Sunday, August 30, 2015

Lots of Awesome Visitors & the MN State Fair!

This week was uber busy but in such a fun way!  We had exciting visitors every night starting on Tuesday :)  Maci was still at daycare Monday-Wednesday and was able to still have a great time even in a condensed week.
Dance Party!
 Building a Train
 Construction Girl Maci
Tuesday - Andy Green (Clint's good friend from high school) was in town for a business trip so we had him over for a grill out dinner and to enjoy a bonfire outside at night - what great weather!  The Green's spoiled Miss Maci by sending a fun gift of paper bag puppets.  Thank you Greens!

Wednesday - Clint's parents' were coming into town but they took a crazy route through Michigan and didn't get here until after Maci and my bedtime.  Clint however enjoyed making them some food upon their arrival and catching up for about an hour before he too headed to bed.

Thursday - Clint took the day off to spend time with his parents and Maci.  They had a fun day of walking around Lake Calhoun and feeding the ducks before my Aunt Sue and Mike arrived from their flight in the late afternoon.  I then got myself out of work slightly after 5 to join in on the fun, order pizza and kick off the weekend!


Friday - Clint's parents headed out for the rest of their trip to WY around 9a.  The rest of us then got ready for a FUN long day at the MN State Fair!  We had such a blast and Maci really was a good girl for being there from about 11a until 6p.  So many good foods, laughter and rides.
Who Doesn't Love Fresh Cotton Candy!?
 Aunt Sue, Maci and Me on the Ferris Wheel
 Family Selfie while Susie got Cotton Candy & Mike got Sweet Martha Cookies!
 Maci FINALLY Sleeps!
 While She Sleeps - We Eat Chocolate Bacon!
 Maci is about to try out her Farming Skills
 Riding the Elephant 
 Dinosaur Fun
 Swings!
 Water Boatin

 Big Slide with Daddy!
Saturday - We got up and headed to Maci's first gym class of the season!  Maci was a natural and was so excited to be back in the gym.  Today she was leaping onto the uneven bar by herself - girl has no fear!  Afterward, we headed to Maynard's along with the Zehr family for brunch.  We then had a very nice chill day at the house while M napped.  Miss Kaitlin then came over to watch Maci for us so we could hit the town for a night out.  We had dinner at Chino Latino (YUM) and then went to Uptown Bar to drink on the rooftop (water for me) and then to Libertarian rooftop (sparkling lemonade) before heading home to relieve the sitter around 1030p.

Sunday - Kicked off the day with some breakfast bagel sandwiches.  We then hit the road to Minnehaha Falls - such an awesome day to putz around outside!  We walked to the falls and Maci had a ball walking into the water.  Afterward, we headed to Lake Calhoun to have some yummy fish tacos as a late lunch/early dinner.  We are now hanging around the house getting ready for the coming week.  We may head for some ice cream in a bit before calling it a night.




We have another busy week ahead.  Aunt Sue & Mike fly home tomorrow.  Clint then heads to Milwaukee for work on Tuesday.  I work another short week since I am taking Friday off to join Clint in Milwaukee with Maci to visit our friends Trip & Lori for the holiday weekend.  Maci and I will make the 6 hour drive together on Friday morning/early afternoon, wish us luck!

Lots of Love,
C, K, M & Baby Boy Mondell

Sunday, August 23, 2015

Maci Meets the Original Kid Sister Doll

This week was fairly uneventful until my friend from work Megan had her little girl on Thursday morning!  Clint and I are so excited for Megan, Ben and Little Avery.  This meant the rest of the week took a bit of a turn since we weren't quite expecting Miss Avery for another week or so.  Other than that, Maci and had a great week at school with lots of pictures!

Maci & Classmates Met a Police Officer 
Maci Calls Them Po Po - Thanks Clint

 Playing with Colored Water Weights
 Cooking Project
 Cooler Week - Morning Stroll
 Fire Department Also Visited 

 Painting Fire Related Items
 Cute Snack
Yum Says Maci! 

In all this daycare fun, Mom also hit the 21 week mark with baby Brother.  She celebrated with a special guest in this week's picture :)

Friday - I went into work for a few hours to do a couple meetings but quickly realized that I needed to take advantage of a fairly open schedule to get caught up, plan out the coming weeks, make headway on projects etc.  So after I completed by 1030a call I got a few emails out and then packed up to finish my day in the peace and quiet of my own home.  Thankfully this was a great call and I accomplished a ton by 430p when I decided to call it quits for the week!  As I was wrapping up and ordering Maci her big girl sheets online, Clint  and Maci pulled up to the house.  We then ordered our usual Friday pizza dinner - Yummy!  We then enjoyed the new basement TV - AKA Clint's Toy.  I ended up passing out on the couch by probably 730p (embarrassing) and thankfully Clint put M to bed and I woke up to one of Clint's Son's of Anarchy shows on TV.  Geez, I am becoming my mom HA

Saturday - Soccer is over and gym doesn't start until next week so we enjoyed a Saturday morning with no real places to be.  We spent the morning grabbing bagels, completing the grocery/butcher shop as we are preparing for all sorts of special visitors this coming week!  After running all sorts of errands, Maci took a great nap (FINALLY), I enjoyed a little R&R and Clint decided to edge the driveway.  We also ordered most of the bedding/curtains for baby boy Mondell.  I also ordered a lot of the wall decor, some cutie hats and some Bengal headbands for Maci & me from my fav - Etsy!  Once Maci woke up, Clint and I were getting ready for our date night.  Since the weather turned stormy and all of our ideas were outdoor activities we ended up heading to Dave & Busters for dinner and games.  It was a fun time and my tired butt was still home by 930p - geez I am pathetic!  We ended up watching the rest of the Vikings pre-season game before hitting the hay.
End of the Night & I look Tired

