun due to Valentine's day at the end of the week!

Maci got to enjoy her first Valentine's day at daycare and they even exchanged Valentine's cards which was super cute :)  Her class had a Valentine's day snack time on Friday where all the parents were invited to share in snack time with the kids 330p.  I got stuck at work a little longer than I wanted but thankfully Clint was there to fill in until I could make it - Miss M was soooo HAPPY to see the both of us hanging out in her classroom!  Then Friday night we got to go out for some dinner and drinks while our babysitter Ali watched Maci.  But we couldn't leave until Daddy gave Maci her first real Valentine's gift which she was quite happy about.  What a wonderful Valentine's day!

Saturday morning we started our day with our favorite Saturday activity, gym class!  Maci was in such a great mood at gym and really got into her somersaults which she has dreaded in the past :)  Check out this great video of her in action later in the night when we were practicing at home!

After gym, I had a hair appointment and decided to do something drastic!  I have wanted to change up my hairstyle for a while.  Ever since Maci, I have gotten in a bad habit of using ponytails as my go to look, even at work.  I hate how frumpy it makes me feel so I decided I was going to cut my hair in a bob (much shorter, right above my shoulders) and to add some fringy bangs to add something different to my look.  The color looks a little darker in the picture than it is in person and you don't see the blonde in the picture but it gives you a good idea.  I really like it but I am also still getting use to seeing myself looking completely different in the mirror!

After all of this excitement, we decided to run our usual grocery errand on Saturday afternoon and I guess Maci hadn't quite gotten a long enough nap with Dad while I was having my hair done so this is what she decided to do in the Target cart :)  She had a huge red mark on her face after she woke up but what a crazy girl. . . she just goes with the flow!

Today we went sledding for the first time at the school/park a few doors down from us.  Needless to say our friend Ryan was right when he said it was a Black Diamond hill for our girls.  This will be the "go to" hill when Maci and her friends are in grade school but it was INSANE to have taken her down this hill in our rickety plastic sled.  Both Clint and I took her down a few times and after having to use our feet for brakes, Maci had more snow in her face than anywhere else.  Well we gave it a whirl at least :)  After about the 30 mins of that craziness, we decided to head home and Maci's friend Natalie came over with her dad Ryan and mom Jacey, our friends.  We ordered pizza, watched Olympics and watched the girls crack each other up.  They truly are the bestest little buds, so cute to hear them giggle while they play either at our homes, swim or gym class.

Tomorrow Clint and I get the day off, thank you Cargill for recognizing President's day as a work holiday!  Maci has school so we will be enjoying the day kid free.  We are going to see a movie, do some things around the house and I will even get a little work done in order to take advantage of the free day.  We hope everyone has a great week!

Lots of Love,
C, K & M

Long Long Winter

Our house is a little sick of winter at this point!  At least we have lots of laughs to look forward to each week thanks to Miss M.  We have a big Valentine's Day party coming up this Friday at her school.  Otherwise we are just low key and trying to stay sane through winter temps.  Enjoy checking out our past week :)  Hopefully we all see spring soon!

Lots of Love,
C, K & M

I got to "cook" with play dough at school!

I always LOVE gym class!!

 Ball Time @ Gym!

 We spent Sunday morning at the Zoo!!  Thank God for Indoor Displays!

Maci LOVES the Bee Hive Playroom for 1-3 Year Olds!

 Mom Loves Making us Sit on this Turtle!

 Maci's Favorite is still the Tropical Fish/Shark Area

 But the Penguins are becoming a close 2nd!

And when we weren't out and about, Miss M enjoyed watching the winter Olympics!

Maci One Year Photos

Feel free to check out Maci's One Year Photos.  We really enjoy this photographer because we swore she didn't smile the entire hour.  She was at least able to catch a few smiles, as well as a few of her signature attitude looks as well.

If anyone wants to order any prints, let me know and I can email you the file link vs you having to pay online.

Your photos are ready to be viewed! Please visit my website at http://www.createdbymephotography.com/ and visit the customer proofing link.

Your  password and access code is M2014

Enjoy!

C, K & M

New Classroom & Mondell's Visit!

Maci had a busy start to her week!  We kicked off our Monday by taking her to the Dr for her 1 year well check up.  She is 51% weight (22 lbs) and about 39% height (29 1/2 I believe).  The Dr said she is doing exceptionally well on all development fronts, especially physical with her intense walking capabilities.  Maci did not love the Dr though when it was time for 3 shots =( but she is far braver than her momma and only cried at the time of the shots.  Brave lil lady.

After the Dr she got to go into daycare a little late and this was her first official day in her new classroom "transition room"for ~12 - 22 month olds.  Maci loved visiting this room over the last few months and is so excited that we get to go in this door now instead of baby room, she is just too old for that room =( or so she thinks!  Look at all the fun she had in her first week of the transition room!

Yum Oatmeal Breakfast!

 Wear your PJs to school day & bring your toothbrush to practice brushing!!

Nice Hair Maci!

Good Lunch!!

How Cute!!  It was picnic snack time with her friends!  

Maci is in the Dolphins shirt b/c it was wear your favorite team day on Friday for the Super Bowl

***  She was only in Dolphins b/c she out grew her Bengals gear ;-)

Daycare was a blast this week but Maci also had other exciting plans for this week, Nanny & Grandpa Mondell came to celebrate her 1st birthday a little late.  They got into town on Thursday night but unfortunately their plane was delayed so they didn't get to see swim lessons.  On Friday grandparents got to explore town while we all went to work/daycare.  That night we rented yummy Jets pizza and watched Captain Philips.  On Saturday morning they got to see Maci and her friends enjoy gym class followed by breakfast at Uptown diner.  The Mondells wanted to see the Cabela's in Rogers, MN so we drove up there over the afternoon and while others took a nap, I enjoyed a solo trip to Target for groceries and new daycare clothes for Miss M.  That brings us to today where we went to Toby Keith's for lunch and now are relaxing just waiting on Super Bowl Sunday to kick off :)  Thankfully they don't have to leave until Tuesday morning so they will get to watch Miss M tomorrow vs her going to daycare.  Clint and I will work and hopefully be able to get in a little early since we have our babysitters already in the house!  Tomorrow night we plan to eat wild rice soup and play with Maci before they leave the following morning.  What a FUN weekend!

Enjoy the Super Bowl!
May the Bengals be in the big game once again one day in my life time!
Love,
C, K & M