This week was brought to us by the letter P.

Namely potty, pee, and poop.  I have said and heard these three words more this week than I have at any other time in my life.

Our story began on Monday when I took Adalie and Jackson to the store to pick out big boy/big girl underwear.  They also each picked out their very own potty candy.

Before the story continues I think we should back up and give you a little bit more information about our little three and a half year olds.  Lets begin with sweet Adalie.  Before Monday Adalie had gone to the potty exactly one time, and that time was over a year ago.  Since then she has been an excellent 'trier.' Recently her favorite thing to do was jump on the potty for under one second and then smiling, she would dramatically exclaim "I Cannnnnnnn't."  I must also note that Adalie has woken up with a dry diaper for the last few months.  She gets to wear big girl underwear to bed too!

Jackson was completely potty trained about a month ago.  Notice the past tense phrasing.  He did an excellent job going potty and poop, and then one day he decided that he was done.  This was not unexpected.  The exact same thing happened with Evelyn, and I had mentally prepared myself for this possibility with Jack.

I was so glad that Jack decided to do it himself and I didn't need to worry about potty training Adalie and Jack at the same time.  That would have been nice, but it didn't end up being the case.

On with the story...

Adalie and Jackson were very excited to begin our process. I was prepared to stay at home for at least a full week and dedicate myself to this exciting process.  I planned carefully.  Preschool was at my house this week for A and J, and I planned to begin big kid underwear after Jack's Monday speech class (we warned the teacher that we might not make it to the Wednesday class).

At this point I will summarize in order to make a long story short.  Adalie went potty for the first time on Wednesday evening (yes, that means she went a whole lot before that...) Jackson did a wonderful job going potty, but #2 was a struggle (still is).  It is kind of strange.  He seems to have lost that ability.  The same thing happened with Evelyn.  Is this normal?  He tries really hard, but he is having a tough time.

We DID end up going to Jack's Wednesday speech class, and we took a long trip in the car to pick up Grandma Almond at the airport (more about that in a minute).  With the help of our kid portable potty we made it with out incident!  We even made it all the way through church today.

I have developed a system for laundry during this exciting and messy process.  During the day I throw all of the dirty clothes in the open washing machine. At the end of the day I wash all of the clothes and quickly put them away the next day.  The good news is tomorrow is laundry day and I have about 1/4 the amount of laundry because I have been doing it daily!  There is always a silver lining...

Other fun stories from the week:

In preschool I turned on some wiggle music for the kids.  Immediately Adalie and Jackson ran to each other and grabbed hands.  They both started wiggling their hips (super cute) to the music. Jackson then began to lead Adalie into spins!  I took some video with my phone, and I will put it on here if I ever figure out how to upload it!

This morning Adalie and Jackson were running around dressed up and ready for church.  They ran up to our floor length window and stepped up on the ledge together.  Then they grabbed each other's hand and stood in the window looking out at the backyard together.  Sweet!  It reminded me of when I would feed them together and occasionally their hands would find each other and they would hold on tight!

My mom came into town on Friday!  We have been having a great time.  She is getting a lot of cuddle time with the kids, and we are getting a lot of time with her as well.  She is going to be here for another week and we are excited. My mom and I were also able to go out together yesterday.  We went to Joann Fabrics and picked up materials to finally recover our dining room chairs.  That is our project for the week.  I am sure pictures will follow.

Last night we went to an Alex Boye' concert with my mom and some other good friends. Alex is a member of the Tabernacle Choir and a former member of a British boy band.  He was an excellent performer and a great comedian as well.  He performed songs from every genera from choral to rap.  The diversity was fun, and he was a great entertainer.  We enjoyed our night.

I am going to take some time and try to figure out the photo/video thing.  Hopefully I will be able to add them to this post.

Finding Balance

Balance is hard to find because life is always changing.  I feel like I am consistently adjusting my balance to counteract the changes.  This has been on my mind lately, and since this is our journal you get the pleasure of  listening in on my thoughts... or skipping this post entirely. :)  I promise to include some cute stories though.

