Pocahontas The Peacemaker

Dorathy is involved in a really fun Young American Girls Club. This is the second year we've participated. Every month we choose a different lady heroine to read and study about. Then we get together at someone's house for a discussion, learning activities, and socialization. These "Mom Schools" provide the opportunity for peer interaction, parental group support, and let the kids be inspired by great women heroes.

This year we studied Annie Oakley, Harriet Tubman, Florence Nightengale, Emma Smith, Eileen Collins, Betsy Ross, Sandra Day O'connor, Elizabeth Blackwell, and Pocahontas. The kids are suppose to keep track of the books they read, the websites they study, and write a report each month of everything they've learned.

We just had our end of the year party last Friday. Each of the girls had picked one of the ladies we studied to do a project on. At our meeting, each girl presented their project to the group. Dorathy chose Pocahontas (she's in love with Indians). She did a water color of Pocahontas' portrait when she lived in England. Then she also wrote a play of Pocahontas' life. At the activity, we gathered all the children and put an impromptu play together. The kids did a great job with only having 3o minutes to practice parts they had never seen before!!! We brought a huge basket of props. All the kids got really into it. The boys went crazy with delight when they saw guns in the prop box. They were saying, "I'll be anything, any part, as long as I get to carry a gun!!" One of the girls played John Smith and got to wear a beard, it was hilarious. I wish that I had taken a video of the play, but my hands were filled with a nap-deprived Julianna.

Here are the photos I did take of the other girl's final projects. Marah made a flag, and Seneca made a quilt. Hannah showed how Harriet Tubman helped slaves escape by using the North Star, and taught us some astronomy with maps.

Dorathy wrote the play herself, but I typed and cleaned it up to hand it out to everyone. Afterwards, we made a 10 foot long bannana split in a rain gutter lined with foil. It was so exciting for all the kids to dig in. The boy siblings were especially enthralled. Christopher would have tried to eat the entire thing himself if we'd let him. I think they'll be talking about that desert for years to come. It was very impressive!

Here's the incredible dessert!

Here is the Play Dorathy put together. I had to help her a little bit in the middle to try and shorten it, but she came up with the beginning and middle with no prompting from me.

Pocahontas the Peacemaker

By Dorathy Dotson

List of Actors:

Act 1 Act 2 Act 3

Messenger 1 Colonist 1 Queen and King of England

Powhatan Colonist 2 Priest

John Smith Captain Argall Announcer

Pocahontas Messenger 2 John Rolfe

Warriors

Act One: Pocahontas the Brave

Scene 1: The Capture

Messenger: Chief Powhatan! Chief Powhatan!

Powhatan: What is it?

Messenger: We have captured the chief of the White Men! We killed all his men and brought him to do with as you will.

Smith: Umpff!

(The men drop smith. Pocahontas sneaks closer in curiosity.)

Powhatan: Prepare a feast!

(The men prepare a feast, unbind smith, and invite him to join and dine.)

Scene 2: After the Feast

Powhatan: Kill Him!

(The warriors put Smith’s head down on a rock, and prepare to smash his head in with clubs. They raise the clubs, Smith closes his eyes.)

Pocahontas: NO!

(Pocahontas rushes forward and lays her hands on Smith’s face.)

Powhatan: STOP!

(Men with clubs stare in amazement.)

Pocahontas: I claim him as my own!

Powhatan: Very well, my daughter, he is saved. His life belongs to you now. He is your responsibility.

(Powhatan slowly gets up from his seat.)

ACT 2: Pocohantas, Kidnapped!

Colonist 1: Look! Here Comes Pocahontas!

(Pocahontas is paddling her canoe up the River towards the colony)

Colonist 2: I remember the first time she came. She saved all our lives.

Colonist 1: Yeah, we had run out of food and were deathly ill. We would have all starved to death if not for her.

Colonist 2: For three years, she has brought us gifts of food and furs. She is the Salvation of our struggling settlement! All hail the Indian Princess!

Pocahontas: Wingapoh! (Pocahontas comes out of the canoe, bringing gifts and waving.)

