Mop Dog

Check out our Macey. She sure is a trusting dog. She always lays in the middle of the floor just like this. She doesn't move for anything. One of these days someone is going to step on her. She is growing up and is pretty cute!

 

Linen Closet

Last week Acorn Custom Cabinetry came out and installed my linen closet! Love them! They did our closets at our house in North Mankato. They will be doing the rest of our closets here but baby steps for the Otto's. I spent the day yesterday organizing my shelves and getting everything ready. Currently our linen closet doesn't have a door on it so while I wait for that...could be awhile ;)....I decided to put bins in so at least it would like clean! LOVE!

 

Can of Worms...

Why is that when you think something is just a little problem it turns into a big disaster????? Our front gutters have to be taken down and put back up because of ice dams this past winter. I think someone has learned their lesson on this mistake. Me having experience as a claims adjuster always was cautious on the ice dams. When we moved out it was something that wasn't always addressed at this house. Lesson learned and now we have a bigger issue in the back! UGH...seriously...the deck for the rental unit upstairs is making the roof sag under it. It is causing a mess and the gutter guy thinks the roof is rotten under there. AWESOME!! Please let that be the issue...GRRRRR....we will find out soon enough. Saying prayers it isn't that big of a deal and can be fixed inexpensively!

Clean Ears...

Friday early afternoon Charlie and Emma were cleaning up the basement so we could all head to my parents pool. Braeden was already there with Ali. I was getting a few things completed upstairs so was not supervising the two that were suppose to be cleaning up. Charlie comes upstairs crying hysterically and wouldn't tell me what was the matter. All he could tell me was mom me watch cartoons while he cried. I thought he was just tired because shortly after coming up he went and laid on the couch and fell asleep. I asked Emma what had happened to Charlie and she said she didn't know. I tried to wake Charlie up and when he turned over his ear was bleeding. NASTY! My stomach flopped and then I was concerned. He still wouldn't tell me what had happened and was really whiny, clingy and didn't want to do anything but hang out with me. We mad our way to the pool but he didn't even want to swim. At this point I still had no clue what had happened and I asked Emma several times with the same..."I don't know" answer. Charlie eventually perked up and got in the pool. We headed home to get ready for Molly's surprise party. Nick got home and Charlie said to him..."Daddy Emma stick in my ear and it hurt." I was like WHAT!! I proceded to explain my afternoon with Nick and we called Emma up. She said I didn't do it before we even asked. Guilty much? We told her to go get whatever it was she stuck in his ear. This is what she brought up:

 

OUCH!! I was sick to my stomach thinking of this going in his ear. We all know how much it hurts if a q-tip goes in our ear a little too far. Imagine a 5 year old shoving this in her brothers ear 1. not even knowing you can't do it 2. not knowing how far to go in. OUCH OUCH OUCH!! My dad looked at Charlie's ear and said it looked really red and scratched. We felt like we got lucky! Emma now knows to not stick anything in any hole. I went through EVERY hole I could think of. I think I covered everyone and a few extra ;) His ear is still draining blood. GROSS...makes my tummy still flop. Today at Walmart there was a clot that had pooled in his ear. Again...GROSS! I called the ENT this morning to see if he wanted to see him. I finally got an answer at 3:30pm today. We are giving him drops for 5 days and then will see the ENT in 2 weeks to make sure everything is okay. Charlie has permanent tubes in so I am worried she pushed it or did something else to his poor little ear....FLOP FLOP...my tummy can't handle this! Eyes and Ears just make me so sensitive! They are just so tender and precious. For now we are to watch him and he doesn't seem in any pain.

My little Emma is going to be my trouble maker. UGHH..lesson learned!

