The Soap Saga

I have sensitive skin. My skin gets dry in the winter. I break out in little spots of exema, especially when I use a soap with irritating dyes, fragrances, and perspectives. My husband gets a headache from strong fragrances. My mother-in-law is even more sensitive than my husband and I put together! I switched to natural or homemade soap about a year ago to reduce our discomfort. After 6 months of buy other people's soap, I thought about making my own. Then I could tweak the ingredients list to our families particular needs. I did instruct students in hot process soap making while I taught high school Chemistry. Early Dec of last year, I made my first batch of cold processed. It was a disaster! But my second batch turned out pretty good. I found that I loved it so much, I had to limit myself to one batch of soap a week!

A few notes on homemade soap...

Types of Homemade Soap
Homemade soap falls into one of three categories: cold processed, hot processed, and rebatched. Cold processed soap is formed by pouring the 'raw' soap into molds. It tends to be smoother in texture than the other kinds of soap and last longer. It also takes longer to cure. When hot processed soap is formed, extra heat is added to the 'raw' soap. The texture is less smooth but the soap takes less time to cure. Rebatched soap is produced when previously made soap is melted down, often to add fragrance or herbs. Rebatching is a great way to add delicate herbs, but it adds additional time to the soap making process.

What is Superfatting?
The process of making soap, called soapfonication, mixes oils with lye and water to create the soap molecule. Sometimes extra oils are added, called superfatting. These extra oils allow the soap to be more moisturizing but they also decrease the lather of the soap and it's shelf life. It also makes the soap softer. Vitamin E can be added to extend the shelf life of the soap and enrich the skin. The extra oils often feel like a 'film' on the skin. They often absorb. A person with dry skin can benefit from a soap that is superfatted. Superfatting is expressed as a percentage; lower percent means less moisturizing oils, higher percent means more moisturizing oils.

Sensitive Skin
People with sensitive skin often benefit from homemade soap. Homemade soap is usually made without the preservatives that cause irritation. For people with very sensitive skin, homemade soap can also be made with dyes and fragrances. The addition of oatmeal and honey into soap also seems to sooth sensitive skin. Children and babies usually do well with unscented soap. Please keep in mind, homemade soap does not contain the numbing agents that are added to commercially available baby soap, so please keep homemade soap out of eyes.

Keep it Dry
Homemade soap can become soft and sticky if it's allowed to sit in water. After using soap, place it on a dry wash cloth or a special soap deck to allow it to dry between uses. This will extend the life of the bar. I put our hand soap on a dry face scrubby to keep it from getting stuck to the counter. Of course, I change the face scrubbie at least once a week to reduce the chance of bacteria growing in the scrubbie.

Antibacterial Properties
Soap, when used properly, has natural antibacterial properties. When you wash your hands, sing the alphabet song while you lather to ensure you've washed long enough to kill germs. Soap makers can add tea tree oil to natural soap to increase it's antibacterial properties. Tea Tree Oil soap is a great alternative to commercially produced antibacterial soap that is often harsh and drying.

Exfoliation
Soap makers will occasionally add exfoliating agents to soap. Cocoa powder, coffee grounds, oatmeal are all natural and gentle ways to remove dead skin. If you suffer from 'chicken skin' or patches of rough skin, try out an exfoliating bar.

10 Great things about Vince that we are really going to miss

1) Vince had a great Italian-Brooklyn accent. We enjoyed listening to the way he talked.
2) Vince was a great chief. We loved the foods he prepared and also the cuisine he introduced us to at restaurants.
3) We appreciated Vince’s direct, no-nonsense communication style.
4) We really respect Vince’s intellectual prowess. He was smart and a life-long learner.
5) Vince always had the coolest gadgets. He embraced change in technology.
6) Vince was a self-made man. He perused his interests without allowing others to dictate how he should live his life.
7) Vince was motivated to pursue his interests. Hard work did not deter him.
8) Vince had a great sense of humor.
9) Vince encouraged us to follow our dreams.
10) Vince was a wonderful friend and companion to my Grandma.

Our week on sequences

Top, middle, and bottom

• Build a tower that is one color on top, another in the middle, and a different one on bottom.
• Sing "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes." Discuss which body parts are on top, middle, and bottom.
• Sing "On Top of Spaghetti." Make spaghetti for supper.
• Make a Three Layer Desert from pudding, whipped topping, and crushed Oreo cookies.
• Make 3 monsters. Cut them into head, torso, and legs. Trade sections to create new monsters.

First, next, and last

• Sing "Peanut Butter" song. Talk about what you do first, next, and last to make a peanut butter sandwich. Then make one!
• Do Five Little Pumpkins (or variation to fit the current holiday) finger play.
• Do the Cheerios counting book.

The Little Red Hen

• Read the book
• Use YouTube to show harvest, threshing, and grinding the wheat into flour. John Deere also makes videos on this process.
• Make bread or cookies. Discuss the value of working.
• Build a cottage for the little red hen out of blocks.

Three Little Pigs

• Collect straw, sticks, and bricks to show him what they look and feel like.
• Act out the story. Take turns being the wolf and pigs.
• Make pig tales from pink curling ribbon. Tuck them into your pants waistband. Chase each other and play tag by capturing the other person's tail.
• Make pigs in a blanket for supper.

One, Two, Buckle My Shoe

• Do the rhyme.
• Play hide and seek. Emphasize counting to ten.
• Practice buckling a belt or shoes.
• Put two stripes of making take down on the table top. Practice lining the pretzel sticks up between the lines.
• Glue pictures inside a file folder. Cut doors to lift and guess what the picture is while only reveling part of it.

