Last Open Gym for the Season

social time for the girls, fort making time for the boys



I had 27 signed up and 41 children showed up. 
Even though there is no formal instructor at open gym,
the children do amazingly well in getting along without injuries.



fun at open gym

I found out that they were playing cops and robbers,
 and in this picture, they had captured Em.

US Army's Women Museum Part 1

friends

D was dresses up as a soldier from the American Revolution.
Not all soldier were dressed like this, but several of them served in the
French and Indian War leaving them with this particular uniform.

Rebecca was super excited to get picked to dress as a lady from the AR time period.
 Wearing the hoop skirt made her day.
She would love to have one of these.

In her full colonial garb, hoop skirt, hankie, and all.

T was decked out in Civil War jacket, hat, canteen, and powder horn.
You could tell he was itching to get his hands on the musket,
 but the instructor didn't hand it over.

Emily volunteered to dress as a lady from the
Civil War in hand made garments.

Isn't she cute?

A group picture representing the uniforms of the military spanning
the time from the America Revolution to present day.

The varying types of hats and weapons through the time periods.

The museum had a great assortment of dress
clothes for the children to play in.

A time chart of pictures of sorts to show the
 progression of women's roles in the military throughout the years.

The small sign read 'Come on in' making this area kid friendly
 and great for the tactile learners.

World War I (19-17-1918)
"When the US Government declared war on Germany in the spring of 1917, women as well as men felt the impact of the nations decision to go to War. When roughly 16% of the male workforce trooped off to battle, the call went
out to women to fill the vacancies in shops, factories, and offices across the country. Eventually, 20% or more of all workers in the wartime manufacture of electrical machinery, airplanes, and food were women. At the same time, they came to dominate the formerly male preserve of clerical workers, telephone operators, typists, and stenographers. Such skills, along with nursing, would be needed both on the home front and the fighting front in the so called "War to End All Wars."

"Given the vast social changes affecting women, on the one hand, the total nature of the conflict that was about to erupt in the spring of 1861, it is not surprising that women played important roles on both sides during the Civil War.
The overwhelming percentage of women who had an active role took care of the farm and families at home, end encouraged and supported the war effort in a thousand different ways, morally and materially.
They also served soldiers in the fieeld more directly as nurses or "angels of mercy" who took care of thousands of sick and wounded, cookes, laundresses, clerks, members of the US Sanitary Commision, the Christian Commision, and a host of other support-type groups, in numbers wholly unprecedented in our nations history."

THe WAAC was responsible for all clothing and equipment issued to them. If through fair wear and tear, the clothing was no longer servicable, the could turn it in to their supply leader. It was important that the WAAC inspected their clothing daily. If the clothing became unservicable through neglect, they could be charged for them.

Kaylee's year in kindergarten

When I first started homeschooling, I wasn't quite sold on the idea. After the first year, I was all in! This video is from a local home educator who feels just like I did as my oldest finished up her first year of kindergarten.

Seven lies about homeschoolers

When Did Homeschooling Begin?

Thought you might enjoy this post from Janice Campbell's blog about the history of homeschooling.

http://www.janice-campbell.com/'
Q: When did homeschooling begin?
A: Long, long ago.
Centuries before anyone thought of warehousing children for the bulk of their young lives, parents were teaching their children. Somehow, despite a lack of official certification, the world muddled along. Empires rose and fell, creative people created, curious people explored and discovered, and families learned and grew together.
This infographic is interesting, but the information is sketchy, and in at least one entry in the Comparison section (number 5, below), questionable. Curriculum is listed as the last item of comparison, and this infographic suggests that “Regular School” has “Richer curriculum because the student has many teachers qualified in many subjects.” Homeschool receives a “Poorer curriculum because parents are not always qualified to teach all subjects.”
The word “curriculum” can be defined as the “subjects comprising a course of study in a school.” Ignoring for a moment the apparent confusion about the difference between curriculum and teachers, the idea that institutional school textbooks are richer fare than living books is laughable. If I were a betting person, I’d back homeschoolers who use Charlotte Mason, Classical, Thomas Jefferson, Sonlight, or any other lifestyle of learning method against textbook learners any day!
For more background on home education and a bit of inspiration, you might want to read For the Children’s Sake: Foundations of Education for Home and School, Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling, and Homeschooling for Excellence. These are just three of the classics on my shelves, but they were among the most influential when I first began homeschooling long, long ago. Enjoy!

Via: Online College Source

Homeschool Truths

* I do have some pictures to put up, and I will get to them in time.  We've had fun on field trips, strawberry picking, and shopping for next years books.  As the school year winds down, we are finding more things to occupy our time meaning our 3R's are not getting acomplished.  Oh, the joys of being a homeschooling mommy :o)  I love it.

