The Netherlands Project ~ By Emma

           We made the Netherlands  so we would know what it was like for the people that lived there when the dikes broke. We used air-dry-clay to build the dikes ,people and land . We also used blue water to put in the bin on the other side of the dike to see if the water would hold on the side the water is suposed to be on. 

          I think this was a fun project in history, It was fun to play in the clay and watch the water brake into the the Netherlands, Then we broke the dikes.
        This is just like what happened to New Orleans in hurricane Katrina.


                    

          

Queen Beatrix gives her thrown to her son Willem-Alexander. ~ Abby

    Philip    William

©Jeroen Van Der Meyde/Dutch Royal House               

Today we got some news, the queen of the Netherlands,  stepped down from her thrown! Queen Beatrix gave her thrown to her son Willem-Alexander.  

                   I'll tell you a little about the history of the Netherlands.  Philip inherited Italy, Spain, and the Netherlands.  Philip was a catholic.  William was a nobleman in the Netherlands.  He was a protestant.  William didn't like the way Philip ruled the Netherlands, because he made laws without asking the people.  Philip wanted William killed.  So William went back to Germany, he made an army and knocked down the dikes that were holding the water back turning the land war into a sea war.  William won the war and his Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great Granddaughter, Beatrix ruled for 33 years.

Mom's Note: This was of interest to us, since we have been studying the history of how "William The Silent" came to rule the Netherlands.  Love it, when we can apply what we have learned to real life current events :)

Homemade Laundry Detergent

I started making my own version of laundry detergent, tweeked from a recipe from this link that I had found.  We do SO much laundry here, that I felt like I was constantly running to the store to buy more.  And,  we STILL don't have city sewers, so the laundry water becomes part of the "run off", and therefore, part of my garden, and part of the bay!


Here is the SUPER SIMPLE recipe that I use...



3 Gallons of hot water (I let the container fill with the hottest water from the tap)

I Cup each/ 3 Gallon Container

then i add

1 Cup of Washing Soda
1 Cup of Borax
1 Cup of Dawn dish soap

mix it all together, and you are ready to go.

...even I can remember that without having to look it up :)

I use about  1 1/2 cups per load, it is pretty thin, and doesn't produce many bubbles, but the laundry comes clean!

Super Cheap, Super Easy!

Fill with the hottest water possible from the tap. 

The next time I make my homemade Spot Cleaner, or Fabric Softener, I will post the recipe!

This Weeks "Photo of the Day"

The kids and I are enjoying our new "schoolroom".  The dinning room is well underway of becoming a more useful space.   I love the light and brightness that the room now has. 

Jack started working on his thank you cards from his birthday, I love his writing at the top!

Vocab words on Rocks!

Math Exploration

A just before bed, quick snap shot of  Emma taken from the iphone. she is not very amused by me.

Since I have committed to this Photo of the Day Project, sometimes you just have to get something in, this one was taken late last night.... probably early this morning, so it might not even count for the 27th. So, just before climbing into bed, i snapped this one of matt... he wasn't amused either.. :)

Math Exploration ~ Skip counting by 2's & 5's

Jack worked on "skip counting" this week.  To represent pairs he ran around the house trying to find anything that came in two's and lined them up in the kitchen.  (he even had his sisters in line for a while).  Then we counted out loud 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10, unless he started to recognize the pattern.

Later in the week, we started our counting by 5's exploration.  He used handprints to visual 5's.  He was a little hesitant at first to "smooch" his hands in the paint, but after a first attempt by Abby, he got right into it!

                            

A brand new hot dog ~ by Emma

Today's Journal Prompt:

April 24th is “Pigs-in-a-Blanket” day.  Create a new dish using hot dogs as the main ingredient.  Or describe your favorite hot dog dish.

Here is Emma's entry:

My hotdog is inside the bun. On the hotdog I put steak, steak juice, mashed potatoes, and haricot verts (green beans) cut into tiny bits. Yummy, yummy!  Sounds delicious to me, I can't wait to try it someday. 

CUPCAKES BY ABBY

I really like baking cupcakes so I thought that making my own recipe would be a good way to challenge myself. I thought that adding this little twist would make the cupcake a little sweeter, and switching the bleached flour for the unbleached flour would make this recipe a little healthier.

Recipe :

  1  1/2 sticks of butter

1   1/2 cups brown sugar

2 cups unbleached all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cups egg whites about 6 eggs

3 teaspoons of vanilla extract 

3/4  cup of milk

1 banana

1. Set a rack in the middle level of your oven and preheat to 350 degrees.

2. In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and brown sugar for about 5  mins until light and fluffy.

3. In another bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

4. In a third bowl combine the egg whites, milk and vanilla extract. Add a third of the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, and then half of the milk mixture. Continue to alternate the  ingredients.  Scrape the bowl and beater often. 

5. Pour the batter into the prepared cupcake pan, bake the cupcakes for 25-30 mins or until a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean.

6. Cool the pan on a rack for about 5 mins, then take the cupcakes out of the pan and let cool completely.

7. Once the cupcakes are frosted you can add a slice of banana and a sprinkle of cinnamon!

I thought the cupcakes were delicious!  My brother and sister did too, my mom thought they were a little sweet with the cream cheese frosting I used. I brought some to my nana and papa's house, they said that they were delicious and really moist.