Large Family Homeschool Life – Week 42 of 2021

It’s our first week of Holiday Homeschool with lots of fun Autumn crafts and activities!

See all of the Large Family Homeschool Life posts HERE!

MONDAY

Big news! Our oldest is engaged!

We are super excited for them, and they are over-the-moon happy! It’s really neat to see how God has worked in the lives of these two.

Last night, we slept with the windows cracked, and it was so cold I didn’t want to get out of bed. But, my new favorite jeans were in the dryer, so I sacrificed my warm bed to go grab them. I made coffee while I was downstairs since I am definitely going to need something warm to drink.

Melia took her Module 10 Apologia Biology test this morning. I graded it before we got started with Morning Time. Biology is the only science class that I require all of the experiments and tests to be completed.

READ >> Homeschool Graduation Requirements – A Simple Plan

Starting today, our Morning Time will be predominantly Holiday related. We call it Holiday Homeschool. I use my Holiday Homeschool Planner to put together all of my ideas and document what we end up doing. Learn more about how we homeschool through the holidays in the podcast below:

We started with Gentle + Classical Morning Virtues: Gratitude. We are reading in Philippians for the next few weeks. I read through the overview of Philippians from the lesson plans while some of the kids colored and some of the kids started on a felt leaf craft from G+C Autumn. Morning Virtues also includes composer and artist studies, so today we went over the biography of our artist.

I chose to read Fall Mixed Up – a picture book suggestion from A Year of Playing Skillfully. It was super cute!

We also did a family Block Tower Race – another suggestion from A Year of Playing Skillfully. The kids separated into teams and raced to build towers with their blocks. They were hilarious!

READ >> My Review of A Year of Playing Skillfully

I also read The Berenstain Bear’s Harvest Festival to the kids. I picked up this book at an Amish bulk food store because it had a very Biblical message. Such a lovely book!

We also read in If You Lived with the Iroquois as suggested by G+C Autumn. We’ll be reading it throughout the next couple of weeks. I already owned this book as part of Tapestry of Grace, but we did not read it this year during our study of the American Indians, so it worked out well to go through it during Holiday Homeschooling.

And finally, we will keep reading in Catherine: The Great Journey until we finish it and then we’ll move on to the read aloud suggested by G+C Autumn: Children of the Longhouse.

While I did school, Megan started on the cinnamon rolls for tonight’s dinner. She wanted to learn more about bread baking while on Fall Break, and this was a recipe she wanted to try.

When I had a break from school, I headed into the kitchen to help her understand how to “read” the texture of bread dough. I also explained to her about not adding ALL of the flour since it is very subjective depending on the weather, the temperature, and the atmosphere of the kitchen.

The little girls ended up coming in to help Megan out with the rolling of the dough and the sprinkling of the butter and cinnamon and sugar. They had so much fun working with their big sis!

I browned some moose meat a friend from Alaska gave us and put together the chili for tonight in the crock pot. Chili and cinnamon rolls go together, in case you were wondering!

Then, Meg and I headed out to grocery shop and eat Korean food – something else she wanted to do while on Fall Break. We had hot pot bibimbap – a family favorite!

At Aldi, there still wasn’t any crushed pineapple or mandarin oranges. I asked the manager when they thought they might be getting it in, and they don’t know about the mandarin oranges, but expect the crushed pineapple the last week of October. I need the crushed pineapple for our Thanksgiving Cranberry Salad, so I hope they do get it in eventually!

There also weren’t any large peanut butter containers…again…so I bought small ones. It was the same at Walmart – some things available, some things not available. But I did manage to find some great Thanksgiving paper plates for our meal!

Interested in what foods I buy in bulk? Check out this podcast:

I also bought Micah a soft lap blanket with corgis on it – his favorite dog breed. He was so happy to have it and cuddles up with it all the time!

My last errand for the day was a trip to the library with the little boys. They have been begging to go, and I had books to return and holds to pick up, so today seemed like a good day to take them.

When we got home, I stood on the lawn and talked to my next door neighbor who is recovering from a breakthrough case of Covid. She’s doing much better, thankfully.

Megan finished up dinner by making cream cheese frosting for the cinnamon rolls. Ty got home and we laid out all the chili fixin’s – corn chips, cilantro, cheese, ketchup, mustard, and sour cream.

After dinner, I set up the new WiFi extenders and reworked our printer settings while talking to Blake on the phone. He was headed out on a business trip and we hadn’t really talked since he sent a video of him asking his girlfriend to marry him. He let me know he had called and told all of the grandparents, so it could be shared publicly. (Thus the reason for the announcement at the top of this post!)

TUESDAY

I had toast with homemade strawberry jam this morning and took care of Garin (11) who had a sore throat.

Ty and I had coffee on the deck and then I took down the hummingbird feeder for the season and replaced the suet in its cage and cleaned out the bird feeder because it had become caked up from numerous rains.

As I puttered around the kitchen, I realized I needed to bottle the kombucha, so I did that and then put out a new batch to brew. I always add a little all natural juice to the bottom of each jar I bottle, and I never do a second brew. It’s how I’ve always made it, and the kids love it, so I’ve never really experimented with it. Megan is going to take a bottle back to college with her because she rarely gets it when not at home.

