Large Family Homeschool Life – Week 40 of 2021

Yay for October and all the lovely Autumn homeschool plans we have this week!

See all of the Large Family Homeschool Life posts HERE!

MONDAY

Nice and cold this morning, so the house was 62 and we all put on sweatshirts.

Micah made pancakes while I puttered around readying things for the day. I laid out school work and sewed up a pillowcase. After that, I dressed the baby girls and got the kids on their Morning Chores.

READ >> Simple Morning Chore Routine for Homeschool Families

This morning, I pulled out my Holiday Homeschool Planner and decided we’d do the Tastes of Fall activity from my Free Fall Family Traditions Bundle this week and the Apple Taste Test from my Apples and Cinnamon Unit Study.

Morning Time was GrapeVine Bible Study, Story of the World, and George Washington’s World.

We also did Morning Virtues Courage from Gentle + Classical Press, and did a lesson in State Songs from Music in Our Homeschool.

We did our Apple Taste Testing, and even Mercy participated!! I was so thrilled to see her trying new things!

After Morning Time, Mercy started her Kindergarten curriculum! She was so excited! She did Phonics, Math, and Handwriting.

Learn more about our Homeschool Kindergarten Curriculum!

We also had to do a paid book hunt for Aspen’s phonics book. It ended up being in her brother’s crate.

In the afternoon, I ran to the library to pick up 7 holds I had via inter-library loan. Then, I worked on a meal list, and then took a call from Blake. We ended up talking for a couple of hours, solving the world’s problems.

For dinner, the kids made French Bread pizza and cream corn. Ty and I took a 4 mile walk, and then had popcorn and watched Star Trek with the kids.

TUESDAY

Gave baby a bath early this morning because she didn’t get a night diaper on last night. Oops!

I made oatmeal for breakfast, and then cleaned up the house because the chores didn’t get done before bed.

Morning Time got interrupted by several trips to run Ty around while his truck was in the shop. But, I did manage to get a little bit in. We did GrapeVine, Colonies to Country, and Our Island Story.

We also worked on Tapestry of Grace maps, labeling rivers and harbors in the New World. We also read a bit in Tavern at the Ferry.

Aspen is reading about 2 pages a day in her Phonics book. That’s about all she can handle at one time, but I’m happy with her progress. These first books are always a bear to work through.

After lunch, I finished up my grocery list and Stock Up Meal List which consists of meals we can have that help to rotate our pantry. We are currently stocked with about 3 months worth of food.

I took Micah (12) with me to shop at Aldi. Groceries were about $350, which included out weekly list plus several stock up items.

READ >> ALDI Grocery List and Budget (from 2017)

For dinner, we had nachos because we needed to use up some avocados.

I took Melia night driving in Ty’s pickup. Then, I picked up our favorite iced tea bags and some ice cream for Garin’s Special Night. I also found some drinking jars like the ones we have at the mountain cabin, so I snagged those.

WEDNESDAY

The electrician with our home warranty company came by this morning to look at a couple of areas in the house. He fixed a couple of things and let us know what else needed to be done, so we could have a friend who is coming this weekend fix those things.

The leaves are certainly falling a lot lately, so I send them outside to do our annual “leaf catch” where they run around the yard trying to catch the leaves as they fall from the trees. It’s fun for me to see Micah at age 12 out there catching leaves because he was just a little tyke when we started this tradition!

Despite the leaves falling from the trees, it hasn’t been particularly chilly so far, and that has made it feel less like Autumn. I do hope we get some cooler temps soon!

As part of A Year of Playing Skillfully and Tapestry of Grace, we decided to learn about fire safety, mostly focusing on an exit strategy out of the house and burn safety. It just so happened that Ty was home for the morning and had *just* taught these same things in his college military science class the day before! So, he presented the information, and we all learned so much! It was so nice to have him do some of the homeschooling!

We ended up doing Morning Time in the afternoon after lunch with all the interruptions today. We did GrapeVine and then read in Trial & Triumph about George Whitefield and John Wesley.

We did Gentle + Classical Morning Virtues, and I used Music in Our Homeschool to offer a bit more about Beethoven (the composer featured in the morning time lessons). I have so many great resources at my fingertips, and it thrills me when I remember I have them!

We also read in Tavern at the Ferry and Catherine: The Great Journey.

I made Pumpkin Spice muffins with last year’s pumpkin from the pie pumpkins I roasted and froze. It was simply a spice cake mix and the pumpkin with a bit of water to get the right consistency. Yum!

I also cut up some zucchini and flash froze it, so we’ll have some during the winter months. While I was out in the garage messing around in the freezers, I rearranged the meat freezer to make room for some meat we are hopefully picking up on October 20.

Ty bought 3 Hereford heifers this past weekend to be bred soon. It will be nice to have our own meat eventually!

Dinner tonight was Family Style Chicken Pot Pie. It was so nice to pull this old family favorite back out. Ty said he could eat it 3 times a week for the rest of his life!

We also did our annual Pumpkin Hunt where we take turns hiding and hunting miniature pumpkins.

The big kids went to Youth Group, and on the way home, I enjoyed the gentle October rain. Perhaps this is the beginning of Autumn finally!

The littles asked if they could have a tent in the living room to sleep in tonight, and like a good mom, I said yes.

After they went to bed, I worked on getting an email out to my newsletter readers about our October homeschool plans. If you’d like to get my newsletters, you can sign up below:

THURSDAY

I ate oatmeal this morning while reading The Benedict Option.

Before school, I made a rheumatology appointment for Mercy, so we are established with her future care. Right now, she doesn’t seem to hurt, but I want to stay on top of it.

Morning Time was GrapeVine (I feel like a broken record!) and we learned about the French and Indian War in Tapestry of Grace. We also read in Tavern at the Ferry and Catherine.

I also did Tree Guide from The Peaceful Press and A Year of Playing Skillfully with the little girls. We did apple prints and moved wheat seed with tweezers. At first, it was hard for Mercy to do it, but she got the hang of it and got all the seeds into the bowl.

I ended up needing to work with several of the children on their individual school work today, so I could get a good gauge of how they are doing. I checked in on Micah’s Graphic Design class. He had made a word cloud that was really well done!

READ >> Graphic Design Class for Homeschoolers

Micah also did Spelling on the Reading Eggs app and both of the middle boys did piano lessons.

I pulled out the Fall clothes for the little girls and put away their summer clothes. It’s wishful thinking that our hot weather will be soon be over!

I also put out all of my Fall towels for the kitchen. I tuck these away each year in the laundry pantry, even though I’d love to have them out all year. But, I suppose they wouldn’t be as special if I kept them out all year long!

I took a walk while Melia (17) made Loaded Cauliflower Casserole and a salad. After dinner, I got everyone through baths because they played outside a bunch today.

During the evening hours, I worked through all of my emails, including sending our Compassion child her Christmas and Birthday money.

FRIDAY

This morning, we cleaned the house. I was gone 2 Fridays in a row, so it was in dire need of a reset – something the kids don’t do as well without me supervising and guiding.

That afternoon, our weekend company came! We have been friends with them for many, many years, and they often come up to help us with house projects and spend some lovely time of fellowship.

We ended up making a headboard from the barn wood from my dad’s shop, doing a lot of home projects, and discussing everything from homesteading to herbal remedies to parenting. Such a wonderful weekend!