Hackin' Up Some Vegetables

How's it goin', Cyberspace - ready to get messy?

Damn straight you are.

Pumpkin carving has got to be one of the most tedious family traditions in existence, folks.  I mean, I like the actual carving part of the whole jack-o-lantern process - it's super fun - but the gutting and cleaning of the pumpkin itself is just. . . God, it's so tedious.  I hate it.  It's right up there with the packing of Easter Eggs with jelly beans, or shaping the Christmas Tree before you hang up the ornaments, or getting in shape for the St. Patrick's Day 5K. . .

Alayna researches pumpkin designs on Kris' phone. . .

You get where I'm going with this.

Anyway, like I may or may not have mentioned before, Kris bought our pumpkins this year from Aldi, and had them sitting out in front of our house on some hay bales as part of her exterior 'fall' display for the last month or so.

As it got closer to Halloween, we brought the pumpkins inside and the girls each picked out their pumpkins from the four we had on hand.  I chose one that was leaning over on it's side - you'll see why in a bit - and Kris took the last one.  From beginning to end the whole ordeal took about an hour and a half, which wasn't too bad at all.

I think they turned out pretty decent this year - check it out:

(Abby designed her own pumpkin this year.)

Don't let the smile fool you, folks:  Abby probably hates this gutting process more than I do.

This one doesn't care so much.

You see where I'm goin' with this?

The Cannonball decided to go with a Harry Potter design she found on Google (she's a big HP fan.)

Kris goes to work.

I think this turned out pretty well, if I must say so myself.

From Left to Right:  Abby's, Kris', Alayna's, and Mine.

- Brian

...and All the Rest of October

Welcome back, America.

Time again for an all-encompassing, month-end wrap-up of all things Hough.  I'll skip the intro and just let the pictures speak for themselves.  We got Halloween bullshit to prep for around here, people.

Check it out. . .

With Watson being born and raised in Florida - and being a short-haired Dachshund mix with little to no fur to speak of - we were advised by a few different Orlando vets to invest in a series of jackets and coats for the poor bastard once we moved up to Michigan.  We're still narrowing down choices for possible coats for when winter really hits, but, in the meantime, with the fall temperatures cooling down, we wanted to get him something.  This hoodie was Amazon's top-selling, highest rated dog sweatshirt, and Watson loves it.

Crazy Hair Day at the girls' school.  I played no part in this whatsoever (aside from picture-taking, of course.)

Suited up with purses and ready to shop.

The girls requested a 'posed' picture.  I guess this sort of pose is considered 'funny'. . .?

Before taking them out to spend their allowance, we swung by the Member's First Credit Union in order to open up a savings account for the Cannonball.  Since she's getting older now, we're having her split up her weekly allowance into three categories - spending, saving, and charity.  She's saving up her charity funds for a $55 World Wildlife Fund 'Adoption Kit' (she wants to save the Amur Leopard), and had about $25 with which to open a savings account.

Opening the savings account.  She's wanting to save up for her very own Limo.  Seriously.

While letting the girls shop at various toy stores throughout Midland, we swung by School Days. . . in a very transparent effort to get them to spend their money on something educational (pretty sure they saw right through that.)  They had a lot of Playmobil there, though - might be something we look into this Christmas.

After School Days, we swung by K-Mart.  The girls were quick to snatch up a great series of random things that caught their attention.  Abby ended up with - surprise, surprise - a plush Star Wars toy.  She asked for a picture in front of a super-premature Christmas display.

Abby picked out her plush stormtrooper - and Alayna bought a pair of Minions slippers - but they still wanted to run around and pick out stuff for their Christmas lists. . . such as this stuffed bear (which she will NOT be getting - we have too many damned stuffed animals in our house as it is.)

At the park behind our house. . . enjoying the warm weather while it lasts.

Alayna apparently never figured out the whole 'slide' thing. . .

Alayna and a ladybug - the one insect that doesn't make her pee herself in sheer terror. . .

Alayna demanded I take a picture of this 'baby ladybug' for her.  She really wanted to keep it as a pet.

Walking home, observing how leaf-y our yard has gotten over the last couple of weeks.

Here's some fall-ish pics of our neighborhood. . . 

We picked Operation for the girls for Christmas this year.  They have newer versions out, but I looked around and found the original, old-school version of this classic game.  Mint in box, and only cost me $10.  BOOYA.

One of the girls' combo gifts this year was the new version of Disney Infinity (3.0) for our Wii U.  This version features all the Star Wars characters and adventure playsets for the game system, along with some newer Disney franchises (like Inside Out, other canonical characters, etc.)  We picked up the Luke/Leia figures, 'Rise of the Empire' set and Darth Vader figure for Abby (who plays Infinity more than her sister), and Sadness (from Inside Out) for Alayna.  I picked up Han Solo early so that I could play the game and unlock all of the add-ons, bonus features, and special content before they open the game Christmas morning.  'Cause that's how awesome dads roll, folks.

Changing seasons evident near the girls' school.

Some pumpkins from Jack's (here in Michigan, you can actually buy them a few weeks in advance and they won't rot. . . unlike in Florida, where you carve them the day before Halloween and they're already moldy before you get trick-or-treaters.)

I don't mind the leaves in the back yard so much - if anything, they pad Watson's feet from all those frickin' rocks where he goes to the bathroom.

Kris and the girls harvest some pumpkin guts for future use (. . . that we never ended up using.  It found its way into the garbage after hanging out in our freezer/fridge for a couple weeks.)

Kris and the girls enjoy taking selfies. . . and I enjoy watching them a series of weird faces all huddled around an iPhone.

Finally got around to hanging up the bikes for the winter.  'Cause I'm awesome.

Abby demanded her picture taken with yet another Star Wars cereal box. . . this time featuring Yoda.

I'm funned out with this.

Our neighbor, Tim, taking a bunch of the neighborhood kids around the block in his homemade 'train.'  I was taking Watson around the block, and that dog was definitely losing his shit over this. . .

(We never caught up with them, regardless of how hard Watson tried.)

We don't have many leaves left on our trees. . . thank God.

The same area by the girls' school as before, a couple weeks later.  

We got a Target Toy Catalog in the mail one day, and so we let the girls go through it and circle all the crap they wanted this year for Christmas (color-coded, of course, so we could figure it out later.)  Abby circled nearly every, single Star Wars thing she came across.

Picking out Disney Infinity figures

Alayna wants some weird toy called 'Shopkins' this year more than anything.  It's a stupid, stupid toy, but we have little choice in the matter - it's what she's into, and I'm not about to break her heart on Christmas morning.

This is the reaction you want when your kids listen to Led Zeppelin on vinyl.  This is right at that moment in 'Dazed and Confused' where Page and Bonham come back in hard after that long, spaced-out middle part of the song.  I've had the exact same reaction a time or forty while listening to this jam.

One day after school I found myself babysitting a few of the neighborhood kids.  After dealing with running around, screaming kids for awhile, I hooked up MarioKart on my old Nintendo 64 and let them loose.  Just like being at a JLFP band practice in my parents' basement back in the day.

. . .  good to see kids still appreciate the classics.

Found this vinyl treasure at the Salvation Army on Saginaw Rd. . . for 99 cents.  BOOYA.

- Brian