I also saw there were some bananas going bad on the counter, so I pulled out my bag of frozen bananas and made some banana bread. I usually make this Large Family Banana Bread recipe, but we tried a new one today that had a more bread-like texture. It turned out well!

For our Autumn homeschooling, we read Philippians 1 and read Haydn’s biography for G+C Autumn Guide. I also read The Lonely Scarecrow. This is a really neat embossed picture book with a sweet storyline.

I also read from a favorite book about the changing seasons on a farm – The Year at Maple Hill Farm. We’ll be reading this in a bits and pieces this week and next while talking about why the seasons change and what that looks like.

Then, Megan helped the little girls make bead bracelets and the boys added beads to their felt leaves from yesterday.

I read in If You Lived with the Iroquois and Catherine, and then we visited the little girls’ Autumn Comforts Cafe.

The idea for having a cafe came from A Year of Playing Skillfully, but I ramped it up a bit with these adorable printables from CraftsFunandLearning on Etsy. We all had a blast ordering food and gobbling up our yummy treats. And the girls were so glad we came and “ate” at their cafe!

After our cafe visit, the kids worked on their independent school work. I set up Creed’s Teaching Textbooks on a new device so he doesn’t have to wait to do his math. I always tell people to put the app on at least 2 devices, but didn’t follow my own advice this time!

READ >> Teaching Textbooks 4.0 Review

Micah made a business card for his Graphic Design class. He’s doing a great job with the projects from the class!

READ >> Graphic Design with Canva Review

That evening, Ty and I took Megan to meet up with a college classmate, so they could head back to college together. Then, we stopped off at Home Depot for a couple of things and Sonic for a shake for Keian’s special night.

In the afternoon, I took a walk with my 15 year old. Then, he came home and made pork cutlets while I made a broccoli and cauliflower salad for dinner.

WEDNESDAY

Ty and I took a road trip to a family meeting and then went to visit some family members we haven’t seen for several years.

We also removed the water pump at the lake cabin for the season. We don’t drink the water there, but I am planning on getting the water tested to see if there’s a chance we can drink it.

And we checked the heater at the cabin as well to make sure it is in working order. The smell of it running brought back lots of memories from when we used to stay out there during the winter months when Keian was little and I was pregnant with Emily.

Ty and I grabbed a Puppy Chow Shake and Chips Supreme from a couple of favorite local restaurants before heading home.

While we were away, the kids did school and decorated for Mercy’s 5th birthday tomorrow! It’s so nice to have big kids!

THURSDAY

Today is Mercy’s 5th birthday!

She had pancakes and hot cocoa for breakfast. Then, she and Aspen made ribbon dancer rings from a project in A Year of Playing Skillfully.

Creed did this when we went through AYOPS with him, so he made one too! They all danced and danced on the back deck, but it was a little too chilly to stay out very long.

The little kids played together in the morning hours while I caught up a bit on life. Being gone for an entire day always sets me back a bit.

The kids also did Mercy’s Pumpkin Hunt. She hid a bunch of little pumpkins a couple of days ago and did a really good job! I’m glad we found them all!

I called the kids to Morning Time a little later than usual. We read in Philippians and started memorizing Ecclesiastes 3:1 – part of The Peaceful Press Autumn Guide. We also did a white crayon and watercolor leaf art project that fascinated everyone!

AND, the kids made placecards with their names for Mercy to put at the table today. She got a real kick out of choosing where everyone should sit!

I also read How Do Apples Grow, a bit more in Maple Hill Farm, and we finished Catherine today!

Mercy chose to have ramen noodles for lunch and we also had banana bread from yesterday.

I pulled out a new Phonics book for the 6 year old, and got Garin (11) his new Apologia Elementary Science book. He’s super excited to be reading Land Animals!

Mid-afternoon, Melia (17) and I headed out to run a few errands. We stopped at the library for more holds and returns, then the pharmacy for bandaids, and then Aldi for chicken nuggets for Mercy’s birthday dinner. While I was there I found evaporated milk that has been difficult to get, so I grabbed several of those. Lastly, we stopped at Walmart for Mercy’s ice cream cake.

When we got home, I baked the chicken nuggets and some curly fries while the kids made Mercy cards for her birthday and she took calls from all the grandparents and Megan.

Mercy got play dough, a painted rock, and stickers for her presents. What a great birthday!

By the way, babies turning 5 has always been hard for me because it feels like the end of their babyhood. And this time, it was my babiest baby turning 5. Ugh.

FRIDAY

It was a chilly morning. Ty is headed out to the field for a training exercise.

I had a cup of coffee and then got the kids moving on their cleaning chores. It was so nice to have the house back in order again!

We had lunch and then I ran the big kids out to the bee farm for work. When I got home, I washed the front porch with a new cleaner I bought and then mowed the lawn.

When I picked up the kids, I also purchased some honey and beeswax molded candles (owls and gnomes!). What a lovely Friday!