Randoms from the Month of Caesar

Hi America,

Summer's winding down, and no one feels the impending doom that is the coming school year more than I.  While I don't start back until the 18th of August, I generally switch back into 'work mode' as of August 4th - the day after Kris' birthday, if only to prove to myself that I didn't do anything productive throughout the month of July.

Though, as you can see from the pictures below, I did manage to accomplish a few things.

Check it out:

Due to crap-load of circumstances that I won't delve in to at present, I've decided that this will be the last year I teach at my current school.  Over the eight years I've been there, I've accumulated a library of books large enough to facilitate a small town (not joking.)  As such, I felt that it was time to bring all of my books back to the house and start sorting through what I wanted to keep, what I wanted to sell, and what I still needed for work, and what I wanted to donate to charity.  What you see in those boxes above is about half of what I brought back to the house.

My work library is about 1/2 the size of my home library, so when combined, it's enough to make my wife foam at the mouth.  Over the course of two days, I whittled down my personal library by about 20% and my work library down by about 70%.  Now I have mountains of books piled up in the garage waiting to be sold or donated, and Kris finally has room to put stupid stuff like 'statues' and 'picture frames' on some of the bookshelves.  Lame.

Abby loves anything she's not supposed to be playing with.  Especially if it belongs to Kris.

Rosining up the bow.

I have the ugliest palm tree in Florida.  Prove me wrong, America.

Kris plays the Card Cheat

The Houghs make a Rainbow Connection (Zack Smith must be nearby.)

I bought MarioKart 8 for our Wii U a couple weeks ago - Nintendo was running a promotion where if you bought MarioKart during the months of June/July, they'd let you choose a free game download (your choices were Super Mario Bros. U, Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker, Pikmin 3, and WiiU Play - all which retail for about $50.)  This was obviously too good a deal to pass up - two games for the price of one - so I found MarioKart online for $45 (its usually $60) and ordered Pikmin 3 (I already own Wind Waker, and Pikmin has won rave reviews for its graphics and puzzle-based gameplay.)  MarioKart, of course, doesn't disappoint either - the kids (especially Alayna) has really taken a shine to it.

She's not great at it - usually places last - but she's improving, and loves using the Wii U's Gamepad controller.

Kris puts on her 'race face.'

Homework and reading time.  I could lie and say this happens all the time, but we're more of a video game and Netflix sort of family over the summer.

Alayna at her second annual eye appointment. . .

. . . and catching up on some articles in Wired.

Good to see our H.O.A. dues going to good use. . .

The kids were pretty stoked that they had to take turns swinging down at our subdivision's park. . .

Watson Rutherford Hough

Everyone Poops.  A new Hough Family favorite.

Makin' snakes.

(That red thing's a mouse so the snake has something to eat.)

Alayna and some of her gift card plunder from Justice - an overpriced store designed to whip elementary-aged girls into a frenzy.

See the cat with a surfboard shirt? That may be the creepiest shirt I've ever seen, but that's what Alayna picked out.

Watching a movie

Some summer samplers that have accumulated over the last month or so (the Woodchuck's Kris' - give me some credit.)

I brought four or five of my better fake trees home, seeing how I was cleaning out my classroom clutter and everything.  I managed to convince Kris into letting me keep them, but I think the remaining four or five at work may have to go.

- Brian