Last year, one of our friends from the local college let us have an older microscope, per policy, on "long-term-loan." It has 10x and 40x objectives and I really would love it, if we could add a more powerful one (not sure that's possible) because as of yet, we've not been able to view anything 'wiggling'. (Maybe we're looking in the wrong place!) ...But we have seen some pretty cool stuff!
I think our favorites are hair- animal hair. The goat hair was neat in that the grey was distinctively different from the black. The cat hair was awesome, in that it looked like it had vertical chambers. Weird! And cool!
But- slides were an issue- so- we made some!
We used simple index cards, cutting a 'window' out of the center and using clear tape to make a 'glass' and to hold our samples in place.We left the 'windows' kinda big so more light would show through.
You could also use thin cardboard, like cereal boxes are made from.
We collected all sorts of little things to look at!
Here are some of the interesting things that we looked at;
-goat hair
-cat hair
-human hair
-local honey
-storebought honey
-water that's been standing in a bucket outside
-broccoli
-yeast
-strawberry leaves
-banana
-lint
-dust
-leaves (from trees, plants, etc- old dry leaves were really cool)
-chives
-dried dill
-pencil shavings
-straw
-corn husk
-beetle
-gnat (this was cool because it had WAVY hairs on it's legs)
-coffee grounds
-salt (at 10x these looked like ice cubes)
-black pepper
-mustard seeds
-onion skin
-bathroom paper
-cypress clipping (this was cool too, in that, we've always known this tree to kind of 'stick to us' but under the microscope, we were able to see why- tiny hooks on it's edges!)
Any of you girls found neat things to view under your scopes?
Would love to hear from any of you who have them on tips to make the most use of them!
Job 5:9 Which doeth great things and unsearchable; marvellous things without number
Showing posts with label Girls. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Girls. Show all posts
Saturday, March 29, 2014
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Happy 12th Birthday Kayanna!
| One of Kayanna's frugal birthday presents. |
This sweet sweater was in a bag of hand-me-downs given to us about a month and a half ago. I set this sweater aside to embroider my daughter's favorite critter on it for her birthday.
The kitten was found online.
She LOVED it!
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| Her grandmother made her little headband. |
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| Her eyes were as blue as the sky when she was little |
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| I made this night gown for her and the beanie baby that she is holding. |
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| She's always loved her pets |
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| Our Little Princess |
Labels:
Celebrations,
Embroidery,
Frugal Living,
Girls,
Sewing
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
My Thrifty Girl
My dd has always wore dresses. Well- when you have one girl and five boys- you just HAVE to do that! ;)
But summer's here and she wants to work in the garden and so her and her daddy decided it was time to get something with leggings for work-n-play.
She wanted to by her own get-up with money she earned on ebay. (Told ya she was thrifty!)
So- where's a frugal mom to take a thrifty girl?
Exactly- the Goodwill! :)
She found the soft and comfy cotton top for .99, the hat for 1.49, and the overalls for $7 that don't appear to have ever been worn before.
Cute
thrifty
and sassy- all in one sweet package!
