Across One April

So. . . how was everybody's April?  Pretty good, pretty crappy, pretty meh?  Ours was busy.

One Easter barnstorms the Hough House, it seems like the last two months of the school year take place in a matter of days.  Suddenly, every single weekend has plans (unlike, say, January or February, where I think one or two things happened, and the rest of the time we just stayed indoors, away from the cold, and watched Netflix.)

Birthdays, weddings, play dates, girl scout troop outings, camping trips (see later post), and tons of illnesses (both human and canine.)  Weekends are now social obligations, separated by a few days of school and work.  This will only grow more hectic as we enter the May/June gauntlet comprised of the girls' birthday parties, end of the school year, holidays, and God knows what else.

Of course, I'll bitch about that at a later time, I'm sure.

In the meantime, here's a look back on some of the day-to-day randomness that transpired throughout the month of April, not previously discussed or displayed.

Slainté.

The first weekend of the month, Alayna randomly created a saddle - complete with stirrups - out of copy paper.  No idea why she decided to do so, nor why she felt it was 'cool' to hang a map up Delaware/DC/Maryland on our fireplace.  I don't ask questions around here anymore.

Photobomb, courtesy of Abby.

Of course she had to try out the saddle.  You know. . . just to make sure it worked.

Later that afternoon, enjoying some beers (and Mariokart 8) over at Chris and Nicole's (and Tucker's.)

Speaking of dogs, Watson decided to vomit all over our living room carpet while we were over at Chris and Nicole's house (that was an awesome thing to come home to, believe you me.)  The next morning, he continued vomiting and wouldn't eat or drink anything.  For the entire day, he remained curled up under a blanket on our living room chair.  We decided that we had no choice but to take him in to the Midland Animal Clinic Urgent Care (which, while open on weekends without appointment, ended up costing an insane amount of money - cowabunga.)

Watson and I hung out here for about two hours. . . to the tune of, oh, $500.  Can I tell you folks how happy I was to drop $500 on this stupid dog?  I could have bought two new dogs for that amount, for Christ's sake. . .

Here's an X-Ray of Watson's torso, showing. . . something.

Kris dropped this outside of the school one morning as she walked the girls in the building.  Yours Truly had to drive up there and scour the area before eventually finding it on a sidewalk (FYI - grown men loitering around an elementary school isn't something our society deems 'legit,' as it turns out.) 

Topless foot baths.

Kris sent me this pic while I was at work one day.  Apparently she found this in our office trash can.

This is a lock of Abby's hair.  Seriously.

You can see the six or seven inches removed at the right, there.  She eventually told us she got gum caught in her hair and was too afraid to tell us about it. . . so she just cut off a shit-load of her hair instead.  Which, as you know, is WAAAAY better.

Fortunately, our neighbor, Danielle, used to work in a salon and has her own hair-cutting station set up in her house.  She was able to take six inches off the rest of Abby's hair and shape it, which not only got rid of Abby's handiwork, but also made her hair look healthier in the process (the girl's been needing to have her ends exterminated for some time.)

Lesson learned.

The weekend following Kris' cousin's wedding (in scenic Romulus, if you'll remember), she had to drive down to Novi in order to attend some dental insurance coding professional development workshop with her coworkers (I don't know about you, but I can't think of anything more mind-blowingly badass than 'dental insurance coding professional development.")  Anyway, this meant Yours Truly had the house to himself (after putting the girls to sleep, of course.)  So this happened.

Kris' apartment away from home.

While Kris was still in Novi, the weather heated up dramatically (for this time of year in Michigan, that is - not like we're still in Florida or anything, people.)  Mid/High-60s and sunny, which is obviously pretty welcome in mid-April around here.  As such, Abby demanded I fill up the pool on the back patio (shown here), but the water was still pretty frigid, and after awhile the kids lost all enthusiasm.

The next day, after Kris got home, we drove up to Clare for my nephew Blake's 12th birthday.  The girls consumed their week's worth of sugar in a single sitting, as usual.

Reading her 'Blue Bag Book' from school.  Abby has skyrocketed in reading this year, and is one of the top readers in her kindergarten class (reading chapter books already.)  She doesn't really care much for these black-and-white books her teacher sends home (which are pretty boring, but are meant to boost her reading levels), so getting her to read them can be a huge pain in the ass. . .

Surprise, surprise:  another child sick.  This time it was Abby, who projectile-vomited into the toilet as we were getting to walk the kids out the door on the way to school.  So, instead, her and I stayed home and indulged in Star Wars movies (the originals, Force Awakens - not the prequels) and Playmobil.

Our neighbors across the street held a birthday party for their oldest son, Levi (Alayna's age).  You can see their lawnmower/barrel "train" thing there on the sidewalk (I've posted about that before, I'm sure.

Channeling the Statue of Liberty in their house during the party.

Alayna and Reba (Levi's little sister, Abby's age).  Dress up's a pretty big deal with these kids.

As the party wound down, the neighborhood moved on down the street to Danielle's (Abby's hairstylist I mentioned earlier in this post) house for a bonfire.  Our kids are constantly playing with their daughter, Sophie, and son, Jackson (whom, apparently, is Abby's "boyfriend". . . or so we're told.)

Playing dress up and slaving away in the kitchen.  This is the kind of shit one comes to find when walking through our house on any given day.

Not the most helpful kitchen staff in the world, I'm sure.

After nearly eight years, we're finally getting rid of the girls' crib.  We had originally decided to hold onto the crib for future use down the road (as it can be converted into a twin bed), but one of Kris' best friends, Kim, is now expecting her first child, and Kris wanted to gift this to her instead (it's still in Like New condition, and was pretty expensive in the first place.)

Hangin' out in the Focus

Helping Kris make some Chick Pea nuggets (like Chicken, only not as good) for dinner.

The verdict is good.  A rarity around these parts, I assure you.

Brushing up on her skills (despite after taking nearly a year off from her piano lessons, Alayna has basically retained everything up to where she was in early April of 2015 - basically, she lost about three lessons worth of skill, which is a hell of  a lot better than we were expecting.)

Introducing Abby to music, courtesy of Great Granny Hough's piano.

- Brian