Paul Turns 60

It has been a fun filled weekend with parties to celebrate. We started Friday with Molly's 30th Surprise party and last night we went to our friend Paul Hoffman's 60th Surprise party. The Hoffman's our considered family. Mom and dad lived in the yellow house next door to Patti and Paul. They became best friends and had kids about the same time. We have all stayed pretty close throughout the years. It is amazing to have an extended family like the Hoffmans. We love you all!! Dad was on-call so mom rode with Nick and I to the festivities in Owatonna. Molly, Nick and Rylan met us there. It was so much fun! It was really cute to see Rylan dancing to the music while the bad played. Nick and Molly left after a little while because Mr. Rylan had a late night the night before. Mom, Nick and I stayed until the party was over. I can't wait for Riley's wedding to hang out with everyone again. Nick had a great time talking Fantasy Football with Brandon, Heidi's husband. The girls had fun dancing and hanging out. Love the memories!

Valley Fair

Last week we made the trip with all our kids, Ali, Annie, Patsy and her kids to Valley Fair. It was a blast! Of course it was the hottest day in a long time. We all sweated our butts off in the heat but had so much fun. We were glad that the water park was open so we could cool off in the pool for a little while. Annie and Nick went on all the rides they could possibly do. We stayed until close and got home late Tuesday night. The kids were exhausted but were quite the troopers. We will definitely put this on our list of adventures for next summer too.

Surprise...

Molly turns 30 on September 2nd. Her hubby pulled off the most amazing surprise party for her last night! She had no idea. To keep her off his tracks he let her plan her own birthday party. It was so funny to hear all the plans she had made for Friday the 2nd. It really kept her distracted. Ali was even home to celebrate with all of us. She left this morning to head back to Michigan. We will miss you Ali!!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Sunday the boys went golfing with my dad and the rest of us met at the pool to swim with the kids. What a great day we had! It was gorgeous outside and we were all able to enjoy some much needed pool time. The guys got back from golfing and got in the pool with all the kids. Even dad got in...canon ball style! Wish I would've had my camera outside for that! The pool always brings the kid out in you again. We are so excited that Charlie is now tall enough to touch the bottom of the pool! This is a huge step for him and opens up a whole new experience for him. He was thrilled and immediately started letting go of us and tiptoeing his way around the pool! We can't wait to show Auntie Ali next week. We celebrated dad's birthday early because mom leaves Thursday for Vancouver. She will be riding back with Ali so that Ali can have a companion on her trip back to MN. We all can't wait to see Ali even if it will only be for a few days. We will take what we can get and enjoy every second of it!

Happy Birthday Dad!!

Blizzard

Remember This? Blizzard #3 or 4 of the winter

Trying to relish every last moment of this because it doesn't seem to last as long as our winters do!! Lets package this up!!

Alone Time

Dean and Mary asked to take Braeden for a few days last week. They wanted some one on one time. He was so excited and had a blast with them Thursday and Friday. Today is Charlie's turn. It is so weird to not have Charlie around. This is the first time he has had one on one time without his brother or sister there. I am pretty sure the only other person that has taken just Charlie is Alli. The little boy was so excited! He is a 3 kiss kid and a 'I need another hug' a million times kid. Today he put his back pack on and gave me one kiss and one hug. He then ran out of the house and said come on Nana lets go! Too cute! I hope he has a blast. He kept saying to me that he gets to go to the lake all by myself no Braeden and no Emma. How cute! My house is quiet because Mr. Chatterbox is not here :( The mute kid sure has come a long way and really has expanded his vocabulary. He even talks in his sleep. Ah..the joys....

Training Camp

What a fun day we had! Patsy and her boys came down from Shakopee. Mom had the day off and joined us along with Molly, Nick and Rylan. We all went to Viking's Training Camp this morning. I don't think the day could've been any more perfect. The weather was great and not too humid or hot. The kids were able to play a lot, watch the Vikings practice and just play with the cousins. This is my first time to training camp and we have lived in Mankato since I was 12! Twenty years and this is my first training camp. Wow...that is pretty sad but it was so much fun! I might even go back next week with my kids to do it all over again. We finished the afternoon at the pool. We were all exhausted and ready for bed early tonight....at least I thought they would all go to bed early. It never works out that way though. Lets just hope they sleep in tomorrow morning!