Large Family Homeschool Life – Week 31 of 2024

Hot Summer days call for ice cream socials and game nights and hanging out with family!

Read all of the Large Family Homeschool Life posts!

MONDAY

What a difference a week can make! Last week, the weather was unseasonably cool and we were able to turn on the attic fan and keep the windows open overnight. Today, there is an excessive heat warning with heat indices well over 100!

At 7:30 (before it got too hot), I walked the dog and ate breakfast on the deck, but chose to come inside to drink my coffee!

After that, I washed my hair and worked on a plan for today. Currently, I am using a notebook to plan each day. At the end of the year, I will move to using my 2025 Homemaker’s Friend Planner.

The kids have colds, so I want to give them a calm Monday.

For Morning Time, we did Tapestry of Grace. We finished reading in Judges and started our PictureSmart Bible Judges. Then, we did a lesson in Hebrew from Exploring Hebrew.

After Morning Time, I helped the little girls with their Math and Phonics. Then, we made lunch and watched Olympic fencing with my oldest daughter who did fencing in college. She explained it all to us while we watched.

Then, she and I drove to our local military installation because she needed to deposit her barista tip money in the bank a before heading back to college. She also wanted to look at some running shoes. She didn’t find any she liked, but I ended up finding some things on clearance for my 9 year old.

Back home, I brewed a cup of coffee and wrote the church newsletter. I also researched paddle boards. I asked our little paddle boarding group for recommendations too. Then, I headed out to my MilWife Bible study group. We had a great meeting!

TUESDAY

We are keeping the blinds closed while this heat wave is over us. Thankfully, we have a lot of trees to help shade the house too. I put the dogs out back and walked 1.5 miles and then showered and sat down to plan out my day. My 11 year old came in and snagged my laptop to start his Math before everyone else got up.

When I got back from Weight Watchers, we did Garden School for Morning Time. We read about ladybugs and started our next read-aloud, Little Town on the Prairie.

I helped the little girls with their school work and ate some lunch, then ran to Walmart to grab a few things, including root beer and chocolate sauce for the Ice Cream Social tomorrow night.

Then, I went paddle boarding with a group of ladies from church. It was beautiful on the water despite the extreme heat warning. On the way home, I mentioned that I was sad my 23 year old didn’t get to go paddle boarding before heading back to school. My friend piped up and said, “What are you doing tomorrow morning?! Let’s take her out!” So, we made a plan!

WEDNESDAY

My 23 year old and I got up early to go paddle boarding. I managed to get some coffee in me first. The water was quite choppy, so my friend tethered Megan to her board until we got to the cove where it was calmer. We paddled for 2 hours before heading home.

I made myself some lunch and then did Morning Time with the kids. Since I was so tired, we just read in the Garden related books from A Simple Summer.

We also read in Little Town on the Prairie.

I was tired from getting only 5 hours of sleep and then paddle boarding, so I grabbed a quilt and a book and curled up in my chair upstairs and promptly fell asleep for an hour.

When I woke up, I only had a couple of hours before I needed to head to our church office to set up for the Ice Cream Social and Game Night. I realized I should NOT paddle board in the morning unless I have nothing else to do the rest of the day! This is the whole reason I try to avoid setting appointments for the morning hours – it sets me back all day long.

My 19 year old made brownies for tonight, while I gathered everything I needed to set up. Then, I sat down to work on an email for my blog. I’m doing something new starting this month with my newsletter and I’m excited out it! I have a large family homemaking email and also a homeschooling email that are specific to the current month. If you aren’t a subscriber, you should definitely join!

I took my 13 and 15 year old boys to help me set up tables, chairs, and several other things for the Ice Cream Social. Then, I ran home and finished the newsletter, fed the kids supper, and we all headed back to church.

We had a wonderful time playing games and eating ice cream! We got home around 9:30 after cleaning up. I got the kids to bed and then watched a show with the older girls.