I have found that schedules are very important to me (a very close second would be lists).  I realized this in college and absolutely turned my life around (this is a different story though).  I have found some great ways  for me to find balance with all of the demands in my life.  Here are some things I have come up with that work for us:

• Quiet time everyday at 1:30. I feel that I must mention this first because it is the reason for my sanity. 
• I wake up at 5:50 everyday to have 'me' time.  I have found that if it doesn't happen at this time it doesn't happen.  I workout and do my scripture study.
• Tuesdays are 'Momma Days.' Logan does Elder's Quorum visits and is gone until 8:30 or 9.  I use this time to focus solely on the kids.  I make sure to have one-on-one time with each child,we have some kind of craft, and sometimes we will watch Signing Time together.
• Thursday morning is the first day without preschool in the morning.  This makes it an essential cleaning day.  I do deep cleaning in the morning and then I have one-on-one cleaning time with each child. I love this, and they love this!  I select special jobs (windows, washing stainless steel in the kitchen, organizing closets, etc) that I can do with an extra set of small hands.  The kids seriously can not wait for their turn to clean with mom! The main moral of this story is that we would LOVE to have you drop in at our house, and if you expect it to be clean then your best bet would be to come on a Thursday afternoon.
• I have finally conquered the Laundry Monster at our house!  I have found that it is completely impossible to do all of the laundry in one day.  I have also found that if it doesn't get done in one day, then there is clean laundry in baskets until the next time I do laundry. Without fail! I have found a magical cure for me!  Sunday=sorting day, Monday= get all of the laundry loads washed and sorted (unfolded) into baskets for each room (i.e. Jackson's and Evelyn's clothes in the same basket).  Tuesday = fold laundry as I put it away in the drawers. This is totally doable, and laundry never sneaks up on me!
• I have found a great way to get Heartwood marketing stuff done without totally neglecting my children and getting easily frustrated with them. That is what unavoidably happens when I try to do it during the day.  I now keep a good list of things that need to be done and my Heartwood time is on Tuesday and Wednesday during the two hours that all three older kids are in preschool.
• Shopping on Monday while Evelyn is in preschool.  I have discovered that Fred Meyer offers free childcare while you shop!  I have always thought that Fred Meyer was more expensive than Wal-mart, but I always manage to spend less at Fred Meyer.  I have tested this theory multiple times and even made absolute sure that I didn't impulse buy anything.  Cheaper grocery bills is an added bonus!
• A few weeks ago I decided that I would bring one child (plus Maren because she is too young for the childcare) with me shopping.  I have a blast, and so do Adalie and Jackson!  On our shopping 'date' he or she gets to pick out the Family Night treat (shopping day just happens to fall on a Monday).
• We have craft/coloring time after nap time on most days.
• Every Friday morning Logan takes the kids to the Library for story/craft time.  The kids look forward to "Papa library days," and I look forward to 'me' time that is not allowed to be related to Heartwood marketing.
• Every three months our ward is assigned to clean the church on Saturdays.  Logan takes the kids on 'church cleaning dates' with him.  After cleaning the church they go out for ice cream/play time at McDonalds.  The kids love this!  He has come to the conclusion that Jackson is a great cleaner, Evelyn is a good cleaner, and Adalie will one day be a great cleaning supervisor.  
• I promise that all of our one-on-one time dates are not spent cleaning! We also take our kids on random dates depending on their individual interests. 
• One of the most important nights of the week is date night!  Logan and I attempt to go on one date a week. 
• BE FLEXIBLE! It would be great if all of these things happened like clockwork, but they simply don't.  They happen most of the time, and that is perfect.

I have been thinking lately that the last few weeks have been really balanced well for my personal life.  I love it! Here are some highlights...

• I woke up at 6:00 every day and can officially say that this is a habit.
• I went shopping alone and bought clothes!
• Logan and I went on a double date with some friends together
• Logan and I passed our first Karate advancement test
• Logan and I are learning our first guitar songs together, and I have kind of figured out how to sing while I play very simple songs. Kind of.
• I had great cleaning time with each kid
• I snuck in a lot of one-on-one momma time
• We have made a lot of crafts together
• I had an interpreting job
• I was a laundry queen
• I have kept the upstairs really clean. This is cleaned pretty well at least once a day. (did I mention that I keep a pretty clean kitchen, and that having a clean kitchen is directly related to my sanity. You can pretty much gauge my mood by how clean my kitchen is).
• After traipsing around the entire valley Logan and I finally have great new bikes!
• We went on a bike riding date

Wow. You made it this far.  Here are the stories that I promised you.

On Thursday morning I had a fantastic cleaning morning with the kids. I began with Maren in her bedroom where she had strewn the clean clothes all over the floor.  I opened one drawer and gave her a few pieces of clothing to put inside.  She would put one partially in and methodically get the rest of it in little by little.  She talked and babbled the entire time.  Then, she would look at me and say 'more, more, more.' Very cute.

