As the Dust Settles

It ain't the Dairy Phil, but it'll do. . .

Hi again, readers.

We've been back in the grind of School/Work/Shittiness for about five weeks now, and so the weekly routine is beyond established.  Our day-to-day around these parts basically revolves around getting ready for school/work, going to school/work, coming home from school/work and trying to cram feeding, bathing, and getting ready for bed in a two-hour window.  We do this for five days, take a half of Saturday sitting around the house in our pajamas in a dazed stupor, attempt to go out and 'do something' in the afternoon/evening on Saturday, take care of yard work and/or go to church Sunday morning, work on house chores/lesson planning/keeping kids entertained Sunday afternoon/evening, and repeat.

Thug life.

So, consequently, we don't update this blog very much.  But, 'cause I'm nice, here's some pictures from over the course of the last few weeks.

BAM:

The Cannonball is on a mission to feed ducks. . .

The pond at Eagle Park is beyond disgusting.

Eagle Park's new playground renovations.  The cushion-y rubber/padded ground is cool (it used to be sand), but they got ride of the canopy that shielded all us lazy parents from the scorching Florida sun.  Damn you very much, Eagle Park Association.

This picture would be really, really alarming if you saw three creepy guys standing behind Abby with paint-covered hands.

At Twisty Treat, down the road from our house.

Kris tried asking for a Boston Cooler, but the lady working the window had never heard of it.  Kris then tried explaining how it's made - with Vernor's and ice cream - but the lady didn't know what Vernor's was, and probably thought Kris was on drugs.

. . . so she more or less just finished the ice cream Alayna ordered and ate two bites out of.

Alayna's big enough to sit in a booster seat now, which she's pretty excited about.  I'm pretty excited about this, too, 'cause now - with two seats in my car - I don't have to switch vehicles every time I pick the kids up from school.  Cowabunga.

Attempting to teach Alayna how to ride a bike without training wheels. . .

(. . . it didn't work.)

Abby, brushing her teeth.  She's been making attempts at brushing better 'cause she has her second appointment at the end of the month. . . and we may or may not have been using the dentist's fictional stern demeanor as a way of motivating her to spend more time at the sink.

Went in to Alayna's classroom at John Young Elementary for Open House and found a bunch of these things hanging on her teacher's door.  This one's Alayna's (obviously) - I guess on the first day of school she was supposed to write down things that describe her personality.  Not sure why she didn't include words like 'loud-mouthed,' 'diva,' or 'drama-prone.'

Sassy bakers.

Posing before school.  Again.

You don't see many cars like this down here in America's Wang.

Yes, we bought our dog a Lions jersey.  Yes, we know we're 'those people.'  Shut up.

It's rare the local Fox affiliate broadcasts a Lions game, but they were today (probably 'cause we were playing a 'real' team like the Packers). . . so I actually got to watch a football game for once (first time since last Thanksgiving, actually.)  Alayna wanted to watch, too, once I told her it was Michigan's home team playing.  And to top it off, Detroit (surprisingly enough) actually beat Green Bay.

Alayna really wants a Lions shirt now. . .

It's still raining like a motherf***er down here.  And showing NO signs of letting up any time soon. . .

When you ride in Kris' beast of a van, you're guaranteed a stop at Dunkin Donuts.

So I taught Alayna how to play Chess the other day, on a whim.  She asked me if we could play Checkers - as she had learned it at Clubhouse after school awhile ago - and I told her that while we didn't have Checkers, we did have a game called Chess.  Once she saw the pieces, she was intrigued.  Over the course of an hour, we played a game and she not only memorized all the pieces' names and moves, but also picked up a little bit of strategy along the way.  She needed some help organizing her pieces to put me in Checkmate (which ultimately she never did, despite me obviously letting her win the entire time - we ended up in a stalemate), but besides that she did really well.  Abby?  Not so much.  She just wanted to play pretend with the pieces.

And here's some random guy screwing around with Garageband.  There may or may not have been a picture of him in a blog post some months back, I'm not sure.

- Brian

The Hough's 300th Episode: The Last Grandma

Welcome back.

