{ wordless wednesday: outside }

{ nine for ? }

I started a draft for this post well over a week ago and just getting around to completing it now. It started out as a five for Friday but I've racked up more numbers than that so it just is what it is!

1. 4 sets of 2 year old twins = 8 toddlers. That's what we had in our house a few weeks ago for a play date. As usual, the play date kept getting rescheduled (sick kids, schedule conflicts, etc.) but we finally made it happen. They enjoyed playing, jumping in the bounce house and, of course, snacks!

2. Stella's officially a gymnast now that she sports a leotard to class!

3. I completed a straight 2 mile swim a few Sundays ago. I have a love/hate relationship with swimming.......I absolutely hate everything about getting ready to swim but love the actual swimming and the feeling after. My running group had completed the 100 pushup challenge a few months ago and decided we needed something else for the winter. We settled on a 2 mile swim challenge but I never thought it would actually happen. But we did diligently meet every Sunday morning at 7:00am and Wednesdays at 6:00am to get in the training yards to be ready. 2 miles is 72 laps and since I lose track after anything over about 5, we had someone officially count for us. It was a fun morning with about 4 of us completing the challenge and then enjoying a nice breakfast at Victor's Cafe.

4. Oliver and Stella have been enjoying their own carts when we go to Kowalski's. I don't do my major grocery shopping here but I often walk them there in the BOB when we need to get some fresh air and pick up a few things. This particular day it was like watching a train wreck moving through the store.

5. Haircuts are a favorite outing these days. Oliver's a big fan of Spencer and the skateboard he gets to sit on at the barbershop.

Stella visited Michelle a few days ago and we said goodbye to ponytails and hello to a bob cut.

6. Our next door neighbor had a baby a few weeks ago and we delivered a gift for the "big sister" Vivian that is O and S's age. She was so proud of her gift wrap decoration that I had to share the photo.

And seriously, who isn't having a baby these days? In the last few weeks friends have welcomed Emma, Elise, Adeline, Elsa, Kai, and Mitchell to the world!

7. A video demonstrating a pretty standard morning in our house.

8. Last weekend I visited the Lodge with six other women from my running group. We went up on Friday evening and came home on Sunday. It was a lovely weekend filled with great discussions, cooking, and spending time outdoors. We even had two things to celebrate - one of the women just passed her ACE exam to become a certified personal trainer and another just finished her thesis for her doctorate degree. They are an amazingly supportive group that I am so blessed to be a part of!

9. Fellow moms: cloud dough is where it's at. You gotta try it. It's an 8 to 1 ratio of flour to vegetable oil (I made a smaller batch of 2 cups flour to 1/4 cup oil). Just add the two together and stir. It has a soft texture that is similar to a soft sand - but you can mold it into shapes and it holds until you crumble it apart and start over.

We are starting to go a little crazy with winter dragging on and this was a good afternoon activity. Stella played with it for over an hour. And Oliver, well it only lasted about 20 minutes with him. (warning: it is a mess and will be everywhere!)

That's all for now!

{ happy valentine's day }

Today is everyone's favorite Hallmark holiday (can you sense the sarcasm?) - Valentine's Day! While it isn't really a favorite of mine it has been fun to hype it up for Oliver and Stella's sake.

Per the usual, I turned to Pinterest for some inspiration for Valentine's for their friends. I was trying to come up with something non-candy and found a cute idea for bouncy balls. Cheap, easy, and what kid doesn't like a new bouncy ball!

Sadly my favorite part of the holiday was probably redoing the mantel and crafting a few new things to put atop it.

Stella and Oliver absolutely loved receiving Valentine's in the mail from friends. This particular package contained two little cars with the saying "We wheelie like you". So cute!

And a big box came from grandpa and grandma filled with all sorts of their favorite goodies......stickers, bracelets, sunglasses, goggles, lollipops, bath toys, and books.

I made a batch of these (aka Valentine crack) and they thought they were the greatest things ever. I do too.

