Over a month ago we started seeing pumpkins galore being sold. We've never seen anything like that in Texas!  In San Antonio, I used to either buy our pumpkin the last week of October or buy it early and store it in the refrigerator. It is so warm in Texas, the pumpkins go bad quickly. Last year we managed to grow a pumpkin in our garden, which I needed to harvest when we returned home from our Virginia vacation in mid August. That was stored in the refrigerator for the end of October and barely made it. This year I hesitated to buy a pumpkin early.  How do they fare in Virginia?  I let the kids each choose one and had them set them on the front porch.  They survived! Now what to do with them? 

     We don't do Halloween. We have no interest in Halloween costumes. No interest in trick or treating. No interest in fall festivals. However the kids do want to do something quietly at home.  I thought I'd put the kids to work to hollow out one of the pumpkins so I could bake a beef stew in it. Then I had also planned to make a pumpkin cheesecake.  The other pumpkin they could carve and we could watch a movie.

     Well, I was gone from the house most of the day, trying to find things for our Year 4 Unit 1 costumes and for a warmer Lafayette costume for my son.  By the time I got home, the pumpkins were spoken for.  The family had done their traditional gospel pumpkin, with a lot of help from their dad.  I think my son drew the symbols and my husband cut them out.  Hmmmm, I think this is the first year my husband did the pumpkin with the kids.  Usually I do it with them, but my husband wants window treatments and the kids want costumes for their unit celebration and Colonial Williamsburg, so my husband was happy to give me a pumpkin break this year.  ;)  

Then they wanted to do a Colonial Williamsburg pumpkin. This year CW provided several pumpkin carving patterns at their web site.  My son wanted to do all of them.  I couldn't afford that many pumpkins, so he had to choose one. Actually my daughter chose one, the Governor's Palace. Here is my son carving it, while my daughter picks out the seeds. My husband likes roasted pumpkin seeds. 

Here it is. I am impressed. This was my son's first pumpkin to carve and he did it entirely himself. He had a bit of trouble with the intricacy of the pattern, so he said he improved a few parts.  Can you imagine me shaking me head?  He reminds me of Patrick Henry. If I could go back in time, I'd love to meet Patrick Henry's mother and ask her specifically what her son was like as a child. I have a feeling we would share a lot in common. 

It was a bit late to start a stew and there were no more pumpkins to bake it in.  The family decided they wanted snack food. Earlier in the day my husband had gone to the store and bought the cupcakes and candy corn. He went back out and bought snack food.

Then we settled down to "Arsenic and Old Lace."  I'm a huge Cary Grant fan and my husband is a Theodore Roosevelt fan.  It's a hilarious movie and sort of where we draw the line at the end of the month.  =)  For me anyway, if I watch anything more intense than this, I'll have nightmares. I've had enough bad dreams this month as it is. Since we recently studied WWI and the Bolshevik Revolution and watched movies about it, I've had quite a few sleepless nights. "Arsenic and Old Lace" was a fun movie to lighten the mood from our recent studies!  That's why I like Cary Grant. He can be sophisticated, yet hilarious, at the same time!      

     I am sitting here at my laptop, reading the screen with crystal clear acuity...without my readers!!!!!  Since I have had plenty of comments and encouragement about my contact lens saga, I thought I'd share the good news! Actually, I can barely contain myself! 

     I went to the eye doctor a little while ago to try on the toric lens and have the doctor check the fit. When I arrived, there was a horrible glare coming in the front window, from the bright sunny day we are having. This was not the type of day I had hoped to have to drive home with my new toric lens. Ten years ago I gave up on contacts when the eye doctor told me I could only wear a toric lens, which was excruciatingly uncomfortable. For a week I tried to endure them, but I could not tolerate any glare. I shut all the blinds and curtains, stayed indoors, and stayed away from the television and computer. I finally gave up and have worn glasses eversince, which have caused awful headaches due to the pressure of the frame on the area of my past headsurgery. 

     Realizing how much pain I've been in, my husband encouraged me to try contacts again.  Since I have an astigmatism in my right eye, the doctor said a toric lens would be best. I told her I used to wear regular soft lenses in both eyes with no trouble.  Unfortunately those medical records are no longer available, so she wasn't sure what I wore.  We tried different types which were okay. However, the right eye simply could not be perfectly corrected.  I needed readers to help me read.  That still wasn't crystal clear but helped.

     For the last month I've been trying to function with slightly blurred vision. Because of a bit of hearing loss from the head surgery, I read lips. Everyone's lips have been slightly blurry for the last month, hindering my processing skills. I've gotten used to that at home, but out in public I had a more difficult time. When I went to the Costume Design Center at Colonial Williamsburg, I had difficulty analyzing the incredible costumes and processing all of the information everyone was so kind to share, partly because I could not clearly read their lips. 

     On top of that, my writing skills have been affected.  We were visiting yet another church last Sunday, where I filled out an information card. Later that day, I got a phone call from the pastor's wife, asking me to confirm my e-mail address, because she suspected that it was not quite right. She read on the paper, "lahbluelionnet@....."  Uh oh, that's what comes from writing without my readers.  I am so tired of dragging them out all the time and I didn't think I'd need to see clearly to write something I was familiar with.  I called and told her it was "bluebonnet" as in the Texas state flower. She laughed and said that made a lot more sense.  (Sigh) I could not foresee continuing life like this. Additionally this made me slightly dizzy within myself.  My left eye was corrected 20/20 and my right eye was 20/25. It was enough for me to concede I needed the toric lens.  

     My kids kept asking if I was nervous about putting the toric lens in my eye.  No, I was excited about the possibilities, although I definitely did not need them to make me nervous about it. Leaving them at home, I went to the eye doctor by myself. I brought my glasses for a worse case scenario.  I wondered if I'd have to take the toric lens out of my eye after the exam so I could drive home in the glaring sun.

     Well, I put the contact in and waited for the exam. Gradually, the weighted lens settled in my eye and I could see clearly for the first time!  I could read signs far away.  I could see people's faces. I could read lips.  I could read the magazine without my readers.  I could look out the windows into the parking lot and tolerate the glare.  I was able to drive home without any trouble. And now I am able to sit at the computer and read and type without readers.  I do a lot of reading and studying in preparation for school lessons. I am thrilled that I can do that now without readers, which in themselves was making me nuts. 

    One downside is that the toric floats in my eye a bit, since it is specially curved to fit the curve of my astigmatism.  It is weighted to keep it in the proper position. Therefore it rotates a bit, realigning itself. I find myself winking a bit with that eye. Hopefully I will adjust before I go out in public. (I would be embarrased to go around winking at people.)  In the meantime, it is great to be able to see! Thanks to all who encouraged me that torics can be comfortable! 

     Invited by a friend to meet her at Colonial Williamsburg Fri, the kids and I went down for the day, and we had a great visit! In addition to that, the day turned out to be primarily a costume research day in the historic area.  That was productive and a good thing, although I felt the usual historic magnetic tug to listen to Lafayette behind the Palace, but we didn't arrive until he was nearly done. He always has great stories prompted by guests who have great questions which I never would have thought to ask.  We never can plan ahead of time to see any specific Founding Father, because the schedule on the web site merely says that "a Founding Father" will be speaking, but we never know which one.  Later in the day I felt another tug for the kids to have the opportunity to meet with Thomas Jefferson at the Tucker House.  We have yet to have an opportunity to meet any historic figure at the Tucker House, which we've been told is extra special. We're not sure if we need to come prepared with lots of questions for that or not, so we are trying to fill our colonial book for one of these special occasions. Well, I managed to restrain myself from history and focus on some of the things the kids wanted to find in relation to their costumes. Originially unplanned, it is funny how things fell into place for our costume research day.

    As we were preparing to leave the house that morning, my son announced he wanted to use some of his birthday money to buy a Lafayette hat at CW. I didn't realize they sold them.  It wouldn't come with the cockade or plume, but it has a different triangular shape from the usual tricorn.  Suddenly my son has this compulsion for his costume to look as accurate as possible. I knew he was a fan of the actor who portrays him, but I was sensing that something deeper was going on. Each year I ask him who his favorite historical figure is, but he is always non-commital.  After the announcement about the hat, I asked again if he had a favorite historical figure. He said Lafayette. The night before we were researching Lafayette's life for a report he is working on.  He said he was still supporting the troops at CW, but he wants every detail of his costume to be as historically accurate as possible. He wants the Lafayette costume for the cold days to keep warm and the gentry outfit (without the coat) for the summer.  We still have quite a bit of research to do.

    When we arrived in the historic area, we went to the open air market and looked at their hats, but my son couldn't find the right one.   We decided to go to the Greenhow store next. On the way, we were stopped by a lady who approached my son, not only to look at his costume, but also to actually touch it, opening the coat to look at his vest, etc.  This was a first! She was extremely interested.  She asked him where he got the costume and he said that I made it.  She asked me where I got the pattern and I said there was no pattern.  I looked at vacation pictures of the actor who portrays Lafayette to assemble pieces to try to get the proper look.  She told me that her ten year old son was a huge Lafayette fan and he analyzes all the costumes and tells his mom how he'd like this or that.  In disbelief I told her my son was the same way.   We got to meet her son and daughters, all of whom were in costume. Her daughter's costumes were more accurate than my daughter's and I asked where she got the pattern. I think someone made the dresses for them.  We talked about all kinds of things about trying to make their costumes as accurate as possible. We were laughing and laughing at everything we had in common.  I felt as though she was my twin lost at birth.

     Eventually we moved on. My son couldn't find the Lafayette hat in the Greenhow Store either. While there he did some Christmas shopping for us, so I took my daughter to the milliner's across the street.  She wanted to buy a new hat. The old one looked like one of the horses had started eating it, then sat on it.  This time she wanted a style that was more accurate to what the interpreters wear.  This is getting contagious!  The cashier taught me how to properly set the hat, tie the bow and use the hat pins.

     Then we headed to Tarpley's Store to see if they had a Lafayette hat. On the way, we met Wil. He remembered the kids and they exchanged courtesies (bowed and curtsied). He even remembered their names. He said my daughter's name was Elizabeth. She said no, it was ___________ and he said that he would have said that next.  The same thing happened to my son. Then he talked about taking care of their father's horse at the stable down the road and their father was  named William. They said that was not his name but he insisted it was and proceeded to tell us everything about taking care of his horse. When we got home I told my husband I had learned quite a bit about him and the horse he never told me about at CW that day! Wil also told the kids about the Declaration of Independence that would be read that afternoon. He was quite excited about freedom. My son apologized and told him he wished it meant freedom for him, but it actually meant freedom from Great Britain, not freedom for the slaves.   Wil was sad to hear that. My daughter said something about it which I did not hear, but Wil was shocked that she knew about the politics of the day. He said her father must have taught her that. She said no, her mother did. At that, Wil looked at me in disbelief, then explained it away by saying my husband must have told me about it. I told him no, I actually told my husband about the Declaration of Independence. Well, he went on talking to the kids.  I cannot tell you how many times people in CW have told me that I must get all my information from my husband, since I'm not educated enough.  Everyone from the Founding Fathers to the gentry, middling class, slaves, women...none believe that I have read and studied about the events of their day and taught it to my kids (...including my husband who does not enjoy reading books. He prefers doing things to reading. However he does keep up with current events of 2009.). That is truely how it was in the 18th century. It was interesting that we had studied Women's Suffrage that week. I must admit I was not impacted by all the facts I learned since I am not an activist. I am a quiet, contemplative person by nature.  I like to read and learn and write and talk about the things I learn.  The problem is finding someone to talk about this stuff with. Right now I have a built in audience, since I homeschool my children.  I have a feeling that if I lived in the 18th century, I wouldn't be much different. I doubt that I would have been an activist then either, but I would have wanted to find books to read and learn from. I probably would not have had the opportunity. Although Abigail Adams was well read, that was rare for the time.  The 18th century viewpoint of women has finally sunk in to my brain.  I realize I don't know everything and I still have a lot to learn, yet it bothers me that I am expected to know nothing of a deep nature. This is the mindset of not only the men, but also the women in CW. Surely there was at least one women in 18th century Williamsburg who sought a deeper education than what society allowed for her. This mindset is tied up in the lack of the women's franchise (vote) in the era. I may not be an activitst, but I am a teacher. I love to teach and I love to learn. It has become a passion with me to teach history.  I strongly believe that because history repeats itself, as Patrick Henry keeps reminding us, a solid foundation in it can help us to vote wisely today.  Therefore when I am "in the 18th century", and I am told that I don't have an education, it probably hits a different nerve than it does most. Despite my feelings, I appreciate the actors at Colonial Williamsburg.  They bring the pages of history to life, so that we can feel what historical people felt. It helps us to understand our history better. It is one thing to read about it; it is another thing to experience it. Hmmmm.....    

     We proceeded on to Tarpleys and my son thought he had found the Lafayette hat.  However, he didn't purchase it yet, because he wasn't certain it was right. He wanted to see the actor who portrays Lafayette because he always wears this style hat. I had an idea to do a little research at the print shop. When we arrived, we met Mr. Greenhow who taught us how to sign our name with a quill. He writes our name first to model for us, then we write underneath. We get to keep the sample. Also if we buy a quill, he'll prepare it for us. He did this for my son when we met him last summer. He remarked on how my kids were left handed, causing a problem with smearing the ink. 

Lefties in the 18th century were taught to become right handed.