Days after Grandma Jordan flew back to Michigan, the Houghs up and imported yet another grandma - this time, my mom.  Grandma Renee would be staying with us for eight days this time around, sans Papa John, whose business is booming now and consequently he couldn't take the time off.

Here's some randomness from Grandma's latest visit - enjoy:

Tackling some writing and math on the back patio

I had to drive out to the Sanford airport (about an hour drive from our house) when Mom flew in, since she was coming directly from Jeff and Annie's place in Virginia. On the way there and back, I had to drive over a bridge spanning a swamp; in the process I drove - twice - through a cloud of large insects.  Kris' car was disgusting.

. . . so Grandma decided to put the girls to good use and wash the ol' Tactical Family Transport Vehicle.

Shouldn't be too surprising that the front-end required the most attention. . .

I don't have any pictures of it, but my lawnmower blade broke after I hit a tree stump in the backyard.  After taking it in to be replaced by the tool folks at Home Depot (I lacked the equipment to take it off myself), the mower was supposedly fixed.  Unfortunately, the engine was flooded with oil from being tipped up on its side, and after a day of employing starter fluid to start it back up again, the blade the guy installed fell right off.  Now, while we scout around for a place to fix my mower, I'm having to hire a team of lawn dudes to work on my yard.  Best of luck, fellas.

As you can see, I still haven't gotten around to replacing the tops of the workbench yet. . .

We spent a lot of time in the pool this week.  Florida's hotter than Hell, so that shouldn't come as a shock to anyone, I'm sure.

Clothes shopping in the Orlando Premium Outlets

Kris, sporting her typical 'mom' face. . .

As you can see here, Abby is able to consume an entire Wendy's Frosty before Alayna can get to the half-way mark.  That kid loves sugar like nobody's business. . .

At Eagle Park, our kids enjoy throwing bread down to the large snapping turtle (pictured above, measuring about 16 inches in length) and the ducks.  Lately, however, they've been joined by this guy (see above)- who, according to witnesses, is about four and a half feet in length.

As good parents, we let our kids gets as close as possible to the alligator.

Mid- wind-down routine with Grandma. . .

The infamous White Frog, who is routinely spotted throughout the backyard, usually by the pool.

. . . or sometimes in it.

Both our kids love the crap out of Memory. . . probably 'cause they routinely beat the bejesus out of me at it every time we play.  These kids have minds like steel traps. . . that, or I'm an idiot.  Either way.

Another match. . .

Mom was nice enough to let them win a few times.

Painting and scowling.

A trick Mom showed us - giving the kids choices definitely seems to help them eat better.  My kids can be tricked into eating a plate-full of healthy food when they think they're getting away with murder.  Consequently, they eat like this a lot now.

Almost every day of Mom's visit, it rained for a couple hours throughout the afternoon.  When this happened, once the kids woke up from naps, they generally played dress-up, games, whatever.  I had a lot of writing to catch up on, and like having background noise on. . . but the only thing on TV (rather, the one English-speaking channel we get clearly with our rabbit ears), is that George Zimmerman trial.

Haven't seen over-sensationalized legal drama like this since O.J.  Hopefully they wrap it up soon. . . I want my news back.

Candyland.  Which is a disaster every time it is played.

Electronic candlelit dinner, anyone?

Gettin' her nails did.  Again.

During one day's usual afternoon downpour, the kids were in the throws of cabin-feverish tantrums, so Mom and I decided to let them run around the driveway in the rain to burn off some steam. . .

We didn't think they'd take to it as well as they did (Abby had to warm up to it first)

Eventually, the swords came out.  After all. . . they're Houghs.

The duel begins.

Alayna isn't too shabby with a plastic sword, for a five-year-old girl. . .

. . . Abby still needs to work on her defense, though.

The vanquished. 

Breaking out the moves on the Nintendo Wii's Just Dance for Kids.  The Happy Birthday song - a fan favorite around these parts - makes me want to blow my own brains out. . . 

One of the older - and sluttier - songs my kids get into.

Taking in some Disney's Beauty and the Beast after Nap Time, shortly before Mom had to fly out. . .

- Brian