THURSDAY

A major storm blew through last night so this morning was beautiful! I took the dog for a walk, but when I got home, my daughter-in-law’s mom was in the driveway with our little grandbaby because my daughter-in-law (who has been staying with her mom) was very sick and contracting and needed to go to the hospital. So, I took baby and headed inside to get him some breakfast. He put his little arms out to me to pick him up and that melted me to slushy puddles!

Auntie Aspen (my 9 year old) helped me take care of him. She loves to take care of babies, so she was a huge help! My 19 year old also wanted to spend some time with him before she had to head to work, so I let her take him while I did school with the kids.

For Morning Time, we worked on our Judges PictureSmart Bibles. Then, we did an AgriScience lesson and finished with a Hebrew lesson.

After Morning Time, I fed baby lunch and rocked him a bit while he dozed off. I didn’t want him to sleep too much because I knew his mama would be quite tired when she got back and would need him to sleep so she could too. She was doing much better (and the new baby who isn’t set to arrive until December was doing great as well), so she picked him up and went back to her mom’s to rest. She’ll need all the rest she can get because tomorrow she moves into her new place!

The kids finished their independent school work, got lunch, and then played a game they call Lego Town. For years now, they have been creating and playing with Legos they have turned into various businesses where they buy and sell things to each other. There is someone who is mayor, and they work together to make different places to eat, play, and shop!

Here’s a tree-lined waterfall they made for the cats in their town. It’s a little difficult to see in the photo, but it was pretty amazing in person! See if you can find the cats enjoying the park!

I spent the afternoon working on a menu and grocery list for the weekend. My 26 year old and his wife are coming for this weekend and next weekend we have more company coming, so rather than overwork myself by doing a full grocery shop, I’m only going to get this weekend’s food and then I’ll shop again next week.

While I was taking inventory to make my grocery list, I realized I desperately need to start working through ingredients in the freezers and pantry. I don’t have time to do that this week or next, but perhaps after that, the 19 year old and I can work on it together.

My 23 year old went to get fingerprinted again (for her job) and then out to ice cream with a friend. When she got back, we went to Aldi and spent $135 on groceries for the weekend.

Back home, I made egg rolls in a bowl for myself and the kids had chicken nuggets for Mercy’s Special Night. I bought some sports shaped chicken nuggets at Aldi. Notice how they look nothing like any sports you’ve ever played!?!

Our neighbors brought over some tomatoes and beans from their garden! I love homegrown tomatoes, and the kids are excited to air fry the green beans! I also ran my different basils through the air fryer/dehydrator. I have Thai Basil, Cinnamon Basil, and Holy Basil. Oh, how I love basil!

Mercy asked for an essential oil rub to end her Special Night, so of course, I gave her one before sending her off to bed. Once all the little kids were settled in for the night, I helped the 23 year old write an appeal to financial aid for one of her master’s level courses that they are wanting her to pay for despite her having a job as a Grad Assistant. Hopefully it works out. (note: It didn’t. They said she is responsible for paying for the class because he GA job hadn’t started yet – BOO!)

FRIDAY

The boys got up early to mow in the cool of the day and I took Winston on his walk. Ty and I chatted while I made breakfast and then I got started tidying up a bit. I also did the boys’ Table Chores for them since they are mowing on cleaning day, which means extra work for them.

Once Home Blessing was complete, we all rested during the afternoon hours since we are going to have a fun-filled weekend with big brother! I once again took a nap after reading for a bit in my book, The Lost Bookshop.

That evening, I met my son and his wife at one of his favorite restaurants in the city and we closed the place down! When we got home, the kids were setting up to “pull an all-nighter.” A couple of weeks ago, they asked if they could try to stay up all night and play video games together to help them stay awake. Ty and I decided that would be fun for them! Some of the adults even made it to 3am! (Some didn’t make it past 9pm!)

It was a wonderful weekend!