A week ago we had our Year 2 Unit 4 Celebration about the years from 1706-1801.  It's taken me this long to blog about it because at the last moment I realized I should video tape portions of the kids' recitations.  Having never done this before, I had a lot of issues.  If you'd like the long version, read the final paragraphs of the previous blog entry.  In short, I apologize to my poor dd who's only 2 moments on video tapes got messed up.  As you will see in the Liberty Tea Party, I had no idea it's important to keep the camera in one position while video taping.  sigh. Then I shortened the video of her poem and that made the clear picture fuzzy.  excuse me while I shed a few tears. Nevertheless, let the show go on!

This is set up in the foyer for the guests who arrive, my parents.  MIL had flown 1500 miles to see the event and opened the door for them so that we could make our grand entrance as a family. 

Here is the display of the historical documents, sealed letter from George Washington to his wife Martha, quill pen, ink, sealing wax and stamp.

Here are some games, musical instruments, compass and scope from the era.

Here are the books that were read and the art projects that were completed. The dc wove baskets, decoupaged boxes, made silver plates and cups, copy books and clay pieces which was a popular art form back then. 

Sadly, I have no pictures of the big event, or video tape, so just imagine.    We came down the stairs with ds in the lead, playing Yankee Doodle on his fife which he had gotten in Colonial Williamsburg four years ago.  Back then I had given him flutophone instruction and he's currently learning piano.  In 7 days he figured out how to finger the notes and blow into the fife (which isn't easy) for the big entrance.  How I wish I had video tape of this!  DD made and wore this hat while we made our grand entrance.

Then we welcomed everyone and announced who we were.  DH was portraying Ben Franklin, I was portraying Martha Washington, dd was portraying Abigail Adams and ds was portraying a boy from a plantation in Yorktown.  (This picture was taken by MIL before my parents arrived.) 

Then ds distributed programs for our guests to follow the presentation.  These baskets contain the programs (on the left) and souvenirs (on the right, more on that later).

Afterwards, ds gave some background information on the historical events leading to the boycott on tea.

I had given my dh a script of comments Ben Franklin made during different historical points.  DH interjected these after every recitation. Can't you just imagine Ben Franklin doing this? At this point he interjected, "This king will stand foremost in the list of diabolical, bloody and execrable tyrants!"

Then dd presented her speech on Liberty Tea (which we made from fresh orange and chocolate mint leaves in my garden...it tasted excellent!), explaining proper ettiquette, and then served tea. (Editor's Note:  I didn't think about keeping the camera in one position.  Oops!)

After dh prayed the blessing, we served a buffet dinner made from recipes from historical places in Virginia. 

Virginia Ham

Currant Nut Tea Cake from Carter's Grove Plantation near Williamsburg, Virginia

Almond Macaroons from King Arms Tavern in Williamsburg, Virginia

Sweet Potato Muffins from Christiana Campbell's Tavern in Williamsburg, Virginia

Garden Salad from Monticello near Charlottesville, Virginia (Thomas Jefferson's cooks were known for using fresh ingredients from the garden, especially peaches, which are in this salad with an herbal vinaigrette.)

Whipped Honey Butter imported from New York Colony (For Christmas last year my SIL sent honey from the bee farm in her backyard in upstate New York.)

Apple Cider Cake from Chownings Tavern in Williamsburg, Virginia (This cake got stuck in the bundt pan.  I had to scoop it out.  It was then renamed Spiced Apple Spoonbread with Apple Cider Sauce.  It turned out to be the best tasting item offered!)

In the kitchen we had Peanut Soup from Mount Vernon near Alexandria, Virginia.  (This was one of George Washington's favorite dishes.)

There was also Wassail from Raleigh Tavern in Williamsburg, Virginia.  

At the end of dinner, the children each played pieces on a keyboard borrowed from my mom.  They used the harpsichord setting.  DD played a piece she is currently learning.  DS taught himself in 2 weeks how to play Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing.  Then dh, portraying Ben Franklin, got up to share about one of Franklin's inventions, the glass armonica.  DS is dressed very casually, because like Ben, he planned on jumping in the lake for a swim after the presentation. Also I had no time to make a full costume (see last paragraph of that blog entry) for him, which he announced a desire for at the last minute. lol  MIL had read that blog entry right before she leftfor the airport to come here.  She said that if she had known she could have packed a colonial costume she had in the garage for him to wear!  Go figure!  I never thought to ask her for something like that!  lol

 Then dd gave a speech about the events from the Boston Tea Party to Patrick Henry's "Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death" speech.

Then ds recited "Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death."  I coached him very little on this.  This was entirely his interpretation.  It did help that he saw Patrick Henry do this in Colonial Williamsburg four years ago! Hold on to your hats!

Ben Franklin then interjected...I had to stand before the English Parliament and endure verbal abuse at their outrage over the Boston Tea Party, while lords and ladies sat in gleefully mocking tone.  I was sarcastically questioned and called names.  I endured this outrage in stoic silence.  However, as I left, I hissed, "I will make your master a little king for this." 

Then ds gave a speech on the geography of Boston, Lexington and Concord and background behind the poem "Paul Revere's Ride." 

Then dd recited "Paul Revere's Ride."  It was 6 minutes long, too long for photobucket so I shortened it....and sadly the video is now terribly grainy.  boo hoo  But she did a great job!

Then Ben Franklin interjected...I had just arrived home from England when the Battles of Lexington and Concord errupted.  What I thought would be retirement, became a unified call to arms.  "Nothing can save us from the most abject destruction but a spirited opposition.  It will be our salvation." 

 At this point ds handed me (Martha Washington) a  letter from George Washington.  Martha thought she had burned all the correspondence between her and her husband, but three have been found.  I printed a copy of one and then the dc and I sealed it with actual sealing wax and a stamp purchased at Monticello four years ago.  We left it sealed until I opened it to read out loud for all to hear.  Being the wife of a military guy myself, I was able to relate to much in this moving and endearing letter.

Then dd gave a speech on the Declaration of Independence.

Afterwards ds recited the first two paragraphs of the Declaration of Independence from memory.

 
Then Ben Franklin interjected, "We must all hang together, or most assuredly, we shall all hang separately."

Then dd gave a speech on the role of women during the American Revolution, specifically Abigail Adams and Martha Washington.

Afterwards ds gave his speech, telling how he lived on a plantation near Yorktown and how he helped in the war, even though he was only a boy.  He explained how he helped make ammunition and the events he saw at the Battle of Yorktown and the final victory!

Then Ben Franklin interjected, "We are now friends with England and with all mankind.  May we never see another war!  For in my opinion, there was never a good war or a bad peace."

Then dd gave a speech on the Constitution of the United States of America.

 Afterwards ds recitated the Preamble to the Constitution.

Then Ben Franklin interjected...During the Constitutional Convention I studied the carving of the sun on the back of General Washington's chair and pondered "...whether it was rising or setting. But now at length I have the happiness to know that it is a rising and not a setting sun." 

