Rainy Day fun!

We had a blast on Saturday playing in the rain.  Olivia wanted to wear her bathing suit then her rain gear and then switch them back again!  It was a muddy mess...but pure fun!

Catching raindrops on tongues...classic

I love the way Gryffin is looking at Hunter like he's the coolest kid in the whole world.

Collecting rain in cups...they did this for at least 20 minutes!

 In other news, Hunter has advanced in belt.  He and Tom are loving their classes and Hunter is of course looking forward to the day he starts training with the sword.

In a flash

It seems as though life is really moving along here with the Heese(plural form of Hoose). I have yet again lost track of this blog and at the urges of my Dad, I have decided to make a quick post with some recent photos and a couple updates.

Hunter's Kindergarten school year has moved into the final quarter! It's so hard to believe that a whole school year has gone by, well almost. Hunter is an excellent student and an incredible reader. He amazes me everyday with his eagerness, determination and brilliance. The kid is just plain smart. It kind of makes a mom feel a little intimidated and I wonder if I do enough to satisfy his curiosity and thirst for knowledge. Hunter adores his teacher and will really miss him this summer and when he's in first grade. He was pretty lucky to get a young, male teacher for kindergarten, as this is a rare occurrence. To be able to talk to a teacher about video games and superheroes on a daily basis must be any six-year-olds dream! I'm sure Hunter will visit Mr. Shaffer all the time when he's in first grade just to talk about video games and tell him his latest knock-knock joke.

Olivia and Gryffin have become such funny little people lately. They love and adore their older brother and each other. On the other hand, they fight and torment each other just as any normal siblings would. Most days, this can really push me over the edge and I'm a mess come bedtime. There are those rare occasions when the planets and stars align and we have a peaceful, productive day from start to finish. This is life with toddlers and I've come to accept it as so. I have finally learned to choose my battles and for my own sanity, try not to control every little aspect of their daily lives. Does it really matter if Olivia wants to wear fleece leggings on an 80 degrees day? Not really, and it only takes 2 minutes to change them when she get too hot verses 10 minutes of trying to reason with her in the morning before I've had any coffee. I'm more likely to be brought to tears than she, for her will is pure iron. If Gryffin needs to have his glow worm, motorcycle, water bottle, and my green sweatshirt as his blanket in his crib every night before going to sleep who am I to deny him his ritualistic, toddler routine? These things are certainly not tear worthy and never will a tear be shed for them again!

In other news, I purchased a trampoline a few weeks ago and we absolutely LOVE it!  We will pray that it doesn't bring us any serious injuries as it is something all three kids love to jump on for hours everyday.  I recommend a trampoline for anyone that has that kid that just won't tire out because my kids have met their match!

My boys have also become particularly fond of  Indiana Jones in case you couldn't tell by the hat and whip photos.  We have one hat and one whip which are shared, for the most part, quite nicely by Hunter and Gryffin. Hunter is particularly fond of the catch phrases he's learned and Gryffin loves it all and prefers to be called "Indy" on most days.

Tom and Hunter have started taking Kung Fu together on Tuesday nights and love their time together and the fact that they are getting some fun exercise into their schedules.  Hunter's T-ball season has also started and this is the first time we've had two activities for him during one season, so we will see how it works out.  I have promised myself that two will be the limit, at least for another few years and maybe as a rule in general.  I can only imagine how hectic our lives will be when all three kids have extra curricular activities to attend!

Terrible Two Toddler Twinzles...and me too!

It's rare that Olivia and Gryffin get called by their given names. Nicknames are an art form in our house. I believe I posted about Hunter's obsession with giving the babies new nicknames every week when they were infants. In general, Tom refers to them as the twinzles, or singularly, a twinzy twinzleton. It seems much more complex than Olivia or Gryffin to me but they enjoy the game so what can you do?

Apart from sharing the same womb at the same time, they are as far from alike as could be possible. I guess that's to be expected when you have a boy and girl set of twins, but somehow in my mind I always thought twins share this incredible bond that can't be broken. Maybe with fraternal twins it's something that is developed over the years and when they really need each other for protection and comfort it'll be there. So far, I have not seen this "connection" that we hear so often about with twins. It's more like a sibling rivalry times 100!

