isock

You've heard of ipods, imacs, iphones, etc. Well this is Faith's new invention of the isock--think it will catch on?

Hello again.

This blog is about the Netherlands. I don't know why the font won't change to normal, but everything is underlined. Sorry.

The Low Countries
Luxembourg, Belgium, and The Netherlands (or Holland) make up the Low Countries. They are called “low” because they have no mountains. The land is mostly below sea level. The Dutch used windmill power to help drain water from the land. They say “God made the earth and the Dutch made Holland”.

The Dutch people wear wooden shoes called sabots or klompen to keep their feet dry on the marshy ground. Canals go down some of their major streets. Since they are always very near water, the Dutch teach their babies to swim when they are very young. In the winter the canals freeze and children can ice skate on them. Some of the people live on houseboats because there is not enough land for housing. They are taxed by square foot of land used so they build their houses very tall and thin going up several stories. Some houses are built on posts to keep them from flooding. The Dutch travel by bicycle and sometimes by boat. The Dutch see themselves as very open to different views.
Rembrandt and Vincent Van Gogh are some of the great artists that come from the Netherlands.

Vincent Van Gogh was never happy. He used thick paint and short jabs in his paintings.
Tulips are exported from the Netherlands to all the world. There was a time (1630’s) when a tulip was worth it’s weight in gold. Many people speculated in the “tulip trade”, called “tulip mania”. When that went out of fashion, many Dutch lost their source of income. The Dutch economy crashed. It is considered the first recorded “speculative bubble”. Nice how history repeats itself, eh?
They are famous for cheese and chocolate. We tried some cheeses, chocolate, and Belgian waffles. (faith with little cheese just out of it's wax covering)

Some Dutch songs are “The Broom oh the Broom”, “We gather together”(in the hymn book)
We also made pinwheels, did “windmill” exercises, and played “I am a Little Dutch Girl”. We listened to “Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates which was a great story that included a lot of Dutch history. We also spent a day (Grandparents Day) at Holland Hall!

Oops, it's a sideways video! Oh, well. Jared's windmill is pretty cool anyway. He used a motor to make it go.

Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving this year. It's the first time that we were just on our own as our little family. We got to keep all of the left-overs, and it didn't matter if everything didn't turn out perfectly. Which, everything was great. I used all of our fanciest dishes and we all cleaned the house just as though we would have company, but WE were the company this year. I really like my family. I'm thankful for each one of them. We're thankful for you guys too! Hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful.

Damian carving the turkey.

Marisa and Jared looking at their weird reflections in the silver goblets that Heidi and Mark gave us for our wedding and that I've only used twice!

We also all memorized my favorite Thanksgiving poem. Cheers!

The Turkey Shot Out Of The Oven

The turkey shot out of the ovenand rocketed into the air,

it knocked every plate off the tableand partly demolished a chair.

It ricocheted into a corner

and burst with a deafening boom,

then splattered all over the kitchen,

completely obscuring the room.

It stuck to the walls and the windows,

it totally coated the floor,

there was turkey attached to the ceiling,

where there'd never been turkey before.

It blanketed every appliance,

it smeared every saucer and bowl,

there wasn't a way I could stop it,

that turkey was out of control.

I scraped and I scrubbed with displeasure,

and thought with chagrin as I mopped,

that I'd never again stuff a turkey

with popcorn that hadn't been popped.

by
Jack Prelutsky