Six...(Part I)

The Eighth Year of the Millenium:
Part I 

First through Sixth Month

First Month
Hickory continues to burn the midnight oil for the Warlords he has fallen into the service of.  This is exhausting and he begins seeking a way out of the pit of despair. 

In the meantime Dash gave us an exciting time by being rushed to the pediatric ER and kept overnight, he was placed on formula with more dietary changes are on his horizon, for now we have to wait until after we meet up with the Pediatric G.I.

The hospital stay didn't phase Dash any though

He thought his first snow was amazing, Withawick (Wicky) was much less enthused.

With Lord Hickory gone, the nights are long and Hummingbyrd and Dash get creative.

With his new diet in place we celebrate his first birthday with Guthron C-Era 2.0.


Second Month



 The Canines have taken up teaching Dash to walk, he is all about learning to climb and walk.

Wicky is unsure of the wisdom in teaching the small minion to walk and run.

Our meeting with the Pediatric G.I. finally comes about, nothing quite like scoping a 1yr old from head to toe.

"Happy Juice" (the pre-op meds they give to help kids relax for the procedure) is lots of fun "if" your child is not prone to hallucinations of the nightmare variety.  Dash is luckily not prone to nightmares.
 Houston...we have a problem.  Or at least a climber. Oh and take note of the painting behind the tote...it will come up again later.  I am not sure if I ever took an intentional photo of it this early on.

Third Month

Time for our next major house remodel.  Our water heater was attacked by a Rust Monster and died a most dramatic death.  First step?  Remove the dead bodies and clean out the place of their demise.

So how does one remove glued tiles from a cement sub-floor you ask?  SCIENCE!

Dry Ice is great for this, assuming you can get a hold of it.  Our neighbor's kids had never seen or interacted with Dry Ice...this was a fun experiment time for all involved. (Proper safety gear required)
Mwahahahahahahahaaaaa!  Cauldron Bubble,,,okay back to work.

Sticky glue residue?  Nothing a little Orange cleaner won't remove.  Tape off the leveled painting area.  Keeping that line nice and clean is something Hickory is good at...right?

Shut up.  You tape, I'm going to prime.

Okay, time to paint, all together now, Hummingbyrd has Duel Wield Paint Roller proficiency.

Once the pain is up, time to begin laying out and cutting the tiles in preparation for the next step.

Time to actually cement them down, keeping the spacing.

Dash is a willing and able cheerleader, almost done, let it cure and then...


Grout!  What? Not white grout you say?  Pshaw...this is a LAUNDRY room, no way are we putting something to highlight the stains in there, slate gray grout is better, Much better.

After the grout cures and is dry, time to seal the tile and grout in.  This makes it shiny too.

We put in accent trim to transition between the two tile types, Ta-da! All done with the floor.

Time to introduce the new water heater to its new home.  Here ya go little guy.



Dash is leveling up, using the potty, walking, and such.


So since sealing tile is so much fun, Hummingbyrd opted to seal the rest of the house too.


Just some randomness that occurred this month and some Papa and son time.

Fourth Month
Hummingbyrd ran away with the Warren Ladies to the beach for some much needed girl time.

While the Lady of the house was out, the boys had some time to just hang out being men.

Papa...um where did you put Mama?  Look I found her!

Fifth Month

Enjoying outdoor concerts, making quillows for cousins, and just being before our new party member arrives next month.

To the Zoo it is.

Sixth Month
This month began with a great feast honoring another brave hero who had finally completed his contract to the Warlords of the Peach Kingdom and had garnered his due freedom.  We decorated his chariot in commemoration.


Our Bard the Oneironaut performed well, as did the others.




Various people wrote messages in their various tongues.



Soon after the celebration, Hickory was sent on a quest to a nearby Kingdom, whilst he was there our foretold new party member announced his imminent arrival, arrangements were made post-haste to bring Hickory back to meet this new minion.



He made it back just in time and welcomed our second son/minion, Grins, to the party.




Dash and some close friends welcomes his first underling.



The day after release from the confines of the hospital we headed to a pool party.  We're nuts.




Then Lord Hickory had to return to that quest he had been on in the other kingdom so family came to visit Dash and Grins while Hickory was away.








Lots of photos were taken to document Grins integration into the party for Hickory's review later.


As were rituals like first time having all his natural oils and essences cleansed from his body.

Hickory's return was very much anticipated and so gladly received at the end of the month by Dash.

And thus ended the first half of the Eighth Year...onward we go.