September through November is one of our favorite times. There are festivals galore and we try to go to as many as we can.
This week we went to the Civil War Reenactment they have every year at Pt. Mallard.† We always love this.† A few days before we went Keilee looked up “The Battle of Decatur” to find out some info.† She told me that during the Civil War the Union only left 4 buildings standing in Decatur!† She learned that the battle took place along the Tennessee River and an estimated 500 Southerners and 200 Northerners died.† She was a little frustrated looking the number up because 4 different sites all had different numbers!† It was a Union victory.† Before the actual battle starts we always roam around and see the tents that are set up.
Then the battle began!† It was a long, hard fight.† The Union was positioned behind hay bales and the poor Confederate were just sitting ducks.
They both had women in the field.† These women were nurses but there were women who dressed as men and fought in this war.† There are reports of as many as 250 women who fought for the Confederate Army.
While Kei and I ARE Southerners we both agree that the slaves should have never been slaves.† Being Southern is something that is hard to be described though.† You either get it or you don’t.†† While we were perusing the tents a “Union” soldier came to tell us to ‘Please leave the area because the reenactment was about to begin.”† I muttered “Dayum Yankee” under my breath and just giggled.† 🙂
Keilee had a great idea for her notebook for Coop.† She is beyond excited about this.† It starts Monday.† She just got her Spanish book and IT IS ALL IN SPANISH!† I was a bit freaked out.† I thought they would start with girl – amiga boy – amigo.† Uno, dos, tres…†† Anyway she got chrome spray paint and painted it.† She had asked me to buy her a small dry eraser board and she hot glued that on there and added stickers.† She was thrilled at how it turned out.† She is so much more organized than I am!!
She did an amazing report this week.† Her imagination just blows me away.† She did a typed report on Nomad and the Lab/Blue Heeler mix.† Then she made a PowerPoint presentation with slides and YouTube videos to go along with her oral presentation.† She did it on the iPad so as she was reading I was following on iPad and watching videos.† It was great!† Here are some of the ‘slides’. 
A few weeks ago Phyllis at “All Things Beautiful” said she couldn’t wait to see Keilee do her own Notebooking pages.† Well she was creating all over the place this week.† She did one on the Battle of Decatur and it was so cool.† She had a string on it that hung down and the information was on both sides.† She used the program that we got.
She also made one on the “Transcontinental Railroad”.† This one had a train that ACTUALLY moved!† The Sun and the Mountains opened to contain information about the building of it.
This week has been one of my favorites in a long time.† Everything just flowed…the learning…the playing….the fun…..† Nothing was forced or stressed, even Math went smoothly. :)† Keilee is still reading so much, still creating on Polyvore, still playing with her Monster High Dolls.† Actually my friend Carla bought her the newest Monster High Doll and sent it to her without her knowing it.† She got it Wednesday and freaked out.† She is Robecca Steam and she is Steampunk.† Keilee LOVES all things Steampunk and has for a long time.† Kei also made an Instagram account for her.† Robecca Steam.† She is going to post pictures like it is really ‘Robecca’.
Yes I am still laid off…3 more weeks….but life is SO good.† I love this life we lead and wouldn’t trade it for all the money in China!
Happy weekend!
Homeschooling Rocks!
Karen
ìImagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine, and at last, you create what you willî ñ George Bernard Shaw
My favorite Resource is a site from Dove.† It has activities and resources to build Self Esteem in girls ages 8-18.
Happily linking with
Mary @ “Collage Friday”
Susan @ “Favorite Resources”
Kris @ “Weekly Wrap Up”
I love it when everything flows together! An amazing week for sure! Love the photos from the reenactment, and I laughed out loud at your comment to the “Union” soldier:) We are going to a reenactment next weekend, and I can’t wait. It’s a smaller one, but there’s a big one held nearby in December. The girls have to be in costume, recite a part, and dance the Virginia Reel and a couple of other dances. I’m jealous because I want to do it too:)
I see a 31 bag. 😉 We love lapbooking and notebooking too. Well Sassy does, she’s the one doing them. Praying for you during this hard time of lay off. Your attitude is so positive.
What a wonderful week. The civil war reenactment was aswesome. You all do awesome learning.
Blessings, Dawn
What a great week! Thanks for sharing it – I love to see what other homeschoolers are up to. The re-enactment looked fun – but I loved the Transcontinental Railroad. Really creative.
What a great week. It is so funny how many things our two families and daughters have in common. Grace thinks Monster High is cool but really wants to start collecting a certain kind of Japanese doll that would be kind of considered an anime doll. Loved all your photos of the week. We are also doing some notebooking for a weather unit we are reviewing for TOS. Have a great week.
Blessings
Diane
The battle re-enactment looks like so much fun! There is some of that in Missouri, just not anywhere close to us. It’s a 2-3 hour drive for the nearest one here.
I loved her notebooking pages, especially the railroad. She is so creative!
Amber likes to make fairy houses too, but without the mud part. No mud.. we don’t get very dirty here. It’s a tactile thing. It’s so much fun to watch. I’m glad Keilee is still making her fairy houses.
@ Jessy at Our Side of the Mountain:
But you have SO MUCH History in Maine! That is one state we are dying to visit!
Wow! That reenactment looks like a great learning opportunity. We don’t find much in the way of those here…but I guess most of American History didn’t happen in MAINE. LOL
I love what she did with her notebook! Such a creative young lady, huh? A very functional add with the white board too!
Her notebooking pages are pretty cool. I especially like the Transcontinental Railroad!
AWESOME, awesome, AwEsOmE 🙂 What a fantastic week…all of it! Love Keilee’s imagination and creativity!
Thanks for linking up Karen. Off to check out the Dove site…
I feel the same way as Jamie…that horse is amazing.
Enjoy every minute. In the Northeast we have agricultural fairs every weekend. Some are huge like the multi-state Eastern States Exposition (Big E) and there are smaller local ones. You have inspired me to catch a few with the girls!
Don’t you just love those magical weeks? Keilee’s imagination does floor me… are you sure you’re not really unschooling, because it looks like you are and that it’s WORKING! 🙂
Have a great weekend, Karen!
What an awesome week! I love Kei’s notebooking and the binder she made for coop! The reenactment sounds great, too. There is nothing wrong with being a proud Southerner! (and I’m one of those yankees, lol!) There was much more to the Civil War than slavery. Yes, it was an evil, but there were so many other causes to the conflict, many of which were the fault of the North. (ok, history teacher hat off now, smile, wink) 😉 Hope you have a great weekend, friend! I so want to have a fun homeschool like yours. I’ll keep trying. 🙂
Kei, your notebook pages ROCK!!! What a wonderful week! I love reenactments. And I was born, raised and lived 50 years among the northerners and I have finally made my home here in the south! Now, I can say, “ìDayum Yankee” too!! It is so wonderful to see Kei so excited about her learning. My Sam started French today and his book was all in French, too.
Looks like you’ve had a wonderful week! Lots of neat projects! And that very first photo of the horse really caught my eye because his eyes are so unique!