Large Family Homeschool Life – Week 45 of 2021

A slow and steady week with warmer Autumn temperatures, a crafty online conference, and lots of Thanksgiving activities in our homeschool!

See all of the Large Family Homeschool Life posts HERE!

MONDAY

Beautiful morning! Made the bed and got out some essential oils (we use Plant Therapy) for some smell therapy for the boys and Ty. We all had Covid back in July, and they never got their full taste and smell back, so we are trying some smell therapy with them. Our oldest daughter tried this early on, and quickly recovered her sense of smell, but I recovered mine without any issues or smell therapy, so I have no idea if this is going to work, but it’s worth a try!

I did my daily devotional. I use a combination of Jesus, Fill My Heart & Home and Living the Christian Year.

I also watched a couple of the videos from an online conference called A Cozy Gathering. I didn’t buy the lifetime access because there weren’t enough of the videos I thought I would want, but I’m going to try to watch as many as I can. It’s my slow down and relax time this week.

For Morning Time, we read in Philippians 2. One of the verses we read we had talked about in church yesterday. It’s always neat when that happens!

We did a pumpkin paper craft:

Then, we read Fry Bread and started a recipe of fry bread from the book.

Our desktop computer wasn’t working properly, so I worked on it and ended up calling Blake (23) who is much better with Windows based computers than I am. I finally got it updating, so hopefully that’s all it needs, but it couldn’t be used during school time.

For lunch, I had leftover pizza, and then I made some orange jello. We’ll have it tonight or tomorrow.

The people at All American Pressure Canners called me to verify my address so they can send me my BRAND NEW pressure canner! I am sooooo excited! I am going through the pressure canner class from Homesteading Family, and hope to put up several soups and eventually some meat. This is the canner I bought:

This afternoon, Ty’s mom left after staying a little over a week, and I took the little boys to the dentist for a cleaning. They are did great and no one had cavities. Their dentist’s office is really fantastic too! They get to watch cartoons while the hygienists work, and at the end, they get tokens to buy little trinkets when they leave. The office tries their very best to keep the kids comfortable and they don’t bill you for some things insurance won’t pay for. I love that there are still medical offices like this!

When I got home, I worked on the fry bread some more and sent the kids outside to play. Then, I cleaned the kitchen. Our dishwasher isn’t working properly, and after trying one last thing to make it work, I caved and called the warranty company.

Ty and I went to Aldi and spent around $315 in groceries. I was completely out of a few things, including cheese, so my cart was quite full.

That evening, we ate fry bread with honey and I watched more of the Cozy Gathering Conference and the Canning videos from the Homesteading Family Membership.

I started feeling a bit sickish – a tickle in my throat – so I made myself some Gypsy Cold Care tea and put myself to bed.

TUESDAY

I had a sore throat all through the night. It was difficult to sleep. I had my 15 year old make me some Throat Coat tea and I drank it in bed. Then, I got up to see if I could manage a normal day. I only made it to my chair in the living room before I needed to take a break.

Micah (12) gave me a neck rub and Aspen (6) brushed my hair while I sat in my chair for a while, listening to calm music. After Ty left to teach his class, I decided I could do one thing for Morning Time – the Pilgrim Walk. So, I taped all the papers up around the house and let the kids take the “walk.”

You can get a copy of our Pilgrim Walk below:

After that, I had the kids do individual school work. The girls were done within 20 minutes and I went upstairs to wash my hair and take a rest. I started watching Day 2 of the Cozy Gathering Conference and several of the kids came upstairs to hang out with me.

I decided to sit outside for a while and enjoy the lovely temps. This is something I almost always do when I am sick. I just feel better if I’m outside, letting the breeze blow over me.

The kids went outside and played a game they had made up. I love it when they find something they can all play together!

Keian (15) made grilled cheese and marinara sauce and a Caesar salad. After dinner, Ty and I took Aspen out to get her Special Night food and some extras we didn’t get last night on our grocery shopping trip.

While we spent the evening with Aspen, I also did a couple of things online, including purchasing this herb stripping tool from Herbal Academy.

I grow my own herbs every year (this year they didn’t do so well!) and I fell in love with this tool! I also decided after watching the Cozy Gathering videos that I wanted to start being more intentional about decorating with items we use, and I thought this wooden tool would be a great addition to my kitchen decor!

WEDNESDAY

It’s a grey flannel kind of day. There is rain forecasted for later today and then the weather will turn colder.

I tidied my desk because I can stand it no more! It has been a mess for quite some time and I finally got the gumption to fix it! And of course, it took no time at all – I just had to actually do it.

The kids had leftover doughnuts from Aspen’s Special Night last night. I had oatmeal.

For Morning Time, we finished Philippians 2, and then we made a Thankful Banner from The Peaceful Press Autumn Guide.

We also did the “Dancing Corn” experiment from Autumn Guide that the kids really enjoyed, and a free Thanksgiving music lesson from Music in Our Homeschool.

Then we used the resources from TalkBox.mom to learn a German phrase together as a family. We got a free lesson to try out because I really liked the philosophy they have about learning a foreign language. They teach it the way we learn English – immersion with every day phrases and no judgement on how you pronounce it with the expectation you’ll get it eventually. I’m really impressed, and think we might end up adding this to our Morning Time lessons!

