Proud of THIS American

This video is very moving. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TG4fe9GlWS8

Nudist

Yesterday, Baby was throwing a little fit. Daddy put her in her bed so she'd have a chance to settle down. I asked him to change her shirt if he was putting her in there for her nap (it had tie strings on it). He took off her shirt and she wouldn't let him put a different shirt on her. So he put her in bed sans shirt. She wasn't very happy, and he left the room. When he went back to check on her a few minutes later, she was sitting in her bed completely nude. She told Daddy she didn't want to wear that didie. He called me to see her, and I had to hurry out so she didn't see me laughing. She looked like a little monkey in there. I left for my appointment, and eventually, Daddy got control of the zoo animals.

Discernment Is A Crime

Getting Sick, Again

Yesterday afternoon, I started feeling that all-too familiar feeling of scratchy throat and post-nasal drainage. I took some Nyquil last night and slept so soundly that when I woke up this morning, I was in terrible pain! I had missed my middle-of-the night bathroom break.

Now we are all sick. My kids are so congested, and my husband has a terrible cough. I guess with all the germs that accompany coughing and sneezing and nose-blowing, it was inevitable that I would catch something.

Busy Day #2

We got out the door later than I had hoped, and made our way to Baltimore. It was farther than I had planned, and Gina had to wait longer than I would have wanted anyone to have to wait.

We (I) got turned around on our way home and we saw some very pretty homes. LOL. We ate lunch, and went to the Outlet Stores to find shoes for two children who have very wide feet. They didn't have dress shoes in Little Boy's size, but we'll look again next week on our way back to the airport. I'd really like to find some. We found tennies in the same style he's been wearing, so we won't have any problems getting him to wear them.

We got home about 6:30 and I fixed supper. I should have had something simple to bring home or fix but I wasn't that prepared. So we ate grilled chicken, oven fries and broccoli. Did I mention all items were frozen when I started tonight?

So far things are going great, and I'm looking forward to a good evening. I just heard Baby crying. Someone should slap me for jinxing a good night's rest.

Long day #1

Little Boy waited patiently at the front window for G&G to come. Grandma had a dentist's appt. this morning for a tooth that is giving her trouble. They picked him up, and I consoled Baby. We left the house in plenty of time today. It's so nice to arrive at the clinic and be able to take our time checking in! I used the stroller today for Baby since she's been feeling so badly. I knew I couldn't carry her from the parking lot to the clinic. I don't care what people thought.

Considering how she's been feeling, she did GREAT. We got the regular assistant today, thankfully. When I told her how sick Baby's been, she did a very abbreviated version of the testing. We get to go 3 months without patching. Yea! After 3 months, they will evaluate her again, and we'll go from there. (For anyone who may be wondering, both of her eyes turn out to the sides intermittently - one at a time.) Patching has just about corrected the problem completely.

Then we went to the "big" store - Sam's. And I spent way too much. I about fainted when the cashier told me the amount. But DH said it's ok, and not to feel badly. Such a good husband.

We started the long drive home, and Baby started getting a bit fussy. I decided I could not eat McD's one more time - we've eaten it way too often lately - so we stopped at Perkins. And she fell apart. We muddled through and drove the rest of the way to the lake house to pick up Little Boy. Neither kid was happy to leave, but we got home and I had them in bed in 15 minutes! May be a new record. LOL.

Looking forward to getting home tomorrow already.

Run, run, run!

Maybe you are one of those people who have to run errands and go to appointments every day, but I am not. I don't enjoy dragging my kids around, nor do they. But this week is turning into one of those weeks.

Baby was supposed to see the eye doctor today, but when I got her up she was on fire. I gave her Tylenol before I even checked her temp. 104.0. Way too high. We got her into the tub, and soon she started cooling off.

I called and rescheduled her eye appointment for tomorrow, and called the pediatrician. Can I just say how much I love our doctor. He is the most gentle man, and I think he is the best doctor at the medical group where we go. We went in this morning and saw him. They tested for strep, but the quick culture came back negative. I figured it was probably a virus.

Poor Baby. She just doesn't have an appetite and she is very whiny. And tomorrow we have to make the trip to the eye doctor in Morgantown. And Thursday we have to drive to Baltimore to pick up a friend at the airport. Thankfully, we have a fairly quiet weekend - so far.