Next, I washed windows with Adalie and the stainless steel in the kitchen with Evelyn.  During this time Jack got out the broom and began sweeping the floor.  He made countless little piles (10-12) and would call me in  every few minutes to help him sweep each pile into the dustpan.  He kept going, and going, and going, and going until he had an almost completely spotless floor.  He is the most persistent cleaner I have ever met! He was very excited when his momma job was to clean the landing and laundry room with the Swiffer. 

After I was finished cleaning with the kids I heard Evelyn say, "Adalie- Lets go clean up the leaves and have some you and me time!" I watched them run downstairs and grab a laundry basket to collect the leaves that were in the living room.  They were both SO excited to be having their own 'time.'  I love it!

I am so blessed, and I love my life!  

I have some great pictures of cleaning time with Momma, but I can't get them off of my phone.   

On a completely random note- Check out this cool blog titled 'Drops of Awesome.'  It is pretty cool and I figured I would share it for those of you who haven't seen it yet click here.

Crazy. That is the word I would use to describe life in the Hazard home.  I am told it only gets more and more crazy as the years go on.  In my heart I know there will be a time that the craziness will morph into a quiet, clean, empty house.  I know that I will relish this time with Logan, but I think deep down I will also miss the crazy, messy, silly, loud, emotional, sweet, tear filled, cuddly, and busy time that is now ours.

Logan and I have always been a fan of live theater.  We were completely spoiled in Cleveland with the Cleveland Playhouse only fifteen minutes away.  It has taken us a long time, but we are finally exploring the theatrical options available to us here.  Last night we attended our first play at the Lakeside Playhouse in Coeur d'Alene.  We were very impressed with the acting and emotional climate the directors created with the play.  When I see a play I generally expect either a comedy, musical, or combination of the two. In general I expect a play to be relatively lighthearted.  The only exception so far was Billy Elliot which which at least had a good moral.  Last night we went and saw Sweeny Todd.  Wow. The cast and lighting crew did an amazing job of creating a mood.  It was pretty cool to watch and be pulled in to the story.  On the way home we decided the three best describing words for the play were disturbing, dark, and... We also came to the realization that there was really no redeeming moral to the story. We did enjoy the play and we will definitely be back to the playhouse.

Logan and I decided that each of us could have a percentage of our tax return to buy whatever we want. We decided that each of us was going to buy a road bike so that we could take biking trips together, and we decided that we would buy a nylon string guitar for us to share.  I have recenly begun learning to play, and Logan has been studying and building his mad guitar skills.  Now we can both play at the same time and we can play together. Logan has recently mastered playing Cavatina.  For those of you who don't know this song, it is pretty amazing.  You can listen to it here. If you listen closely you can actually hear the different parts that are being played simultaneously.  It is pretty cool.  I am proud of Logan for learning this beautiful song.

It is officially that time of year where the weather simply can not make up its mind.  We have had bitter cold days this week along with sunny days in the low fifties.  We went to the big slide park for the first time this year. It is so fun for me to see how much the kids have grown in size and ability even since last October. Kids grow up so fast!  I am excited for this Spring/Summer/Fall with them!

I have a feeling that Maren will keep me on my toes in the coming months. Our sweet little happy girl has begun to become a bit of a handful in church because she wants to be everywhere, and she is definitely the age where she needs to be watched all the time.  She is the only one of our children that has discovered the joy of putting things in the toilet!  She is a curious little learner girl. She is beginning to have  a desire to keep up with her siblings. I love it!  It is honestly difficult to remember a time when she wasn't in our family.  Ok- random Maren tangent is over.

No pictures this week because I no longer have a camera at my disposal.  Something must be done about that...

See you next week!

Our family has a bug. For the past several weeks, it seems like someone has been sick. It's never really bad- just enough to make people grumpy. As soon as one person gets over it, someone else picks it up. This week it was finally Rachel's turn. And now that she's getting better, I think it's mine. Yuck.

Well, with that introduction, let me just say that we had a great week. I know it might not sound like it, but we really did. This week was all about Evelyn. On Tuesday she turned the big oh-five and and it has been a week of celebration. We had a family party on her actual birthday and she got a real bike. We haven't taken the training wheels off yet, but she is doing pretty good riding around our driveway and in the street in front of our house. It won't be long before she is riding a two wheeler (which she is very excited about...one day.)

