Busy Travels Begin

The Mondell house enjoyed another week of gorgeous spring weather.  In addition to the weather, Maci had a blast at school since this was a celebration week for the small child so they had a different theme day every day of the week.

• Monday she got to wear a fun hat (Toledo Rockets Hat, Thanks Great Aunt Sue)
• Tuesday was Mismatch day where she wore two different leg warmers with her shorts and some crazy high pigtail knots
• Wednesday was Beach Day so she wore her swimming suit top, shorts and flip flops (it was so nice that day too!)
• Thursday was Costume Day and she wore one of her dress up dresses, tiara and looked like Cinderella - I was quite honored when the preschoolers were guessing she was Cinderella :)
• Friday was Pajama Day and She got to bring her teddy bear

I also had some fun activities through the week.  On Tuesday I got to go to a VIP opening for the new Nordstrom Rack in our neighborhood strip mall re-design.  It was fun to get out of a long day of work, eat appetizers, drink champagne and do some good summer shopping with 2 girlfriends.  I told Clint I spent the least out of the 3 of us and left it at that ;-)  Thursday was a hair appointment night for me after work which is always a welcomed treat especially heading towards the weekend.

Friday - Clint flew out to Toledo, OH for the weekend Friday morning.  Our good friend Billy and his wife Jamie had their reception planned for this weekend, they had married a few months ago in Florida.  Billy was a best man in our wedding so we were glad Clint could be there even if Maci and I hung back.  After I picked up Maci, we ate pizza and took a nice long (slow with Maci!!) walk around the neighborhood - I sure enjoyed the time with my pal.  We then wrapped up the night with bath time which is usually a Maci/Daddy time.  At the end of the bath Maci yelled "Come on Daddy" as we went upstairs to get ready for bed :(

Saturday - Miss M was up and at 'em at 6a today - URGH!  My little 2 year old dictator told me "get up mommy!" over and over again until I couldn't take it any longer.  We had a sweet morning together doing some laundry but also coloring with sidewalk chalk outside on the front walkway.  We then were off to gym and brunch with our friends.  After gym, Maci actually took a great 3 hour nap with mommy!  Yay!!  She got to come on the weekly Target grocery run since Clint is out of town but did great and the worker even gave her a sticker because she was such a good helper for her mommy!  We wrapped up our evening playing on the swing set, more sidewalk chalking and folding laundry.  I am about to put her down for the night and then give some thought to my own packing.

Sunday - I am doing the blog a day early this week because I fly out to Rome tomorrow at 1p.  Clint comes home at noon so Miss M gets to go to her friend Natalie's house for a few hours to play, she is soooo excited!  Clint heading to Ohio kicked off 2 months of utter craziness in the Mondell home :).  It is a good thing that I tend to thrive in small periods of craziness or this could be a tad overwhelming.  It will be summer with a blink of the eye!  

Take a look at our upcoming whereabouts :

• Week of April 20th - Kellie in Rome 
• Week of April 27th - Both in town, Friday vacation day (Day Date!!)
• Week of May 4th - Kellie in Thailand (My Birthday Week but Home for Mother's Day!)
• Week of May 11th - Both in town
• Week of May 18th - Kellie in Miami Tues-Thurs
• Week of May 25th - Memorial Day & Family to Ohio Thurs-Sun for Molly's Graduation Fun!
• Weeks of Jun 1 & 8 - Clint to Africa 

Check in on Clint this week to ensure he is doing ok with temporarily single parenting our little Diva - she just told me she is a princess HA

Lots of Love,

C, K & M

Amazing Weekend Weather!!

We had a nice short week at work since we had taken Monday off as a vacation/relaxing day!  Clint finished up his touch football league Wednesday by unfortunately losing in the game before the championships but I am exciting as these winter activities come to a close because it is yet another reminder that spring has sprung and warm weather is here to stay!

Even Daycare is Making Spring Time Snacks - Butterflies!

