Large Family Homeschool Life – Week 14 of 2023

A Holy and Blessed week!

Read all of the Large Family Homeschool Life posts!

Don’t miss the Compass Classroom Spring Sale!
We use A LOT of their curriculum, and highly recommend it! So, definitely take advantage of this sale if you have jr. high or high school students!

MONDAY

Ty left early for PT (physical training), so I went ahead and got up for the day. I’ve been wanting to get up earlier, so I took the opportunity to get up and get my day started. I started out by reading in my Holy Week devotional which is part of a year-long liturgical devotional I’ve used for several years entitled Living the Christian Year.

When Ty got back from PT, I made both of us breakfast and then I read in Secret Power by D.L. Moody to get ready for tomorrow’s book study with my Titus 2 group.

Then, I made a Spring Cleaning and Decluttering plan using my template (which is available for free to all of you!)

I got started in the kitchen before anyone was up. I moved the baking cabinet to the other side of the kitchen sink where it used to be because it hasn’t been working well in the spot I moved it to a couple of years ago. My kids complain every time I rearrange the kitchen, but I tell them I do it to keep them on their toes!

My 18 year took over in the kitchen when I started homeschooling with the youngers. She cleaned out the refrigerator and loaded the dishwasher. So handy to have her around to help out!

For Easter School, we did An Expectant Easter and Stories of the Resurrection, and then the kids worked on their independent school work.

Once I got them started, I joined Lia in the kitchen, and we went through the cabinets, under the sink, the storage area, the coffee bar, the junk drawers, and the cookbook shelf. We had the entire kitchen cleaned and decluttered by 3pm with a few breaks here and there.

I had a snack of pita chips and tzatziki out on the deck while the 12 year old made everyone else orange julius in the VitaMix. They really enjoy his VitaMix recipes!

While the kids watched their 2 shows in the living room, I hung my windchimes for the season. They were a Mother’s Day present a couple of years ago, and I love them dearly! They are Corinthian Bells purchased them from ChimeTime.

Micah wants to make a Lemon Cake for his Special Night tonight, so I got out some butter and cream cheese to soften. Then, I took a short walk with the 8 year old to look for signs of spring. When I got back, Ty was home and we took a longer walk to talk over events coming up.

When I got back from my walk, I quickly threw together Menemen – a Turkish dish similar to Shakshuka. My 18 year old cut up baguettes to dip in the Menemen and also in olive oil and herbs. It was delicious!

After dinner and Table Chores, most of the kids went outside to play with neighbors until dark and Micah and I started his lemon cake. It turned out really well!

Midway through Special Night, Ty and I had to run to the airport to pick up his aunt. That night, I fell asleep from utter exhaustion! I have a feeling this entire week is going to be busy!

TUESDAY

This morning, I started a load of laundry and made a pot of coffee, and then hung out with Ty’s aunt drinking coffee and chit-chatting. She lived with us for a couple of months a few years back, and we formed a special bond during that time. It’s always nice to have her here.

It’s going to be a warm day, so I hung the laundry and then washed and hung towels as well. I refuse to turn on the air conditioning, so hanging the laundry will help keep it cooler in here.

{It got up to 85° today, so I shut the house up with the thermostat reading 66°. By the end of the day, it was 73° in the house, so I count that as a win. The temps fell pretty quickly after dark when a cool front came through, so I was glad to survive the one hot day this week without caving and turning on the AC!}

We had our usual Morning Time and Easter School, and then Lia and I worked on the laundry room. We didn’t quite get it finished before she needed to leave to take Ty’s aunt to lunch. I took a lunch break too and then did some blog work.

After lunch, my 17 year old son showed the 14 and 12 year old boys how to edit my videos. I’m going to let them try and do it themselves, so hopefully, they can take over. They actually did a really great job, and it earns them a bit of extra cash!

My 18 year old daughter has been going to the Titus 2 group with me, and she had volunteered to make baked potatoes for dinner for the group this week. I pulled out the roaster oven, and had her wrap them in foil and bake them in there so it would be easy for us to carry to the dinner. They turned out great!

After Titus 2 tonight, a storm came through the area. Once it passed, we opened up the house and ran the attic fan to pull in all the cool air left in its wake.

WEDNESDAY

I got up and had coffee with Ty’s aunt again this morning. She is riding out a snowstorm here at our house, so she’ll be with us a couple more days.

When she headed off to take a shower, I kicked it into high gear. I got out the Easter ham to defrost, cut Ty’s hair, started the little girls’ laundry, did my devotions, and went over plans for today!

Easter School was pretty short today, and then we had Asian Bowls for lunch. After lunch, I drove out with the kids to their work so I could chat with their boss.

That night, I went to our church’s women’s group and Ty ordered pizza – Chi Pie and Crab Rangoon. He was a huge hit with the fam tonight!

THURSDAY

Last day of Easter School! I made Gospel bracelets with the girls using their pony beads. When friends stopped by after school, my girls helped one of their little girls make one too.

Our friends brought Tortellini Soup to share for lunch, so we cut up veggies and apples and shared a nice meal together.

After they left, I started the Irish Soda bread (a traditional recipe, not our sweet recipe) and the Irish Stew. I got the recipes from the Blue Bloods Cookbook.

Ty’s aunt joined me in the kitchen, which made the time go by so much faster. I always enjoy having someone in the kitchen with me when I have an extensive meal to cook.

After dinner, the kids cleaned up the yard and started a campfire to make s’mores. Everyone had fun laughing and talking around the fire.

Around 11pm, my son came in and asked me to come talk to his wife down the hall. She thought she might be in labor 3 weeks early and the midwife wanted her to go the hospital rather than the birth center, so I pulled up my Hospital Bag Checklist on my computer and we all worked together to get a bag packed for them. Her mom drove them to the hospital and I waited by the phone…

FRIDAY

At 6:35 am this Good Friday morning, Baby George made his entrance into this world weighing 6 pounds, 6 ounces! I’m a Gigi!

The really really cool thing about him being born early is that ALL of the siblings were coming into town for Easter, so they all got to meet him right away! AND, he got to come home for Easter! We are so blessed!

ps – Mercy is over the moon with having a baby in the house!