World Traveling Family

The beginning of the week went by quickly and fairly uneventful.  Clint headed out to Houston with work Wednesday morning and was able to have some awesome Mexican food with my Aunt Sue & Mike that evening, jealous!  While they did that, Maci and I had a dinner date at Noodles and Co because it was too late to cook us a dinner at home.  Maci was such a sweet dinner date, maybe we are turning a bend with her at restaurants, let's hope!

On Thursday we were the lucky ones and Clint had to miss out.  Trip & Lori came into town from Milwaukee for the weekend and they stayed with us Thursday night!  It was nice to catch up on Cargill news from each of our worlds, learn about the Milwaukee area and allow Maci to put on a show for them :)  Maci was so excited to wake up Friday and find they were still here.

Friday - I took Trip into work so Lori could have their rental car to visit with friends for the day.  I am sure we got some rumors going at daycare since Clint was out of town and I showed up with a "strange/new" man on Friday morning for drop off HA.  We even had Lori take a picture of the "new" family Friday morning on our way to daycare/work!

After work, Miss M and I headed to Punch Pizza for dinner again and she did OK, not as great as Noodles on Wednesday but still not an all out failure :)

Saturday - Today Maci and I went to gym and joined the Cassems & Zehrs for brunch afterward.  Once again Maci did well and showed her friends a new memory animal game on my phone.  Maci is blowing my mind at how good she is getting at the game memory.  What a fun little kid.  After brunch we ran a few quick errands and she passed out in the car.  

Now she is napping and I am trying to get the home chores done since the rest of the weekend is a BUSY one!  Around 4p, Maci and I will head to the Rutz's house (a mommy/me friend) who is having a get together for all the mommy/me friends.  We haven't all attempted to get together since the Christmas time frame.  Maci and I will leave though around 630p since Clint will finally be home from Houston.  We plan to put Maci to bed and get caught up together on a few of our shows.

Sunday - The plan is to have a family breakfast before I have to head to the airport around 1p for my flight to Argentina.  I will get to Argentina their 7a Monday morning (long trip)!  I am then only there for a very quick trip.  I am in Argentina their Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday but then we will head to the airport Wednesday evening and fly home/land at 9a our Thursday morning.  I plan to work from home on Thursday to get readjusted and then will be back in the office on Friday.  I am excited to enjoy warm weather and to meet our entire Argentina based team but I am also ready to get back into a routine until my next trip in late April.

Please send prayers for a safe flight and for Clint to have an easy week with Miss M!

Lots of Love,

C, K & M

Date Time & Miss Kaitlin Fun!

Monday was such a fun day date - thank you Cargill for President's day off!  Miss M woke up and Clint took her to school right away, we slept in until about 830a (a real treat for us), went to breakfast at our favorite diner (Egg & I), then headed to Mall of America for some shopping, lunch and a movie.  The movie ended around 430p so about the perfect time for us to head towards home and pick up our lil lady.  After Monday off we headed into a short but jam packed week.  On Tuesday, Clint attempted to work out with me in the gym after work, I don't think it went too poorly since he has offered to do it again this coming Tuesday :)  Then on Wednesday we both had happy hours after work so Miss M attended mine where we proceeded to be a total ham and caused us to leave after only about 40 minutes SIGH.  Lastly on Thursday I had hair appointment after work which takes about 3 hours since I have such thick hair and I have been going blonder again - so I was there from 6-9p WOAH. . .

Enjoying the end of a LONG weekend!

 Height Activity at School

 Naming Food Items - I am sure Maci was the Eggs :)

Friday - The weather has been pretty cold here too (thankfully not the snow like OH) but I didn't feel like having Pizza at home Friday night - too much time spent in the house these days!  Clint, Maci and I decided to head to Punch Pizza in Wayzata for dinner Friday night after work and Miss M actually behaved!  She does well at these restaurants where you don't have to sit and wait very long for a server and she also watched some Mickey on my phone - thank goodness for a nice meal!

Saturday - The usual morning routine : Gym, Breakfast and Errands.  Maci didn't nap as well which is a pain for us all but she did GREAT at her 3p haircut with my hairdresser.  All the other clients and workers were commenting on how she was 2 going on 20.  She kept admiring herself in the mirror as Malena cut her hair - it was very cute.  Afterward, I took her to a local bakery to get a cookie for being so good!  Of course she fell asleep in the car on the way there - go figure!  After her and I got back home, I had to start getting ready for our monthly date night!!!  Clint and I headed to Rojo for dinner after Miss Kaitlin arrived at 6p.  Maci loves seeing Miss Kaitlin on these evenings since she no longer works at Maci's daycare center.  After dinner Clint and I headed to the bowling alley again since last time was so fun but this time we got there and decided not to bowl but instead hung out and chatted at the bar - nice break!

