The Apple Dumpling Gang...Just a lot of fun for the kids of the house! 

Wishbone Dog Days of the West..."A little dog with a big imagination", describes the Jack Russell Terrier who imagines himself in costume (I love this dog!  We almost got to meet him.) as the hero of a classic novel. Here he portrays a cowboy in the midst of the West in a compilation of O'Henry stories woven into a hilarious tail (pun intended) of twists and turns!

The Lone Ranger

The Harvey Girls-A fictional musical based on the history of the Harvey Girls.  Fred Harvey hired ladies from the East to serve meals for the railroads in the west.  The ladies were trained to wait on tables with their ladylike manners and charm. The movie uses the Harvey Girl backdrop alongside this remake of Cyrano de Bergerac and Longfellow's John Alden.  Great singing and dancing is showcased with Judy Garland and Ray Bolger (the scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz) in this tale of ladies who tame the West!  

Rough Riders...see my extended post here.

Stars and Stripes Forever...Although capturing the main drama behind legendary March King, John Philip Sousa, the timing of the writing of this famous march is a bit off.  Here's a bit of accuracy from the Library of Congress we used to match up the facts for our unit celebration.    

An Ideal Husband...Preview this movie first, as a couple of scenes are a bit mature for young eyes. Otherwise it captured the essence of this terrific play that we studied in Rhetoric literature and brought it to life. The plot line, the focus on glitz, and the humour were well captured. We were laughing a lot!

The Man From Snowy River...A cowboy from Down Under, both of which are studied in Year 3. I'm not sure of the exact year in which this movie is set, but American cowboys reached their peak and demise in the latter 1800's (unit 4) although TOG officially studies cowboys in unit 3.  Do whichever works best for you. =) This would make a nice contrast study of cowboys.  Incidentally, we went horseback riding in Rocky Mountain National Park and the grade of the mountain we were riding on top of is the same as the grade this cowboy rides down. Quite a feat! Also this is based on a famous poem, about a wild horse that only one man can capture. 

Oklahoma 

Anne of Green Gables...This site has lots of downloads, video clip, etc. 

Anne of Avonlea...Same site as above except specific to this movie.

The Little Princess

The Secret Garden

Heidi...Because of watching this movie as a little girl, I fell in love with Switzerland and have yearned for the Alps eversince.

Dr. Dolittle-Although written in the 1920's, I think the era of the movie is turn of the century.

My Fair Lady

McClintock-This John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara Western remake of the Taming of the Shrew is a family favorite.     

     And now...presenting...our Year 3 Unit 4 Celebration!  Here are all the books we read and videos we watched over the course of our unit 4 studies: 1876-1900.  We studied many historical themes: the European Imperialism in Africa and its affects, causes and effects of immigration to America, industrial giants who became millionaires, labor unions,  Theodore Roosevelt, and American Imperialism in the Spanish American War and Hawaii.  We also studied all the presidents of the era as well as missionaries around the world. In addition, we studied the events of Europe at the turn of the century that set the stage for World War I.   Furthermore we studied and made Impressionist Art.

      All year my son wanted to portray a Texan cowboy. Cowboys are officially studied in TOG during Unit 3 (1851-1875).  Actually cattle drives reached their peak and demise after 1875, so we saved it for unit 4.  My daughter was Anne of Green Gables. I played a dual role this time: one as a French dancer who had stepped out of one of Renoir's paintings and two, as Hawaii's last reigning monarch, Queen Liliuokalani.

    When we lived in San Antonio several months ago, I had planned on finishing this year with a special treat, by taking the kids to The Old San Francisco Steakhouse.  Because it's pricey, my husband and I haven't been there in years.  But the food is excellent and the atmosphere is historically unique. Since we now live in Northern Virginia and we couldn't go to the steakhouse, we brought the steakhouse to us!  This is the Old Northern Virginia Steakhouse, serving grilled sirloin steak, baked potatoes, salad with ranch dressing and sourdough bread. 