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Our Current Reading List- lots of goodies from our local library or online free
3rd grader-Kyler: Huckleberry Finn, The Adventures of Pinocchio, McGuffey’s Fourth Reader, The Swiss Family Robinson, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Treasure Island, Christopher Columbus and the Discovery of the New World, Rascal, Lentil, The Bears: Hemlock Mountain, The Sign of the Beaver, A Lion to Guard Us, The Family Under the Bridge, Yonie Wondernose, The Book of Dragons, The Enchanted Castle, Make Way for Ducklings, Allan Fowler- Pine Trees, Maple Trees, It Could Still Be a Tree, Simple Machines, Can You See the Wind?, -One Morning In Maine, A Tree Is Still A Plant, The Apple and the Arrow, Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving, The Story of Valentine’s Day, Blueberries for Sal, Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, Daniel’s Duck, Hatchet
4th grader-Kayanna: The Long Winter, Little Town on the Prairie, These Happy Golden Years, The First Four Years, Little Men, Rascal, Secrets on 26th Street, The Family Under the Bridge, Thee Hannah!, Twig, Watcher in the Piney Woods, Listen to the Nightingale, The Enchanted Castle, The Railway Children,
6th grader- Kellan: The Silver Chair, The Last Battle, David Crockett-Scout, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Pathfinder, Robinson Crusoe , Elements of Civil Government, Not Yours to Give, The Story of David Livingstone (http://www.mainlesson.com/display.php?author=golding&book=livingstone&story=_contents), Rascal, The Yearling. The Sign of the Beaver, The Family Under the Bridge, The Door in the Wall, The Enchanted Castle,The Wanderings of Odysseus, Abraham’s Family by John Morris, Black Ships Before Troy, Minn of the Mississippi, Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving, My Side of the Mountain, Hatchet, Call it Courage
8th grader- Kemuel: On That Day Began Lies, Don Quixote, Life on the Mississippi, The Soldier in Our Civil War Volume 2, Rascal, Lord Peter: the complete Lord Peter Wimsey stories, Our Town: A Play in 3 Acts,- Cry: The Beloved Country-, The Family Under the Bridge, The Bronze Bow, The Enchanted Castle, Exploring the History of Medicine, Mosque by Macaulay, Cathedral by Macaulay
10th grader- Krestan: Roughing It (semi-auto Twain)My Utmost for His Highest, Elements of Civil Government, My African Journey, Luther and the Reformation (G), Beacon Lights of History Vol V -?(G), Why Won’t They Listen? http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/wwtl, Rascal, An American Plague, Silas Marner, The Nine Tailors, Crime and Punishment, What’s So Amazing About Grace?, The Family Under the Bridge, The Enchanted Castle,
Exploring the History of Medicine, Mosque by Macaulay, Cathedral by Macaulay, The Kingfisher History Encyclopedia, The Screwtape Letters
Friday, January 6, 2012
The Greenleaf Orchid Dollhouse
Usually after Christmas we spend about a week playing games, working puzzles, watching videos and the like but this year we had a new project!
By the Lord's grace, I was able to purchase one of these right at Christmas for about $18. We had so much fun with this!
*****
By the Lord's grace, I was able to purchase one of these right at Christmas for about $18. We had so much fun with this!
*****
(Note- Hobby Lobby is running weekly 40% off coupons STILL but you must print from the internet before you go!)
*****
*****
I hope you enjoy the video and if you have some young-ens around, I think they'll enjoy this cute little song!
*A special thanks to Brandy, ThePrudentHomemaker.com for the beautiful dollhouse printables!
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Stardoll Cake
My little girl requested this for her cake this year. She turned the big 11!
I took the black and white picture and used Brandy's templates to make a frame and shrunk it down to hang in her dollhouse. Now she's an antique (miniature) at 11! ;-)
She also loves pink...with black. Can you tell?
Monday, December 19, 2011
Homemade Puppet Theater-
My kiddies are going to LOVE this!
I was able to have Lowe's hold me a box, for free. It's a HUGE refrigerator box and I cut a cute little door in the back.
The fabric had been given to me years ago by my neighbor. I purchased some border paste to glue down the striped fabric for about $4. Other than that- FREE!
I used yarn to string up all the curtains by poking holes in the side and tying.
The fabric had been given to me years ago by my neighbor. I purchased some border paste to glue down the striped fabric for about $4. Other than that- FREE!
I used yarn to string up all the curtains by poking holes in the side and tying.
I bought this set of puppets with my Swagbucks, although they were at a cheaper price. (I'm guessing the price is up right now so they can give quick shipping.)
This post is linked to SomewhatSimple, The Diaper Diaries, The Shabby Creek Cottage, Thrifty101, Delightful Order, Frugal Fridays.
Labels:
Boys,
Christmas,
Gifts,
Girls,
Homemade gifts,
Kid's Projects
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Making Barbie Clothes...
One day last week, DD and I spent some time watching youtube videos and making Barbie clothes. (The pink dress and floral skirt.) I have much more to make, by her request, and several ideas for gifts flowing through my overcrowded mind(fancy gown). She also has brought me an army man that needs a shirt. Gulp! Guess he's been drafted to be Barbie's new Ken!
