Blue & Gray School Year Launch

a post by Jenni {aka Mom}

This summer Rooster and Bird had the privilege of attending Civil War Camp at VMI's Virginia Museum of the Civil War in New Market, Virginia. As anyone who knows us could tell you, Rooster has been obsessed with interested in The War Between The States for some years now (remember his Kepi birthday cake?), and was thrilled at the opportunity to attend this day camp. I plan to post sometime in more detail about the camp. It is very well run and we definitely recommend it. (By the way, their Homeschool Day each March is outstanding!)

Well, since this period of American history has been of such strong interest, and since it's the 150th anniversary year, and since R & B had just had such a fun introduction we decided to launch our school year with our 1st ever unit study covering nothing other than -- The Civil War.

In conjunction with the unit study we planned several field trips to reenactments, battlefields, museums, etc...the first of which was a reenactment of the skirmish in Orange, Virginia. This colorfully named little town dubbed the event The Blue & Gray in Orange. 

My father lived in Orange for a portion of his childhood, so it was an extra neat treat to consider his having been there and to drive by the home in which he had lived. 

The timing coincided perfectly with the beginning of our 2012-2013 school year, and this outing became a fun family launch to the year ahead.

Here are some highlights from our visit to The Blue & Gray in Orange:

Bird (in gray) and Rooster (in blue) await the beginning of the festivities

All 3 handsome boys sit for a spell, and patiently pose for another picture

A small band of Union soldiers enter the town square

Pursued by Confederate soldiers, the Union soldiers turn to defend themselves

Rooster was surprised by the first shots fired :)

The Confederate cavalry rides in on the attack

Union soldiers try to hold their ground (that's Bo on the right, enjoying the show)

LOVE this reenactor with the cigar and the pistol! He was SO into the story.

The Confederate cavalry runs the small Union force down the street, where the Union finally surrenders.

My 3 boys enjoying themselves :)

The Confederate infantry celebrate their victory

Watching the parade...R's a bit bummed at this point after it sank in that this reenactment depicted a Union loss.

Bird excitedly has his photo taken with "General Lee"

We hope everyone's school year is getting off to a great start! We're having a fantastic week so far. Lord willing, I'll expound on it in Friday's Weekly Wrap-Up. :)

Pre-Christmas Family Festivities

a post by Jenni {aka Mom}

It's not even Christmas Eve and it seems like we've already had a bunch of Christmas celebrations! My husband likes to draw it out by allowing the boys to open just one gift on Christmas day, and the rest one a day in the days leading up to Christmas. We WOULD have started tomorrow BUT we thought that two of the gifts (one for Rooster and one for Bird) would come in especially handy while family was in town so we let them open those on Monday! They both received new cameras - we thought we might end up with more good photos and videos while family is in town. We did, but we also ended up with many long, detailed video tours of Lego villages as well as gads of photos of Lego creations, army men formations, and the cats! LOL

My husband and I were just reflecting on how it gives us such insight into their little worlds, and lets us catch a glimpse of life from their perspective. We really enjoy that!

 

Nana and Grandpa arrived Monday evening and visited with us through Tuesday evening. Tuesday my aunt and uncle joined them in town, and that evening we enjoyed a wonderful party with all of them as well as my other aunt and my grandmother. The party culminated in an UNO marathon - Aunt Ginny had won EVERY round, and then Bo was the one to FINALLY beat her in the final round. The boys say they'll be practicing for next time!

Tuesday we also enjoyed an epic game of miniature golf in which Bo defeated me by one stroke (Gah!! It was that one hole with all those stinking little hills that got me!). 

Oh, and for the party Nana picked up gourmet cupcakes from this cute little shop in downtown Harrisonburg - they were SO GOOD!

Unfortunately Nana and Grandpa had to leave on Wednesday since Grandpa was having surgery today. Thankfully his surgery went smoothly today, though he has a long and painful recovery ahead of him. We sure missed them tonight, though!

This evening was Aunt Ginny's annual Christmas party, and we joined a myriad of cousins, aunts, uncles, and friends down at her newly remodeled home. She's been working on it a long time, doing most of the work herself, and it is looking FANTASTIC. The food was great, as usual. 

I was especially excited to see my cousin Sarah and her new baby girl Skyla - who's a whole 10 months old now! They live out in California, so this was my first time meeting the sweet little one. Is it bad that one of my favorite parts of the party every year is playing with the little girls? ;-) I love my boys, but I also love spoiling my little cousins. All three of those baby girls are adorable and have the sweetest little personalities.

