I feel so... Suzy Homemaker

I am now learning to sew on my machine.
I'm knitting for the winter.
I'm contemplating switching to cloth diapers.
I have a freezer full of food, including several meals worth of Tomato Basil Soup I made with the last of the fresh basil from a friend's garden.

Another shopping tip

Oldnavy.com has some great prices, but icky shipping rates. I saw a nice fleece for Kate (that matches a hat and mittens she already has) for $8.49. Guess how much they were going to charge me to ship it? $6! So, I went to my local Old Navy, which didn't have it, but they placed the online order for me from the store. When you do that, the shipping is free (and it still comes right to your doorstep).

Argh

So, what's up with reformed people thinking John 6 is not about communion? What sort of Zwinglian crack are they smoking?

*help* Feminine Modesty Tapes

It's been a long time since I listened to Doug Wilson's Feminine Modesty series (and when I did, it wasn't as carefully as I should have.) Can someone tell me how specific his recommendations get? I am making modesty-related recommendations to my dear friend, who happens to be a campus minister's wife. She's trying to collect resources for the collegiate girls they work with. Any help would be appreciated!

M.I.A.

So, I think my wife is going to slowly take over this blog. Well, I think she has done it, but I really didn't fight. I've been so terribly busy over the past few months. Things are going really well at work. On November 4th, I'm speaking at Open House on the topic of "Why Latin?", then on November 8th, I have to send the board members of our school a short polemic on why 3rd/4th grade latin should be taught by a dedicated Latin teacher (this isn't too hard) and why we should begin teaching greek along with latin beginning at 3rd grade. This is going to be a difficult sell because of practical issues that affect education; however, the board is open to the suggestion and I have many allies at school, in the administration, and on the curriculum committees.

I'm actually tremendously excited about my job. In addition to my upcoming deadlines (and teaching!), I'm planning out the latin (and soon, greek) curriculum for the grammar school and beginning to plan out potential classes for the upper school in years to come. If we adopt Greek and Latin instruction beginning at 3rd grade and continuing through 12th, the possibility for classes in the upper school are endless. Imagine what your NT class could become with students who are more than comfortable working in the greek NT; Ancient History/Lit when you can actually read the primary sources (instead of translations of primary sources). I've been thinking about teaching an introductory elective on Indo-European, courses on Linear B. Phew, I get excited just writing about it.

Kate is also growing right before our eyes. It is amazing to hold her and then look at a picture of when she was just born. The comparison is extraordinary. She's becoming such a big girl, yet she's still my little girl. Her ability to recognize faces and voices, her tendency to smile and laugh with daddy warms my heart.

Okay, now back to my wife's regular posting.

Smart. Real Smart.

And no one even bid on the auction.

All Things Kate

After reading Operating Instructions by Anne Lamott, I decided I really needed to record some of the day to day fun of being Kate's mom. Well, I am awful at pen and paper journalling after four (!) years of blogging. I'd also been struggling with how much Kate to include on This Classical Life.

The easy solution -- a new blog. All Kate, all the time. There will occasionally be cross posts with this blog as well. You can find it at All Things Kate.

Why I Still Read Bunnie

Even though she's a crazy confessional LCMS person who would refuse to serve me communion, I still love Bunnie's blog for posts like this:

Competing kid polls came out today. Scholastic, which publishes children's reading material, ran a poll for kids that declared Bush the winner. Nickelodeon, which reruns episodes of Full House, administered a poll showing Kerry the winner.

So children who read pick Bush and children who watch Who's the Boss pick Kerry.

Update on Kate

Well, she's been sleeping upright and has been doing well ever since. Back to the old 7 hour, eat, 4 hour nights. We were at my parents this weekend and Kate started crying as she has been and my mom commented, "she is definitely in some kind of pain." So I am glad that I recognized that and did not just shrug it off as boredom or some sort of baby disobedience. My new favorite likely culprit is teething. She's not really spitting up, so I doubt its reflux. It was my first guess because I have it, and sleeping upright helps it. However, I think sleeping upright would also help alleviate the pain of teething. I don't know. What I do know is, my baby is happy again!

Photo Updates

I added a few more pictures to the September album and started an October one. Access them here. Now that we have a faster internet connection, I'll probably upload them a few times a week.

Have you seen it?

Charles Krauthammer's column in today's Washington Post is a must-read.

15 seconds of fame.

Mike was quoted in World Magazine a few weeks ago and we almost missed it! Mike talked to John Dawson about Dr. White last December, and we have never looked out for the article. I randomly happened upon it reading back issues of World online. We wish we subscribed, but it's a bit too pricey for us.