Friday - I got out of work a little later than planned but it was time well spent since I got the content finalized for a webinar I host in mid may.  With quite a bit of travel coming up, the time of year for Tax's regional team meetings, I need to manage my time wisely to get presentations completed when I am around and not jet lagged :)  After I got home, we ate a quick dinner and enjoyed the spring weather by taking a family walk.  We didn't get very far though since Maci saw toys in a yard and ran right up to make friends, this kid is so social.  Thanks to her we met yet another family with a 3 year old girl in our neighborhood and I learned about a neighborhood moms group which I got invited to later that night.  We ended the night with our current favorite Wonder Years once Maci was in bed.

They Sure Have a Special Bond

Saturday - We kicked off Saturday morning with the usual lil gym, not many more weeks since it ends at the end of the school year (1st week of June).  We did a yummy Coopers Brunch with 1/2 the group and then headed to Once Upon a Child and GoodWill to find Maci a "bike" AKA Big Wheel.  We were fortunate to find a "gently" used Big Wheel for a whopping 9.99 at Goodwill for the lil Miss.  She is in LOVE with her ride, reminds me of my emotions when I got the keys to the Buick :)  Maci took a decent nap once we got home and Clint/I enjoyed some Wonder Years with the windows open in the house.  Once she was up we took a walk around the neighborhood and Maci rode her bike. . . she continually asked us if we wanted to take turns HA.  We then spent the rest of the amazing day in the back yard playing - I even folded our laundry outside - LOVE IT!  The Zehr family joined us for a pizza dinner out back and around 730p The Cassem's (Minus Kids) and John (neighbor) joined us for a bonfire out back.  While we had a good time we also almost went nuts between Clint's fire letting off way too much smoke and some crazy high pitched noise in the neighborhood which would keep starting and stopping!  By 11p we all couldn't take it anymore and we had to weigh how the pros/cons of having that "one more drink" knowing we all had little ones to wake to in the morning!!

Too Cool for School!

Sunday - Thankfully I got to sleep in until 9a - GOOD JOB MACI!  We then got dressed for a long walk around Lake Calhoun.  After a quick bagel stop, we were at the lake and enjoyed a long 3 mile walk which felt more like 5 miles with the constant stopping of Maci wanting to say Hi to Dogs, People, Ducks, Birds etc.  We had a blast with Maci at the little kid playground about 1/2 way around the lake and while we thought this would wear her out - Maci was totally ready for frozen yogurt afterward and NEVER napped today!  I am sure this kid is going to CRASH after bath time tonight :)  I then had to run the weekly grocery trip while Clint attempted to enjoy the Masters with Maci under his watch.  I am now starting to think about our upcoming week and starting a to do list.  Once the Masters ends we are going to take one final family walk in the neighborhood (you have to take advantage of a 72 degree sunny day) before some thunderstorms roll in.

Lake Calhoun Fun!

Clint will be heading to Toledo, Ohio this coming weekend for our good friend Billy Gilsdorf's wedding reception!  Unfortunately, I won't be coming along as I head out to Rome next Sunday for our EMEA regional team meeting.  Maci will get to spend a few hours next Sunday with her friend Natalie since Clint and I will be passing in the airport (he lands about 1 hour before I leave) - just the start of what will be our family's Crazy April & May!  Congratulations Billy, I wish I could be there but I am sure you will all have a blast!!

Lots of Love,
C, K & M

Daddy Gets a Little Older & Happy Easter!!

What a busy and quick week we had leading into this long weekend!  Maci has started to become quite the DIVA and we celebrated Clint's Birthday on Tuesday evening.  The weather was also pretty nice this week which made for quite a few walks and outdoor sitting in the evenings.

DIVA Post Walk

 Oh My - Someone Loves Sunglasses Now

Friday - We love having Good Friday Off!!  Miss M's school was open so she went to school while Clint and I enjoyed a lazy day date.  After dropping her off we had breakfast and ran some errands.  We then took a wonderful nap and a LONG walk around the neighborhood since we wouldn't have to stop every few minutes for an airplane :)  After we got home from the walk it was about 3 something so we went to pick up our lil buddy!  That night we went to Ridgedale mall to get some dinner and play at the indoor playground.