At this point the children distributed souvenirs to the guests and everyone got a big smile on their faces.  These were our Colonial Newspaper projects.  The children each wrote one article of their choice each week of our studies, on a current topic.  News topics range from historical events to gardening and architecture spanning time from the French and Indian War to the term of our first president of the United States.  On the last page ds wrote an advertisement.  There are 10 pages that we printed in double columns on parchment paper and folded in half.  There were other things we wanted to do to make it realistic, using ideas from many of my TOG friends.  But simply doing this took time:  mainly keeping a header then formatting the rest ito double columns.  

Then dh, as Ben Franklin, closed with comments based on Franklin's famous quote.  As he left the Constitutional Convention after the papers were signed, he was asked, "What kind of government did you give us?  A monarchy or a republic?"  He responded "A republic if you can keep it."  (Personally, as a teacher, I had pondered over the course of our study what these men sacrificed for us to have these freedoms and what they would think of the liberal agendas today threatening the family and conservative Christian values.  So I wrote a script for dh and after the above quote he continued with another of Franklin's quotes that he spoke during the Convention to the delegates) "I have lived, Sir, a long time and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth-that God governs in the affairs of men.  And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid?  We have been assured, Sir, in the sacred writings that 'except the Lord build they labor in vain that build it.' I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without his concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better than the Builders of Babel: We shall be divided by our little partial local interests; our projects will be confounded, and we ourselves shall become a reproach and a bye word down to future age. And what is worse, mankind may hereafter this unfortunate instance, despair of establishing Governments by Human Wisdom, and leave it to chance, war, and conquest."  Then I wrote in his script...Remember this as you leave.  Study your Constitution well.  Elect those who will uphold it.  Pray before the Lord and ask for His guidance and direction.  Adieu and good night.

Our 4th went pretty much as planned.  We began by everyone taking turns reading parts of the Declaration of Independence.  I wondered if this was over the top but just wait until you hear/read what happened later.  ;)  Then we watched our traditional movie, Yankee Doodle Dandee.  At the end we had gentle rain outdoors.  yea!  DH soaked hickory and mesquite woodchips in the rain and got the grill going for our baby back ribs.  I had looked in an America's Test Kitchen notebook and modified a rub mixture to put on the meat, by just adding a little of this and a little of that without measuring anything. Mainly it was brown sugar with some garlic powder, chili powder and salt. I'm not sure what the proportions were but mainly brown sugar. The ribs grilled in the rain while dh ran to the store to get 2 bags of ice so we could hand crank the ice cream.  By the time he got back the ribs were done!  I had made a pasta salad with veggies and herbs from our garden.  I got some barbeque sauce out but dh wouldn't let me put any on the meat.  He was too impressed with the rub mixture I had put on! By then the rain had stopped and we sat at the kitchen table eating the most delicious ribs we've ever had and freshest salad we can remember, while watching water drip from the eaves and birds splash in the water.  Well, after dinner clean up we hand cranked chocolate chip chocolate ice cream!  Then the moment ds had been waiting for....relay races. Guys against the girls.  We ran with spoonfuls of water from the bucket to the glass.  The guys won.  Then I set the sprinkler for the back half of the backyard.  We are in a drought and the city is water rationing.  Fri is my watering day and I had watered half the yard in the morning.  We had only gotten .12" of rain that day.  We are still less than 5" of rain for the year.  While the sprinkler ran, we went inside and had time before the fireworks.  DH suggested we grab the poetry books and take turns doing patriotic readings.  So I got all my Country and America Ideals out and we each grabbed one and we each chose a patriotic poem to read.  DH went first and guess what he picked?  The Declaration of Independence! So that got read twice that day and once the week before at our unit celebration!  And we had studied it in depth for a week about a month before that!  We are getting to know this document rather well! ;)  At 830 dh announced it was time for us to put the books down and head for the fireworks.  The dc groaned!  As much as they wanted to see the fireworks, they wanted to squeeze in just one more poem!  I love it!  We took our yearly walk to the next neighborhood to the top of the hill which I can see from my kitchen window.  When we first moved here it was a grassy hill.  Now it is covered with houses.  The temperature was delightfully cool, storm clouds were billowing up in the far distance, towering prodigiously in the sky with varying shades of white and grey.  Parts of the sky showed blue.  When we got to the  top of the hill we watched the sun set and waited about 15 minutes for the professional fireworks show.  I finally walked down the hill a bit because I could hear the other professional fireworks show and wondered if I could see them at all.  But no, I could only see the glow over the rooftops.  Then the dc came running down the hill, telling me to join them in chairs provided by the sweet homeowners up the hill!  They had just come out with their chairs to sit in their driveway and view the show and saw dh and the dc.  They insisted that we have seats too!  Wasn't that sweet of them?  That is the most comfortable I have ever been watching a fantastic fireworks show.  Well no, that isn't true.  I was in Washington DC one year at the top  of the Kennedy Center restaurant where my SIL worked and surprise, there was an incredible fireworks show with the Washington Monument as the backdrop!  Nothing will ever top that!  But this came pretty close!  ;)

Today dd and I went shopping, not for clothes but for books!  We needed to nail whether she will do R (rhetoric) or D (dialectic) for TOG next year.    She had originally suggested she'd do R literature and D history.  We went to 3 different Half Price Bookstores and found great resource books.  One is a gorgeous picture book of Washington DC for $1.  We are thinking of going there on vacation and it will help us decide what to do.   I also got an A Beka government book for less than $6.  DD will do government through TOG, reading original source documents as they were written, but this book will be great back up.  We found lots of other fun things too, but not anything on our Year 3 Unit 1 list.  So we went to a Christian bookstore because some of the books we need are Christian and are quite popular.  But no, this book had very few books and none on our list.  I was really sad, because I remember the day I used to walk into a Christian bookstore and there'd be a wealth of books. This particular chain has very few.  But I did purchase the Amazing Grace DVD with a coupon because we will be learning about William Wilberforce and John Newton.    Finally we went to Barnes and Noble.  Every time dd found an R book she got excited.  I kept asking, "So, will you actually read this?"  She'd look through it and say, "Oh, yes, this looks like my D books but more words.  That's doable."  So we got several books for Year 3 Unit 1, D (for ds) and R (for dd), with my teacher discount card.  Then we went to Lifeway Christian and I have fallen in love with that store.  It's a bit more of a drive, but they have books and books and books.  I got a D and R book there from our Year 3 Unit 1 list and more with my mega coupon!  Now I have to order the rest of our stuff on line.  And it looks like dd will do R all the way!

