Large Family Homeschool Life – Week 17 of 2024

Preparations and plans for our oldest daughter’s college graduation, plus yummy rhubarb concoctions!

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MONDAY

The house was cool this morning due to a cold front that has been over the area the last few days. I took my dog on a walk and then ate the muffins we had made to take to my mom’s this past weekend (and then forgot in the refrigerator!). The kids ate the chocolate chips ones we made as well.

Then, I worked with the little girls on their math, phonics, and handwriting. My 9 year old also did a lesson in Reading Horizons Discovery online. Both my girls really like this program, and it could definitely be a standalone phonics program.

My 23 year old called to let me know she is coming home from college to meet up with an old friend who is going to do her Senior photos. Years ago, when our daughter was a budding photographer herself, she took this girl’s photos, and now this girl owns her own photography business!

For Morning Time, we learned about Moses and worked on Exodus in our PictureSmart Bible lessons. I read to the kids from Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt and we mapped the beginnings of Ancient Egypt for geography. Our read aloud is The Golden Goblet, but the chapters are quite long, so I rarely can finish a whole chapter during Morning Time.

For lunch, the kids ate leftovers and I made myself a sweet potato skillet using some sweet potatoes I had cubed and put in the freezer when they were on sale around the holidays. I added some bacon and cheese to top it off.

I made a grocery list and a list for all the errands I need to run – bank, storage unit (need to rent a bigger one), Home Depot (to get a medicine chest for my mom’s apartment), library (I have The Anxious Generation on hold), Aldi, and Walmart!

Phew! What an afternoon full!

That evening, our son and his family made a fire in our fire pit and invited all the kids out to make s’mores.

TUESDAY

It was 57° this morning for my walk with the dog. People were out walking in shorts!

I ate my breakfast on the deck and planned out my day before heading to Weight Watchers. A friend of mine was there, so we ended up talking for quite a while outside the meeting. I really needed the conversation!

Thankfully, while I was gone, the kids just worked on their independent school work. That makes it easy for me to jump in with Morning Time when I get home.

A couple of Amazon packages came that brought a lot of joy to the kids (and me!). One package included farm animal stickers Mercy (7) had purchased with her very own money. She passed out entire sheets to her siblings and even gave me one! (I had to laugh at the fact that there were fruits and vegetables AND animals that are definitely NOT farm animals on the sticker sheets!)

The other package was a set of charging cords for our phones and tablets. The kids and I came up with a plan to stop the charging cord bandit! In the past year, I have purchased no less than 6 charging cords and they are ALL missing! So…we dolled out the new charging cords – one to each kid, and everyone labeled theirs with ChromaLabel tape and stickers. The younger kids have to put theirs in my end table drawer, but the older kids (13+) are allowed to keep track of their own. NO ONE is allowed to use someone else’s cord to charge ANY device. They MUST use their cord and then return it when finished. Man, I hope this works!

NOTE: Several weeks later, I can attest to the fact that IT DID WORK! We have not had a single charger go missing since implementing this rule! Hooray!

I was getting ready to start Morning Time when my oldest son called, so we chatted for while. And then, a house painter we are getting a quote from showed up, so I got off the phone with my son and showed him around. We desperately need our house painted, so I am gathering some estimates. Our house is built into the side of a hill, so from the front, it looks tiny, but is 3 stories in the back! I have no idea what to expect in the way of cost for this monstrosity!

FINALLY, after lunch, we managed to do Morning Time! I am often amazing and awestruck by how God plans even the little things in our lives because we are currently reading about the plagues and Passover and it is all falling ON Passover! I don’t have the wherewithal to do a Seder meal right now, but perhaps at the end of this Tapestry of Grace unit I can pull one together!

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For dinner, we had sausage & cheese biscuits with honeyed carrots and strawberries. That evening, Micah edited one of my podcast videos so I can get it on YouTube. I am trying to record video whenever I record audio for my podcasts. Not the easiest feat!

WEDNESDAY

This morning, I rearranged our back deck and planted lettuce and prepped the planter boxes for herbs that I usually put out on the deck. I also watered all my indoor plants and started some mung beans and sprouts in the sprouting jars inside.

Then, I decided to make the rhubarb jam I’ve been meaning to make for several months. It was a very simple process, but I’ve been putting it off. (I am planning to have the recipe up soon!)

We pick rhubarb every year at our mountain cabin and chop it and bring it home to freeze in 5 cup increments. This year was a bumper crop and I had 20 cups to bring home plus what I used to make rhubarb crisp while we were out at the cabin!

I had already made a Rhubarb Custard Pie with one of the bags, but while looking through my old recipes, I ran across a Rhubarb Jam recipe in my mom’s handwriting, so I have been wanting to make that with one of the bags of rhubarb. I finally just told myself TODAY was the day!

