Thanksgiving

It's that time again- Gingerbread house contest! Please, even if you are someone who only looks at pictures on blogs, go down to the bottom and vote on which team has the best gingerbread house. We are playing for bragging rights for the entire year and we need you to help us decide. You can vote by leaving a comment on the blog here or on mine or Rachel's Facebook.

Okay- now that you have done that, you can read all about the wonderful Thanksgiving vacation we had. It all started on Wednesday afternoon when my Mom, Dad, Allison and Courtney arrived at our house. From then until this morning it has been non-stop fun and games. We had a great time. Here are some highlights:

 We went on walks.

 We discovered plants.

And climbed trees.

We did a dessert bake-off. Allison, Adalie, and I made a delicious paradise pie. It should have won, but it didn't. Rachel, Jackson, and my Mom made a fabulous homemade Snickers bar cake thing which did, in fact, win the "official" contest (as determined my our neighbor). Meanwhile, my dad, Courtney, and Evelyn took the popular vote with their amazing ice-cream sandwich oreo cake. At the end of the day we had three great desserts and I think we had a lot of fun making them.

Allison and Addy bonded. They have a lot in common.

By the way, my favorite quote of the week was from Addy. I was making rolls with her and Evelyn and I announced that I had a big sharp knife to help cut the dough. Without missing a beat, Addy asked, in a very chipper and upbeat tone- "Oh! Are you going to hurt us?"

We all started laughing. That will go down in family history. Where does she get this stuff? Honestly!

Of course we had an amazing Thanksgiving dinner. Oh man- I am still full!

Lots of reading and hanging out. In the top picture, Mom and Evelyn are sporting their "Indian necklaces" that they made out of colored pasta. Leave it to my mom, ever the kindergarten teacher, to come up with great ideas like this!

We went to the Coeur d'Alene Christmas parade. This was actually a lot of fun. Of course we got a babysitter for the kids. After the parade they did the annual lighting ceremony at the resort where they have a fireworks display with music and everything, followed by turning on all the Christmas lights that are put on the  resort. For those who have been to temple square on Christmas, the lights are similar to that, and it is pretty awesome to have them all go on at once to the tunes of Mannheim Steamroller. After the festivities we all  went to eat at Chili's. By the way, my dad was there too- but he was the one taking all the pictures.

One day we split up and the girls went shopping. While they were out, the ended up running into Santa Claus! Meanwhile, the guys (and Maren) were out hiking by the river. I think both groups had fun.

We went and hung out at my office for a while. Actually, we were there a lot longer than we thought we would be because the Vonage people were trying to get our phones to work better. Let me tell you- we are saving a ton of money with Vonage, but their customer service and tech support are somewhat lacking. When they left, things were actually worse off than they were before they came.

And of course, we had our Annual Gingerbread House Contest! This is where you come in. We have two teams. We'll call them "Team A" and "Team B." Please look at both, read the descriptions, and then VOTE by leaving a comment on this blog or on one our our Facebook pages. Really, we have a full year of bragging rights at stake here, so don't take this lightly.

Team A: This beautiful lighthouse scene is full of creativity and attention to detail, from the foam topped waves to the hand-sculpted ship (from caramel, of course). And while the lighthouse keeps the sailors safe from the rocky shore, they still better watch out for the over-sized shark lurking just beneath the surface!

Team B: This pleasant candy cottage seems to have leaped from the pages of a fairy tale straight onto the plate! With plenty of whimsical decorations, there is always something new and fanciful to find as you explore this magical winter scene.

We got a new car!

Honestly, we are in the middle of starting a business and are financially strained as it is, so we were sort of hoping to get another year or so out of our Caravan, but it was not meant to be. It was time. And that's okay- we got a great car for a great price, and we are excited about it.

