Maci is Two!

Clint and I didn't have the most eventful week but Miss M sure had lots of fun at daycare leading up to her big 2nd Birthday on Friday!

Kissing My Animal Friends

 Costume Kim came as Frozen's Ella and Read to the Kids

 Doing Bubble Artwork

 Reading Books from Everyone Brought from Home

Dress Up Clothes - Thursday

Maci got to wear a new dress up dress that she got as an early bday gift

 Playing with a Jello Project

Friday - Maci's 2nd Birthday!!!  Holy cow, how is she a full fledge toddler?!  She is talking up a storm, full sentences and lots of questions like "what are you doing?"  "where did you go?"  Clint and I decided to take the day off to celebrate the two of us also making it through 2 years with Miss M :)  Clint took Maci to daycare and I hopped on a quick 7a call for work.  Once Clint got home, we then both went back to bed for a bit.  We got up around 930a and went to brunch at Good Day Cafe.  Afterward, we went to Toys R Us to buy the Grandparents gift to Maci - an indoor trampoline!  We then headed home, put together the trampoline and her art easel before heading to pick up the birthday girl.  We got there and Maci was still napping (3 hours!)  We had originally planned on going to an indoor park but instead we brought Maci home to open presents, play with her new toys and her friend Natalie came over after pizza dinner to eat ice cream cake.  :)  Miss M did well in the present category with everything from an art easel to a trampoline and an Emily doll to clothes and books - WOW special girl!

Birthday Girl

 Happy Birthday Miss Maci!

 Thanks God Mommy Christie for my Doll

 Thanks Great Aunt Marilyn & Uncle Ken for my Cool Books

Saturday - We had the usual gym class in the morning and I ran the typical errands in the afternoon while Maci attempted a nap.  Clint and I were very excited for Saturday night as it was our first date night in quite a while.  Maci's former teacher at New Horizon came over to babysit - yay Ms Kaitlin! Maci was so excited to see her that she didn't even notice when we left.  Clint and I had dinner at Benihana followed by bowling at Tuttles - we had so much fun!  We are very happy we made the new years resolution to go out on a date at least 1x per month.  

Pre Dinner Drinks Selfie

 Yay for Wine

 Glow Bowling!

Sunday - So I once again realized why I don't stay up until midnight on weekends any longer and why I don't usually drink more than 2 glasses of wine - OUCH!  Maci woke us all up at about 530a but fortunately went back to bed until 730a.  Clint was then a great husband and let me go back to bed from 800-930a.  We have mainly played around the house today after having brunch at YUM!  I am attempting to be productive but would really just like to head to bed soon :)

I have a fairly busy week at work this week with a few critical meetings so I am hoping for a quick week!  Maci gets to have her 2 year check up on Tuesday morning and Clint heads to Houston for a few days.  We hope everyone has a great week!

Lots of Love, 

C, K & M

We Saw Elmo!!!!

First - thanks to Lisa for sending me a family picture from Brody's Birthday Party which proves I did in fact have a picture last week :)

We had what felt like a fast week.  OSU Buckeyes sure shined on Monday night!  Clint played flag football again this Wednesday and I had a going away happy hour on Thursday for one of our tax counsel employees who is heading to 3M.

Playing Puzzles

 Pulling Friends through the Snow

 Doing Hair - I love seeing Jack in the Mix :)

Friday - We got out of work around 4p because we had some super exciting evening plans - Sesame Street Live!!  Before the show we met up with Ryan, Jacey and their daughter Natalie (Maci's BFF) for dinner at Rock Bottom Brewery.  We were not the only ones with that idea (it is next door to the theatre downtown) and those poor servers fed toddler table after toddler table for several hours :)  We finished our dinner just in time for the show.  Before taking our seats Maci had to get a light up Elmo toy and the CD of all the songs that will be sung in the show.  Maci was in total awe of the show for the entire 1st half.  Every time Elmo would come on stage she would scream ELMO!  Intermission was spent eating M&Ms and then the 2nd half was a little rough for almost all the kids at the theatre.  2nd Half was getting near bedtime and Maci, as well as Natalie, wanted to roam the theatre.  We made it through the whole show and Maci listened to her CD on the drive home.

Saturday - Usual gym class in the morning followed by a quick breakfast and some shopping needs for daddy at the mall.  Maci then took a very nice nap while Clint and I got fully caught up on Scandal.  We are now caught up with the current season and can't wait till the next episode airs on Jan 28th, so good!  It was so nice to have a quiet and relaxing Saturday evening at home just enjoying TV with the hubby.

Best Friends Hanging Out at Gym

Sunday - We have been having some warmer winter weather (mid 30s and sunny!) so we decided to take advantage of the weather and visit the Zoo.  We love the MN Zoo since so many of the options have an indoor feature so you don't have to trek around in the bitter cold if that doesn't tickle your fancy ;-)  Maci's best buds Natalie and Harper (as well as their parents and baby Stella) also joined in the fun.  We were all amazed by how much more our kids were enjoying the animals and some of the featured activities (i.e. penguin feedings, animal story time etc).

Story Time in the Bee Hive!

