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!

Orthnernism: Disney-ism

Me: "Elli, do you want some frozen berries in your oatmeal to cool it down?"
Elli: "YES!!! And Elsa berries, and Anna berries, and Olaf berries..."

Thank you Disney for redefining simple words for my toddler!

Six. Again.

I can't believe I am posting about a six year old AGAIN.

We have a book, the pretty much sums up this six year old.

Olivia and the Fairy Princesses by Ian Falconer

Olivia was depressed.

"I think I'm having an identity crisis," she told her parents. "I don't know what I should be!"

"Well," said her father, "you'll always be my little princess!"

"That't the problem," said Olivia. "All the girls want to be princesses."

"At Pippa's birthday party, they were all dressed in big, pink, ruffly skirts with sparkles and little crowns and sparkly wands. Including some of the boys. I chose a simple French sailor shirt, matador pants, blank flats, a strand of pearls, sunglasses, a red bag, and my gardening hat."

"Why is it always a pink princess? Why not an Indian princess or a princess from Thailand or an African princess or a princess from China? There are alternatives."

"For the school dance recital, everyone was trying out for the fairy princess ballerina. Even a couple boys."

"But, Olivia," said her mother, "I seem to remember last year you wanting to be a ballerina."

"That was when I was little. I'm trying to develop a more stark, modern style."

"Olivia, it's time for your bath," said her mother.

"And on Halloween," said Olivia, "what did all the girls go as?"

"Princesses." "Princesses."

"I went as a warthog. It was very effective. If everyone's a princess, then princesses aren't special anymore!" said Olivia. "Why do they all want to be the same?"

After her bath, Olivia's mother read her a story. It was about a beautiful maiden who was locked in a tower by an evil queen. "When a prince came along, rescued her, and made her his---"

"NOT HIS PRINCESS!" cried Olivia.

"Fine," said her mother, who was tiring of this discussion. "I'll read you the story of the Little Match Girl. 'Once there was a little girl who was forced to sell matched barefoot in the snow. The matches kept her warm for a while, but all too soon they ran out..."

"Oh, Mommy, that's so sad," said Olivia, tearing up. "I may not want to be a princess, but I wouldn't want to be freezing in the snow."

Her mother said, "Well, I want you to be ASLEEP in five minutes!"

"But first read me the story about Little Red Riding Hood!"

"No, Olivia, it's bedtime."

"Just the parts where everyone gets eaten. Please?"

"No, I'm turning out the light."

Olivia lay in the dark trying to sleep, but her brain wouldn't let her. "Maybe I could be a nurse and devote myself to the sick and the elderly. I could use my brothers to practice bandaging. And various other treatments. Or maybe adopt orphans from all over the world! Or I could be a reporter and expose corporate malfeasance. "

HMMM....

Then it occurred to her. " I know...."

"I want to be queen."

------------------------------------------------------------

Happy Birthday to the most unique, self-confident, spirited, trail blazing SIX year old I know!

I'll take it

I got this message from a friend, and I took it as a huge compliment!

"She is quiet and unique, I don't usually need ideas on what to buy a six year old but I feel like this one I need some direction. "

Love my almost six year old and her unique spirit!










- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Hairism

The latest edition of Orthnerism is once again brought to you by the Elli's love for hair...in particular my flat ironed hair.

Yesterday, I choose to put moose in my hair and 'diffuse' it to get my loose wavy "rainy day hair" look.

I did this style early in the morning when Elli was still in bed. After Elli woke up, I went to pick her up and get my morning hug. She immediately and reflexively reached for my hair during the embrace. But she popped up and looked at me with a product-filled lock in her hand to show me.

"Mommy, your hair isn't working!"

Coming Into Their Own

I will have to say, I am loving the stage that all three of my girls are at now! 7 + 5 + 2 =
BLISS


B-Box is finally at an age where that independence she has long for can mostly be utilized. She gets to help watch Boxy and even pick her up if I need her to. She gets to walk to the bus stop alone in the mornings. She gets to make decisions about her needs in all new ways. These 'freedoms' means a lot less outbursts. Also, school this year is much easier for her, so there is no drama in that department either. I just love B-Box and all that she adds to our family. She is the perfect first born and may even be the text book definition of a first born child!