       Immediately, my son got into character as the cowboy.  I plunged in, suggesting the delicious steak we were eating was one of the cattle he had driven in.  He said that the meat had been shipped from a meat packing plant in Chicago.  We played it up and my husband tagged along. We usually have to work to keep our guests on topic historically but this is never a problem with my husband. Although he tries to get the actors in Colonial Williamsburg to reveal their 21st century side, he does the opposite with us.  He is intensely curious with who we are.  So he asked my son lots of questions about being a cowboy. I asked which ranch in Texas he was from.  Hmmmm, he wasn't sure. I asked which city he was from and he said Brownsville.  Wow, all the way down there?  He must be from the King Ranch. "What's that?" he asked.  I told him it was one of the largest ranches in Texas, and is the largest ranch today. It occupies practically the entire southern part of Texas, between Corpus Christi and Brownsville.  Whenever we drove to South Padre Island, we had to drive through the ranch, which takes an hour or two.  Yep, he decided that's who he worked for, the King Ranch.  Then my husband asked about Anne of Green Gables.  My daughter enjoyed portraying her at the same age as Anne when she started giving the recitations. I thought she looked like she had stepped out of the movie.  

   Finally my husband could restrain himself no longer.  Who was I?  I told him it all depended on the moment, as sometimes I am a French dancer who stepped out of a painting and other times I am a Hawaiian queen.  We had the most fun with my French character and I wish I could remember everything.  My family was asking lots of questions, trying to figure out which painting I had stepped out of. I kept everything lighthearted and fun, staying in character.  The looks on their faces were absolutely priceless as they were in amazed disbelief the entire time. I do remember my son asking me what I thought of Pointilism and my character had no idea what that was.  That helped my son date me better.  My daughter was the first to figure out which painting I had stepped out of. My husband didn't seem that interested in the Hawaiian queen. He was more interested in the French lady!  He asked me what I do. "I dance!  I love to dance.  Do you dance, monsieur?"  He replied that it depends.  He liked to square dance.  "Square dance?" I asked, as I wrinkled my nose. "Oh, that's that country dancing they do in America, is it not?"  Yes!  "Oh we have much more refined dancing in Paris."  (They were all looking at me with incredulous smiles on their faces!)  

     After a delicious dinner, we went to the piano to sing cowboy music. Since Queen Liliuokalani was musical, I played the piano for us to sing "Home on the Range."  Then we watched his power point presentation, which he had designed completely by himself. Throughout his presentation, we gathered around the piano to sing various cowboy songs like "Strawberry Roan,"  and in honor of our new home state of Virginia, we also sang "Shenandoah." 

     Then my son did his first person interpretation as a cowboy Rough Rider who fought in the Spanish American War withTeddy Roosevelt. He had fun incorporating some of our hometown of San Antonio. Roosevelt recruited some of the Rough Riders there. San Antonio is also where they trained before going to Cuba. After this we gathered around the piano to sing goodbye to cattle drives with "I'm Going to Leave Old Texas" and "Red River Valley."

     Then my son played a famous march from the era on his fife, "Stars and Stripes Forever."

     Then the cowboy played "Git Along Little Dogie" on the piano.

      My daughter's turn was next as Anne of Green Gables. Here is her recitation of "The Lady of Shallot" Part I...

"The Lady of Shallot" Part II...

     Then she played "Take My Life and Let it Be" on the piano...

      Now it was time for my part as the French lady.  I acted very surprised to see them, since I had just stepped out of a painting! Perhaps they have seen me before, since the painting is quite famous! I showed them the painting of The Ball at the Moulin de la Galette painted by Pierre Auguste Renoir.   My husband took the book to look for me.  "You must be right here!" he gleefully said.  "On no Monsieur, I have stepped out of the painting!" They started laughing. "Don't we all look joyful? That is how Renoir likes to paint. There is too much sadness in the world. He prefers to showcase the joyous and pretty.  Renoir was born in Limoges, France and grew up in Paris, developing his skills at drawing. Eventually he was hired to paint the beautiful ceramics of Limoges, France." I held a Limoge out for them to see in my hand. 

These ceramics take their name from the town and these are authentic pieces.  This Limoge, shaped like a purse, opens up.  (They were eating out of my hand. This was fun!)  