On Saturday we had her "friends" party. The theme was from the movie Brave, and Rachel did a great job with it. Evelyn wore her Brave dress, and we had archery competitions, turned ourselves into bears with homemade bear head-bands, and followed the blue wisps on a treasure hunt to find the target-shaped cupcakes (complete with handmade arrows). Everyone had a great time.

That night we went to the church for a ward movie-night activity and actually watched Brave on the movie projector from my office.

Oh- I also went climbing again during a lunch break from work- I love living where I can do that.

Well- it might be that my head feels fuzzy, but I can't really think of much else to write.  This week you get no philosophical musings or commentary- just plain boring information about our week. At least I wrote.

 Evelyn's Bike. She's very excited.

 Maren was sick most of the week so her and I had a lot of cuddle time. I sort of like it when she's sick. Also, we watched the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey  They call it a classic. It's not. In fact, it's probably the longest, most drawn out, dullest movie that I have ever seen. Call me shallow, but wow. This is what I looked like during most of the movie.

 Brave.

 Bear Ears

The party friends, minus the rowdy boys who were wrestling and sword fighting instead of coloring. I sort of have to take responsibility for that one. Oops.

 The kids enjoyed the activities, and you can see some of Rachel's decorations here (I helped with the target). Evelyn enjoyed coloring various movie scenes from Brave, and Rachel decorated with streamers, celtic knots, and a banner that proclaimed 'Be Brave.'  It looked great, and the kids had fun.

Spring time is here! We will probably still have a couple of cold spells, and maybe a few more snow storms, but I can definitely see the sighs of Spring and it is so, so nice. As I write this I am looking out our big back windows at a beautiful sunset over the mountains. The most beautiful part of it all is that it is 6:00- the days are definitely getting longer. In the summer time up here we get sunsets around 11:00 at night, but in the winters they come as early as 4:30. That's hard. Also, the last little patch of snow in our yard melted today. Birds are out on the feeders. As far as I am concerned, it is Spring.

This week the weather was especially nice. Nice enough for climbing. And so on Thursday when our last patient cancelled, I left work a little early and decided to drive to Q'emiln Park and kick off the year with my first roped solo! Let me tell you, I am totally into this. For Christmas my staff bought me some gift cards which I used to buy the proper equipment, and now I can safely and confidently climb without a partner. In fact, many people believe that roped soloing is the safest form of climbing that there is since human error is virtually eliminated in the equipment set-up. Anyway, I drove to the park, set the ropes, and did my first climb of the year on an easier 5.11 that I've had my eye on. It was a good start to what I think will be a great year. Oh- and have I mentioned that I love climbing. I don't know what it is, but when I'm climbing and totally focused on the rock and fluid movement of it all it totally makes me feel alive. I know it sounds cliche' but it's true. I love it.

Of course we also had Valentines day this week. Rachel and I decided to use the day to check out some local eating places that have been featured on the "foodie" channels. One of the places I actually heard about from my sister in Texas who watches that kind of stuff (Thanks Haley). Well, for lunch we went to a place called Jimmy's Down The Street where they were supposed to have awesome pecan rolls. In my opinion, the rolls were good, but nothing to write home about. Maybe I'm just not a pecan roll type person.

For dinner we decided that nothing was quite as romantic as curling up together with pizza and a movie- so we rented "Saving Private Ryan," put it in our ClearPlay, and enjoyed some nationally award-winning pizza from Capone's pub and grill. This pizza was good! So was the movie! It was a great Valentine's day.

Yesterday there were two notable events. First of all, Addy and I went on a date. I took her bowling. It was pretty awesome because every time she threw the ball I thought I would have to run down and give it a push just to get it to the end of the lane. Seriously, I counted and it took an average of about 30 seconds for each of her throws to make it down to the pins. Sometimes the ball would actually bounce off the pins. She still got excited with each roll, however, and jumped up and down every time the pins fell down. It was fun. Afterwords, we went and got ice cream.

The other notable event yesterday was the birthday party that Evelyn went to. The party had a race car theme, and the kids made pinewood derby cars ahead of time. Evelyn did a great job with hers, and it was fun going out to the shop with her and helping her to sand, paint, and decorate her car. At the party she had fun racing it (even though it didn't win), eating junk food, and playing with her friends.

There is one other thing we did this week. We went on a family walk. I know it doesn't sound like much, but it was really fun. Here is what Rachel had to say about- straight from her journal:

"I want to forever remember the kids at this age and as they grow up.  I am such a proud mama!  I love seeing their different personalities shine through...