These past couple of months have been particularly difficult for me. The challenge of raising and parenting a two-year-old was practically non-existent with Hunter. He didn't have tantrums, control issues, potty training problems and he communicated in paragraphs. If I had to complain about Hunter as a two-year-old, it would be that he talked too much. So, to say we were unprepared for toddlerhood as parents would be the understatement of the century.

On most days, I feel like throwing myself on the floor and kicking and screaming and pounding MY fists on the floor in frustration. It's emotionally intense and I don't like feeling so out of control.

I've been told by my mom and dad that I was just like Hunter as a baby and toddler, even-tempered, easy going and good natured. I pretty much remained consistent with this persona throughout my life into adulthood and parenthood. I find it odd that I should go through MY terrible-two's at 31 years of age but at least I can go through it and experience it with my precious twinzles....I do feel really sorry for Tom though!

Let it Snow!

We've been having lots of fun in the snow the past few weeks and there's more on the way!

Hunter said to me on the walk back home from the park today, " I guess winter's not so bad after all!"

Merry Christmas!!

I hope everyone has a joy-filled holiday!

Going and going and going...

It's been forever since I last posted, and I started to feel a little guilty about it. We have been very busy and having two very active 2-year-olds can really take it out of you! I pretty much always take pictures, so if I could remember to just post one photo with a line or two, I could have a post every week. There's something really De Ja Vu-ish about that last thought, like maybe I had that idea last year and it never worked. I guess I'll give it a go again.

The photo above was taken right before trick-or-treat, which is about where I left off. Hunter was Link, of course, and Olivia and Gryffin went as Steve and Blue from Blue's clues.

Tom's sister Sarah and her adorable baby Matan came to visit at the end of October. We spent the day with them on November 1st and walked to the park where I got some really nice shots of all the kids. It was a beautiful day and a really nice visit. Sarah lives in Israel and this is the first time she's visited since Matan was born last January.

It was a perfect day and the trees were very beautiful and colorful. Sarah wanted to collect some leaves to bring back to cousins in Israel who have never seen leaves change colors at all! I thought that was a great idea and Olivia was very eager to help.

This beautiful sweater was knitted by a client of mine who is very talented. She saw the pattern for this and thought it would be fun to make and wondered if Olivia would like it. Olivia calls it her rainbow and she adores it!

We also celebrated Noah's 10th birthday on November 5th. It's so hard to believe he's already 10! We had Ice cream cookie sandwiches instead of cake which has never really been Noah's favorite because he hates icing. I have to say, I prefer the ice cream cookies as well!

Olivia and Gryffin loved the Polar Bear tunnel on a recent trip to the Pittsburgh Zoo.

Over Thanksgiving break, my nephew Eli came over to hang out a bit and spent the night too. The boys played video games and had popcorn and tried to watch a movie but were just too tired to stay awake. They were very cute snuggled up together on the couch.

Thanks to Nina for these adorble new hat and mitten sets for Olivia and Gryffin. They're so cute, maybe they'll actually keep them on!

I promise to try harder at posting. I have to blame the lack of posts on facebook. Because I post so many photos there, I feel like I've done my part on keeping up to date with friends and family. I do miss the blogging aspect though.

More to come...

Happy 6th Birthday and first lost tooth Hunter!

Hunter's birthday party had to be indoors this year due to inclement weather, but we still had a great time and Hunter lost his first tooth to boot! We're pretty sure he swallowed it while eating bat shaped PB&J sandwiches though because he noticed it was gone right after eating and we scoured the floor and didn't find a trace of it.

A quick game of "Hot pumpkin" before cake eating.

Hunter opening his present from his dad, a superhero video game he's been waiting for to be released for about a year now. Tom, being the trickster that he is, has been telling Hunter that the release date had been pushed back to December and that maybe he should put it on his Christmas list instead. Hunter was pleasantly surprised if you can't tell by the expression on his face!

