Weekend Wrap-Up: The ANOTHER STUPID COLD Edition

Sooooo...Callie woke up on Saturday morning with her THIRD cold in the past month.  Once again, her nose is a snot factory and boogie wipes are littered all over our house.  At some point this weekend we had the following conversation:

Callie MAJORLY picking her nose
Me: Callie, get your finger out of your nose.
Callie: But there is dirty stuff up there!
Me: Yeah, that dirty stuff is called snot.
Callie: Well I need to get that snot out.
Me: That is why you have to blow your nose.
Callie: No I want to use my finger.
Me: **Sigh**

At this point, we can't fight it.  She's just going to be that kid that has her finger stuck up her nose for the next 5 days.  Awesome. 

But we had a nice weekend regardless.

Friday
Date night!  Chris and I dropped Callie off at G-ma and G-pa's for the night and had a fun evening going out to dinner and to the first Lynx playoff game. 

And Callie had fun with G-ma, G-pa and Auntie Cat!

Saturday
We stayed downtown and had the luxury of sleeping in (Chris) and spending two hours of uninterrupted time playing and reading on the iPad (Kati).

Then we met G-pa and Callie at a flower store that was doing a fall festival.  She got to paint her own pumpkin and then got one painted on her hand.

Later that afternoon we headed down by the river and went on a leaf hunt.  It was a gorgeous day and nice to get out and get some fresh air.

Sunday
This morning I met my Cincuenta September goal, and then we headed to Dave and Cherilyn's church for Baby Kylie's baptism!  It was fun to see their families and watch Callie, Kylie and Sydney play together.

This afternoon we headed to the condo and hung out with my parents.  We took advantage of another beautiful day and went on a walk.

Looking in the mirror by the Guthrie

I'm excited to leave September behind and start October.  I love sweatshirt weather, apple cider, candy corn and all things fall!

Mission Cincuenta September: Accomplished

On September 2nd, I set a goal for myself that I titled Cincuenta September.

I decided I would run or walk 50 miles in September.

I made myself a chart.

And September chugged on and was a hard month in a few different ways.

But I stuck to my guns and today, the last day of the month, I met my goal.

I took my toddler on the last two miles of my journey to help me along.  There is nothing more motivating up a big hill than hearing a little voice say "Go, Mommy!  Go!"

GOAL MET

And my iPod seemed to know the significance of my last run, because it ended the run by playing my all-time best-most-favorite running song: Glee's version of Katy Perry's FIREWORK.

The chorus goes like this:

"You just gotta ignite the light, and let it shine
Just own the night like the 4th of July

'Cause baby you're a firework
Come on, show 'em what you're worth
Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh"
As you shoot across the sky-y-y

Baby, you're a firework
Come on, let your colours burst
Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh"
You're gonna leave 'em all in awe, awe, awe"

It got my butt up that last hill and home to put the final sticker on my chart.

I did it!

Thanks for all the support and encouragement!

 

Storytime with CJ: Part II

This time, she reads a book.  We just need to work on her fine motor (page turning) skills...

The Vikes

To celebrate Hispanic Heritage month, a few Vikings players came to do an event at my school this afternoon.  For those that care, the players were Blair Walsh, A.J. Jefferson, and Andrew Sendejo.

I would not consider myself a football fan (um...so many weird rules!), but I have to say I still got excited with the fact that pro players were taking the time to come see our kids.

The Vikings each talked about the importance of education and physical activity, and then ran different active football drills for the kids.  It was great and the kids had a blast!  I, however, felt VERY old after seeing the young 20-something footballers.

Yes, these guys are professional football players

After the event was over, Chris and Callie were able to hang out with Walsh, who was super nice.

Afterwards Chris tweeted at Walsh thanking him for coming to spend time with the kids and and Walsh tweeted back saying "loved doing it!!" 

He may have just made me a football fan.  At the very least, when the Vikings are on, I'll pay attention when the kicker is out there.

Weekend Wrap-Up: The Instagram Edition

I'm watching the Emmys and am kind of lazy right now, so I'm going to share about our weekend using my new favorite app...Instagram.

So here goes...our weekend according to Instagram.