Boxer has found herself. While four is such a tough age for our girls, it seems five is a period of blossoming. Boxer's spirit is seeming to shine brighter and brighter. And she loves her acting classes and she is loved by the staff and older kids at the acting school. She often gets called to be the first volunteer in acting class. I mean, people, she got picked to play Elsa in a game one class. That is the pinnacle. Last class, the teacher, who is a theater makeup artist, picked Boxer to demonstrate his skills on.

Doesn't that look real? Boxer also got picked (through an audition process) to be a 'baby angel' in this year's Best Christmas Pageant Ever! At a rehearsal the other, a high schooler started talking politely to me, and then she found out that I was Boxer's mom! She went on and on about how special Boxer is and how unique and awesome her personality is and about how she is perfect for the drama world and, and, and.... Yah, this run on sentence is how she was talking. She has arrived, people. And on a sidenote, Pop Pop, her meltdowns are much more infrequent. It may have just been a four year phase...knock on wood. 

Now let's not forget how awesome of a two year Boxy is. She is independent and spirited all in one package. She wants to do EVERYTHING by herself. She dresses and undresses herself. She drags stools around to climb so that she can make her own peanut butter sandwiches. She climbs into her carseat by herself. But all this independence has personality to it. She brushes her own teeth (don't worry I always go in afterwards). So after squeezing the tooth paste on the brush, she always intentionally hits her upper lip with the brush before putting it into her mouth. Therefore, she brushes her teeth with a paste mustache. When she dresses her self, she puts on 2-4 pairs on panties at one time. Gaw, I love my little Boxy girl!

Ok well...

Boxy was having another off day which is usual for her. So I ask, "Boxy, are you sick?" Concerned that maybe she was battling an ear infection or something. 

Boxy replies "no, I am sick of mommy"

Um, did my two year old really just say that to me?

The Name Game

I follow a few blogs that my friends write and lots of them use nicknames on their blogs for the family members. I have thought about this several times and never could find something catchy, fitting and obvious (so the reader that knows us will still know which person I am referring to).

The other night at dinner, the subject of call signs came up. What is a call sign, you ask? It is a 'nickname' for pilots. It usually has some meaning behind it or a fairly good story. Well, my man is known in the Navy world as 'Juice Box'. We don't drink, which is an oddity in the military world. So at 'good ole boy' functions, 'Juice Box' would fill his mug with beer from the wardroom draft and not drink it, or just fill it with soda.

The girls got to talking and we came up with these names.

Meet the family...

Juice Box

"Boxer" (get it? Box-R)

 B-Box

 Boxy (get it? Box-E)

  And then there is me... Mrs. Box or Juicy

What is your vote, Mrs. Box or Juicy? Post it in the comments below... or email me with your vote!

The Power of Hair

As many of you know, we are lightly potty training Elli. We were told by her nephrologist to NOT potty train. So our answer was to casually do it, because she was ready. So we almost never force her to sit on the pot. We ask if she wants to, then if she says no, we don't. Tonight I knew she was overdue, so I asked her if she wanted to go. She said "no thank you, mommy". I then said if you go, I will take my hair down (currently in a ponytail) and let you play with it. That little girl ran to the potty.

Then I thought, did I really just bribe my child with my hair? And did it really just work? WOW!

She did her business and immediately started playing with my hair. Then after about 6-7 minutes, something drew her attention away (I think it was Daddy reading a book in the other room). She took three steps away from my hair, then turns a 180 while saying "one more time." She caresses my hair for a few strokes and then runs off to listen to the book.

Fast forward one hour:

I am singing Elli her good night song, the last step in the good night routine. She normally assumes her position, sucking her right thumb while rubbing my hair with her left hand. I give her a kiss and say "Good night, Elli, I love you"...Her reply... " I love your hair, Mommy"


This is a habit that started very early. I was blogging about it by her 8th month.

What a sweet little Elli Dew!

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!