Saturday - Lil Gym per usual and then Natalie and her family and Emmett and his family met us at a park for an Easter Egg hunt.  The kids were allowed to get 4 eggs each and Maci was done within less than a minute, if you blinked you may have missed it.  However all the kids had a blast and us parents had fun catching up too!  Maci was able to turn in her eggs for a prize which was a great piggy book.  We then tried to head home for naps but Maci decided naps weren't in the cards this weekend UGH!  I then ran the weekly errands and got a pedicure while Clint held down the fort at home.  Once Maci went to bed, Clint and I had some cocktails, enjoyed NCAA final 4 and welcomed the Easter Bunny!

Mommy & Her Buddy!

 Running Around

Best of Friends

 The Mommas and Babes (Rosemary 7 weeks not pictured)

Sunday - HAPPY EASTER!!!  Maci woke up around 7a and had a blast finding her basket that the crazy bunny hid!  We played with her goodies until about 8a when we had to hurry and get ready for mass.  We went to 9a mass and Maci did great until about the last 20 mins and then she had a fully on temper tantrum melt down with me in the basement of the church :(  We then headed to brunch at the Gold Nugget and Maci was thankfully a little angel at breakfast and ate like a champ.  We then came home, played with toys and took a wonderful Easter walk.  At the end of our walk we saw we missed a FaceTime call from my families Easter celebration in Cincinnati so we quickly called them back and enjoyed catching up with everyone!  We feel very blessed today and every day - we hope everyone had a wonderful Easter as well!

Thanks for the Book Ruzick Family!

 The Bunny Came!

 Daddy & His Girl!

 I LOVE MY FAMILY

What a Beauty?!  Enjoying a Peep Grandma Janet!

I am going to try and get caught up on a little work tonight and then Clint and I are taking tomorrow off to burn a vacation day.  Maci will go to school but we plan to do some house cleaning, running needed errands and just getting caught up in general - it will be nice to have another short work week!

Lots of Love, 

C, K & M

Girly Girl in the Making. . .

We had a pretty chilly week here but thank goodness the 60 degree weather comes back this coming week, just in time for Easter!  Miss M had a fairly normal week at daycare but has started having a habit of SCREAMING and Crying at the top of her lungs when she gets told to not do something.  I understand it is so loud that often it will get teachers from the other rooms to come running because they think something is seriously wrong - nope just Maci and her impressive two year old tantrums.

What a Beauty. . . 

 They made a snowman - GO AWAY MARCH SNOW!

Friday - I was exhausted on Friday after a busy, long feeling week.  After picking up Maci & eating our Pizza, I asked Clint for time to take a hot bath.  I was so out of it afterward, he let me head to bed to relax and enjoy some alone time.  I was laying in bed by 730p with "A league of their own" on TV.  Very lame but very relaxing and enjoyable all at the same time!  My body must have also known that I needed it because I woke up Saturday with a sore throat, something Clint had as of Friday morning.

Ice Cream Cone Before Mommy's Early Bedtime

Saturday - Maci was up normal time, ate some cereal and headed to Lil Gym with us.  She had a great time as usual but when we went to Cooper's with the group for brunch afterward she just seemed exhausted.  Maci didn't touch her food and ultimately fell asleep in Clint's lap - so not our Maci!  We went home and took a 2 hour nap as a family.  When we woke up we decided to go to the newer outlet malls to pick up Maci some spring/summer essentials.  Maci fell asleep again on the way there and then let us just push her around for almost 4 hours in her stroller.  The only time we saw a slight smile was when she got some new shoes at the Croc store - anyone that has been around Maci lately knows how much this girl LOVES shoes!  Poor kid was just not feeling herself and while it made for a very easy/peaceful shopping day, she was pathetic.  She fell asleep again on the way home and cried like a baby when we tried to give her a bubble bath before bed.  We could tell she was running a slight temp so we gave her some Tylenol and put the lil slug to bed :(  After she was in bed, Clint and I enjoyed NCAA games and we got caught up on our Scandal.  

