It's Spring!

I am a week behind since I left to Spain last Sunday evening and unfortunately the blog didn't get checked off the to do list before leaving.  It was a nice trip but I am glad to be home and work travel free for at least the foreseeable future!

Last Weekend
Friday - Our good friends Trip & Lori came over for a visit after having not seen them in quite a few weeks.  This shows how icky winter has been since we use to see them almost every Sunday for football games and in the summer Trip/Clint are golfing quite a bit together.  It was nice to see them and share recent travel stories.  Miss M showed off the entire visit :) and we ate some yummy grilled steaks!

Saturday - We had our weekly gym class and Maci loved parachute time.  Clint got some great pics of her reactions!

Later in the day, Miss M got spoiled, what's new?!  We decided it was time to tear down her baby swing, amazing gift from Aunt Christie, but she is far too big now :-(  So to take up that corner of her playroom, we bought her an inflated ball house.  She LOVED playing inside of it, throwing out balls and then (like her mom's OCD) had to rush to pick up all the balls and throw them back in, just to do it all over again a few moments later!

While shopping for her ball house. . . we wasted time in the checkout trying on a variety of sunglasses. . . she thought she was very cool!

While I was gone in Barcelona most of this week (Sunday evening - Thursday evening), Clint did his amazing husband/daddy duty and sent me several pictures of Miss M.

So then I had to share some pics of my week. . .

I got over my jet leg much better from Europe than I had from Asia, I guess to be expected.  Friday was a busy/productive day at work followed by my good friend from Sidney plant days, Jim visiting. He was in town for work and we got to benefit from his last night in town.  He was very thoughtful and brought Clint his favorite shake as an early bday present, me an ice cream sandwich and Maci an adorably soft bunny (her 4th sleeping buddy)!  It was great to catch up with him over basketball, our brackets are DONE!

Saturday we had gym (fun as usual) and then errands/family nap time.  Come dinner we went out for Clint's birthday with two of our couple friends and their toddlers who are Maci's gym friends (Natalie/Harper).  Harper's parents (Halston/John) have been talking about Acapulco for some good Mexican food and so we finally had a reason to try it out.  It was quite yummy and the kids were really good.  They even danced to the 80's in the bar area for a bit before we left before their bed time.

Today was AMAZING weather!  Spring has sprung, finally!  It was in the low 60s and so nice.  We knew it was going to be great and with Clint's birthday being on a Monday, we celebrated all weekend long instead.  We ran some errands in the morning after sleeping in a bit.  At 1p we met up with the same friends from dinner last night for a day at the zoo, they also have memberships!  The kids had fun and we can't wait to do this more in the summer once the farm area with the petting zoo opens back up, only 2 more days!!!  We can't wait for this city to come to full life again, such an awesome city in full bloom!  We wrapped up the evening with a long walk around our neighborhood before dinner/bedtime.

Miss M went to bed about an hour early tonight and felt a little warm, please say some prayers she isn't coming down with anything, especially since Clint is off to DC Tues-Thurs of this week!  UGH

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

Top O' the Morning to You!

Yay, it is almost St Patty's Day!  Maci has been wearing a lot of green leading up to this fun holiday and she will be all decked out tomorrow at daycare, along with Mommy at work.  We aren't sure if Daddy is wearing green tomorrow since he is left for Fayetville today and we didn't see if he packed green, probably not!

This was a busy past week and I suffered from some bad jet lag towards the early part of the week but I finally feel back to normal, just in time to leave for Spain not this week but next ;-)  I also had a hard time getting caught back up at work since I was only in the office Monday and Friday of the week.  Tues-Thurs I was in my 2nd module of Coactive Coaching, a great training session and valuable time spent but it has left me quite a long to do list :) Life goes on!

Last Sunday's zoo trip was a blast!  Miss M loves the Zoo more and more each time we go.  This time she got to pace with a Lynx cat, bought a sloth stuffed animal that is quickly becoming a 2nd fav behind lamby and she got to run around/ride on daddy's shoulders!  We LOVE the zoo and can't wait for fully warmer weather so we can enjoy all of the zoo, not just the indoor portions.

Maci had a lot of fun, as usual, at daycare this past week.  Enjoy some of these funny pics of our gal this past week.

Water Table Fun

Playing with the texture of noodles

 Lunch time with friends!

HA - Maci will NOT stop climbing on tables at daycare, they told her to put her feet down and this is what she did.... GOOF Ball!!

