8:30 p.m. on a Monday evening and I am walking around my house.  The sun is barely resting over Cacapon Mountain.  Actually, it is not even dark yet outside.  As I come down the steps from tucking in everyone, I can even hear Dan snoring in the bedroom.  You won’t believe this!  All the Hott’s are asleep – even Isaac! To what, you may ask, do I owe this unnatural course of events?  When normally, we fight bedtime tooth and nail, how is it that a 7, 8, and 12 year old v.o.l.u.n.t.a.i.r.l.y went to bed E.A.R.L.Y!  On normal school nights here at the Hott House, we are lucky to be finishing the nightly routine of baths, jammies, brushing teeth, and reading by 9:00 p.m.  And if American Idol is on, well…. let me tell you this, it can even be later! So, here’s the deal.  It is called public schools’ Standardized Testing!   Yes, this week, all across the state of West Virginia, students in grades three through eleven are undergoing the statewide WESTEST 2, or the West Virginia … [Read more...]