Periodic Exhibitions from the Month of Caesar

Tropical storms over Ginger Mill

If the title of this one confounds you, dear readers, be aware that the much of July was created by - and named after - Julius Caesar.  His grand-nephew, Caesar Augustus, would later be impressed by this feat, and copy his famous uncle in creating/naming a month in his name (hint: it's not February).

Fun facts.  As an Ancient History teacher, I'm frickin' full of 'em.

Having said that, I figured I'd post some pictures from the last two weeks.  We haven't really done all that much, actually.  June was pretty chaotic - with visits from Marcy/Grandma Jordan, Mom/Grandma, Alayna's graduation and birthday party, a trip to St. Augustine, and multiple professional development workshops (from which Yours Truly pocketed an easy $1000) - but, so far, July's been pretty dull.

Thank.  God.

Nay, instead of the hectic-ness, July's been full of pool-lounging, tanning, and side-projects.  Here's a little of what's been going on for the Houghs these last couple of weeks - enjoy:

I recently purchased some dumbbells and a weight bench off of Amazon (as always, I did hours upon hours of research to make sure I was getting one of the highest-rated and most popular models for both).  I've been using these religiously over the last couple weeks, and its been awesome.  As you may know, I loathe exercise in general (I only run when I'm being chased by something), but strength training via free weights allows me to throw in a DVD and work out without realizing I'm working out.  That's the way to do it, folks.

Putting together the weight bench, having some wine, and watching The Muppet Show.  That's how I roll.

I'll spare you the tedious tasking of counting - there are 24 candles on this 'cake.'

My roommates picked out this bitchin' hat and balloon for me.  As you can see, I'm pretty happy about it.

Fortunately, I was able to blow out all 24 candles in one burst of man-breath.  

The kids were after my pie.  I'm not down with that.

Lately our neighborhood - specifically our house - has seen a lot more hawks hanging around.  They're constantly hanging out along our fence, watching us swim and looking terrifying as shit.  Here, atop the streetlight that stands in front of our house, a sparrow is about to square off against the hawk. . . which is really, really stupid.

Another day wasted away playing around in the pool, under the sun

A butterfly makes a pass at our Lemon Tree.

The other day I looked up at the door of my Study and saw the dried remains of a f***ing FROG stuck up at the top.  Now, I was inside my Study at the time, meaning I had opened the door to enter the room and the frog had not fallen down from the top of the door. . . which means that rigor mortis must've set in and this guy dried up in the same position he was in when he died. 

So yeah. . . Ol' Crunchy must've gotten in when we had the door to the garage open on the Fourth of July (Kris and I kept the door open so we could listen for the kids while we watched fireworks in the driveway).  This means he was up at the top of the door for over a week before I finally saw him.  Which, obviously, is really, really disgusting.

During a bad lightning storm at the end of June, our router was fried.  Fortunately, it was within the warranty, so NETGEAR was good enough to replace it for us.  While we waited for a replacement, we had zero Wi-Fi in the house. . . which, although a relatively minor inconvenience, forced me to use the local Library for a few days to work on some of my editing work (I didn't want to sit on the living room floor by the entertainment center to use the Internet, as the only way to get online was to connect directly via ethernet cable.)  I'm a huge fan of the Library, though, so I didn't mind - its got lightning-fast Wi-Fi, and there's zero distractions.

Later in the week, while picking up Abby from her classroom, Alayna's class - in a patriotic parade through the other classrooms of the school - marched through sinking Yankee Doodle.  Up yours, Great Britain!

Like almost every afternoon during a Florida summer, a nasty storm comes rolling in. . . this one bigger than most, though.

Our kids are huge fans of thunderstorms. . . until they start.

Getting free Slurpees at 7-11 on July 11th.

Every Tuesday, the local cinema offers a free kids movie at 10am.   I recently decided to roll the dice and brave taking the offspring.

The movie in question, F.Y.I., was f***ing horrible.

One of Alayna's friends and classmates, Kayla, happened to be there with her grandfather, so we all sat together so the two five-year-olds could talk incessantly about whatever-the-hell five-year-olds talk about.

Keeping the younger, more impatient one occupied while we wait for the movie to start. . .

Striking a pose, after the movie

The bar's become heavily stocked over the last couple of months.  I'm a huge fan of this.

Abby at the Doctor's for a routine check-up (she was actually the better-behaved of the two, if you can believe that.)

More to come.  Stay tuned.

- 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