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!"