I'm so glad the price of gas has gone down. We're paying $2.69/gal. It's sad that we think that's great.

L-L-Leaf!

Today Little Boy started his 3rd unit study - the letter L. So we're studying about leaves. I wish I could expound on the wonders of the leaf - I think God's Creation is so wonder-full. The miracle of photosynthesis, how and why leaves change color, and all the minutia that just amazes me about something as common and simple as a leaf. (How can anyone think leaves just happened?) I was telling Little Boy that if plants and trees didn't have leaves, they would not grow or live - that God made leaves to do a special job, just like He gives us a special job.

His response: "Wow. God sure is smart!"

Amen.

She's an alien!

Tonight I was getting Baby ready for bed. She had some green marker on her hands and arms. She asked me if it was blood. I told her if it was blood, she must be an alien. She jumped to her feet, and started snarling and trying to scratch me. "I'm an alien! Raaaa-roar! Blah blah blah." I was laughing so hard, I almost dropped her off the bed. And then I told her aliens had to go to bed right away, but little girls could watch Extreme Makeover Home Edition. "I'm a little alien girl!" She's just too smart.

Little Boy showing off his new teeth!

Little Boy lost his second tooth the other day, and wanted me to get a picture. His permanent teeth had already come in weeks ago. We're all very happy here to be done with the little, floppy teeth! I'm sure there's a happy orthodontist out there $omewhere.

Out of the mouth of babes...again

We all have our political viewpoint, and the purpose of this post is not to incite any online riots or even dialogue, for that matter. But I laughed out loud at my son, and it seems like that happens too rarely here. He saw an ad on television from the man we will NOT be voting for, and as THAT ONE was speaking, my son sat on the couch and very calmly said, "Lie, lie, lie, lie, lie..." throughout the whole commercial. When I laughed, he said, "What? That guy lies!"

Moral of the story? Be careful how you "brainwash" your children. So far my son thinks Chevy's are "stinkin'", thinks all other people driving on the road are "I-D-10-T"s (thankfully, he doesn't know what that spells), and can spot a McCain/Palin sign a mile off. I love my son.

Facebook!

A couple weeks ago I decided to look at Facebook. I've heard a lot of people talk about it, and everyone seems to like it better than myspace. So, I made a profile. Last week, I started looking for a couple people, and one friend led to another. I am feeling very blessed to have reconnected with some of my closest friends from college, from teaching and from my years living in the Chicago area. It is always a bit odd to talk to former students who are married and starting their families, but what a blessing to see them living for the Lord!

I even added my husband as my friend! He had to set up a profile for one of his classes, and I never even knew it. I told him about my profile and the friends I had found, and he told me he had set his up last year! We DO communicate here! Honestly! So now he has 2 friends.

Baby got in trouble today. For no apparent reason, she went berserk in Children's Church, and started hitting one of the boys, and she got demoted to the nursery. I really do not know where she got that aggressive, competitive spirit! (Probably her father! LOL) She DID apologize, and she DID get disciplined at home. Sigh. She's so different from her brother.

It's a beautiful Fall day here. Our neighbor's tree is looking so pretty; it was even prettier the other day. I love the smell of fallen leaves. I've been dodging wooly caterpillars on the road, and we got our first frost this morning. Living in the mountains in Fall is just the best. If only my allergies agreed!

This is part of the view from our front porch!

Dr. Phil and Oprah

I have the television programmed to change the channel to Dr. Phil and Oprah on weekdays. If I'm home and not busy doing something else, I'll turn it on to see the topic of the day. If it's something that interests me, I'll watch it while I can. Many times my son will wake up and I'll turn it off. In our last church, the preacher (see, I can't even call him a pastor!) would incorporate Oprah-bashing into his sermon. I have said in response that I don't watch Oprah to learn about God, and I don't go to church to hear about Oprah. Still stands.