Sunday - Miss M came bouncing into our room at about 730a today and was a complete 180 from her mood the day prior!  Thank goodness!!  On the other hand, I had gone to bed with some NyQuil so was still out of it.  Thankfully Clint let me sleep until about 830a when we all got up and headed to Egg & I to get a good breakfast.  Maci took a good nap in the car on the way home but she wouldn't sleep once we got home :-/  Poor Clint had to deal with the napping problems while I ran out for the weekly grocery trip.  This week's trip was fairly fun since I helped the Easter Bunny out with some shopping for a special little girl :)  After we put everything away, Maci begged me to do her favorite activity "PAINTING HER NAILS"  She was quite proud of the finished product!

Got to Let Them Dry, Right Mommy?!

 Toesies!!!

 Finger Nails!

 So Proud!

I am ready to take a nap or at least lay around for a bit.  The sun has finally come out on this warm day, rain earlier, so we may take a nice family walk a little later.  For now it is NCAA basketball and some R&R to ensure we are all healthy for the work/school week ahead.

Clint and I are excited for this coming week since it is Clint's 37th Birthday on Tuesday!!! WOAH  In addition, we get Good Friday as a work holiday but Maci's daycare is open so another day date with covered babysitting :)  We also have some vacation to burn before our FY end so we are taking the Monday after Easter off.  That means we have a 4 day weekend coming up with Maci in school 2 of the days - AKA we will get a lot accomplished around the house too!!

Lots of Love,
C, K & M

A Weekend of Laughs!

Do you think last weekend wore her out?!

Unfortunately the weather decided to align a bit more with the typical temps for this week which meant it was still sunny but that was deceiving as it was more like 40s.  Our family had a nice week with a fun break in the middle of the week with a magic show at Maci's school in the evening.  Maci loved watching the magician, wiggling her fingers and yelling POOF!  You can tell how much she is growing as her attention span has increased greatly in the last few months.  She was OK sitting for the entire 40 min show :)  She also did OK with B-ball being on every TV all weekend long!

Sidewalk chalk fun at school

Friday - We wrapped up the week with me leaving a meeting about a candidate we had interviewed and walking into my office to find Clint talking on my cell phone.  It turns out his iPhone bit the dust with the screen fully falling out.  So instead of having a relaxing Friday night with Pizza & B-Ball. . . we headed to Verizon to negotiate with what I have decided is the new "used car business."  We ended up leaving without a new phone for me (even though I had an email with extremely misleading language) and Clint still had a broken phone b/c we had to do an Affidavit to file our insurance claim.  He will have his new phone arrive on Monday and not Saturday which the Verizon worker "assured" would happen.  Ugh - it makes me want to figure out how to leave cell phones all together!

Saturday - Maci had a great time at gym, per usual, we then did the typical breakfast/errands before nap time.  I decided to run my grocery trip on Saturday which I am so happy about today when I have no motivation to leave the house :)  We then had our monthly date night!  Maci went CRAZY when Miss Kaitlin arrived yelling her name over and over again and taking her to play right away!  We both agreed how nice it is that Maci loves seeing these sitters vs crying when we attempt to leave.  She even yelled "HAVE FUN!"  Which is really her way of saying, GO Away Now!  :)  Clint and I went to Gold Nugget for dinner - yummy burgers/sandwiches and we will be having our family Easter Brunch here after Mass this year.  We then headed to Brave New Workshop for some wonderful Improv Comedy!  It was so gosh darn funny!  I would liken it to SNL in NY except this program has been active in Minneapolis since 1958 - so cool!  It is housed in a really old theatre in downtown Minneapolis and the comedians are very talented.  Clint swore the one woman was a female Chris Farley with her physical comedy style.  We got home around 11p and relieved Kaitlin.  After she left, we grabbed the baby monitor and headed to the neighbors behind us.  Unfortunate timing as our neighborhood had a progressive dinner finishing at the neighbors behind us for deserts and after party!  Fortunately they were all still up so we went up for one well that quickly became 1a - we are so fortunate for such a fun and wonderful group of neighbors!  We all can't wait for summer which means lots of cookouts in each other's back yards.