(Hope she doesn't ask for shoes!)
And speaking of dolls- wait til you see what Brandy's been up to!
Friday, November 18, 2011
Another New Page-
I've got LOTS more I want to share, but I had enough to be useful, so I went ahead and published the new FrugallyFreeHomeSchool page at the top. I pray you'll find lots of helpful resources on the links to free home school materials.
Blessings!
Blessings!
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Color Me Thanksgiving...links for kids

Pilgrims in Prayer -beautiful
You could also print these out and staple together for that special time of anxiety when everyone is wating on the turkey!
****Sonshine has links to Thanksgiving Unit Studies HERE!*****
originally posted 10/18/08
originally posted 10/18/08
Labels:
Boys,
Celebrations,
Christianity,
Fun,
Girls,
Kid's Projects
Monday, October 10, 2011
Happy Columbus Day!
Links to coloring pages, etc.
ship
C.C. and his ship
6 different pics to click and print
just sketches
Explorers including Columbus 7 different pics
10 here including maps if that link doesn't work click HERE
ship
C.C. and his ship
6 different pics to click and print
just sketches
Explorers including Columbus 7 different pics
10 here including maps if that link doesn't work click HERE
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Friday, September 23, 2011
Will Memorize for Sugar...
My children were given a nice box of their favorite candy a few weeks ago. I decided to make the best of it!
The rule- you can have the candy anytime you want IF you memorize something :-)
The fun for me has been to find the things I want them to memorize!
I started with things they had memorized before but had to study over, like the Lord's Prayer and Psalm 23.
From there we've added more Scripture, songs and hymns, and poetry.
I try to pick several things a week and lay them out on the school table and they can study it in their spare time.
Here's one site I'm digging through for Poetry and here's another specifically for children.
This is my favorite for hymns and here is Ambleside's homeschool list of hymns.
The kids' choices this week are My Jesus, I Love Thee and God of Mercy, God of Grace.
Here are two from the last few weeks that I thought you might like:
My Books
By: Author Unknown
I love my books
They are the homes
of queens and fairies,
Knights and gnomes.
Each time I read I make a call
On some quaint person large or small,
Who welcomes me with hearty hand
And leads me through his wonderland.
Each book is like
A city street
Along whose winding
Way I meet
New friends and old who laugh and sing
And take me off adventuring!
By: Author Unknown
I love my books
They are the homes
of queens and fairies,
Knights and gnomes.
Each time I read I make a call
On some quaint person large or small,
Who welcomes me with hearty hand
And leads me through his wonderland.
Each book is like
A city street
Along whose winding
Way I meet
New friends and old who laugh and sing
And take me off adventuring!
************
A Student's Prayer
Now I lay me down to study.
I pray today I won’t go nutty.
If I should fail to learn this junk.
I pray today I will not flunk.
But if I do, don’t pity me at all,
Just lay down my bones in study hall.
Tell my teachers I did my best
Then pile my books upon my chest.
Now I lay me down to rest,
I pray I’ll pass tomorrow’s test.
If I should die before I wake,
That’s one less tst I’ll have to take.
I pray today I won’t go nutty.
If I should fail to learn this junk.
I pray today I will not flunk.
But if I do, don’t pity me at all,
Just lay down my bones in study hall.
Tell my teachers I did my best
Then pile my books upon my chest.
Now I lay me down to rest,
I pray I’ll pass tomorrow’s test.
If I should die before I wake,
That’s one less tst I’ll have to take.
by a suffering student.
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Homemade Playdoh-
Mix in a large pot;
1 cup of salt
2 cups plain flour
4t cream of tartar
Stir in;
2 T oil
2 cups water
food coloring (or a pack of kool-aid) *opt
Mix well and heat, on medium-low. Mixture will start to stick on the bottom so use a large spoon to scrape.
Continue scraping until the entire mixture is no longer runny. Turn out onto waxed paper, knead several times to blend all flour lumps well.
***Allow to cool before you let your children stick their hands in it. It will be hot for several minutes.
Pants to Skirt!