...We walked a block and found ourselves in a 'wilderness' area near the train tracks. There was a walking path on one side and large fields with horses on the other.  I love the variety of places we live close to! 

Evelyn led the way in the beginning.  I asked her if she wanted to walk with Adalie.  Evelyn responded that she was lonely in the front.  Adalie immediately piped up, "Wait for me!  I can be your friend." Jack joined the group and the three adventurers ran away giggling. Logan and I kept our distance in the back and just watched them explore.

On one side of the trail there was a large hill covered with roots, brambles, and obstacles that would be formidable to any little person.  I was very impressed when Jack marched right up and took on the challenge.  He slowly made his way to the top never losing sight of the fence that was his goal. It was crazy to watch him climb through dense branches that were a foot taller than he is!  He took some time, but there was no stopping him!  Logan met him at the top and they celebrated together.  Meanwhile, Evelyn was trying to make her way up the steep slope.  She was struggling, but she would not be deterred.  She was wearing her boots and her Snow White dress.  I knew that she was getting pretty scratched up, but she was not going to give up.  I was so proud of her when she, too, celebrated her victory at the top with Logan.

Meanwhile, Adalie was attempting to get up the first part of the slope.  With a simple prompt Jackson was by her side offering to help her make it up.

I love how our kids are becoming such good friends. I am constantly noticing their offers to help each other, and to share with each other. Each of them have a very special and unique relationship.  It is great to watch these friendships blossom and grow.  Maren is also beginning to integrate herself with them.  Life can get pretty crazy, but it is also so wonderful!"

Oh- I was just about to end the blog for the week and then realized that I forgot something very important- Maren's Birthday! Our little Maren is now officially one year old. We had a little party at our house with the traditional cupcake for the birthday girl. She loved it and so did everyone else. We sure love our Maren. 

Well, that pretty much sums up our week. Obviously we are staying busy and living an adventure.

Our Maren on her first birthday

 Me at the top of my first roped solo

 Me and Addy on our date

 Addy's score. This was all her- I was actually pretty impressed!

Bowling with Adalie.

First of all...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MAREN! She is 1 year old today. She's had a great year. We're having a birthday-party family night celebration tonight.

So, besides that, we had an awesome week last week. The highlight was on Saturday when we all went to the Spokane Boat Show. Now, I have never really been that into boats. I mean, sure I liked going water skiing occasionally with my friends, but it was never really a significant part of my life. On top of that, I saw a lot of people who did have boats who didn't really use them that much. If anything, it seemed to be a hassle that took more time to plan and prepare than it did to actually do. Because of this, I never thought that I would even consider owning a boat one day. But all that changed when we moved to Post Falls. Why?

Well, first of all, Post Falls is right in the middle of a bunch of places to go boating. I mean, I could leave from my house and within 5 minutes be at one of three different boat launches. Add another 15 minutes to the drive, and the list of places to go boating seems endless (just off hand I can think of over a dozen). It is just a good place to be if you like being on the water.

Second, because we live next to a huge lake with a huge river coming out of it, it is pretty easy and inexpensive to get a boat slip. This is where you just keep your boat "parked" in the water all the time when not in use. Now, obviously you take it out from time to time, and to travel to other locations, but it means you can have a home base. 

See, when I was growing up and my friend wanted to take us boating, we would meet at his house, then have to hook the boat trailer up to the truck. We then carpooled (since we didn't all fit in a truck) to the lake, which was over an hour away. Once there, we would have to launch the boat. This always seemed to take a lot longer than it should- I don't know why. Anyway, after all that, we were finally on the water and we could enjoy a couple of hours of skiing (or whatever). When we were done we had to complete the process (in reverse) all over again. It was fun, but it was a hassle. And it took all day.

Compare that with a Post Falls location. Scenerio: "Hey, what do you want to do today?"

"Let's go boating"

"Okay, I'll get the kids in the car." 

Five minutes later we have parked the car and are getting in the boat, which is already sitting in the water waiting for us. Now, let's say we ski for a while and then it's time for lunch.

"What do you want for lunch?"

"Let's just go home and make sandwiches"

"Okay."

I park the boat in our slip. We get out, and five minutes later we are home eating sandwiches.

Suddenly, having a boat starts sounding like less of a hassle and more like a thing we would actually do on a regular basis. So, when the boat show came to town we thought, hey, let's have a gander.