Colonists 1 & 2: Wingapoh!

(Captain Argall sneaks up behind the two colonists and whispers in their ears. They nod reluctantly and follow him.)

Captain Argall: Welcome, Princess! Wingapoh! Have you seen my ship, The Discovery? My men and I would like to give you a tour. We’ve prepared a feast to honor you!”

Pocahontas: Thank-you, Captain. I will come.

(Pocahontas goes aboard and gets a tour, then sits down for the feast.)

Captain Argall: You must be tired after your long trip. We have prepared a room for you to rest in before you journey home.

(The captain leads Pocahontas to another room and when she goes in to lie down, he LOCKS her in and orders the two colonists to stand guard at the door. Pocahontas looks betrayed and angered. She knocks on the door.)

Pocahontas: Let me out! Let me out! My Father will be angry when he hears about this! He will come and rescue me! I’ve saved all your lives, and you take me prisoner?!

Captain Argall: Send a messenger to Powhatan. Tell him we have his daughter hostage. He must return all our guns and men if he ever wants to see his favorite daughter again.

(Messenger runs to Powhatan’s village and delivers the message. Powhatan looks angry, then sad as he buried his head in his hands.)

Powhatan: I will return your men, but we will keep your guns. You are too powerful, and we must be able to defend ourselves! I know you will not harm my daughter. She is too precious. Whoever beholds her, loves her. This I know.

(Messenger returns to Captain Argall and shakes his head)

Messenger: Powhatan refused to return our guns, but he will return our men with the assurance that we will not harm his daughter.

Captain Argall: Pocahontas belongs to us now, then. We will teach her to be an English Lady. She will join our religion, and learn our ways. From this day forward, she will be known as Rebecca.

ACT 3: Lady Rebecca

Pocahontas: Hello, John. I’m back this time to stay. I’ve become used to your English ways. I do not wish to go back to my Father’s people. I’ve never been able to fully forgive him for abandoning me.

John Rolfe: I am sorry that our people hurt you. It was not right for them to betray you after all you have done for us in the name of peace. But I’m glad you’ve come back. I love you, Rebecca! Will you marry me?

Pocahontas: Yes, I will!

John Rolfe: I have a very successful Tobacco Farm here in Virginia. In a few years, we will go to England, and you will see the great city of London. They will welcome you, Princess.

(Everyone both Indian and Colonist gather for the wedding)

Priest: I now pronounce you Man and Wife!

Powhatan: May this marriage represent the union of our two peoples! I am old now, and wish only for peace!

THREE YEARS LATER

John Rolfe: It is time for us to visit England. We will bring our son with us and tell the King about the lovely colony of Virginia.

Pocahontas: I am anxious to see this kingdom of yours.

Powhatan: Daughter, take my warrior with you. He will protect you from harm.

(Powhatan turns to Tomocomo) Remember what I told you! Be my eyes and ears! Find out their strength, then return and report. (Powhatan gives Tomocomo a large stick) Put a notch in this stick for every Englishman you see.

(The young family gets on the boat and travels to England. Pocahontas gets off the boat and is in awe of the city. Tomocomo begins notching the stick furiously, and in then in frustration and despair, throws the stick to the ground.)

Tomocomo: Ugh! So many people! A forest of sticks could not hold all the notches! My Chief will soon know that we are Doomed!!!

Pocahontas: I never imagined there were so many people in the entire world! I never knew buildings could be so big! No wonder your people are so powerful!

(Pocahontas and John Rolfe travel through the city, Pocahontas looking bewildered, John excitedly explaining and showing her everything. The young family is brought to the castle and introduced to the King and Queen.)

Announcer: Lady Rebecca, the former savage Princess of the Powhatan Indians!

(Pocahontas bows before the King and Queen)

Queen: Welcome, Princess. We are honored that you come to visit us.

King: We have heard the tales of your bravery and goodness. We are indebted to you. If not for your kindness, Jamestown would have perished and the Virginia Company would have failed.

(John Smith comes from behind a curtain to the great surprise of Pocahontas)

John Smith: And I would have been killed. Thank you for saving me, Princess.

