We have immensely enjoyed the books suggested by TOG.  However, I wondered if ds would have any interest in them, since he was hooked soley on the Boxcar Children.  Thankfully, TOG books opened his eyes to a whole new world!  We have enjoyed additional resources as well.

When we studied Egypt, we were frustrated with our timeline dates that did not match up with a Young Earth Creationist viewpoint.  I did some research and found Christian archeologist David Down at  Answer in Genesis.  Thrilled, we used his suggested dates which made a lot more sense.  A few months after studying Egypt, a brand new book hit the Christian bookshelves, Unwrapping the Pharoahs How Egyptian Archaeology Confirms the Biblical Timeline by David Down. We were excited about using this book the next time we do Y1U1 at the Rhetoric level.

When we studied Creation, we added  Dinosaurs by Design and  The Great Dinosaur Mystery and the Bible.  Unlocking the Mysteries of Creation was another terrific resource.  We saved chapter 2, on evolution, for our study of Darwin in Year 3. 

 When we studied the Flood, we included The Geology Book by John Morris from the Institute of Creation Research.  This book helped me put all the pieces of the puzzle together about Creation, the Great Flood and geologic processes.  We also read Footprints in the Ash: The Explosive Story of Mount St. Helens, a beautifully photographed and fascinating book by John Morris and Steven Austin.  Scientists learned a lot from Mt. St. Helens.  They learned that gorges and canyons form quickly over a matter of hours to days.  They learned that peat bogs form in months.  In essence, they learned that big destruction causes big changes.  They brought some Old Earth Scientists to the newly formed canyons and bogs and asked them when they were created.  The OE Scientists took out their tools and determined these fascinating geological places were formed millions of years ago.  When they were told they were recently and quickly formed by Mt. St. Helens, and they saw the evidence, they were silenced.  Now the OE Scientists are having to change some of their theories.  =)  Because of discoveries and observations from Mt. St. Helens, New Earth Creationists are now showcasing the Grand Canyon through new eyes.   Grand Canyon: A Different View by Tom Vail has been selling well at the Grand Canyon bookstores, much to the dismay of the Old Earth theorists.  This gorgeously book has stunning photographs of the Grand Canyon, with excerpts from Young Earth Creationists about the clues found in the canyon. 

Then of course we watched The Ten Commandments with Charlton Heston.  It  helped us make connections between Egypt and the Israelites. It was so cool to actually see all the stuff we had read about.  Also, it was fun to pick out any errors.  It's been almost two years and I can't remember any errors.  There might have been but it was pretty accurate. 

I was asked the other day how I sewed our ancient costumes. These are the basic steps I used for costumes for dd and I.

First I measured each of us, from the neck down to however far we wanted the garment to fall. DD and I wanted them to go to our feet so I measured to our feet.  I multiplied that by 2.  That is how much fabric I need.  Then we went to the fabric store and purchased their cheapest white fabric. Now when fabric comes off the bolt, it is folded like this:

The selvage is the factory finished edge.  The cut sides have obviously been cut with scissors.  When we got home, I refolded the fabric to lay like this:

I smoothed out all the wrinkles. Then I cut a semicircle in the top for the neck opening and sewed up the sides almost all the way...like this:

The solid line shows where I cut the neck opening.  If I estimated that too small, I can always cut it bigger. The dashed lines show my seam lines.  The arms go through the opening above the seam lines.  I did not do any hemming or finish work.  After all, these are ancient costumes!  I tucked in the sleeves so the raveled edges wouldn't show.  If the raggy edges showed on the hem, I told the dc to say that came from miles of walking!  We were ancients after all!  LOL 

Since the Egyptians liked to wear gold, Dd and I wore gold belts.  I took out some gold lame fabric from my fabric stash and tied them around our waists.  Done!

I bought some cheap gold jewelry for me to wear.  DD made her own out of Sculpey clay.  She just followed directions in some of the craft books we had.

For ds, I just got a smaller piece of white fabric, wrapped it around his waist and used a safety pin to hold it in place.  Then I got a strip of white fabric to wrap around his waist for a belt.  I had found a web site with some color sheets for Egyptian collars.  I forget where this was found, but that is the neck ornament ds is wearing.  He made a band for his arm too. 

Then we all put on dark brown eyeshadow for Kohl.  I think that's how simple our costumes were.  Oh, we did go barefoot too!

