Hess Times Three: Summer Fun

Yay for summer! Although, I know many of us are not feeling so enthusiastic these days with the sweltering temperatures and lack of rain we've had over the last few weeks. But now that we can actually step outside without melting away, I'm glad for nicer weather so the kids can get OUT of the house! We're pretty much getting into what some have some graciously called "the terrible twos". I don't know what exactly to call it since for the most part, my kids play well together, but there has been definite streaks of attitude and tantruming that have lately struck a new high! But attitudes aside, I'm finding the secret of keeping the fighting at bay is just to keep us busy. Play dates - bring it on, visits to the splash park - yes please, petting zoo, pond or just the grocery store, getting out is the key to sanity. :) Yesterday we made a trip to a little petting zoo in Wheaton and the kids LOVED it! It was perfect for their size and FREE, so it was really a win-win all around. I forgot to bring my camera, but here's a pic from my phone of them looking at the ducks. Their favorite part was actually just running over the little bridges.

In other news, we only have 2 kids in diapers now!! Kayla girl has been a champ in the potty training department and with the "#2 exception", she pretty much has it down. The first week almost killed me with all the accidents and I was about to give up, but she hung in there and it finally clicked. The boys were major cheerleaders for her as I gave them a treat too when she went potty. :) It started to be that as soon as Braden heard the toilet flush he was asking for a treat. That's my boy! The boys really have no interest in it yet though, although we had great aspirations of Kayla just teaching them once she was trained. :) So we'll hold off on them for now. But we are rejoicing in the small victories and noticeably less trash.

Music has also been a big part of our lives these days. The boys are OBSESSED with drums. If it looks like a drum stick, they feel the need to play and they are banging on just about everything around the house. It has become rather loud around here! Daniel has even taken to setting up his own little drum set complete with strainers and bowls he can find in the kitchen. Amazingly he just did this himself one day! It probably helps that their Uncle Brian, whom they all idolize, plays the drums. In fact Daniel likes to pray for Uncle Brian and his drums every night before bed. :) So although it is loud around here, I'm happy to have kids who seem to really enjoy music.

We are rejoicing that Braden has reached the 4 month mark since his last seizure! He is still on medication and I always have emergency meds with me just in case, but all in all he is getting stronger and stronger. He'll continue to be monitored by our neurologist for the next 2 years and the hope is to eventually wean him off the meds, but for now we are just so thankful for his good health. God is good and has answered so many of your prayers. Thank you!

I'm including a bunch of pics below of this and that. I know the blog has been lacking in lots of updates! I was really hoping that as they got older, I would be able to slow down a bit but so far the opposite has been true. Oh well, I wouldn't have it any other way. :)