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To finish off Morning Time, I read from our read-aloud – Children of the Longhouse.

READ >> How to Choose Read Alouds Everyone Will Love!

LISTEN >> How to Make Read Aloud Time More Peaceful

The little girls zoomed through their lessons, and then I moved on to help Creed (8) with some of his work and checked on Micah’s Graphic Design lessons.

READ >> Graphic Design for Homeschoolers

In the afternoon, I took the kids to work at the bee farm. I enjoyed the lovely Fall drive; however, there were lots of dead deer on the roadside. We are definitely coming into the season of deer that don’t make smart choices because they are in rut.

When I got home, I played trains with the little kids, and then went upstairs to record a podcast on the topic of adding kids into the cooking schedule rotation.

For dinner, I made stuffing, baked beans, and little smokies using sandhill plum jelly and mustard as the sauce. I had some sandhill plum jelly that I couldn’t strain the froth off of and I had to can it with all those bubbles in it. I knew I couldn’t give it away as a gift like that, and there’s only so much we could use ourselves, so I decided I’d use what I could for BBQ sauce. When jelly has that many air bubbles in it, it goes bad sooner, so any little thing I can use it for will help us use it up!

We also had some egg nog because we deemed this a party night since Clifford the movie was coming out on Paramount+ today and we had decided to watch it as a family in the evening. It turned out to be a super cute film!

THURSDAY

A cold front came through with the storm last night, so I awoke to a chilly wind blowing through my wind chimes.

The boys have taken over the dining room table with their board game. And then there are Mercy’s blocks and Paw Patrols she plays with on the table. I decided to let it slide until tomorrow’s clean.

Mercy wanted runny eggs for breakfast, and the boys tried grits for the first time. Garin (11) liked them, but Micah (12) did not. They also had some vanilla chai I picked up a while back at our local tea shop.

Before school, I talked to Blake (23). He’s doing well with his new IT job, and the wedding plans are coming along. Here’s a photo from their engagement shoot last week…

For school, we read Philippians 3 and then I read Gracias, Thanks. I can’t remember which curriculum this book was suggested in, but I did not enjoy the book. It was just a bit odd, but the kids were impressed I can pronounce Spanish words and kind of understand them.

We did a Veteran’s Day music lesson from Music Lessons for Holiday and Special Days. We also did a bit more of the Thanksgiving Music lessons. Then, we started the Thanksgiving online unit study from Techie Homeschool Mom. I streamed the lesson onto the Apple TV so it would be easier for everyone to see and participate.

Then, we did a watercolor pumpkin from Lily & Thistle. I decided to have the kids paint the templates instead of tracing them and then erasing the pencil marks in order to help them get used to watercolors.

When we were done painting, we finished reading Children of the Longhouse.

I decided I need to get my working pantry in order. I have a decent stock in the lauder, but I keep forgetting to bring items upstairs and put them in the pantry in my kitchen. I also wanted to see what we need to use up. So, I worked on that most of the afternoon bringing up items from the lauder to our upstairs pantry. I also looked over our Thanksgiving menu (one of the pages in my Thanksgiving Holiday Homeschool Planner).

We are having several of our Thanksgiving gatherings early and then a traditional one on Thanksgiving Day. I need to make sure I have everything for these meals.

I recorded a video on homeschool gaps. My 15 year old son says he’ll edit it for me! Yay!

For dinner, Melia made chicken salad and boiled red potatoes, and I made a sweet bread from a friend’s recipe. It all turned out delicious!

Then, I ran to Walmart to exchange too small snow boots for 2 of the boys and get Creed some new jeans.

Keian and I took a short, very cold walk around the neighborhood. Then, the little kids and I watched Where the Gnomes Live YouTube channel. She does treehouse craft projects out of boxes, aluminum foil, masking tape, and paper towels! They are super neat!

I ended up falling asleep with all the kiddos snuggled against me. I slept the whole night through!

FRIDAY

Ty left early this morning for a weekend hunt. He took Kip too. It is quite chilly and there are a few flurries flying!

We tidied and cleaned the house, all of which got done right before the dishwasher repairman arrived. He wasn’t entirely sure what is wrong with the dishwasher, but he’s going to replace 3 different things, and he says Bosch has been pretty good about parts showing up, so we should be up and running in 3-5 days. Until then, we’ll all take turns washing the dishes each day.

The kids made ramen for lunch, and then I took the big kids to work. When I got home, I looked over The Character of Thanksgiving devotional. It looks great! I think I’ll use it as our devotional and some of our activities for school the next 2 weeks!

The book takes 12 of the pilgrims and expounds on character traits they embody. It includes an art study, art projects, hymns, devotionals, and more! LEARN MORE HERE!

After that, I watched an episode of Magnolia Table on Discovery+. I love how Joanna Gaines cooks like I do! Chill and messy and simple!

Then, I started bread for bierocks tonight and Garin (11) helped me make homemade egg nog from this recipe:

Homemade Egg Nog
4 eggs
4 cups of milk
1/4 cup sugar
cinnamon & nutmeg
Heat to 160 and store in the refrigerator.

That evening, Melia (17) and I watched a mystery series on BritBox. She and I have been looking for something to watch together that I haven’t already seen, and I think we’ve found it!