Pocahontas: John! You are alive?!? They told me you had died of your wounds!

John Smith: No, not me! I’m tougher than old nails! I’ve been exploring again.

Pocahontas: Thank Goodness! I’m so glad. Here is my Husband, John and my Son, Henry.

John Smith bows to them: I am delighted to find you so happy and prosperous. Do you like England?

Pocahontas: It is wonderful, but I miss my home.

Queen: We shall make your stay a happy one, then.

King: You will be our honored guest.

(All The rest of the crew and actors come out on the stage and shout)

All: Three cheers for Princess Pocahontas the Peace-bringer!

Audience: Joins in the cheering: Hip-hip, Hurray!

Tulip Festival 2010

Every year we look forward to the Tulip Festival. This year, for the first time, we got to attend with my sister, Mary Cate, and two of her kids. Even the boys were impressed by the number and variety of colorful tulips. Everyone enjoyed posing for pictures.

Dorathy, Hyrum, & Courtney

Angel's feet were getting tired by the hike around the 40 acres of tulips. She sat down whenever we stopped!

Our whole crew (minus me behind the camera)

Every year, the kids pick their most favorite Tulip to get their picture taken by. Sometimes they can't make up their minds!

Julianna wasn't too happy about being dragged around. Whenever she got too tired and wanted to throw a fit, all I had to do was have Mary pretend to come pick her up, and Julianna immediately sobered up and jumped into my arms and would let me carry her. I regretted not bringing a stroller!

After the Tulips, the Cow Train, and the park, Christopher emptied his pockets and paid to play on the inflatable toys. Since we had to wait for him, and Julianna and Angel didn't understand why THEY couldn't jump, I ended up emptying my pockets as well so all the kids could have a turn on the jumpy toys. I was NOT too happy about that, I usually never pay for extra stuff like that....but the kids were thrilled. For them, it was a special treat that they treasured. The Hispanic guy who was running the inflatable toys was SO nice. Instead of the mere 5 minutes I paid for,he let all the kids play for almost an hour. He was so nice, he even let lots of kids who ran on without their mother's permission or payment play on it for a while. (Including Hyrum who ran in to the bungee station and strapped himself in with no Momma or money. You could tell this guy was a Dad, he was so mellow around all the screaming jumping kids.

The playing wore them all out, and they crashed as soon as we got to the car. The kids are into the Musical, Newsies, and we listened to it all the way to and from the festival. Fun songs that inspired lots of discussion.

It looked like so much fun, I wish I could have joined them! ;)

Easter 2010

Every Year, we go to Scott's work for a fun Easter Party. The kids love that they have the "Real" Easter bunny there to talk to and take pictures with.

Lots of fun arts and crafts to do while we wait for them to announce the egg hunt.

All Julianna cared about was eating AS MANY cupcakes as I'd let her....forget the coloring, Mom! And distracting her just didn't work. She'd run up to the table, and stick her fingers in another cupcake....

This was the first Easter Egg Hunt that Julianna finally got the concept of picking up the eggs...and understanding that they have TREATS inside!!! She had a blast and just didn't want to stop!

I went a little overboard this year in setting up for easter. Everyone got bubble wands and a few small outdoorsy presents. The kids were excited by the hula hoops, but none of them have figured them out yet!!! The baskets of candy were for EVERYONE to share...nobody gets individual baskets. In fact, I still think I have some leftover Easter Candy in my candy bowl!

I think next year for sure I will have the "fun" celebration part of Easter be Saturday only so that we can keep the spirit with us for an Easter program on Sunday instead of the kids being drunk on sugar. We've done it in the past, and it's always worked out nice. This year, we experimented with doing Easter goodies Sunday morning...and it was WAAY too crazy. I don't want to make that mistake again.

Poor Lucy is feeling left out. Since we began remodeling, she has become an outside dog. She actually loves being outside. But sometimes, when she gets lonely, she'll climb into the fort and look through our windows at us!

These pics were taken from Christopher's bedroom.