We've really enjoyed visiting everyone so far. We're definitely looking forward to the rest of the week, and possibly even more visits with the other side of the family tree during the following week.

Thanksgiving Day Highlights 2011

a post by Jenni {aka Mom}

Every Thanksgiving is different for us. I have heard of people that have the same crowd and same food every year, and I have had seasons in the past in which I was one of them (back when everyone always went to my mom’s), but for the last 7 Thanksgivings our household has had a delightful amount of variability.

We try to open our home each year not only to family but also to friends and acquaintances. We try to make sure to include those we know who don’t have family around to share the holiday with. 

This was really easy when my husband was in the Air Force, because almost none of us had family nearby. That season was also great for my ego, because the young, single airmen who came for Thanksgiving Dinner were thrilled to have a home cooked meal – though my cooking left much to be desired at that time – and they heaped their plates with food and my ears with compliments. Needless to say, it was always a joy to include them!

This year’s crowd included both family and friends. We had a laid-back open house style day instead of a formal dinner, and I have to say that it was one of the most enjoyable, relaxed Thanksgiving celebrations we’ve ever experienced.

No drama. No catastrophes.

A miraculously smooth and enjoyable day with people we love.

The downside to that is we have no fodder for tall tales in the future, yet the upside is so full that none of that matters.

Here are a few memories and highlights:

- Bird made the fruit-kebab turkey, which brought on all sorts of laughter due to the fact we had to “poke all those sticks in the turkey’s butt.”

 

- I still like having my mommy around to prepare for events. Her extra set of hands and our Lucille Ball-esque laughter and antics make food prep that much more easy & enjoyable.

- Grandpa helped to peel potatoes, and by helped we mean he blew us away and peeled through 10 pounds like it was nothing.

I felt like Julia Child in the scene from Julie & Julia in which she attends cooking class and all the other students are flying through chopping onions while she daintily sliced hers, realizing how far from a chef she actually is at that point.

The rest of us unanimously decided that Grandpa must have been in an awful lot of trouble when he was in the Navy, and that’s where he was able to develop such amazing potato peeling skills ;-)

 

 

- The boys were awestruck to learn that Aunt Ginny is not only willing to do things like play basketball, but she actually suggests it – and she’s a great shot, to boot! Nana's not so bad, herself.

Both of them definitely scored some cool points with the kids!

 

 - Granny had the opportunity to see Plato in his new home, and was amazed at how much he had grown. 

I was reminded how much Gran loves big dogs when she asked that we let our Bullmastiff out and proceeded to massage her and let her climb in her lap! They both seemed to love every minute of it. 

 

 

- Some good friends of ours were able to stop in who we hadn’t been able to visit with in a good while. It was downright refreshing to our souls to see and fellowship with them!

- Our Peruvian friend experienced her 1st good old American campfire and her 1st s’mores. After dark we pulled out the telescope and the group, including her and her children, was able to get a good look at Jupiter and 4 of its moons. Her excitement and joy are contagious, and I especially enjoyed sharing those experiences with her.

- In addition to the smorgasbord of American food, our aforementioned friend brought us one of her UH-MAY-ZING homemade cakes. It was the style of a Tres Leches cake, but with caramel and pineapple filling (if it sounds odd to you, it did to me too – but it’s crazy good!). Definite highlight for a cake-lover such as myself!

- The kids had a blast with friends. At one point our friend’s 16 year old son was engaged in a soccer game against ALL the other little boys. He was such a great sport with them!

All-in-all, it was a wonderful day. I am very thankful for how smoothly it went, naturally, and I am especially thankful for the loved ones we were able to spend time with. Each person who came is special to us in their own way, and holds a special place in our hearts.

Trick My Play Fort - Phase One

The boys have been bugging me to get a post up about their fort project, so I thought I should take a few minutes to do so. A few years ago, we bought this play fort for them. It was a model on the lot that had begun to weather, so we were able to get a great deal on it. The boys were younger, and used it pretty much as a basic playground, though they did camp out in it a few times. 

Well, this year Bird and Rooster decided that it needed some upgrades. They had established the fort as the base of operations for the armies of both of their imaginary people groups. It had become the epicenter of all sorts of dramatic events and battles. Strategic improvements had to be made.

So they began to plan. They had been collecting junk, and with their new plans their junk-collecting intensified. They collected old boards and leftover paint. They collected coat hooks and cup hooks. They saved their money. Finally, over the summer, they were able to implement phase one of their plan.

