Large Family Homeschool Life – Week 16 of 2024

A week full of Ancient Egypt and a trip to visit my mom for her birthday!

Read all of the Large Family Homeschool Life posts!

MONDAY

Last night, I put together the Cherry Almond Overnight Oats from the Tasty Freedom cookbook. The recipes in this cookbook are no flour and no sugar (no artificial sweeteners either) and I really like them!

I ran the whole house fan for a bit to try to get the temperature down in the house. It has been up in the 80’s for several days and I had to turn on the AC yesterday. We’ve been sick with colds, so a hot house is even more uncomfortable.

I started school with the little girls. Mercy keeps misplacing her latest Phonics reader – My Clara – a book about a little girl who follows a thrush into a tree that becomes a magical place. Mercy has a hard time keeping her cubby neat and tidy, so quite often her misplaced books are simply underneath things in her cubby! Sure enough, that’s where it was today!

I watched over our little grandbaby for a bit before school. Our son and his family have moved back in with us for a time while they relocate here. It’s taking some thinking outside the box to find room for them here, but we’re making it work.

For Morning Time we read about Joseph’s life from Vos’ The Child’s Story Bible.

Then, we went over the 12 Tribes of Israel. We also read in God’s Names.

Before the kids went to their independent school work, I did piano with some of the kids.

I had a broccoli salad for lunch (also from the cookbook above) and then got myself and the girls ready for their dentist appointment. Aspen is going to need a small filling and we took a look at Mercy’s crowding (due to her condition), but it will be a while before anything needs to be done.

When I got home, I hung out with the kids and then worked on our church’s newsletter. I ended up dozing off in my chair while I worked! I haven’t been getting a lot of sleep due to my cold. Everyone has it, so we’ve had a slow and sick weekend.

When I woke up, I walked Winston a couple of miles. A few days ago, I had to switch to a non-retractable leash because I now have tennis elbow from pushing the button and pulling Winston over to the side when we are walking. It hurts terribly and I can’t grip things very well. I’m using this set of harness and leash instead:

Our 19 year old put potatoes in the oven for dinner. I threw a spaghetti squash in with them for my dinner. While the potatoes and squash baked, the kids played outside.

After dinner, the boys chatted with their friends on the computer. I painted Aspen’s fingernails and then crocheted on my 18 year old’s afghan and watched Casablanca.

TUESDAY

It was very windy this morning! There is a storm moving in, so I walked Winston quickly.

I went to Weight Watchers with a friend and ended up talking to her for a long time in the driveway. While we were chatting, her son pulled up to pick up my son to head to the recruiter’s office. He’s considering joining the military and her son is already in. My husband knows the recruiter too because she used to work with him.

I made Buffalo Cauliflower for lunch and then helped my son fill out the military paperwork he got from the recruiter.

Then, I did the Bible Study for tonight’s Titus 2 group. We are studying the power of a woman’s words to her adult children. Oof – convicting!

I had to work on getting my printer working so I could print an official Homeschool Diploma on parchment paper for my son’s military intake. I ordered from THIS SITE.

I finished Casablanca too! There are so many quotes from this movie that we quote all the time!

My 19 year old made potato salad for Titus 2, and I made the chicken salad I made a few weeks ago. We had a great conversation and study about speaking to our adult children, and it gave me much food for thought!

WEDNESDAY

It was cooler this morning, but I was still able to eat breakfast on the deck.

The kids worked on their independent school while my 19 year old and I mixed up muffins for our weekend away. She kept the batches moving through the oven while I did Morning Time.

For Morning Time, we read about Joseph and the Israelites moving to Egypt in Vos’ Story Bible, then we started Exodus in PictureSmart.

We also discussed the Edomites, Muslims, and Kirkegaard (that’s a mix, huh?!). Then I assigned literature books to the kids.

A Place in the Sun went to Creed…

Mara, Daughter of the Nile went to Micah…

And A Cry from Egypt went to Garin…

I’ve decided to use The Golden Goblet as our read-aloud…

We ate lunch and then I took a 2 mile walk. While I walking, I saw a mail truck that had run into a tree and the kids at the school down the street doing a science experiment on the lawn. Quite an interesting walk!

When I got home, the 19 year old let me know the dishwasher wasn’t draining. It is her month to load the dishwasher and wash the extra dishes. I got under the sink and unscrewed the hose from the dishwasher to the garbage disposal and cleaned it out. Sure enough, that was it! Not the first time I’ve had to do this.

Then, I went upstairs to work on blog stuff. I wrote an email, scheduled a podcast, and worked on one of my sessions for Teach Them Diligently in May.

We went to our church’s Women’s Group tonight. We are studying Sarai/Sarah. It’s neat because we have recently been studying these same Scriptures in school.

I ate a late dinner because I wasn’t hungry before Women’s Group and then chatted with my son about the military.

THURSDAY

It rained all night, so sleeping was lovely! I made cinnamon coffee and had breakfast cookies for breakfast. The breakfast cookies I like are from this cookbook:

Then, I went on post to the eye doctor. I need new sunglasses because mine are scratched, but I can’t get a new pair with an old prescription. My script hadn’t changed much at all and I ended up ordering the exact same pair of sunglasses I got last time. But, boy has the cost gone up!

For Morning Time, we did Exodus PictureSmart and read chapter 1 in Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt.

We also worked on a map of Upper and Lower Egypt and read in The Long Winter (yes, I’m still trying to finish up The Little House on the Prairie books!)

For lunch, I had a salad with chicken and also made myself a crustless apple pie made from shredded apple, banana, and a dash of cinnamon, vanilla, and salt. Yummy! I also made some overnight oats for a quick breakfast tomorrow morning.

That afternoon, we packed for a weekend trip to visit my mom for her birthday. We will have the muffins my daughter made as our breakfast at the Airbnb.

We tidied up the house so I could run the Roborock. I love how fresh it makes the whole house feel after I run a full clean cycle!

I decided to move the chair I brought home from my mom’s house the last time I was down there. A few weeks ago on a thrift store run, I scored 2 terra cotta colored chairs I absolutely love! I literally got 2 chairs for the price of one because I wheeled and dealed with the manager! I was going to take the chairs to our cabin, but I fell in love with them, so I put the chairs in the living room and it just feels too crowded to have my mom’s chair in there too, so I took it up to the upstairs nook to give us more room in the living room. I’m not sure if I’ll end up keeping the chair, but it is nice to have a place to sit in the nook.

For dinner, I made a tater tot casserole. I used to make this dish when the older kids were little. It comes from a church cookbook from the church my husband got saved in. I made it with tater tots, antelope meat, cream corn, cheese, and cream of chicken soup. I chopped up some raw veggies as a side.

That night, I crocheted on my son’s afghan and watched a show with my older daughter.

FRIDAY

We got up early and loaded up the van for our trip. I ate my Pecan Pineapple Overnight Oats (from the cookbook at the top of this post). Our house was chilly, so I warmed up the oatmeal.

The kids packed blankets in a trash bag to take with them, and loaded their toothbrushes into our homemade toothbrush holder. I made this years ago and we still use it to this day. This post has the instructions for making this simple project!

We loaded up Winston’s stuff, and said goodbye to Kip (our other dog) who is staying home with my older son and his family.

About 30 minutes after leaving, I realized I forgot the muffins we made for breakfasts while we are there! I’m going to have to shop when I get there. Bleh! I also forgot to pick up the honey my mom wanted. I’ll get her some flowers to make up for it!

We spent a lovely weekend with my mom doing all the things she wanted to do for her birthday!