Hello, again! From California... California, Maryland that is

So I had a two month hiatus. In those two months we...

-moved to a different state
-started new schools
-said bye to old friends and made new ones
-reunited with friends from years past
-started a new job in a new discipline
-went on a road trip to PA and NY
-went on a road trip to celebrate a special 2 year old boy
-experienced a first in camping with girl scouts
-went on field trips
-had visitors from out of town
-celebrated Easter
-splashed in mud puddles


So we have quite a bit to tell you about. We made our big move to Maryland. The girls had adjustment period but we are now on the other side of it and I will say we faired well.

 When the house was packed in VA, the girls enjoyed hide and seek and coloring the boxes.

 Then once in Maryland, box houses were the big hit.

I will be back soon to fill you in on our lastest adventures. 

Orthnerisms: I'll never be Royal

Me: walking into ellis room "Good morning Princess!"

Elli: "good morning mommy... Yay! You called me princess!!!!"

Me: "that is because you are my princess"

Elli: " wait, you aren't a queen!"

Orthnerisms: Some Cartoons Don't Belong on Diapers

Elli is potty trained but still needs a diaper when she sleeps. Thus we buy the Huggies overnight diapers (higher absorbency) that features cartoons of Winnie the Pooh sleeping on the front. The first time we bought the diapers, Elli asked about the bear, and I simply stated "That's Winnie the Pooh!"

Weeks later, I ask Elli to get a diaper out of the drawer so we can put it on for her nap. She brings me the diaper and simply states while pointing at the cartoon, "That is Winnie and that is Poopy!"


Mental note: I need to read that girl a Winnie the Pooh book so that she has another point of reference for that honey loving bear!

Let it Snow, I mean Let it Ice

VA has gotten its fair share of winter weather (snow is falling as I type this). Last week, however, it didn't 'thaw' out like VA is used to. One icy Monday turned into 4 missed days of school. I love these gifts of unexpected days with my kids. I am lucky to already be stay at home, so there is no extra burden put on the family when school is cancelled. Therefore, we get to enjoy each other and the winter wonderland. Last week, however, wasn't snow; it was a sheet of thick ice. Ice that took two hundred pounds to make it break. Therefore, Olaf couldn't make an appearance.Therefore, kids had to figure out new ways to play, and boy was it fun!

There was sledding, beach style AKA pushes from Daddy on even ground.

There was sledding down the embankment at the grocery store loading dock. Hey, you have to be creative when you leave on flat land.

However, we did make a trip to the built up hill for an amphitheater on base. It was INTENSE, maybe a little too intense for Reesey Poo!

There was LOTS of pretend ice skating. 

There was educational moments: examining snowflakes and researching to make hypothesis about snow fall totals (and there may have been some bidding involved)

Walks around where Daddy carries all the load. 

Let's not leave Art out of this week. Spray bottles full of colored water to ice painting.

Of course, there are friends! We planned a movie with the neighborhood kids (which played but was barely viewed). They sat around and played with legos, magnet tiles and figurines.  

IT WAS AN ABSOLUTE BLAST!!!! 

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!

Orthnerisms: A Little Potty Mouth

I swore that I would treat all my kids the same, I would parent the second and third just like the first...then I had more than one child and realized that was a funny joke...haha!

So with that said, I have to admit, even though I tried to avoid this, we have used candy in potty training Elli. I still don't like the idea of it, but long story short, it works for her.

So now onto our Orthnerism of the day:

I walk in on Elli washing her doll's hands in the sink.

Elli: "Baby Elsa did peepees in the potty!"

Me: "Oh, great job Baby Elsa, I am SO proud of you!"

Then we sing our potty song in unison.

Elli: Makes her way into the kitcehn, reaching to the candy cabinet that is 8 feet in the air "Baby Elsa needs candy because she did peepees on the potty"

Me: "Well, Baby Elsa is pretend, so Baby Elsa gets pretend candy. Let's go find some in the playroom."

Elli: (still reaching towards the 'real' candy) "No, Baby Elsa wants this candy"

Me: Walking back into the kitchen with a piece of rubber chocolate "Here, Baby Elsa, this is your candy for doing peepees on the potty. Great job!"

Elli: now crying "No, I don't want pretend candy, I want THIS candy" Repeats this a few times

Me: "Baby Elsa is not real, so she must have not real candy."

Elli: Takes a few moments, collects herself reluctantly, huffs out of the room, clearly perturbed. "Well, Baby Elsa is going to do peepees on the floor!!!!"

Bucket List 2015

Here is the Orthner Family Bucket List for 2015

• see Powhatan village (Brady)
• Go see Pop Pop's fish (Elli)
• Play the Game of Life (Reese)
• See the Giants play (Karl)
• Grow a bigger garden (Christy)
• Start a new job (Karl)
• See the Statue of Liberty (Brady)
• Visit Uncle Joe (Elli)
• Visit Uncle Dave (Reese)
• Family bike ride (Christy)

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!