Winter Break Starts & We Wish You a Merry Christmas!!

Weekdays : 

• Monday - I was supposed to go to Maci's classroom to read but just as I was leaving the house to head up to the school I got a call from the nurse saying Connor was hurt on the playground.  It sounds like him and some buddies were racing up and down an icy snow hill and both Connor and a pal lost their footing and as they fell the one other kid punched Connor in the mouth causing his mouth to bleed and his tooth to get super wiggly.  I ended up taking him and getting into a late dentist apt to ensure it was just a loose baby tooth vs any further damage.  Thankfully it was a baby tooth and all good.  Connor proceeded to not want to eat all night (this is becoming way too common with his loose teeth) but finally at 930p he let Clint put his hand in there and wiggle it which caused it to pop right out!  We told him how proud of him we are and got him to go to bed in time for the tooth fairy to bring the yoyo he begged for 
• Tuesday - Today was the last day of school before winter break! I went into school to join Connor for lunch to celebrate his birthday a day early and he got to hand out sports straws to every one in his class.  In the evening, Maci had a soccer technical training that I took her to and since it was only 45 minutes I just hung out and chatted with Lucy's mom Kristi.  It's nice to have that 1:1 time with M during our drives.

Rocking his Birthday Hat at Lunch

• Wednesday - Happy 7th Birthday Connor!!!  Given we were now on winter break but Mom and Dad weren't off work yet, we had signed the kids up for kid care with their school district.  Neither kid was super excited about doing this as they wanted to sleep in and be lazy.  Well they got lucky, snow really started to come and the program closed by 2p and then already decided they would be closed on Thursday so they got their wish.  I picked them up around lunch and shared the good news that they wouldn't have to go back the next day HAHA.  They played at the house and then we headed out in the snow to eat at Kobe's hibachi restaurant for Connor's birthday dinner!

Our Baby!

• Thursday - My calendar is getting so nice and clear!!!  I was checking things off the to do list and taking just a random call here and there, a lot of the team was starting to be on PTO so the holidays are so close!!  We watched the Christmas Story as a family for movie night before bed.

Friday : 

• A wonderful lazy day of skating, TV and puzzling!
• We watched a lot of football and started to get super excited for Christmas to come!!!
• We even ended our evening with some family time in the hot tub!

So Cold & So Much Snow

Hot Tub Party Time!

Saturday :

• Merry Christmas Eve!
• The Bengals played the Patriots which was super fun/boring in the 1st half and then nearly caused me a heart attack at the end of the game.  Fortunately we pulled the W and then enjoyed some more football as we got ready for our Christmas Eve family dinner at Wildfire.
• Maci, Clint and I all got some filet medallions and Connor got kids meal cheese burger.  We had a lot of fun trying some new foods and getting dressed up.
• Once home, we laid out reindeer food and got everything ready for Santa.
• Clint and I had some "assembly" to do before calling it a night ourselves.

Wildfire Dinner

Sunday :

• Merry Christmas!!!
• The kids did a great job of staying in their rooms until 7a.
• They loved all their gifts and thankfully are very appreciative.
• Maci's favorites were her soccer goal from Santa & Apple iWatch from mom & dad
• Connor's favorite was his Nintendo Switch from mom & dad plus the new LED lights in the finally finished playroom.
• We played games, watched football and talked to family on the phone throughout the day.
• Before we knew it, we were ready to head to Park Tavern for our annual pizza, beer and bowling with the 4 of us.
• We decided to play 3 games this year and the kids LOVED it.  Connor got a little sad in the last game b/c he was the only one that didn't get a strike or spare but had done so in earlier rounds.  We wrapped with a stop in the arcade and then headed home to crash!

Legos & Stuffy from God Mommy Christie

Even Connor got one!

God Father DKO Gifts

Switch Games!

Puzzles!!

Hats from my parents

Park Tavern Fun

 

We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!

Lots of Love,

C, K, M & C

Connor's 7th Birthday Party!

Weekdays:

• Monday - I had an early morning calibration for end of year performance reviews.  Our team decided to head to an early happy hour to celebrate the end of this busy timeframe!
• Tuesday - Another day of work and what not with some snow.  A quiet night at home.
• Wednesday - I had a work holiday happy hour to end the day.  Clint ran Maci to soccer and Connor to religion.  I left in time to pick up Maci from Soccer and Clint grabbed Connor from religion.  He was super sad b/c he was 1 sticker shy of being able to purchase a yo yo at the sticker store.  He is now asking Santa for a yo yo via our elf :)
• Thursday - We had a calibration on our own people team ratings.  In the evening Maci had soccer practice which Clint kindly ran her to and from.

It's like she has boots on HAHA

Friday :

• The kids were off to school on the bus and Clint and I started our day with bagels and coffee.
• I got a lot of work done before heading to Juut for my hair coloring and cut at 2p
• I cleaned email and took a few phone calls while enjoying my "me time"
• The kids came home on the bus and Maci was excited to show Clint her secret Santa exchange with her pals on the bus.
• I got home around dinner time to eat some pizza.
• We told the kids Maci was in charge and by 7p we were off to our neighbors holiday party at the Jonas home.
• We had a lot of laughs and catch ups before finally calling it at midnight!

