The Hazard Chronicles

Right now Addy and Jack are asleep and Rachel and Evelyn are at the kitchen table painting together and talking about what Evelyn learned at church. It is times like these that make me think what a lucky guy I am.

Lately, Evelyn has learned the art of negociation. I make a lot of "deals" with her under my own terms when I want her to do something. Well, Evelyn has caught on and suddenly the tables are turned.

Me: "It's time to clean up."

Evelyn: "How about I read 3 more books and then eat candy and then clean up. Deal?"

Me: "No deal. I said it's time to clean up now."

Evelyn: "Okay. How about I clean up and then read 3 books and then eat candy."

Me: "How about you just clean up and go to bed."

Evelyn: "No deal. How about I clean up and then you read me 1 book and give me candy and then I go to bed, okay."

Me: "Okay, except for the candy part. No candy before bed."

Evelyn: "Okay, then how about I clean up and then you read me two books and then I choose a candy and put it on the table and then I go to bed and then I wake up and eat the candy. Deal?"

Me: "How did candy even get into this conversation?"

Evelyn: "Deal?"

Me: "How about two books but no candy. Final offer."

Evelyn: "Okay."

I'm not sure I'm ready for my children to be this smart. I should just start telling her that "we don't negociate with terrorists." At the same time, I am a little bit proud of her for her quick thought processes and think they should somehow be rewarded. I don't know.

Evelyn also astounded the doctor this week during her check-up. First, the doctor told Rachel that Evelyn should start recognizing some letters by now. Rachel responded, "She recognizes all of her letters, can write over half of them and can tell you the sounds of most of them." The doctor was a little bit skeptical and put Evelyn to the test by giving her a pencil and paper and asking her to prove it. What followed was Evelyn's pure display of genius which left the doctor with her mouth hanging open and struggling to find words. Her quote- "I have a hard time getting five-year-olds to do what Evelyn just showed me."

Just for the record, Evelyn can write 19 letters from memory. The other seven she can easily draw, but has to look at a picture to help her remember what they are. Another facinating little trick she will do is finding letters in every day objects and pointing them out to us ("Look mom, that bridge is an H"). She will also create letters by manipulating objects (food, her body, her sibling's bodies...). Again, I'm not sure I'm ready for such a smart kid, and I hope I can keep up, but I sure am a proud daddy!

On a totally different note, I have decided that we can take all of our toys and put them in storage, leaving only the containers that the toys go in for the kids to play with. I don't think any of them would even notice.

Next subject: Addy the bully. Yep, it is true. From the time she was in the womb she has been taking things from Jackson and pushing him around. Meanwhile, Jack has learned to run the other way as soon as Addy starts making her advance. But then he gets backed up against a wall, and Addy will deck him and take whatever it is he has, leaving our sweet boy a pile of wet, soggy tears. Rachel calls her "Addy, the brute."

Next subject: Jackson is the sweetest boy in the universe (except when he's teething- then he's a monster). When let loose, he will wander around, giggling to himself the whole time, and seek out complete strangers to give hugs to.

Okay, Addy is also very sweet, and not always a "brute," but she definately knows how to throw her weight around. And just so you know, I am not comparing my children. I am merely recording my observations.

Rachel and I had the ultimate window-shopping week. First of all, we had a date night and went to Sears to pick out all of the appliances we will one-day have, from convection ovens to dryers. Sure, that day may not come for another 35 years, but one can dream. Later we went to the Cleveland Auto Show where we looked at all the great cars they have out there. My dream car has stayed the same for years: a big pickup truck (Silverado 2500 diesel). Rachel, on the other hand, upgraded her dreams from a petite little VW Jetta (last year's top pick) to a full-sized Chevy Suburban. And Evelyn wants a Toyota Tacoma really bad. Either that or an ambulance. This came without any encouragement, but I have to say that I am a little proud she would choose a truck, even if it's just because it has a bed that she can easily climb up into and play in.

Anyway, to top off our window-shopping week we looked online at homes that we might consider buying if we had any sort of real income to spend (a fantasy? Hopefully not.) At the end of the week I decided that there are a lot of nice things out there that we can (and probably will) one day buy. But in the end I don't think that any of them can make my life that much better than it already is. Easier maybe, but as I watch Rachel and Evelyn painting at the table I think that there is nothing I could buy to replace that. Even if the reason they are painting is just one of Evelyn's "deals" to avoid nap time.

Here's Evelyn playing in the back of an empty ambulance. With this walk it looks like she should be in an action movie, walking away from an exploding building or something.

Rachel's dream- The biggest car at the show (almost)

Isn't this a beautiful machine?

I forgot to write about this but it was pretty cool. Last week we had an ice storm and there was this 1/4" thick layer of ice all over everything. It was really pretty and I wish I had a better camera to take pictures with. It also made it difficult to scrape car windows.