Riding on the Turtle

"MOM, MONKEY!"

 Best Buds Holding Hands on MN Trail

 Ha Could They Sit Further Apart?!

 I hope this doesn't depict our future, these look like Mug Shots!

 TROUBLE

 Maci - Harper - Natalie

Terrible Twos Have Arrived :)

We wrapped up our Sunday with me running to the grocery, doing the weekly laundry and watching some crazy playoff football games.  The local Packer fans are not going to be happy tomorrow!  We are about to put crazy Miss M to bed who did NOT nap today so she is hitting a wall pretty quickly.

Tomorrow we start Miss Maci's birthday week!  We are taking Friday off to spend a long weekend together with the birthday girl.  No party this year but we will still have cake, presents and some good birthday fun on Friday.  Clint and I then have a date night planned for Saturday - wahoo!!

Lots of Love,
C, K & M

Freezing Cold Temps, Super Busy Work Days & Birthday Party Weekends!

Super lame post this weekend as I realized I have no pictures to accompany this post, not a good start to 2015 for the blog!  Let's see what we have been up to besides trying to stay warm!!

This first week back was crazy busy at work, always seems to be as everyone is motivated to get a good start to the new year.  I was also proud of myself as I hit the work gym 2 days after work.  Maci seemed to adjust better this week with being back to daycare for a whole straight week.  All in all the Mondell's are easing into 2015 just fine :)

This weekend had a nice mix of fun, relaxing and productivity :)

Friday - Clint had left to NC Thursday morning for a quick trip and landed back home around 6p Friday night.  I picked up Maci after work and we met dad back home for our traditional Friday pizza dinner.  Maci couldn't wait for dad and the pizza so she had some Ravioli and made a total mess which required an early bath :)  After Maci got to scream "DADDY" when he got home and then went to bed, Clint and I were able to enjoy some "Scandal" on Netflix - we are totally hooked.

Saturday - Maci had the usual gym class in the morning and was so excited to run around and jump with her pals.  We went to Perkins for breakfast afterward this week and then Maci enjoyed a nap before party time.  Saturday was her friend Brody's 2nd birthday party.  I work with Brody's mom Lisa at Cargill and we had such a great time at Brody's cutie transportation themed party.  Maci especially loved Brody's gift bag for his friends which included stickers, fruit snacks and a pez candy dispenser. . . Maci LOVES Candy!  Little lady was OUT on the way home but we woke her for a quick jammie change and then we were back on the couch with the rest of Season 3 of Scandal :)  We are now up to the current season on TV so we now ordered Hulu Plus so we can watch Season 4 - agh obsessed with the show!

Sunday - Today is productivity and lazy day in our house.  By noon I had already cleaned through the mail, balanced the checkbook, ate breakfast, went grocery shopping and completed 2 loads of laundry.  I am now wrapping up the blog before I start catching up on some work in front of the TV with Clint.  Clint is happy to lay around and watch the playoffs and Maci is down for her daily nap right now - the house is so quiet ;-)

I have another BUSY week coming up with work and lots of deadlines approaching.  However, I enjoy what I am working on and I have to keep reminding myself it will all get done, it always does :)  I am also really looking forward to the coming weekend!  Clint and I got Maci tickets to Sesame Street Live downtown on Friday as a part of her upcoming birthday present!  I think she will go nuts when she sees Elmo singing and dancing on stage :)

Until next week, Lots of Love :
C, K & M

Welcome 2015!!

The week kicked off with everyone heading back to work and school on Monday.  Maci had a difficult transition back and got in lil fights with 2 separate friends on Monday and Tuesday.  I was somewhat relieved to hear all the kids were having a hard transition after most had been out the week before being spoiled with presents, candy, late bedtimes, inconsistent naps etc.

Art Time

 Someone Loves the Snow!

On NYE, I worked from home and Clint got home with Maci around 3p.  We all got dressed and headed to The Cassem's for some fun NYE celebrations with The Cassem, The Zehr and The Fike families.  We had fun cutting a gender reveal cake after Pizza dinner which showed The Zehr's will have baby BOY #2 this early summer.  Clint is starting to think people can't have boys and girls after all our momma friends are having the same gender the 2nd time around.  After the kids all went to bed we had cocktails and played Cards Against Humanity.  We had lots of laughs and we were impressed that all of us were able to stay up past midnight :)

Blue Cake for Baby Boy Zehr

New Years Day was a very quiet and relaxing one.  We went shopping for Maci's Birthday presents and then laid around the house all day catching up on Netflix for our current favorite show "Scandal."  In the evening, Clint and I had a blast watching every minute of OSU beating Alabama.  Even though it was a late night, we all got up on Friday for another brief day of work/school.  I again worked from home and Clint and Maci got home a little earlier than usual.

The weekend was fairly relaxing with us watching more "Scandal" in the evenings after Maci was in bed.  We were back to gym class on Saturday morning and we watched the Bengals go down in flames, AGAIN, today.  While we loved the holidays, I think we will all do well to get back into the rhythm and schedules of our regular family life.

Toledo Rockets are on in a few so I must run!

Lots of Love,
C, K & M