Maci's 7th Birthday Slumber Party & Connor's Cold!!

Monday : 

• M & I had the day off so we slept in a bit, made wild rice soup, hit up Target for some new winter clothes for her, lunch at McDonald's, play time with the neighbors and I binged some TV while finishing the big puzzle solo!!  Such a nice day at home.
• Once Clint got home, I hoped on the Peloton for a recovery ride 

Our Finished Soup Cooking Away All Day!

 Connor had Costume Kim come as Olaf

 Finished Puzzle!!

Lunch - Connor is the I-O shirt 

Tuesday : 

• I had a lovely lunch with my team member Lindsay who was in town from DC for the Growth off site meeting
• I left work a little early for the HR Executive Forum meeting and met up with my former co-worker Lauren
• It was a sad day for my family as my godfather Ernie had the start of his funeral arrangements today - hugs and hearts with everyone from afar!

Wednesday : 

• On the way into work I got the saddest news, Miss Kim (Maci's adored preschool teacher passed from her cancer) - so glad she is at peace but man do we miss her - Clint and I need to talk to M soon but need the right  moment and with all the birthday fun we wanted to pause - we look forward to a celebration of her life to come shortly in MN as her funeral arrangements are back home in WI
• Clint worked from home to get our new bedroom TV installed/mounted.  The contractor also came over to take another look at our windows needing repair come spring.
• Around 3p we got the call that Connor had a 102 temp and was pretty sluggish - Clint ran to get him and I got M just in time to take her to Religion Class 
• Clint picked her up and I helped get Connor down for some rest

Dentist at Daycare

Thursday : 

• Happy 7th Birthday M!!!
• I was now working from home b/c C couldn't go back to school yet due to the temp
• He was pretty active all day so we thought no issue heading to Benihana as planned as a family
• Kids had a blast and we were all so full!
• We headed home and all headed to bed but after a neb Connor started coughing to the point of making himself almost sick 
• Connor proceeded to wake at times throughout the night UGH

 My Office mate

Friday : 

• Clint worked from home again to stay with Connor since he keeps hacking so bad
• I headed downtown for a conference on coaching 
• I got out of there around 3p and came home to get some stuff done before we all headed to take the kids to gymnastics
• We enjoyed Punch Pizza for dinner, put kids to bed and then hit up a fire with the Harty's

Connor in the 4-5 Year Old Class for the First Time!!  Go Big Boy!

 She Turns 7 and Orders the Salad :)

Saturday : 

• I did a Lizzo ride on Peloton shortly after getting up 
• I then took M to soccer, dropped her off (she thinks she is soo cool) and then I headed to my hair apt to get my coloring done
• While I was at my hair apt, Clint picked up the kids and helped get Gidget's cage all back in order for the weekly cleaning
• On my way home I picked up an ice cream cake and then we put away laundry before taking some quick cat naps before friends arrived
• At 5p, Maci's 2 buddies - Harper and Natalie showed up for her slumber party 
• We had a fun night of sand, salon, noodles, cake, tag, movie, i-Pad and then bed time around 1030p (at least that is when I crashed and stopped hearing them!)

Natalie, Maci and Harper

 They made a salon in M's bathroom

 Movie Fun!

Sunday : 

• They got up around 730a and Clint grabbed donuts while I put back on a movie for them - they played with Gidget, played more tag and then parents came to get them around 9a while I rocked my XOXO ride with Nikki on the Peloton 
• It was such a good ride that I PRd by 5 points again!!!
• Since the ride, we ordered groceries, finished my last load of laundry, completed M's homework for the week and started to prep for the week in general
• At 330p we head to Connor's ice skating lesson and afterward we will grab an early dinner and hit up the Children's museum for members only night!  Thanks again nanny and grandpa Mondell for such a great gift!!!

Morning Donuts!

This will be a hectic week ahead for us with Clint doing some travel and busy schedule for me but per usual we will figure it out!  We hope you had some down time this weekend to set you up for your own killer week ahead.  

Lots of Love, 

C, K, M & C

Football Playoffs & Long Weekends!

1st Ice Skating Lesson Last Sunday

Mon : 

• I hit a personal record on my 20 min Peloton ride at night

Tues : 

• Clint and I had our weekly TV date night and this time we watched junk TV and fell asleep early - ahh good sleep!
• We got some super sad news and heard my god father Ernie Brockman passed away in his sleep - RIP to a wonderful man!

