Quick Successions: New Mexico Edition

We had our third Christmas as Kansans. We just stayed close to home this year. Hannah's preschool class made graham cracker houses and I went to help them. I supervised them in the house making and then read with them and then sat with the class while they had snack. One of my ironic realizations has been how much more popular well-liked I am as an adult parent, teacher, and researcher than I ever was as a student. During the break we also paid a visit to our local public library. They have little hideaways for reading of which we took advantage. We walked out with an armload of Curious George books, Barbie books, and I found a biography of Alice Liddell who inspired Alice and Wonderland. Toward the break we had a girls' day and I took Hannah and we both got pedicures. She got the princess package and they did her nails too. I was worried she would not stay still, but she did okay. I don't little girls need to do stuff like that all the time, but this was a Ch...

My parents were able to attend my graduation ceremony on December 10, 2016 and spend a few days with us. It was very cold while we were here, but we had fun.  Hannah looks how I felt when I was done. The rest of December was spent getting ready for the holidays. More on that soon. 

I have done most of my academic conferencing this year by myself, but if you read last week's post, I did bring Hannah to Atlanta and I did bring her to Nashville to the annual meeting of the Literacy Research Association. We drove for almost 10 hours each way. On the way, we stopped at 1 a.m. in Metropolis, Illinois, which has made a name for itself as a place where Superman fans can explore. I didn't get any further than the gas station. Here is me having a wonder woman moment. I think I identified with this most because if you look at the bottom, one of her boots is gone. So there she is in all of her glory -- but not quite.  The next day we were able to a little exploring after sessions. We looked (in vain) for the grave of James K. Polk. We did find several other statues on the state capital premises of people we didn't know about before. And we did find a large holiday tree. After the conference on Friday, we went to Andrew Jackson's home, which he ...

I was only home for a few days this month. I went to Lexington, Kentucky; Charlotte, North Carolina; Chicago, Illinois; Washington DC; Alexandria, Virginia and vicinity; and Atlanta, Georgia. On November 30, I have a conference in Nashville, Tennessee. My purpose in going was to present and conduct research. I never take pictures when I go places, but I did end up with a few. I stayed in an art museum that was also a hotel in Kentucky. I didn't have much time so I saw the art installations on the various floors in about 20 minutes. Here I am about to go and give my presentation. Again, I never take pictures of conferences, but I guess I decided I wanted to see myself as a scholar. We all went to Atlanta. I wanted to go to the house where Margaret Mitchell wrote Gone with the Wind. We managed to get there. Margaret Mitchell Marsh lived in a tiny apartment rather than the whole house. We also went to Coca-Cola World. Here we are waiting for our tour. The bottles ...

The University of Kansas hosted a group of undergraduate students from a university in China. They were here for 8 weeks and I was on the team that hosted them. I was a mentor for their projects and also a teacher. Sometimes I brought Hannah to work with the students when we were talking about language development and self-regulated learning because she is good at both.  They called her Dr. Rice and my group of mentor students was especially sad to leave her. The last picture she is with them in the dorm at KU. I will show her this when she goes off to college if she is scared. I will tell her that she already mastered dorm life. Hannah has also just finished participating in a language study at KU. She goes in and works with a professor and a doctoral student. The purpose of the study is to determine how children respond to difficult words when they encounter them in oral language. Hannah was sad the first time because she said that she got a few of the words wrong....

Hannah really likes to swim. She likes to swim so much in fact, that she jumps in to swimming pools and has to be saved by bystanders and her mother. So I decided to enroll her in swimming lessons and start the long and arduous process of helping her become an authentic swimmer. KU swim team members offered 9 weeks of lessons for $50. So I have been taking her to the pool every morning at 10 a.m. I took pictures, but none of look right because of the water reflections, perhaps. During the 9 weeks she grew out of her swimsuit and we broke out the larger size I had bought on discount at the end of last year's summer season.  The only thing she didn't like about swimming was the cold cold water. I took her in her suit and carried her to the building from the parking lot to keep her warm when the weather turned. Then I dressed her afterward before we left and we would go out to lunch. Usually it was Wendy's or McDonald's. After the last lesson ...

Hannah loves Halloween. One of the reasons it is nice to have her is that her excitement causes me to celebrate. This is such a busy time of year, even without the holiday; it is good to have a reason to stop and have a little fun. The weather was nice too this year. About 80 degrees. The Saturday before All Hallow's Eve, we went to the church Trunk-or-Treat. Hannah wanted to be a vampire this year. I offered to make her a dress, but she wanted a suit and some scary teeth. I did a dress for myself so I could be a Vampire Slayer (See Buffy from the 1990s) and that bumped Brian to Wesley Windham Price, my watcher. I didn't like the background on this picture so I played with the editing functions and got something I think is a little whimsical, but not too creepy. Here is my serious face. Hannah did a better job pulling off scary. She is ready to bite into anyone who won't give her candy. On Halloween, she went to school and they had a parade. She ...