With every move

With every move, you create new memories, new routines, new friends. But you never forget the ones you have to leave behind. You develop snapshots that in a nutshell describe the few short months or years you spend at that stop.

Here are pictures of our last week, that will most likely be my snapshots of my girls' time here in Little Creek.

Sweet sisters and sweet friends uniting over a picture book.

And, sidewalk chalk as the medium for their imagination among a great group of neighborhood friends.

This time a hopscotch that goes all the way up to 79!

Memorial Day 2014

 Memorial Day is about our fallen military service members. Our base housing neighborhood decided to celebrate those who paid the ultimate sacrifice with bike parade, escorted by the base fire truck. We were also lucky to have family in town since Elli's party was the same weekend. It was a blast, as you can tell from the pictures!

 Popsicles for all. I know I am getting weak as a momma when I am letting my barely two year old divulge in popsicles.

 It is okay, the popsicles kept them occupied so I could get in kisses for my sweet nephew. His cheeks are so KISSABLE! I hope his cheeks always stay that way!

 Family, the glue that holds life together!

Then shortly after the parade, we heard the 21 gun salute start. It is a cannon shot off every minute for 21 minutes. A 21 gun salute is a traditional sign of respect for fallen service members. Brady, Reese and I went the three tenths of a mile down the road and watched the remaining 17 cannon fires. 

It was a day strongly attached to the meaning of the holiday, in a kid friendly environment. I LOVE living in base housing. 

Respect for the red white and blue

Only at base housing does a ONE year old hear the first eight count of the Star-Spangled Banner and know to stop walking and talking and place your hand on your heart (without prompting). 

 

Please excuse my temporary disrespect during the national anthem while I snapped this picture. I am just proud to be raising patriotic kids. 

Steady beat

Bum bum badadada bum
Bum bum badadada bum
Bum bum badadada bum

I heard this from the upstairs bedroom. Puzzled? Is the construction that steady across the street? Are the neighbors banging on the windows again? Nope, just the marching band passing.







Love living on base! Never a dull moment!


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American Cuties

Brady recently did two artworks to honor veterans. One even honors her favorite service member. Both are hung up at school.












On base the national anthem plays over loud speakers every morning at 8:00. Out of respect, service members stand at attention. Civilians stand silently and can place their hand on their heart.

The bus stop is at 8:10, so we are normally outside to hear the national anthem. Elli usually rides in a stroller but one day indicated to me that she wanted to walk. When the national anthem was playing she put her little hands clasped together and in the center of her chest!!! I love my patriotic baby!

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You been BOO-ed

I say this all the time, but I love living in this neighborhood in base housing. 

We got 'boo-ed' a few weeks back. Someone left a basket of goodies on our doorstep, rang the doorbell and ran. 

This flyer was in the basket.

This is one of the goodies in our basket. 

 The flyer instructs you to create two baskets and boo someone else at dusk the next night!

This is our boo baskets we haunted others with.

What a fun tradition!!!! Start it in your neighborhood...

First Day of School 2013

I always make a point to not rush life along nor to live in the past; enjoy the moment I am in and live life to its fullest. However, my mind is still in summer mode. My ADD is getting the best of me. But it is September and we are pressing on. 

Here is a summary of Brady and Reese's first days of school. 

Last week we got to meet Brady's teacher. I grabbed some pictures of her at the school since she rides the bus. Yep, new territory for us: public school and big yellow school bus. 

This is her at her desk. I had the wrong lens on so you can't really see the background, but I promise there is a desk and classroom there. 

September 3, 2013: Brady's first day of first grade. 

I wake up to the sound of Elli vomiting at 3:30. My first sign that things were about to get a little crazy and that I would miss summer immensely. My emotions about sending my biggest baby to school were thrown out the 'I'm too tired to think' window. My gear was shifted to survival mode, but we were still driving. 

