Happy birthday Papa

My dad was here for a few days last week, and we celebrated his birthday with cake and barbecue. His actual birthday is today, though, so hopefully he got more cake and more barbecue today. We celebrated with a pool party in his absence. OK, so technically the pool party was Pete’s birthday party. But still. I’m so very happy Dad was born. Happy birthday, dad!

I am the Jon Snow of reminiscing about our week

I’ve felt like I’ve fallen into a time warp all week. And not the good kind, with fish fingers and custard and a quirky, handsome guide to the universe. It’s more like the kind where you accidentally start a war with a small landlocked country or get eaten by a baby pterodactyl. I’m having a hard time recovering from Disney World / Halloween / having guests / the World Series, is what I’m saying.

(I know none of those are even remotely terrible things, but my brain is fried nonetheless.)

So while I know the kids have accomplished some school-related work this week, I couldn’t begin to itemize what they did. Here is a bit of what we did this week:


Reading

We are all beginning to understand that “Little Women” is the longest book in the history of literature.

Math

Poppy is supposed to have a math test today, but she really needs to have a solid day or two of review before the test. And we have definitely not had a solid day or two of review, so the math test will be postponed until next week.

History

We returned to post-Revolution France this week, and the kids seem to have paid attention to the information. Today we’ll be doing a little map work and playing a card game in which the rules keep changing. After Anne asked about it, the folks at Peace Hill Press said it would be OK if I shared the rules with you. Here’s how you play!

CHANGING RULES

from “Story of the World: Volume 4”

Materials:
– a deck of playing cards
– a score sheet with space for 6 rounds (Republic #1, Empire #1, Kingdom #1, Republic #2, Empire #2, Kingdom #2) and a total
– at least two people to play

Keeping track of points:

  • During the Republic phases, all cards with numbers are worth their face value. A 6, for example, is worth 6 points. Face cards and aces are worth 1 point each.
  • During the Empire phases, an Ace is worth 20 points. A King is worth minus 10 points, a Queen is worth minus 8 points, and a Jack is worth minus 10 points. No other cards are worth anything.
  • During the Kingdom phase, a King is worth 10 points, a Queen is worth 8 points, and a Jack is worth 6 points. An ace is worth minus 10 points, and other cards are worth nothing.

    Playing instructions:

  • Shuffle the deck.
  • The dealer deals 4 cards to each player. Everyone can look at his or her own cards.
  • The remaining cards are placed face-down in a draw pile.
  • The player to the left of the dealer discards a card from his hand and places it face-down next to the draw pile, then picks up a card from the draw pile.
  • Play continues around the circle. You should never have more than four cards in your hand at once.
  • Once each player has discarded and drawn four times, count up the points in everyone’s hand. Write you point total on the score sheet, then start the next round with the cards in your hand left over from the previous round.
  • At the end of the game, the player with the most points wins.
    Extracurricular

    Poppy only made it to two of the four tae kwon do classes this week, and she only had two of her three usual soccer practices. Pete did make it to both of his TKD classes, but the Monday one was a special-edition Halloween class where they just played games. He’s been working pretty hard rehearsing for his guitar recital this weekend, too.


    How was your week?

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  • The greatest, most stressful #OneDayHH of all time

    This was my third year (2014, 2015) participating in Laura Tremaine’s One Day thing on instagram. I’m writing this at 1am, right after the Cubs won the World Series — the Cubs! They won the World Series! — and I am so tired and emotional that I can hardly string a thought together. Rockford has been a Cubs fan for more than 30 years. This was a big, stressful, amazing day.

    8:06am | Breakfast

    9:37am | Chess class

    10:21am | Go Cubs Go

    10:58am | A Quiet Moment

    11:48am | Hometown Tourism

    1:07pm | A Quick Bite

    Lunch of champions. #tacodilesupreme #crunchytacobesttaco #OneDayHH

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    2:05pm | Back to Work

    3:15pm | A Very Exclusive Concert

    4pm | Leg Day

    6:23pm | Game Face

    We are ready. #OneDayHH #gocubsgo

    A photo posted by Nichole (@nicholebutterscotch) on

    7:20pm | Birthday Dinner x3

    Pulled pork, Brussels sprouts, creamed corn and hush puppies. #3bdaydinner #onedayhh

    A photo posted by Nichole (@nicholebutterscotch) on

    8:07pm | It Begins

    This'll be the rest of my evening. #onedayhh #gocubsgo #therewillbetearseitherway

    A photo posted by Nichole (@nicholebutterscotch) on

    10pm | Cake Break

    11:40pm | I Literally Cannot Even

    This is unbearable. #onedayhh

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    12:40am | One Out Left

    #onedayhh #cubs I don't have any words left

    A photo posted by Nichole (@nicholebutterscotch) on

    12:48am | World Series Champions

    Aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh #onedayhh

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