Sunday - Thank goodness for Maci cuddling and choosing to sleep in with us!  Maci came into our bed at some point before my eyes could even function today.  The next thing I know it was 10a and we NEVER sleep in like that - much needed, I don't stay up until 1a ever anymore :)  The day is a super lazy one at our house.  We are having a late lunch now and have been watching B-ball/playing with Maci in her play room.  I plan to do a little work in a bit but my goal is to not leave the house all day long!!  We may get some snow tonight but I am praying it is just a little and that this is the last bit for the year - I am ready for spring to stay!

We hope everyone has a great week!
Lots of Love,
C, K & M

Has Spring Really Sprung?!

What a gorgeous week!!!  We had 60 almost 70 degrees throughout the week which made for many walks, park visits and just good sunshine fun!

We wonder why she falls so much. . .can she even see?!

 Making Blue Jello at School

Clint and I worked out together on Monday evening and saw the twin neighbor girls with their parents on a walk when we got home.  It made us a little jealous we hadn't thought of the same idea.  Then on Tuesday, I had a happy hour with some co-workers I had met through the HR Development Program 4 years ago.  While I was at happy hour catching up, Maci and Daddy went to the park two doors down.  It was so sweet to get the following pic while I was enjoying some Mojitos with the windows open :)

Pure Joy!

We took a walk both Wednesday and Thursday night but the walks take a whole lot longer now that Miss M wants to walk most of the time vs stroller ride.  I am thinking a tricycle may be in her future to at least keep her moving forward!  We just love our neighborhood because each night when we take a walk we either run into familiar faces who have become our summertime drinking buds or we meet a new family with kids typically right around Maci girls age.  On Thursday we met the later and Maci loved Zoey's bike!

We were all ready and excited for the weekend.  On Friday, I left around 4p since I had a massage at the Marsh for 430 - WAHOO!  So nice!  While I got my massage, Clint headed home early to rake leaves that feel really late and we could totally get to now that all snow is gone!  Afterward, I picked up Miss M and we headed to Punch Pizza with Daddy for dinner.  While we were waiting at Punch, Miss M and I went next door to Barnes & Noble to look at books.  Of course Miss M walked away with 2 new books - an Easter Minnesota book and an animal sound book.

Saturday - After our usual Gym class and then bagel sandwiches for breakfast - we ran a few errands and Maci took a fab nap while I paid bills and did some things around the house.  At 4p we headed to Halston, John and Harper's house where the guys helped move some items to storage since they are looking to put their house on the market in the next few weeks.  While the guys drank beers and moved boxes into the Uhaul and storage unit, the moms took the kiddos to their local neighborhood park.

Natalie on the Duck

 Maci and Her Slide

 Harper Running on the Retaining Wall

 Our Little Rascals

Best of Friends 

Sunday - Today is near 70 degrees so what better to do than the zoo?!  Unfortunately it didn't feel 70 or have the sun until about noon and we were leaving the zoo around that time for naps.  While Maci somewhat napped, I ran to the grocery and now we are watching basketball, prepping for the coming week and about to go out back to play on the swing set with Maci girl!  I still want to clean my closet today too - I love enjoyable but also productive weekends :)  Clint is determined we will have a fire out back tonight so I have to get my things done before dark.

Timberwolves at the Zoo - Clint Loves Them

 He also Loves the Sharks

He should qualify for a child pass too ;-)

We hope everyone has a great week!
Lots of Love,
C, K & M