 I used to do costumes for the children's choir at church and I learned tons about making the most of the biggies for the greatest impact and not sweating the small stuff!  Really!! So for Egypt, the key elements are white fabric and gold accents. 

These are the student books I purchased directly from Latin Road to English Grammar.

I was always buy 2 at a time, one for each of my dc.  My son starts with Latin I this year and I only had to pull out the one I had waiting for him.  I was not sure if this curriculum would change any and I didn't want yet another learning curve!  lol  Also, we have to pay with PayPal and I need dh to help me with that, since our account is in his name and his secret password.  Also,  I can't figure PayPal out...and quite frankly, dh only has it a little more figured out than I do.  It is such a pain to move the money from our savings to our checking (which is how he set it up) then wait for a week for the money to make it's way to Pay  Pal.  We did this for the initial teacher and student order I thought I'd need to make.  But then I found Rainbow Resource for the teacher set...so we didn't need all that money we put in Pay Pal.  So now it's sitting in there, it's paid for the student order and we have money left over. 

We are waiting to be charged by Ebay, which was a total failure for us this year.   Nothing sold.  DH was determined to make a certain amount, but I think the shipping option killed our chances.  But we couldn't figure out how to set up the media mail.  Two years ago we sold all our A Beka stuff (minus the teacher keys due to Ebay policy, sigh) for grades K-6 for all subjects.  We have continued with A Beka math the last two years, so now I have math grades 5-8 to sell.  In fact I have a perfect 6th grade workbook (I bought an extra by mistake...sigh). 

Since I can't figure out how to determine Media Mail, nor do we understand Pay Pal, I don't know how to sell my things.  I could just take them to Half Price books and get a few bucks for the whole lot.  I am a member of a list where I could sell these, but how????  I'd be happy with a check from the receiver, but how long should I wait to make sure it doesn't bounce before I mail the items?  I think that is the purpose of Pay Pal but whenever we get in there and start making decisions, we are so lost and confused.       

A bit of another night, in 100 degree heat and blazing sun, dh struggled to figure out the hardware for the file cabinets.

Apparently either there will be no bottom to the file drawers...or there will be bottoms but I cannot have any tabs on the files in order for them to fit.  ugh.  Also, he has a hair of a measurement to work with...meaning I might not even be able to open the drawers.  double ugh.  How about we buy a file cabinet, faux paint it and have shelves in the other spaces????  Nope, he's not to be deterred.  All day Saturday he produced a drawer...

There's a hanging file to prove that it works. He was elated and so was I! Uh oh...when I took these pictures while he was at work the tab rises above the drawer.  Hmmmmm, not good.  I meant to ask him about it but I keep forgetting when he comes home.  Anyway, he is ready to make more drawers.  One of my prayer requests is that all of these components work once they are in place!

My mom was the only person game enough to accept our invitation! lol  She was shocked to see us!  (At this time, ds is 10 and dd is 12.)

Here we are with Slipper kitty.  Moments before Mom's arrival, ds suggested that we come up with a brief introduction of who we were, with a testimony that we had changed our faith to the one true God of the Hebrews.  Slipper posed as the Cat of Bubastees, one of our favorite books written by GA Henty that I read aloud to them.  Mom never dreamed we would be dressed up!  She loved it!

After our introductions, ds opened the unit celebration with the shofar he made out of paper mache. 

 Then we ate food typical of the various cultures we had studied.

Our favorite was the pomegranate.  I have never used these before.  I had to google instructions on how to use them.  They are full of seeds and these are what you eat.  They are filled with a great liquid.  I also found a wonderful recipe!  First you roll the pomegranate on the counter top to smash the seeds inside.

Then you poke a hole into the fruit with a skewer and insert a straw.  The world's first soft drink!  LOL

Then we showed off our projects.  Here is one of ds' seven page flip books on Creation.  We made each page a different size and they increased by one inch as they got bigger.  This is the day the stars were created.  We already had a million foam stars someone had given the dc for crafts, so we pulled them out for this project.

 Here's his page on the day the frogs and turtles (more foam shapes) were created.

 Here is one of dd's pages.  Don't you love the flamingo?  I think she used a stencil for that, the cat and the flower.  And she used cotton for the clouds. 

Scanning the table from right to left you see...

