Large Family Homeschool Life – Week 48 of 2021

Our first week of Christmas school started off light because I wasn’t very prepared! This Christmas season sort of snuck up on me!

See all of the Large Family Homeschool Life posts HERE!

MONDAY

I got up this morning and did my devotional for the first week of Advent from Living the Christian Year.

After I got the girls dressed and fed them breakfast, I looked over Christmas school resources. I had wanted to do this over the weekend, but I had a cold and decided to take it easy instead.

For Morning Time, we did the first Advent lesson from Minno and lit our Advent candle.

Then, we did a lesson from Every Good and Perfect Gift, and did a Music of Christmas lesson from Music in Our Homeschool. I also read to the kids from The Story of Holly & Ivy – one of the Christmas books we’ve collected over the years. (See the Christmas book list from Peaceful Press for more ideas!)

We keep all of our Christmas books in a basket by the fire during the holiday season. It keeps them all in one place and easily accessible to the children.

We also read from Where the Mountain Meets the Moon – I didn’t get it finished last month, so we are carrying it over to this month. Not exactly Advent material, but the kids are enjoying it.

I helped the younger kids with school, then ate lunch and had a phone consult with my doctor to renew my referrals to my dermatologist and OB/GYN.

Then, I took the bigs to work at the bee farm. I always end up chatting with their boss for a while before heading home. Today, we talked YouTube channels. I recently started ramping my YouTube channel back up, so I was definitely excited about talking to her! (I’d love it if you would head over there and subscribe to my channel!)

When I got home, I started sorting and wrapping Christmas and birthday presents. We have a lot of birthdays in December and January, so I have both kinds of gifts stashed in my closet until the Christmas tree comes out and I can wrap them and put them under there. And yes, I put the birthday gifts under the tree too!

Ty came home from work, so I got him some food since he missed breakfast and lunch, and then I ran out to get the kids from work. We really need another vehicle so the kids can drive themselves!

Then, Ty and I decided to grab dinner out and grocery shop, so Melia (17) made everyone nachos and Ty and I had Chinese buffet at a place we had never been to before.

At Aldi, I spent $255, which is more in line with our usual weekly shopping costs there. Last week, I only spent $175 because I had already purchased so much of what I needed for Thanksgiving.

At Walmart, I bought Blake’s fiancee a stocking to hang next to his. It’s not super fancy, but it is one that she can have here for when they celebrate with us. This is all so new for me (the mother-in-law thing!), and I’m sort of just figuring it all out as I go, but she’s super sweet and so excited to be a part of our family, so it’s not been too much of an adjustment.

When we got home from shopping and unloaded, Mercy asked Daddy to read to her, which is a rare thing, so he eagerly did so, and several of the other children gathered around for a story.

TUESDAY

Mercy woke up hungry, so I got her dressed and headed down to make her some sausages and applesauce. I also made Cinnamon coffee and Iced Tea. Then, I went upstairs and got dressed for the day.

I read to the little girls from a Christmas book, and then began Morning Time. I still haven’t planned much of anything for Christmas school, so we ended up continuing our lesson from Music of Christmas and reading from The Story of Holly & Ivy and Where the Mountain Meets the Moon.

Then, I had all the boys do a Mental Minute on Reading Eggs. These are timed math drills that I am hoping will help them on their math lessons. Micah (12) also did his spelling lesson on Reading Eggs.

Micah and Garin (11) did their piano lessons and then Micah did another lesson in Graphic Design. He’s getting near the end of the lessons, and the other boys are wanting to do the class too!

READ >> Review of Graphic Design for Beginner’s

After school, Keian (15) uploaded my video on Christmas presents. He’s doing a great job editing my videos, so I am hopeful I can churn out more content there. I’m also taking a YouTube class to keep me motivated. Watch my video on Themed Large Family Christmas Presents for a taste of what’s going on there!

Ty came home for a quick lunch before heading back to college to teach military science, and I headed out to a much needed coffee date with a friend.

On the way home, my sister called to ask if we would dog-sit next weekend, and if she could borrow my 15 year old to help them paint their basement. What a great opportunity for him to learn from my brother-in-law who is a talented interior painter!

Once home, I filmed a quick channel trailer for my YouTube channel and sent it over to Keian to edit. I also got him started on making quesadillas on the griddle for dinner.

Later, I added some cedar ornaments to the tree that are supposed to make your artificial tree smell real, but they ended up giving me a massive headache! I needed to get an email ready for my newsletter, so I powered through it, but finally gave up and took an ibuprofen and had the kids take the cedar sticks out of the tree and out of the house!

Tonight was Garin’s (11) Special Night. He chose chocolate chips and milk just like he did on his very first Special Night 8 years ago! Awww!

WEDNESDAY

Got up this morning and did a little bit of email work before heading downstairs. That often messes with my morning when I do that, but I told myself I was only going to do so much and then walk away.

Ty is home from work today, so he’ll be working on sorting some boxes of military things from the basement while I do school with the kids. Some of these boxes haven’t been gone through in YEARS and we’ve just moved them from house to house!

