Gingerbread men, a Grinch party, and Christmas shopping made this a busy, but blessed week in our large family homeschooling home!
Read all of the Large Family Homeschool Life posts HERE.
SUNDAY
It was a nice, relaxing day. I spent much of it reading while the kids played nearby and my husband napped.
Later in the afternoon, Ty and I went shopping because I needed to restock a few essentials and we had Kroger coupons that were expiring.
Meg (19) made English muffin breakfast sandwiches for supper while I wrapped more Christmas presents.
That evening for Family Advent Time, we did our normal Jesse Tree and sang hymns, but I totally forgot to light the 2nd Advent candle!
MONDAY
Woke up to a foggy, grey morning…
It is supposed to reach nearly 70 degrees for the next few days before dropping back into the 40’s. I need to make sure I get everyone outside now that people are feeling better from their colds last week.
Christmas School was so much fun today!
Our art project was a chalk Christmas tree (lesson from You ARE an Artist):
A couple of days ago, I purchased an Advent Calendar app that I mirrored onto our TV so we could play around with it. There are new things to discover every day, plus a gnome to collect each day (remember, I LOVE gnomes!), and fun little activities like decorating a tree! The theme of this year’s calendar is a Nordic village, so there are many familiar things from my time living in Little Sweden. I do believe this will become an annual family tradition! (See the Advent Calendar here >> )
The kids played outside and refilled the bird feeders while I inventoried jelly. Ty wants to give some sandhill plum jelly away this year for Christmas, so I needed to find the best jars.
READ >> How to Make Sandhill Plum Jelly (includes a video!)
For dinner, I made a Dorito hamburger casserole because we got a free bag of Doritos from those Kroger coupons I mentioned yesterday.
I also made a gingerbread cookie recipe and popped it in the refrigerator for the kids to make gingerbread men tomorrow.
Sadly, we found out my mom’s uncle who was in his 90’s passed away from Covid this afternoon. He was in a nursing home and had been in lockdown since March – not even being allowed to see his wife who resides in the same nursing home. They spent their 70th wedding anniversary apart, and he died alone. So sad.
TUESDAY
Christmas School was spent in Germany (lessons from Music in Our Homeschool) and we made our gingerbread men.
That afternoon, I wrapped more presents (we not only have Christmas, but LOTS of birthdays in December and January!), finished one of my books, and repaired several stuffed animals.
Dinner was hamburger patties, tator tots, and corn.
It was the 14 year old’s Special Night, so we got him a pizza and he watched Patrick Stewart’s version of A Christmas Carol.
WEDNESDAY
This morning I found the 5 year old on the pallet next to our bed – usually it is the 4 year old there. We keep a pallet on the floor beside our bed for the little girls, who tend to come into our room in the middle of the night.
Ty needed his hair cut before work (he’s military), so I did that before changing for the day.
Christmas School was our usual Names of Jesus, then off to Italy! We also did a “We Three Kings” hymn study and a chalk art lesson of the 3 kings. I also shared the flora and fauna of of Colonial times from our Gentle Advent Colonial Christmas.
I’m finding that Colonial Christmas has a lot of projects that I just don’t have the time for, so we are skipping quite a few of the lessons.
After Christmas School, I helped the 5 year old with math and sat on the couch and listened while the 7 year old read aloud to me from a book about Wilbur and Orville Wright. I also helped the 4 year old do her “pretend school” – a big workbook I bought at Walmart!
Later in the afternoon, Ty and I met some friends from a neighboring town and went to a cheese factory to buy uneven cuts for Christmas Eve. We always have a charcuterie board with meat, cheese, crackers, and relishes for Christmas Eve, along with my mom’s fudge and hot punch.
Get my FREE>> Candlelight Christmas Eve Service
You can do it at home with your family!
THURSDAY
This morning, we did a short Christmas School and then had our December Family Meeting. I realized we never did this and I could tell things were feeling very un-Christmasy because of it!
We planned our Grinch Party, Hot Cocoa Party, Christmas Lights Tour, Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day menus. Plus, we brainstormed what Christmas cookies we’ll be baking next week.
Early in the afternoon, Meg headed to her coffee shop job and the 14 and 16 year olds headed to their job at the apiary. Things are a’buzzing there (pun intended!).
I pulled stew meat from the freezer since we decided to do our Grinch Party tomorrow night and we like to have “roast beast” as part of our celebrations.
READ >> How to Turn the Christmas Movies You Love Into a Themed Party!
I took the littles out to play since this will be the last nice day for a while. I sat outside while they played and read in my newest Amy Clipston Amish novel:
I redid the Table Chore chart and introduced everyone to their new chores. It was time to have the 10 year old do more work and move the 11 year old to a harder chore. Of course, the 11 year old complained about his new job of washing the dishes that don’t go in the dishwasher. We had to have a bit of a discussion about his attitude.
Dinner was Crock Pot Chicken and Dumplings – I can never seem to make enough dumplings, and I think my husband would prefer I skipped the chicken and ONLY made dumplings!
After Family Advent Time, I took the two older girls out to shop for their Secret Santas. Megan needed yarn for the crocheted blanket she is making and Melia needed something for a rather hard-to-shop-for person.
The girls apparently bought me something because they snuck off and went through the checkout, and once we got out to the car, I wasn’t allowed to look in the backseat. It’s kind of fun having big kids!
FRIDAY
We didn’t have school today because we school 4 days a week year round. To learn more about how we do this, go here >> Homeschooling Year Round
Today is our Grinch Party, so we cleaned the house and prepped the Roast Beast and Who Hash.
Here’s the recipe we used >> Hearty Oven Stew
Our menu for the Grinch Party was the above “Who Hash & Roast Beast,” these Grinch Santa Hats, and Grinch floats made with lime sherbet and Sprite.
We had so much fun!
SATURDAY
It was a quiet morning with hot tea and Christmas music. *happy sigh*
Once everyone was up and had eaten breakfast, the little girls ran off to play with the Playmobil Nativity Set we’ve had since my oldest son was 4 year old! Such a family treasure!
The younger boys and I made Christmas Texas Trash for the Hot Cocoa party we are hosting tomorrow night. We have a Thatsa Mega Bowl from Tupperware that we use for making puppy chow and large salads and mashed potatoes that was perfect for shaking this yummy snack to mix it all together!
Later in the afternoon, I washed my hair and straightened it and worked on blog stuff.
Dinner was sausage and cheese tortellini and buttered peas. After dinner chores, we watched TV as a family and did our Advent time around the Christmas tree.
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