Here are overlay transparancy maps.  We did these for the Great Flood. I used numerous Creation resources to study geology and the Flood.  From looking at recent big floods and volcanic eruptions (like Mt. St. Helens) Creationist Scientists have seen that big floods create huge canyons within days, not millions of years.  After all, when do you see the greatest erosion, over years of peaceful weather, or after floods?  When we first moved into our house, there was no grass and we had a hill.  That was fine, until it rained and the harder it rained, the more erosion I had.  I needed to hurry up and put grass down before my yard washed completely away!  We've had 3 different hundred year floods in our area since our dc have been born.  The one flood caused waters to go over the spillway of a dam for the first time ever...creating a new course of direction for the river and a new canyon. After the flood waters started to recede and the river road was passible again, we drove down and were shocked at the change!  Using this as the baseline for our theories, our transparency maps reflect these changes.  I think my next blog article will feature how we did some of these activities.  I'll do a close up in the next article as well as some of the resources we used which were not part of the TOG curriculum. 

 These are the salt dough maps of the Nile River.

My dc were just learning how to use IEW and KWO with simple paragraphs.  So we took one of our paragraphs and made a pop up book!

Another pop up book with a paper boat... 

Our major art project was the tabernacle.  I knew this represents our relationship with God and is referenced over and over again in the Bible.  Therefore I prioritized for us to understand this better.  And how better to understand it than to make a model?  I'll detail how we made it in the next blog entry.

Here is ds lifting the different covers to the tabernacle, explaining the significance of each one.

Here is the inside from the top...

Today, we can sketch out all the pieces and what they are and what they represent!  This is an extremely meaningful project!

Well, at the end, Mom was quite impressed!  She said she was going to tell everyone they needed to come to the next one..when would that be she asked?  This was not fluff she said, as best as I can remember.  But she was really impressed and wanted us to do another one!  For the record, my mom has come to all of them (8 now), Dad has come to the next 7, my MIL has flown in from 1500 miles away to 2 (at the end of each school year).  My dad's cousin was visiting during one and she attended the Elizabethan one.  We now e-mail these blogs to my ds' former Sunday School teacher who has been a wonderful encourager to us!  I've been to shy to invite them!  Should I?  ;)  I should also add, that although my mom is incredibly impressed with this and could sit and just ask questions all day and listen to every book, every story, every detail, my dad gets lost...and so do I!  I also quickly saw the opportunity to do speeches and recitations.  So I add something new that is higher level to each one, trying to make them more creative and interesting, building skills my dc need to build anyway.  I am open to the idea that this could be boring for someone who is not a grandma or grandpa, so I've been hesitant to invite anyone else for fear of boring them to tears.  That was one reason I had the "walk through the museum" idea, but that has never happened.  Our guests are always ready for us to tell our story of HIStory.  To God be the glory! 

The other day a TOG Mom sent me an e-mail, asking where my Year 1 information was.  Well, I designed this blog a few weeks after finishing Year 1, which was last summer.  My blog's first year anniversary came and went and I forgot all about it until just now!  (gasp)  Last summer was quite a learning curve for me, learning how to blog, use a digital camera, and how to do html code for my blog template. This summer I assured my new TOG friend that I would catch up with looking back at some highlights of TOG year 1.

Before we started TOG, the dc and I were involved in Children's Choir at church and I worked behind the scenes, primarily on costumes.  This was an outreach ministry and we had a blast serving the Lord!  When I found Tapestry of Grace, which blended history, literature, geography, Christian Worldview, arts and crafts, and performance, we knew it would change the course of our homeschooling!

TOG highly recommends unit celebrations for closure on a unit and to celebrate all the hard work that had been done.  It is also a time for family members to come and see what the dc have been learning.  These are usually done in a co-op setting.  Since we were not part of a co-op, I studied what others did for their unit celebrations and planned out what we could do to make ours special.  I was a bit hesitant.  Were we weird?  I did not know anyone who did anything like this curriculum.  I was not yet part of the yahoo support group.  Surely we were nuts.  I prayed about it and in faith, ventured forth with the family to make plans.  Then I invited my parents and brother and his family, who live nearby, to come and see what the children had been learning.  Following is the invitation I sent to them:

Tuesday another box arrived! 

This one came from Rainbow Resource.  I found out about them on my Latin group.  When I checked into it, I found I could get some of our curriculum for free shipping!  The box arrived in a timely manner.  After all, with all these arrival posts I've been doing recently, can anyone guess what I was busy with last week?  ;)  The company even put a cute sticker on the bottom edge of the box.

