Miracle in Minnesota & Maci's 5th Birthday Party!

This Girl. . . . 

She sure kept me laughing through a GREAT day of Sunday football!

So after I did the blog last Sunday our house was rocking!!  As I am sure most of you have seen by now, the Vikings had the craziest win in playoff history!  This city is still bouncing around after that win and are hoping we have another amazing W in Philly today!  We had neighbors shooting off fireworks and Clint was so bummed to be in Wichita watching vs experiencing it at home with his crew :)

This City is on Fire - Bring it Home Vikings!

Monday - Clint was in Wichita and I got to drag 2 kiddos to ice skating lessons after work in sub zero temps.  There was lots of crying on the way into the lessons -ugh!  However, while there Connor had me laughing, M did great on the ice and I ran into my co-worker Aimee who noted what a super mom I was to be managing them both alone on such a cold night and with so much gear.  Sometimes the little acknowledgments go a long way :)

Football Gear on a Monday!

This Guy is Pretty Funny! 

Tuesday - Daddy got home but not in time for mommy's yoga so hopefully I get back there in a few weeks (this coming Tues I won't because of M's big official 5th birthday).  Daddy brought home some chick-fil-a and we had a chill night at home.

Wednesday - Typical day at work/school and then before I did a night call and more work, I took a break to enjoy Lil Gym with my man Connor.  We had such a great time together and even the teacher noted how much more he seems to be enjoying it now that he is 2.  That was her nice way of saying "he didnt cry this time" HAHA

Look at this Boy

He is starting to help with his breathing treatments even in the morning!

Fun Day at School - ART & Group Tower Building!

Thursday - After work I headed to my pal/co-worker Megan's house to visit her and baby Emilia as well as her 2 year old Avery.  Megan is having a nice 2nd maternity leave but I miss her dearly!  I hope she enjoys the last ~ month of leave and is as excited to come back to me as I am to see her ;-)

Friday - Purple Friday!  Sorry Bengals and Dolphins, this Mondell house is all aboard the Vikings bandwagon!  After work we had a lazy pizza Friday night at home.

Connor isn't afraid to rock his sister's v-neck and polka dotted shirt ;-)

Saturday - Busy Fun Day!  We started the day by picking up Miss M's cake and cupcakes before she headed to dance with Daddy.  While at dance, Connor man and I did some errands around the house and got him started on his nap.  M got to play with some early birthday presents - thanks for Guess Who Grandma and Papa.  Also, thank you Nanny and Grandpa for the Birthday Girl pin.  We then headed to the BIG & EPIC birthday party at Pump It Up!  While I joke this was the 1,000 dollar birthday, I have to say the place runs a tight ship and everything was done for me - so nice!  We actually got to enjoy the party and socialize with the adult friends that stuck around during party time.  Maci had an awesome time with her pals and used fairly decent manners throughout the 2 hour fun!

When did this happen?!

She is a Beautiful Young Lady!

 Dance is Even More Fun on Your Birthday!

Leader of the Tap Line and Singing Happy Birthday During Group Circle

The Party!

 Hype Them Up & Safety Video

 Single File Lines to Fun Bouncing

 School Friend Cuties

Khloe, Isla, Kira and Elin

 Fun Stuff & Connor with the Girls

 M & Tanyn on Air Hockey!

 Connor Climbing 

 The Adults Rocked this Wall. . . 

Except I busted my knee cap and Halston has rug burn - #weareold!

The Pizza & Cake

 Happy & Sweaty Birthday Girl!

 Pizza & Cupcakes - Yummy!

Presents!

Daycare Buddies - Isla, Kira & Tanyn (we miss you at school!)

 Daycare Pal Elin - She brought an LOL Doll & Barbie!!!

 More Daycare Pals - Audra & Sally (we miss you too!)

 Old Neighbors - Evelyn & Lilian - Let's Ice Skate Soon!

 Final Daycare Pal Khloe & The Zehr Boys (Rowan & Harper)

Clint took the Cassem Girls Picture - Natalie & Stella but now we cant find it :-)

Pump It Up Worker Pictures

Did My Mom Come to Take Pictures HAHA 

They are so Dark!

 The Crew!

 Silly Faces!

Ninja!