     After I told them how Renoir made the ceramic painting fun, breaking the rules, I explained how he met Monet and developed his new technique...a huge departure from the socially accepted Realism.  The paintings had a certain, hmmm, a certain...Je ne sais quoi ... so much so that one reporter rudely dubbed the art Impressionist, because it only seemed an impression of the real thing. The official name of the new artistic movement was aptly created.  Another aspect of Impressionism is to make the painting look lifelike, despite the blurred edges, with the use of sunlight. If you look at The Ball at the Moulin de la Galette, you will see the dappled sunlight come through the leaves of the trees.  Look at the people.  Some of them are looking at you.  This is another Impressionist trick to allow the blurred edges of the painting seem real.  Don't you think it looks as though one of the people might step out of the painting to talk to you, like I did?  Don't you feel as though you could even step into the painting, yourself?  That is what makes Renoir so wonderful! Alas, the critics do not agree.  C'est la vie!  Renoir keeps painting and painting despite the critics.  Lucky you! In your time you get to enjoy his beautiful works of art.  Before I pop back into the painting, lets go to the museum to enjoy other Impressionist works of art "(my kids' art projects). While I prepared to leave, the kids' were incredulously shocked.  "Mom, where did you learn all that French?"  I just laughed and went to the museum.  Come join me.

     Here are my kids' art where they learned to use short, choppy, unblended strokes of color, like Monet.  (I will post a close-up slide show later.  We are not done with all the projects yet.)

 Here they learned to paint a shimmering sky, like Monet.

 Here they painted reflections like Monet.

That's all the art my daughter had time to do. This is my son's study of a haystack in the snow as influenced by the sun, replicating another Monet piece.

 Everyone knows of Monet's water lillies. Here is my son's 3D interpretation of them. I set them against leftover blue fabric from my Queen Liliuokalani costume.

      Renoir taught him how to proportionally draw a face.

 Cezanne taught him how to do still life. My son also learned how to use color, instead of size, to show perspective, a post-impressionist techniqe.

 Now it was time for me to make costume additions, so that I could become Queen Liliuokalani of Hawaii. I based my entire costume around her famous portrait.  I quickly pulled it up on the internet, since I knew my husband would want to know how I decided  on this particular dress.  My husband took the web page I had pulled up, from Iolani Palace and put it on the television.

      While reading Queen Liliuokalani's autobiography last week, I discovered some common bonds to portray.  Interestingly, she wrote about some of the very things I have written about on my blog!  When she traveled to Washington DC, she stayed in a hotel in Alexandria.  One morning she and other dignitaries went to the dock on the Potomac River to board a boat.  While traveling that beautiful spring morning in May, the beautifully aromatic flowers bloomed in abundance. "...as the edifices which mark the sacred spot came in sight, the American flag was lowered, the steamer's bell tolled, the gentlemen removed their hats, and the air of the Star Spangled Banner  was rendered by impressive effect."  She goes on to describe how she was emotionally moved by this event and the tour of the mansion, Mount Vernon where "the rooms occupied by General Washington, General Lafayette, and Martha Washington were opened to us; and we were permitted to enter, and further, to pause in the lady's bedroom to listen to the story of her constancy to the memory of her husband, whose grave she watched, as she sat daily at her window, from the day of his internment to that of her own death.  This story, with the scene of its happening around me as I listened, was most touching to my heart..." As I put this into my own words, emphasizing with varying emotions at the appropriate places, my family smiled and shook their heads that I was able to work in Washington and Lafayette into this interpretation! 

     Queen Liliuokalani came from a highly musical family.  Beautiful music came down through generations, but she was the one to put most of Hawaii's music to paper.  She wrote the famous Aloha Oe after a horseback ride on one of the islands and seeing some lovers bidding adieu.

     Does anyone know how Hawaii became an American possession? For years Americans set up businesses and missionary societies on the islands, becoming one with the people socially. There was much intermarriage, in fact the queen married one of these American businessmen.  Over time, some of the Americans forced the king to write a new constitution giving them power and making the king their puppet. Eventually the kings died out and Queen Liliuokalani assumed the monarchy. Two years later, in 1893, she tried to write a new constitution giving more power to the monarch and returning the franchise (right to vote) to the Hawaiians.  The American businessmen overthrew her kingdom, with the help of American marines. President Cleveland did not support this, but was outvoted by the Congress. Hawaii became a US territory. Later there was an attempt to restore her monarchy by the people.  The American businessmen put her under house arrest in the Iolani Palace and forced her to go through a trial and sign abdication papers. Queen Liliokalani was the last reigning monach of Hawaii, replaced by Sanford Dole who was president of the new republic.

     "Aloha Oe" is now considered symbolic of the farewell to the old Hawaii.  As I played "Aloha Oe" on the piano, the family sang it with me.

      Then I invited the family to a luau. First the kids and I would change into more comfortable clothing. I looked at my husband and said he appeared to be quite comfortable!  (He was wearing a Hawaiian shirt, swim shorts and sneakers.)  The kids and I changed then we came down so that I could present my husband with a lei and welcome him to Hawaii. Then we got the Hawaiian food ready.