We got dd's Apologia books for the year. 

And we got the Latin Road to English Grammar III Teacher Curriculum set.  They didn't provide the complete student set so I ordered those directly from LRTEG. 

DD and I were starting to hyperventilate when we felt the thickness of this book!  Four extra chapters! 

Throughout the week, I've been getting our TOG books.  More on that later, with a surprise announcement!  Hint: Only one my friends knows the secret.  Shhhhh!  Stay tuned!  ;)

After lunch, we went to the museum located at the edge of the park.  I was especially interested to take the dc to the Leonardo da Vinci display which had just opened a few weeks earlier and would only be available for a few months.  As we stood in line and I looked at how much I would have to pay for the four of us to enter, I realized I'd be paying for 1/3 of a family membership.  It was nearly 2pm and I knew we'd never have time to see everything (like the mummy and aquifer), and there would be other rotating displays to see in the next year (like the bluebonnet paintings in the autumn...shouldn't that be in the spring?).   So I purchased a family membership.  I couldn't believe it.  We are not huge museum people.  But we've been wanting to come different times for different things. 

I was pleasantly surprised to find the museum quiet.  No out of control children or loud adults.  Nothing like trying to listen to audio with loud people around or trying out a display when a group of children squeeze in front of you and take over with reckless abandon, wildly using the display without knowing its function.  There were many people about, but the general tone was calm and peaceful and respectful.  This could be fun!

We entered the Leonardo da Vinci room and the first thing to read about was his life.  My dc said, "Oh, we already read about all that last winter."  YES!  We checked out all the machines.  Recreated, before our eyes, were the very machines he imagined and sketched on paper, most of which were never actually made until decades, even centuries later.  Some we could only look at and wait for an "apprentice" or museum helper to demonstrate.  Most, however, we were able to work ourselves.  The dc kept saying in awe, over and over, "We read about these last winter!" (We had studied Leonardo da Vinci extensively in TOG Year 2 Unit 4.  The theme of that unit is the Renaissance and since da Vinci was the quintessential Renaissance man, the dc wrote research papers about him.  We also used an excellent resource (not on the TOG booklist) to learn about his life and work.

Here's his war machine.  Army tanks today are constructed very much like this one.

DS climbing to the top from within...

Here's a type of cannon...

Cranking up the flywheel.  We didn't even know what a flywheel was until we watched the DVD "Flywheel" (by the same producers of "Facing the Giants" a week before.  It was so cool to see that da Vinci had the original idea!

Hmmmm, what's this? DS does remember that this has been adapted for today's army tanks, having control of the direction of fire...

DS is turning a crank to lift the column, just like in da Vinci's day...

Going up...

Ball bearings...we saw a lot of devices using these.  When we got home ds went straight to the geomag he had left on the table and said, "Hey, this uses ball bearings!"  YES!

Hmmmm, cranking up something.  I forget.  But ds remembers that today we use this type of thing to roll out sheets of metal.  Actually it reminds me of pizza dough machines and pasta dough rollers. Oh, and ds is now thinking of the old fashioned washing machines.  I remember helping my grandma use that machine.  I used to think wash day with her was sooooo much fun!

DS tells me that this is a pedometer...

This is how the printing press works...

Bet you can guess this one!

Then we went into the workshop. DS is analyzing flight with different sets of paper wings.

These men were intent on making these sticks become...

...this bridge that could be built with only sticks and no nails.  

They suceeded! It's not as easy as it looks.   

DS decided to try it...

Grandma and dd had a race to get their submarine to the top first...

How is ds doing?

Ta da!  Oops! It fell apart quickly.  It wasn't quite stable enough.  You tweak one little area and it falls apart.  DS wanted to keep working but there had been a few men watching...and waiting...ever so patiently.  You could tell they could hardly stand it, not interrupting him.  I told ds to take turns and let the men try.  I really had a great time watching all the men act like kids in this place!  =)

We built an arch.  I had a blast doing that!  We studied these in Year 1 Unit 4.  The Etruscans invented this extremely important and sturdy design centuries before da Vinci was born.  Completing it proves how wobbly it is in construction, yet how sturdy it is in the end.  I wonder what da Vinci had to do with it?  Better hit the books!