Julie's Close Call

In Spring when my Brother Matt came to visit me with his wife Holly and son, Isaac, we tried to go outside for pictures. As I was getting everyone set up and was about to take the photo, Christopher screamed, "Julianna is in the street, and a car is coming!" Of course, by then it was too late. Thankfully, the car saw her and stopped, and we were able to rescue her from the street. She had been right by me just a few seconds before.. it doesn't take long! My finger snapped the picture as I was dropping it to run to her. We all felt very grateful that she was okay. It was a purely frightening moment.

Happy Angel...sad Julianna....sigh...this is the normal state of things.....

St. Patrick's Day 2010

By March of this year, we were suffering from cabin fever. We needed a little spice to liven things up, and so we went a little crazy over St. Patrick's Day.

For Breakfast we had green milk and green omelettes. (The kids were excited, but I thought the color turned out disgusting. It turns out that farm fresh eggs are so brightly tinted, that instead of green the eggs turn out Chartreuse!

It seems like in half of my pictures, at least one kid has their eyes closed! It is so goofy!

My kids made these snazzy shamrock hats just in case they couldn't find any green to wear. (Like Christopher). They were really worried about getting pinched by Daddy since he takes the green-wearing pretty seriously!

We decided to make a "Leprechaun" Trap this year. We made "Lucky Four Leaf Clover Punch" and then made a latter out of twigs with signs saying "Leprechauns stay away!" and "Don't Climb The Ladder!" (In the hopes that the Leprechauns wouldn't be able to resist the dare of reverse psychology and would fall prey to the temptation of getting a sip of clover juice.)

The story is if we catch a Leprechaun, we get to make 3 wishes and keep his gold. But if he escapes the "trap" he is suppose to leave us a present.

When the kids woke up that morning, there were green foot prints all over the house. And some of the kids and GREEN KISS marks on their heads!

The leprechaun escaped the trap, of course, and left green streamers hanging from the ceiling with candy taped to them.

The kids were all greatly entertained by this diversion, and we had a happy week because of it.

We probably won't go to such lengths every year, but it was lots of fun this time around.

Hatfield Marine Science Center

In March, I took all my kids to the Homeschool Day at the Hatfield Marine Science Center. We were late a missed the first class, which is a real bummer since I had paid for it and couldn't get any reimbursement.

So the when we arrived, we had a picnic outside and had to wait for the next class to start.

Angel and Julianna were too young to participate in the classes, so we spent the day hanging out amidst the Science Center exhibits.

While we waited, we went to everybody's favorite spot: the touching pool! Courtney especially delights in all the live creatures to pet. Julianna got into it, too. I just had to keep her from DRINKING the water. There were starfish, sea anemones, and some other fish and shellfish to look at and pet.

Dorathy and Christopher hung out together in the older classes of dissection and sea ecology, while we tried to hang out with Courtney's class. Angel got bored, and Julianna was being a noisy distraction, so we had to leave.

We were blessed with incredibly warm and sunny weather for the beach. It was so nice, we decided to visit some beaches on the way home.

Here is the friendly local Pacific Red Octopus. We got to watch him eat his snack. It was pretty exciting. He gets a live crab in a jar. He sticks the whole jar in his mouth, unscrews the lid, and proceeds to inhale the crab's soft inner parts, while spitting out the shell. He uses his sharp beak and tongue to drill through the shell. Very cool.

We only stayed at the beach in Lincoln City for a little while. The water was crazy. The water was so high, it was scary. I'm used to going to the beach in July and August when the river is a little stream. On this day in March, however, the river was swollen with the winter rain. I didn't want my kids near it. I was sure that if they put their toes in they would be swept to their death. I was scared that I wouldn't be able to keep everyone safe, and so I told everyone we should pack up and leave. Christopher whined and complained and said he had just started building his sandcastle, the beach was only now getting exciting, and couldn't he have just 5 more minutes to finish it, please?

I reluctantly agreed to give him JUST 5 MORE MINUTES to work in the sand. I told him I'd get all the kids feet washed off, and as soon as they were buckled in the van, I'd wave to him from the car and he should come running. He happily agreed.

