Making Soap

Princess Flower has come to spend the night with us, and I had talked to her Mum (Aunt CC) about a special Science Project.

I decided to let the Caterpillars and Princess Flower help me make our own homemade laundry detergent.  I found the recipe online and it seemed pretty simple.  After doing it - I can tell you - if this works, it was so easy that I'll never buy laundry detergent again.

The recipe is easy: 1 bar of soap (I used Ivory), 2 cups Baking Soda, 2 gallons of water, plus 12-15 drops of essential oil (optional)

First, the kids had to shred the soap.

I will be purchasing a cheap grater just for this purpose, assuming it works.

Then, we placed the soap in a pot and covered it with a bit of water.  The heat is suppose to melt the soap.  The directions say this will take a while, but anyone who uses Ivory knows - it basically melts in ANY water, so it didn't take very long at all.

After that, the kids took turns putting in the rest of the water and the baking soda.

To store the laundry detergent, I am using large Cat Litter containers.  These are easy to clean and are unscented, so they won't affect the detergent.

Plus, this way I was able to let the kids decorate the containers (so I could tell them apart, Princess Flower's Mum - Aunt CC - requested a different scent).  I wrote the directions on the side.

I mean, where else can you get laundry detergent decorated with a laser battle?  That, my friends, is truly unique! 

The cost is amazing -  it cost me $1.06 to make the entire container ($2.13 between us).  That's less than $0.02 per load.  Purex (for HE washers) cost me $0.18 per load.  AND this took less than 15 minutes of my time.  I did scent the detergent, but only because I had essential oils in the house (I won them in a raffle basket from Whole Foods).  It smelled just fine without the oils, but it was a nice touch to add lavender to mine and lemon citrus to Aunt CC's.

I'll post an update as soon as I've done a load of clothes.

~Lone Butterfly  )i(

All Good Things Must Come to an End

Our last day was spent hanging out at home with Aunt CC and the Garden Girls. The Caterpillars did their schoolwork early and then went outside to play with their "gang of friends". Aunt CC made homemade playdough for outdoor fun.

Spending hours, barefoot in a creek searching for critters is pure heaven for B10. He managed to come back with snakes, frogs, salamanders and all manner of other creatures.

CW made a bunch of friends and ran up and down the street with water guns, enjoying himself throughly!

We ate lunch outside and let everyone get energy out. I knew that having them in a truck for such a long time would be tiring and wanted them to be REALLY TIRED before we started the drive.

Princess Flower had gymnastics, and Aunt CC took CW with her. Meanwhile, B10 stayed home with me to watch GO and the little Garden Girls while I took a shower and fixed dinner.

We all ate meatloaf together, before allowing the Caterpillars to play outside in their pajamas with their friends while I loaded the last of the luggage in the truck.

Aunt CC said it was very hard to let a sleeping baby leave, crying babies are easier - but I was quite happy to have a sleeping baby in the car!

We left Quantico at 7:30 p.m. and even with a few stops for gas made great time home. They slept well in the car, B10 read a while (with a flashlight), before also falling asleep. We pulled into Cookie's driveway at 5:50 a.m. (she was kind enough to watch the Caterpillars while I got a bit of sleep).

I miss the Garden Girls and Aunt CC already, but we are all glad to be home with Hubby!

~Lone Butterfly )i(

Day Seven - Switching Up the Caterpillars

Today Aunt CC and I traded children - I wanted to take B10 to the Holocaust Museum and CW simply isn't old enough to handle that information. She, though, wanted Princess Flower to go with us.

CW woke up early and headed out with Aunt CC and the younger Garden Girls to therapy. I took B10, Princess Flower and GO with me into Washington. B10 insisted on finishing his book, The Lightening Thief, on the train (he can't wait to get home and begin Book Two: Sea of Monsters).

Because of the nature of the museum, I didn't take many pictures inside the actual building. Overall, however, it worked out very well.

We had timed tickets for 11:45 a.m. and arrived at 11 a.m. This enabled us to spend the first thirty minutes in the children's exhibit ("Daniel's Story"), where B10 and Princess Flower could write a letter to Daniel after going through his home, the ghetto where he lived and the concentration camp where he was taken.

Then we went upstairs for the main exhibit. I felt like both of them understood exactly what I had expected they would.

I was especially moved when we got to the end and there is a listing of the "Righteous Among the Nations" - Gentiles who have been remembered in Israel as people who saved Jews (those of you who have seen Schindler's List should be familiar with this). B10 looked at the wall, then looked at me and said in his most serious voice: "There aren't enough names there - why didn't more people stand up to save them?"

I wish I could have answered his question, but the fact that he asked it proves that I'm accomplishing what I set out to show him. God created us all equal and it's an absolute truth that we must stand against evil such as genocide.

We ate lunch at Johnny Rocket's again (simply because I knew where it was - and we had all day train passes to get there), before heading back home to do schoolwork.

They finished their respective subjects quickly and then headed outside to play down at the creek. I think the frogs, salamanders and snakes at Quantico have had more face time with B10 than anyone else. I had to hike almost an eighth of a mile back down a creek to get him for dinner.

I wonder, sometimes, if they'll have this much trouble getting him to eat when he's in his 20's and somewhere in the jungle of South America...

~Lone Butterfly )i(

Day Six - DC With Auntie M!

Today we went into DC with Auntie Mel. The Metro is becoming really fun and I almost wish we lived in a city where we could ride one more often (there just isn't a real reason to do it where we live).

She met us at the Arlington National Cemetery Station so we could tour the grounds. I had wanted to do three things at Arlington: the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, JFK and Jackie's Grave (The Eternal Flame), and the Women in Military Memorial (especially the "Fly Girls of WWII" exhibit).
When I checked the forecast before leaving home it was suppose to be between 60 and 75, cloudy, with a chance of showers the entire time we were visiting. It was 98 degrees in DC today!

I had brought the Caterpillars jeans to wear - and while I could at least put them in t-shirts with ball caps to block the sun, it was still REALLY HOT for all of us. Especially to be outside. (Note: CW decided to wear his "new" Hawaiian shirt...)

So (and those of you who know me and my Type A personality will be very proud), I didn't stress out about doing all the outdoor things. We didn't walk to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the Women's Memorial in indoors (I'll post a more extended post on my issues with that particular exhibit, later).

Then we headed out the Memorial Gate at Arlington to catch the train for Union Station. The plan was to get inside (thank goodness the trains are air conditioned) and eat lunch at a regular restaurant.

I knew that there was a Johnny Rockets at Union Station and Auntie Mel let the Caterpillars choose whatever they want.

Hence the chocolate milkshakes! (And the happy faces.)

We headed back to the train to go out to the White House. Security is tight, therefore our goal was to just see the outside (and the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next door).

I found it very amusing that CW's main concern was if President Obama's daughters have a Wii... Just shows that even he wants to know if "celebrities" are like regular people.

After the White House we said goodbye to Auntie Mel and headed home. I stopped at the store and picked up ingredients to make homemade pizzas.

The Caterpillars got home and the Garden Girls were dressed in bathing suits and playing outside in the water. Uncle Marine was washing his new car and we all "played" outside.

Everyone got into the "water fight" and "sprinkler fun". Dinner was eaten on the front steps and even GO enjoyed being in her ladybug suit.

It was wonderful to finally feel cool after such a hot day!

~Lone Butterfly )i(