After this, we went to the Revolutionary City scene at the Courthouse then had lunch. After lunch and enjoying the lovely autumn colors we went back to the open air market to look for the black and white cockade that represents the French American alliance that will go on the Lafayette hat. None were to be found. We talked to the cashier for quite a bit about cockades and such and she sent us to the Greenhow store. In there we didn't find the right cockade. My son talked to the manager about the Lafayette hat. He told my son where he could have one specially made!  That's exactly what he did! My son found the lady and told her he wanted a Lafayette hat to be specially made. He showed the one type that was on the shelf, but told her it wasn't quite right. The lady was extremely patient to work with him and understood exactly what he wanted. She started the shaping in front of us, then took it to the back and told my son to come back in 30 minutes. She also gave him further directions to complete the look at home. They did not have the proper cockade either, but I purchased a black one. We can't quite remember what Lafayette's cockade looks like. My son remembered that General Washington's picture was on the front of the weekly schedule.  We quickly pulled that out to look at, but he was posing at the wrong angle. We couldn't see the cockade. Between the cockade I purchased and analyzing more pictures that we have at home, I'll try to make the right kind of cockade.    

     Meanwhile, I wanted to go to the milliner across the street to ask questions about how to sew my kids' costumes.  I asked about a shift for my daughter and they showed me this baby's shift. Well she's a lot taller than that. I learned that a shift is a shift and I could form ruffles for her by inserting a drawstring around the neck and wrists.

That's it? I showed them her somewhat fancy dress underneath her cloak and the milliner was ready to sell me lacing for around the neck and sleeve edges. Hmmm, I come in with 21st century questions and before long I find myself in the 18th century again. It is a lot of fun but it challenges me to translate all of that 18th century information into my 21st century sewing skills, sources and supplies. I was wondering what lace looked like back then and exactly how it is set in to the sleeves and neckline of the dress, but a school group came in for a tour. I turned my attention to this lady who was sewing a gorgeous pink gown, a reproduction from a painting in a book that she showed me.

Here is the stomacher. If I recall correctly, this will never be sewn into the bodice, but will be pinned with the bodice into the stays. Then as the fashions quickly change (up to six times a year) alterations can easily be accomodated.  

  There is some of the pink dress on the left, next to the gorgeous blue dress on the right.  The fabric of each is a lovely irridescent sheen. The sheen is created on the loom with one color thread going in one direction and another color in the other. As I recall, there is a sheen of blue in the pink dress and a sheen of pink in the blue dress.

While I was talking to the milliner, my son came back from picking up his hat. He proudly tugged on my coat to get my attention. I took one look at him and gasped. That does look like a Lafayette hat!

My son wanted a picture of them doing their courtesies...

 I had to shake my head all afternoon. The new hats definitely made them look more in character.  In fact, they are now fooling more guests. They are often mistaken for employees, but when the kids tell them they are only guests, the guests believe them, then ask directions from here to there anyway. Well earlier in the day, a couple stopped my daughter to ask her what the population of the town was during this historic time frame. My daughter was stuck! We did learn that I think in one of the EFTs, but we have forgotten. My daughter told the man she was only a guest and he didn't believe her!  I backed her up and told him my son might have a good answer.  He looked behind me, where my son was talking to a friend. The man asked if the two star general was my son. "Yes, and he has a quick mind," I told him. The man decided to test it.  "General," he asked, "what was the population of the town during this historic time period?" My son said, "It was less than the numbers you see in town today."  The man liked that answer! He walked away chuckling!

     By the kids' request, we ended the day with Revolutionary City. We noticed something new, with Benedict Arnold arriving in town with the British flag and handing it to his men to replace the American flag above the Capitol's cupola.  That is the first we've seen him hand over the flag.  It was quite effective.  On the ride home, my kids had many questions about RC and we had quite the discussion.  It is always interesting how we can tie in the history at CW into our current history studies.

     Last week we concluded our study of World War I.  I did not think I would enjoy studying this war, yet I admit it was extremely interesting.  TOG notes and recommended books did an excellent job of clearly explaining the intricate web of alliances that led to the Great War.  In fact, our history lessons have been foreboding the impending gloom in Europe for many weeks (from all the way back in Year 3 Unit 4). The children have sat at the dinner table, explaining the complexities of the beginning of the war with their dad, by their own initiative.  They also explained the uniqueness of the war due to changing technology from trenchwarfare to the use  of chemical warfare.  When my husband was in the military, he used to bring his gas mask home to clean inbetween exercises. (There is nothing like walking into the powder room and finding this eerie "face" staring up at you from the sink.)  We continue to make connections from the past to the present.

     One of the most fascinating aspects of the war that we studied was the continued development of the airplane.  Initially, enemies in the air would shoot guns at each other. That led to technology to attach the gun to the plane, yet there was the problem of the bullets deflecting off the propellers back into the plane.  That led to more technology to synchronize everything so that the bullets fire inbetween rotations of the propellers.  We also learned about the WWI flying aces, most notably the Red Baron. At last, the Red Baron is more than a Snoopy cartoon and a man on a pizza box.

     My children have not seen a Peanuts cartoon in years, so they do not remember Snoopy and his imaginative exploits in the air with his doghouse. Those scenes used to be my absolute favorites in the Peanuts cartoons. I guess I have a thing for dogs who like costumes and have an overactive imagination. It was funny in that during our weekly Socratic Discussion on WWI and the airplanes, I kept trying to link Snoopy to the Red Baron but my kids couldn't remember those scenes.  I finally thought to google and I found an old Snoopy scene from Peanuts.  We watched several, including some newer ones. After watching a few, my kids agreed with me, the classic Snoopy flying through the air on his doghouse from a clip from Peanuts was the best! It's from YouTube and titled, "Baron versus Beagle: The Original 'Dogfight'."

     It was especially nice to do something lighthearted after reading about all the heaviness of this war, which used completely different battle techniques resulting in hopeless stalemates and death. Unlike previous wars where the men got out and met face to face, did the job of combat and the survivors moved on, for the first time men sat and waited in trenches with stalemate battles, hoping the fog of chemicals would not appear on the horizon.  We also watched All Quiet on the Western Front, which is heavy with everything we had read about in our history books about dismal, dreary disgusting unsantitary life in the trenches, chemical warfare, flamethrowers, rats, disease, hunger...It was real, it really happened, and the peace talks only kept the pot simmering until it boiled over into the Second World War.  After all that dreariness and reality, it was nice to take a step back and be a little lighthearted for a bit.  This is extremely important to remember, in this era where kids have to grow up fast in an ever changing society and while learning difficult dark history, to allow kids opportunities to just be kids.   

     I always figured there was more to the story of the Red Baron.  It was interesting to learn how the airplane was further developed during the war and how the Red Baron became classic.  The excellence of the Red Baron made history and is classic to this day, even influencing a dog with an overactive imagination!   

     Our first autumn in Virginia has arrived!  A few weeks ago we had five days straight of rainy 45 degree days. brrr  My husband insisted on taking me tree shopping on two of those days and I am sorry to say that I mutineed on him. As much as I enjoy gardening, I am close minded to it when it is bitterly cold. I am sure any northerners reading this are going to laugh, but I have lived in Louisiana, Hawaii and Texas all of my life. Now living in Northern Virginia has been a new experience. If this is autumn, what is winter going to be like? 

     Last Saturday was warmer, but extremely rainy. It was a cozy day to sew.  Then Sunday arrived with cloudless blue skies and true autumn cool (not frigid) weather. The kids hit dad up for a drive to the mountains.  I sat back and smiled as I listened to the discourse.  

Kids: Dad, can we drive to the mountains today?

Dad: Why?

Kids: So we can see the colors!

Dad: Let's wait for nice weather to see the colors.

Kids: It is nice weather! The sun is out.  

Son: I didn't realize the colors were changing until I saw all the colors in the mountains in the distance.

Daughter: If we don't go now, the leaves will be all gone.

Son: I have never seen the colors before, Dad. Besides, you said you wanted to see the autumn colors in the mountains.

Dad: Hmmmm, what does your teacher say about your school work? Are you behind on any schoolwork?

Mom: The colors can be school today. This is their first year to see the colors. I've only seen them once before.  If we don't see them now, I'm afraid the leaves will drop by next weekend.

Dad: Okay, we'll go.

We decided to drive out to Shenandoah National Park's Skyline Drive. We drove over 3000' in elevation.  That was sort of funny to us, because we've driven over 14,000' in Colorado.  Nevertheless, the views were gorgous. Enjoy!

      When we were at the Colonial Williamsburg Costume Design Center Open House last week, my son asked for help with his cravat and that opened the door to the vast variety of colonial neckware.  The first piece of neckware we got to see was the black stock. The black stock is the narrow black piece with the slight curve in the center, in front of the hats and behind the gorgets and epaulettes.

     The black stock was worn by various members of the military, whether American, French or British.  Lafayette wore one with his American Continental officer uniform...

...we've met American General Nelson wearing one...

...the mayor of Williamsburg, whom I think was part of the militia...

..the enlisted men of the American Continental Army...

....oooh, even Benedict Arnold...

...and the fife and drum corps. By the way, even though they are wearing red, they are not British. The fife and drum corps wore the reverse colors of their army, to distinguish them as non-combatants. Both sides of the war needed them to serve to relay messages via tunes not only for their own army but also for the opposing army. 

      My son has been anxious for me to make a new costume, since he's had an increasingly difficult time getting into his original colonial boy costume. He's grown several inches since I first made it. He would like to portray the son of a gentry plantation owner.  Therefore he'd like another type of stock, a white one, which we had learned about at the CDC.  Since it's going to take me a few months to figure out and sew a gentry costume as historically accurate as possible, I thought I'd gain his patience by telling him I'd make a black stock to make his neckware more authentic, while wearing his Lafayette costume.  He got excited about that! Surely I can reproduce that look in a couple of hours.

     Last Saturday I sewed the black stock for my son.  I had no pattern to go by. Therefore making the black stock proved to be a great challenge than I had initially thought. My son wanted to design a template for me, himself. First we measured around his neck to find the length to make the template. After the first stock I made, we figured out we needed to make it larger by an inch or two. Somehow in the cutting and sewing, the proper sized template resulted in a stock that wouldn't reach all the way around his neck.  The second longer stock I sewed was a better fit until he put it on over his shirt collar. Ugh, he was choking! Back to the drawing board! Hint: Add several inches to the circumference of the neck!  I'm currently in the process of sewing the third attempt,  between doctor appointments and multiple drives to the base pharmacy miles away for my daughter's allergies, preparing lessons, and sewing window treatments!  Hopefully the third time will be the charm! 

 With the template I cut a piece of black felt, left over from making his colonial cape.  (I'll blog about that when I actually take pictures of the interpreters at CW wearing capes. Apparently they come in a variety of sizes and colors, but it's not been cold enough for them to wear them while we're there yet.)

Then I traced the template onto two layers of leftover pieces of matte silk  from the lining of his cape, with a white chalk pencil. Then I cut the satin out a little larger to allow for seam allowance.

I sewed the two pieces together, carefully sewing on the seam line around three adjacent sides. leaving the long side with the curve that dips down unsewn.

After I trimmed the seams and clipped the curves, I turned it right side out.  Uh oh.  The curve was barely there and the sides were not symmetrical.  I cut out two new pieces of silk.  Then I centered the precut felt on top of the satin and pinned it. I used flat pins to allow it to lie flat. Regular curved pins distorted the fabric. Then I slowly sewed around the edges.

Then I took the pins out. I trimmed the seams and clipped the curves.  Then I carefully turned it inside out, leaving the felt inside to replicate the stability and padding that we got to touch at the CDC. I carefully pressed the stock with a cool iron.  I turned the edges under on the remaining side, pinned it together, then handstitched tiny hidden stitches, though a couple peaked out anyway. It's a bit difficult to produce a smooth curve, since I am using silk. Although my son would have liked actual historic hardware, none is to be found. I made this stock a bit larger than his neck, to give him room to grow. I stuck black velcro on the ends.  

    I'm not sure how my son is going to set the stock against his shirt collar.  The shirt is wrong, because there is no ruffle in front. We will shop for a proper colonial shirt pattern in a few days.   Jo Ann will have a pattern sale and looks like I will need to buy two different patterns to combine elements for the proper look.

   By the end of the afternoon, my son tried on his Lafayette coat and realized the collar doesn't turn up like it does for the rest of the officers.  He asked if he could have a new Lafayette costume for the winter (which would have a felt coat) , then a gentry plantation son costume for the summer (which would not need a coat).  That is the new plan.  The Lafayette costume with a general's coat made of felt (to represent wool), would keep him much warmer than a gentry coat that would be made from a cotton blend.  Also the Lafayette costume uses the "boots" that my son made, which adds another layer of warmth for his legs.  Additionally, this would give me practice before I tackle the gentry coat I will eventually make for my husband. (Of all the costumes I've made for all of the historical eras, the colonial costume is the only one he has asked me to make for him. He wants an extremely nice costume like Alexander Purdie wears, so he is all for my figuring this out.) We found a colonial coat pattern that I can purchase at the pattern sale at Jo Ann later this week.  The colonial coat pattern looks to have facings, which will be a huge help in recreating the Lafayette coat.  (However now I realize I could have created my own facings by reusing the original pattern. Oh well.)

