Sunday, December 17, 2023

Holiday Drinks, Choir Concert, Connor Birthday Party, Sports & Cargill Alumni Holiday Party!!!

Wow what a wonderful, busy holiday week!!!

Weekdays:
  • Monday- Connor presented on his favorite holiday at school.  Maci had her quad training on Monday instead of Friday b/c they have a soccer game during the usual time on Friday.  I met up with my friend Amber after dinner for some holiday drinks.  So good catching up with her.  Then I got home in time to watch Clint lose his mind on the Dolphin's last second loss to the Titans.
Connor rocking his presentation
Amber and my holiday catch up!
  • Tuesday- Maci had choir practice.  I had a calibration meeting for annual ratings across all of tech.  Come the evening, Maci had soccer training and Connor had basketball.
  • Wednesday- After work, I did a quick happy hour with some of my coworker/friends.  I then hustled to the school for Maci's Holiday choir concert.  It was so adorable and her pal Hans came to cheer her on.  They all did so great!!  Maci was on a high afterward and said it felt like it should be a Friday night, haha - the girl liked her stage!
Choir Concert Fun!
Buddies : Penny & Isla
Proud Parents
Buddies - Livi, Maci & Isla
Pretty girl
Maci & her buddy Hans
  • Thursday- I worked from home and we had our 2nd annual secret snowflake celebration.  It was a super fun virtual happy hour with the team.  I finished up some work and once we put the kids to bed, Clint and I spent the evening putting together a pop a shot for Connor's birthday!  We wanted it up as a surprise in time for his birthday party on Friday night.
Finished Product
Friday-
  • I got a lot of work done as calendars are starting to lighten a bit as people head out on PTO.
  • I met my friends Nicole and Katie for lunch at Grocer's Table.
  • I worked a bit more and then got Maci ready for her soccer game.  The Hintze family kindly picked her up at 5p, took her to the game, took her out to eat after and brought her back home.  We have a killer soccer family!  We didnt know this game's timing until after Connor's party was scheduled.  Fortunately, they played the team from the week prior and clearly had NO mercy on that 0-1 loss.  They won this time 4-0!!!  Yas girls!
  • At 530p, the boys started to show and in minutes I was regretting this home party idea and size of the invite list HAHA  We had 11 boys and Anna plus Connor so 13 kids total!  The basement became a scene from Lord of the Flies.  I hid at one point after cupcakes and pizza watching Maci's soccer game streaming.  We had to give out 3 ice packs, help dry about 5 sets of tears.  It was pure mayhem.  However, when I got the movie on and lights off, I got at least 1/2 to calm down.  The basement remained insane but the living room was a calm, chill out spot.  Come 8p, the parents arrived and all told me how shocked they were we did this. HA yes, same!
  • Maci got home after they were all gone and we chilled out together.
Surprise!!
The Party Crew!
Awesome Gifts from the Best Buds
Chuck
Anders L
Anna!
Anders B
Graham
Hendrix
Colton
Louie
Elliott
Grady
Oliver
Constantine
Sports cards were a popular item and big hit with Connor
Super happy she wasn't at the party! ;-)
Maci & her Teammates (Charley, Reagan, Madyn, Taylor, Annelise)
Saturday- 
  • Started with Connor's b-ball game at 8a.  Early!  The team played well and Connor had some good moves.  The other team was pretty equal to them.
  • Maci had gymnastics which I took her to but then Clint picked her up because my Bengals game was about to start and I took a cat nap beforehand.
  • I enjoyed the last second win over the Vikings - wahoo!!
  • While I cheered on my game, Maci also had soccer practice from 1-2p.
  • After my game, Clint and I took showers, finished setting up food, cleaning the house.
  • At 430p, our first guests started to arrive as Clint wanted to host his former Cargill colleagues for a holiday get together.  We enjoyed good food, company, conversation and football.
  • Maci got a slumber party invite at the start of the party and she was out of there within 20 mins!
  • The company left around 830-900p and then Clint and I caught up on the rest of the football games before calling it.
Sunday-
  • Today is my 5 year anniversary with UHG (Rally + Optum)
  • We started our day with a walk, Clint picked up Maci from her sleepover at 11a and we were busy watching football and cleaning up from the party most of the day.
  • Maci and I did a Target run for the very final Christmas gift needs - bus driver gift card, secret Santa with bus friends etc.
  • Maci had another soccer practice 400-515p and Clint took her, hunted for Bourbon πŸ˜’and then hung out until the practice ended.
  • Kids are now in bed and we are all ready to crash.
We hope you are getting excited for some down time with family and friends.  We are so excited to wrap the year with work and school.  The kids go through Thursday and we go through Friday but then are off until Jan 3 and Jan 2 respectively.