Wed : 

• Happy Anniversary Kathy and Jack Mondell!!
• I ran Maci to dinner and then her religion class while Clint took care of Connor
• I got home from dropping M at religion class and I hit a personal record on my 30 min Peloton ride - man was that a hard work out
• More sad news as we heard Miss Kim, Maci's beloved preschool teacher, is being moved to hospice care 

Thurs : 

• Clint had a quick day trip to Cedar Rapids
• I worked from home to be able to get kids easily to and from school 

Fri : 

• Clint and I both worked from home due to pending blizzard like conditions
• He had calls all morning and then I had calls all afternoon
• Maci came home on the bus around noon b/c they closed school 2 hours early due to weather
• Clint and I met with a new financial advisor over the phone due to snow - she seems great!
• Gymnastics surprisingly didn't close and Clint felt we should make the quick trip to get them out and about to burn energy - good call!!
• After bedtime, Clint and I caught up on some dumb TV :)

 Maci got a pretty special 1st grade award on Friday!!  

Go Maci!!

Sat : 

• Maci had soccer cancelled due to weather
• I did a Madonna ride on the Peloton - didn't PR bummer!
• We got a ton of stuff done around the house including laundry, groceries, week prep etc
• We watched several movies on the couch now that we have Disney + pretty fun the options
• We also started a 500 piece puzzle on the counter in the kitchen - Maci Clint and I all take turns working on it 

Sun : 

• Lazy Sunday morning with a little snow blowing around outside!
• We are getting ready to head to the Harty's for the big KC game!
• Connor has ice skating at 330p and I will be the one to run him since no one else wants to miss the games
• I am also going to ride the Peloton with my pal Nikki at 5p for a 30 min Lizzo ride!

This is how they dressed for their nerf gun war with dad HAHAHA

I am so excited to have another day off tomorrow with my gal Maci!  Clint and Connor head to their respective locations and M and I may ice skate, shop, go to urban air, watch a movie etc.  Here is hoping you had a super fun and relaxing weekend + a wonderful week ahead!!

Lots of Love,

C, K, M & C

Back to Routine and Rally Holiday Party!

Monday : 

• After a busy day at work - I rode the Peloton and had a Cincy 6 video chat - love those girls!
• M gave Gidget some good exercise - such a sweet little thing that Gidget is

Connor playing with his nerf gun

Tuesday : 

• After work, I had a happy hour with Nikki, Jill and Laura - former Cargill change/communications friends
• I got home from happy hour and Clint and I kicked off our new routine of TV quiet time sans kids - we were able to finish our binge show of Mindhunter, so good!

Wednesday : 

• Happy Birthday Christie (Spreng) Mullet!
• Maci got back to religion class after the holidays
• I rode the bike and then did some much needed work since it is the only night I could play some catch up 

The Birthday Girl and Me

Thursday : 

• Connor was back to soccer shots at daycare and very excited about it!
• Clint and I hit up my Rally holiday party down town that evening while kids had Miss Maddie watch them !  It was an awesome venue, good conversation, nice cocktails and we had such a good time that we forgot to take any pictures :)

Connor (Orange) enjoying his lunch

Friday : 

• I slept in until 8a and missed my ride b/c I was exhausted after staying up working on Wed until 1130p and then the holiday party until the same time on Thurs
• Thankfully it was a work from home day so I got up and started doing laundry while taking calls and getting rolling - slowly but surely
• We had gymnastics at night, kids love it!
• We hit up the Mexican restaurant afterward and then came home to crash!

Maci Rocking Mom's Glasses at Dinner HA

Saturday : 

• I dropped M off at soccer then did some stuff around the house
• Clint picked up a new TV for our bedroom and ran errands with Connor and grabbed Maci from soccer
• At 1p I headed for a haircut and styling while Clint did stuff around the house including the weekly Gidget cage cleaning
• We met back up around 3p and watched the Vikings BOO on the loss!
• Then got ready for date night with the Andersons - Tavern on France for dinner and then to their house to watch the end of the Ravens game BOO on the loss and a final cocktail 

With all the playoff fun 

we pulled out the newborn pics of both kids with the football

Sunday : 

• We have been getting things done around the house and M is playing with a new Christmas gift
• Clint and I are making Potato soup in the crock pot for dinner
• Kids are about to watch some Disney + in the basement while I ride Peloton at 2p with Nikki 
• Connor has his first ice skating lesson at 330p 
• We will all enjoy cheering on the Chiefs later today while also getting ourselves prepared for the week ahead

We are grateful for another week with the whole pack around the house.  Clint has a 1 day trip to Iowa but leaves and returns same day so all in all a normal week ahead for our crew.  Maci is getting pretty excited for her 7th birthday in a few weeks as well.