See, we pride ourselves for driving our cars until they no longer run. Well, our van no longer ran. It has about 230,000 miles on it. The transmission makes a terrible clunk as it downshifts, and it won't shift into gear at all in cold weather until the engine has warmed up. All the coolant pipes need replacing because they are so rusted through and riddled with holes that there is no way to contain the coolant anymore. Consequentially, the car regularly overheats and we are forced to put more coolant in the radiator (which we make sure we have before every trip we make that is farther than 5 miles from our home). The suspension (what suspension) is totally shot. Totally. The heater doesn't work, and the radio won't turn on. The back door that lifts up won't stay up by itself- instead it waits for the most opportune moment to fall on you and crush you as you are struggling to remove our beast of a triple stroller. Sometimes the speedometer decides to stop working, but it usually starts up again if you just wait for a while. But, to it's credit, the engine itself still runs great. 

But...it has been a great car. We are the third generation in our family who has owned it, and it has been a lot of places. We personally drove it to New York (several times), Boston, Pensylvania (several times), Kentucky, Washington DC, Oklahoma, Texas, back to Ohio, and then across the country to Idaho, and Utah. And that's just in the past 3 years. I haven't done the research, but I would not be surprised if that car has been in every state in the lower 48. If not, then it sure comes close. Also, because of this car, Rachel and I have only had a car payment for a total of 4 months in over 8 years that we have known each other. It has saved us literally thousands upon thousands of dollars. 

And that's about as sentimental as I'm going to get, because now the car is going up on Craigslist to the highest bidder. We hope to get 1,000. We'll see though.

Our new car, on the other hand, is amazing. It is a Toyota Sienna- used, but in like-new condition (as certified by our mechanic), looks shiny and fancy, drives like a dream, and has all the bells and whistles. I know it's just a minivan, but I feel like a million bucks when I get in that car. Really- it is by far the nicest car I've ever owned. And even though we have a car payment now it is at a mere 2.5%, which tells me that my money would make more for me sitting under a mattress (due to inflation) than it would be if I paid off this loan any time soon. Not bad, especially considering that Rachel got them to come down on the price quite a bit as well.

We are very happy drivers.

Now onto a different subject. In the last post I promised everyone that I was going to get on my soapbox again, as I so often do on this blog, and have a little rant. Well, I aim to please, and I've already got my stage (which I keep close at hand) set up and ready to go.

Today I want to talk about people who think it is their moral obligation to tell you how to raise your kids. It's everywhere. And I don't know if it's just the people we interact with or if it really is everywhere, but I'm getting sick of it. I suppose there is the third possibility that we really do need to be better parents, but when I look at our kids I think, gee, they are well cared and provided for, they are healthy, they have a mom who can afford to stay at home full time and a dad who gets 3-day vacations every week to do fun stuff with them, they have great relationships with each other as well as with us, they are learning at a faster pace than their peers, they are extremely polite and obedient, and they remind me every night that they can't go to bed without first reading from the scriptures. To me, these are not deprived children. In fact, not to stroke my own ego or anything, but I like to think that they are such great kids because of some of the things that we do as parents (novel concept, I know). 

But for some reason, either people don't see all that or else they blatantly ignore it, because lately it seems like a lot of them have been telling us only what we can do better. If you are one of these people then listen- my kids make a lot of their own choices, and are learning to live with the consequences. I know you might think that kids have the intelligence of a cabbage, and it's fine with me if you treat your own kids that way, but I accept their autonomy on some things, and I think that is fine. In fact, I think that is good, because they are learning independence and self confidence. 

What am I talking about? Well, for starters, I will often let my kids dress themselves. Many times the clothes they choose to wear doesn't fit into the current definition of stylish. Okay- let's talk about this. First of all, there is no need to be stylish for a trip to Walmart, much less to the backyard to play. Second of all, stylish is in the eye of the beholder. Third, my children are learning to be independent and confident. If they come out after dressing themselves and all I did was ridicule their choices and force them to change then I am reinforcing a false notion that they are not capable of these attributes. And fourth, they will have a life full of their peers and their culture dictating to them how to dress, speak, and act. To me, it is more important to teach self-reliance and self-respect than the principals of conforming to a social norm in order to "fit in." The truth is that I see where society is going lately, and it is all I can do to hope that my kids will NOT fit in.

