Owl Pellet Lab

This year our big curriculum decision was to participate in a co-op and go through the Prairie Primer together. The Prairie Primer walks you through all 9 of the Little House on the Prairie books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. 

Our co-op only consists of 5 girls and each of them are in a different grade - 3rd grade through 7th. But it doesn't matter a bit to these girls! They love learning and playing together and the 3 moms in this group - well, we like each other too. ;)

For our first co-op last week we made butter (which is as easy as putting heavy whipping cream in a jar and shaking it until a lump of butter forms) and we talked about owls and dissected owl pellets.  

Do you know what an owl pellet is?  Here's the definition:

A pellet, in ornithology, is the mass of undigested parts of a bird's food that some bird species occasionally regurgitate. The contents of a bird's pellet depend on its diet, but can include the exoskeletons of insects, indigestible plant matter, bones, fur, feathers, bills, claws, and teeth. 

Not very 'girly' to dissect owl pellets, is it?  And they were quite disgusted in the beginning.

Actually, a couple of them were disgusted the entire time, but eventually we heard things like, "This is really gross, but it's cool too!" One of the girls had  bird remains in her owl pellet, evidenced by the feather and the beak that she found. But most of the pellets had rodent bones, which we expected.

Not surprisingly though, our M wasn't the least bit disgusted with this lab. She was fascinated from beginning to end.

  

Here's a simple lab report we used to walk them through the lab. 

And another helpful resource: an owl pellet bone chart
I'm not sure where our owl pellets were purchased, but here's one website that sells them:  Owl Brand Discovery Kits

Don't be scared to try it!  It was easy and I think the girls learned a lot and had fun too! 

better than a cherry on top!

I have never liked cherries. Unfortunately, my opinion of cherries was solely based on my experience with cherry pie and those horrible cherries they put on top of sundaes. (sorry if you like those--I just can't.)

But I have not been alone in my opinion of cherries. John has never liked them either. And naturally our girls follow suit.

This all changed the other week when we had opportunity to try a Rainier cherry. Imagine my surprise when each and every one of us loved them. So much so that I went out and bought a pound for $4.99 -- that was difficult to do for this penny-pinchin' girl. But we've been savoring each and every one.

1000 Gifts: lots of love

Psalm 107:1
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
his love endures forever.

0076. little girl in daddy's big boots


0077. snowflakes -- and this reminder of God's unnoticed, yet amazing miracles

0078. their long awaited Giant Microbes came in the mail today! Such excitement!

0079. hot chocolate to warm us up


0080. popcorn and a movie in the middle of the day, in the middle of the week -- thanks to the snow day (which we only partially observed)

0081. the last slice of the best apple pie EVER...made by Jayme. And I'm not a big pie fan, but this was amazing! If all pies tasted this good, I'd be in trouble.


0082. $5 tickets to see the musical Jane Eyre at one of the local colleges

0083. the fact that they're old enough to enjoy a musical and able to sit through the entire show without a complaint (they loved it!)


0084. Valentine parties -- making midwinter much warmer


0085. Sweet valentine treats

0086. love notes and love songs about Jesus

0087. cute kids willing to share their smiles, their songs, and their time with the elderly


0088. time with extended family (we said good-bye to John's cousin tonight who leaves to go to boot camp next week)

0089. men who willingly enlist

0090. God's paintings in the sky -- and just outside my backdoor


0091. another reason to be thankful for the snow--piles to play in for hours. If there wasn't snow, my children would probably stay indoors for the entire winter.


0092. the Winter Olympics -- we love them!

0093. staying up late as a whole family -- we let them stay up to watch the opening ceremony


0094. Daddy's strong arms to carry them to bed

0095. Bowling!

0096. their determination to bowl without bumpers


0097. smoke-free bowling alleys and fun places to go during the winter

0098. pig tails and flipped pony tails (with no help from mom)

0099. another family fun Saturday

0100. Valentine's Day -- a great reminder to say I love you



and the list continues!

In all things give thanks

Isn't the beauty of His creation astounding? All of it a reflection of its Creator.

I cannot comprehend how He made the world--in its magnificent details. But He made it all so perfectly. Every creature and season serving its perfect purpose.