Now for the lesson.  I have been under a major learning curve.  Namely, my digital camera.  Again.  As we rehearsed for our unit celebration last week, ds did such an incredible job with his Patrick Henry speech, that I suddenly realized I had to video tape it!  And of course I video taped all their rescitations!  Last Sat we had the unit celebration and I videotaped them with dd's new digital camera, because she had a huge memory card and mine was almost full.  To capture them with their presentation in full costume, I held the camera vertically.  Then we had several days of going places with grandma who was visiting. The day she left, I settled down to blog about the unit celebration.  That's when the learning curve started.  I had used MIL's card reader to download her pictures to my pc.  Then I figured out how to insert dd's memory card (upside down I finally figured out) into my cpu.  Everything uploaded into Adobe but I cannot figure out how to move stuff from there to any other program, Photobucket or my blog.  I have only the very basic free version of Adobe and I have no idea why all the pictures downloaded to there, but they did.  I spent the entire day trying things out.  Does anyone know how that goes????? I remembered that I have Picasa which automatically downloads every picture on my pc so I opened that and all the pictures downloaded.  I spent time figuring out how to organize the pictures and moved them all to one album...but I couldn't rotate the videos, trim them, or figure out how to copy them to My Pictures.  Then I remembered I also have HP Photo Smart....well same story.  I also have ArcSoft Real....I think it's time to get rid of some of these programs, don't you?

 Finally I helped dd download her camera software to her pc.   In order to download it, I had to use my password to get to the administrator setting to download.  After I downloaded it, that was the only place it could be accessed.  Later dh fixed it. I have no idea how but he did.  In the meantime, we downloaded the video clips onto cd.  Oh, I forgot to mention that when I viewed the videos on Adobe, they were wonderful except for one problem...they were all sideways!  Can you believe it????  sigh.  Well, how to rotate?  Nothing at Adobe was working for me.  I finally downloaded the videos from the cd to My Pictures (where I normally access and upload pictures to Photobucket)  and that's when dh came home from work.  I told him about my day and he said, "Adobe should automatically download pictures to a separate file that says Adobe in My Pictures."  I looked it up and there was the Adobe folder in My Pictures.  Then I remembered him having me set that up last summer when I first downloaded pictures from my camera. I had forgotten all about it!  I opened up the folder and guess what?  There were all the pictures and videos all the time from MIL's and dd's cameras.  sigh........

Then ds told me I could rotate the videos in Kodak Easy Share Gallery, the program on the pc that came with my camera.   He showed me how that worked!  It took forever but it was successful.  Then I had one video clip that was too long.  6 minutes.  DS taught me how to trim that down.  Now it's distorted.  boo hoo  That was dd's Paul Revere's Ride rescitation.  Well, at least her liberty tea party video clip was good.  It was successfully rotated right side up and she's  standing there giving her little speech. Then she starts to serve tea...and I had to go and flip that camera horizontally! So when you see that video, it will start right side up but the pouring of the tea will be shown sideways.  Well, I think I learned my video lesson well and I should produce better videos in the future.  I'll try to get our unit celebration up in the next day or two.          

Having recently studied the Declaration of Independence, we are celebrating and appreciating this special day with fresh appreciation.  I always marveled at how Laura Ingalls Wilder described Independence Day in her town of De Smet in Dakota Territory.  They always had a public reading of the Declaration of Independence.  Sadly, I doubt that the public would stand for that now.  But I will propose for us to do that here.  We can each take a portion and read it and appreciate what our Founding Fathers sacrificed to make our country free. Last year we selected patriotic readings to share with each other before the fireworks started. Right now the children are making Fourth of July pinwheels.  If we can dodge rain showers, all of which have been booming around us but leaving little rain, we hope to have outdoor festivities:  outdoor relay races, hickory smoked baby backed ribs, handcrank chocolate chip chocolate ice cream, and walking up the hill to view all the professional fireworks popping in the sky.  Last night when we left for out walk, we found rolled up red paper on our doorstep It was a Fourth of July Message and American flag color sheet from the real estate agent who lives up the road!  When we went on our walk, we found one on each doorstep!

This week I've received some wonderful Fourth of July items which I'd like to share with each of you.  Happy Fourth of July!

Hobby Lobby's In God We Trust

Where the Spirit of the Lord is There is Liberty

MIL arrived Thursday afternoon bearing gifts.  Look at this one I got.  She had it packed in her suitcase and she said she was worried what the airport crew would think of it.

 I couldn't imagine what it would be.  I carefully unwrapped it and found this. Hmmmmm, is this a giant knitting needle?

I finished unwrapping it and found this...is it a top? 

MIL must have seen my confusion so she turned it right side up.  It's a mushroom for my garden!  She had seen recent pictures of my garden on this blog and then made a trip to the Botanical Gardens.  At the store there she got a mushroom for her garden and one for my garden!  Hmmmm, now I have the dilemma of a major decision.  Where in the world am I going to put it?????  Would you like to help me decide? 

DH has decided to knock out the schoolroom this summer.  He believes he can knock out the shelves, etc in one month before vacation.  sigh  Okay, I can gear up for this, even though I had hoped for family time this summer. During the school year, dh wants the children to learn to extreme perfection so that means the dc and I have to put in a lot of extra time...then he wants us to drop everything and do a last minute idea of his...yet be 100% on top of every subject.  sigh  So I've laid this before the Lord. Oh, I think he has in mind that I could do the painting!  Oh dear.  I still have to sew dd's summer clothes.  Anyway, this is the final layout.   DH decided to give the children's desks reconsideration as a final option.

We are focusing on the wall unit and desk right now.  We were going to go with the other option in the previous entry because all the computer hookups are centered on the back wall.  But we ran into problems with countertops and joining them together in the other configuration.  DH will run any necessary wires behind the cabinetry...but now he's saying I don't need those hookups. 

This is the color scheme. 

The body of the cabinet will be painted the off white.  I will antique with the medium brown color.  The chocolate will probably go into the recesses of the cabinet where the books will be stored.  The little chip will be the counter top.  The various colors above will be the accent colors in the room...many of which we already have.  DH was trying to talk me into a neon green cabinetry.  Thankfully, I talked him back into the Western color palette. =)

Here is a close up of the counter top, which will look like dark brown leather.

There will be a corner unit.  There will be 2 file drawer systems on the back wall, on the lower part of the cabinetry. DH was telling me my unit will have to be smaller than we thought, since he had not taken any measurements in his previous planning. He was allotting for 3' sections but that would be too large for file drawers.  The unit on the back of our wall now is only 28.5" wide with file drawers.  Finally I got an idea to maximize the space!  One file drawer unit will be next to the corner unit and the other will be at the far end of the wall.  Then we'll fill the space between with regular shelving on the bottom.   That way we can reach in there easily if we need the computer hookup stuff and we'll maximize the space.

DH told me for a while I would not get a new desk after all.  That was so sad because we had planned it to be open on the bottom with pretty French style table legs. Then the dc could easily sit and work with me. Well, now he's back to that idea again. He really wants to hide all the cords and clutter with the cabinetry.  His short term goal is to help me.  But his long term goal is to be rid of all desks in the loft and have a lovely sitting area and wall unit.  I've asked him if I would no longer be able to check e-mail after the dc graduate.  Well, last night he said he decided he wants to replace my desk after all.  He wants the little wall between the corner unit and the big window to have shelving on the bottom.  Then he wants to attach my desk with a hinge but make it big enough for me to work at.  Hmmmmm.....I'm not seeing it.  Oh well.  If he's going to start this soon, I guess our most important focus will be the wall unit.      