"Okay," you say. "That's all fine and good, but you are crossing the lines of safety. I saw your kid outside in the cold without a coat." 

My response: Safety? Seriously, they are going from the car to the house. They aren't going to die. Apparently your kids might- what can I say- my kids are tougher than your kids. We remind them to bring their coats, and they either forget or choose not to listen. In our family, there is this thing called consequences. If you forget your coat, you get cold. If you don't eat, you get hungry. And if you don't take care of your things, they break and you don't have those things anymore. Now I realize that to some people this sounds like parenting from the dark ages, but we think there is some value in learning about consequences from a young age.

Let me tell you a story. Last winter, I allowed Evelyn, my daughter, to go outside in the snow barefoot because she wanted to. At the time, there were a lot of people who criticized my decision. After all, what sort of father lets his daughter learn things for herself? Well, after about 1 minute she came back in the house crying because her feet were cold. This was predictable and I hugged her and gave her her boots. Let me tell you- that winter, she never forgot her boots again. The critics, on the other hand, were still chasing their kids down, wrestling them to the floor kicking and screaming, and forcing boots on their feet every time they went out. 

So if you accuse me of allowing my children to make mistakes, then I proudly stand up and reply "guilty as charged!" I will give my advice and then stand by and let them fall, freeze, crash, burn, fail, and flounder, all within reason, in order to teach them important lessons about the world and about themselves. I would rather have them test and learn their limits here and now, under my close supervision, then later when I can't be there to rescue them. I would rather develop a relationship of mutual respect and trust now, than one of authoritarian rule and judgmentalism that can't be fixed when they are older. I've known kids who were raised in a bubble. They don't make good adults. They don't make good teenagers. Sure, my kids might get hurt sometimes, but I think it serves a greater purpose.

And any of you who are reading this and think that I'm horrible, please go back and read the paragraph about our great children. They aren't neglected. They aren't abused. They are just good, healthy, well-adjusted kids. The parenting has got to have something to do with that. You might do it differently, and I'm not saying that your way is bad, but it is impossible to make a case that my way doesn't work because, as they say, the proof is in the pudding.

And so this is where I stand. I realize that I have come across as overly defensive and close-minded in my views. Maybe so. But please know that, at least in person, I am not. I am just tired of hearing it and smiling and nodding, over and over and over again, and NOT speaking my mind. And I figured, to quote the famous Lesley Gore, "It's my party, I can cry if I want to." So you get an earful.

Okay- I'm tucking my soapbox back into its hiding place. 

I need to go play with my kids. 

...Outside

...In the snow

...On a cliff

..In the dark

...NAKED.

Have a nice week!

 Our new car on the day we got it. Sorry we cut off the front. Just picture a minivan. If you can't do that, then come visit us and we'll let you see it.

 The best trick-or-treater.

Just in case you were wondering, this is what I would look like with black hair. Basically, the same as I look now...but with black hair.

Welcome to a glimpse of our crazy lives!  A few weeks ago Logan was gone for a dental conference in Seattle and I decided to document our day with video.  This is the first video I have ever created! I am kind of proud of it.  Before I get to the video I thought I would write a brief (we will see how brief it actually ends up being) summary of what is going on with each of the kids. Feel free to just skip to the video if you would like to.

Evelyn- Evelyn loves her pre-school!  Mrs. Scholes is fantastic.  She has transformed a level of her home into a pre-school complete with a tree house reading fort, tables for centers, a play corner, reading rug, and much more.  She has six students and lots of creativity. I think Evelyn’s pre-school will actually be funner than kindergarten because there is so much one-on-one attention, time to do extensive crafts, and time for field trips.  She is having a great time.

On Monday Evelyn was in Adalie’s room and I overheard the conversation.  Evelyn said, “Guess what Adalie?  It is quiet time and I get to go outside!  You have to stay in your room and you can’t come with me!”  When she came out I casually asked her what she had been saying to Addy.  Without missing a beat she gave me this sweet smile and her head tilted to the side she said, “I was just telling her how much I love her.” Wow…

Evelyn enjoys sitting down and sounding out words in books.  She is constantly asking me how to spell things, and she is constantly trying to spell things herself by sounding them out.  She also has a great grasp on addition and subtraction and she will often make up story problems.

