My Little Junior Ranger

We have started a unit on the Civil War which I plan to take awhile to complete. We have focused primarily on Abraham Lincoln this week  - his life and characteristics. We also started talking about why we had a Civil War, the division of the states and understanding the different thoughts and beliefs of the Union and Confederate States and how they apply to us today. We will start talking about soldiers and their lives next week which I think will be really fun for Ben and not quite as heavy and difficult as this week was.

So, how wonderful to live in Frederick MD and study the Civil War. Could we be any closer to the action? Yesterday Ben and I went to the Monocacy Battlefield for the traveling Abraham Lincoln exhibit that was there and to start looking at some of the uniforms the soldiers wore. Sam came home early - thank goodness as the little boys would never have survived the park. As most of you know, NPS has a Junior Ranger program where children complete a set of questions / activities they provide and receive a badge. They can then begin to collect badges for each park they visit. It is a great program that makes talking about the exhibits easier and peaks their interest because they are looking for the answer. Of course, I forgot my camera in the car and didn't get to take a picture of him saying his pledge, but my goodness, he was proud. We learned a lot from the Ranger on the flags of the civil war (very interesting by the way) and the clothing they wore. I will say Mom learned a lot too!! I've really been thinking about how life would be different had Gen. Early won the battle in D.C. and the confederate troops gain control of D.C.  I bought  a great Scholastic book called If You Lived During the Civil War. It helps Ben see what his life would be like both if he lived in the North and South.  It really hit home to him when he learned that soldiers were as young as 9yrs old.

At the Lee Wallace Memorial

Ben has been saving his money all summer and received a tip delivering firewood last week - and I'll say that money has been burning a hole in his pocket. He has been debating all month what he was going to spend it on. I even gave the boys a chance to get something at McDonald's and they said, no, we'll just wait and have a snack at home. Well, at the battlefield he saw exactly what he wanted.

Setting up his soldiers at Panda Express

Very proud of his battlefield setup

When were eating Ben gave me his badge and said, "here Mommy, you earned this." I was like, Ben , you answered all the questions and did all the work. He said, "Yeah, but you plan out all the school lessons to make them fun for me, so really, you earned it."

That kid can drive me nuts and melt my heart all in the same day.....

And I cannot forget my little boys! This morning during school, they were driving the van to Target so that Mommy (Nathan) could get baby (Nicholas) a new truck.

Stopping at the ATM

Driving the 'van' to Target

I don't know how Ben stays focused. During all of this he was taking an L.A. quiz and I'm trying not to laugh as I snap photos of them. And they are completely unaware I'm watching them. Oh well, Ben got a 100 on his quiz, so I guess he can handle the noise!