Boomer was able to get up on the couch & 

Rosie had to ensure she was closest to Clint

Saturday :

• Clint and Connor had basketball practice at 940a
• While they were gone, Maci and I picked up Connor's cupcakes for his party 
• Connor got home from basketball all upset - turns out he got slammed in the mouth and now had a wiggly bloody tooth.  However, it wasn't wiggly enough for Clint to pull but wiggly enough that Connor didnt want to eat and was in a bad mood
• I got him to take a quick nap with me on the couch and then we were off.
• We dropped Maci at the Bryant's b/c they were kindly taking her to and from soccer practice while we had the party
• Connor was in good spirits at first but about 1/2 way through the party his mouth was really bugging him, I think he was hungry and moody and tired.  So he started pouting which was not super fun!
• He did ok through cupcakes and singing and finally popped up a bit during the gifts.  No fun feeling like pooh at your own birthday!
• We came home and he played with some toys while I got him to eat some liquids - the dentist on call wanted us to just Tylenol and try to leave it alone
• Connor and I ended up falling asleep together on the couch watching football which was so sweet!
• At 5p, Maci's pal Penny came over for a slumber party - thankfully they are great kids and quiet together b/c we were all exhausted from the day and emotions!
• Clint and I called it at 11p and the girls finally crashed at 1230a!!

Smiling through the pain pre-party

Maci having Pizza with her pal Mikah

Mouth is starting to be a little sore waiting on buddies to arrive

Presents with Pals

Anders (neighborhood, basketball & school pal)

The infamous Anna - his best pal since pre-K

Grady - A preK pal that plays all sorts of sports with C man

Elliott - Same kind of pal like Grady

Chuck - They first met at daycare and then were Pre-K Pals

Hendrix - He lives behind us and was also a Pre-K pal!

Fletcher, AKA the smiliest kid around!!!  Also a pre-K buddy

Vinny - 1st Grade & Basketball Buddy

Bikram - Sweet friend in his 1st grade class

Oliver - Neighborhood, Bus & Class Pal

Colton - Neighborhood, Bus & Class Pal

Louie - Neighborhood, Bus and Pal since Pre-K

Anders - Buddy since Pre-K

Sunday :

• Slow morning for us!
• Penny got picked up at 10a after we ate some donuts.
• We all enjoyed the crazy ending to the World Cup - most of us were cheering for France so boo but a fun game for sure!!
• We got some stuff done around the house and before we knew it, it was time for the Bengals game.
• Holy ugly 1st half but then in the 2nd half we KILLED Tom Brady and the Bucs - love them Bengals!
• We got the rest of our prep for the week complete and now are getting ready to end the night with the hot tub and some wine!

We hope you are enjoying these final days before the holidays!  The kids are so pumped they only have 2 days until break starts and Connor is excited for his actual 7th birthday on Wednesday, first day of break!!

Lots of Love,

C, K, M & C

80s Rocking w Friends & Hairball!!

Weekdays:

• Tuesday - The kids and I hit up their school book fair at pick up and each of them picked out 2 new books and a poster for their room.  Maci picks a cute puppy (of course) and Connor picked out an NBA poster (also of course). HA
• Wednesday - I had to get into work by 7a (yowlers that was early!) We had Connor skip his religion class b/c I was running late out of work.  Clint took Maci to and from soccer finishing camp.
• Thursday - Maci had practice in the evening and Clint took her so he could hang out with the dads.  We didnt do hot tub party as I was tired and wanted to watch the end of the Love is Blind Season 3 :)

Friday :

• A lovely open calendar to get a lot of work done and things around the house!
• Clint and I started the day with a bagel and coffee run 
• I had one meeting to help finalize our calibration prep for Monday with our tech leader
• The rest of the day I got things done, helped people out at work and got some to dos around our home complete.
• At 4p, Connor's buddy Anna came over for a playdate
• We had pizza for dinner, they sled in our backyard in the dark and had fun in the basement before her parents picked her up around 7p
• Once she left, we all made some sugar cookie dough and then went to bed

Saturday :

• Connor and Clint had basketball at 850a and then pictures afterward
• I had a massage at 915, rescheduled from last week 
• Maci was a big girl and hung at the house for 1 hour by herself
• Maci and I then went to get some breakfast together while Clint and Connor wrapped pictures
• We then baked and decorated the cookies with the dough we made the day before
• After doing cookies, Maci and I were off to her soccer practice.  We picked up her buddy/teammate Mikah and then dropped them at the dome.
• Clint and I took a nap for the one hour practice and then he went to pick her up while I started to wake up
• We did some stuff around the house like building a TV console in the playroom
• Before we knew it, it was time to get ready for the night and hit the town with our neighbors and friends the Cassem's.
• We all had tickets to Hairball at the Medina Ballroom.  Hairball is an awesome 80s rock hairband cover band.
• We had so much fun and got home a little after 12a as they played from 10-12 and the opening act was on from 815-930p.

Ready for a fun night HAHA

The Neighbor Gals

Me & Clint

Jacey

Woah a total super fan

Cassems and Mondells

Sunday :

• Lazy get stuff done day at home!
• We got a lot of errands complete in the morning including final touches/plans for Connor's birthday party this coming weekend.
• We enjoyed cheering the Bengals to victory over the Browns!
• We then finished preparing for the week and now we are waiting on some pizzas in the oven, watching football and ready for early bed times before our last "full" week of the year!!

My Bestie Christie Sends Ornaments Each Year

Cookie Maci made me for "once the Bengals Win"

We hope you are having a wonderful holiday season!

Lots of Love,

C, K, M & C