On election day I talked to the kids about how wonderful it is to live in America and about the great opportunity we have to vote and give our opinion about the leadership of our country.  We talked about how there are two main people, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, who want to be president of our country.  A few minutes later she came in to me and said, “We took a vote.  I want Mick Romney, Adalie wants Mick Romney, and Jackson does NOT want Mick Romney.  Am I right?  Did I win?”  Evelyn decided to take the election into her own hands. 

Jackson- Our little man started pre-school a few months ago.  He is really having a good time.  The other mom’s have been praising him a lot!  With the more difficult projects he is often the only one who understands the directions and follows them well. 

Jackson has some excellent gross and fine motor skills.  Since he was 18 months old he has known how to hold a pencil perfectly, and he also has great control and understanding of his body’s capabilities.  He can balance on most anything, he is like a cat when it comes to jumping onto the floor from any height.  He lands with perfect balance on both feet.  He also is the best climber of the bunch.  He just instinctively does some pretty crazy moves. This also may be due to the fact that he has absolutely no fear!

Our little man is doing pretty well on the potty!  He has been going kind of consistently.  He can go on command and he can tell me when he needs to go.  I think he could be pretty well potty trained if I was a little bit more consistent.  He is very proud of himself!  I love that!

Have you ever seen those vacuums that you leave in a room forever and they vacuum for you?  That is Jackson.  He loves to vacuum and he will do it forever!  I can leave him in a room and when I come back it will be completely spotless (he shows off this talent in the video).  He also is the best cleaner ever!  He loves to organize and get things looking nice.  Lately he has been pushing his limits to see if he can get away with saying ‘no,’ but I think his desire to be clean and organized is winning the battle.

Jackson is in a speech class with two other boys.  He goes to the local elementary school twice a week for a half an hour each time.  They play fun games and he has a pretty good time. I have noticed some steady improvement in being able to understand him. It is still definitely not easy sometimes, but it is getting better! He is doing well with recognizing letters and he is even writing some of them.  Last time I taught he was the only one in the class who could master writing the lower case letter e.  Nice work. He also knows his colors, shapes and how to count.

Lately Jackson has been singing about everything.  He just makes up his own songs about things he is thinking about, things we are doing, or what he can see.  He is very entertaining.

Adalie- Sweet Adalie is also really enjoying pre-school.  She loves to tell me about what happened in class.  Her favorite thing to elaborate on is what they ate for snack time.  This is always a very exciting thing to share.  She is doing very well dwith letter recognition, color recognition, and counting.  I think she can count forever!  She figured out the pattern and there is no stopping her.  

Adalie loves to talk.  She can talk about anything and she has recently begun asking me questions about things. She is becoming more and more interested in the world around her. Sometimes Adalie can be a little bit flighty.  She kind of floats around and seems to just be clueless about what is going on around her.  It is kind of funny to watch.

I just asked Evelyn if she could think of something special about Adalie.  She said, “Adalie is special because she has more dresses than me.” Did I mention that Evelyn is still quite obsessed with princesses and with wearing dresses?

Adalie likes to ‘read’ books out loud.  She will sit up on a chair and read to anyone who wants to be in the audience.  I mistakenly thought it would be quicker to let her read the bedtime story the other night.  I have never had so much elaboration and time spent on a page.  She was very particular about explaining everything in the story and everything that was going on in the picture. She also made quite the show every time she turned the page. 

Adalie has a new favorite color every day.  Evelyn keeps trying to convince her that pink is the best color of all, but thankfully Addy is holding her ground and choosing colors like blue, brown, and green.  Adalie can definitely be a girly girl, but is it possible to be a tomboy girly girl?