6:00...Brady was pumped; Brady was up early; Brady was starting to get hyper; Brady COULD NOT WAIT!

We get to the bus stop early, in typical Orthner style. But within in minutes the bus stop was bumpin'. Yah, that is a third of the bus at one stop. I LOVE THIS NEIGHBORHOOD! As we were walking to the stop we stood at attention for the national anthem, all the kids stood and respected the colors of our wonderful nation, only at base housing. 

 No tears fell as I watched this. I was surprised too. But the mountain of vomit laundry at home distracted me.

Now take the picture above, turn Brady around, and turn the clock to eight hours later. Yea, I lost it then. I downright missed her. I swelled with pride when I saw her coming home. I have issues that a stranger gets to enjoy my Brady Boo all day long, but it is what is best for all of us. 

That night she spoke of mechanics of her desk, the yumminess of the school lunch, the lack of recess, the intercom that can speak to her teacher. Not much said about her teacher, academics or new friends. 

This is an excerpt from an email her teacher sent me. 

"She is an absolute doll, by the way.  So well behaved and a joy to spend the day with."

Yep, teacher's pet already. She has it to a science already. 

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Now Reese is a MWF preschooler so her first day was September 4, 2013. 

Well, no vomit in the middle of the night, but I guess I was still off my game because I forgot to set my alarm. I would have set it for 5:30, but instead woke up to Elli's chattering at 6:35. We all needed to be out the door by 7:30. YIKES...Did I really sleep in on Reese's first day of school. Yep, mother of the year award was overnighted to me. So the morning was a lot of rushing. We did though, we got there on time, which in Orthner speak means we were 15 minutes early. But we pulled up the same time as one of Reese's good friends, so Reese had no first day jitters at all. 

Side note: I keep looking at these pictures thinking 'did Reese grow two inches (in her legs) overnight?'

Reese had a blast. She talked of new rules, playing in the sand, HER hook for her bookbag, chasing a new friend with her BFF, and snack including juice but no water. Again no mention of her teachers or academics. But this is a 4 year old's world. 

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Three cheers for my two students!

 I miss these girls already. I miss the unscheduled summer days that allowed us to get dressed at 9:30. I miss their laughter throughout the day. I try to relish this time as they grow and learn at school. But, heck, those teachers best appreciate my kiddos.

This school year has me frazzled. Besides the forgetting of the alarm, I almost ran out of gas (noticed the light in the middle of thirty minutes of stand still traffic). Also, when eating my lunch, I look down half way through and realize I was using a plastic minnie mouse fork. I am off my game people. But I know I will catch up soon enough.

Here's to a wonderful school year, that soon enough I will appreciate.

Swing-N-Slide

For Brady's birthday, we ordered Brady a wooden play set. It said to give at least of month for delivery, well we got it in a week. So Brady got an early present.  To save a few hundred dollars we decided to build it ourselves, even though it was a huge undertaking, I think we quite enjoyed ourselves.

This is the BEFORE pictures... empty plot of yard and lots of piles of wood (that we had to measure and sort, there was no labeling)

We have awesome neighbors that volunteered to help. So we set up water fun for the kids, ordered pizza and made it a family fun night with neighbors. 

The first night: three men, four hours, three pizzas, 20 breadsticks...

And a little last minute help from the littles

...we have a deck and three swings. Phew... this thing is a lot of work!

At the end of day one, Brady told me it was the best day of her life. She had a "water slide party and a pizza party and she got a new swing set!"

DAY TWO: Reese and I sleep in. I wake up to Karl taking care of Brady and Elli while doing this!

Karl and I work together and take turns building throughout the day. 

The end of day two adds a second deck, slide, ladder, rockwall and window.

Day three is mother's day, so we take it easy on the building and add just the picnic table.

Karl even celebrated all the hard work... only monkey bars left.

Hopefully there are years of fun and memories ahead. But honestly, I think the experience of building it together as a couple and with neighbors really created its own set of fond memories.