     Yesterday I got to wondering what my son will want for the epaulettes.  Last year when I made the Lafayette costume, he did not want epaulettes like Lafayette. Now I forget what I had patterned them after.  When I asked him, he sheepishly admitted he'd like a pair like Lafayette's this time.  What?!  I couldn't believe that.  The children started laughing at the expression on my face.  They asked if I was worried about what I'd tell Lafayette if he asks. I said I'll wait to see what he says and just try to follow his lead.  My son and I each took close ups of the epaulettes and I got to hold them, carefully inspecting them.  I forget a lot now. However I do remember a few key elements and think perhaps I can perhaps get a fair representation made.  It won't be perfect, so that in itself will be good, so people won't think he's Lafayette.  Of course his age makes some of the interpreters call him Lafayette, which he quickly assures them he is supporting the troops. He has great respect for Lafayette and will only portray him for school projects at home.  

In the meantime, I decided I'd like to try to make a shift for my daughter, which would help to make her dress look more realistic.  She was excited to hear that.  I only recently figured out where the ruffled look on the dresses came from. However I still haven't completely figured out how the shift works.  I've been referencing a  terrific book, Costume Close-Up: Clothing Construction and Pattern 1750-1790.  According to the write-up, this book is for the advanced seamstress to reproduce period garments with authenticity.  It was recommended to me by the CW milliner and tailor. Although this book is indeed excellent, and it does show a period shift, shirt and a white stock, there isn't enough information for me.  The shift and shirt in the book do not have ruffles and there was no sequence of sewing for the white stock. It's a challenge to figure all of this out. Obviously I do not have advanced sewing skills.  Nevertheless I am up to the challenge.  It's sort of like a puzzle. I enjoy deep thinking and puzzling things out. I'm determined to take this quest one project at a time.  Perhaps I'll pay a visit to the milliner but she seems to think I am perfectly capable of all this. Hmmmm, I'll be deeply thinking of the best way to phrase my queries.   

     The Squirrel Saga continues.  Saturday afternoon, I was sitting on the couch with my son, analyzing a new costume piece I was sewing for him.  Suddenly, I heard a loud crash right behind me which nearly caused me to hit the ceiling!  Having a sneaky suspicion, I was right (don't ask me how I knew, I just knew)...the squirrel had jumped onto the window screen behind the couch.  This is no easy feat.  It meant he had to leap from the deck, pretending to be Superman, and hopefully grab onto the window screen, which is two stories above the ground.  

Neither my son now I could believe this audacious squirrel!  He turned around and looked right at us through the window! He knew no fear!

Then, with the agility of Superman, he leapt back onto the deck and tried to get into our back door!

He looked at us right through the door.  Daringly, he once again leapt onto the window screen.  I forget how it all came to an end, but he finally left. I told my husband about it later and he couldn't believe it.  He asked to see my pictures.  I'm glad I had proof!  The next morning he told me he thought he knew why the squirrel was acting so strange.  Apparently my husband had moved a pile of acorns he had seen the squirrel bring into the yard.  He thought the earlier action of the squirrel laying out on the deck railing was his way of guarding his acorns.  Furthermore, my husband surmised, the attack at the window screen was his bold warning that we were to leave his territory alone!  Supporting the crazy squirrel, I told my husband to leave that squirrel's acorns in the yard. It's such a little thing for him to keep acorns there. It's his winter stockpile, which is important to him.  My husband laughingly agreed. Hopefully, this is the end of the Squirrel Saga.

     My husband looked out our kitchen window this morning and called me to see our squirrel.

He might be enjoying all the new trees my husband recently planted. We purchased eight at Lowes for less than we would have for one at any of the other nearby nurseries. He planted cherry, dogwood, crabapple, two maples and three cypress. Perhaps he's merely enjoying all the autumn color coming into profusion. My husband thinks he's contemplating the perfect spot for the hoard of acorns he usually brings into the yard. 

     I woke up this morning around 4am with my husband.  He awakes early to "beat" the traffic to get to work at the Pentagon.  I usually sleep in until 6am, but a headache was bothering me. I've been a bit stressed about some issues with my daughter, concerning her Sensory Integration Disorder. Yesterday we had a breakthrough, finally figuring out that many recent concerns are tied to seasonal allergies. I have had major medication changes lately due to laryngitis caused by allergies.  On top of that, I've had a mix of headaches and dizziness while trying out new contact lenes.  As the eye doctor said, because of the astigmatism in one eye, a regular soft contact will not produce crystal clear vision.  She was right. I have been struggling with reading things and seeing anything up close clearly. I am going nuts!  I could live with these contacts, but when I see her today, I will humbly admit that I am ready to try the toric lens.  I have met some people recently who have great success with them with no discomfort.  I think they have improved from when I first wore them nine years ago.  So my headache this morning is likely a culmination of all of the above.

 My son has just found me down here with the laptop and I told him I was waiting for the Exedrin to kick in.  Meanwhile, I happened to be reliving the wonderful time we had at the CW Costume Design Center and I am embarrased by all the typos I have on my blog entry.   I'll correct them as soon as I can. When I mentioned that to my son, he cleared his throat and I thought, "Uh, oh. What else is wrong?" You see, he has my blog saved as one of his homepages and he likes to read it. Additionally, he often finds mistakes and he politely lets me know about it.  =)  That is humbling when your son finds your mistakes. However that is a great tool for teaching. I think he learns more from my mistakes, than from my hopeful perfections. As I willingly allow him to show me my errors, I can turn that into a learning opportunity to model humility and willingness to accept constructive criticism, in order to make something better. As a result, we are building a terrific rapport when working on his papers.

     Right now he is working on a paper on Sgt. York.  He came to me yesterday to ask for source material on Sgt. York. Furthermore, we discussed the plan of attack to organize his paper. I will allow him to own this paper, by choosing his own topics. I merely wanted to remind him to stick to three key points to develop into a well thought out essay.  Also we are looking for a way to add information in a meaningful way to a famous historical figure. 

      In  year's past, my son has not always liked my advice on his papers.  Now that he has been able to help me with some of my writing, he is far more open to receiving suggestions from me.  We have become a writing team. I haven't mentioned my daughter, but she is more compliant and eager to please.  She has always needed lots of guidance, yet she has also been willing to listen. With her I also work to build a bit of esprit de corps. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the word esprit de corps is a French word that dates back to 1780.  It means, "the common spirit existing in the members of a group and inspiring enthusiasm, devotion, and strong regard for the honor of this group." It's all teamwork. None of us are perfect. We are all learning. We help and encourage each other. Our relationship grows stronger. Also, it prevents a lot of headaches in the end.

     Tuesday the kids and I went to Colonial Williamsburg to visit the Costume Design Center's (CDC) 75th anniversary open house.

     First stop was to meet the producer we worked with last week to Skype for the EFT.  The kids and I had a great time meeting with her and thanked her again for that opportunity!

     Then we went to the CDC.  Wow! Can you imagine me in there?  What an opportunity!  After all the historical unit celebration costumes I've sewn for the kids, the struggles I've had to make them as accurate as possible with limited time and budget, I now had an opportunity to see how CW costumes are designed, sewn, fitted, stored, archived, researched, etc, etc, etc.

     My goal had been to take the historical patterns I had purchased at the CW milliner shop a few months ago, cut them out, lay them out and analyze them for questions. My son wants a new costume since he outgrew his old one and the Lafayette costume isn't right. Also, the stars on the epaulettes are already falling apart.  I knew that would happen. With the costume hanging in the closet, unworn for the past year, now was the opportunity for my son to get some wear out of it and stay warm in this colder weather until I sew a new costume for him. My son is determined that I make his next costume as historically accurate as possible.  

      Instead of researching historical costumes, all weekend, I sewed colonial capes for the kids to wear when they go to to CW in the cold.  We had had 45 degree weather for five days straight with rain. We were cold! If this is autumn, what is winter going to be like?  Obviously we still have warm Texas blood rushing through our veins!  When we left for CW, it was 33 degrees.  brrr  

  Actually, when we arrived at the CDC, I was overwhelmed. There was so much to see.  On top of that, my blood sugar dropped too low. I was able to take care of it medically, but my body was out of sync the rest of the day and it was difficult for me to process too many details.  That made me sad because it meant I couldn't take as much advantage of this once in a lifetime opportunity. Nevertheless, I was determined to learn all I could!

     We started in Operations.  Look at all those costumes!

On the other side of the room were all of these!

I didn't get a picture of it but my favorite was a gorgeous ball gown that was laid out, in the process of being sewn. This dress caught my eye.  I stood there looking at it, then looked at one of the costumers and asked if it was a maternity dress.  Yes!  I've never seen anyone wearing one of these in the historic area! 

     I asked if the ladies wore stays while pregnant and she said yes. I can't imagine.  I hear stays are quite comfortable and help a lady to keep her posture. In fact, there are stays for babies!  All of the ladies in the historic area wear stays.  It provides a completely different shape than our 21st century look. I didn't get any pictures, but stays can be quite decorative.  Being in the historic area so much, and analyzing the costumes as I always do, I've recently realized how common it is to see parts of the shifts, petticoats and stays.  Also the bodices are pinned into the stays!  Recently I was shocked while talking to a reenactor during Prelude to Victory when she unpinned her bodice to show and explain elements of her stays.  She assured me it was okay.  Well, if she says so. We talked a bit about modesty, since these bodices are a bit revealing. She said the main modesty issue back then were the elbows and knees. One of the coachmen has been after me for showing my elbows (gasp) and has asked why I don't wear my proper dress.    My son has agreed with him, since he's been after me to wear a costume like he and his sister. Can you believe I haven't worn one yet? My dress, which I made for our Y2U4 Celebration is not completely accurate, nor am I an employee, so I don't feel right wearing it. However my son has been trying to talk me into it, so I almost did for him. But I haven't had time to make a colonial cape for myself for these chilly days. 

    I got tips on sewing a new costume for my son, who wants historically accurate breeches, coat, vest, shirt and cravat.  Specifically he wants to be the son of a gentry plantation owner. I got to talk to several costumers, including one I met a few weeks ago. She assured me that I can sew breeches. Hmmmm, I'm not so sure. Look at these! They have flaps and buttonholes and lacing everywhere! Also it is important to make them fitting to the body around the knee and thigh (lower thigh) with more room above.  

  She has sewn lots of the men's costumes so I'm thinking that's easy for her to say! =)  Additionally the waistcoat (vest) is cut in such a way to cause a man to have correct posture. I mentioned to her that with all the costumes I made for my kids' history presentations, I have had some surprisingly unusual pattern pieces and methods of assembly, as compared to 21st century patterns.  She said that's precisely due to the differences in fashion and body shape in the past.  She also encouraged me, as has the milliner and reenactor and perhaps the tailor, that I start with muslin for the fitting and use that as a fitting. When the milliner tried to explain this to me last July, I was overwhelmingly confused.  I suppose with time to think about it and time to skim through a CW costume book helped me to understand when a reenactor who has sewn 18th century clothes explained the process to me. Sooooooo m-a-y-b-e I can do this.  

     Specifically we talked about appropriate fabrics. My son and husband (who also wants a costume, one like Alexander Purdie's) wants their costume made of silk.  They insist that gentry wore silk. Yes I told them, but mainly to the ball! My husband and son won't be dancing much. Instead they'll be walking about town.  We need wash and wear so I brought this up to the costumer and she agreed. She does Civil War reenactments so she completely understood. Since she said so, my son now agrees to achieving the look with wash and wear. Whew!

     Our next stop was Research and Design.  There were costumes all over this room too!

In the corner was the computer with the CAD program, where they design specially fitted patterns for those employees who have such a shape that a generic pattern doesn't work for them.

     I think this was some of the embroidery work. 

This table had hand drawn patterns (a stunning work of art) and notebooks full of information for costume design for the Electronic Field Trips!  Suddenly this became my favorite display.  I used to sew and coordinate costumes for children's choir and I appreciated this level of organization and peek behind the scenes. Honestly what I deeply desired was to pull up a chair and go through each notebook, page by page, looking at renderings of historical clothing, fabric samples, color swatches and memos of casting and costuming. I could probably spend the entire day doing this and be utterly content.  However my children would want to move on after a period of time. It was fascinating to go through the binders of information, especially for those EFTs we've experienced, like "Will of the People".   

        Then we went to see Accessories.  Speaking of "Will of the People," here are some of the costume accessories from that EFT.

Here's some from theater. Check out the boat on top of the wig!

Oh my, you won't believe what I found!  Some of the very accessories I desperately tried (and failed) to recreate for my son's Lafayette costume were on the table.  This was now my favorite display!  We had so much fun here, oohing and aahing. We were allowed to touch the accessories. This was incredible.  Here's the picture and let me go one by one describing our favorites.

 First I picked up the epaulettes. I went nuts trying to figure out my son's epaulettes.  These are for General Cornwallis. I seem to recall that the fringe was sewn from the top, whereas I sewed my son's from underneath.  I asked about how they were made. Actually many items on this table came from Europe. Oh! Now I don't feel so bad.  And here I thought I'd get some tips on making these accessories.  Then I picked up the silver epaulettes.  Hmmm, I couldn't imagine who wore those.  The colonels? The seem too small. I was told the governor's footmen wear them. I forgot to look while we were at Revolutionary City, but I looked in some pictures and couldn't find them.   

     We asked what in the world is this (picking up the long, narrow black leather-like object)? That is a stock. Lafayette wears this around his neck.  Really? When I sewed the Lafayette costume, I didn't know which paintings of the real Lafayette were historically accurate and which used artistic license (yes, even in the 18th century). However I knew CW's quest for authenticity so I used our vacation photos of the CW Lafayette, as well as pictures of him on the website, as models for my son's costume.  I hadn't realized before, but after analyzing the photos, I realized he did wear what appeared to be a black turtleneck. Since I was pressed for time to make my son's Lafayette costume, and on a budget, I wasn't about to buy a black turtleneck, which I'd probably have to special order from Lands End like I did for choir costumes in the past.  I think I did consider making a black strip for a mock turtleneck, but being pressed for time and not wanting to run out to the fabric store for a bit of black fabric for the stock and cravat Lafayette wears, I talked my son into wearing his white cravat like he had done a couple of weeks before for his Oliver Hazard Perry costume.  Now I wish I had done the black strip and cravat. That would have been hilarious to have my son wear it and discover it really was a strip instead of a turtleneck.  Since it is going to take me awhile to get a full costume together for my son, he wants me to make the black stock and cravat for him, to at least complete his military outfit now.   

