Traveling for Homeschoolers

Okay, so I'm a little bitter that I (Nathan) wasn't homeschooled, considering that my own mother is a homeschooling specialist. But I can vouch for her that she knows what she's talking about when she writes about "The Nuts and Bolts of Homeschooling and Travel" in MAP Magazine.

The Boy Is Mobile

Just shy of his first birthday, the Z-man is ambulatory. In celebration of the 4th of July he began crawling. Just as we were warned, this now means having to worry constantly about what he is going to get into. For instance, he has started incorporating dustbunnies into his daily diet.

It's amazing how fast it all changes. Z is also standing up in his crib, kneeling, and doing yoga moves reserved only for the most devoted athletes.

Scholarly News

We have very good news! Nathan had his boards about a week ago, and he was successfully upgraded to a full Ph.D. candidate. According to the system here, all Ph.D. students are technically considered masters students their first year. During that first year they are expected to produce a significant piece of writing, upon which basis they will then be upgraded for years two and three. Here at the University of Edinburgh, the upgrade process includes an oral defense in front of a board. Nathan wrote one of the chapters of his dissertation (here, thesis), and defended that before his board on June 17. I'm sure he'll have more information to post later, but the imporant news is that he was successfully upgraded. Yay!

Another piece of good news is that Nathan has just received word that he's going to have a full length article published in an academic journal called Literature and Theology. The issue goes to press this month, and will be out soon thereafter!

Case against Planned Parenthood

The Kansas Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case against Planned Parenthood yesterday (June 12). Anyone who is interested in the status of abortion issues in America at the moment, or anyone who is interested in how a state supreme court hears arguments, will be very interested in listening to the oral arguments here. This link will take you to my sister-in-law's blog (my brother, her husband, is the attorney for Phil Kline), and you can follow a link there to listen to the entire argument. It is extremely interesting, so I'd encourage you to have a listen. (For background to the oral argument, follow the links in our May 30 post).

Parental Visit

Taking a walk.

Dad the vandal.

Mom and Dad at the Royal Botanical Gardens.

Waiting for the bus.

Z's first taste of lemon, courtesy of Yaya.

Z's funny face.

Fun times in the pool.

Future botanist in the Botanics.

Future botanist eating his subject.

Daddy and Z.

Planned Parenthood in Kansas

There is a large and extremely important case being argued before the Kansas Supreme Court this month. It's complicated, but what it comes down to is that Planned Parenthood has been performing illegal abortions in Kansas, doctoring the evidence, and suing the state attorney general when he started investigating them. For an overview of the case and all the relevant information, please check it out here and here. This is an incredibly important moment in the fight against abortion -- please read the articles and remember to pray about it. Please also pass these links on to others so that the light of truth can be brought to bear on the Kansas governor and Kansas courts.

How do you use this . . . ah . . . beek?