Weather Week

We love discussing weather. Every morning Greg and I talk about the current conditions. Is the sky cloudy or sunny? Is the temperature hot or cold? Is it windy or calm? During weather week we read God's Plan for Weather

Temperature (hot vs. cold)

• Make a paper doll. Dress him for hot and cold weather. Discuss the type of clothing worn in different conditions.
• Play Hot and Cold. Hide an object. Clue him to where it is by using the word hot to indicate he's close and cold to indicate he's far away from the target.
• Make pudding. Pour it into Popsicle molds. Freeze and eat.
• Melt crayons in the oven. Then pour the melted crayon onto paper and watch it solidify. Discuss the changes in the crayon that the changes in temperature create.
• Freeze a small toy inside an ice cute. Then put it in a warm spot and watch it melt.

The Sky (sunny vs. cloudy)

• Play shadow tag. Point out that you can only play shadow tag on a sunny day.
• Paint with water on the sidewalk. Discuss that the sun makes the water evaporate.
• Look through a prism to show the colors in sunlight.
• Cut out different types of clouds from a poster board. Put the clouds on the ground. Hop from cloud to cloud.
• Cut out 6 different clouds. Trace them on a blue piece of paper. Shade in the traced clouds in gray. Have child match the cut out with it's shadow on the blue paper.

Rain

• Sing Rain Rain Go Away.
• Use a spray bottle to make 'rain' on a cookie sheet. Compare the sound of a mist to a downpour by adjusting the nozzle on the bottle.
• Play umbrella up-side-down. Toss squishy balls into an upside-down umbrella.
• Watch storm footage on YouTube. Find rain, tornado, and hurricane footage. Discuss that dark clouds are often full of water droplets and bring rain.
• Draw a storm scene with crayons. Then paint over it with blue water colors.
• Create static electricity and compare it to lightening.

Wind

• Use wind to blow bubbles. Chase the bubbles as the wind blows them.
• Make a kite from a paper bag and yarn. Decorate it with crayons/markers and stickers. Go outside and fly the paper bag kite.
• Rock a stuffed animal and sing "Rock a bye Baby"
• Try to blow several item across the table with the 'wind' you make from your mouth. Which things float easier?

Snow

• Ice skate on the carpet. Use rectangles of wax paper under you feet to slide on the floor.
• Snowball fight. Crumple white paper into balls for the snow balls.
• Cut snowflakes from pieces of paper.
• Make a marshmallow snowman. Anchor him to a Graham crackers. Use frosting for features. Use pretzel stocks for arms.
• Fill a box with the flake style fake snow and play with it like sand.

Shapes Week

This week we studied shapes: circle, square, triangle, ellipse (I was told this is the new name for oval), and rectangle. We read the book The Wing on a Flea by Ed Emberly. As a special treat on Saturday, we went to the Kansas BEST Robotics competition to cheer on Southeast High School. Greg was intrigued by the robots. We came home and built our own out of Lego's.


Circle Day

• Play "Ring Around the Rose"
• Play with the ring stacker and discuss the sizes of the circles
• Put circle stickers (colored dots) on each other and on a box. Play inside the box as our "Dotty House"
• Eat round butter crackers
• Draw circles on the sidewalk with chalk. Step from circle to circle.
• Hit a balloon back and forth with circular paper plates.

Square Day

• Do Washington Square rhyme: From here to there to Washington Square; when I get near, I'll pull your hair.
• Eat Cheese Zit type of crackers
• Build with square alphabet blocks. Make squares out of the blocks and count the squares.
• Cut squares out of sand paper and make crayon rubbings of the squares.

Triangle Day

• Bake cup cakes inside ice cream cones (that didn't work so well)
• Make pizza and cut it into triangle slices.
• Play music on the triangle.
• Set-up the Tee-Pee and play.
• Make a triangle hat out of folded newspaper.

Ellipse Day

• Put a chocolate chip inside 15 different Easter eggs. Parent hides the eggs. Greg hunts for the eggs and we discuss the shape.
• Throw the football.
• Hit balls off the T-Ball stand with a tennis racket.
• Slice bananas at an angle to create ovals.

Rectangle Day

• Make a stained glass rectangle to hand on the window. Make two identical rectangles out of wax paper. Use a cheese grater to shave crayons. Sandwich the crayons between the two pieces of wax paper. Use an iron on low heat to melt the crayons and seal the wax paper together.
• Build with rectangular blocks.
• Make rectangles out of cardboard and step on them as if you were in a life size board game.
• Make lasagna in a rectangular pan.
• Build a fort out of a large, rectangular blanket.

State Fair Fun

This was our first trip to the Kansas State Fair as a family. Toby and I have been talking about it since we got married but finally got around to it. We had to start at the livestock barns. We saw people grooming sheep, goats, and cattle for the show. Then we were "grossed-out" at the K-State Animal Birth Center. We moved quickly though the poultry and rabbits so we could see the alpaca's fleece being spun into yarn. We had a lot of fun in 'Ag Land' crawling through the soil tunnel, comparing different grains, driving a mock combine, and milking a cow. Toby and I pulled Greg through the commercial barns. Greg picked one ride for us to enjoy, the train of course. Greg had to sit in every boat, tractor, 3-wheeler, motorcycle, and lawn mower in the "big boy's toys" commercial area. We introduced Greg to Pronto Pups and Funnel Cakes. I was the only parent to wear the paper sack hat that their child made at Do Art.