Sunday - We are busy getting all sorts of stuff done right now.  We cleaned the master bathroom top to bottom and threw an entire bag of garbage out - so many half used bottles of STUFF!  We also got through the entire unfinished basement - Wahoo!  I have someone coming to buy our highchair at 3p - YAY more big sized baby stuff gone!  We finished the grocery, laundry and did a Goodwill run.  I am about to do some work/email prep for the week all before we head to the Cassem's for the BIG Vikings game this evening!  I am glad we are busy so I cant sit and worry about the game :)  We even started our day with some spirited donuts - PURPLE & YELLOW!

Say some prayers and send good wishes to that special Vikings team and let's hope they can BRING IT HOME!  I am looking forward to hopefully sharing pictures next week of lots of cheering/ celebrating after another big win!

Have a great week ahead!

Lots of Love, 

C, K, M & C

2018 - 1st Full Week of Regular Routine

Sunday Night Shenanigans

Super Hero's, Princesses and a Butterfly Super Hero ??!!

This was a nutty week at work but we all knew it would be.  I feel like every January is nutty because everyone comes back from their holiday haze and start working on all the things they put on pause, we start to ramp up for a strong finish to the fiscal year at work and people have resolutions of doing things more effectively than in the prior year.  You add all that up plus some cost saving exercises underway and I have been asked to play the interim HR Director position for the CFO org until likely June timing as my former manager is moving to a new space within Cargill - you have a busy week!  Thankfully I like what I do and who I work with so it makes crazy weeks a titch more manageable.  It also helps when you have a great teammate on the home front who helps balance out the load!  Either way it was wonderful when we reached Friday and had some time for R&R over the weekend!!

Daycare Fun!

Stacking, Sorting/Counting, Science and Costume Kim!!

Daily Highlights

Monday - Maci started a new session of Ice Skating and we wished God Mommy Christie a Happy Birthday!

Tuesday - M brought a whisk for show & tell "bring something kitchen" and I skipped Yoga due to a much needed night of cranking some work at home - Boo!

Wednesday - Skipped C's Lil Gym due to both of us spinning around after another crazy day - need to get back in the routine this coming week!  All went to bed early thanks to yucky colds wearing all of us down :(

Thursday - Costume Kim fun at school and night call for mom at home with Asia - dropped a cook book on my foot and may have broken my big toe - OUCH!

Friday - Wahoo we made it!!!  After a nutty week and oh so many meetings, it felt so nice to wrap up this day!  I convinced Clint to take our fam to Rojo for chips/salsa/queso, margaritas and tacos!  YUMMY!!  What a fun way to celebrate the end of a crazy week!

Queso - I could bath in this!

 Modern Family Dinners - Phone Videos

 Ham Bone Modeling for Momma

 Tackling Daddy Post Eating 

Saturday - Got a lot of errands completed before dance class.  M had a blast as usual at dance and then we ran a few more errands before coming home for family nap time!  Ahhh I got almost a 2.5 hour nap and my body needed that - between non stop work, cold and cold weather I need to snooze! By the time I got up, I worked on some laundry but it was then time to get ready for date night with some of our best MN pals!  We had dinner reservations up in Hudson, WI (near Stillwater) with the Zehr's and Cassem's.  Miss Kaitlin watched the kiddos and around 5p we were off for dinner in an Igloo!!  It was such a fun concept and such great food.  We ended up having drinks until about 11p and then headed home to relieve our sitter and get some sleep.

Waiting on Miss Kaitlin & M is oh so motherly towards him 

SWOON!

 So Fun!

Sunday - No Sunday School this week due to MLK on Monday.  Given the freezing temps and  Clint packing to head to Wichita, we made the executive decision to stay cuddled up at home.  Clint was kind and let me sleep in since I will solo parent until Tuesday evening.  I got up with Connor around 845a and started watching cartoons.  Clint and I did some more cleaning/packing today by tackling our coat closet and main floor bathroom.  Clint ran a few errands and we started watching football while Clint packed.  He had to head to the airport around 1p and I put Connor down for his nap after their lunch.  I am enjoying a quiet Sunday at home with playoff football on TV.  I am really hoping the Vikings can take care of the Saints later today and "Bring it Home!"  Our friends Ryan and Jacey will be at the game and we sure hope they are good luck for the Vikings (2nd fav team)!  I will likely do a little work prep later today and get the kiddos all packed up for another COLD week in 2018!

Sunday Fun with a Box HAHA

Little Does M Realize it had a New Sled in it for Her Upcoming Birthday!

Lots of Love,

C, K, M & C