I also had another space saving idea.  I want to look for dark rectangular baskets that would fit on top of these shelves.  I can fill them with some of the miscellaneous clutter.  We have allergies so I can maybe find a plast cover to lay inside the top and be easy to dust.  But that should work, right. 

Oh and making a new tall bookshelf by ds' desk and window is out.  DH reminded me of the electrical outlet there.  Well, that is when I got the basket idea for the top of the unit!  And we are going to paint that like the wall unit.  Then I was reading in a decorating book that double depth shelves are good to double stack books. That's not my ideal, because I like to spread out.  But  I have to be real here.  So I think I'll work on that bookcase after MIL leaves...if I don't sneak in some time before!

I told him last night that I think I finally figured out he wants a perfect magazine cover house, to which he always agrees.   I told him, with a big smile on my face, I should work during the day, and then when I get his phone call that he is coming home, I can run around and put any projects that I am working on away (homeschool, sewing, ironing, sometimes all of this and more, etc), get dinner ready and I will be available for....well, I guess sitting and reading while he works on the computer or something.  Well, I was surprised he did not jump on that. However, I do think this is my failure and I am working on putting things away when I am done so that I can honor him with a spit spot house.  And why not put projects into a big pretty basket to take out later?    Interestingly last night, I saw him mumbling as he discovered his clutter and mumbled he should put his clutter away too, and then muttered he was overwhelmed as he had no where to put it and he'll think about it tomorrow.  lol  Well, we'll see how this saga ends up!  =) 

My MIL arrives Thursday and the unit celebration is Saturday.  So I will at least put all the sewing away before she comes.  Yesterday I did manage to fix a pair of my shorts and a pair for ds and put lots of our costume stuff away.  We are in the home stretch in preparing for the unit celebration and we are so excited!  I even got things ready for dh to have a part!  This is the first time he's wanted to be a part. Bless his heart, I have no time to sew him a costume so I gave him a few ideas and he came up with some of his own.  I am really surprised because when we did our first unit celebration I asked if he wanted to participate in costume, and he said no way!  So last night he was practicing his part that I had put together for him.  Stay tuned!

We've had a variety of homeschool layouts over the years.  When we first started homeschooling, we had a room off the kitchen with a backdoor to the patio.  That was first the toy room and changed into the homeschool room.  

When we moved, I packed our "school in a box" into huge tote bags and we did school in TLF (base motel) and at grandma's, until we were settled in our new home.

When we first moved in to our current home (me and the kids, dh was in Korea) I had all the office stuff put in the loft.  The dc did school on the floor, which seemed to be their preferred place to do anything.  I sat at a desk, facing the wall, with my back to them.  I stored their school stuff on the bottom shelf of an old bookcase. 

After a month of that, I moved school to the kitchen.  I have a large pantry with lots of shelves.  I put their books and supplies on some of the shelves and we worked between the kitchen table and couch and floor.  Ugh  That wasn't working either.  The table was too small.  We had to keep moving schoolwork for meals.  And the cat got in the middle of anything we did on the floor.

Then dh and I arranged the loft to accomodate school.  The dc and I each got a desk.  DH bought me a new pc, we gave the old clunker to ds and a lady at work gave her old clunker to dd.   We bought a cabinet to store books and files.  That was fine, as long as we did our old school in a box.

Then we changed all of our curriculums and became more living books based.  We have outgrown our space!  Also, with ds starting 7th and dd starting 9th grade, they are spending more time in books and the computer (They now have new computers. What a blessing!  They do all their papers on them!)  and less time on hands on stuff.  They are growing up and getting ready for college.  (sniff sniff, pardon me)

DH and I have talked about him building a wall unit on our big wall of the loft for over a year.  But we can't figure out what to do with my desk.  What do you think?  Any day now he is  going to ask me for the "plans"!  Bear in mind, he wants a Parade of Homes look.  He wants to build this himself.  Our theme is Texas...the woodsy pictures will go. I have some huge lone stars to put on the wall, to replace the woodsy pictures.

Here is the back wall,  where we'd like to build the wall unit.  We were planning floor to ceiling, but realized we have an air vent right there.  What were the builders thinking???  Anyway, we have adjusted that plan to almost be ceiling height.  DH wants to have file cabinets below with a countertop and shelves above. Right now that little cabinet in the middle was our big purchase a few years ago to hold all of our school stuff.  Everything is now overflowing to other rooms, closets and boxes. And with more years of school ahead, there will be more books coming in!  Also I love books, so I plan on keeping them for the grandchildren at least!  I also like to keep going back to them myself for reference.  You can see the cotumes I am working on now, hanging from the little lone star on the left.

 Here is my desk now.  That's a tall file cabinet behind that dh refurbished from a trash heap years ago.  There is no way to do hanging files, so all the folders slide and get hidden underneath each other.  I am running out of room for my TOG binders on top!  That is Years 1 and 2 now!  

Here's the old bookcase dh built years ago.  I had thought perhaps he could build a bigger one, from floor to ceiling to fill the space. You can see ds on the floor, in the middle of his history reading.  I don't like anything being in front of the window, really.  I like to be able to look out.  We have to work our way behind the easel to open or shut the shades.  However I am thinking of moving my old rocking chair back over here.  I miss having a comfortable place to sit and read while I keep an eye on the dc.  I also miss just having an extra place to come to to sit.  We'd like this room to become more comfortable.

You can see here that the wall stops and the half wall beings.  You can look over the edge down into the foyer.

Here's the corner where the kids' desks sit.  They are running out of room for their books.  I thought dh could build new desks, with shelves below and a top that wraps all around, to make use of wasted space.

 The piano sits here and will stay there.

Here's the doorway...very open as you can see.  

DH took architectural drafting in college and has a degree in building construction.  He's sketched a couple of plans, but I think this one, which was his first plan, is the best.  This is for the large wall unit, with file drawers below and shelves on top.

DH has done very little, if any, measuring.  He's been leaving the numbers and space planning up to me.  So this morning I finally measured with the help of ds and laid everything out on 1/4" graph paper.  I sketched to the scale of 1/2"=1'.  Then I measured the furniture and cut that out to scale and laid it out.  I can move these pieces around.  Here are the different desk options we have struggled with for the last year. 

The placement of the desk is important for several reasons.  One, I don't like to work with my back to the dc.  I want to monitor their work, instead of them watching me type of tests, etc.  Also, I like to look at something besides a wall when I work, preferably outdoors.  I am at the desk much of the day, preparing lessons, studying, working at the pc, I moderate a few yahoo groups, and I would like to even scrapbook here if possible.  In this layout, the desk is facing the doorway.  The nice thing about this is that I am right handed and the dc are left handed.  This way we could actually see each other's work.   Also I have considered no wall unit next to the window, behind my desk, so that I could hang the white board there.  Then I could make a quilt to hang over it and hide it when not in use.  When I need the white board, I could roll up the quilt with velcro.  Remember, DH would like this room to look like a Parade of Homes!  However, I'm afraid this plan would make the entry into the room feel too small.  Who's to know when we'll have to move and put the house on the market.  What would a buyer think?