Today's Dr. Phil was mesmerizing. There was a man on the show who has complete amnesia; he was found in Atlanta, GA outside a restaurant door, naked, and beaten early one morning like four years ago. He thinks his name is Benjaman (spelled with m-a-n). He thinks he's from Indiana and that he went to Catholic school. He thinks he lived in Denver or visited Denver. Other than that, he has no clue. I cannot imagine not remembering things. I can remember minutia to a fault. I remember things that others in my family are amazed that I remember. There are some things I'd like to forget, but I haven't figured out how to selectively forget things. My heart goes out to him. He said he's afraid people want him to be someone important and he's going to end up just being some average Joe. How sad.

Then Oprah. Today was celebrating feminists. She had Maria Shriver, Gloria Steinem, and Billy Jean King on. And I was appalled. Everything I am as a Christian woman, these women despise. A keeper at home, a respecter of LIFE from conception, a submissive wife. They said they were in favor of women having choices, but their actions and comments said otherwise. They were all for women having rebellious choices; choices that fell in line with their personal agendas. The equal pay for equal work is a valid issue, because before I was married, I was in the work place. But my feelings about that are this: I was hired at a wage I knew beforehand. I agreed to that wage. I worked for that wage. Why should it matter to me what other people were paid? We have been so programmed to demand what is fair. I feel it's like the servants who were hired for different wages in the New Testament. My responsibility was to work for the wage offered. Maybe I'm ok with that because I feel I received fair wages. I don't know. All I know is that today I didn't watch much of Oprah. Rachel Ray had some interesting recipes that I'd probably enjoy and my family would probably gag at the sight or thought of. Ah, the Food Network! 95% free from worldly influences. 5% boozers. LOL.

2nd Tooth!

Today at lunch, Little Boy lost his second tooth. It literally just fell out of his mouth. Hee hee. So now the Tooth Fairy has to come up with another dollar and another little toy. Yea. Where is that chick?

Such a Scary Face!

Can you imagine meeting this in a dark alley? YIKES!

He cracked himself up when he saw the picture.

(Be sure you enlarge the photo so you can see that his one little remaining tooth is in the middle now!)

OH, I forgot!

Last night we were coming home from church. Little Boy was talking about riding his bike to church. Daddy thought he might make it until he got to the bridge. Little Boy said he could make it over the bridge. He said, "I'll just tell myself, 'I can make it, I can make it, I can make it; I believe in myself!'"

We were laughing and asked where he heard THAT. He said he heard it on Clifford. I'm glad he's picking up good things. The other day we had to talk to him about saying, "Oh my G-d!" I guess we've been watching Extreme Makeover Home Edition a lot lately. The episode last night was of a family from Richland Center, WI. They said a lot of, "Holy Cow!" Made me homesick. LOL.

Such a Comforting Thought

I was watching Fox & Friends this morning. That's what I do in the morning while I try to wake up. Here is a link to a clip. I'm referring to the first part of the clip, but the rest of the clip is interesting, too.

Doesn't that just make you wanna ... I don't even know what it makes me wanna do beside make sure I vote.

Little Boy is one tooth lighter!

Last night Daddy was brushing Little Boy's teeth (LB brushes, then a parent brushes). Those little teeth in the front were so wobbly. So Daddy asked him if LB couldn't get that one out. Little Boy started playing with it and it fell out. We were all surprised, and then I started grossing out. There was blood! I could feel myself getting woozy - I know, I'm such a baby. I got him some salt water to swish. He spit it out in the sink and said, "Salt water is DIS GUST ING!"

The tooth fairy left him a whole dollar and a new plastic lion! Wow! I remember getting nickles and quarters.

I'll post a pic of him with his new gap in a little while, so check back.

Out of the mouth of babes...

Little Boy has been fighting off a bug the last couple days. He's congested and was running a fever. He woke up this morning about 4 am, and apparently, I told him to go back to bed. (I have no recollection.) He got up again at 6 am, and Mike gave him some cold medicine and put him back in bed. Baby woke up about 8:15 am and started barking. I got her up, and we sat together on the couch watching Fox and Friends for a while. Little Boy finally came out at 9:50! His little hair was all "sticky-uppy" and his eyes were bright. He told me he got a really good sleep and that he didn't have a fever anymore. Clearly, he still had a stuffy nose. I told him to look at the clock. He said, "Wow! I slept like Grandma and Granddad!" I stifled the belly laugh I felt coming on, and told him he sure did! How I would love to sleep in!

