Spur of the Moment Camp Out

We had known about the Camp Out at Lora's for a few weeks and planned to go.... we even met Granny and Papa to pick up the tent we needed from Bubba. But Saturday morning it was rainy and yucky... so Lora and I decided to just do the campfire cookout part with the kids and pass over the tent and sleep over part for later. HA!

Eastover Event

While at Averasboro, we were invited to take part in a small town's Heritage Day. It was a good opportunity for the children to dress and teach other young children about the Civil War time period. One little girl I spoke to, about 8 years old, when I asked if she had ever heard of the Civil War... said "NO." When do they teach American History in public school now? I remember that is ALL we were taught...except for one year of World History in high school. Another young girl approached Amelia and asked "Do you dress like that all the time? Have you ever worn clothes like mine?" How cute!

A Singular Event... as of Today, Anyway!

We have lived on this corner on this block for six years. We have admired our quaint little red fire hydrant that sits in the front yard. Never, until today, has THIS happened!

Burwell School Spring 2008

This past Saturday we had the opportunity for another Civil War re-enactment.... well, this was pre-Civil War! We went to the Burwell School in Hillsborough. This event was for the girls only (Burwell being a girl's school and we were not doing any first person portrayals or the boys might have been Burwell children).

Attention Everyone!

Alex has learned to ride his bike! (and it took him all of 10 minutes!) Once he made up his mind, he just hopped on and went. He was tiring of being left behind by the others, the tricycle and scooter was just too slow... and he determined in his mind to accomplish the task... that was most of the battle! After a few pushes on the grass, he rode to the driveway, then the street (it is flat, the driveways are sloped)... our Sunday afternoon traffic consisted of three cars in the time of several hours! so the road was safe to learn on. He learned to ride, stop and turn and even start himself off. He did have ONE fall (too many instructors telling him what to do confused him) but he fell well and landed safely... he actually FLEW well, like superman over the handle bars and landed into our neighbors azalea blooms! I watched the whole thing from the porch... it was so exciting I had to put down Jane Austin!

*Amelia took this video, mostly running down the street! That is why it is so bumpy!*

Clothes Pin Dolls

Well, Amelia's fingers were itchy for a craft again, so she decided to make clothespin dolls. First Daddy drilled holes for arms then we scheduled in some art time... Jessica and Maggie (and eventually Alex) joined in also. The dolls are the perfect size for her doll house, which is great! So they have a home :)

Senior Prom

Bradley and Euri Jo went to the Senior Prom last night... no, not together! I just had them pose for a photo op! Euri's date came to pick her up and Bradley drove the Jetta to the prom. They both had a great time. The theme was "A New York Night".... Jessica styled Euri's hair and did her make-up... I gave her a piece of vintage ribbon for a necklace and she borrowed Amelia's camera (someone snapped a photo of them at the prom, below) . Bradley picked out his tux by himself, didn't he do a great job? Bradley said he was suprised that it was as fun as it was, he thought it would be 'cheesy', but he said everything was nice. One more chapter in their lives over....

CITIZENS OF THE OLD NORTH STATE...

This past weekend we participated in our very first event with the CONS group. We made a lot of new friends, and learned so much about re-enacting! It was overall a wonderful experience and we are all happy to have made the decision to become Civil War re-enactors.

The boys played in the creek most of the time and were a showstopper for spectators! Amelia began learning tatting and drop spinning... something she has been wanting to do for quite some time. Lora and I learned a lot about wardrobe... which is so detailed and year specific. Lora had made pumpkin bread from a Civil War cookbook I had given her and it was good. We heated it up on the campfire... very fun!

The children are writing a journal about their time in Averasboro and will continue to do so for each event. I know this journal will be a treasure to them when they are adults. Alex is dictating his to me. It is so cute, he is using words like "flank" and "cavalry" and "artillery" to describe the battle to me, but he still wants a "good guy" and "bad guys"... It is hare to explain that both sides were the "good guys"!

Granny and Papa were invaded by us for the weekend. Granny had sewed up the boy's second shirts for me and made lunch and supper for us each day. It was wonderful to have such good food to fuel us for the weekend! Papa fixed Alex's gun and tied my apron bows for me. It has been a LONG LONG time since my Daddy has tied a bow for me! It was nice for him to do it again. *the photo above is the children walking back from petting the horses at Granny and Papa's our second morning*

Mark came to spend part of Saturday with us and brought Euri and Bradley. Bradley tried the rum soaked cigar and about turned green! Then Mark came back Sunday and helped Lora load her truck for the trip home.

Aunt Cornelia has loaned me a family book that documents our ancestors back to England in 1633. I have been searching names trying to find a soldier in the list. So far, it looks like a great, great Uncle may have been in the Navy during the Civil War... but there is mystery surrounding the story. There is a story about Yankees invading a family home because the woman was cooking for Confederate soldiers. We also found ties to the Revolutionary War. Now if only there is a book for my mother's side and we can see if there were any Yankee soldiers in the family line...

*A far in the future note: at one time there was a slide show with many pictures from this event... our blog has changed so much since then, as well as our living history experiences.. but we still enjoy them both!  We are no longer with CONS... We are members of Carolina Citizens and the Olde South Blackmiths.

Our First Taste of Civil War Re-enacting!

We have just returned from Aiken South Carolina for our very first 'dip' into Civil War Re-enactment. We are so happy and tired! We just 'dressed' one day.... and Daniel wasn't exactly accurate and Amelia had on a too big borrowed dress, and our undergarments were not all accurate... but, in spite of all of that we were complimented by other re-enactors for being so accurate. We had an ABSOLUTELY HAD A GREAT TIME! I do not have time for a long post, but here are a couple pictures....

Oh... just have to mention that the hats the boys are wearing were made by the seamstress of the 'Gods and Generals' movie and were fasioned by scraps of fabric from the movie clothing... makes them more of a keep sake and they are accurate for civilian boys of the Civil War era.

Another Step Back in History...

Our Revolutionary War costumes.....



*The girls dresses were borrowed. we made the hats, my dress and I put together the boys costumes with thrift finds.... a challenge.... a rewarding challenge! Tiring, but I would do it again... we gained more from the experience than we put out! The filming was in a museum.... and old home from the Revolutionary time period. The home has an incredible Civil War history to go along with it. More in a following post....*