Happy 15th Anniversary to Me!

I have seriously been wanting a DSLR camera for a couple of years now, and with our 15 year anniversary coming up, I was very hopeful. 

Our anniversary came without fanfare, basically a typical Thursday in our household.

We celebrated it today (a day later) by going out to dinner and spending some quality time together.

Jay, being the ever so pleasing hubby that he is, sneaked away this morning and bought me the camera that I have been looking at.  I have been playing with it all day. 

Below is a sample of the pictures I took today. 

Don't judge, I am very new at trying to figure out how it works.

Still working on getting the focus down.

(These are in desperate need of cleaning.)
 I received the solitary diamond engagement ring in May 1996, the band in May 1997, the wrap of 6 smaller diamonds in May 2004, and the camera to take this picture in May 2012.

One of my favorites taken this evening.

Civil War 150th begins commemoration in Richmond region

The Civil War spotlight has shifted to Chesterfield County for the 150th anniversary of the battle that saved Richmond on May 15, 1862.
At the county's Central Library on Wednesday, visitors found re-enactors, Civil War music, games, historic-document scanning and the chance to visit the Civil War 150th HistoryMobile museum on wheels. All will continue through Saturday.
Home-schoolers Rebecca, 12; Emily, 9; Natalee , 10; and Melanie, 4, joined the "Ladies Aid Society" in stuffing ditty bags for soldiers with a Bible, candle, matches and soap, all of which would have been hard to find in camp.
Soldiers would have appreciated the bags too, said a hoop-skirted Wendy Alvis of Chesterfield, because without something to separate items in their haversacks, "your bar of soap might get mixed up with your beans for dinner or your tobacco."
Songs such as "Shenandoah," "Oh, Susanna," and "Jine the Cavalry" helped soldiers to pass the time in an era before electronics, said banjoist Jeff Beatman of the "Press Gang," who performed with singer John McCall.
Items from the library's Traveling Trunk illustrated the soldiers' daily life and gear. Bryan Truzzie, wearing a Union uniform of light blue pants and dark blue jacket, described how to make coffee in the field
Richmond National Battlefield Park will offer living history, exhibits and interpretation Saturday and Sunday at Drewry's Bluff, where Confederates in a hastily constructed fort held off five Union ships, including the ironclad USS Monitor, on Tuesday.
Dave Ruth, superintendent of Richmond National Battlefield Park, said the anniversary could lead to increased interpretation at the Drewry's Bluff unit, which does not have a visitors center or regular staffing. Two new exhibit panels will be dedicated Saturday, he said.
Sarah Snead, deputy county administrator, said the anniversary is an opportunity for Chesterfield to tell the story of Drewry's Bluff and other Civil War sites.
"They may be lesser known than other partner sites (in the Civil War commemoration), but it all is coming together to complete the package of the region."

My Motto




 

Today's Funny

After a full morning of soccer and errands, we went to a birthday party for Emily's friend who turned 10 years old.

It was located at a small park in an area where I never would have thought could hold such beauty.

Emily's first honeysuckles of the season.  She was so excited.  She delights in little things like this.

Who would of thought that this beautiful scene would be found in the city of Colonial Heights?

As storm rolled in as the afternoon turned to evening, making it dark and gloomy, and the signal for us to go home!

Below are a couple other pics from the party.





The men congregating around the grill.

The game was to knock down the cans with the slingshot.

The theme was angry birds and this game was fantastic. 
BTW, Rebecca was one of the three that won.



Rylee's uncle caught some fish and entertained the kids.



They had the fish going down the slide ....EWW!

Rylee received a watergun for her birthday.
 With the warm temperatures, Emily and Rylee's two cousins had fun cooling down the others.

All the kids talked Mason into catching a frog for them.

Soccer games

Rebecca's game had great weather, a victory of 7-0, and was not overlapping Emily's game so I was able to watch the entire game.  The downside... it started at 8 am so we had a very early start to our weekend.

Emily's game was at noon.  The weather was hot and humid.  My sister and her family came to see Emily play even though my brother in law kept harping on the fact that it looked like rain.

Misty is blowing kisses to Emily, Madison is going through her flash cards,
 and Rebecca is just hanging out on the blanket with them.

but then it did start to rain... Ok, I guess you were right Brandon.
That's ok, we have umbrellas.  Jay was kind enough to share.

Madison had enough of this sitting business and wanted to play.

I let Becca take her on the field at half time...mistake.

She thought it was fun to run out to see all the girls who were coincidentally named 'Emmy'.

and again...

Afterwards,  I walked Madison around, missing the rest of Emily's game, but I did have fun with her in the rain and puddles.

"It fun" she said over and over again when she discovered the puddles of standing water. 

Eh, I didn't have to take her home, I got to be the fun aunt.