Looking at DD skectch a picture of me with a special gadget...

Here is Grandma sketching a picture of dd.

We all aimed the catapult at the castle...

DS tried to find another opportunity to build the bridge again.  But the man who built the bridge right before ds was back with his kids (teens/college age) and they tried it.  We watched, trying to get tips.  Just when it looked like they had it...oops!   It fell apart.  We finally had to go.  I know dh would love to try this.  If only I can drag him down here.  ;)  He says he's going to build that wall unit for the schoolroom this summer. 

I was glad that dh took a break from woodworking Sunday and took a Sabbath rest.  =)  Yesterday afternoon he came home a little early and surprised me by heading out to the garage to do a little more.  The heat about did him in.  My goodness that is why I think Jan-May is the best time for these projects.  But he's always determined to labor in the heat of summer...which carries on into the autumn usually.  He knocked out a little bit then mowed the grass after dinner.

He said he wasn't able to accomplish something but I didn't understand.  But he's gotten this far with two!

The UPS man left this on our doorstep.  We couldn't wait to open this huge box...

I had a sneaky suspicion as to what it contained...

Yep, figures!  Just what we wanted to see right after lunch.

On this side you can make out the earthworm and crayfish specimens.  On the other side you can see the perch.  The frog is in the middle.

The dissecting kit, tray, slide kit...

...and a collegiate level microscope!  We had to check it out immediately! 

We looked at protozoa, euglena, paramecium, planaria, hydra, and leif vein cross-section.  Boy did that bring back memories of high school and college!  

All this for dd's 9th grade Apologia's Exploring Creation with Biology!  Stay tuned!   

After the zoo, MIL and the dc and I went to Brackenridge Park for lunch.  The Japanese Tea Gardens, zoo, and museum all border this lovely park.  The headwaters to the San Antonio River begin nearby and meanders through the park.  I took the dc back here last Fri and we had lunch on the island, fed the ducks and rode the train.  I have a host of childhood memories at this park. Enjoy!

Sat dh and ds started building the new wall unit for the schoolroom.  Can't you just envision it? ;)

The Japanese Tea Garden is next door to the zoo.  MIL loves zoos!  Even though we had planned to do lunch in Brackenridge Park and then do the museum, she suggested we sqeeze in the zoo too!  At the gate MIL was so sweet that she paid.  When asked if she had a military id for a discount, I dug mine out.  An elderly gentleman behind us was so sweet...he said that being military, we should get in free.  He saw me later in front of the bears and asked me which branch my dh was in.  He told me that he served in the Navy many years ago, for about 4 years. As he thanked me I was thanking him! He was a great encouragement to me!

Well, we never got to see everything.  DS spent a lot of time getting the perfect picture...in the reptile house even!  MIL really wanted to go to the museum too, so I told her to lead us to her favorite animals.  Because she adores kitties so much, she really wanted to see the lions.  Well, in years past I could have taken her right to them.  But the zoo has changed so much and the Africa area is going through more renovation phases, I'm not sure where they were hiding!  In all I think we saw 1/3 of the zoo.  Enjoy!

Yea!!!!  Look what arrived!  Year 3 Unit 1!  Excuse me while I plan for our next unit celebration!  ;)

While MIL was visiting, we decided to spend some time at Brackenridge Park.  While there, I wanted to go to the Japanese Tea Garden.  I used to love to go here while I was growing up.  Sadly, when I brought my dc here about 8 years ago, the gardens were dead, dry and destroyed.  I was heartbroken.  Then a few months ago I found out that the gardens had been renovated and opened!  We had to go!

In the 1800's, this was the site of a rock quarry and cement company.  Here are the old kilns.  

And here's the top...

After the rock quarry relocated, the site was transformed into a lovely Japanese Tea Garden.  The garden was taken care of by a Japanese family until WWII when they were sent to an interment camp.  The name was changed to the Chinese Sunken Garden and a Chinese family became the caretakers.  In the 1990's, the garden's name was restored to the Japanese Tea Garden in a special ceremony, honoring family members of the original caretakers.  I could not find either the old Chinese entrance I remembered as a child or the new Japanese entrance that was added in the 1980's.  Since it's only recently been renovated, it will become more lush and full over the years, and koi will multiply prodigiously. However, the gardens have been beautifully restored.  Enjoy.

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!