Lots of Love,
C, K, M & C

Stanchion Surprise Party, Sports & Hairball Concert!

I was so tired last Sunday that I am a week behind on the update 😏

Weekdays:

  • Monday - I had a good calibration for annual ratings at work.  Connor and Clint had Bball practice at 6p in the evening.  Bengals played the Jags in Monday night football and in Jake Browning we believe HA - he looked great and our team sure showed up! πŸ˜ƒ
Blankets during independent reading
He went with the Raiders
  • Tuesday - Maci had choir practice after school and then soccer training in the evening.  At night, I surprised my coworker & friend Nicole.  I was her secret snowflake and we have a bar we both love (Stanchion) which is out in our 'hood.  We talk about this bar all the time so for her gift I got her two t-shirts from the bar and paid her tab.  I got her to go there and then surprised her by having 5 of our fav guy pals from work who we talk about this place with all the time surprise her by coming in.  We had great laughs, enjoyed pizza and a few brews before calling it around 930p.
I even dressed like Nicole
She didn't disappoint and wore her typical plaid/vest/sweater type combo
The Crew at the Stanchion!
Francois, Paul, Mouli, Nicole, Me, Phil
  • Wednesday - Maci had choir again and soccer practice at night.  Connor had his religion class.  This is the last one for the year for him b/c he is missing the one right before break due to Maci's choir concert.
Maci and her 1st Grade Buddy (Paisley)
  • Thursday - Clint and I had a financial planning meeting in the afternoon.  Then Clint picked up Maci and her pals from choir practice.  I stayed at work a little late to get things in a good spot as we wrap year end and get ready for break.  I spoke to Christie for our monthly chat on my drive home which always gives me a smile!
Friday : 
  • Busy productive morning of work and meetings
  • Headed to the salon at 115p for a color/cut but thankfully can work from there
  • Maci had her quad soccer training at 4p so Clint ran her there and I showed up shortly after my hair apt so that I could bring her home.
  • We had some pizza and I did an early to bed routine.
Saturday : 
  • Maci had gymnastics at 10a so we all dropped her off
  • Then we were off to basketball team and individual pictures at 1015a
  • Right after, we were off to his basketball game at 11a - they played a really good team but all the sudden something clicked in Connor in the 4th quarter and he became an animal.  He is always quite good at basketball but he was stealing everything, running the court, hitting lay ups etc.  He said it was because some of his friends from school came for the next game and he liked playing for an audience HAHA I mean I guess I wasnt enough and dad on the bench hmm!
  • Anya's parents kindly brought Maci home from gymnastics so we could both enjoy his game.
  • We grabbed some lunch and then headed home.
  • Maci then had a soccer game at 215p where they lost a crusher 0-1.  We had a penalty kick thanks to Maci smacking a ball into a girls hand in the box.  However, our teammate hit it high against the crossbar.  Then their goal was a fluckie thing into the back corner.  We can get revenge next weekend when we ironically play them again!
  • Got home in time for naps :)
  • Then Clint and I got ready for our 80s/90s cover band Hairball concert.  We went to dinner with 3 other couple friends and then hit up the concert right as the opener was wrapping up.
  • We enjoyed the concert, great tunes and good crowd.  We got home right around midnight and crashed!  Such a fun night!
The Ladies
Kari, Gena, Jacey, me
The Guys
Vinny, Ryan, Clint and Brad
Went to the bathroom and met this guy HA
The guys having way too much fun with the Jared Allen wig
Rocking Out!
Alice Cooper Time
One of MANY Costume Changes for Hairball
Sunday : 
  • A productive day of wrapping presents, running errands, cleaning the house etc. 
  • Enjoyed the Bengals beating of the Colts :)
  • Maci baked cookies at her friend Charley's in the afternoon and then her mom took them to soccer practice at 4p
  • Kept doing stuff around the house right up until bed time, hence being a week behind on this update
Cookie Makers

We hope you are enjoying and cramming in all the holiday fun this season!
Lots of Love,
C, K, M & C

Sunday, December 3, 2023

San Antonio, Sports and Start of Holiday Celebrations!