The other day the kids were in the car and Evelyn piped up, “Adalie, I am sorry to say this, but you kind of talk funny.”  Adalie refused to believe it and Evelyn decided to list all of the words that Adalie mispronounces.  I timed Evelyn and she went on without pausing for three full minutes until we arrived back at our house.  It was really funny.  I hadn’t really noticed other than the fact that everything Addy says seems to begin with the f sound!

Adalie has been a very good ‘tryer’ when it comes to going potty on the potty.  She will sit for a very long time and be very patient even though she still has the record of only going once so far.  She gets very excited and very proud of herself.  I love seeing her little eyes light up.  She doesn’t seem to be getting discouraged, and she is a very good cheerleader for Jackson when he goes.  She gets almost as proud of him as she does with herself. 

Maren- Wow this girl is growing up!  She will be nine months this week. I don’t think she ever stops talking!  She even has a gurgling growling sound every time she eats.  She is scooting/crawling along all over the place!  I have noticed that she scoots when the floor is soft and she will crawl on harder surfaces.   Just yesterday she started pulling up to standing and she now pulls up on everything. 

Maren is simply a joy to have around.  She is the happiest/most content baby I have ever seen, and she puts up with a lot.  Know that during the video when it looks like she is being tortured she is just full of giggles! Right now Evelyn is holding her under her armpits and spinning around.  Maren is talking and giggling like crazy.

Which brings me to my next thought.  Maren is now successfully able to ‘play’ with each of her siblings.  They all interact with her a little bit differently, but Maren lights up whenever she sees any one of them.

Maren’s hair isn’t growing at all in length, but it continues to get thicker and thicker.  It is almost the exact same color as Evelyn’s.  Where is this red coming from???  Also, her eyes are getting greener and greener every day.  I love them!  What is up with our genetic pool?  Twins, red hair, green eyes, and three older siblings that look nothing like one another .  Maren is a great mix between Evelyn and Jackson. 

Maren is definitely a momma’s girl.  She can be pretty fussy sometimes for babysitters.  She also has shown a little bit of an independent streak.  I didn’t know that was possible this young!  I am surely in for it.  Anyway, she refuses to let me put in her pacifier.  She insists that she does it all by herself. She will throw a fit if I try to do it.  I have just learned to hand it to her and let her twirl it around and wiggle it until it makes her way into her mouth

Me- Why not put a little bit about me in here?  I am having a great time being a mom to these sweet little kids.  Life is definitely crazy!  Some moments are crazy fun, some moments are crazy and not so fun, and some moments are just plain crazy!  I must say that peace and quiet is definitely a treasured commodity, but I can also honestly say that one day I will really miss this time. 

Marketing for the practice has finally settled down into a doable routine.  I have stopped running just enough to create a manageable schedule to meet all of the deadlines for the ads and articles I am doing.  I have been having a fantastic time watching my ideas ‘come to life.’  I love creating the advertisements and I get excited when I have the final product (I actually just ordered 15,000 holiday mailers this morning).  I enjoy seeing my designs in print and seeing the response that they are getting. 

This past month I have been reclaiming my life again.  I feel like a much better mother, wife, and home maker now that the crazy initial set up phase is over.  I am also busy  getting my   house back in order from the chaos that reigned for a while.  This feels good.  I like being orderly and making things nice.  I am also proud to say that I have been back to cooking homemade meals every   night.  For the first time in our marriage I would routinely get to six o’clock and realize that I had no idea what we were having for dinner. Needless to say, those days were not very healthy…

I am excitedly trying to get ideas ready for Christmas.  I am very excited for this holiday season!

I will now quit my rambling and get right to the video!  Here is what a typical day looks like in the Hazard home.  The only thing missing is my amazing husband (he was in Seattle for a business conference). 

Hey- this is Logan, the amazing husband. I’m doing well too. I love my family, I love my wife. I love my job, and I love my life.

…And I can write poetry :)

I look forward every week to Papa Fridays when I take the kids to Library story time and we make crafts and stuff.

By the way, the next time I get on this blog I’m getting up on my soapbox again. Be excited.

On to the awesome video...