Once I got the jam through the canner, I started Morning Time in Exodus, but I didn’t get very far before I got a call from our oldest daughter telling us her car popped a tire on the interstate about 30 minutes from our house. So, I had to call our insurance agent, then the tow truck, then hop in the van and drive to pick her up at Walmart where they were taking her because we had road hazard on the tires (they were almost brand new!).

While they worked on the tire, I took her out to eat and helped her calm back down. Then, we picked up her car and we both drove back to our little suburb. We stopped to get gas in both vehicles at $3.29/gallon. Gas prices have really jumped in the last few weeks. Must be summer. *sigh*

When we got home, we unloaded the stuff she brought home with her from her dorm room and she got ready to head out for her photo shoot in the city. Here’s one of the photos her friend took…

I decided since the day was already shot, I’d go get an oil change in the van for our upcoming trip to her graduation this weekend.

That evening, the kids played with their friends since it was so nice outside. I let them play as long as they liked and when they came in at 8pm starving, I fed them leftovers plus a bunch of food their sister had brought home with her from college.

Then, I refilled bird feeders, combed out my mini-poodle, and helped our 15 year old order some electronic equipment from Amazon.

What a day!

THURSDAY

I have a BAD habit of falling asleep with YouTube, so last night, I decided to move my laptop and phone to the desk across the room so I wouldn’t be tempted to turn it on and then check my phone first thing in the morning.

This morning, when Winston (the dog) woke me up, the first thing I did was look out the window (instead of down at my phone!) and guess what I saw?! Goldfinches all over our backyard! So beautiful!

I walked the dog and had breakfast on the deck before starting our Home Blessing chores. It has to be done today because we are traveling for our oldest daughter’s college graduation tomorrow on our usual Home Blessing day.

After we got the Reset done, I cleaned out my purse and switched over to an old purse for the fun of it. Then I opened a package that came from a young lady who has a ministry named Stitched with Love for bereaved parents. She wanted to gift me a memory blanket in honor of our Emily. It was so precious! (Thank you, Annelise!)

I had buffalo cauliflower for lunch (basically, cooked cauliflower with bacon and buffalo sauce and cheese) and made a dessert of whipped cream cheese and strawberries.

I washed my hair and began choosing outfits for the graduation ceremonies for myself and the little girls. There will be a convocation ceremony tomorrow night and then Saturday morning is the actual graduation.

I spent the rest of the afternoon working on my upcoming sessions for the Teach Them Diligently Homeschool Convention. I’ll be speaking on Home Management for the Homeschool Mom, Large Family Homeschooling, and How to Have a Jubilee Homeschool Year.

We had chili and homemade bread for dinner, and shortly afterward, Ty’s mom showed up. She will be going with us to the graduation!

That evening, we watched Full House (my kids’ “new” obsession) and I crocheted on our 18 year old’s afghan.

FRIDAY

There were storms overnight and it was only in the 50’s when I walked Winston this morning. However, it will be up into the 80’s by the time we get where we are going for our daughter’s graduation!

I straightened my hair and put on my make up. I’ll change clothes at the hotel.

While I finished packing and loading up the van, our daughter sent a message she received from another interpreter who wants her to apply for a job near her college and she had already told the staff and administration there how much she wants our daughter on board as an interpreter! How exciting!

On our way, we ate at Chick-fil-A. I haven’t eaten at one in years! I had the grilled chicken salad and it was quite tasty! Funny thing was we had a bit of a leftover gift card that belonged to our 9 year old that we used to pay for part of the meal. Her big brother had given her the gift card years earlier as a present for her 5th birthday when the two of them had gone out to get chicken nuggets together!

We checked into the hotel only to find the pool was closed (something I had promised the girls we would do while there!) and the elevator was out! We were booked in a room on the 3rd floor but Ty’s mom is not very mobile. So, I begged the desk clerk to find me another room and thankfully she did! The people next to me even offered theirs if it was on the 1st floor (but it was also on the 3rd). There are still many wonderful people out there in this world!

We went to the convocation ceremony and then a reception for the honors students. It was lovely and I finally got to meet one of her favorite professors! He was so excited to finally meet us because he’s always wanted to meet the parents who raised such a phenomenal student. *blush*

The reception had so much food there was no need to feed anyone supper – I’ll call that a win! Megan came back to the hotel to chat with me until 11:30, and then I promptly fell asleep. Tomorrow is the big day! She’ll be a college graduate by noon!

NOTE: The ceremony and celebration were wonderful, and she’ll be moving back in with us while she calculates her next move!