     My husband tried to get our tiki torches to work. They came with the house and we were never interested in them.  Recently I realized they'd be perfect for a luau!  However my husband could not get them to work.  Despite giving them fresh fuel the previous homeowner had left for us, the wick was wet from recent rains. Another time.  

My kids and I set the table.

     Everyone helped themselves buffet style in the kitchen, and brought the plates to the table. We had pina coladas (non-alcoholic), crab dip, zucchini boats filled with crab and shrimp filling, shrimp cocktail, Hawaiian banana bread, and fruit salad.  Most everything was made with combinations of Hawaiian ingredients like coconut, banana, pineapple, papaya, macadamia nut, hmmmmm, what else? I can't remember. But it was good!  

     During dinner we talked about favorite/interesting things learned in history during Year 3. They said art!  I repeated..."Historical!" My son said he most enjoyed learning about the Alamo, because that's his history. My daughter said she found Napoleon interesting, in that he appeared every week in one of her government or literature or history readings. My son said he didn't appear in his Dialectic literature selections, but we said he certainly did in the Rhetoric literature. My daughter gave several examples of Napoleon and even Lafayette found in Classical literature.  

     We were going to play limbo but never got around to that.  Instead we settled down to a Hawaiian movie with chocolate macadamia nut coffee from Hawaii and coconut layer cake.  We had a lot of fun and my husband thanked me for inviting him to Hawaii.

     Tonight we watched a movie about Theodore Roosevelt, "Rough Riders." Although we've seen it several times in the past, this time the kids (and I) got more out of it due to our history and literature studies.  Despite a few mistakes I caught, the big picture was well represented of the era and history.  The movie shows them training in San Antonio, which is true. Roosevelt later wrote that the men liked the idea of training in San Antonio..."in the city where the Alamo commemorates the death fight of Crockett, Bowie, and their famous band of frontier heroes."  In fact, the Rough Riders were so well trained, that they were the one volunteer regiment allowed to go in to fight. Today, the area where they trained is Roosevelt Park.

     Accurately portrayed was the diverse group of men who comprised the Rough Riders, from cowboys to a Fifth Avenue contingent.  Due to lack of military experience, Roosevelt did request to serve under Colonel Wood and Roosevelt was Lt. Colonel.   

  There were other great elements in the movie. The kids had studied artists and newspaper reporters at the scene of battles during the Civil War. They were one of the story lines in this movie. Also, Stephen Crane was in the movie and there was a lot of talk about his book, Red Badge of Courage.  Now that my son and I read the junior version of it a few years ago, we understood much more of the movie. 

     One of the main characters of the movie was Nash, who had a similar plot line to the main character of Crane's book. Both wanted to join the war (but for different reasons).  Both deserted their first battlefield experience. While running away, both were shot, yet both were deemed heroes.  For both, the inner conflict that raged afterwards led to significant life changing decisions.  Stephen Crane, himself, goes through a transformation through the movie.

      Our understanding of cavalry versus artillery have been heightened in the last year due to all our trips to Colonial Williamsburg and the Electronic Field Trip, "Yorktown". 

     Even though Rough Riders is a move, there were strong literary elements. My husband wasn't so certain that one of the characters had reformed at the end of the movie. My son quickly pointed out the literary clue during the climax that let us know about the transformation of the character.

     Some historical points that were not brought out where Roosevelt's personal motives for going to fight. His father did not fight in the Civil War, perhaps because Roosevelt's mother was a Southerner. (The fact that she was a Southerner did come out in the movie.)  Although Roosevelt was extremely close to his father, this was the one point of difference between them.  Roosevelt was never able to let that go. When the opportunity to go to war came, Roosevelt was not about to let it pass him by.  This movie seemed to be more of a story about Nash than Theodore Roosevelt, with lots of side stories to strengthen Nash's story.

     I'd say that the theme of this movie is patriotism.  American patriotism soared when citizens across the country read in the newspapers about the tyranny the Cubans (a close American neighbor) faced from the Spanish. As mentioned in the movie, this war was a turning point in American history. As we studied in history this year, the Spanish American War was the beginning of Imperialism, with theoretical foundations in the Monroe Doctrine and Manifest Destiny.

     During the climax, I was struck by something the men were taking turns to quote. It has to be a famous portion from a book. My son said they quoted it at the beginning of the movie too. I didn't catch that scene. Does anyone know what this quote is and which book or source it comes from? 