He has been consistently reminding me in the last months to praise Him in all things. In His creation, in this season, in laughter, and in disappointment. It is not my natural way to say thanks for something I don't like or even something that made me angry or sad, but didn't He say to rejoice always and to give thanks in all things? He sees the big picture after all....and I know He has the best in mind for me. And if I'm not thanking Him for all things, then I'm not trusting Him.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

Almost Gone

Autumn is messy

It's time to clean up!

Tuesday, October 20

God's creation is breathtaking. All of these leaves came off the same tree. And in M and C fashion, they were carefully collected and brought into the house. I love that about them.

Monday, October 19

The ladybugs were swarming today with the warm temperatures and sunshine. We like ladybugs, but not at this time of year. There are hundreds and they are feisty.

Saturday, October 17

I saw the sunrise this morning. Beautiful.

Tuesday, October 6

I love October skies.

September 30

I took this on the last day of September. My white mums are about to burst. Ready or not, Fall is here.

I wasted more time at picnik.com tonight. Playing with photos can be just the medicine I need sometimes.

Waiting and Hoping

Checked on my tomato plant tonight. We're still waiting for ripe fruit. But this isn't bad for putting it in the ground and then completely ignoring it. I didn't even get a cage around it, so here they sit, trying their best to grow to maturity. I hope it happens before the raccoons decide to take a nibble.

Meet Bethy

Bethy is our newest pet. Her full name is Elizabeth Jane. I think that's quite a nice name for a hermit crab. And she's much faster than I expected. That's my finger in the above photo holding her in place. There were a handful of blurry takes before this one captured her cute beady eyes.

The girls have only two complaints: her food is very stinky and she currently resides in a Dora shell. They are quite annoyed with this second matter.

I can probably break the news now: our little hamster, Lily, died on August15th. It was a sad event which I will not go into detail about here. But I believe the gift of Bethy from our friends helped sooth the pain a bit.

A summer treat

We love these flowers. I think they might be phlox. Anyone know? They bloom every August with their bright pinkish/purple color and sweet fragrance. The hummingbirds and butterflies love it too.

As well as the hummingbird moth. We had never heard of such a thing until it showed up to eat from the phlox several years ago. Now we look forward to his visit every August.

Visiting the Animals

I didn't take any pictures on Sunday, although we had a great day on the lake with our church's staff. I should especially apologize to Sara, who would have certainly enjoyed seeing those familiar faces. I'm sorry, Sara! I left my camera behind simply because I wanted to enjoy the water rather than worry about it being damaged. That's the down side of having a nicer camera.

So Monday I made up for it. We went to the zoo. Just M, C, and me. And it was great to be on our own looking at the animals at our own pace. When we arrived we went straight to the butterfly house. We missed this exhibit last year and we've been anxious to see it! And although the butterflies were really what brought us to the zoo today, we enjoyed seeing all our old favorites too.

Stormy Weather

We had thunderstorms today. I love watching the lightning and listening to the thunder and rain.

It reminds me of God's power and His grace and mercy throughout life's storms.

Job 38:25-27

²⁵ Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain,
and a path for the thunderstorm,

²⁶ to water a land where no man lives,
a desert with no one in it,

²⁷ to satisfy a desolate wasteland
and make it sprout with grass?

Chasing the Bee

I'm still trying to learn the wonders of my camera and photography, for that matter. Below are my attempts to capture the bumblebee that was visiting our bush.
(My ISO was at 1600 and my aperture was f/5.6 for all of these.)

It's the end of May

Six years ago this week we bought our house and moved in. Our first house. It was like walking in a dream. We were so happy with every inch of our new home. And the garden was bursting with these pinkish-purple flowers that our tiny little girls loved.

Our dianthus flowers are blooming again this week. Reminding me that we've had six years of living, laughing, and loving within the lines of this property...it's hard to understand how it passes so quickly.

Preserving Spring, part 2

The flowers are pressed and turned out beautifully. We pressed them on May 4th.

The girls each have their own nature journal. We decided to keep the pressed flowers in the journals in order to have a record of what they are and when and where they were found. They started their nature journals last year and though they haven't quite gained the habit of writing in these journals regularly, I still feel it to be a valuable exercise.

Once we learn what flowers press very well, I hope to be able to turn some of them into art.

Preserving Spring

We've been enjoying our May edition of the Book of Days. Today we created a flower press. (one of the activities in the book) We were just in time to preserve some of our fading Spring flowers.