And, of course, I had to make them pose for pictures together in their Valentine shirts.
Picture with no bribing:

Some bribing:

A LOT of bribing:

Stella capped the day perfectly tonight when I finished reading to her and was just talking/rocking with her in the chair. I said "I love you, Stella....Happy Valentine's Day" and she said "Happy Valentine's Day to you too, mommy".

Happy Valentine's Day, friends!

{ wordless wednesday: shadows }

{ chi - town }

This last weekend Chop and I traveled to Chicago......just the TWO of us!

I did crazy things. Like wearing jeans (instead of yoga pants), carrying a purse (instead of a diaper bag), and wearing a dress and tights (instead of sweatpants and sweatshirt).

We arrived Friday late morning and took the train from the airport to our hotel downtown. We scored an awesome $70/night rate through Priceline at Hotel Allegro. It was swanky in an overdone, outdated kind of way. 

From there, we headed to Lincoln Park for a little strolling along Armitage Street. Our weekend of "food destruction" was kicked off with lunch at Butcher & the Burger, a fun gourmet burger joint.

It was high on Chop's list and he enjoyed a giant beef/bacon burger, but I was pleasantly surprised to find a fantastic lentil/wild rice burger served on a "lettuce" bun. Win/win for both of us.

From there, we did some shopping and attempted to find the perfect pair of boots that I have been searching for all winter. Chop bought me a surprise pair of Frye boots for Christmas but they unfortunately didn't fit. I have searched high and low online without a ton of success in finding a boot that fits all of my needs (not too dressy, not too casual, not too plain, not too cowboy-ish, comfortable, no heel, and the list goes on......). I thought this pair was "the one" but couldn't pull the trigger. So the search continues......

Don't feel too bad for Chop being dragged along for boot shopping. He did plenty himself and walked away from the weekend with two new pairs of shoes.

Friday night we met up with our good friends from IU, Brent and Tracy, who currently live just outside of Chicago. They were part of the "marrieds" group while Chop was in grad school. We miss them (and the rest of them.....you know who you are!) and it was so nice to catch up in person over dinner and drinks.

We went to a hip new restaurant called La Sirena Clandestina. We enjoyed cocktails and Argentinian inspired food, including an alfajore pictured here (for those who have never had them, they are delicious!).

We felt like rock stars staying out until 11:30 but clearly can't handle the combination of drinking (tequila nonetheless) and staying out late, as demonstrated by the fact that we were still in bed eating "Do-Rite" donuts at 9:30 the next morning. And yes, we ate them all.

Saturday afternoon we headed out for a little walking downtown and lunch at The Protein Bar. I NEED one of these to open in Minneapolis.

It was amazing. Even Chop enjoyed his chicken quinoa chili (that's saying a lot - and that is greek yogurt, not sour cream on top)!

Michigan Ave was next on our list. This really was strictly window shopping, as most of the items in the stores cost more than our plane tickets to Chicago.

We did head up to the 96th floor "Signature Lounge" in the John Hancock Building to enjoy a drink overlooking the city. FYI - the best view, and where this picture was taken from, is in the ladies restroom.

Bet you can guess what we did Saturday night? Yup, more food. This dinner however trumped any dinner we've ever had. If you're in Chicago, you must go to Table Fifty-Two.

Executive chef and owner, Art Smith, was formerly Oprah's personal chef and Top Chef tv star. The level of service was beyond anything we've experienced at even the nicest restaurants in Minneapolis. And the food was amazing.

You know that awkward moment when you slyly decide to take a picture of your beautiful food because it is the nicest meal you've ever had and at that exact moment the chef walks out and looks right at you? Yeah, that was me. Awesome.

And we were treated to an extra dessert on the house because we couldn't quite decide between Chef Smith's family twelve layer chocolate cake and the chocolate chess pie. It was a tie.

We fell in love with Chicago and both agreed that it is the perfect spot for a short weekend getaway. That is, if Grandpa and Grandma C recover from the weekend with the twins and are up for the challenge again!

