Merry Christmas from the Houghs, Vol. V

Dearest friends, family members, and random people who come across this blog from the far corners of cyber space,

We, the Houghs, wish you all the merriest of Christmases (unless, of course, you don't celebrate Christmas, in which case we'd wish you 'Happy Holidays' in order to remain PC). Here is this year's installment in the ongoing Hough family Christmas card saga.

Enjoy.

Too Yule for School,

- The Houghs

Kid Sitting on Random, Bearded Old Guy's Lap, Vol. II

Well, I think they'd take our parenting merit badges away if we didn't have pictures of our kid sitting on some old, bearded guy's lap for the holiday season.

Spoiler Alert: I don't think this was the real Santa Claus, because these pictures were free. I'm sure it'd cost a lot to sit on the real Santa Claus' lap, seeing how he's somewhat famous and all, and I'm sure a lot of kids (and maybe adults) out there would love to sit on the real Santa's lap...

See ya in Vol. III, Old-Guy-Who-Somewhat-Resembles-a-Fictional-Character-Connected-to-a-Religious-Holiday!

- Brian

One Beat's Enough

kris went to the doc today, and, according to the heart monitor-thingy, it looks like we're having one child. this is really, really welcome news, as yours truly didn't have the heart to pay for the whole 'buy one, get one free' deal. one's a lot easier for the wallet to deal with. besides the financial side of things, kris is happy she doesn't have to deal with giving birth to two kids at the same time (or however that works).

that's all for today, folks. looks like we dodged the twin bullet yet again.

relieved,

- brian

Christmas, All Systems Go

The Hough family has officially endorsed the Christmas season. Yulefully.

Although the pairing of Clark Griswald and Scrooge McDuck might seem a bit odd, more or less that's the holiday dynamic between Preggosaurus and myself: I tend to rather enjoy Christmas lights year-round, and therefore see no problem with stringing them up the weekend before Thanksgiving in order to relish in festiveness throughout my week-off of work. Kris, on the other hand, foams at the mouth when she sees anything related to Christmas pop up in front of her before Thanksgiving (i.e. the day the Lions always lose).

As we've done in recent years, the Griswald and McDuck have come to a compromise in regards to holiday decorating: I get to string up Christmas lights the weekend before Thanksgiving, but the actual Christmas Tree, as well as anything that has Santa's face on it, may only be put up the day after Thanksgiving (Black Friday, as I guess we're calling it now).

It might seem a bit unnecessary, but that's what keeps our marriage chugging along.

Anyway, so this year we ran into a bit of a dilemma. I have always, always, always hated our Christmas Tree - we've had it since we first got married and were throwing together Christmas decorations, and therefore what we've been using for the last three years is a $20 Family Dollar tree that could pass off as Charlie Brown's Christmas Tree's mentally disabled step-brother.

Taking this into consideration, this year I opted to upgrade to a $70 pre-lit tree that was a foot taller and much more filled out - still not the $250 job I'd like to own someday, but I can't really bring myself to spending that much money on something I throw up for a month.

Kris wasn't gung-ho with this purchase, but she relented eventually, and now our Charlie Brown-esque auxiliary tree is positioned back in my man-room, if only to keep the Hermit Crabs company during the holiday season.

Merry Commercialism,

- Brian