We hope you all are off to a great start in 2020 and staying warm in your respective locations!

Lots of Love, 

C, K, M & C

Happy 2020 & Welcome to the Family Gidget the Guniea Pig!

Monday :

• I worked from home due to some impending snow
• Maci went to Homebase for an all day "daycare" type session
• Connor headed back to daycare
• Clint went into the office but not a full day
• After kids went to bed, I headed to InnKaHoots at 8p to meet my friend Amber (Cargill HR buddy) for drinks and catch up!  We had a good time and stayed out a little later than we should have - I finally hit my bed at 1130p

Tuesday : 

• New Years Eve!!
• Clint and I both worked for a bit but around 1p we took Connor to his 4 year check up 
• Connor was a champ as he needed 2 shots and an ear wash 
• Connor Vitals : 40 lbs (81% percentile), 41" Tall (67% percentile) - he is so much taller than last year, only around 45% last year!!
• For the big 2020 celebration we went to the Children's Museum (Thanks Mondells for our membership!) - we arrived around 6p, had fun exploring the museum, doing crafts, dancing to the DJ and then enjoying the beachball drop at 8p!  We left shortly thereafter to put them all down for bed
• Clint and I then watched "You" on the couch and zonked right around the ball drop :)  Yay 2020!  

Your Own Face Paint Fun

 Our Crazy Crew

 Beach Balls Ready!

 These 2 💙

Wednesday : 

• New Years Day!!!!
• We enjoyed a lazy day at home with lots of "You" on the TV and some prep for a short remainder to the week
• I got my first ride of 2020 in on the Peloton and feel motivated to keep this going in 2020 

Thursday : 

• First day in the office for 2020 and it was a pretty smooth day even with a decent number of meetings + first day back at school!
• I met Clint and the kids at Noodles for dinner since we were all running a little later than desired to get home
• Clint and I then finished You Season 2 on Netflix - so many theories that I have running and now we wait until Season 3 comes

Friday : 

• I worked from home per usual on a Friday and got all my laundry folded during calls!
• I had a fairly productive day and it was a bit quiet as many were still out on PTO to close out the holiday season
• We had gymnastics and the kids were excited to be back at it
• Afterward, Clint grabbed some food with Connor while Maci and I headed to Target to get Hans' birthday present 
• We came home, ate, set up our guniea pig cage and toys, put kids to bed and then had our first fire of 2020 with the Harty's - fun!

Saturday : 

• Maci missed soccer b/c of Han's 7th birthday party at the Ninja Warrior place in Maple Grove 
• While she was at the party, we got the boys' hair cuts, I picked up a Rx and dropped off toy donations from our big playroom purge
• Picked up M, got some lunch and then I got a nap in while Clint went to get some spa chemicals for our hot tub
• We started to get ready for the night around 5p and our sitter arrived at 6p so we could meet up with Trip and Lori for dinner at 6 Smith.  Trip wasn't feeling super great so they headed home after dinner and we went to Muni to finish watching the 2nd half of the Patriots game - BRADY IS OUT!!!!

Sunday : 

• We picked up Gidget the Guinea Pig around 11a and she has been hiding in her cage ever since :)  We keep telling Maci to just give her some time.  There were many to chose from - some were super hairy, one was albino and the one she chose has a black patch on one eye, brown patch on the other eye and then is part brown and white.  Really cute but I don't have a picture b/c well she is hiding and I don't want to scare her more
• We got home just in time for the big Vikings game - What a game it was!!!!  Kyle Rudolph just had the game winning TD and he is from Cincinnati Elder!!  Zimmer the coach was a D coordinator for the Bengals back in the day so I love this team for many reasons beyond just living in this city - So much purple pride today!!!
• I am about to get on the Peloton at 415p with my buddy from Cargill Nikki - our new 2020 commitment to ride together every Sunday :)
• The rest of the day I will do some reading, maybe a little work prep, some guniea pig observation and enjoying pulled pork sandwiches that have been cooking in the crock pot all day!!!

We hope you are all off to a great start to 2020 - it is gonna be a great year, I feel it!!

Lots of Love,

C, K, M & C