     My son got excited about the dragoon's helmet. It's the one that looks like a horse tail is coming from the top (that's to represent the horse that the dragoon's ride).  I picked it up to hand over to my son and I was surprised at how heavy it was.  Does anyone get a headache from wearing this?

     Then I noticed the Lafayette hat, with the black and white furry thing on top. My son asked him once what that was called and what it represented. I'm trying to remember.  Was that a plume?  One color represents France and another represents America.  I forget which color represents which country. Also the order of the color, one on top of the other, signifies whether the officer was from the American army or the French.  I hesitated and asked if it was okay to pick this up. I guess I felt that this was extra special and might have special rules. The costumer assured me I could hold it to look at closely. I've been extremely intrigued on how to put the feathers together. I never could have reproduced this. The feathers were like many feather dusters stacked one on top of the other and inverted.  We took a carefully look to figure out how it was adhered to the hat. 

Now let me tell you about the other side of the table. 

     I saw the round cream colored hat, walking cane, gloves and pocket watch.  "Are those George Washington's?" I asked.  Yes!  I've read about the leather gloves before. My son and I admired how soft they were.   

     Then I noticed the gold epaulettes.  I looked at those and saw two stars.  I said, "Those are a major generals.  Are those Lafayette's?" Yes, the costumer told me. W-O-W!  I told her how I agonized over recreating these.  I picked them up and exclaimed that the stars were gold.  When I looked at the CW photos of Lafayette, he had silver stars, so that's what I put on my son's epaulettes.  She said Lafayette wears silver ones too. I carefully turned it over and analyzed each side.  It was great to see them and handle them in person. There is no way I could have duplicated these accurately.  There is an elaborate flat golden trim that runs the length of the epaulette and then forms a figure eight. When I looked in the fabric stores there were no trims and no embroidered stars that matched these epaulettes. My son, at the time I made his, told me to make them as easily as I could.  

     Then we got a peek around the corner to see a costumer who I think was weaving trim for the ball gowns. I wasn't able to get a good look due to all the people crowded around her.  There was another lady doing quill work on leather leggings for the American Indian costumes.  

     I stepped out of the room for a few moments and when I returned, I found my son at the table talking to the costumer at the accessory table where the epaulettes were.  I went to them and they said I needed to make a white stock for him. A what? Um, is that like the black stock, that narrow strip of black that I had thought was Lafayette's turtleneck? 

    No. The costumer proceeded to explain to me the appearance and construction of it.  Hmmm, this is difficult for me to conceptualize something I've never seen, but I told her it sounded like a mini cumberbund for the neck. She thought that was a pretty good description.  Did she have one of those to show me?  She said that we could see some if we went back to the Operations room and went upstairs. I also asked how all of this works with the shirt. She gave me a booklet the costumed interpreters use to know how to wear all of their articles of clothing!  Wow! There are lots of descriptions for each item worn. For the neckware, it describes cravats tied ascot style (Hmmm, what is that? I've heard of the term but I don't know how to tie that.), neckerchiefs and stocks. There are so many varieties, black or white, depending on occasion and class level, and they work in different ways with the shirt which may be plan or ruffled, according to class ranking. It was overwhelming.      

   We went back to the Operations room and who came over to talk to my son, but his favorite actor, who portrays Lafayette. He has been so kind to acknowledge my son on every visit we've made recently. This time, he was not in character, but was himself, which was a rare experience. My son told him that we had just learned that he should have a white stock to wear and we were on our way upstairs to see one. He confirmed that we would see a lot of them. The actor gave us a lot of information on neckware.  He is a real machine gun of information, which is one of the reasons why we admire his work. The information was coming so quickly, and this topic is so broad, and like I had previously mentioned, my blood sugar was off so I wasn't completely mentally quick, which is a real shame.  He had some wonderful information. Fortunately, my son remembered a lot of the details.   

       I told the actor that I make costumes for my kids for history in school. When I tried to research cravats, I had difficulty narrowing down information.  I had analyzed the CW pictures of the four Founding Fathers, all of whom wear different neckware.  In short, I was confused and not sure what to put together for my son.  The actor said he has a book on 19th century neckware and there is a vast array of styles. My son tells me that he specifically said 40 different ways.   We talked about the white and the black. I asked whether the black was unique to the French? No, the British, French and Americans all wore it, specifically the military. I had said something about reading that it was specifically French and he told me to stay away from Wickipedia. We assured him we have nothing to do with that. In fact, I've been working on a blog article on that very topic. I told him I do try to find reputable sources, but it is difficult to get this sort of detail from home.  That's why I like to go to CW, because everyone there looks for historical accuracy, especially this actor. I knew I read about this black style being French from a book that should be considered accurate. When I got home that night I found it. It's a book I purchased from Mount Vernon on a museum display that they did a few years ago on Lafayette called, A Son and His Adoptive Father: The Marquis de Lafayette and George Washington. There is a painting of George Washington, which is apparently unique,  done by a French painter, where "Washington's collar is depicted in a French style with a dark cravat." I had read this a year ago when we were living in Texas. In CW pictures I could only find Lafayette wearing a black cravat. I wrongly surmised that only the French wore the dark cravat. Since we've come to Virginia to live and visiting Colonial Williamsburg more, I've noticed British and Americans wearing it too,exactly like the actor was explaining. Obviously I made a mistake and used faulty logic! I guess what I should have concluded was that the style was French, but others wore it. The actor talked about the black and white cravat and said the white my son was wearing as an officer would be acceptable. My son told me later he said it was acceptable for special occasions. 

     We were interrupted by some guests who had seen him in a previous scene. As he talked with them, we were listening and learning about a scene I guess we've never seen before.  Then a lady walked by and stopped and introduced herself as one of the producers for the EFT and thanked my kids for being the first Skypers!  We had a lot of fun talking about that experience and I thanked her for the wonderful opportunity. My kids are still building memories from that.

   Then we went upstairs and saw the "stock," which were piles of all the costumes. The entire walls from floor to ceiling had rows and rows of neatly stacked pants and breeches, shirts, etc of every size imaginable. It is up here that new employees get their costumes. If a new costume had been made for an employee, the fittings take place up here. After she described all of that, I told her we needed to see a different kind of stock, a white stock and why. She took us in the other direction and we looked at various stocks and cravats, talked about how to tie them, etc.  The white stock looks exactly like a small cumberbund. I was still overwhelmed with the variety of options and which my son would actually want to wear. Then we went to the shirts. My son is outgrowing his shirt that has helped him to be a musketeer, colonial boy, Oliver Hazard Perry, Lafayette and a union Civil War officer. The ruffle no longer shows.  Now he was talking to her about his need for a new ruffle shirt so that everyone can see the ruffles. I stood there and smiled. When I first purchased that shirt for his musketeer costume, he fussed about the ruffles.  "Men do not wear ruffles, Mom," he complained. I told him it was the style hundreds of years ago. It wasn't until he met Lafayette and had his picture taken shaking his hand, that we noticed they had matching ruffles at the wrists. When my son discovered that, he became comfortable with wearing the shirt. Now he wants MORE ruffles.  Since he doesn't have ruffles in front, and the shirt is getting small, he has a ruffled shirt at the top of my sewing list.  The ruffles would complete the look.  The costumer assured me that I could do it.  Hmmm, well I can try.  I took a picture so that I could remember exactly where all the ruffles go.

Here are the sleeve ruffles. Actually the shirt and neckware seem easy enough, if I can just remember the right combination. It's the breeches, waistcoat (vest) and coat that worry me.  Well, one thing at a time.

      Since it's going to take me a while to sew all of this (I still have window treatments and early 20th century costumes to sew for our upcoming Y4U1 Celebration), my son would like the black stock and cravat to help him look more military. Then I think he wants the ruffled shirt. Then a new white stock. I'm not sure if he wants the breeches or waistcoat (vest) next. Finally he'd like the coat, which he won't need in the summer but would be good for cold weather, like now. At least now he can wear the Lafayette costume while I get the new costume assembled. I hope the CW Lafayette doesn't mind.    

     Well, it was a terrific morning.  I hadn't been feeling well due to my blood sugar dropping, so I'm sad I didn't get as much out of it as I would have liked.  This was a one time experience to celebrate the 75th aniversary of when costumes were first worn at CW. There is  web page which shows the development of their style of wearing costumes. It wasn't until more recently that the costumes became more historically authentic. I appreciate all the dedication, research and craftsmanship they put into the costumes. There is a time line of pictures that becomes a slide show. Enjoy!

     We walked to the historic area and ate lunch, got the ball for my son's trap game he got for his birthday, then I asked the kids what they'd like to do for the rest of the day. My daughter wanted to do Revolutionary City. Really? My son even liked that idea. I couldn't believe this! Sometimes I'll suggest going to see a specific scene to help them remember a specific point about our country's history and they'll say, "But Mom, we've already seen that scene." Now they were looking forward to RC of their own free will! 

    While waiting for RC, we stepped into the silversmith shop where they were making beautiful filigree.

    She explained the grids in the floor behind her (and under her) were to catch all the bits of silver she'd file away. Every few years that is swept up, shipped to England where they have factories to melt down the shavings and purify the metal. Instead of shipping the metal back, they are given credit in England. It is interesting how England kept their colonies dependent on them.

    While waiting for RC, this lady came over specifically to talk to my daughter. She is Mrs. Randolph, wife to Peyton Randolph. She asked my daughter where her brother was. Across the street. (How did she know about him?) Then she asked if we were in town to enroll him in the College of William and Mary. My daughter said no. Mrs. Randolph asked how old he was. When we said 14, she said that was a good age to start, but some who are quite bright start as early as 8. She figured my son could be in that category, as he strikes her as the philosophical type. (This was uncanny. She has him perfectly pegged, but how does she know that?  Was she sort of guessing to strike up conversation because we are guests.) I told her he does keep us on our toes at home, constantly talking to prove a point. He reminds us a bit of Patrick Henry. Oh, she said once that man starts talking he never stops. (That sounds exactly like my son, although I think the historic area has been spared much of my son's verbosity. They had better watch out as one never knows when he'll form an opinion and discourse away!)  I like how her dress matches the autumn colors.  The CDC does such a nice job coordinating colors.      

     We were surprised by some new things we saw in RC.  My son told me one of the guests walked up to him and said she saw him on the EFT. That surprised me, because he wore a different costume than usual, mixing up a few elements and he took his glasses off for the show.  The kids got a lot of attention from the actors.  It was funny when we walked by Alexander Purdie, the printer of the Virginia Gazette.  He gave my son the same look a certain British officer held for ransom in the Mary Stith house gave him. Before the slave scene, one of the slaves came to us and looked at us really seriously.  He asked if we owned slaves.  We said no. He came closer to us and spoke softly and asked, "Can I trust you?" We said yes. He softly said that there was a slave meeting behind the Coffee House. I cannot do justice to how he engaged us, but it was fun. When we went behind the Coffee House there was another slave there who gave her courtesies to the kids and then asked my daughter if she had seen Kate yet. My daughter stood there and talked to her for a few minutes before the beginning of the scene. 

      Meanwhile, much of my focus during RC was on neckware!  I couldn't get it out of my mind. In fact most of the day we were whispering amongst ourselves and pointing out the different styles the men were wearing and trying to apply all the things we had learned that morning. Apparently, from what we are trying to remember, the gentry wore white stocks with a ruffled shirt, like these members of the House of Burgesses. Hmmm, the member on the left has a bit more plain style I think. I think John Randolph is on the left and I know that is George Washington on the right. Did you know he was a member of the House of Burgesses before the war? (A lot of these actors change parts all the time. They can be in the same scene, yet play different parts. Keeping track of characters, since we go often, is almost as confusing as neckware!) 

There were a lot of people there so it was difficult to get close ups.  I think he is Speaker of the House, Peyton Randolph.  He has the gentry neckware and elegant clothing.  I like looking at all the different color combinations of the different costumes.

Here are some more burgesses. That is Patrick Henry on the left. I think Richard Henry Lee is in the center.  And I think Robert Carter Nicholas is on the right. However, the gentleman on the right is wearing a black cravat! I know you can't see it in the picture, but I saw it. Why is he wearing a black cravat? What did the actor tell us at the CDC?  Only military wore black cravats or mainly military wore black cravats?  Does this gentleman perhaps lead a militia?  Hmmmm, the plot thickens...

 Here is Lord Dunmore and I think his aide. Being the British govenor for Virginia, he is dressed the fanciest of all.

Here is a close up of John Randolph and his wife.  We've noticed that the Randolph family is usually color coordinated.

's

  We noticed Mann Page had a new costume, at least to us. The first thing the kids said when they saw him was, "He's wearing blue today!" We liked how the CDC designed his costume, with the blue coat and a green waistcoat (vest). I couldn't get a shot of his neckware. We thought it was only a white cravat but we weren't certain. Can you tell we were costume fixated that day! 