Sunday - Today was a get stuff done again kind of day!  We headed to church at 1030a since Maci actually let us sleep in until a little after 8a (too late for 830a mass).  This mass is far more crowded and we saw Kyle Rudolph (Vikings starting Tight End) who also happened to go to Elder high school and Notre Dame.  I told Clint I was so proud of him on behalf of the entire Elder/West Side community that this is what he does in his free time and that he was up and at 'em after game day vs out partying/getting in trouble etc.  =)  After breakfast, we attempted to have Maci nap (no luck today) and Clint touched up the paint on the unfinished basement wall, much fresher.  While he did that, I de-cluttered the basement by either purging or selling a whole lot of random items that we kept for far too long.  One of those items that I had a hard time parting with was my original kid sister.  However, she smelled, was far dirtier than I remembered and I always joked I wanted my daughter to one day see her - well this meeting did occur.  Wouldn't you know Maci actually LIKED the doll, I had to take her to the trash in secret hoping she doesn't think to ask where that doll went.  Growing up, I remember my family always saying that if I showed my daughter that doll one day that she would cry.  Ha well Maci must be more like me than we realized because she didn't even hesitate in wanting to play with her haha.  Feels good to have two more home projects checked off the list!!
 Umm yea she is twisting the hair - I had to remove this doll stat!

So I mentioned we have a variety of special guests this coming week.  We are preparing for Andy Green (Clint's friend from high school) to stop through on Tuesday evening for dinner due to a work trip to the Twin Cities.  Then Wed, Kathy & Jack arrive for a few days as they pass through to Jackson Hole.  Finally, Aunt Sue & Mike join the fun on Thursday evening and hang out for the whole weekend to experience the Minnesota State Fair and many other Minnesota must do's!  Yay!  This week will fly with busy events at work and fun things in the evenings as well, I am going to need some caffeine HA

We hope everyone has a super special week as well.
Lots of Love,
C, K, M & Baby Boy Mondell

Sunday, August 16, 2015

Bubble Party Fun & Aunt Molly Moves to OSU!

Daycare had all sorts of fun stuff going on for Maci girl this week with the summer end coming near. Wednesday was her daycare summer open house which included a princess themed bounce house, games with prizes, face painting (Minnie Mouse of course) and root beer floats.  Maci made quite the scene though when it was time to go as she is NEVER ready to leave a bounce house :)  Then on Thursday they had a bubble party with a local company coming with music and lots of massive bubbles.  I just laugh at all her energy in these pictures.



Friday - Maci woke up just seeming off on Friday.  She was really lethargic and had sweat on her face.  She didn't register a temperature but when asked if she wanted to go to water day at school or stay at home with dad she sadly said "stay home with daddy."  She then requested mac n' cheese followed by "I want to take a nap."  However, once she woke back up around 1030 Clint says she was totally herself to the point where they spent the rest of their HOT Friday eating Chipotle, playing and doing some household errands.

After I got home from work, we ate our usual pizza dinner and then headed to our neighbors who have the in-ground pool for some evening cool off with all the kiddos.  Maci has finally turned back into her original fishy self as long as you just let her swim and don't make her put her head under the water.  We then came home to watch the 2nd half of the Bengals pre-season game - ahh so close I can feel it!
Just Like Mom
OCD is alive and well with this one :)
Saturday - We decided to skip the last soccer because it was so HOT and well Maci just really didn't pay attention yet anyway :)  Instead we ran our main errands for the whole weekend, allowed M to nap in the car and then as soon as "work" was done we hit the local pool for some much needed cooling off.  Maci had a blast at the pool and even got some cotton candy on the way home because she put her head in the water 3 whole times!  After swimming and the hot sun, I was zapped and ready to chill on the couch.  Clint went over with 4 of the neighbor guys for fire and a few too many drinks.  I on the other hand caught the Vikings pre-season game - 2nd favorite team :)  A nice productive but also mixed in with some lazy Saturday!

Sunday - We started our Sunday trying a new Catholic Church where we may send Maci for grades K-6.  It was a nice church and far more relaxed than the one in our SLP neighborhood and only about 5-10 mins from our house.  After church, we tried a new pub/restaurant in Hopkins for brunch - 819 Pub and wow was it yummy!  Clint loved the $2 bloody Mary if you purchase a meal.  He was also a HUGE fan of the Jalapeno Cheddar Biscuits and Gravy.  My Eggs Benedict were great and Maci loved her bear shaped pancake.  We will definitely be back and plan to take some of our visitors there at the end of August :)  Afterward we were all dragging from the long day yesterday and so we did a family nap time until about 1p.  Afterward, we kicked it into high gear get many more items off the house list checked off and I sold a bunch more stuff on the Facebook garage sale site.  I almost teared up though when selling 2 bins of Maci's 12-24 month clothes, each outfit just has so many memories but I don't want to be the border that keeps them all :)  We are now preparing to sell our extra queen box spring and bed frame and then eat some yummy deserved dinner!  It was another day of lots of work around the house but it makes this momma to be feel that much better - I love being organized!

We hope everyone has a great coming week!
Lots of Love,
C, K, M & Baby Boy to be :)