Memorial day

I love the way I've learned from other homeschool moms to seize opportunities for learning. Today is Memorial day and we decided to take some time and teach the kids what Memorial day was all about. We packed into the car and headed to a local cemetery where they had alot going on related to the holiday. On our way there we took the opportunity to discuss some history of the holiday. Did you know that Memorial day was started in 1868 to take time and remember those who have served our country. In 1950 is when it was actually named Memorial day, but it wasn't made a holiday until 1971, by Richard M. Nixon. We also talked about some of the ways we can memorialize those who have served our country (ie parades, observing prayer at 3pm, placing flags on their graves, etc....) and what their service means for us. How other many other countries don't have the freedoms we do, specifically our freedom of speech and religion, but many others too. Our local cemetery even had a replica of the tomb of the unknown soldier complete with the changing of the guard ceremony!







We tried to get Micah to sit up front with the other kiddos but he liked this "seat" best :)
The pictures below were from an area that was round with about 5 or 6 flags representing different times in American history, what our flags looked like. In the center was the larges and current flag which was of course at half staff for today.









Another neat thing we got to see were these custom caskets.....the makers sign is at the bottom...what a neat tribute to any soldier or fireman :)










I'd like to thank ALL men and women who have fought for our rights and freedoms, but a special thanks goes out to my husband who served, my mom who served, and my dad who served in both peacetime and wartime and committed a large portion of his life to the service. I love each of you and am soooo thankful for you!