Let me just say- I saw a lot of nice boats on Saturday. Like- really nice. And I guess it makes sense- I mean, around here nice boats are about as common as nice cars are in Beverly Hills. Like I said- it's a good place to have a boat. My favorite ones to look at were the large cabin cruisers. It sounds nice to have a sort of "home away from home" out on the water. Impractical...but nice in a romantic sort of way. I think Evelyn's favorites were the pontoon-style house boats with the water slides and roomy interiors. Rachel was a fan of the 56 foot motor yacht. Addy and Jack liked the small dinghies- probably because they could jump in and out of them without any help (a fact that I am sure the workers there loved). As for Maren- I think she'd be happy in pretty much anything. Anyway- we had fun looking.

Later that night, we had a babysitter come over and Rachel and I went to an adults-only stake Valentine's dance. That was fun. Rachel was later presented with a "best female dancer" certificate by a friend, whereas I only managed to pick up a nickname as the "dancing fool." Both are fitting, I think.

Like I said- It's been a fun week. And who knows- maybe one day we'll get a boat.

Despite all the fun "options" out there, we decided the most practical (and fun) for our family would be a small ski boat- sort of like this one...but older.

 I took this picture because it this has almost become a ritual in our home. Whenever I come home from work, the kids all run and hide under the counter. It doesn't matter that I am standing there and watching them, they still hide. Then mom says, and I quote "Our house is so quiet. I wonder where all the kids are." Usually there is some suppressed giggling at this point from one or more of the kids. I then walk in front of the counter and say, "I don't know, maybe I should look for them." (More giggling). Then I look down and say "Oh my goodness- there's a foot (arm, head, etc.) sticking out from the counter." I bend down and act surprised to see them and they all three totally bust up into laughter. Then they all give me hugs and go back to whatever they were doing before I came home. It's fun.

Every Friday I take the kids to Library playgroup. I am almost always the only adult guy in the room- which honestly I sort of like because then all the moms look at me and say "awww- what a great dad." Anyway, they have this new thing they do at the end that I have started calling the playgroup mosh pit. There really is no better way to describe it. Someone almost always ends up getting hurt and crying but so far all of our kids have managed to come out on top. It's pretty awesome.

Well, it's February now so I guess it's my month for the blog. Just so you know, this post is going to be a disjointed bunch of stories and stuff, but hey, that's pretty much our life.

First of all, I have to say that there are three words that I have come to fear more than any other. They are uttered constantly by all three of our older children, and I'm sure that if Maren could talk she would say the same thing. The words: I'm still hungry. Seriously- it seems like overnight all of our kids have developed full adult-sized appetites. It has become normal for any one (or all) of them to eat more in a given meal than Rachel or I do. It's crazy.

I've got to tell a story about Jack. That kid may be the smallest of the trio, but he definitely knows how to tease his sisters. Also, it's like he knows exactly where the line is where Rachel and I get upset, and he walks that line very carefully. The results are nothing short of hilarious. We often get tear-filled reports from both Evelyn and Adalie tat Jack won't stop standing next to them, looking at them, or breathing on them. You get the picture. He is great at provoking them without really doing anything and then standing back with a sly grin as we tell his sisters to get over it. He'll then go right back to bugging  them. I love it.

Oh- another fun quick story. The other day Evelyn came and asked Rachel where the wipes were. There was just something about the way she asked that made Rachel suspicious, and she askes, "Why do you need the wipes?"
"Oh, we just want to clean up," was the response.
"What are you cleaning?"
"Adalie's room"
"What is in Adalie's room that you need to clean?"
"We were just playing a game, and we need to clean up now."
"What game were you playing?"
Pause. Silence. And then, hesitently- "It's a game called eggs."
Yep- Eggs. Nine of them. Hidden. And broken. Fun game. Whoever came up with that one was a genius.

Last Sunday we were awesome parents. We came home from church and put the kids downstairs with all-you-can-watch Disney movies and pizza. We then pretty much ignored them for the rest of the day while we watched the Super Bowl upstairs on our projector. I have to say that even though my team lost, I'm just glad that in the second half it at least turned into a real football game.

I should mention that Rachel went to an interpreting conference last weekend Friday/Saturday while I got some good kid-time in. It's good that she was able to do that.

The business is going great. Rachel is an awesome advertiser.

The weather feels like spring. Most of the snow is melting the sun is shining, and there are a lot of birds outside. I've started walking to work on occasion. I like it.

Last thing. This doll is named Creepy. She scared me every time I see her. Rachel and I have both walked into a room and mistaken her for Maren. She lives up to her name. Sometimes it's downright disturbing...