Also I like having as much space to work as possible.  When I work, I take up a lot of space!  I spread out my Latin vocubarly cards into parts of speech while I translate.  I spread out all my books when making lesson plans.  When holding Socratic discussions for TOG I have my TOG binder, books to refer to, and we explore web sites. I keep a homeschool binder next to me at all times with lesson plans, schedules, papers for the week, notes, unit celebration plans, calendars, etc.  I used every inch of space and then some!  

This layout has the desk where I have it now.  It tends to make the area in front of the window cramped.  Also, when the dc and I work together, our hands are in each other's way because I am right handed and they are left handed.  I am also wondering if the little wall unit next to the window should only be cupboards on the bottom, so I can hang some pretties on the wall.   Then we could put a groove into the countertop at the far end of the big wall unit to prop the white board. Also this seems to open the room more when you walk in.  However, it makes the space in front of the window feel more cramped.

Because we could move, we have considered revamping the plan, and dh making modular furniture to take with us.    But would our house sell better with the wall unit?  Would our modular stuff even fit in a different place?  Knowing dh, he'd probably just want to build from scratch (he has a love for cabinet making) and design something to fit the space if we move.

So, there you have it.  What do you think????? 

Saturday I dedicated completely to sewing costumes.  I did not cook a big breakfast; I got to work.  By lunch, I realized I didn't have any of dh's favorites, nor did I want to spend time cooking when I could be sewing.  So I suggested that he could run out and pick up hoagies for us.  (I love hoagies, especially the ones from my mom's hometown in PA.)  He decided to take us all out to lunch at a local deli.  Although I would have preferred staying home to knock out more sewing, I accepted the invite and figured a change of scenery could be refreshing and help me to be more productive.  I never did have time to run the kids to Cracker Barrel to buy gifts for their dad.  But the deli is a block away, so I asked dh to drop us off there while he sat in one of the Cracker Barrel rockers on the front porch.  He is from upstate NY and loves maple syrup.  So dd got some maple candy.  DS couldn't decide and really wanted to be unique.  He kept asking if Dad would like this or that and I kept saying no.  There was a different maple candy but for some reason ds didn't want to get maple candy.  DH also likes spicy things but there is nothing spicy at Cracker Barrel.  I finally told ds he had to get a maple product or nothing, because I had to get back to the sewing.  So he got the maple candy too.  I bought a can of Virginia peanuts from Williamsburg for my dad.  He has everything, I have a low budget, and I think consumables make a good gift for the person who has it all.  He likes peanuts.  He can't have spicy stuff anymore.  The Williamsburg peanuts were the only thing Cracker Barrel had that Dad would like.  So I got that.  Funny, because we plan to go to Williamsburg this summer.  

We got back home and I got my dress finished.  Then I got to work on ds' costume.  After we came back from singing at the nursing home that evening, I went back to work on the costume.  I finally went to bed at 1am, bleary eyed, but basically done with ds' costume.  Just finishing touches are needed.    

I've been asking dh what he'd like to do for dinner on Father's Day.  He's usually torn between his favorite steak at one restaurant and his favorite salad at another restaurant out of town.  So he likes me to cook here, since I figured out how to duplicate it all.  Despite how busy I am, I would be very happy to do the cooking, since his favorite meal is actually quite easy!  But he decided to save me some time (I was dedicating Sunday to him so I had time, lol) by going to Texas Land and Cattle after church.  I wasn't going to argue, and they have incredible food here.  One bite into their steak and it is the best! 

Then we came home and changed and let him open presents.  I had suggested to the kids that we not gift wrap their gifts.  I didn't have time to pull out gift wrap and they were working on school stuff on Sat.  I told them that for dh's second Father's Day, I hid his presents.   I didn't have time to gift wrap then either.  I wrote clues and sent him on a scavenger hunt.  He had wanted a small desk fan for his desk so I wrote, "This will keep you cool...so look in a very cool place."  He found it in the freezer.  DD  laughed herself silly when she heard that.  The dc rose to the challenge and hid their candy.  It is not easy hiding things from this man I married.  We hid a few gifts while he was getting changed, then we got changed.  While he was changing, he had the audacity to go into the cupboard and take some pain medication and he found one the candy dd gave him!  LOL  He left it in there.  But when ds gave his clue, it didn't match with what dh knew.  So at least he was slightly confused!  LOL

He seemed to like all of his gifts.  He is always asking me for audio books on CD so I got some of those....Let's Roll, the one by Ted Dungy, the winning coach of the super bowl, and one by Condoleeza Rice.  I also got 2 movies:  Flywheel (by the maker of Facing the Giants, which he really enjoyed)  and El Cid with Charlton Heston.  DH had specifically asked for manly grilling tools.  The set we had was wimpy.  Well those were awkward to wrap and then he'd know. So I hid those in the game cabinet, then hid them under the grill before the Scavenger Hunt.  The media gifts were gift wrapped, so he thought that was all he was getting.  I hated his thinking  he would not get grill tools, but at least it made for a bigger surprise in the end.  With my clue, he knew it had to do with the grill, and wondered if I had gotten a new grill for him.  He ran outback and lifted up the cover to see if it was a new grill.  Now how in the world would I get one of those from the van and set up without his knowing????  Well ds just giggled and pointed underneath while dh started to cover up the grill. That is how he found the tools!  

After the gifts, we played Blokus.  As usual, the guys were in the lead.  But eventually they got bored and changed their strategy.  That allowed me to use up all my pieces and save my single for last, so I got bonus points and took the lead.  Woo hoo!  I had only done that once before.  That was fun!  

Then we went to my dad's for dinner and my brother's family came over.  My 20 month old nephew is extremely active, noisy, and scared of us.  sigh  I thought ds was active as a toddler but he was tame compared to my nephew.  He'll be getting a new brother or sister around mine and ds's birthdays in October.  I wonder how he'll react to that.  My SIL is a vet and gave me her old dissecting kit for school.  Next year dd starts dissecting.  SIL will come over and do those with her. 

Back to being busy today! 

Shortly after posting the last entry, I got the bright idea that the dc could come out to the garden with me and help me finish things off!  So that is what we did!  We did a bit of weeding. We got the 3 bags of mulch laid out around the veggies and rest of the garden.  We set up the cages around the flopped over tomato plants.  We laid out the final 3 soaker hoses on the hillside garden.  Done!  Whew!  It was shortly after 10am and we were dirty and hot but I was thrilled to finally have an item checked of my to do list!