Sunday - Clint let me sleep a little longer since I must have lost count on a few of those cocktails and had a light headache.  I was up and playing with this princess though not longer after them. . . she sure does crack us up!  We decided to run out for a big breakfast to fill all our tummys on a bitterly cold 3 degree temperature day.  Since then, Maci has napped (somewhat), Clint and I watched some Wonder Years on Netflix and now we are starting to get ready for the week ahead.

The next 2 weeks will be fairly busy for us.  Clint leaves Wednesday morning for Houston with work (lucky him with warm weather & getting to see Aunt Patter).  He will get home Saturday evening (bummer he misses a good portion of his weekend).  No sooner does Clint get home but I then turn around and leave to Argentina with work (also warm)!  I head out to Argentina Sunday afternoon and get home Thursday morning - very quick trip.  It will be nice for both of us to have some warm weather but I also look forward to when it wraps up and we get to be back in our routines until my next trip in late April to Rome.  We hope all of you have safe and productive weeks!

Lots of Love,
C, K & M

Valentine's Day Fun

This week went fairly fast with a few out of the ordinary events.  I had 2 personal training sessions at the Cargill gym on Monday and Thursday after work and that caused me to be quite sore!  Wednesday arrived and we finally have our new washer which I do like but I still get angry thinking about the high end one that blew in 3 years URGH.  No sooner did the delivery guy leave and Clint was ready to head to work, he got a call from me because Maci was puking at daycare :(  Clint watched the little lady in the morning and I came home to relieve him for the afternoon.  Thankfully it seemed to be a 24 hour bug and she was back to school on Thursday.

Friday - Maci had her Valentine's Day party at school but she wasn't in the mood to take a selfie with me at drop off in the morning.  However, when I came to get her after work she was SOOO excited to show me her valentine bag with all her valentines, stickers and a gift she made for Clint and I - a valentine snow globe.  Maci quickly followed with "MINE" after we opened our gift so that was short lived :)  We had our usual pizza dinner on Friday night and played before bed time.

Saturday - Happy Valentine's Day!  We went to gym class in the morning, breakfast at the bagel shop and then to the LakeShore learning store where we bought Maci even more Photo/Site Word flash cards.  It is amazing how good she is getting at seeing a picture and telling us what it is.  Even on Airplane she will say what it is and then point to the sky - she amazes us daily with her intelligence!  We picked up some carry out for dinner and had a nice quiet evening inside since our monthly date night is next Saturday.

Sunday - Today has been a super lazy but freezing cold day!  Maci woke up at 530a wanting to eat UGH and thankfully Clint took this turn since I was up with her at 6a on Saturday.  We switched off at 9a and Clint got to take a nap while Maci and I attempted to pick up the house.  Maci is now napping and I completed the weekly grocery shopping trip.  Clint says he is bored but I am not quite sure I want to leave the house again in these bitter temps.

Tomorrow is President's Day and one of my favorite days of the year because Cargill recognizes this day as a US holiday.  Therefore, Maci will go to daycare and Clint and I get a day date!  We plan to go to the mall, see a movie, have lunch, get pedicures and do a little shopping all before picking up our mini me around dinner WAHOoOO - love this day every year!

We hope everyone has a great week and that these bitter temps turn back around shortly - I am getting the itch for spring!

Lots of Love,

C, K & M

Momma in Miami

I am getting my weekly post up a little earlier this week because Maci went to bed earlier than normal, still trying to shake her cough/cold, and Clint is at the laundry mat for us AGAIN!  So I figured I would get my blog done and then maybe get caught up on some work email until Clint gets home from these errands.  I hope to have a movie night with the hubby once he gets back home.  In the meantime, let's see what the Mondell's were up to this week. . .

I had a wonderful time at my training this week!  Not only was the Miami weather a welcomed change from the cold winter temperatures but I also met 11 wonderfully talented Cargill employees from all over (literally from Brazil to Argentina to Florida to Taiwan to Minnesota and many others not mentioned).  This was a great change in pace from the regular work week grind and some very interesting topics.

