Champions

Congratulations to my husbands basketball team for winning the Championship game last night! Way to go Buffaloes. I wish their games were always at 6:15 so the kids and I could go watch. Last night was the first game I was able to go see. Emma was at dance but Braeden, Charlie and I were there cheering Nick on. Charlie would say..'Go Daddy'! It was so cute and he just sat there and cheered. He said to me..'mommy when I get big like daddy I going to play basketball here with the boys.' Cute...we are going to have a few basketball players in our house. Hopefully Emma will too. This will make my husband so proud!

Crazy Hair Day

Friday was Crazy Hair Day at school. Braeden was gung ho and wanted just spiked hair. We can accomplish that easily now that he has longer hair. Emma was a different story. I had several ideas but she was not having any of them. After a lot of convincing and reassuring that we would use lots of conditioner to get all the snarls out, she allowed me to do her hair. It turned out so cute and it was a ratted mess.

 

 

 

Valentines Day Pictures

My friend Nissa from Nissa Nakia Photography took some amazing photos of my kids! Check out this video she did. I had a hard time deciding which ones to order. Thanks so much Nissa!! You are fabulous.

Sweet Sweet Boy

I am such a proud mom right now. Braeden gets home from school today and was working on his homework. He brings a note over to me and says.."Mom I am buying Emma a Valentine through school. It is a secret so don't tell her. It only costs $0.50 so I took it out of my piggy bank." Insert big puddle right there. Blessed boy!! I told him to put his money back in his piggy bank and handed him some to cover it. WOW! What a sweet sweet boy we are raising. He drives me crazy sometimes but I do have to remind myself he is only 8. It is moments like this that make me so proud. I want my boys to be the romantic my dad always is to my mom!

Tooth Fairy

It was an exciting weekend at the Otto house. Not only did we rearrange all the bedrooms but Emma lost her first tooth. She was so excited and worked so hard getting it out on Saturday. She dropped it Sunday morning so we thought it was lost. Actually we thought the dog ate it BUT it was found. The tooth fairy showed up in the middle of the night and we had one happy, excited little girl!






We decided it was time to put the boys together and let Emma have her own room. It was quite the chore to get everything rearranged on Saturday. It took all day and some of the day Sunday but it is done and everyone is settled. The boys are happy and have a ton of room to spread out. Emma is quite the princess in her own room with the big queen size bed. I wish we would've done this when we moved in instead of tackling it in the middle of the winter. At least we didn't have a ton of snow and cold temps. Walking some furniture around the house to the back door wasn't a big deal. Nick and I were pretty sore and tired yesterday though. I am happy to have it all done!!

Thirsty Thursday

In college this statement had a whole different meaning. Today it means I will be drinking a LOT of caffeine to stay awake! Charlie was up every hour starting at midnight. Nick went and laid in bed with him but he still came in to our room wanting me to read him a book, rub his back or cuddle with him. He asked where daddy was and I said in your bed. It was a long night! Then comes a phone call at 3am on Nick's cell. My heart always races when the phone rings after midnight. It was a mistake call from a co-worker. YAWN...I am exhausted. I am hopeful that after a room switch around this weekend Charlie will settle into better sleep habits again. Or maybe after his ear infection heals he will feel better. Whatever it is I could use some sleep.

Arizona

We just got back from an amazing trip to Arizona. Nick's mom and dad bought all of us tickets for Christmas. They travel to Arizona every winter for three months, something to look forward to when we retire. The weather was perfect. It wasn't hot but we knew that it wouldn't be since we were going in January. It was still way better than Minnesota. It was great to see where Dean and Mary travel too and what they do while they are there. We got to go swimming, mini-golfing and did lots of walks. Nick was able to golf with his dad a couple times too. I think the kids enjoyed the daily golf cart rides too!

We went to the most amazing zoo one day. It was called the Wildlife Zoo of Phoenix. It was fantastic!! The animals were so close we could reach out and touch them, even the jaguars. We of course reserved the right to touch anything unless allowed. We didn't want to come out with less appendages. We fed the giraffes, well Mary fed the giraffes and we all watched. The tortoises gave us our health lesson for the day and we learned that sting ray are soft and slimy. I was so amazed at everything we saw. I have to admit at first I was like...YIPPEEE another zoo :(. We walked in and there were a ton of birds to look at. I was not impressed, they just aren't my thing. We walked around and looked at all of them...uh and ah. Then came the monkeys. There were a ton of monkeys and who doesn't love a monkey that shows off. The kids were giggling and that is when the day turned around for me. I love the giggles and excitement. The further in the zoo we got the more fascinating the animals got. Who knew there was a snake head turtle or a alligator turtle. We learned a lot and saw a lot as well. I was so impressed with Rhinoceros. I have never scene one in person before. It was fantastic! I think that if you are ever in Phoenix you must go to this zoo. The zebra walked right up to you as if to say...'cheese please take my picture.' The sleeping jaguar overhead freaked me out a little bit. I was sure we were going to wake it up and it would be mad. Nope got out of there before that could happen. I did get some good pictures though.

We went hiking in the mountains one day too. We hiked out a mile...felt like forever with the kids. At the end of the hike was the most amazing sight. It was suppose to be a waterfall but was only a waterfall during the rainy season. The volunteer told me that he believes it is only a waterfall in late August. Otherwise it is a place to see what the water has done to the rocks. It was amazing and worth the hike.

We were sad to say goodbye to Nana and Papa but we will see them again in a few months. The kids did a great job on the airplane too. We strapped Charlie into his car seat on the plane, best decision ever. He couldn't go anywhere and that was perfect. We were able to get on first because of his car seat. People got on after us and we got lots of looks like..'great there are kids on here.' Well both flights the kids surprised everyone. They were so quiet but that was because we travel prepared. I rented movies off iTunes and loaded them on the iPad and the computer. It was perfect!

I am looking forward to our next trip. It gets easier and easier the older they get. The memories are priceless! Thanks Mom and Dad Otto for the awesome vacation.