      In the final scene, cannon shots are fired.  My son always hangs out with the cannons and I hang out near the actors. I figure you've seen one cannon fire, you've seen them all fire.  LOL  Actors are different. You never know what they will do. Actually my son has been on a quest to get the perfect picture of the cannon firing.  Specifically he wants to show the fire coming out of the cannon. Well it's not the best coloring and clarity, but for the first time ever, he got the fire!

How in the world did he get that shot?  After the scene we were walking down the Duke of Gloucester Street, heading for home and a return to the 21st century. While walking down the street, my son excitedly showed me all his pictures of the cannon firing.

     While showing me the pictures, Mann Page walked up to say goodbye to him. Mann Page made an infamous 100 mile (I think) horseback ride during the revolution, relaying important news from Fredericksburg to Williamsburg, and then back again.   I was thinking of our drive home by van, not by horse. (Well I think I do have 6 horsepower in the van!) I asked the kids, "If it takes us 2.5 hours to drive home, which is a little over 140 miles, how long did it take Mann Page to ride a horse 100 miles to Fredericksburg?"  I didn't really expect a mathematical answer since none of us like math. But my son worked out all the math in his head. You have to estimate the speed of the horse, and we have been told in times past how fast they go on certain occasions. My son thinks it took Mann Page about 7 hours to ride to Fredericksburg.  I am glad it won't take us that long to get home.      

     People always ask us why we keep going back to CW. Well there is always something new to do. Always a fresh experience. The people are nice. My kids get a lot of attention, which they enjoy.  Also they learn a bit of history. In fact, I am simply amazed how quite recently, my son is enthusiastically digging into his books a little more. The attention he has gotten from his favorite actor I know has played a big part in this. The actor is more than an actor, he is a historian who enjoyed history books while growing up and it is positively influencing my son. I think the experience of being part of the EFT has factored into this as well.   

     How does all of this affect my daughter?  She is quiet. Remember she is the one who asked to see RC. Interestingly on the way home, she was reading her literature lesson in preparation for Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard, a Russian play written at the turn of the 20th century. She said, "Mom, this fits in perfectly with Revolutionary City. However RC is not a stage play. It is street theater."  She went on discoursing on the similarities and differences. You'd have thought she had read the RC pages on the CW website but she did not. She was making her own connections from her literature lesson on plays. 

      What a fun way to learn school and bring history and other lessons to life! How wonderful that we got behind the scenes tours. Thanks to all who made the day special!

     This past week was the first Colonial Williamsburg Electronic Field Trip of the season, "Emissaries of Peace."  The award winning EFTs are made affordable for homeschoolers through Homeschool Buyer's Co-op. For this EFT, my kids were offered a wonderful opportunity to use Skype to be on the air with the live broadcast.

     Monday we read the background history for "Emissaries of Peace."  Set during the French and Indian War, we learned about the British emissary, Lt. Henry Timberlake to the Cherokee Indians.  Timberlake wrote memoirs of his work as an emissary. Today this primary source document is a window to the past of Cherokee life.  After reading and discussing the history,  we watched the video segments, bringing the pages of history to life. 

     Tuesday we went over the activities together, comparing various aspects of Cherokee life and British colonial life in the 18th century. Then the kids played the two activities on their computers. One was about the peace treaty process.  First there was a cool interactive map which showed how Cherokee land dwindled over the years with each successive treaty. Then they went through a sort of timeline of peace treaties, where they got to see Cherokee opinions of the peace treaty.  Next they got to select the terms they would offer for the peace treaty, which would be presented to the King.  If the wrong choices were made, as in not enough concessions, the kids had to renogotiate the treaty. The second activity was an interactive timeline.  The kids got to choose events that they thought caused the Trail of Tears to take place. That was a great higher level thinking activity.

     During these lessons, I told the kids to think of the question they'd like to e-mail to Henry Timberlake. They also did the on-line vote, the results of which are discussed during the live broadcast on Thursdays.  During the live broadcasts, students get to call in questions to ask the actor/interpreters and historians.  Video questions can also be sent ahead of time. Additionally, e-mail questions are sometimes selected. Several of my kids' e-mail questions made the live broadcast last year.

     Late Tuesday afternoon, I received a surprise e-mail from one of the producers of Colonial Williamsburg's EFTs!  She had read my blog entries about how my kids have enjoyed and done activities using the EFTs. Along with the various types of questions answered during the live broadcast, CW wanted to add a new dimension to the program. They wanted to allow schools to do a sort of visual show and tell over the internet for the live broadcast, using Skype.  They had two schools lined up for each broadcast, one for the morning and one for the afternoon. The school for the morning broadcast had canceled. Would we be interested in filling in? The kids could read a poem, share one of the graphic organizers or share anything related to the EFT.  To participate, we would need to download Skype (which is free) and have a webcam and microphone.

     Wow! What an opportunity! I ran out to tell my husband who was planting my mums.  He was talking to our next door neighbors and they could tell I was about to burst with news! I finally exploded with the news as I told my husband we needed a webcam and microphone. He said he'd go out and buy it after dinner as long as I came with him.  So I ran back inside to tell the kids.  

     I called the kids' to hear the e-mail.  They were dubious. "Mom, we don't have time to put something together!  We have less than two days! We haven't even started any activities." I explained that unlike the unit celebrations we usually do for history, they don't have to carry the entire program.  In fact, they probably had only about a two minute slot for their presentation. The producers know this is short notice and would not expect a masterpiece, although we do want to present a good project. They were increasingly nervous. "But Mom, everyone will see us. The EFT airs on PBS. Everyone will see us."  I laughed and said, "Who reads my blog?  I've gotten e-mails from homeschoolers around the world, right?" They admitted I had a good point.

     Then they said they had no idea what to do. No problem. We looked through my binder of the EFT teacher packet. Flipping through the pages, we looked for inspiration. They wanted to do something interesting. After flipping through the packet, I asked them, "What inspired you or interested you the most about this EFT?" My daughter said she thought it interesting that the Cherokee women in the 18th century had political power, when British women did not. Perfect! Then my son said he wanted to do a skit and open it by mentioning that he had seen Cherokee Indians walking down the street.  During the EFT, we learned that some of the Cherokee came to Williamsburg. When we were at Colonial Williamsburg last weekend, for the first time ever we saw Shawnee Indians walking down the street so my son could relate to that part of the EFT.     

     Now we had a plan!  I had to get dinner and then run out to the store to get the webcam with my husband. I told the kids to write up the skit, starting with a key word outline of the main points, while I prepared dinner. At the dinner table, I asked them to bring what they had written. Hmmmm, not much.  "But Mom, we did it exactly how you taught us."  Last year one of the EFTs was "Making History Live," where the kids learned how to put together a first person interpretation, using a worksheet to write down notes from research. They had been using that worksheet and so far had only established their setting and characters for the skit.  I got a pen and told them I'd be their secretary.  Since my son had previously mentioned opening the skit with the Cherokee who were in town, I asked him what he would specifically say for that.  He was stuck for ideas. I had interrupted his sequential flow of thoughts in character development.  My husband suggested, "Did you see the Cherokee Indians walking through town?" That got the ball rolling. I had the kids suggest lines for their parts, I jotted them down and we were done in about five minutes.  My son replied, "Mom, the language is all wrong. You wrote everything in 21st century language when it needs to be in 18th century language." I explained that this is a rough draft.  While Dad and I were at the store shopping for the webcam, he and his sister could edit the skit and put in the 18th century language. Again they used a sheet that came from the EFT "Making History Live" that lists common phrases in the 18th century.

        My husband and I found a webcam with a microphone built in.  Then we went back home, downloaded Skype, and installed the software for the webcam. After everyone went to bed, I typed out the skit, which now had proper 18th century language. The next morning I printed out 3 copies for each of us and highlighted the parts. Then I had the kids practice their parts, while I suggested ideas for voice inflection. I told the kids not to develop any movements, because they would need to sit down for the skit.  After analyzing all the possible locations to set up the Skype, I decided to set the kids at the  dining room table. That was the only table long enough to give them room to sit side by side and for all of our notes to be spread out.

    At 8:30am, the producer called and we traded usernames for Skype.  We set 2pm for rehearsal.  Also she e-mailed release forms for the kids, which I printed and filled out. Then I drove it to a nearby shop who handle faxes. By the time I had returned, CW had listed me as a contact in Skype, which I approved in Skype. (I think, this was all new! My son says I'm not a gadget girl.  I trusted I would figure things out with help during the rehearsal.) 

     At 2pm, CW EFT called us on Skype. I clicked "Answer with video."  We saw the student hosts! They saw us! We heard the crew! They could not hear us! Oh no!  They assured me that is what rehearsal is for. They tried to talk me through what to do and told me to use the chat.  I saw the chat feature before the video phone call, but now that the video of the student hosts was working, I couldn't see the chat.   The crew was extremely nice and patient. They seem to do a good job reading lips, as I talked out the problems that they couldn't hear.  My son started writing notes to show the camera which made them laugh. I clicked all the little tabs at the top but couldn't find chat. Finally I noticed some icons underneath the video in the same color as the background.  I clicked on the one my son thought was a chat, and there was the chat. I typed, "Help!" and they laughed!  Now we could communicate. They had been telling me that our microphone must be set to mute. I typed in that we had a microphone built into the camera and in the settings, it was not set to mute. They told me to open "Preferences." I could not find that anywhere.  I clicked on everything but it was not to be found. I did find "Options" so I clicked on that.  All of the audio settings looked good so I typed that to them. Then I noticed a device that looked unfamiliar. I clicked the little arrow to the right and underneath was listed the device (webcam) my husband and I had purchased the night before.  I selected the one we had purchased and I lost the video and audio of CW. I typed that into the chat, so they called us back.  I answered the call with the video. We saw the student hosts! They saw us! We heard the crew! They heard us!  "Yea!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!," my daughter and I cheered. (We should have yelled "Huzzah!")  Everyone laughed. My son told me to calm down.  Oh, it was such a relief to conquer the audio!

     I got up so the kids to take their places.  They were told to wave after their skit. Then they were asked what inspired them to do this topic. That took them by surprise, but my daughter gave an excellent answer. The director told the kids to add that in before the skit. That sort of confused them, so the director suggested that the student hosts could ask after the skit. That became the plan.  The live broadcast would be the next morning at 10am Eastern time.  CW EFT would call us on Skype ten minutes before.  Here they are acting like they did during the rehearsal after CW EFT hung up...

     Later I got an e-mail, suggesting we trim the skit to allot for the question on how the kids were inspired and keep everything to two minutes. We were asked to trim the part my son had wanted to do about Cherokee justice, and keep the focus on Cherokee women's involvement in government. Although I had tried to talk my son into doing this very thing the night before, he insisted on keeping it. When he heard what the producer and director had asked, he was in complete agreement. He had to admit it was difficult to cram so much information into a few sentences. Now the skit flowed much better!

     The next morning the kids put on their costumes. My daughter had been getting increasingly nervous about answering the question about what inspired her, so her answer got more dragged out and confused. I told her to write down her answer and that took care of the nervousness. She kept her answer next to the script to refer to when needed.  

     At ten minutes to ten, CW EFT called us on Skype.  This time all was good except we couldn't see the student hosts.  They hung up and called us again. Now we could see them. Then they put the kids on pause during the beginning of the program. 

     Meanwhile, I had the television on, yet on mute, so it wouldn't interfere with anything.  I stood between the family room and dining room and told the kids what part of the broadcast was playing.  I knew they were going nuts not knowing what was going on.  

      A few minutes before they went on, the crew activated things, except now we couldn't see the hosts anymore.  So they hung up again and called us back. Everything was good now.       

      During the question and answer segment, the new Skype feature was announced and my kids were introduced. They waved as they had been directed. Then the camera went back to the hosts and the actor/interpreters and historian answering a few questions from students phone called, e-mailed or sent via video tape from across the country. Then my kids were introduced to present their skit. After they read their skit about Cherokee women's involvement in government within their tribes in the 18th century, they waved, as they had been directed. Then one of the hosts asked them what inspired them to present this topic.  My kids gave their answer and they were done! As the show moved on to other questions, the crew told my kids good job and reminded us that they were the first ever CW EFT Skypers! That didn't really sink in until he told us.  That was truely an honor!

     After CW EFT hung up, I took their picture...

     Then they watched the rest of the program on television. At the end of the broadcast, the hosts explained that information at the EFT website is available for other EFT subscribers to be future Skypers.  It's a great experience! 

     After the show, I asked the kids if they had any questions to e-mail Henry Timberlake. We had forgotten all about this in all the excitement! They sent the e-mails and got some terrific answers. 

     My kids had an incredible experience being the first ever CW EFT Skypers. They learned a lot about what goes on behind the scenes, working with time constraints and being part of a team. On top of that, it was a thrill to have this opportunity with Colonial Williamsburg, of which we are huge fans! This will be a memory my kids will always carry with them! Thank you for asking us to do this CW EFT!        

     My son had his 14th birthday, last Wednesday, the 14th!  Hoping to give him a memorable birthday, we took him to Colonial Williamsburg for Prelude to Victory where there were lots of Continental Soldiers, artillery, and horses.  Then Lafayette gave him some words of commendation which made him feel special. What could get better than that?  Well, nothing, right? For birthdays we traditionally take the day off from schoolwork to play games and go out to dinner.  We planned on a quiet, simple, laid back day, after a weekend full of excitement.  Something happened Tuesday to change all that!