Lazy Friday night...a certain toddler's legs weren't long enough to make the picture

 

Egg hunt at G-ma and G-pa's house

Cuddles with Baby Mabel

The only way to keep 2 toddlers calm...

Brunch

My running coach and cheerleader

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

33-Months-Old!

A QOTD for her 33-month-old post.

While driving, we see a church with a cross.
Me: That cross means that Jesus loves you.
Callie: Yeah.  He loves me.  And Mommy.  And Kona.  And Daddy.
Me: Yep!  He loves everybody.
Callie: And he loves your purse!

Karma QOTD: Part II

I'm getting the feeling that this parenting thing is going to be full of karma-like situations.

Part II of the what-goes-around-comes-around-QOTD has a longer history to it, one that my parents like to remind me of fairly frequently.  Or at least whenever my child has a snotty-type cold.

But this is like karma except the complete opposite.

Confused?  Read on.

This QOTD is in two parts.  The first happened numerous times between, say, 1985 and 2006.

Years ago hanging out with my family.  I have a cold.
Me: *sniff*...**SNIFF**...***SNIFFFFFFFFFFFF***... *sniff*... ***SNIFFFFFFFFFFF***
Mom or Dad or Laura or Mari: BLOW YOUR NOSE!!!
Me: I tried! Nothing comes out!

***Approximately 37 seconds later***

Me: *sniff*...**SNIFF**...***SNIFFFFFFFFFFFF***... *sniff*... ***SNIFFFFFFFFFFF***
Mom or Dad or Laura or Mari: BLOW YOUR NOSE!!!
Me: I tried! Nothing comes out!

**And so on...**

I still stand by my "Nothing comes out" statement.  Nothing EVER came out.  No one believed me.

____________________________________________________

Currently hanging out with Callie.  She has a cold.
Callie: (nose NONSTOP running) OWIE-OWIE-OWIE MY NOSE MY NOSE MY NOSE!
Me: (sigh, get out the Boogie Wipe, wipe her nose).

***Approximately 37 seconds later***

Callie: (nose NONSTOP running for what feels like will be eternity) OWIE-OWIE-OWIE MY NOSE MY NOSE MY NOSE!
Me: (sigh, get out the Boogie Wipe, wipe her nose).

**And so on...**

The amount of snot that actually DOES come out of our toddler's nose is ASTOUNDING.  Spend 37 seconds with her and you WILL believe me.

____________________________________________________

See?  The complete opposite situation, and yet, still karma.

I stayed home with her today.  We managed to have some fun in between an obscene amount of nose wipes.

Spreading the germs love at MOA

Oh, hey Dora!

Awake from a 2-hour nap that had to be done in the zebra jammies

By 5:30 we all needed some fresh air

Riddle: A "Cold" One

Question: 
What happens to a toddler whose mom started back at work at an elementary school a month ago and is surrounded by kid germs 8 hours a day and hand sanitizes to the best of her ability but then comes home every night with germs all over that just don't seem to die?

Answer:
The toddler gets two bad colds in three weeks and her parents think about investing in the one of the only things that makes toddler colds semi-survivable for all parties involved: Boogie Wipes.

We went for the large sized container this time

You may say to yourself, "Those silly people, haven't you heard of KLEENEX?" But, really, the Boogie Wipes are lifesavers.  They are coated with saline and are much better for the delicate toddler nose than regular old Kleenex.

At least that is what we tell ourselves when we shell out $9.00 for the giant tube of them.

**No, I was not paid or given free stuff for this blog post.  We have just gone through a gazillion Boogie Wipes the past few weeks, and it was all I could think of to blog about tonight. It's been that kind of week.**

Weekend Wrap-Up

Last week was stressful.  The honeymoon is over at work, which means that kids and/or teachers start freaking out.  So between managing kids AND teachers, I was stressed.

Anyway, luckily for me, our weekend was just what I needed.  It started with meeting my friend Libby for happy hour right after work on Friday and then falling asleep on the couch hanging out with Chris.

Saturday
Chris played in a golf tournament, so Callie and I had a fantastic morning hanging out.  Just the two of us.  It was SO MUCH FUN!  We started out bright and early (8:00 or so) by doing a 5 mile stroller run/walk to Highland.  We stopped by Caribou for a treat and then headed to the park.