Ahh this was my Monday walk to get lunch

Back at Home - Miss M and Clint had quite the week too.  I have to give Clint some big time props as he is seriously the most amazing dad ever and sure makes me question how I parent Maci when he is gone.  Maci and I come home from work late, eat some quick dinner and I usually have to put her to bed.  Here is what Maci and Clint did each night : Monday they did dinner at the mall Chipotle and then played at the mall indoor playground, Tuesday they went to Jimmy Johns for sandwiches, Wednesday night was McDonald's and she got to play in the entire indoor playground with other kids as well.  They finally ate at home on Thursday but still had a ball!  In addition to all this, he made sure I got as many pictures as possible of my babe back at home.  I came home Friday afternoon and while Miss M was super excited to see me, she is definitely in some daddy girl mode right now!!

Dad did OK with the attire and hair the 1st day

 Dress Up Fun @ School

 This is what Maci was doing while mommy was eating in the sun!

 Bubble Bath Fun with Dad

 Maci and her Buddy Ryder @ Daycare

 Maci was NOT wanting her picture taken on Friday morning

So far we have had a super lazy and relaxing weekend.  Last night we did our usual Pizza for dinner and after Maci went to bed, Clint and I watched the latest Scandal episode - SO OBSESSED!  Today we had gym class, YAY!  Afterward, we headed to Sears as we learned earlier this week that the washer's control panel was ruined.  It would be ~$625 to repair and that is around the same price of a new washer - URGH!  So today we went to Sears and found a great Samsung washer that was temporarily on sale so we spent a little less on a brand new washer - BLAH but at least it gets delivered on Wednesday and we are done with being a part of the laundry mat crowd.  We then made it home for Maci's nap and I created/ordered my Maci 1-2 year picture book (this is what I do for "albums" since I am horrible at printing pictures throughout the year).  

We have no plans tomorrow either but I have to run to the grocery at some point and I would like to get caught up a bit on work and prepared for the week.  My calendar is getting pretty full since I was away for 5 days and now all sorts of meetings are popping up.  However, I am excited for a normal week at home with my entire family!

Lots of Love, 

C, K & M

Super Bowl Sunday

Maci and I had a bit of a rough week with nasty coughs.  I actually lost my entire voice on Tuesday which was not a good situation seeing as I had to lead a webinar that day :(  At least I woke up the next day with my voice when I had to lead another webinar and lead a governance meeting with some members of the HR Leadership Team.  However, even today I still have a lingering tickle in my throat and Miss M still has a rough cough - BOO the nasty finally got our house and we were doing so well!  Clint was lucky and out of town in Houston for work Wednesday morning through Friday around dinner so he has avoided the sickness to this point.

Crazy Day at School!

 Look at this CRAZY hair they did - thank goodness it washed out!

Friday - I had a massage scheduled at 430p which was AMAZING especially since I had been somewhat sore from the sickness.  Afterward, I was able to pick up Miss M since her daycare is right next door and then Clint brought home pizza/salad on his way back from the airport!

Saturday - We had the usual gym class in the morning and we did our brunch at Coopers with the friends afterward.  Maci then took a great nap and I did the same with her for about 1/2 of the time.  Once everyone was up we ran some errands which included Toys R Us and the Mall.  We wrapped up our evening with dinner at Bar Louie.

Sunday - Today started ok and quickly took a turn for the worse.  I was motivated to get everything in order since I leave to Miami for work tomorrow.  I went to start a load of laundry and our 3 year old Bosch washer wouldn't spin.  The water would fill but the washer won't spin.  After being on the phone with the Bosch after hour support it sounds like a belt or motor issue and the real customer service isn't back until Monday.  UGH!  Clint then had to run to the laundry mat to do this weeks 4 loads of laundry.  In the meantime, I got Maci ready for her best friend Natalie's birthday party.  It was a nice break to head to such a fun party, even if they all fought over toys.  Clint was even able to join us only an hour late.  After the party, Maci laid down and I got my grocery shopping done for the family.  Now I am getting things ready for my trip and for Clint/Maci while I am gone.  We are getting ready to relax during the Super Bowl in about an hour.

Please say a prayer for a safe flight, for Clint to not get this sickness and for Miss M to be a good girl for daddy while I am gone.  I am in Miami Mon morning through Fri at noon.  I am looking forward to warm weather, a change of pace (training program) but I will miss my gang!

Have a great week everyone!
Lots of Love,
C, K & M