     Late Tuesday afternoon I got an e-mail from one of the producers of the Colonial Williamsburg Electronic Field Trip!  She said she had been reading my blog about how my kids enjoy the EFT and do various activities with them.  She was wondering if we could help them out with something.  This year they were going to do something new, sort of like a virtual show and tell, using Skype and webcams.  They had a school lined up for each of the broadcasts, one for the morning and one for the afternoon. However, the school slated for the morning slot had to cancel. Could my kids fill in?   Can you imagine our surprise?  I will give the details for our experience in my next blog entry about the EFT.

     Instead of a laidback birthday, we were incredibly busy!  Since my son had his braces tightened the day before, he had an exceedingly sore mouth.  I asked my son what he'd like for breakfast and he wanted a poached egg. This breakfast developed into Eggs Benedict with my son helping me cook!

     Then the producer called to give me some information and arrange a time for rehearsal, at 2pm. I ran out to fax a release form for the kids to go on air with CW.  Then I went to the grocery store for soft food for my son's lunch and confectioner's sugar for the cake. When I got back home, he helped me make the Texas Sheet Cake, which we think is the best fudgy chocolate cake in the world!  We even played a few games inbetween all the activity.  In between all this, my kids rehearsed their skit for the EFT. 

    Finally 2pm arrived and CW called us on Skype for rehearsal. We had a glitch that we eventually figured out and the kids got to do their parts. They had a blast!  It was a lot of fun to see and hear a lot of stuff behind the scenes.  When my husband came home from work, that is all they could talk  about. Here's a picture taken after rehearsal, with them acting as if they were rehearsing. I didn't want to distract them or have the flash ruin the quality of the picture during the rehearsal.

      We played a game and then left for dinner at a Mexican restaurant. We've not been able to find a terrific Mexican restaurant in Virginia, but the one we ate at for his birthday is pretty good. My husband told them it was my son's birthday.  After we ate dinner, the wait staff came out with a plate of sopapillas and a sombrero, which they put on his head while they sang. Then they left him wearing it while he ate his dessert! We were laughing!  As much as we do costumes, we've never worn a sombrero despite all the years we've lived in San Antonio, Texas. It took moving to Virginia to finally wear a sombrero. My son decided it was a bit cumbersome.  I was bemoaning the camera I left at home, so my husband took a picture of my son with his camera phone.  Then he tried e-mailing it to me, which we never do to save money.  Oops! It ended up in my cell phone.  What was I supposed to do with it there? He's the techie of the family.  However I sat there and figured out how to e-mail it to my computer so I could put it in my blog.   Now I'm wondering how much this picture cost us!

     On the way home, the kids rehearsed their skit for the EFT.  I thought they did pretty good, practicing without any lines in front of them.  Once we got home, my son opened his gifts. One is a colonial type of baseball game from CW we had purchased at the auction, which guarantees a sale price. My son pulled the parts out and there was no ball. I told my son when we go back to CW, I'll buy him a ball for it.  He also finally got his colonial compass, which he's been designing an engraving for.   Then we had cake and ice cream.  The ice cream wasn't too bad. We really miss Blue Bell Ice Cream from Texas.

    All in all, my son had a most memorable birthday.  He was hoping to do something unique for his birthday. Never did we imagine he'd be spending it rehearsing to go on the air with CW EFT.  Stay tuned for how that went!

    Arriving in Colonial Williamsburg from Yorktown, my son hurriedly called me to join him at the capitol where the traitor Benedict Arnold was speaking to the town he had taken.

     A few months after the British occupied Williamsburg, the American and French armies moved in to occupy the town.  Reenacting that time, Prelude to Victory is a special annual event where hundreds of Continental Army reenctors arrive in Williamsburg. 

     Ending Revolutionary City that Friday afternoon, was a special scene to open events for Prelude to Victory weekend.  We assembled at the courthouse where we met the mayor (CW had a mayor?) and General Nelson, whose house we had just visited in Yorktown. This was great! We had never met either one of them before!

Then General Lafayette spoke about why and how he came to fight in America on the American side.  He had been in Williamsburg with his dragoons, awaiting the arrival of Generals Washington and Rochambeau.

     Afterwards we watched the Continental Army arrive in town and set up camp.  Then we went to dinner.

   Being my birthday, my husband made reservations at Christiana Campbell's Tavern and told them it was my birthday.  A historic musician, playing a tiny violin, about 6" long, played several songs for us. Then he walked to our table and explained the traditional "Happy Birthday" song had not yet been written, so he played the 18th century traditional song, "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" which my husband sang.  Later another historic musician played a hurdy-gurdy, a type of guitar that has a hand crank and sounds like a set of bag pipes. Later he came back with a lovely medium sized guitar, walked right over to me and announced he was going to play a popular 21st century tune.  He plucked out "Happy Birthday" while my family sang for me. Now I've been sung to before at a few other restaurants, but this was the most unique. =)

       The next morning we arrived at the Courthouse for roll call.  

 Generals Washington and Lafayette arrived on horses with the dragoons, and joined the other generals in front of the Courthouse. Knowing that Williamsburg had been previously occupied by the British, General Washington assured the town a brief occupation while all the troops gathered, before moving on to Yorktown.

   Here's one of the dragoons...

Generals Washington and Lafayette leave with the dragoons to scout the town.

       Then we went to the Wythe House to meet with the generals. This was a surveyor. It was fascinating to see real equipment and learn how it was used.

Here is another type of survey equipment my son got to inspect.

     Colonel Pickering is the quartermaster, in charge of gathering supplies, none of which can be found. He showed us the supply list and explained how it was next to impossible to work with Congress, much less to gather all the necessary supplies and food for so many from so few.  He also showed us the route they had journeyed from New York. When he learned we had recently moved from Texas to Northern Virginia, he realized why we seemed so unfamiliar with the terrain and explained in more clear terms. The importance of supplies came to light while he described the journey.  What happens when his troops come to a bridge? I replied that they have to make sure it is sturdy for all the men. Then he rolled his eyes, handed us his supply list, and asked us where in the world was he to procure these supplies?  (Hmmm, I suppose I can't tell him to talk to Tony Curtis from "Operation Petticoat".)   He was a lot of fun to engage with, as he portrayed a truely exasperated supply officer.  I definitely felt his frustration, which came to life from many of the books I had previously read about how Washington's army was short on supplies.

     Then we met with General Nelson. My husband told him we had been to his house the afternoon before. I had forgotten he thought it was Cornwallis' headquarters.  I knew the enemy was camped close by and I could honestly admit I had been terrified by cannon shot (safely fired from the nearby living history museum). Then I asked him about his double duties as governor of the state while general of the militia. He spent quite a bit of time sharing about this. He didn't seek to become governor. However the delegates felt a need for a strong military presence in the position and selected him.  General Nelson made comment on my son's costume, saying the only other general close in age to him was Lafayette. Lafayette joined the American cause when he was 19. My son said he was merely dressed as such to support the troops.  After we talked a while, General Lincoln, Washington's second in command, came over and asked Governor Nelson to introduce him to the young general.

General Nelson introduced my son as General Lafayette! My son quickly replied, "No, I am here to support the trooops."    

 Next we got to meet with General Hand, who was Washington's Chief of Staff.  He oversaw all the other departments. 

While we were talking, guess who arrived?  None other than Generals Washington and Lafayette!

General Lafayette announced Washington's presence and gave a brief speech.

 All activity stopped while we stood in awe of the moment. It seemed so real. One doesn't merely chit chat when General Washington is around. General Lafayette told us they didn't come to stop activity. We were to resume what we were doing. That was difficult! Washington inspected the work of the different men.

 Finally we pulled ourselves together to resume talking to General Hand.  Before long, we were surprised by an exuberant General Lafayette who quickly strode over to my son and exclaimed something to the effect of,  "My friend, I see you have been promoted to major general! I commend you for that!" My son smiled and replied that he was supporting the troops. Lafayette knodded his head in acknowledgement and said that is to be commended as well.  He asked my son if he had seen the town yet.  No, we had only been here to meet the generals so far.  Ah, Lafayette understood, as it was still early in the weekend. Lafayette said it was important to learn the war strategy and he discussed that at great length.  Then he said it would be good to go around the town to meet the different soldiers, etc, etc, etc.  Hmmmm, was he talking to my son as if he was a general and these were his duties as general?  It sounded a lot like what Lafayette himself was doing!  It finally occured to me I had a great picture moment and took out my camera.  Wow is he observant! He caught me doing that out of the corner of his eye!

 Then without my even asking, he volunteerily stepped over to pose with my son.  Now that I see their costumes side by side I can critique the differences in my son's costume. I used Lafayette's costume as a guide with contemporary patterns I had, which I made last year for him to portray Lafayette for an EFT project on Yorktown at home. My son needs a new costume as right now this is the only one that fits. Nevertheless, this is great to finally have the two of them side by side in the major general costumes, considering that Lafayette's was the inspiration for my son's.  Never did I expect them to stand side by side in similar costumes!  The entire experience was truely wonderful! 

     Lafayette left to attend to his other official duties.  We then got to meet the mayor!  I told him we have made many trips to town but had never heard of a mayor of Williamsburg before. I asked if this was something new since the provincial government left. No, there has always been a mayor and he spent quite a bit of time explaining that and various other things to me. One explanation led to another question and it went on and on.  Quite fascinating!

Somehow we got onto the topic of distance of shooting range. Maybe my husband or son was asking that. He said 80 yards was good. Or is it feet?  Hmmmm, anyway, he asked what was a good way to judge that distance. Now this I know!  By the whites of their eyes! Yes! He explained that was not first said at the Battle of Bunker Hill, as it is often credited, but goes back many years. Then I asked about Baron von Steuben's work with the soldiers.   After much discussion of him, the mayor brought out the baron's guide book for soldiers. Ahhh, I remember reading that he was responsible for this important manual which has been used through the years. The mayor offered the book to my husband for his perusal. Now my husband is not really into books, but having been recently retired from the USAF, this book caught his eye.  He flipped through a few pages and recognized some stuff, then he pointed out some differences. That's when things got interesting!

  Colonel Pickering overheard the conversation and he came over and joined the mayor in reeducating my husband in the art of soldiery and trying to convince him to join the militia.  I tossed out the fact that my husband had recently retired from the USAF in Texas and is now living in Virginia. They said that was not an excuse for not joining the militia. Men in Virginia move from county to county all the time and are still expected to join the local militia.  When my husband mentioned that he marched "1-2-3-4" they exclaimed that that made no sense whatsoever. Who has four feet?  Then they found out my husband didn't efficiently right turn or about face.  Colonel Pickering set out to demonstrate for my husband the proper method while the Mayor read from the baron's instruction book...

       After the drills, we decided to leave for lunch.  The family wanted to eat on Botetourt Street, where we saw the generals and the dragoons pass by.

After lunch we walked around the camps, where I met a seamstress. I learned how to make buttonholes by hand and we talked extensively about draping for gowns and how to use all of the accessories. I plan to make this a separate blog entry.

We talked to many interesting people and my kids played a lot of colonial games. He was roasting something highly unusual. He asked me to guess what it was and I guessed a cow's udder.  Yes, to render the fat for the soldiers' diet. Can you imagine?

At these tents I met some cooks of more appetizing food. Actually they  cooked for the officers. They had recently roasted a hollowed pumpkin full of apples and spices. 

 Then we went to Revolutionary City which had special scenes just for Prelude to Victory. First we met with General Washington.  Afterwards men were recruited to join the army, and my husband did join. Col. Pickering and the mayor should be delighted. They went through their drills and my husband probably snuck in some 21st century about-faces which were better than some who did 360 degree about-faces!  We missed the next scene about Barbary Hoy, because my kids insisted on going to the print shop to buy a birthday gift for me. However Babary Hoy's story became more real to me after having had talked to the cook for the officers. She said the safest place for them was often in following their husbands in camp. However they were never given tents. They slept wherever they could find a spot. Babary Hoy comes back to Virginia after being a camp follower with her husband, who has been captured in South Carolina. This is a regular scene from RC. 

The next scene, "The Court Martial of Private Grant" was emotionally rough to get through. He was accused of treason after nearly killing his officer. 

Although he was able to prove it was not treason, and he acted alone, he admitted to premeditated murder.

Why? Because this officer was having his way with the soldiers' wives of the camp, and was caught by the private with the private's own wife.  Here is his wife surrounded by friends, in tears at her husband's trial.

Angered, the private shot the officer in the eye. He was found innocent of treason but guilty of premeditated murder. He was sentenced to execution. While studying WWI, my kids and I have been discussing this kind of tightened up rules during war time, to keep order in the ranks to remain focused on winning the war.

 After watching another poignant scene, regularly in RC about slaves contemplating escape to freedom, we met Washington in front of the Capital and followed him to the Courthouse for a review of the troops.

There are also some Shawnee Indians in town. More about them later.  Looks like these Indians are helping the Continental soldiers.

Then we followed Washington to the Courthouse for his review of the troops.

There is General Washington, Lincoln and Lafayette.

The next morning we attended the drumhead church service.  Because there is no pulpit in the field for the minister, drumheads are used to represent the pulpit. Baptist preacher James Ireland delivered the sermon while the generals sat in front.

Then Generals Washington and Lafayette joined the dragoons to tour the town.

We returned to the Wythe House to meet with the generals again and met different surveyors. This time I got to talk to a map maker. I've always wanted to see how the art of surveying went hand in hand with cartography. Although I did not enjoy math in school, I always liked geometry and cartography looked like fun. The surveyor admitted to the same and said he found map making to be quite relaxing. General Washington arrived again, alone this time, and inspected each of the projects. He told the surveyor he needed the maps as soon as possible. After Washington left, the surveyor told us maps could be made quite quickly and these particular maps were like today's triptiks from AAA, focusing on the roads themselves.  

