6:02 pm

At 6:02 PM out girls all at once, became mini-mes.

Two of the girls, became mini-Karls and one became mini-Christy. It is as if they must act like the parent they favor in looks. It is as if, looks are connected to personality. Well, I guess they are somewhat, but I am talking genetics here. It is as if I can only genetically claim one of my three children. It is as if I am lucky enough to have three amazing, yet different children.

At exactly 6:02 PM last night, this is what the three girls were doing.

Brady asked, no begged, for us to put on one of our cardio exercise DVDs for her..."I want the one with weights!"

 Reese got crafty. "I am going to glue a bunch of stuff to one piece of paper, it is going to look awesome!"

 Elli cleaned the dinner dishes from the table, without prompting; including the water glasses which she emptied into the sink and loaded in the dishwasher (correctly). "I did it, Mommy, I cleaned up."

I am glad I married an awesome man, because his mini-mes are healthy and helpful. I am also glad I have my own mini-me to get crafty and messy with....hey, maybe the previous mini-mes will clean up after us ;)

6:02PM was one of many minutes that was perfect in so many ways!

Bucket List 2014 revisited

Let's revisit Bucket list 2014 to see how we did on our adventures.

-Grow own food (Christy)

Our garden was a success for our first year. The girls loved to snack on strawberries and basil leaves while playing outside during the spring and early summer. I loved eating tomatoes and cucumber warm and straight off the vine! We still have brussel sprouts currently that have braved the sub zero temps. Can't wait to start another garden in a couple for months. 

-Go strawberry picking (Christy)

Well, the girls went strawberry picking all the time in our backyard, so this item merged into the latter one. 

-Go to 2nd grade (Brady)

Brady has done this in exemplary fashion! She is rock star in second grade. Homework time is now stress free and she is earning lots of high marks on her papers. 

-Go to kindergarten (Reese)

Reese has blown kindergarten out of the water! She loves school and looks forward to the specials and centers everyday. 

-Go to the Children's Museum (Brady)

-Start running (Elli)

Elli kicked hypotonia in the butt and has fully caught up developmentally to her peers!

-Go to DC (Karl)

We made a couple visits to DC last year. Once to visit the memorials and visit good friends that moved to Maryland. Then another time to see the SF Giants in the playoffs. We see lots more DC visits in the coming years once we move to Maryland ourselves. 

Going to see the Giants play was the highlight of the year for Karl. 

-Go overseas (Christy)

Karl and Christy celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary in the grandest of styles.

-Go to the Great Wolf Lodge (Brady and Reese)

This might has been the highlight of the year for the girls!

-Go see Pop Pop's fish (Reese)

Reese (and the other girls) spent their spring break with Pop Pop while her parents explored Europe. Reese had such a great time, she demanded she sleep at Pop Pop's house, while the rest of the family stayed in a very nice beach house!

-Have a Kid free weekend on our Tenth wedding anniversary (Christy)

We spent the weekend of our anniversary in the trees! This might have been my favorite highlight of the year. The team work to manage the course was rewarding and the adventure of it all was exhilarating. 

-Attend an air show (Karl)

Although, Karl looked forward to bringing all his girls to the airshow, rain and traffic caused this to be a somewhat disappointing experience. I don't think Brady was sold on the idea. 

-Bike/run/play at Mt. Trashmore (Christy)

This time around last is least! This was the only item we didn't complete. Mount Trashmore was visited, just not as an entire family and we did bike rides, just not at Mount Trashmore, so all is good in the Orthner World!

America's Kids Run, Year Two

Last year, we attempted to have the girls run in their first organized race. It ended tearfully without passing the finish line. This year they didn't want to do it. They remembered last year. But we like to push our girls outside of their comfort zone occasionally so they can see that they don't need to be scared. This race is done right here on base, so there are always neighborhood friends there to run with or cheer on. The 5 and 6 year olds run 1/2 mile.

I love this pre-race photo. 

 Always make sure to warm up. I swear I just gave birth to my first child and that girl (that looks twelve) in the pink shorts is not mine.

 Reese was happy to help out a neighbor. I guess I raise lil mommas.

 All smiles mid race.

 Reese did need extra encouragement from me. I ran beside her the entire time and pumped her up the entire way. She gets frustrated that she doesn't run as fast as her peers (only one kid behind us). But while running/walking we talked about everyone has different things they excel at. Reese gave it one good last sprint at the finish line.

 Then the girls stayed to cheer on a neighbor in the next age category that ran one mile.

 Meanwhile, Elli observed older girls doing cartwheels for about five minutes. Apparently, she absorbed it all, since her attempt is quite valid!

Today was a success! Both girls crossed the finish line and without tears. This momma did shed a tear of pride though. 

Bucket List 2014

Here it is. The bucket list for the year. Part of this is sculpted from what we know we already have planned, which honestly I consider cheating, but we are going to have an awesome year!

-Grow own food (Christy)
-Go strawberry picking (Christy)
-Go to 2nd grade (Brady)
-Go to kindergarten (Reese)
-Go to the Children's Museum (Brady)
-Start running (Elli)
-Go to DC (Karl)
-Go overseas (Christy)
-Go to the Great Wolf Lodge (Brady and Reese)
-Go see Pop Pop's fish (Reese)
-Have a Kid free weekend on our Tenth wedding anniversary (Christy)
-Attend an air show (Karl)
-Bike/run/play at Mt. Trashmore (Christy)

Video Clips

I am proud of my girls and the growth socially, physically and mentally that is happening at school. 

Here is a few clips to enjoy:

Reese out of nowhere has been really picking up on her German. I have not a clue how accurate this is, but I believe she is counting up to 29 (with some numbers skipped) in this video.

Brady has been working on the monkey bars ever since she started at that school. They have a low set that Reese can reach while standing on the ground to practice on. Then as the kids get older they learn on the big monkey bars. In September Brady was so excited because she could go across two bars. Well look at her now...

Run Brady Run

We have found Brady's physical niche. We figured out about a year ago that Brady had a very good running stride. Well, Karl is working on making that running a part of her regular routine. Karl has started running with Brady on Sunday mornings. Reese always wants to join (which she is welcome to) but doesn't get far before she asks to go back home.

I love how Karl stretches with the girls before the morning running. I really enjoy watching this daddy/daughter bonding time. Here are some of the pictures I have captured for you to enjoy.

All Girl!

I know that I have posted about this before, but my girls are all girl. I am not sure how we got to this point, but I thought I would share these examples with you.

Reese has been having separation anxiety lately every time I go to Zumba. This past Saturday Reese came running out from the shoe closet like this and told me she was coming with me to Zumba. Then she proceeded to start trying to do the ’moves’.  Yes, she was going to do Zumba without pants and in ‘jewel’ shoes…

The girls like to paint their own toes. Now, I looked at Reese and I felt like I was looking at a 5 year old!

 

Now a girly girl post wouldn’t be complete without a video or two of them singing their made up songs…