     We saved our study of Impressionism for after our other history studies were complete.  We are using a terrific book for this: Monet and the Impressionists for Kids. I set the excitement for the unit by talking first about Paris (where Impressionism began). I asked the kids if they knew that Paris was called "The City of Lights?" They did not. I told them that recently I had been looking at pictures of this beautiful city at night, when I began to wonder when this transformation occured. For the last few years we have studied about the numerous wars, the French Revolution, the barricades, etc. How did Paris become as lovely as it is today, especially at night?  I had no idea how to find the answer to that question. Surprisingly, the answer was in our Impressionism book. I told the kids about it, but I would not tell them how it became the city of light. Then we sat at the computer and looked at pictures of Paris at night.  The kids were amazed.  I am waiting to hear their exclamation of disbelief when they read that Napoleon III was responsible for this! The kids and I have a running joke now about Napoleon (and sometimes the III) always showing up, week by week. They thought he went into exile with his ideals a long time ago.

     One of the Impressionists, Claude Monet, did a lot of his painting in his garden near Paris.  I used to have a calendar book full of pictures of his garden, which I cannot find now. I've not been able to find as many pictures of his gardens on-line as I did in that calendar, but they are stunning.  One of our Monet field trips the other day was to take the kids to the nursery with me to select plants toh enhance the small garden we inherited when we recently purchased this house.  Since we have recently moved here from Texas, we are finding a lot of new plants. It was exciting to purchase new varieties that I've never had success with in Texas. 

     In the midst of learning about Impressionism, we are getting an education on color. The other day a new friend from church said she'd help me in my dilemma to select just the right paint colors for the house. Turns out she is an interior designer!  She liked what we did so far and challenged me to enhance the one shade from the front of the house for the family room, with the color "Dry Leaf".  Well we were at the store yesterdy looking at more paint chips and my daughter exclaimed, "Here's one called Lafayette!"  I took it home and it's a perfect match to "Dry Leaf."  "Lafayette" will soon be surrounding us on the walls of our family room! My daughter is now looking for a paint color called "George Washington."     

     My designer friend asked me about my choice of the Calla Lilies. Why not? She has asked me to keep her updated on how well it does. We hope it is a success because we liked it a lot.  I had fun putting in Eastern flowers in a patriotic color pallette for the urns.  Then I put my favorite colors for the garden everywhere else. The potted Mandevilla still needs to find its home in the ground next to the lamppost.

     Although my garden is for the enjoyment of others as well as to lift my own spirits, I am looking forward to using it for some of our art projects. Part of the idea of Impressionism, at least for Monet, was to be inspired by the outdoors and to paint in natural lighting at different times of the day, to capture a variety of effects.  It was during this time that the travel easel and art kit were developed, so that artists like Monet could take their art supplies with them and go wherever they wanted to paint, whether it was a field, the sea or the sky. In fact, when we did the bluebonnet exhibit at the Witte Museum in San Antonio last winter, this was precisely what the artist that was featured did.  In Monet's later years, he developed his garden on his property specifically to inspire him for his painting.  He included an arched Japanese bridge over the water garden that he had built. His most famous pieces, The Water Lilies,  were inspired from this. There is a Japanese bridge spanning the water garden at the Governor's Palace in Colonial Williamsburg. Hmmmm....

     We have recently completed a fascinating in-depth study about immigration.  This is a great way to introduce or review various historical eras with kids, while tracing ancestry.  History becomes more meaningful when it becomes their story.

     The furthest back I can trace my ancestry is through my mom's maiden name, which is French. Our French ancestors were Huguenots from Brittany. Apparently they were kin to some French Seigneurs and we had a coat of arms. After the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre, they fled to Holland due to religious persecution.  This was brought to life when I read GA Henty's St. Bartholomew's Eve: A Story of the Huguenot Wars to my kids last winter. I told the kids to imagine our ancestors' flight during this time.  My kids always enjoy GA Henty books and it was neat that this time we were reading about family history.  Descendants of this particular ancestor immigrated to America from Holland in 1721, settling in Pennsylvania. Aboard ship, the family name, which was French, was Americanized, or spelled phonetically. Were they terrorized during the French and  Indian War?  

