June in the House of Weird

Earning Paper.

Hi players.

We haven't done much since Grandma Jordan's departure.  Just the standard Summer usual.  Kris takes the girls in to work with her in the morning, and I pick them up after nap time (approx. 3:30 - 4pm).  I've been spending my days picking up professional development stipends, to the tune of about $1000 over the last six days. . . which I'm totally cool with.

"Hey, teacher - sit here with a laptop, take notes, and we'll pay you your $30 an hour pay rate."

Sounds good to me.

 My last workshop - which more or less had me rewriting the FDOE research tests to align with the new Common Core standards (just as difficult - and fun! - as it sounds) - wrapped up a couple days ago, so this weekend I tried to hack away at some of the summer side projects I've been putting off for months (cleaning and organizing crap around the house, cataloging vinyl records, cleaning/treating swords, making music-snob-level playlists in iTunes, slaving away in the yard, and, of course, working on my man-tan).

Here's a look at a week in the life of all things Hough - enjoy:

A few pics from Grandma Jordan's recent visit, that really should've gone in the other post. . . please excuse my negligence.)

Another stop at Menchie's Frozen Yogurt in the Loop

. . . and now at McDonald's (yes, we're real health nuts.)

According to Alayna - who would have NO reason to lie - Abby wrote this.  We had our doubts.

Princess Dance Party, feat. Rapunzel and Belle.

Not so princessly. . .

Alayna gets jumped.

Abby moves in to snap the neck. . .

Summoning Ragnarok

Opening her present from Papa and Nana, via Skype. . .

This is a Makala Pink Dolphin Soprano Uke (an entry level Kala).  I refit it with Aquila Nylgut Strings - the best uke strings on the market - prior to her opening this - it improves the sound quality one hundred-fold.  When all's said and done, you have a $40 uke that sounds like a $100 instrument.  Plus it's pink. . . so, you know, it's a big deal.

She already knows how to play a few one-finger chords (Am, C, C7, etc.). . . but I'm going to try and get her into some two-finger chords (A, F, etc.) by the end of summer.  We'll see how that works.

Needless to say, she was pretty happy with Papa and Nana's present.

Technical Birthday Cupcakes, for her class.

Vultures. . .

I'm fairly convinced our offspring can smell frosting from  the other side of the house.

Kris tried her hand and baking cupcake cones, figuring the kids would enjoy them. . .

Abby ate the frosting.  That's about it.

Same story here.

Questionable coloring books.

Guilty.

Killing time at the Loop with Abby. . .

Keeping this kid out of a fountain was a pain in the ass. . .

. . . especially once she saw that there were coins at the bottom.

Abby found some flowers by the fountain, and was adamant about bringing them back with us . . .

Abby's flowers (she demanded I put them in water once we got back to the house - they died shortly after this picture was taken, obviously, but by then she had already forgotten them).

Enjoying some cupcake (frosting) after church. . .

While the girls were in Sunday School, and Kris in the Service, I decided to donate blood to the Little Red Bus.  Took a half hour for them to drain a gallon or whatever from my arm, but hey. . . it beats sitting through church.

War wound.

Working on daily schoolwork, something I want to try and stay on top of throughout the summer.  Nothing too crazy - she writes her name and date, I have her come up with a sentence and write it out phonetically, and she writes the whole alphabet (upper and lower case, in order to work on penmanship.)  

Then we do some basic addition and subtraction.  We incorporate a gradual release model, where I'll write the numbers out, and she'll solve using manipulatives.  Then she'll write out the numbers and solve the equations herself.

We don't always get through the whole lesson (her attention span is about as bad as mine), but something's better than nothing - I want her as close to the top of her class as possible when she starts Kindergarten in August.

Why wouldn't this go on the Kitchen floor?

- Brian