The Quest for the DAR

A couple years ago, I was traveling to the east coast for work, and scheduled some time to visit my grandmother in Baltimore. I believe I was walking out the door to head to the airport when she mentioned the Daughters of the American Revolution group. She'd done the research, and we qualified as decendants of a Revolutionary War soldier. She didn't think she had time to join and "do all that paperwork," but it might be something I could do. Hmm...

This information hung out in the back of my mind for a few years. When my daughter was in 2nd grade, I helped chaperone a field trip with her class, and we visited an historic home in our area that is maintained by the DAR. That peaked my interest again, and I started conversation with the local DAR chapter to see what I had to do to join the group. (Maybe it includes initials I can include after my name. "Alison Caufield, 6th generation DAR" - probably won't get me any pull except with the second graders.)

Now, just browsing the "how to become a member" information on the web site is a bit daunting - they talk about proving the lineage, through birth, death and marriage certificates, tombstones, military documents. I imagined this process as embarking on something along the lines of the "National Treasure" movie - traveling far and wide to track down clues and pieces of the puzzle. But without having to break into the White House. ;-) Luckily, my grandmother has documented the family lineage, and I got my hands on it. So began the adventure.

Turns out, a lot of the "way historical" work has been done, and you don't have to re-do it for each applicant. The DAR has a list of eligible soldiers/service members, and when you apply, you can connect to lineage that someone else may have already done. So, most of what I have to do is track down certificates and documentation from my generation backwards. There's my project for the spring!

Turns out, I can also trace my ancestry back to the sister of George Rogers Clark. My husband would like to see if we can use this to our advantage, and possibly of "take over" some cities in our area that are named after him. We can all dream, right?

She's Gone Multi Syllabic!

I guess I first noticed Kim's new words while we were home with all the snow and ice. I don't remember the first multi-syllabic word she threw at me that week, but the second was this:

"Mom, you have had plenty of opportunities to finish the bedding for my baby doll. When will you have that done?"

Another example from tonight:

"Mom, I'm embarrassed that I don't know how to fix things." (Said during a fit of tears after we'd found some damaged baby doll furniture. Broken furniture is in the glue-drying stage as we speak, and should be good as new tomorrow.)

I'm sure she hears these words all the time, but it surprises me to hear her use them. Then again, she is a First Grader, and that, as we all know, is the Big Time.

So, where I once would have scrambled for a notebook or scrap of paper on which to write these little quotes (to save and embarrass her with later in life!), I now have The Blog, where I can keep these gems forever and always. Yay, Blog! ;-)