Quit Barking!

From the time she wakes up until the time she goes to sleep, I have to tell Baby, "Quit barking!" I don't know what type of dog she thinks she is, but she barks like a little dog - quite shrill. She told me she's a red dog. Could be the result of watching Clifford. The barking gets annoying, but nothing beats getting licked by a slobbery 3 year old! Blech.

What would you have done?

I read Foxnews.com all the time. One of the stories on there recently freaked me out.

A girl in Australia was sleeping. She woke up because she thought she felt a spider crawl across her. She flipped on the light only to find a snake wrapped around her neck and it bit her on the inside of her upper arm. She was screaming, and her family didn't believe her and told her to go back to bed.

So finally the girl's brother-in-law killed the snake. The mother, a nurse, knew the doctor would need to identifiy the snake, and had it put in the trunk. When she talked to the ER doctor, she gave him her keys and told him to go get it himself; she wasn't going to touch it. The snake was identified and it wasn't venomous.

But what would you do if you woke up to this on your pillow? I think I would have died, right then and there.

Another exciting thing!

I forgot the exciting thing that happened last night. Baby said she wanted to sit on the toilet. I put her up there and she playing with toys. I was getting tired of her messing around when she could have been getting ready for bed. And then she peed! She surprised herself - she looked at me like she was astonished. We were all cheering for her. So this morning we tried again. No luck yet. But we'll keep trying.

Our trip to the dentist

So, today I had to take Little Boy to the pediatric dentist. He has 4 cavities that needed fillings. We got there and the assistant worked for at least 15 minutes to get the little bite films into his mouth. He kept panicking - he finally told us he thought she was going to push them too far into his mouth and he didn't want to barf. We got him to calm down and got the x-rays done.

Then the dentist came in, and she told me he had a deep cavity on one side, another large cavity on the other side, and two smaller cavities. She did not want to fill the deep cavity, especially, because the tooth would just end up getting abscessed. So she recommended doing a pulpotomy - basically a root canal. Because he was so difficult getting x-rays, she wants to do this under general anesthesia. The soonest we can get through the insurance red tape and get in is December 4th. He has to get an exam to make sure he's ok for going under. While we were talking, she gave some model teeth to Little Boy to look at. One tooth had a silver crown.

On our way home we were talking. He wanted to know why the dentist didn't fill his cavities. I told him we need to go to another "office", the dentist will have him drink something that will make him a little sleepy, and when he wakes up, his teeth will be all fixed. He seemed fine with that. But when I told him he'd have two teeth that were silver, he got upset. "Someone might think I'm a different kid." I told him that the teeth are so far in the back that no one would even know unless he opened his mouth really wide and tipped his head. And that no one would think he was a different kid. (I don't know why that is important, but it comes up fairly often.)

We also need to watch for infections. I just wish we could get this done earlier.

Could you pass this test?

Civics (History and Government) Questions for the Redesigned (New) Naturalization Test
The 100 civics (history and government) questions and answers for the redesigned (new) naturalization test are listed below. Applicants who filed the Application for Naturalization, Form N-400, on or after October 1, 2008, should study this list. The civics test is an oral test and the USCIS Officer will ask the applicant up to 10 of the 100 civics questions. An applicant must answer 6 out of 10 questions correctly to pass the civics portion of the naturalization test.
Although USCIS is aware that there may be additional correct answers to the 100

A: Principles of American Democracy
1. What is the supreme law of the land?
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2. What does the Constitution do?
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3. The idea of self-government is in the first three words of the Constitution. What are these words?
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4. What is an amendment?
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▪ (or)
5. What do we call the first ten amendments to the Constitution?
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6. What is one right or freedom from the First Amendment?*
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7. How many amendments does the Constitution have?
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8. What did the Declaration of Independence do?
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9. What are two rights in the Declaration of Independence?
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10. What is freedom of religion?
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11. What is the economic system in the United States?*
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12. What is the “rule of law”?
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B: System of Government
13. Name one branch or part of the government.*
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14. What stops one branch of government from becoming too powerful?
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15. Who is in charge of the executive branch?
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16. Who makes federal laws?
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17. What are the two parts of the U.S. Congress?*

