Halloween Fun

I enjoy pretty much any holiday when I get to dress up the girls. Halloween is obviously the greatest of these opportunities. Too bad they don't enjoy it as much as I do. We did a quick photo session this afternoon, so that they could have a break before having to wear their costumes for a longer period tonight for all of the kids trick-or-treating.

Lea doesn't seem to mind too terribly wearing her costume, though the headpiece she clearly did not love. And, Lea is surprisingly accommodating when posing for pictures. Her favorite part of the experience was stealing the pieces to various costumes and taking them to her crate (Delia's antennae and Winston's bandana).

Delia is another story. She despises the act of putting on the costume, then seems completely embarrassed by the whole situation. It was a struggle to get her to lift her head for the pictures. But, I managed to get a few good ones :)





Now, of course I tried to get baby Winston involved in Halloween festivities as well. However, despite his massive size he is terrified of many many things. I managed to get the bandana on him, but the cowboy hat proved to be too much for him to handle.

Seriously...

Here is an answer submitted by one of my students on his first exam. Enjoy :) Question: Explain the factors surrounding the English Reformation. How was it more political than religious? How was Henry VIII and his wives involved in this "Reformation"? Which of his wives do you feel most sympathetic with? Why?
Student Response:	FIRST OF NETHERE OF HIS WIVES GET SYMPATHE FROM ME HE WAS THE KING HE SHOULD HAVE FOUND A WAY TO KEEP OM BOUTH AND ITS A STUPID REASO TO SHACK UP AN WHOE COUNTRY CAUSE A MAN CANT'T DECIDED WHAT WOMENHE WANTS ANNE BOLEYN MUSTA BEEN BEAUTIUL

Shower in Winston-Salem

Over the weekend we were blessed with another great baby shower, this time hosted and attended by Daniel's family and friends. We have both been overwhelmed by the generosity of those who love us and are eagerly anticipating the arrival of baby Carver.

Daniel's aunts hosted this shower for us and put a lot of effort into making it really special for us. I still find it a little awkward to sit in front of people, all eyes on me, and open gifts-- but it is certainly worth the discomfort! Each shower puts us that much closer to being prepared for Carver's arrival-- and that is very necessary with only 9 more weeks to go!

I even succeeded in coercing Daniel and Michael into coming!
The weekend was quick but a nice chance to visit with Daniel's family as well as some members of mine. Courtney, Julia, and Michael made the 7-hour trek to Winston just to see us and it was fabulous to have them there. They seemed particularly excited to see the girls and baby Winston, and who can blame them for that?







Daniel and I have also been making great progress in the nursery. The crib is up (thanks to Daniel's parents for that gift!), and the walls are painted, the new light fixture is hanging, and the decorations are coming along (thanks to my mom and dad!). Daniel worked on a project over the weekend for the nursery and pictures of that will come later :) All in all, we still have a ton to do, but just seeing the progress is very encouraging.

Now if only the next nine weeks will progress quickly. I've already told Carver that it is OK if he wants to come a couple of weeks early, no complaints here! I'm sure he is excited to meet all his new family so maybe he will make his debut before Christmas, since EVERYONE will be here, eagerly awaiting his arrival.

Classes Begin

Each semester I begin teaching my classes with feelings of extreme trepidation. I'm not sure if it is a community-college problem, or a generational problem, or something else entirely, but students these days say and do the most unfathomable things. Seriously. I am continually amazed, horrified and astounded by these things. Sometimes it makes me laugh, other times I want to weep or pound my head against a wall in frustration. Classes began 5 days ago, here is a short list of things that have happened so far....

* When asked what time period or place in history that they are most interested in, one students wrote: "I love the 1930s because of the Salem Witch Trials." Really? What Salem Witch Trials is she talking about? The only ones I know of occurred in the 1690s. Well done.

* One student when writing about the witch craze in Europe repeatedly stated that certain things were not "except able."

* Another student sent me an email stating that "[she] must insist" that she be given a full week to turn in her assignment instead of the 5 days given. Well, I must insist that she accept she has entered my world now and in my world she is at the level of plebian at best. Making demands will get you nowhere my friend. You have officially been shortlisted to those that I will likely never go out of my way to accommodate. Congratulations, 5 days down, 7 weeks to go.

* And finally, a student completely plagiarized his first assignment by cutting and pasting a portion from a website into a Word Document and submitting it as his own words. How did I know? He wrote, "Strict definitions of gender roles involving acceptable social standards for women, coupled with long held notions of female susceptibility to temptation led to the craze. Although witchcraft had been identified as an evil long before this time, the religious conflicts caused by the Reformation in some ways redefined the relationship between the sacred and the profane." Nice try.
(Disclaimer: original author is Michael Streich, "The Witch Craze in Sixteenth Century Europe").

Stay tuned for more from my bizarre world of teaching college students.