{ safety first }

Oliver and Stella clearly don't know what safety first means. It seems lately that they are becoming more and more bold in their actions and behavior.

This picture isn't anything nearly as serious as some other but this cart was not meant for a human and definitely not a 30 pound one. Demonstrated by the fact that it tipped the minute Oliver took his hands off.

The next picture is staged because it wouldn't have been appropriate of me to rush to get my camera and leave them how I found them. Stella was sitting on the chair on the table. And Oliver came running from the room screaming because he fell off the chair that he was sitting on ON the register. Oy!

On a side note, we had a snow fall on Sunday that left us with the perfect snow for building a snowman and playing in the snow. It also helped that it was in the high 30s on Monday. Too bad we are now back to below zero!

{ two and a half }

Although the weekly, monthly, half yearly milestones don't seem to big as big of a deal as they get older, I figured a half birthday should still be recognized. Right?

After all, starting tomorrow Oliver and Stella will only get closer and closer to being THREE years old. Preschool, which we are currently trying to make a decision on, is right around the corner. Eck!
I'm trying to ignore all of the parents who say that it isn't the "terrible twos" but rather the "terrible threes"!

They are becoming quite the little people and developing lots of personality. Stella loves to find random things to put on and dress-up in. 

We can always count on her for funny comments. For example, at her Friday Morning Out program last week the teacher told her it was time to have her diaper changed. She turned and looked at her teacher and said "No, you don't change my diaper. I'm serious". All while pointing her index finger and waving it at her. This morning, Chop told her not to play with the fan and said "You don't play with the fan, that is only for mommy and daddy. You're not mommy or daddy, are you?". To which she replied "No, but I'm mommy's peanut".

She is also on a kick right now of wanting to know the names of all of her friend's moms and dads. Much to my surprise, she remembers and knows over a handful of them.

Oliver continues to be our lap child and if there is an open lap, he doesn't hesitate to make sure he takes the spot. He loves to look at books (particularly ones about firetrucks, trains, and trucks in general) but I'm not complaining about that!

 He also randomly shouts out "Go Gophers", "Ski U Mah", and "Boo Badgers". Chop is clearly trying his best to turn him into as big of a sports fan as he is.

They both continue to be finicky eaters and day to day I just never know what they will or won't eat. One day they love oatmeal and the next day they won't touch it. The other night I made a sweet potato vegetarian chili, which neither of them would touch with a ten foot pole. The next day I reheated leftovers for myself for lunch and alas, the two of them were fighting over who got the next bite from my bowl.

To get through the winter, we are signed up for gymnastics on Mondays, ECFE on Wednesdays, and Friday Morning Out on Fridays, and swim lessons on Saturday. Whew! Add all of those activities plus the bounce house jumping at home and you would think they would be taking awesome naps and sleeping past 6:00am. But, not so much on either of those :).

Gymnastics is a new class for us and so far, they are loving it! Especially the teacher Sasha, a male Russian gymnast. It is a fun parent/toddler class that has you run (literally) around from parachute games, to giant trampolines, to climbing on tumbling barrels, to jumping into foam pits, and swinging on ropes and trapeze swings. Worth the pricey price tag!

With the cold weather we've had this week (seriously, -8 for a high?!), we made a pit stop on the way home from gymnastics for hot chocolate and muffins. They were excited to tell daddy about their trip to the "coffee shop".

In other news, Chop and I are headed to Chicago this Friday-Sunday for our FIRST nights away together from Oliver and Stella. We both have individually been away overnight but never together or at the same time. Grandpa & Grandma C will be babysitting for the weekend and we know they will have a ton of fun and will be in great hands!

And check out these fun new running shoes that I just got! Cute flats no longer excite me but tennis shoes do. I must be a mom! This is a big switch in running shoes for me as they are moving towards a more minimal sole and should hopefully help me progress in becoming a mid foot striker instead of a heel striker. I won't bore you non-runners out there with what all of that means but I am just continuing to try to find a running form and shoes that will help alleviate the ankle and knee pain that has been around for the last 2+ years.

Three years, here we come!