18. How many U.S. Senators are there?
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19. We elect a U.S. Senator for how many years?
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20. Who is one of your state’s U.S. Senators now?*
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21. The House of Representatives has how many voting members?
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22. We elect a U.S. Representative for how many years?
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23. Name your U.S. Representative.
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24. Who does a U.S. Senator represent?
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25. Why do some states have more Representatives than other states?
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26. We elect a President for how many years?
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27. In what month do we vote for President?*
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28. What is the name of the President of the United States now?*
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29. What is the name of the Vice President of the United States now?
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30. If the President can no longer serve, who becomes President?
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31. If both the President and the Vice President can no longer serve, who becomes President?
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32. Who is the Commander in Chief of the military?
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33. Who signs bills to become laws?
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34. Who vetoes bills?
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35. What does the President’s Cabinet do?
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36. What are two Cabinet-level positions?
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37. What does the judicial branch do?
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38. What is the highest court in the United States?
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39. How many justices are on the Supreme Court?
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40. Who is the Chief Justice of the United States now?
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41. Under our Constitution, some powers belong to the federal government. What is one power of the federal government?
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42. Under our Constitution, some powers belong to the states. What is one power of the states?
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43. Who is the Governor of your state now?
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44. What is the capital of your state?*
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45. What are the two major political parties in the United States?*
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46. What is the political party of the President now?
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47. What is the name of the Speaker of the House of Representatives now?
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C: Rights and Responsibilities
48. There are four amendments to the Constitution about who can vote. Describe one of them.
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49. What is one responsibility that is only for United States citizens?*
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50. Name one right only for United States citizens.
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51. What are two rights of everyone living in the United States?
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52. What do we show loyalty to when we say the Pledge of Allegiance?
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53. What is one promise you make when you become a United States citizen?
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54. How old do citizens have to be to vote for President?*
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55. What are two ways that Americans can participate in their democracy?
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56. When is the last day you can send in federal income tax forms?*
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57. When must all men register for the Selective Service?
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AMERICAN HISTORY
A: Colonial Period and Independence
58. What is one reason colonists came to America?
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59. Who lived in America before the Europeans arrived?
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60. What group of people was taken to America and sold as slaves?
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61. Why did the colonists fight the British?
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62. Who wrote the Declaration of Independence?
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63. When was the Declaration of Independence adopted?
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64. There were 13 original states. Name three.
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65. What happened at the Constitutional Convention?
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66. When was the Constitution written?
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67. The Federalist Papers supported the passage of the U.S. Constitution. Name one of the writers.
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68. What is one thing Benjamin Franklin is famous for?
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69. Who is the “Father of Our Country”?
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70. Who was the first President?*
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B: 1800s
71. What territory did the United States buy from France in 1803?
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72. Name one war fought by the United States in the 1800s.
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73. Name the U.S. war between the North and the South.
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74. Name one problem that led to the Civil War.
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75. What was one important thing that Abraham Lincoln did?*
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76. What did the Emancipation Proclamation do?
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77. What did Susan B. Anthony do?
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C: Recent American History and Other Important Historical Information
78. Name one war fought by the United States in the 1900s.*
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79. Who was President during World War I?
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80. Who was President during the Great Depression and World War II?
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81. Who did the United States fight in World War II?
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82. Before he was President, Eisenhower was a general. What war was he in?
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83. During the Cold War, what was the main concern of the United States?
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84. What movement tried to end racial discrimination?
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85. What did Martin Luther King, Jr. do?*
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86. What major event happened on September 11, 2001, in the United States?
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87. Name one American Indian tribe in the United States.
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INTEGRATED CIVICS
A: Geography
88. Name one of the two longest rivers in the United States.
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89. What ocean is on the West Coast of the United States?
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90. What ocean is on the East Coast of the United States?
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91. Name one U.S. territory.
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92. Name one state that borders Canada.
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93. Name one state that borders Mexico.
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94. What is the capital of the United States?*
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95. Where is the Statue of Liberty?*
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B: Symbols
96. Why does the flag have 13 stripes?
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97. Why does the flag have 50 stars?*
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98. What is the name of the national anthem?
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C: Holidays
99. When do we celebrate Independence Day?*
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100. Name two national U.S. holidays.
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