    After lunch we met the singer from RC.  He walked by my son and stopped and said, "Yes, we were all wondering what your rank was." He chuckled when he saw the rank and said, "That's pretty good that you made yourself a major general." My son said it was to support the troops. The singer said my son might be a spy for all he knew.  What?  Not my son! He took a close look at the stitching and said it was too precise to be American. He said it looked like it came from Britain. Really? (I stitched it but I'm not British. Afterwards my son came to me and asked if the singer was complimenting me or not. I have no idea!  I was wondering the same thing myself!) We  got to talking about Under the Redcoat and I said my kids were nearly imprisoned. He was surprised to hear that and said he was captured. We said we knew because we were there.  (I blogged all about it!) He told us the real story of why he was captured and that was interesting because we didn't know the details at the time.  He related it to things in our current time. 

     Then we met with some officers who were British prisoners of war under house arrest. They have a small bit of freedom about town. The one on the left engaged with my son a lot!  He was a bit laid back and resigned to his condition, and a bit philosophical in that he was able to argue the Continental view alongside the British view. While discussing the Boston Tea Party, he talked about the savages running through the streets and dumping tea into the harbor. He asked my son why the townsfolk did not get upset about the savages running through town. My son simply replied, "Because they were not Indians. They were the men of the town dressed as Indians." The man on the right, who was extremely frustrated at being cooped up and imprisoned, said that was an astute answer. He had been taken prisoner at the Battle of Saratoga (which Benedict Arnold won for America) and was later exchanged. After Arnold became a turncoat, this man fell under his command but he didn't trust him much.  They were very interesting to listen to. 

 Next we saw the newest RC program, "So Far from Scioto," about the Shawnee Indians in Williamsburg. Since it is set in a different time frame than Prelude to Victory and because it is a unique program, it deserves a separate blog entry which will be forthcoming.  Afterwards we got to meet with the actors and they were wonderful.

We learned more interesting information about Native American culture. Additionally I discovered one of the actors (the one in the white shirt) had the same educational philosophy that I had and we had a great time talking about that. Then one of their friends, another Native American in 21st century clothes (the one covering the non-historic Denver Broncos logo on his blue shirt), asked me if I had a camera. When I told him yes, he said I should get a picture of my kids with the actors. In fact, he'd stage them. How nice of him! Here they are! My daughter said the man next to her was making her laugh by whispering in her ear, "I bet you're scared of me.  Grrrrrr. No not really. Grrrrr."

 Next we went to Revolutionary City. The first scene was of Loyalists sneaking out of town.

Here's his slave loading the Loyalist's wagon with his personal belongings. 

Then we saw a demonstration of the dragoon's skills while Lafayette narrated. 

This was the first we ever saw horsemanship like this demonstrated at CW.

 Lafayette led these dragoons through the war. My daughter and I had gotten separated from my son and husband during the Dragoon event. She and I went behind the Coffee House to wait for the next scene and to wait for my husband and son. When they arrived my son was grinning and said, "Hey Mom, guess what?"  Lafayette had seen him and asked if he had been learning how to be a general and if he was ready to lead his own group of dragoons.  My son told him yes to both.  I knew I could lose my son to the dragoons. He's always had a thing for horses.  

 Afterwards we watched a meeting of the generals as they planned their seige on Yorktown. As Washington arrived at the meeting, there was a loud gunshot. He was told that was the execution of the soldier who had been convicted of premeditated murder the day before.  During this scene, a wagon pulled by horses and followed by soldiers in arms went up the road. The wagon had a casket.    

The next scene, usually seen in RC, was The Promised Land with pastors Gowan Pamphlet and James Ireland. Afterwards we met with General Washington who announced that all of the troops have arrived from the north. They were now prepared to leave Williamsburg and engage with Cornwallis in Yorktown.

 After Washington reviewed the troops at Market Square, the army left town for Yorktown.  Today we know the rest of the story.  America, with France's help, successfully lays seige against the British, Cornwallis surrenders, and England prepares for peace talks which conclude two years later. Yorktown was the final major battle of the American Revolution. Huzzah!

     Friday morning we left for the weekend, with our first stop at Yorktown Battlefield.  If anyone had ever told me I would be touring a battlefield on my birthday by choice, I would have thought they were nuts! However I have found this to be the most fascinating battlefield that I have ever toured!  One thing that sets this battlefield apart from the rest, are the redoubts, a form of earthworks, which are all over the park.

     Our first stop was the visitor center. We did not arrive until 11:00am.  I knew we wouldn't have time to do everything (major sadness) so I tried to plan our time to the utmost for the day.  While waiting for the movie to start, we toured the Visitor Center a little bit.  Every time I tried to read something, my kids kept calling me over to see this or that.  The first item they directed me to, with a huge grin, was the Lafayette Cannon!  I had to chuckle. While touring the Civil War battlefields around Fredericksburg last spring, we discovered the Napoleonic Cannon, which is a certain style of cannon.  (There's an inside joke here.) The Lafayette Cannon is not a style of cannon, but a cannon with a story that involves Lafayette's Grand Tour.   

     The movie we watched was probably the best I've seen at any of these parks. I forget all the details now, but one item that stuck out was the naval battle we got to see. The kids and I have read about many naval battles, but this is the first we've seen one.        

     There was a lot more to see in the Visitor Center than we had time for.  We spied a huge ship we could walk into behind the desk. Because the day was beautiful, I suggested we save the rest of the Visitor Center for a rainy day.  After lunch, we started the driving tour. The brochure says the main drive takes only 45 minutes, but it took us over 3 hours! 

     I should probably preface the driving tour with a little background. Yorktown was the last major battle of the American Revolution, fought in October 1781. Earlier in the year, General Washington had sent Lafayette with his men into Virginia, while Cornwallis arrived to attack Lafayette West of Williamsburg, but failed.  Cornwallis then established operations in Yorktown, East of Williamsburg.  Lafayette sent word to General Washington in New York, who had been reinforced by General Rochambeau's French army. They headed south to Yorktown. Meanwhile, any hope for a British escape by sea was doomed, due to the arrival of a French fleet led by Comte de Grasse.  Cornwallis and his men were cornered at Yorktown. Lafayette waited in Williamsburg for the arrival of Washington and Rochambeau. When all the French and American soldiers had gathered, the 17,000 men moved on to Yorktown where they began a seige on Cornwallis and his 8,000 men.     

    The first stop was the redoubts the British had built for their defense.

     The next stop was the Grand French Battery, where on Oct 6, the first seige line was built.  On Oct 9, firing on the British began.  The different types of cannons are explained here.  We learned all about them during our CW EFT last year on Yorktown. 

Now we got to actually see them set up.  Nearly a year later, my kids were able to give my husband all the details on the differences of each one.

      Then we drove to the Second Allied Seige Line, closer in to the British position. However, there was a problem. British redoubts 9 and 10 were in the way. 

We drove to Redoubts 9 and 10, which we learned about in the Yorktown EFT.  Lafayette was the commander and Col John Laurens led the storming of Redoubt 10 while the French took Redoubt 9 on October 14.  Up to the attack, the cannons had been steadily firing upon the British without relief.  To prevent any accidents, the soldiers disarmed their guns yet engaged their bayonets. Suddenly the cannons were silenced, the soldiers attacked the redoubts which were captured within 30 minutes.  

It is amazing how quickly these structures were built. The technique goes back to the Middle Ages.

The York River is creeping up behind the redoubt.

 The Continental Army advanced and continued the bombardment. General Cornwallis surrendered three days later. Meeting at the Moore House, Lt. Col. John Laurens negotiated the surrender terms.  Because he, General Benjamin Lincoln and their men were captured the year before in South Carolina and denied the honors of war, Laurens insisted on the same for the British surrender. 

This house overlooks the York River.

Then we drove to the surrender site. This body of water was beautiful!

 This is the field where the British formally surrendered.  Denied the honors of war meant that the flags had to be cased and the losing army could not play the victor's music. General Cornwallis did not attend the ceremony and had his second in command hand over the ceremonial surrender sword. The British soldiers angrily laid down their arms.  This was the last major battle of the American Revolution.

 These are the British cannons that were turned over to the Americans.

 Although there was another driving tour to the French encampment and Washington's headquarters, the day was getting short. Instead we wrapped up our tour of Yorktown by  going into the town, to the Nelson House.  Thomas Nelson led a local "tea party" on the York River in 1774.  He was the third governor of Virginia, behind Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson. While he was governor, he was also general of the Virignia militia during the Seige of Yorktown. He directed his men to shoot the artillery at the British, even if it meant his house would be destroyed. Apparently he also gave Washington a white horse, named Nelson. Here is his house today. While we walked up to the house, we heard a cannon blast which made me jump out of my skin!  I had to think a moment, then I realized it came from the Victory Center, the hands on Battle of Yorktown museum.  Considering the setting for the day, it sure seemed realistic!

There are scars from the seige today. Here's a cannon ball, that's been put in one of the scars.

We had a few minutes left so we walked down to the riverfront. The land on the other side is Gloucester Point, where Banastre Tarleton and his men were. We met Tarleton at Under the Redcoat.

Doesn't the boat ride look like fun?

Then we left for Williamsburg for the beginning of Prelude to Victory!

    This past weekend was a shared birthday for my son and me.  We have long dreamed of celebrating at the annual Prelude to Victory event at Colonial Williamsburg. We left Friday for Yorktown Battlefield in preparation for the event, then went to CW in the late afternoon. That evening I was seranaded by historic musicians for my birthday at Christiana Campbell's Tavern. That was definitely unique! Then the rest of the weekend was for my son.  How much fun for a boy to be surrounded by cannons, artillery, (in other words, lots of noise!) and a surprise meeting with his favorite actor!  We arrived home late last night and had a wonderful time making new memories, many of which revolve around my son's "new" costume.

     Since we moved from Texas to Northern Virginia last spring, we have not acclimated to the colder weather. Although the autumn leaves are a fresh treat for our birthdays, the huge temperature ranges are doing us in.  Recently, I have been trying to figure out how to help my kids survive the colder weather in Colonial Williamsburg, while they are in costume. Even though I have purchased fabric for historic cloaks for them to wear over their costumes, I haven't had time to complete them before our big birthday trip down to CW last weekend.  To complicate matters, my son has grown five inches since moving to Virginia!  He can barely get into his old costume anymore. He has been wanting me to make a new colonial costume for him, but I haven't had time to do that either. One day I realized that his Lafayette costume had been hanging in the closet and should fit perfectly.  Also, it has extra layers of fabric, so he'd be warmer.  That was good because there were some chilly moments last weekend.  Nevertheless my son did tell me he was glad I would make a cape for him, when he felt the evening chill settle in.  

     Sounds like we're on the right track, right? Well, what would other people think of him wearing a major general costume?  We worried about how this would go over at Colonial Williamsburg. We certainly did not want to be presumptious in having him portray Lafayette at CW. That was merely his assignment for a school project a year ago when we studied Yorktown.

 We agree that there can only be one "Lafayette!"  In fact, that is why my son had the costume in the first place. While studying Yorktown, I assigned my son to do a first person interpretation of someone who was at Yorktown and give his perspective of the future. This was an assignment I had found in the Electronic Field Trip packet and I was going to allow him to simply make a rough draft and present this for his dad that weekend. He not only chose Lafayette, but also asked for a costume.  Wilting from all of my other costume projects, I decided to make the Lafayette costume, if it meant encouraging his history studies.  He doesn't normally dig into history books, so I sewed the costume while he dug away!  I used a combination of contemporary patterns and vacation pictures of the CW Lafayette to put the costume together. 

     After much thought, my son decided he could honestly say that he was supporting the troops. I thought that was good, but what if it didn't work?  After all when we attended Under the Redcoat last June, my children were nearly arrested. This time I had visions of the Continental Army arresting him for impersonating an officer. (My dad and husband are both retired USAF, so we understand these things.)  I decided that I would take the 21st century slant and explain, if needed, that it's the only costume we had in the closet that fits and helps to keep him warm. (My kids and I are always trying to stay in the 18th century as much as possible, which is a huge challenge when 21st century things are occuring!)  Well, my son definitely got a lot of reactions to his costume, especially from all of the actor interpreters! On top of that, Lafayette himself approached him concerning this matter. Stay tuned for the details!    

     My husband saw how limited I was with my poor sewing machine, not to mention how discouraged I was when I learned I'd have to wait up to 60 days for the moving company to decide if they'd pay for a new machine.  Therefore, he told me to get my new Pfaff Expressions 2.0!

   Since my husband really, really, really wants window treatments in the new house, I've been trying to plan out what I'd hang at each window. I felt a bit limited with options at JoAnn and Hancock. Then someone at Colonial Williamsburg told me about G Street Fabrics in the Washington DC area. Wow!  What a selection! First I nearly fainted when I saw the prices of some of the fabrics, up to $100 a yard. Second I was revived when I found the clearance table where I found gorgeous remnants for $8 or less a  yard.  On top of that, I had a coupon.  So far I have completed two treatments.  

     Here is a Williamsburg print with a toile back for the french door.  This is a copy of a store bought set I had in San Antonio. I got the fabrics with 40% off coupons at JoAnn.

This valence is for the kitchen.  I got the fabric off the clearance rack at JoAnn and think I got to use a coupon on top of that.  The backing is a silk dupioni I got on clearance and with a coupon too. This is the most ambitious window treatment I have ever made.

      In the meantime, I am working on other projects, while the moving company is teetering on the brink of sending a check. They called my husband the other day to ask more questions about the sewing machine (even though they have the write up from the sewing machine repairman).  They asked permission to call the repairman themselves.  Sure! They're on my side!  They said that machine was dropped and impossible to repair.