Caribou's toy area...we love it!

"I'll catch you, Mommy!"

Cheeeeeese!

This girl could swing for hours

Then later we did a little shopping, had lunch, and even a frozen yogurt treat!

Before nap time, Callie really wanted to make a silly faces video.  So we did.  She has since watched it a million times and laughs at herself every single time.  It is pretty awesome.


After Chris got home, we headed out to our friends Bill and Donna's new house for a housewarming party.  Callie L-O-V-E-D their little dachshund, Wesley. He was so cute, and reminded me so much of Hugo Percy.  Except he wasn't paralyzed.  And didn't have a cart.  And didn't bite.  But otherwise, he was the same adorable little weiner dog (we miss you, HP).

Sunday
This morning we had Sunday School!  Chris and I were the teachers along with Jenna and Andy.  We had about 15 (or so) 2-year-olds in our care for an hour.  There were a few other parents that hung out too, and we had a great time.  But holy cow lots of little people.  Callie had a great time, once again, and I know she'll continue to love it as time goes on.  After Sunday School, while Chris took Callie to lunch and then home, I went to church with my fam and then out to brunch.  It had been a long time since just the 5 of us spent time together like that.  It was great. :)

After nap time we headed to G-ma and G-pa's house for a bit.  Cal had fun watering G-ma's...er...fountain.

Tonight we got out my guitar and did some serious rocking out. We had the following conversation:

Me: Okay, what do you want to sing?  Twinkle Twinkle?  Jesus Loves Me? ABCs?
Callie: Um...Call Me, Maybe!

So apparently we need to quit that song.

Anyway, I steered her away from it (though I'll admit I tried for 30 seconds to try and figure it out), and we went with a rockin' version of the ABCs.


And, since Chris went golfing with my dad, at about 6:20 I deemed tonight MOVIE NIGHT.  The excitement over watching the Carebears Movie for the 43rd time was unparalleled.

In unrelated news, I'm now up to 30 miles for my Cincuenta September goal.  Right on track!

Happy National Wife Appreciation Day!  My husband said he appreciates the fact that I "let him" play golf tonight.  I'm sure he also appreciated his wife when I "recommended" that he pick up the dog poop in the yard before said golf trip.

Have a great week!

Karma QOTD

Callie's little behind is cute without the diapers these days.  Chris jokes she has an old man butt, so this happy little conversation happened tonight:

Callie: I don't have an old man butt!
Chris: What kind of butt do you have?
Callie: I have a Callie butt!!
Chris: Oh yeah? What kind of butt do I have?
Callie: An old man butt!!!!!

What goes around comes around, DADDY.

Story Time with CJ

Happy Friday!

Call Me, Family: QOTD

I think it is safe to say that the song of the summer was Carly Rae Jepson's "Call Me Maybe."  If you don't know it, you can get a taste here, performed by the US Olympic Swim Team:



I'll admit it, I'm a total sucker for catchy, dance-able, sappy (though some would probably say crappy) pop songs.  So it is downloaded to my ipod, and Callie and I have had many a dance party to this song.

A few weeks ago somehow we started changing the lyrics to the chorus.  And tonight, we changed them over and over and over and over and over again.

It starts when I sing using Daddy's name:

Hey, I just met you
You are batty
And here's my number
So call me, _______

And she yells:  DADDY!

I try and rationalize it by telling myself I am teaching her how to rhyme.  It totally works.  So tonight, once we got started we didn't stop.  After each verse I made up, she said "DO IT AGAIN!"  and I said "Okay, with who?" and she'd say another name.  And then we got into friends names and animals, and 15 minutes later I was going a little nuts so I may have distracted her with a gummy worm.

But for your enjoyment, the following are some of the verses, using the names of our family members. 

Hey, I just met you
This dog is Lami,
And here's my number
So call me, MOMMY!

Hey, I just met you,
In Okla-homa
And here's my number
So call me, KONA! (okay- that one is a stretch)

Hey, I just met you
You're in my room
And here's my number
So call me, BOOM!

Hey, I just met you
You're the tops
And here's my number
So call me, BOPS!