It is December 1, so everyone is excited! Today starts our Jesse Tree, our Advent app, and our countdown to Christmas snowman! (I have a video coming out on YouTube showing how we incorporate all of these things!)

During Morning Time, we’ll be adding in the Advent App from Jacquie Lawson.

We discovered this little treasure last year when the theme was Nordic Christmas. This year, the theme is London. There are ornaments to find, trees to decorate, games to play, and information about London woven into the app. And it’s only $5.

We also did Character of Christmas. I have been very impressed with this devotional series from A Well-Ordered Homeschool! The devotionals are so good and there are a lot of simple, yet meaningful activities to go along with the lessons!

I snagged Christmas with Tales on a sale earlier this year, so we are doing a few things from there like reading The Tailor of Gloucester. We finished the morning by reading in Where the Mountain Meets the Moon.

The kids did their independent school work and then the bigs headed out to the bee farm to work. Keian (15) still has some school work to do, so he’ll have to finish it tonight when he gets home.

On the way to take the kids to work, I almost ran my van out of gas. I stopped at the tiny gas station in the little town the kids work in, but only bought a couple of gallons since it is about $.10 more than in the city. Currently, gas prices have gone down to $2.68 in the city, so that’s been a nice break from the nearly $3 it has been for quite some time.

On the way to pick the kids back up, Ty and I stopped to get the cheaper gas and he cleaned my van windshield since I cannot reach it very well.

For dinner, we had Ty’s Dad’s reuben sandwich recipe. It calls for canned corned beef (something I have never bought in my life!). I didn’t have Thousand Island dressing, so I made my own with mayonnaise, ketchup, and dill relish. By the way, at Aldi, the corned beef in a can was $2.99 – a better price than at Walmart where it was a dollar more.

Along with the reubens, I served fruit cocktail and homemade applesauce. I got Mercy to try all of it! Huge accomplishment! She decided she liked it all ok, but not enough to eat more than a bite of each.

The kids did their Table Chores and then we did our evening Advent Time.

Our Jesse Tree will be Unwrapping the Greatest Gift by Ann Voskamp.

We’ve used this devotional for several years now and really like it. We also own the ornaments Caleb Voskamp (her son) made that go along with the devotional. However, I do not believe he is making them anymore.

We also sang Christmas hymns chosen by the kids, and did our Snowman Countdown which came from my mother-in-law some 20 years ago when she bought it from Avon. You can find them on ebay! (Oh how I love ebay for finding memories from my childhood!)

The kids also opened their Advent calendars from Aldi with the little chocolates and gave Kip his Advent dog treats from his own calendar!

THURSDAY

Ty went into work late today, so I delayed Morning Time so he and I could have coffee on the deck. It is going to be 72° today!

For Morning Time, we did a fantastic lesson on Joseph from Character of Christmas. We also read the poem – In the Bleak Midwinter and listened to the hymn. Then, we did a lesson on Silent Night from Music in Our Homeschool. To go along with In The Bleak Midwinter, we did a watercolor scene from Lily & Thistle.

I helped Garin with piano today because he is struggling a bit. The other kids are doing pretty well on their independent school work. I sure am glad Teaching Textbooks sends me an update every day so I can keep track of how they are doing without logging into the Parent Portal!

READ >> Teaching Textbooks App Review

Keian had planned an Ultimate Frisbee tournament at the church, so he and Micah (12) headed there for the afternoon. It was really nice to see him including his younger brother!

When I went to pick the boys up, they both wanted pizza, so they pitched in and we ordered pizza. However, that ended up being quite an ordeal! I placed the order online, but when I got there, the door to the lobby was locked and when I called (twice), they picked up and hung up so they wouldn’t have to take the call. I couldn’t get the van through the narrow drive-thru, so I went to the door again and banged on it, but no one answered. Finally, a delivery driver pulled in and got someone to let me in so I could pay for my pizzas. I’m not planning on going there again, and the price had definitely gone up, so I might as well buy frozen pizza from Aldi!

I got home with the pizza at the same time Ty was pulling up from work. He had some stuff weighing him down, so we spent the evening talking and watching a movie to help him clear his head.

FRIDAY

Ty is on the road this weekend, so I got up and made him a pot of German Chocolate coffee and some iced tea for his travel cups.

After he left, I put together a vinegar and dish soap concoction I had read would clean the soap scum from my bathtub. It worked quite well!

We finished Friday chores and then I took the big kids to work. It’s been a busy work week for them!

I redid the Table Chores chart because I forgot it was a new month! Then, I planned some YouTube videos I want to film this weekend.

READ >> Changing Chores: The Art & Science of Knowing Who Gets What Chore

The kids got out a puzzle my sister had given them the last time they dog-sat her puppy, and then they headed outside to play for a while. (I have a reminder set on my phone every day to remind me to send them outside.)

Before dinner, I talked to Blake on the phone while he drove to his fiancee’s house a couple of hours away from him. I also redid my Christmas nails from Dashing Diva.

We ended up trying a new recipe for dinner that was a variation of this French Onion Meatball recipe. It was definitely a hit!

We finished out our evening with Advent Time together in the living room.