Comfort foods and other fall goodness made for a happy week despite the very un-fall like temperatures.
Read all of the Large Family Homeschool Life!
MONDAY
It is raining FINALLY! It was near 90° all weekend up from a low of 20° at night earlier in the week!
I made oatmeal for Mercy. She likes to put butterscotch chips in her oatmeal, so I helped her put some in, and then made eggs for myself. I added in some spinach from my deck containers. The lettuce and spinach I planted as fall crops aren’t doing great, but I did get a little bit.
For Morning Time, we read about nationalistic unrest in the early 1900’s and also read in The Railway Children.
I had to spend a bunch of time on the phone trying to get a new oven. I’ve been without an oven for nearly 2 months, and with Thanksgiving coming up soon, I’m tired of doing without.
After that, I ran to the library and picked up a book I put on hold a while back – Eve in Exile. I read some in it when I got home, and it really seems like it will be a good book!
I stopped by the grocery store on the way home to grab root beer for Special Night tonight. I also bought an Autumn bouquet of flowers that are just gorgeous!
I put an elk loin in the electric skillet for dinner, and since I forgot to buy bread at the store, I made some butter bread in the convection oven. I also made chocolate chip scones for Micah’s Special Night. It’s been a long time since I’ve made these. They are so good!
Later, I shut myself up in my bedroom and went through this year’s Thanksgiving presents. I changed my mind on a couple of them, so I’ll be taking those back and placing an order for what I really want for the kids. The video below explains more about our Thanksgiving presents…
TUESDAY
Went to Weight Watchers this morning. It’s been a long time – too long. I knew I was going to be up a bit in weight, but that’s ok. Just need to jump back on the bandwagon.
For Morning Time, we read in Hurlbut’s Story of the Bible, and then I read in Story of the World about the end of World War 1. We looked at a map of the changes in Europe after the war as well. Mercy has a new book in Phonics, so I helped her read in it, and made lunch.
After lunch, all of us girls went to the thrift store! This was Melia’s gift to Mercy for her 6th birthday last week. While there, Aspen found a pair of roller skates her size, and I bought them for her.
Once home, we cleared out the side of the garage where we park the car, and since Daddy had the car at work, Aspen tested out her skates. (ps – by the end of the week, she was skating like a pro!)
I took some time to plan for our Reformation Day activities, and made nachos for dinner. Melia made an apple pie from our apple pie filling. She also used our new pie making toy – a pie crust bag!
I heard about it from a lady at church, and just had to try it! And guess what?! It really works!
That night, we carved pumpkins! I saved the seeds to roast later this week, and we put all of the pumpkins out on the back deck and lit tea lights in them. So pretty!
WEDNESDAY
Ty and I ate our breakfast out on the deck this morning. I do so love being out there!
For Morning Time, we read in Hurlbut’s, then in Age of Extremes, and then looked at paintings by Kandinsky, Chagall, and Klee. We finished off with reading our current read-aloud, The Railway Children.
I made sourdough pancakes for lunch, and then our 16 year old headed out to coffee with our Pastor. While they were gone, the rest of us went through the boys’ toys and clothes. The basement room where they sleep was overrun with things everywhere, and we needed to get everything pared down to allow the containers to contain all their things.
I put chicken in the crock pot for dinner and made some rice to go with it for the kids and Ty. I went to our church’s women’s group where we had pulled pork for dinner. I brought pickled banana peppers and a homemade hot pepper jelly over cream cheese with club crackers. There were only a few of us there, but we had a really great discussion.
When I got home, Ty told me how he and the kids had made a campfire and cooked some pumpkins in the coals and played flashlight games. So glad they had so much fun while I was gone!
THURSDAY
I had my usual eggs for breakfast and then headed out to coffee with our next door neighbor who is also one of the youth leaders at our church. It was a new coffee shop for me, but I will definitely be back because they have Cinnamon Roll Lattes there! My favorite!
After lunch, I did a podcast interview with a church women’s ministry in another state. We had a great conversation!
I put a whole chicken in the crock pot and later when it was done, I shreded it and put it away for dinner tomorrow. My 18 year old scooped out the pumpkin pulp from yesterday’s campfire and put most of it in the freezer for later use.
That night, Ty and I went to an event hosted by our financial planner. We had a nice time, and then came home and watched movies with the kiddos.
FRIDAY
Took the 18 year old to her yearly dermatology appointment early this morning, and then headed home and got the house cleaning done.
After that, I ran errands, including running by the library to take some books back and pick up some holds. They have books for sale for $.25 each in the lobby, and I found an updated version of the Dover President’s coloring book. It goes through Trump, which is better than the one I own that only goes up through G.W. Bush.
I also ran by Walmart and grabbed some freezer noodles to make dinner easier on me. I used the chicken from yesterday along with the noodles to make chicken noodle soup, and then made some mashed potatoes to put them over. Honestly, this seems like an odd combo to me, but my mom loves it, and the kids enjoyed it too.
I also made cinnamon apples from the last of the apple rings I froze last year, and some pumpkin cookies from some of the campfire pumpkins. I also roasted the pumpkin seeds in the convection oven. One batch was cinnamon and sugar, the other I sprinkled with nacho nutritional yeast.
That night, we watched Arsenic and Old Lace as a family. We watch this movie every year in October because it is a little bit scary and set on Halloween night. My mom was in the stage version of the play when she was in high school back in the 50’s! She played one of the little old lady aunts, so we enjoy imagining Grandma as the character as we watch it! You will also hear us all yell, “Charge!” every time Teddy runs up the stairs with his sword! Good memories!
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