The Hazard Chronicles

Weeee're Back! For the last month we have had nothing except a Kindle Fire to use between both of us.  It has been a tragic few months for computers at the Hazard home.  First, mine became completely infected with viruses and has since refused to boot up.  Then, Logan's computer cord was mangled.  The reason?  I will give you three chances to figure that one out...  His computer is so old and has been running so completely slow that we didn't necessarily want to buy another expensive charger for it.  We have been in limbo with that decision for about a month (definitely not like us), but we finally buckled down and bought a new cord.

I must say that I made a valient effort to blog.  Here is the scenario that was repeated at least four times... On a quiet night at some ridiculous hour I was feeding Maren, juggling the Kindle Fire, and trying to type something comprehensible on the touch screen. Now fast forward some crazy amount of time (for the short blog that was finally finished) to the moment when I hit 'publish post.' Then my stomach would drop as I looked at the refreshed screen only to find a blank blog window.

I tried...

Maren's Blessing
We blessed our sweet baby girl on Easter Sunday.  We traveled down to Rexburg to Logan's family's house.  This was a perfect place to bless her because my family was able to drive up and be there as well.  There were a few people on both sides that were not able to come, but almost everyone made it!  Hooray! We blessed her in the Hazard home instead of at church.  We did this previously with Adalie and Jackson's blessings and I like it so much better!

Easter was so much fun.  Having kids makes holidays magical. We are still in the process of creating personal family traditions.  (I know, I know, we have been married for 7 years!)  Anyway. I think we found the perfect tradition.  We will hide all of the dyed Easter eggs along with each child's pre determined Easter basket.

Craziness at home
Home life has actually been a little bit rough this month.  All three of the older kids seem to be testing boundaries.  Why do they feel the need to do this all at the same time?  Maybe it is because they are ridiculously close in age... Anyway.  Adalie and Jack have taken to telling me 'no' all day long, and I have taken to putting them in time outs... all day long.  Neither one of these are very effective.  Each of them are also testing limits and refusing to listen. Evelyn has become quite the little boss trying to lecture and dole out punishments to her younger siblings.  Most of the day is great with little episodes, but I have dubbed the hour of five o'clock as meltdown mania.  This is true for all three older kids and one harried mother.

Fun story
Jackson heard our neighbor Debbie calling to her dog saying, "Stop Dora!" Now, whenever he hears a dog bark he runs to the window and yells, "Stop Dora!" The other day the kids and I were having a picnic when the dogs started barking.  Jack proceeded to chastise them when Evelyn piped up and said with an air of authority, "No Jack, her name is Nora not Dora."  Jack promptly switched his command to, "Stop Nora."  I then informed Evelyn that the dog was actually named Dora.  Without missing a beat she picked up that authoritative air and said matter of factly, "No Jack, her name is Dora not Nora!" Jack switched back without batting an eye.

Last week at the Apogee Conference
Last week Logan boarded a plane on Wednesday afternoon and came home late Saturday night. These 4 days changed his life forever...

Dr Loftus, the doctor Logan is working with, took the entire dental team (17 people) to Phoenix for an amazing, edge of your seat, emotianally charged business conference. The Apogee dental network is a group of the highest acheiving dentists from around the country who get together and share business ideas with one another to help their practices grow. I know it sounds dull, but Logan came back very excited about it, and had some really good ideas while he was down there that will have a profound effect on our entire family. Also, it was during this conference that Dr. Loftus announced that he would be opening a second practice by the end of summer, probably located in Post Falls, and that Logan would be the doctor responsible for running it. He is very excited about this opportunity and is looking forward to opening a new practice in the near future. 

This week
This week Logan and I somehow managed to have three dates!  This was a wonderful thing after being without Logan for most of last week. On Monday Debbie offered to stay with the kids during naptime so that Logan and I could go on a date.  She knew that we hadn't seen each other for a while. We went to thrift stores and had a great time together.  On Wednesday we had our weekly date together. We also went out for our anniversary yesterday. This day deserves its own section.

Our Anniversary
On Saturday morning we packed the kids up and went for a leisurely drive through the town looking for garage sales.  Both of us enjoy a good yard sale.

In the afternoon I took Evelyn on a mommy date.  We made reservations in advance for a Fancy Nancy tea party held at our very own library.  Our library seriously goes all out for the kids events!  We entered a very fancy room that had been decorated very cute.  There was a program with a harpist and dancers from a local dance studio.  There was also a cute skit about etiquette that taught the girls simple french phrases. Each of the girls then had the chance to walk down the promenade with Miss Mogan as the MC making introductions. The fancy librarians then served us tea and an assortment of goodies. At the end each girl was given a 'credit card' to purchase face painting, a posed picture, pinki nail art, and some cute items from a fancy boutique.  We had a blast and neither of us will forget this fun outing.

That evening the kids were being crazy!  Our neighbor, Debbie, found out that it was our anniversary and offered to take the kids for the night so that we could go out!  This was the second time this week that she babysat for our crazy bunch!  THANK YOU DEBBIE!  I am so glad that we have such sweet neighbors. On this date we went to Mallards Restaurant and ate a great dinner with a fabulous view of the river. We just enjoy each others company.

These last seven years have been amazing. It seems like every year brings bigger and bigger changes for our family.  Life just gets better and better!  On our first Valenties Day as a married couple we decided what our idyllic town would be.  We both agreed that a small town nestled in the mountains about fifteen minutes away from a bigger town would be perfect.  It was at that time that we gave up that dream because we thought only expensive resort towns would fit the bill.  Well.  Here we are in Post Falls Idaho- a small town nestled between beautiful mountains only fifteen minutes away from a larger town.  We also have four amazing chidren. We are living the dream.  



We had a blast at the tea party.  We had a fun time getting ready together. We painted each other's toenails and Evelyn got to wear a little bit of blush and light eyeshadow. It was a party that neither of us wil soon forget.





Our caterpillars doubled in size the first day and just kept growing!  Then they all hung upside down from the top at exactly the same time and began to secrete hardening stuff to form their crystalis'.  Whenever they are bumped they start shaking wildly from side to side in order to scare off predators.  These things are pretty cool... I think the kids even like them too.

Side note- the pineapple will be for breakfast tomorrow?  Have you ever promised something to one of your children and then completely forgotten and felt like an idiot?  Well, I promised Evelyn that we would eat pineapple when she woke up for her nap. She reminded me right before dinner time, so I promised to cut it up for dinner.  As evidenced by the picture that didn't happen either. It will not be forgotton tomorrow!




Evelyn's drawing skills are improving.  I love to see what she comes up with.

 



This is his picture face!  It is SO hard to get Jack to sit still for a minute and even harder still to get him to smile long enough for a picture. Whatever the case, he sure loves his little sister!  He dotes on her all the time.

 




I had to put these pictures in because they are almost carbon copy of pictures we have of Evelyn.  I FINALLY have two kids that look remotely like siblings!

 

 

These kids never stop moving!  This was an amazing once in a lifetime occurance. Very cute and cuddly.