Gryffin giving me his best mischievous face as he cheated at bobbing for apples. We had to resort to pears because my kids kept eating all the apples I bought for the party and we were only left with about eight apples for the game. Pears don't float...except for the red ones!

Blowing out the candles!

Mom mom used trick candles a few family birthdays back and Hunter has been waiting and waiting to have his turn with the trick candles. He thinks they are about the coolest thing and he's grinning from ear to ear as he watched them relight!

Thanks to Aunt Aubrey for her homemade dark chocolate cupcakes with dark chocolate buttercream. Hunter's absolute favorite!

Hunter's good friend Ella and cousin Nadia reconnected for the first time in months and were super happy to see each other and play together at the party.

I always feel overwhelming anxiety when I'm about to have more than 20 people in my house, but everything turned out great and my sisters helped me so much with the preparations and clean up and didn't seem that bad at all. Thanks to everyone who made Hunter's birthday so special!

Super Mom...or at least striving to be!

We have settled into a great routine for weekdays that I can't help but feel proud of. I am gone most mornings until it's time to pick up Hunter at school at 2:00 PM. We walk home together and he tells me all about his day. I love this little bit of time we have together and I can see how much he has grown in just one month of Kindergarten. None of the material is new to him as he had 3 years of preschool at Noah's Ark, but his social skills are ever increasing and he LOVES his classmates, teacher and school in general.

When we get home, mostly, the twins are still napping and Hunter gets to have a little bit of down time. He can choose either an hour of TV or an hour of video games. (yes, I let my 5-year-old play video games, some one call child services!) When Olivia and Gryffin wake up, we head over to the school playground for some energy release and to keep the peace between the kids. They never fight or pick with each other there because there are other kids to keep them busy and no toys to fight over! An added bonus is I get to interact with other mothers and actually get to have conversations that don't involve Blue's Clues, string cheese or more goldfish crackers!

We head home around 5:45, or whenever the crowd disperses. I feed the kids dinner and clean up while they play in the bath. Hunter is starting to be annoyed by the toddler bath antics and I usually have to wash the twins quickly and remove them from the bath before the bathroom becomes a small pond.

Olivia and Gryffin usually need to be in their cribs by 7:30 or the situation can get quite hairy. There is usually very little resistance if any at all. A book is read to them by either Hunter or me, brush teeth and up to bed. Again, Hunter and I get to have a few moments together to reflect on the day and read some books together before he heads up to bed.

It's usually about 8:30 PM by the time I get back downstairs for a little bit of me time. I have about 2 hours to finish cleaning up, do laundry, blog or load pictures off my camera onto the computer, read or just watch TV before Tom gets home at 10:30. The routine is working great for now and I'm not really looking forward to the cold weather and being cooped up inside. I guess we'll just have to cross that bridge when we get to it...

First day of school! First day of school!

Well, we've made is through the first week of Kindergarten without a hitch. Hunter seems to be adjusting well and having a great time in his new school. He's made some new friends and gets along well with his teacher, Mr. Shaffer. His only complaint so far has been that "It's a really long day, Mama!"

This is Ella. She lived next door to my mom for the first 4 and a half years of her life. She and Hunter get along quite well and we were a little sad to find out that they didn't get the same teacher. Hunter says that they "stick together" on the playground though.

He was very excited to enter the building and get to his class. Olivia and Gryffin were sad to see him off and Gryffin ended up being the only one to shed tears as we said goodbye to our Hunter Bean. He tried so hard to get back in the school. Olivia and I had to literally walk away from the school to get him to come with us!

The whole walk home both of them asked "Where Hunter go?" about 50 times. We miss our Hunter in the mornings and look forward to picking him up at 2:00. He has learning to do and people to meet and adventures to go on. He is such a sweet boy and kind brother and will be an excellent student too.

I think I'm more proud of this drawing than Hunter is but I think it is so cute! On his second day of school, they practiced writing the letter "A" and then were supposed to draw something that begins with the letter "A". This is what he drew.