   My mom had other ancestors who immigrated to America from Wurtemberg, Germany in 1764.  It's amazing the details that were located on these ancestors.They arrived on the ship, Hero, which had 500 passengers, landing in Philadelphia. Did they meet Benjamin Franklin?  Did they go to his print shop?

    Another of mom's ancestors arrived in America in 1864, the groom from Switzerland and the bride from Germany. I have a copy of their marriage certificate in German.  I also have a copy of the citizenship papers of the groom, from 1873.  I don't think it was these ancestors, but another great aunt that my mom remembers as only speaking German.  She was called Dutch. I'm not sure if she was Pennsylvania Dutch or from Germany.  

     While we were visiting Civil War Battlefields around Fredericksburg, one of the park rangers asked where we were from. When we told him Texas, he asked if our ancestors fought in the Confederacy in Virginia.  Some Texans did. Some even fought in Williamsburg. But our ancestors on my mom's side were still in Pennsylvania and fought for the Union. When I was 10, I got to visit the graves of a lot of my ancestors in the Alleghany Mountains and saw the flags and markers on the graves, identifying the wars they fought in.  Did any ancestors fight with Generals Washington and Lafayette in the American Revolution?  Did any fight with General Grant in the Civil War? 

     My dad's family was still in Germany. They immigrated to America after the Civil War.  When the Ellis Island immigration records became available on-line a few years ago, I could not search for my ancestors, because Ellis Island had no records before 1892.  Prior to this Castle Garden handled the reception of immigrants. I didn't realize this until studying immigration in the last few weeks. I found pages of my my maiden name at Castle Garden! This was exciting since the only people I know with my maiden name is in my immediate family.  I'm not able to find specific ancestors.  Perhaps I have a variation of spelling so this could become a treasure hunt!  I do know that the groom was born in Essen, Germany and the bride was born in Westphalia.

    Finding great historical fiction books that conincide with students' geneology is a great way to get them excited about history.  Searching for possible immigration records can be fun too.  Did you know there were other immigration stations other than New York? A few years ago we went to Galveston Island on vacation and took a tour of the tall ship Elissa. As part of the admission, we got to do the museum for the immigration station. We had fun searching through the records even though we knew we had no relatives who came through there. 

     Another fun way to get kids interested in ancestry and history is through hands-on and dance. A few years ago we went to Fredericksburg, Texas for Pioneer Day, commemorating the anniversary of their settlement. One of the activities was watching the German polka dancers.  They told us that they each had different costumes, representing the different areas of Germany. I was trying to remember which region of Germany I was from so I could ask if anyone wore that costume.  The highpoint was when we were invited to dance with them! (Sorry, Pam, no one took a picture of me dancing the German polka!)   

     It's that time again...preparing for the final unit celebration of the school year.  Yesterday I planned out our Year 3 Unit 4 studies and unit celebration.  All year long I've been dreading this unit. While contemplating the era, 1876-1900, I couldn't imagine anything fresh for presentations. As I dug into the year plan and talked to the kids about what they wanted to do, I kept hoping for new possibilities.

     All year my son has been waiting to be a cowboy. We "officially" were supposed to study cowboys withTOG during unit 3. I skipped it for several reasons.  We were in the middle of a move from Texas to Virginia and I wanted our spare time to focus on the presidents, Civil War, Reconstruction. etc.  Also the suggested book for cowboys are my kids' least favorite type of book because it is disjointed. Each set of pages has a theme, with numerous small pictures and small paragraphs for each picture. Why get bogged down when we are under a time crunch with resources we don't enjoy, when we are from Texas?  I taught my kids all about cowboys when we studied Texas history.  Nevertheless, my son has been anxious to be a cowboy. I told him that a better time frame to be a cowboy would be in unit 4, 1876-1900, the height and decline of the cattle drives.  My son has his costume all figured out so that I don't have to sew for him! I stumbled across all my cowboy notes and showed them to my son yesterday. We laid out a plan for his presentation, and we are excited about it. He's going to have terrific information to share.   Because of his character choice, I considered carrying on the theme with chuck wagon food. Hmmmm, I don't think so.  Being from Texas, I often serve "chuckwagon food." Also we've gone to Chuckwagon dinners before.  Nothing new there. I wondered if my daughter's character would be the key.