Hey, I just met you
You're never blah,
And here's my number
So call me, PA!

Hey, I just met you
You're not a llama
And here's my number
So call me, GRAMMA! (that one is another stretch- Grandma is hard to rhyme!)

Hey, I just met you
That's my soda
And here's my number
So call me, YODA!

Hey, I just met you
You wear a sari
And here's my number
So call me, MARI!

Hey, I just met you
That's a cool hat
And here's my number
So call me, CAT!

Hey, I just met you
You're the man
And here's my number
So call me, DAN!

I'll stop there even though we went on and on and on.  Sorry if it will now be stuck in your head for the next 37 days.  You can just think of it as a sweet reminder of summer.

Happy Birthday Boom!

We hope you have a wonderful day!  We love you!

Weekend Wrap-Up

We had a really fun weekend!

Friday
The awesomeness that was the Lynx game / Prowl's birthday party! 

Saturday
We spent a lot of the day downtown.

We started by going to an open house at MacPhail.  Callie and Boom are going to start the "Musical Discovery" class tomorrow!

Fun with scarves

Then we walked to the Suurmeyer's condo and had a delicious brunch with them.  Nathan and Jill were in town, and it was great that a few of us Hendersons/Suurmeyers could be together (we missed you Laura, Laura, Ellen, and Mari!).

After dinner (during which I got THIS face)...

Cranky pants!

...we headed to G-ma and G-pa's house...where Callie pretended to be Lami and then went crazy.

Sunday
I have missed our morning cuddles, so we got in a little one this morning before a certain toddler could pep up enough to realize that laying down in bed wasn't as exciting as...well...everything else she could be doing.

This morning was a very exciting event...THE FIRST DAY OF SUNDAY SCHOOL!!!!  Yes, believe it or not, she is old enough.  I still can't believe it, but that is besides the point.  She was VERY excited to go and had no problem telling us goodbye-see-ya-later.

Super happy!

In they go!

Yep, these two are in the same class!

We are going to be teaching the Sunday school class twice a month, starting next week.  It will be a riot!

This afternoon Anna came over to hang out, play at the park and (as usual) be much cooler than mom or dad.  ("No, MOMMY, I want to hold ANNA's hand!")

Pretty close to a wardrobe malfunction...next time we need leggings!

Shadows!

And some general updates:
Cincuenta September goal: 18/50.  I am trying to get at least 14 miles each week, so I surpassed my goal and am feeling much better! 
Potty Training: This week has been better.  She pees no problem on the potty, though we are still not successful with the poop.  We've just resigned to the fact that, until she is ready do do it willingly on her own, it isn't going to happen.  So we offer pull-ups when we can tell she needs to go, otherwise she goes in her undies.  It is what it is...we'll see what happens as she gets closer to three.

Other than that, we're just busy with all the back-to-reality craziness that the start of the school year brings!

Happy Birthday Prowl!

Sooooo...our toddler has an obsession.  An OBSESSION I tell you.

With this guy.

His name is Prowl and he is the Lynx mascot

(Well, it is a long-distance obsession.  She would TOTALLY freak out if he got too close to her.)

But anyway, tonight was his birthday. And WE. WERE. THERE.  We were at the game and our toddler's mind was blown.

First off, his friends showed up. Mascots-From-A-Distance Heaven.

Crunch from the T-Wolves, Goldy Gopher, The Vikings guy, the Wild guy and the Saints bear

THEN, what did we get to do?  SANG HIM HAPPY BIRTHDAY.



It may not look like her mind is blown, but it was.

After that we kept making up random answers to the 72 times we were asked "When do we get to eat cake?"

Something like, "Um, Prowl only eats vegetables."

(And when Prowl disappeared for a few minutes and she asked where he was, we were all, "Oh, he's totally going poopy in the potty right now.  Do you want to go poopy in the potty?"  We were denied, but at least we tried.)

We spent the ride home talking about him and trying to determine how old Prowl was.  It was something along these lines, "Maybe he's 2!  Or maybe 8.  Maybe he is 6. It was Prowl's birthday.  I sang him the birthday song."

It was a fun night.

Happy Birthday Prowl.  Maybe someday we'll get brave enough to actually say hi to you.