After we cleaned up we did some school.  That evening dh had an Awanas planning meeting.  So I took the dc to SeaWorld.  Since we have season passes, we have seen all the shows and don't care if we miss one.  We were hoping to see the Sea Lion show for the evening but had just missed it. So we settled on getting ice cream all the way out by Shamu stadium. It is great to do the park in the evening. The sun is slowly setting so we have lots of daylight but lots of shade as well. Then we walked all the way to the dolphin pool and watched them swim round and round.  I considered rounding up the dc to head home so I could get some work done, since the park was closing in 20 minutes. But I decided to just enjoy the quiet evening with the dolphins swimming.  While watching them, I thought about all the neat little things we get tos see at the park since we have season passes.  There is never time to cram everything into one day.  But coming and going and hanging out for a while in one spot offers fresh and surprising opportunities...like that night.  Shortly after I was thinking about this, one of the trainers came up to the shallow end where we were.  She had a bucket full of fish!  It was official feeding time. This was nothing like the itty bitty fish snacks we pay $5 a tray for in the middle of the day.  These were huge!  This was no snack. This was dinner!  All the dolphins knew it too!  We were suddenly facing a group of excited dolphins, anxiously awaiting their opportunity to pig out!  Amazingly, most of them swam off after they got their one fish.  One dolphin was making clicking noises and the trainer would not feed him because of that.  We don't know why. She just told the kids that she's not allowed to feed the ones that make noises. Later I told the dc maybe he was whining, "Gimme, gimme, gimme!" Another dolphin was piggish...he nearly tried to leap out of the pool to get at that bucket and have the rest to himself!  DD had her camera but had trouble taking pictures, so I took some for her.  We haven't had time to download them.  I don't even think the photo program has been installed on her pc yet.  Now we know to bring out cameras and hang out at the shallow end close to closing time!

Yesterday afternoon we were done with all of our weekly TOG work...reading, discussion, writing.  yea! Two weeks of study to go and then our unit celebration!  Today we did our literature analysis review and covered a few new items we didn't have time for the rest of the year.  I was excited at how quickly the dc picked up the new concepts!  

Then this afternoon we drove about an hour away to visit a dear friend and her family.  The kids, all 9, played in the pool while we sat on the patio and talked about different new plants for her garden!  She showed me the costumes she has been sewing for her dc for their end of year celebration for TOG.  Her children showed me their projects and they are incredibly creative!  We had a delightful time sharing and laughing at the dinner table. 

On the way home, dd rode with me and she was amazingly chatty about some great things.  We were able to talk about something that really confused her and now she understands.  And we got to see fireworks at another of the theme parks in the area.

I feel exhausted, yet my spirit feels refreshed.  Tomorrow I hope to finally have time to sew the costumes!  Tomorrow night we go to the nursing home to sing.   

One of the nifty things about Institute for Excellence in Writing is that they have many great ways to inspire wonderful writers!  One of their terrific ideas is to choose one piece of writing at the end of each year to rewrite to utter perfection...a magnum opus.  In the last few years, they have made this idea more exciting.  IEW now offers a literary magazine by the name of Magnum Opus for IEW students to submit articles to be published.  Those who are published, apparently get cool prizes too.  Last autumn, my dc submitted some of their writing.  Although they were not printed in the magazine itself, they did get their names printed for having submitted a work.  Those who did not get printed in the magazeine, got published on line...except my dc.  I am certain they still have much to learn to reach that pinnacle of success.  

However, a few weeks ago, ds received snail mail from IEW.  It was the article he had submitted to Magnum Opus.  The editor had marked some suggestions for improvement.  She also wrote a lovely note telling him she enjoyed the piece, and asked him to rewrite it and send it back to her for the Magnum Opus!  Wow!  I'd have to pay dearly for a service to get editor's markings like that!  And an invite to resubmit!  I'm impressed! 

This was a valuable process for ds.  Of course the editor had some great ideas I had not considered.  In addition, she marked some of the same things I've been telling ds over and over that needs to be worked on.  In the process of rewriting for an editor, ds learned some valuable writing lessons.  The article has been strengthened and resubmitted.  Now we get to wait. =)

Well, the promised help hasn't been as fruitful as I had hoped.  Sun night dh was going to grill dinner while I knocked out some sewing...but he got a phone call to run out to the base...35 miles away.  He didn't get back home until after 8pm.  sigh  Then Mon night he did vacuum during dinner!  That was wonderful.  I had gotten the checkbook balanced, laundry done, some gardening done, bathrooms cleaned, and my clothes ironed.  I hadn't gotten to the floors, so that was a big help.  I postponed cutting out the fabric for the next costume because he wanted to vacuum that area first.  That took awhile so I looked for little things to do.  Then I asked if he could wash floors with our new machine (purchased in Jan).  DH is the only one who has used this, a couple of times before.  I'm that bad at getting to washing the floors.  He hasn't shown me how to use this gizmo yet.  I don't like using a mop (hurts my back) or get on the floor (a few years ago I ripped a muscle behind my knee and it hurt to walk for a few years).  Sadly, after all was done, the floors were dirtier than when he started.  ????????   sigh  So Tues morning I got on my hands and knees and scrubbed what I could of the dirt off the floors.  That machine really pushed a lot of dirt into the porcelain tile.  I was heartsick and my arm was killing me.  Last night dh did fix my soaker hoses...with my help.  He needed me to give him the tour of all the hoses and explain what I meant by their "spraying all over the place"!  lol  Then he went to get more cypress mulch for the vegetable garden.  Those bags are too heavy for me to lift, so I am grateful he did this.  Now I need to make time to lay it out in the garden and lay out the rest of the soaker hoses.  That will be done in the morning.  I can't work in the heat and sun.

Although dh was willing to help, he is really tired when he gets home from work and would rather crash.  I know I would too if I had to drive his 35 mile route while dealing with insane traffic.  Tues morning, I was really discouraged (next to tears actually) wondering how I'm going to get things done.  One of my goals this summer is to get back in the swing of organization and making the most of each moment...work and rest!  My favorite organization books, like More Hours in My Day, are by Emilie Barnes. (Check her store where her books are.  I don't pay for the online newsletter but I love her books!  I'm more of a hands on gal.) She presents the idea of homekeeping in a lovely, feminine, Christian way, encouraging us to honor our families with the gift of an organized home.  I've been so overwhelmed for years, I've lost focus. 

Anyway, I was trained by my mom to do all housekeeping on Mondays.  Then do light touch ups as needed during the week.  That's a difficult schedule to keep if my dc need me "now."  Emilie Barnes suggests filling those 5 minute chunks of time with 5 minutes of productivity.  For example, when I was waiting for dh to vacuum the living room floor so I could make more mess cutting up more fabric, I put away the stuff laying around from the costume I had finished Sunday night.  I put the pattern pieces away and put the pattern away.   I sorted through the fabric remnants.  There is about one yard left over that will make a lovely blouse for dd!  The rest I threw out!  I studied my Latin vocabulary cards for the week, etc. 