    My daughter has been waiting for this era because she's been wanting to be Anne of Green Gables. Hmmmm, I preferred that she do a more meaty topic.  However she has gotten behind in literature.  Besides, after the article I posted last night, I should set an example and let my daughter be who she wants to be.  Several years ago she did a research report on Canada and in the process, researched Lucy Maude Montgomery and Anne of Green Gables.  Since she knows Anne of Green Gables well, she will be more free to finish her history and literature.  The benefit to having her choose her own character, is that she is motivated to do a recitation on Alfred, Lord Tennyson's "Lady of Shallot." Since she will officially study this in Rhetoric Literature, I'll probably have her do a literary paper on it. Therefore, she still has some challenges.  After this decision, I began to consider food with the theme of  Anne of Green Gables, which goes hand in hand with a tea party (and cordial wine).  Even though we had a tea party at our last unit celebration, I was still leaning in this direction since I didn't think anyone I chose to interpret would hold fresh options.

    Hopelessly, I scanned the TOG yearplan and considered the list of historical people of the era.  Hmmm, there were mostly men listed. Then my eye caught Hawaii's last monarch, Queen Liliuokalani!  Even though my hair is the wrong color, she is the historical person I have decided to represent. My daughter laughed when she found out, because my hair color is better suited to be Anne of Green Gables.  I used to live in Hawaii, so I am excited to dig into a bit of history about my old home.  Furthermore, this is the obvious freshness I was looking for!  I'll let you imagine the possibilities. 

     Since these decisions were finally made, I started planning the costumes for me and my daughter.  I have one costume pattern for 1895 with puffy sleeves, like Anne of Green Gables adored. Perfect! There is a famous painting of Queen Lilioukalani wearing an elegant black dress that is sleeveless. Because the rest of the cut of the dress is similar to the pattern,  I decided to use the same pattern but not use the sleeves.  With the costumes planned out, it was time to shop.   

     The small nearby fabric store did not have what we needed, so I drove another 30 miles east to the chain's mega-store.   We found a set of water-stained moire taffetas for her to choose from.  (These are not actually water damaged. It's actually the name of the fabric.)  They were also 50% off so they were a definite possibility. We walked up and down the rest of the aisles, but I wasn't finding any other options. My daughter did though. I told her we needed a rather stiff type of elegant fabric. She found a set of regular taffeta with nicer colors than the moire taffeta.  Also this was cheaper than the moire at the sales price! She chose a two-tone pink color.

     Then I searched for elegant black taffeta for me.  I wasn't finding anything. In despair, I began to worry I may have to rethink everything.  Then my daughter found a cool two tone black taffeta, the same fabric family as hers, stored on a different shelf. I am glad I brought her with me! I won't need as much as the pattern calls for, because I don't need the puffy sleeves. I decided to have the amount cut that the pattern called for. The extra will be perfect for pillows in our bedroom. The brown side will perfectly complement the silvery watery blue comforter I had recently purchased.  My husband wants lots of decorative pillows to add to the bed so this will work.

     Having our fabric cut was an interesting experience. There were two ladies cutting fabric for customers and I was the only one waiting.  I was told to get a number.  ???????  I never got a number at any fabric store in my life. We just wait in line. Oh well, when in Rome (or Northern Virginia) do as the Romans (or Virginians) do.  I got my number, continued standing in front of the table, got bored and my mind started wandering.  Then I noticed the clerk had finished cutting fabric for her customer and was calling for something over the intercom. As I tried to mentally process what she was doing, she waved and called me over. She was calling me over the intercom while I was standing a few feet from her in plain sight!  Also I was still the only customer waiting to have fabric cut!  I thought it was funny how she insisted on the number/intercom system.

     As she cut my black/brown taffeta, she asked what I was sewing. I told her it was a costume for me to be Queen Lilioukalani. She liked the sound of that name and asked me to repeat it.  Relishing the sound of the name, she asked me to repeat it again for her co-worker. She said if she had another daughter, she would name her that. (I wonder if she'll remember the name? She had never heard of this queen before.)  Then she cut my daughter's pink fabric and asked what that was going to be.  My daughter told her it would be her Anne of Green Gables costume. The co-worker had heard that name before.  Then my daughter told her she would recite "The Lady of Shallot" and that she had done "Charge of the Light Brigade" with the last costume. Incredulous, the clerks asked, "Why would you do this?" I told them that we homeschool and every nine weeks we pick our favorite historical or literary character to recreate, with period food, music, crafts and recitations. They were speechless. Then they asked to see the pattern. I showed them how I was using the same pattern, but reworking it for my costume.  Impressed, the clerk asked me to say the name one more time.  I had no idea that name would get so much mileage.