Clint and I enjoyed a date night on Saturday night and this is the text we got from our sitter, Ali.  Miss M must have been worn out by Ali because she fell asleep on the floor during PJ time :)

Have a wonderful GREEN week!

Lots of Love,
C, K & M

Ni Hao, Momma is back from China!

I had to share this one picture from the week before I left to China.  I didn't have time to write a post last Sunday before I left due to packing and watching Miss M while daddy was in Chicago with work (Wed-Sat).  However, I think the following picture sums up my thoughts from that week as well, exhausting!  Miss M couldn't make it from lunch to her cot for nap time, reminds me of Grandpa Mike ;-)

I had a very nice time in China but I am also glad to be home.  Shanghai was much cleaner than I remembered and much more modernized since my last trip 17 years ago!  It felt like NYC for the most part.  I struggled a bit with the true authentic Chinese cuisine but usually there would be one dish at the meal that I really enjoyed and would load up on that :)  We had a safe trip home and I have enjoyed my shortened weekend back with the family.

Tao our China Country Tax Manager & Host for the Week

 Dinner night 2 in Old Shanghai, very cool buildings

 Bund View from a Swanky Restaurant on Thurs night

Miss Maci had a great week with daddy but this week didn't involve much hair brushing or ponytails so enjoy the following photos :)

Right after Mommy Left

Rough Hair Day but at least it was "Green Snack" Day

 Thank goodness daycare stepped in and started doing her hair!

 Making Mashed Bananas - So Fun!

I got home Saturday morning 11a CST and even though I was extremely jet lagged, I was so happy to see my family.  Miss M did gym class with daddy right before I got home.  Below you see a picture of a spider web crawling thing they put up.  Dad was bragging when he picked me up that she was the ONLY kid out of like 15 kids that would actually climb through it - she is so brave!

After mommy got home and settled, it was time for her first haircut!  These pictures all week made me realize her hair is quite sloppy right now when it isn't pulled up so I took her to my salon :)  So fun!  She did great and I distracted her with a push pop candy sucker thing!

Well we are off to the zoo, it is in the 40s here today and so that feels like a beach vacation!  We hope you all have a great rest of your weekend and good next week as well.  We are happy to all be in town next week and enjoy some routine!

Lots of Love,
C, K & M

No Really, Is Winter EVER Going to End?!

Umm Mom, Seriously will it ever stop snowing?!  

I don't remember what it is like to have my pasty thighs being kissed by the sun!

So as you can tell, we are really really over winter!  All the news channels say this may be the worse winter in Minneapolis history.  Friends tell us if we make it through this one we are true Minnesotans.  We just say this STINKS!  The temperatures have been insanely cold, almost 30 degrees lower than average temps, even for Minneapolis.  In addition, the snow totals were down a bit but because it is SO COLD nothing is melting!  We literally have mountains by our front door, our backyard is something Boomer won't even attempt any longer and our driveway has to towers on either side that could rival most mountains!  

Yep this is what childhood looks like for Minnesotans!

This was a fairly quiet week in the beginning.  We enjoyed having our random President's day off thanks to Cargill.  Maci went to daycare and Clint and I got things done that never happen when Maci is around, or at least that quick!  We were coasting through the week when Thursday hit!  It started to snow around 10a and did not stop until around 2a Friday morning!  I left work early on Thursday (3p) because I heard the roads were getting bad.  Miss M was not too happy that I picked her up early from daycare, especially at snack time - goof ball!  She was even less happy when we told her we wouldn't be going to swim lessons due to the weather, ugh I was disappointed too!  We then waited out the storm and on Friday morning made the smart call to both work from home and keep Miss M with us.  MN Dept of Transportation said  these were the worse roads they had seen in at least 25+ years!  I mean seriously, I don't need to see these records being broken.  The problem wasn't the amount of snow, about 10 inches, nothing for these parts.  However, Thursday was fairly warm ~30+ degrees and so the snow was melting and almost a rain at times.  Therefore, it all froze over and when they would plow the fresh snow, ice remained.  In addition, the temps then dropped back down to our lovely average this winter of maybe 10 degrees, if you are lucky.  So there you have it, ice on roads, cold temps and nothing melting!  Clint and I couldn't believe how bad the roads still were when we ventured out for gym on Saturday morning, but we had to get out!  :)  Afterward, we grabbed yummy brunch at Coopers (West End near our house) with our friends Halston/John/Baby Harper and Ryan/Baby Natalie (Jacey was out of town) followed by some regular Saturday errands and vegging!  