Weekdays:

  • Monday - A nice easy start back to school and work.  All of our days were pretty uneventful and no evening activities!
  • Tuesday - Maci had choir after school.  I had a far busier day and wrapped with a meeting over drinks.  Maci had her soccer training session at 6p and I was able to pick her up on my way home from Happy Hour.
  • Wednesday - I flew out to San Antonio for work on a 9a flight.  I participated in some afternoon meetings with the WellMed team before heading to dinner with the local team.  We had some amazing pasta and wine.  Then I wrapped my evening with a beer along with 2 co-workers at the hotel bar.  On the home front, Maci had choir after school.  Then Connor had his weekly religion class and Maci had soccer practice.
  • Thursday - Another day in San Antonio.  A morning full of meetings and then off to the airport for a 130p flight. Maci had another day of choir and this time Clint was the pick up for the girls.  I landed around 4p but missed our team's holiday bingo virtual happy hour :(  I did get home in time to pick up dinner.  Clint and Connor then had basketball at 7p but I was asleep in bed by about 730p - so nice to be back in your own bed!
Friday : 
  • A nice work from home day for both of us with productive bursts.
  • The kids got off the bus and Maci headed to a friends house but both Clint and I forgot about her small quad soccer training at 430p.  Clint ran and grabbed her and then I ran her up to the training center only being about 10 mins late.  I hung there with the other moms and got her signed up for the training that starts in January.
  • Once home, Clint had made some LaRosa's pizzas for dinner.
  • I was getting some more work done and weekend prep while Clint and Connor went to the Wayzata Trojans boys high school madness night.  Basically the high school boys have a dunk contest, drills etc to get everyone fired up for the season!
Saturday :
  • The boys had haircuts at 920a
  • Clint then ran Maci to Gymnastics at 10a.
  • I got up and moving and picked Maci up at 1130a.
  • We got a few things done around the house and some Christmas wrapping before running Maci to soccer practice at 1p.
Thanks Aunt Sue for the yummy cookies!
  • I got a few more gifts wrapped before I had to run back and get her at 2p.
  • During this time, Clint was watching the Toledo Mac championship - ugh not this year boys!
  • I got a few more things done around the house and then it was time to get ready for Connor's basketball game followed by our New Momma Christmas Party.
  • Connor's team CRUSHED the competition and he had some wonderful defensive plays, dribbling, passes and shots - dang they are fun to watch!
Our Stud in White with Black Shorts
  • Then we got to the party and enjoyed our friendships, a kid gift exchange (Connor got a football and Maci got a Stanley water bottle - SOOOO excited!), homemade spaghetti and meatballs and cocktails + laughter!
Gift Exchange Fun
Maci got Natalie a Stanley Water Bottle

Connor got Emmett a "44" Chain Necklace & Fishing Lures

Such a great reaction, Natalie also got Maci a Stanley HAHA

Emmett got Connor a Football which he was SOO excited to give to him :) 

The OGs - They Love Pics, HAHA

Our Silly Ladies!

The Littles - AKA Round 2

The Whole Crew - Such good buddies!

Enjoying Spaghetti & Salad Dinner

My gals

Love these peeps!

The dudes!
Sunday : 
  • We all slept in - Lovely!
  • Then Clint and I took a nice long walk followed by Peg's takeout for breakfast!
  • We tuned into the Dolphin's ass whoppin of the Commanders.
  • Maci and I ran some errands for holiday gifts
  • Then Clint ran his own errands while Connor and I ran Maci to her soccer practice
  • Clint picked Maci up from soccer practice
  • We ordered some taco dinner
  • Ensured all the kid homework was wrapped for the weekend, watched some more football and now are all about to hit the hay
Rosie got a new holiday scarf and bow
The bow makes it a few minutes but she loves her scarves :)

We hope you are all enjoying the magic of this season!
Lots of Love, 
C, K, M & C