Emilie Barnes also explains how to get rid of clutter.  Now this I am pretty good with, however dh and the dc are another story.  Nevertheless, Monday afternoon I started a new paper bag of trash.  I went into my fabric cabinet, which needs to be organized again!  I have an awful time throwing away fabric.  But if it's not 100% cotton, my preferred fabric for quilting, it goes into the trash unless large enough to use again.  The dc had used one of my fabrics for covering their Year 2 TOG notebook.  I put those remnants back, except the little pieces got thrown away.  I just did a quick 5 minute throw away since I did not have dedicated time to pull out the entire closet.  Emilie has wonderful tips for how to do this, working 15 minutes a day.  She suggests where to start.  She suggests 3 boxes, which is pretty much how I do things but with paper bags:  one to throw away, one to resell, one to give away.  I have my children do this too a couple of times a year.  I'll probably showcase this in more detail later in the summer.  But for now, I'm off to water some plants while my dc get ready for school.  If the plants are done before them, I'll knock out a few more minutes of sewing a costume! 

Instead of being overwhelmed with all the things there are to do, I am trying to focus on tasks that can be accomplished in small chunks of time.  Here's to making the most of each moment!

To celebrate my 200th blog entry, I thought I'd share a peak into my garden.  Enjoy!

With the end of school looming (see all the cross outs in my dc curriculum) I have had more time for gardening.  My poor gardens have been neglected over the years as my dc have gotten into deeper subjects, requiring lots of study time for me!  I'm glad I like to study and learn!  However, it's been a delight to return to my roots...gardening!  LOL 

Yesterday morning I labored in one of the front gardens by the driveway that has become increasingly shabby.  I asked dh pretty please the night before to remove a few roses out front and out back, which spent more time looking bad than looking good.  At the foot of this one garden, was a blue plumbago growing too large and invading the yard, making it difficult for dh to mow and edge the lawn.  I knew it had to come out.

I was sitting in the garden, hacking away at this deep root system, when a lady walked by.  She had been putting notices on front doors.  She commented on my labor, saying it was certain to produce good results.  Then she said she was the realtor who lived up the road and was going to stick a note on my front door.  Commenting about the loveliness of my garden all the way, she came back with more edification.  She loved my entryway, saying that it was peaceful.  Wow!  That had been my goal.  I never realized someone actually thought it was.  She kept encouraging me in my efforts and headed up the street. With that encoucouragment, I got the rest of the root out!  I found the edge of the garden too!  Being at the bottom of a hill, the dirt and mulch over time, and dh's digging, had caused all the dirt and mulch to cascade into the yard.  Think we'll have to build a wall of bricks there before I replace plants.  I wondered if dh would want to put edging there first. Yes.  Now I have to pretty please to my dh again since I'd like to put new plants in by this weekend! 

Last night we took a walk as a family.  As we walked up the road, we passed a group of 3 ladies, leisurely walking one dog and chit chatting and laughing amongst themselves.  I didn't really give it much thought. We continued up the road and met an elderly lady gardening, who'm I've blogged about before.  She was one of the very few homes flying the American flag  and dh had to thank her.  Of course she flies it lol, she said, they are retired Army of 40 years and went through many hardships to be able to fly that flag!  She said all this with the sweetest smile on her face. We talked for awhile and continued on our way, up the hill, over other streets, about a mile in all. 

Eventually we came across those 3 ladies very l-e-i-s-u-r-e-l-y s-t-r-o-l-l-i-n-g their dog and chit chatting.  So leisurely were they, that we were very near the point we had passed them earlier.  I was surprised with how little they had advanced on thier walk, but chalked it up to their desire to be with each other, rather than conquering the walk like we were!  LOL  Then one of those ladies looked up and saw us and her jaw dropped to the ground and she exclaimed, "What!  How did you do that?  You made it around twice in the time it took for us to get here?"  Of course she knew full well we had only made it once, but quick witted as I rarely am I piped up, "Oh no, we made it 3 times around!!!"  Oh my gosh we were ROTFL and she just couldn't get over it!  Well, I guess you had to be there! LOL           

We are currently studying our absolutely favorite time period in American history, the American Revolution.  We have had a wonderful time learning about key events leading up to this pivotal point of our history.  We have added extra books to our TOG reading list in order to study this period in depth.  Following, are some of our favorite resources. 

To aid us in our studies, is a wonderful book I purchased at the homeschool bookfair last year from HSLDA.  Why America is Free is an incredible book published by the Mount Vernon Ladies Association.  We have used it as a spine for all of Unit 4.  The life of a colonial boy parallels the historical events of the 1700's.  The book begins with the typical day in the life of this boy who lives near Williamsburg, Virginia on a farm.   He takes care of the family flour mill while his father goes to fight in the French and Indian War with George Washington.  When the boy grows up, marries and has a family of his own, he is fighting in the American Revolution.  Later he will serve at the Constitutional Convention.  Of all of our books, this has been the definitive book of details of the why's surrounding the events of our country's search for liberty.  The book has simple and clear language with beautiful photographs and pictures.  While reading this book, we feel that we are there.  

Furthermore, we studied how the Great Awakening helped to not only win souls for the Lord, but also Providentially unified the diverse 13 colonies in preparation for the Revolution.  TOG had some great notes on this.  In fact, we changed up some TOG weeks in order to focus on the Great Awakening.  The Light and the Glory has a great chapter on this event.

Then we started reading the biographies of Benjamin Franklin and George Washington.  We've heard all the legends.  We've read short stories.  But never have we fully studied them.  Ben Franklin's Almanac is a great book that I am reading now for fun.  It's at a dialectic level and patterned after Poor Richard's Almanac with paragraphs that take only a part of a page to tell something about his life.  This is split into themes: early years, printer, public do-gooder, years in England during the French and Indian War, electrical studies, work on Declaration of Independence, amabassador to France, work on Constitution, etc.  This book is perfectly set up for those teaching UG and D children writing with IEW.  

We studied the different wars within the complex French and Indian War.  We read, Alone Yet Not Alone, a true story about two girls who were captured and their faith in God kept them whole while living among the Indians.  When the Forest Ran Red and George Washington's First War are award winning documentaries aimed at educating high school students about the little studied French and Indian War.  Filmed in several states in the Northeast on location, historical reenactors recreate the events.   Although we were all interested in the DVD's, 12yos was riveted to the screen. It was terrific to have the opportunity to take the events we had read about in a book and see it on screen in the proper setting (Northeastern Woodlands) with the people involved (French, Native Americans (who looked very different from those we have seen on the Central Plains), British Redcoats, Scots (yes Scots in kilts), Virginia militia, colonists, and of course George Washington in his early years.)  I'm glad I recently found these at my recent homeschool bookfair! 

Another favorite biography was that of Paul Revere.  Coinciding with our study of the Boston Tea Party we also read Johnny Tremain, then compared that to the movie version (my all time favorite), which we love.  Both books were written by the same author, Esther Forbes. Also both were beautifully illustrated by Lynd Ward.  While reading Johnny Tremain, I told the dc to parallel the character traits of Johnny and Rab.  We read part I the week we studied the Boston Tea Party.  Then the following week, when we studied the Battles of Lexington and Concord, I told them to note the change in their characters, and to look for foreshadowing.  Because literary devices are not always found in literature, it was a treat to read Johnny Tremain from a literary perspective.  It is truely worthy of the Newberry Award. This book lends much to discussion.  