We received these beautiful pants in a nice sack of hand-me-downs. They would have made a super cute pair of pj pants for dd...except they were too small. I cut about 5 or 6 inches off the top/waist, dropping the waist to a wider area. Then ripped out the inseam. I had a couple of small scrap panels that I pinned to the triangular shape that was left from removing the inseam. Stitched them in, trimmed the excess and wallah!
Skirt! I love this fabric!!!
Friday, July 1, 2011
Frugal Field Day....
Welcome to Frugal Fridays!
If you're looking for some frugal fun for the Fourth of July, I think you might like this suggestion ;-)
I was going to try to post pictures in order and take you through a step by step, but Blogger wouldn't cooperate very well. So, here's a list of what we did on our super fun and frugal Field Day:
-sack races: (I used fabric that had been given to me from a former seamstress who probably had this stuff for 20 years, and it had gotten wet. I probably told you about that last year?)
-egg run: (boiled egg, on spoon, race to the end of the yard- if you drop your egg, you go back to the start line)
-Walton's Marco Polo (one person is blind folded and calls Marco, others take turns tapping him saying Polo until the blind-folded person actually taps one back)
-Paramedic Practice: one person lies on the sheet (the lightest) while the others carry him to the end of the yard to the "hospital", no running because you could fall on the patient!
-Fill'er Up!: A bowl of water is in the middle of everyone. All players get a spoon and a yogurt cup. The first to fill their cup with water wins. And then of course, this turns into a water fight! (Thanks Brandy 4 this idea!)
-3 legged Race: More of the scrap fabric was cut into strips to pair everyone up. The first pair to the other end of the fence wins!
-Scavenger Hunt: Everyone was handed a sack and a slip of paper with items to find in the yard. I listed things that grow in our yard. (maple leaf, dandelion green, sorrel, willow leaf, one sour grape, one blade of grass, one tiny stick, one tiny rock (no throwing), one clover,..)
The favored part of Field Day was the Obstacle Course. We had a different activity to do under 12 different fruit trees. The 8th? picture up shows the lay out of those trees. Here's a list of the activities around each of those trees:
1- Birdie 'round the Tree: badminton racket and birder are under tree. Must walk around the tree hitting or balancing birdie with racket.2- Tie a Floral Ribbon Around the Little Fruit Tree: Strips of old floral fabric were under the tree. Each player had to tie one around the tree.
3. Love Tennis: Tennis racket and ball were under the tree. Player had to bounce or balance the ball with the racket while walking around the tree.
4. Dribble Around the Tree: A basket ball was under this tree. Each player had to dribble while circling the tree before going to the next.
5. Ring the Tree: A stake was set up about 5 to 7 feet away from the tree along with plastic rings. They had to get one ring on the stake before going to the next tree.
6. Shoe the Horse and Score a Tree: A stake was set up 5 to 7 feet from the tree and horseshoes were under the tree. They had to hook at least one horse shoe before going to the next tree.
7. Super Man's Booth: Dd's little pink princess tent was set up with a big bag full of hats, glasses, scarfs, jackets, and the like. Each player had to get in the tiny tent and put on a goofy get-up come out for all to see and go back in and take it off, before going to the next tree.
8. Box the Frisbee: A plastic bucket was set up about 7 feet from the tree and a frisbee was under the tree. The players had to get fly the frisbee into the bucket before going to the next tree.
9.Water Falls Around the Tree: 2 gallons of water and a bowl was under this tree. Each player had to pour water in the bowl, place the bowl on their head, and walk around the tree balancing the bowl before going to the next tree. (And yes, water-falls!)
10. Tree Ball: A ball and glove were under this tree. Each player had to toss and catch the ball 5 times while walking around the tree before going to the next tree.
11. Folly Volley: A volley ball had to be kicked, while the player walked around the tree one time before going to the next tree.
12. Ribbon Return: The floral ribbon had to be untied from tree #2 and tied on the last tree in order to complete the Obstacle Course- and everybody wins!
When all was done, they cooked hot dogs and marshmallows over our little homemade fire-pit from sticks they had to round up in the yard. :-)
And- my kids did ask could we do this again EVERY DAY!
Labels:
Books,
Frugal Living,
Fun,
Girls,
Homeschool,
Kid's Projects
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