Proof for my mom of Maci climbing her stool to watch dad snow blow!

We did a lot of vegging this weekend which was nice since Clint is in Chicago Wed-Sat of this coming week with work.  He no sooner gets home Saturday evening when I have to turn around to China for work (Sun-following Sat).  That means we may be a week behind on the blog unless I can teach Clint how to update :)  umm yea we will be a week behind on the blog!! ;-)

Boo on Winter!

We hope the rest of our family and friends are enjoying slightly warmer temps and we are about to start a countdown to spring!  I did order Maci some fun spring/summer clothes online this weekend in hopes that she will get to enjoy wearing them. . . .one day!

Lots of Love,

C, K & M

Happy Valentine's Day!

Yet another cold snowy week in MN but at least we had a little extra special fun due to Valentine's day at the end of the week!

Maci got to enjoy her first Valentine's day at daycare and they even exchanged Valentine's cards which was super cute :)  Her class had a Valentine's day snack time on Friday where all the parents were invited to share in snack time with the kids 330p.  I got stuck at work a little longer than I wanted but thankfully Clint was there to fill in until I could make it - Miss M was soooo HAPPY to see the both of us hanging out in her classroom!  Then Friday night we got to go out for some dinner and drinks while our babysitter Ali watched Maci.  But we couldn't leave until Daddy gave Maci her first real Valentine's gift which she was quite happy about.  What a wonderful Valentine's day!

Saturday morning we started our day with our favorite Saturday activity, gym class!  Maci was in such a great mood at gym and really got into her somersaults which she has dreaded in the past :)  Check out this great video of her in action later in the night when we were practicing at home!

After gym, I had a hair appointment and decided to do something drastic!  I have wanted to change up my hairstyle for a while.  Ever since Maci, I have gotten in a bad habit of using ponytails as my go to look, even at work.  I hate how frumpy it makes me feel so I decided I was going to cut my hair in a bob (much shorter, right above my shoulders) and to add some fringy bangs to add something different to my look.  The color looks a little darker in the picture than it is in person and you don't see the blonde in the picture but it gives you a good idea.  I really like it but I am also still getting use to seeing myself looking completely different in the mirror!

After all of this excitement, we decided to run our usual grocery errand on Saturday afternoon and I guess Maci hadn't quite gotten a long enough nap with Dad while I was having my hair done so this is what she decided to do in the Target cart :)  She had a huge red mark on her face after she woke up but what a crazy girl. . . she just goes with the flow!

Today we went sledding for the first time at the school/park a few doors down from us.  Needless to say our friend Ryan was right when he said it was a Black Diamond hill for our girls.  This will be the "go to" hill when Maci and her friends are in grade school but it was INSANE to have taken her down this hill in our rickety plastic sled.  Both Clint and I took her down a few times and after having to use our feet for brakes, Maci had more snow in her face than anywhere else.  Well we gave it a whirl at least :)  After about the 30 mins of that craziness, we decided to head home and Maci's friend Natalie came over with her dad Ryan and mom Jacey, our friends.  We ordered pizza, watched Olympics and watched the girls crack each other up.  They truly are the bestest little buds, so cute to hear them giggle while they play either at our homes, swim or gym class.

Tomorrow Clint and I get the day off, thank you Cargill for recognizing President's day as a work holiday!  Maci has school so we will be enjoying the day kid free.  We are going to see a movie, do some things around the house and I will even get a little work done in order to take advantage of the free day.  We hope everyone has a great week!

Lots of Love,
C, K & M

Long Long Winter

Our house is a little sick of winter at this point!  At least we have lots of laughs to look forward to each week thanks to Miss M.  We have a big Valentine's Day party coming up this Friday at her school.  Otherwise we are just low key and trying to stay sane through winter temps.  Enjoy checking out our past week :)  Hopefully we all see spring soon!

Lots of Love,
C, K & M

I got to "cook" with play dough at school!

I always LOVE gym class!!

 Ball Time @ Gym!

 We spent Sunday morning at the Zoo!!  Thank God for Indoor Displays!

Maci LOVES the Bee Hive Playroom for 1-3 Year Olds!

 Mom Loves Making us Sit on this Turtle!

 Maci's Favorite is still the Tropical Fish/Shark Area

 But the Penguins are becoming a close 2nd!

And when we weren't out and about, Miss M enjoyed watching the winter Olympics!