Bird on the play fort swing, before any changes were made

The boys spray paint shutters for the fort

They pooled their money and enlisted me to take them to the hardware store, where they purchased hinges, little sample containers of paint, and hook-and-eye closures. 

Then they used boards they were given free when we helped to clean out the church basement and leftover spray paint from another project to paint shutters for the fort's windows.

Bird paints designs on his shutters

Once the background was dry, they proceeded to paint designs on their shutters using misc leftover paint and the sample paint they had bought. 

I thought they were just painting random creative designs, until they informed me that the designs were actually the emblems from the shields that the great warriors of their people groups carry. 

Rooster paints designs on his shutters

Silly me. I'd forgotten that they had planned all of this. 

As I was informed, the two "tribes" which came from Bird's people had formed an alliance with the "tribe" that is Rooster's people, and the three parties had established that fort between them forever so that banded as one they might defeat their enemies.

Ok, I know I'm their mother, but that explanation is just so cute I almost can't stand it! If only they'd put this much thought into other things!

Rooster shows off his "No Girls Allowed" sign

They had also been given 2 old signs that already had eye hooks screwed into the tops. They painted over the existing sign, and then painted on their own messages.

"No Girls Allowed"
Clearly they are all boy. 

I did find out that moms don't count as girls, so I am allowed in the fort. So is Aunt Jessica. Others may be allowed on a case by case basis. They did take their great-grandmother in for a tour recently. I think the sign is meant to be more of a deterrent - being as the household across the street has 3 girls! LOL

Bird drills holes for the sign hooks

They hung almost everything themselves. Only 2 drill bits were broken (I broke one of them - oops!). Thankfully, I was able to replace them that day, which made it easier to tell Dad.

Bird hangs his sign

Sign for kids fort: "Please check your gun at the armory"

Here are their finished signs:

"Please check your gun at the armory"

and "No Girls Allowed"

Classic, no?

Sign for kids fort "No Girls Allowed"

In the midst of their plans and preparation, there was much discussion about a name for the fort. Forts have names, after all. Fort Sumter, Fort Cumberland, Fort Washington...

They didn't want to copy another fort's name, though, they wanted their own.

Title sign for kids fort: Fort Histemi

They said they wanted to name it something like "Fort Strong" or "Fort Undefeated" and eventually we came around to "Fort Stand Firm." This, they decided, didn't have a good ring to it, but it was what they wanted it to mean - like how Christians are told to stand firm in their armor.

So I looked up "stand firm" and "stand" from Ephesians chapter 6 in the concordance, and found that the Greek word used there is "Histemi" - pronounced Hi(short I)-stay-me(long E). It means "to stand" as in "the victor is the last one standing in battle". Bingo. We had our name.

I have to tell you, Rooster and Bird conceived and staged the rest of these photos. They came up with the poses themselves. They even directed me as to where to stand and what shots to take. I wish I could post them all. You can tell they have watched a *couple* war movies, and are taking their roles very seriously. It's ridiculously cute!

The boys proudly show off their new, improved fort

Below are their custom painted shutters, representative of their respective imaginary "tribes"

Bird's shutter's

Bird opens his shutters to bark orders

Rooster's Shutters

Rooster commands his troops to charge

Another thing they did was mount various types of coat hooks as gun racks, both inside and outside the fort. One of these racks was purchased by Bird; the rest were free or salvaged.

Here Rooster shows us the official "armory" rack which holds homemade water bazookas and a rubber band gun.

This rack was designated for toy rifles, hats, and bags of critical supplies such as granola bars.

Rooster climbs the ladder here to show us the second level. In the lower right hand corner you can see the side of a plastic storage cabinet. This was given to them for free, and they use it to store items they want to keep out of the weather.

This "gun rack" is the one Caleb purchased, specifically to hold his rubber band gun.

This cheap wooden rack is one I'd bought years ago and we had never used. They painted it and mounted it sideways here, so binoculars can hang behind the beam - easily accessible but out of the way. 

They also figured out how to use the pegs to help them raise and lower items from the ground using a rope or their personal favorite - a paratrooper cord.

Rooster was so serious the whole time he was having me document all this. It was cracking me up!

I did finally get a handsome, normal, little-boy smile out of him, though!!

Here they are, sending up their tool box, and securing it on that last wooden hook thing I showed you.

One final look at Fort Histemi for you. 

Soldiers out front, ready for anything. Little boys are so much fun!!

Bird and Rooster proudly take their posts at the entrance to Fort Histemi

I heard something about phase two the other day - something about a crank and pulley for the drawbridge...we shall see...