Well, I had just finished washing the girls feet and was buckling them into the van, when this little old lady came up to me and said, "Excuse me, but do you have another child by himself on the beach?"

"Yes," I said. "My son wanted to finish his sand castle. I'm just about to call him in."

"Oh, Dearie, she said, "Did you know that he was in the deep river and going deep in the water and it is so dangerous out there! You know....we lost him...he's gone.....lost...."

"WHAT?!?" I shrieked, hands over my heart. "Are you saying my son is gone? That he's......lost?!?"

(I don't think I've ever been so scared in my life. My heart was in my mouth, the world was spinning, and I was about to start screaming or wailing in a very inhuman way.)

"No, no, no, no, no.....you misheard me" reassured the old lady. "What I'm trying to tell you is that we lost a man....a grown man just yesterday. A grown man was pulled into the water by a sneaker wave and killed. And two boys have been lost and drowned on the beach this winter. Your son SHOULD NOT BE OUT THERE ALONE! The water has been very treacherous this year. Lots of sneaker waves....it is NOT SAFE out there."

A flood of relief washed over me, along with uncontrollable rage at being misled about my son's possible death. Still gripped with fear, I told her, "Stay here by the van and watch my girls, won't you?" And then I ran, my heart pounding in terror, to the beach where I searched in vain for a sign of my boy.

(I can't remember whether I left the van open with all my stuff hanging out, or if I locked the girls in the van...but if there had been a bad guy trying to kidnap my other kids while distracting me about the danger with my son, they may have succeeded. I just wasn't sane at this point. I couldn't think clearly. One mother can't keep 5 kids safe and close by as she should!)

Eventually I saw Christopher, soaked up to his waist, triumphantly striding towards me. "Mom!" He called. You've been gone longer than 5 minutes, it's been more like 2o! Where have you been? While you were gone, I forded the river twice! By myself! Aren't you proud of me?"

I Just clutched him to me, speechless, for a moment, trying to keep from breaking into uncontrollable sobs. "I'm so glad you're okay!" finally came out. He was just a boy! Who was I to trust his judgement so blindly! Of course the river was an irresistable temptation, I should never have left him for a second! I always make the mistake of expecting too much from my older children.

Christopher looked at me with a strange flush of delight on his face, loving all the attention. "You were scared for me? You thought I was gone? I was fine!!! I'm almost 12, I'm big! You don't have to worry about me! I'm safe, see?"

On the way back to the car, my whole body trembling with the adrenaline rush, I tried to explain to him that a 12 year old boy is nothing compared to the power of the Ocean. And that I had specifically forbidden him from going in the water while he was by himself. After telling him about the deaths this winter, I told him from now on, he was NEVER to be alone on the beach, not EVER and that it was my fault for allowing him to stay a few extra minutes. He protested, quite indignant at the perceived insult to his capabilities. But I insisted that until he was grown and gone, I didn't care how old or big he was, he was going to have to be within eyesight at all times!

After this incident, I talked with some other people, and they all agreed that the Ocean water was unusually turbulent and high this winter. A couple of times later when I drove by the water in the Spring, at high tide the water was hitting the seawall.

I wasn't able to bring myself to go back to the beach until just 2 weeks ago when Scott's sister, Lynita came for a visit. And even then, I was freaking out every time a kid was out of sight. At least on my last visit the river was much more reasonable! Still fast, but shallow enough for the big kids to stand in safely.

I always loved the beach as a kid, trips to the Coast were such a highlight. But as a parent, I now dread it. I want my kids to love it and have a good time, but I spend most of the time obsessing about their safety. Maybe I should strap life jackets onto them when we go to the Coast...just in case! But then I'd worry that they'd think they were safe and go jump in too deep!

Once you have three kids or more, this is a battle you just can't win. Especially when you have to take kids out lots of places by yourself without another parent to help out. There is only so much one person can do to watch everyone and keep them safe.

But I've learned my lesson....I will Never...Ever....Ever....leave any child on the sand by themselves again....even if they're a hundred yards from the water, even if it's only for 5 minutes!!!!