We have studied the great orator Patrick Henry, listening to the Colonial Williamsburg interpreter give his famous "Give Me Liberty" speech.  We got to meet this interpreter when we were in CW a few years ago.  In fact, that is when we first became delighted with this forefather.  We arrived in CW in the afternoon and had time to buy our tickets for the week and watch the movie, Williamsburg-The Story of a Patriot.  This movie is about a fictional character (who represents the typical gentleman plantation owner near Williamsburg) who must choose between Britain or colonial rights.  He leaves for Williamsburg to attend the House of Burgesses.  When he arrives, he meets Col George Washington, the outspoken Patrick Henry, the quiet Thomas Jefferson, etc.  The meeting of the House of Burgesses is abruptly ended by the Provincial Governor because they are speaking out against the Townshend Acts of 1767.  The movie accurately showcases key events in the unfolding drama of the decision for independence in 1776.  I bought a copy of the movie knowing we'd be watching it several more times for school.  While visiting Williamsburg, "Patrick Henry"  gave the "Liberty or Death" speech by special request in the gardens behind the Governor's Palace.  By the end of the speech, I was ready to join the militia!  There are some interesting interviews with this actor where he talks about this speech and how he is delighted that the audience is always spellbound.  DS is currently memorizing the final paragraph of this speech.

Due to a busy schedule, we expanded our TOG weeks to allow time for our in depth study. We split week 31 into 3 weeks, with an entire week devoted to the Declaration of Independence.  We listened to Colonial Williamsburg interpreter, Thomas Jefferson read the Declaration of Independence aloud.  We also began our biography of Thomas Jefferson.  We learned about the committee of 5 men that was formed to write the declaration.  Of them, three were the most influential. Thomas Jefferson did the writing because he was well liked, had great rhetorical skills and had already proven himself in writing clearly about the problems with England.  John Adams was instrumental in keeping things moving along, when the other delegates kept stalling the issues.  Benjamin Franklin's humor kept the seriousness of the business at hand from getting too heavy.  In fact, one of the reasons they did not want him to write the declaration, was because the delegates feared he'd throw in a few jokes in this monumentous and important document! 

One movie we did not watch, was 1776.  I had purchased that a few years ago and was embarrased by the adult humor.  If only that was never put in.  Because of this, I always questioned the veracity of the movie itself.  After reading numerous sources, I now find that movie is quite accurate.  Jefferson was a very quiet man, who moped in session while his draft of the Declaration was edited to pieces by the other delagates, who quibbled over ever phrase.  Adams was not the most liked man in the sessions, but he kept everything moving along.  The movie also showed wonderful interpretations of his correspondence to his wife near Boston.  1776 is a musical, and John and Abigail would sing their letters to each other in the movie.  It was quite effective and you could see the love for each other that has become famous. 

However we did access The Declaration of Independence on line at the Charters of Freedom.  There is terrific information here, as well as an interactive opportunity to sign one's own name to the important document!  One gets to choose their handwriting style and then type in their name.  When "submit" is clicked, a warning comes up, that all signers of this document will be considered traitors and could be hung.  Want to proceed?  We did this site a few years ago and my dc had to stop and think.  At that time dd could not sign it.  This time they had no fear.  But it gave us time to talk what these men actually did when they signed the Declaration.  They risked their very lives and fortunes.  Included are biographies of the signers and what happened to them during the war.

This week we are studying all the battles from Saratoga to Yorktown.  Our literature book this week is a gem given to me by my MIL.  It is an autographed copy of Guns on the Heights.  It is the story of a Quaker family during the Battle of Saratoga.  MIL lives near the battle site and took dh and I there when we were first married.  At that time, I did not understand the significance of the battle site, even though I read all the signs.  I was impressed though by the view from the hill overlooking the Hudson River.  MIL has suggested we take the dc  but I kept postponing it until they had studied it.  I knew they wouldn't enjoy the tour until then. Well, now I understand!  And the dc are learning too!  The British tried to control the entire Hudson River system extending from Canada into New York, hoping to block New England from the Southern Colonies.  Although the Continental Army had been struggling, the Battle of Saratoga was a major victory, largely due to that scoundrel Benedict Arnold!  We've also been reading the biography of Benedict Arnold and no wonder he became a traitor!  Today, one will not see his name on any monument.  But at the Saratoga Battlefield, is good deeds are mentioned but are nameless on a monument.  Also at West Point, where he served and nearly turned over to the enemy, there is a plaque to him as to all the other generals who served there, but it is nameless.  How sad for a man who was greedy, selfish and prideful.  Anyway, Saratoga became the turning point in the war and that caused other countries like France to join in the war effort against England.

Fri night we watched the movie, Drums Along the Mohawk.  I found this movie at the homeschool bookfair.  Starring Henry Fonda and Claudette Cobert, the movie was made in 1939.  I couldn't believe how young Henry Fonda looked!  Gil marries Lana, a well young lady with social upbringing in Albany, NY, in 1776.  They move west along the Mohawk.  They deal with Indian uprisings, prompted by the British.  We were delighted to see the German General Herkimer whom we read about in the Battle of Oriskany this week!      

Another terrific biography we have been reading is about "the boy" Lafayette.  I remember when we were at Mount Vernon a few years ago he was mentioned by the tour guides with great fondness.  Now I can see why. 

This afternoon as we discussed the Battle of Yorktown, we listened to Colonial Williamsburg's "George Washington" being interviewed about the upcoming Battle of Yorktown.  

sigh

It is with sadness that we are closing out our study of the American Revolution.  As we move on to a new topic next week, we hope to culminate these studies by making a trip to some of the historical places of the American Revolution this summer. 

The big brown truck pulled up in front of our house the other day with our first shipment of 2008-2009 school materials. Teaching Textbooks for 7th grade

and Algebra I arrived! 

This is a major change for us.  We had been using A Beka since the beginning of time.  I loved their beginning math.  However we were getting worn down.  I finally freed myself this past year to only do a portion of all the daily lessons.  Honestly, this must be designed for math whizzes who live in math.  Also I had to tell the dc not to worry about the tougher concepts, many of which I never ran across even though I took precalculus in college.  There seems to be different levels of A Beka math.  Grades K-3 are cute and colorful.  Loved them.  Grades 4-6 lose the color on the tests and quizzes.  That was heartbreaking to dd and I.  Then Grade 7 was a shocker.  I was so confused. The entire layout changed.  It was difficult to determine where one lesson began and another ended.  Also I had to buy yet a separate book for the in depth answers to word problems.  They used to be at the back of the 1-3 level books.  Then I noticed I had no in depth answers to the tests.  We were fine with the mere answers in the separately purchased teacher's key, but if we were stuck, there was no explanation to how to get the answer.  Grade 8 was no better.  I could see the writing on the wall.  I started listening in to all the high school math banter at one of my yahoo groups.  I had learned about the wonder of Math U See.  I had used many of the same