    I'll update with more photos as more window treatments are completed. Stay tuned! 

    Today we went drove to Washington DC for the afternoon. We parked at Union Station, which is cheaper than the metro, driving is faster than the metro, and I don't like being underground. But I do like Union Station. We were amazed by the 1905 architecture. My son asked if that was real gold in the ceiling. Yes, it's gold leaf!

The outdoors presented a gorgeous autumn day. 

This is the closest the kids ever got to the Capitol.

     Our objective was to see the Wright Flyer Exhibit at the Air and Space Museum. We only had an hour to see it last summer and today, we only had an hour before it closed. We read and learned a lot, but we are looking forward to coming back to see the rest.  I had a lot to say and post about this, but I will save it for when we get to complete it. 

     When my daughter saw my jacket that I brought for the day, she said she had never seen me wear it before. That is because San Antonio never had autumn weather. In fact, I am cold this autumn in Virginia! The extreme temperature ranges during the day and into the night led to my first cold, from which I am now recovering. I am feeling pretty good now, but have a bit of a sore throat and laryngitis, which might be due to allergies. I don't know how I'm going to endure the winter. I am certainly enjoying the change in color, although I cannot see it as crystal clear as I previously did. Friday I got my new contacts. Because of an astigmatism, I should wear torics, which would give me crystal clear vision. However they are historically extremely uncomfortable. Throughout college and into my kids' preschool years, I wore regular soft contacts without any problem. Then I got a new eye doctor who insisted on torics, which drove me to glasses, which have given me awful headaches for the last ten years.  Right now I am wearing regular soft contacts, which are extremely comfortable and no more headaches! This is much healthier for me than taking Excedrin everyday. However, the downside is exactly what the doctor told me it would be, my vision is not crystal clear. All day I've been switching between sunglasses and readers so I can read the map. In the museum, I had difficulty reading in the dark.  I am remembering why in my previous contact lens years, I gave up on reading and cross stitch. No, I do not need bifocals, the doctor said so. This issue is related to my astigmatism. Glasses brought new life to my reading books and doing fine stitching. I have to admit, the torics that I could not endure in 1999 did give me crystal clear vision. This doctor is willing to work with me and has ordered another set to try out next week.  I might break down to try the toric.  I would love to get past the discomfort of them if I need them.  When I came home with my new contacts Friday, I was a bit worried about what my husband would think. He now admits he likes me better without glasses and it's kind of fun seeing the look on his face now when he first sees me each day with my contacts. ;)  Being a bit "off" due to a missing balance nerve, a bit of hearing loss (resulting from the surgery of the balance nerve and a possible sinus infection) and my eyes not having crystal clear vision, I am completely uncertain of my surroundings and a bit dependent on those around me. My vision and hearing compensate me for my balance loss. My vision compensates for my hearing loss, as I read lips. This morning I had trouble reading someone's lips! This is definitely a transition time for me. For any of you who will be around me, if I seem a bit "off", this is the reason why.  

     I knew I'd be needing a new picture to get ready for "Secret Sister" time in a few weeks at my TOG history yahoo group.   I tried to talk my husband into a family picture. Instead he took a picture of me and the kids.  

     Our TOG Rhetoric literature has quite a bit of analysis, which I feel perfectly fits the classical model for that age.  Although TOG has literature worksheets for the younger students, I'd rather they savor and experience the words in the book, rather than have one more written assignment to do.  However, when we first started TOG, I did want to teach the basics of literature.  That's when I pulled out IEW's "Teaching the Classics."  

     "Teaching the Classics" comes with a notebook and DVD on different aspects of basic literary analysis. After watching the DVDs, I was pleasantly surprised that I knew more than I thought I did.  Armed with the basics and a few good tips, I set out to enhance our dialectic literature studies.  Instead of using worksheets, I used our white board.   

     After reading one of our books, I put a plot diagram on a whiteboard...isn't that more fun than a worksheet? I like to use color markers for different points, perhaps green for setting, blue for rising action, red for climax and yellow for denouement.  I talked the kids through the book, and jotted down answers on the correct parts of the diagram. Soon they got the idea that a good book has the same plot structure.  After a few weeks, when this was internalyzed, we began discussing the literature book orally over lunch,  which became a Literature Club Cafe.  We liked the informal nature of the discussion. Sometimes we'd even read our favorite parts of the book, emphasizing a point we were trying to make.  One day, I got so caught up in a favorite scene, that I made a scene, acting it out in the kitchen!  The kids thought I had lost it, but I made a dramatic point!  Isn't that the fun of teaching? ;)

        In preparation for the discussions, I'd read the book myself and tag the pages with a sticky note if there was something special I wanted to be certain to share.  Some authors merely write books, fulfilling the requirements for basic plot structure. Ahem, b-o-r-i-n-g.  These books I didn't formally discuss. They were good for reliving the historical moment, since grammar and dialectic literature books are about the historical era studied. Otherwise, I didn't spend much time discussing them. However, other writers weave a tale of intricacy, either through characterization, foreshadowing, or building suspense in the plot structure.  It is a pure delight to sink into their stories, to savor the experience. These books lend themselves to teaching new literature concepts. One book from our ancient studies in TOG Year 1, Hittite Warrior, was full of foreshadowing.  On printer paper, I wrote in large colorful letters...foreshadowing.  Then during lunch, aka Literary Club Cafe, I defined foreshadowing. Then I flipped in the book to each sticky and dramatically read a sample of foreshadowing while holding up my sign. I did  that for each quote. By the time I was done reading quotes, the kids had gotten the point!  The fun part was that it did not require a worksheet! 

     Now, three years later, I don't even try to have Literary Club Cafe (I got caught up in a move from Texas to Virginia and the dust continues to settle).  However the kids sort of bring it up on their own, especially my daughter who is now doing TOG's Rhetoric literature. Barely seated, she immediately lapses into the next literary analysis of the book she is currently reading. This amazes me, considering we're going to have a formal discussion on the R book anyway, using TOG's literary analysis lesson plans. My son continues in dialectic literature, his final year before Rhetoric, and he too likes to share dramatic moments from his book.   That's another fun part of teaching, when the kids naturally carry on what I started!     

     The first week of each school year, TOG recommends reviewing geography terms.  I found a great site where one can make colorfully picturesque  flashcards. I printed these out and then laminated them.  

     While my kids were learning these in our first year of TOG several years ago (that translates into no pictures; that was my personal era before owning a digital camera), I was making homemade pizza for lunch. Before I tell you my crazy idea, perhaps I should relate a bit of history. Ever since my kids were quite young, I'd let them play with the dough and make their own pizza.  Because my son was diagnosed FTT (failure to thrive) at age 9 months and had fallen off the growth chart for weight, I was always looking for ideas to entice him to eat.  Letting him play with his food in a productive way, I hoped, would be the perfect enticement. Therefore I looked for ways to have him help in the kitchen. Furthermore both of my kids had Sensory Integration Disorder issues,  so I was always on the lookout for texture activities. Well, I felt as though I hit paydirt when I realized I could achieve even schoolwork (geography terms) with pizza dough!  Hence my crazy idea for pizza dough geography!

     I called the kids down and told them we were having pizza for lunch and they could make their own. I heard rousing cheers from the two young ones.  However, first I wanted them to  use the dough to review their geography flashcards, which were still sitting untouched in the school basket.  They looked at me as though they knew Mom had definitely lost it this time.  But game as always, they ran upstairs to get the cards while I portioned out the dough and an area for them to work. We looked at each card and discussed each feature while they duplicated each geographical shape with their dough.  Because these cards were actually review from a previous curriculum and preparation for previous geography bees, it was truely a review and we easily got through all the cards. For students newer to the terms, these could easily be done a few at a time, through the course of the year.  There is truely no need to master every term the first week of school.  

     When each of the terms were finished, I told the kids to now make their pizza and I got the homemade sauce, grated mozarella cheese and pepperoni ready. I assumed my kids would make the usual circles/ovals for their pizza. Oh no!  They made geography pizza!  They decided to now shape their pizza into their favorite geographical shape!  Giggles ensued while creating their masterpieces. My daughter made an atoll pizza, whereas my son made a barrier reef pizza.  They told me those were the best pizzas they had ever eaten!  

     Over the last few weeks, a few ladies have contacted me for information to help them plan their time at Colonial Williamsburg during the homeschool weeks. Each of these ladies had been to CW years ago, but a lot has changed and they knew that I go quite a bit. Incidentally, their primary questions revolved around the same program, so I thought others might benefit from some of the information I shared.

      The one lady, wanting to maximize her family's time in the few days they'd be at Colonial Williamsburg, asked which programs did I think she should focus on attending. Without skipping a beat I said, "Revolutionary City".  Revolutionary City is an interactive outdoor theater program that encapsulates everything that Colonial Williamsburg represents.  For everyone, including homeschoolers, this is incredible. It is more than a synopsis of the driving force behind the Revolutionary War. It is an opportunity to see first hand the essence of what the Revolutionary War was fought for. It explores the roots of our country's history and the beginnings of our representative government. 

     Then I was asked if all of this takes place indoors. Would there be enough room in the theater for the entire family to view this. Actually Revolutionary City is outdoor theater!  The setting is on the streets of 18th century Williamsburg, when it was the seat of Virginia government. How often do we get to see a play in it's actual historic setting with a three dimensional stage? The restored colonial shops, houses, taverns, capitol and courthouse form the backdrop for the dramatic scenes. Revolutionary City is a history book come to life. Everything that the students have read and studied, are now interactive.  The students, parents and all guests can now get emotionally caught up as they see events, hopes, dreams and disappointments of the people of the 18th century unfold before their eyes.  Horsemen gallop up the Duke of Gloucester Street shouting news of the recent Battle of Lexington and Concord!  The royal governor,  Lord Dunmore, angrily arrives at the capitol in his carriage drawn by horses. During the announcement that Virginia is declaring its independence from England, cannons near the guests are fired while everyone shouts "Huzzah!"  Benedict Arnold arrives pompously on his horse and arrogantly declares the benefits of his takeover of the city, as the American flag is taken down from the capitol behind him, and the British flag is raised.    

     Another friend asked what year Colonial Williamsburg would be in when they arrived. I knew what she meant, because I had experienced that on previous visits before Revolutionary City began a few years ago. In 2004 we were there for a week and the time frame was the month that we were there, August, in one certain year, I think 1775.  Now that Revolutionary City is a daily event throughout the year (except winter), the time changes each day. Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday is the day 1 program, which reenacts events from 1774-1776.  If RC is in the afternoon, as it is during the school year, and you meet Patrick Henry in the morning, he'll probably mention that there is consternation in the town and Lord Dunmore will be arriving at the capitol in the morning.  We might want to be there to hear what he says. (That is the first scene of RC on those days.)  Wed, Fri and Sun is the day 2 program, which reenacts events from 1776-1781.  If you meet townspeople in the morning, they might mention that the Declaration of Independence is going to be read at the capitol that afternoon and we might want to attend the public reading of it. That is the first scene of RC of those days.  On Mondays, there are vignettes of various people from the Revolution throughout the entire time frame.  Then there are additional scenes scattered across the historic area throughout each day.

     My friend also asked how they would be able to find the scenes. At the beginning of each RC, as the "staging" area is entered, broadsides (flyers) are distributed with the events, locations and time frame, so everyone can keep track.  Also one can't get lost, just follow the crowds. The interpreters often make transition speeches with announcements of where to go next. For example, "I hear there is a secret meeting in the garden.  Let's go down and listen!" (That's not actually a line. I don't have the script; nor do I have any of this memorized! But the transitions are done in character!)    

         The part that makes RC shine is that it is interactive!  It's fascinating to watch an excellent play; yet, it's beyond incredible to be caught up in unfolding drama! The guests are encouraged to engage with the characters, asking their opinions of events, and subsequently are free to express their own opinions.  Sometimes while walking down the Duke of Gloucester to go to the next scene, Patrick Henry himself has fallen in step next to me and another delegate has joined him.  They discuss the pressing events requiring Lord Dunmore's angry arrival.  I could jump into their discussion with my own opinions, or ask them questions about their discussions.  However, I am usually so in awe, caught in the moment from a page of history, that I can't think of anything to say. Other times one of the characters will see me and draw me out. That is really the best way to get me to talk.  One time a slave came to me before RC, while I was sitting on a doorstep, quite worried and asking if I heard that Lord Dunmore would be arriving. Another time, before the tar and feathering scene, I've been hurriedly asked if I had seen Mr. Hardcastle. Before the beginning of RC on various trips to CW, the kids and I might eat lunch or get a snack or hot cocoa from Raleigh Tavern Bakery and sit under the trees, only to be approached by one of the townspeople and asked where we are visiting from and caught up on the events of the day. The other day, while walking to the capitol to hear the reading of the Declaration of Independence, Mr. Mason greeted me and said he remembered my family. I started talking to him about the Virginia Declaration of Rights which he had written.  My husband and son have earnestly attempted to talk Mrs. Randolph into becoming a patriot and remaining in Virginia. My husband told Mrs. Vobe that I make Peanut Soup and she suggested that we trade receipts.  While I was talking to her, she saw someone coming down the street, from whom she needed to collect money owed her. She excused herself so that she could take care of business. Then I realized that was the next scene, and I was part of it!  Each experience with Revolutionary City allows me to consider the story from different viewpoints, whether I stood next to a slave, a tory, or a patriot.   Where else can we be immersed in the history of the formation of our country?