Friday Mash Up: Labor Day, Storage Solutions, King Arthur, and more

For a holiday week this was particularly all over the place. Monday was Labor Day and we didn't have school. We did tackle a list of projects.  We spent time in the attic finding jackets and coats because we're antsy for fall to arrive. There was a grocery shopping trip (2 stores, 3 carts). I sorted clothing from closets into the attic tubs that are organized by size because next weekend it's time to figure out what fall and winter clothes we need for each kid this year. Meals were cooked, kids played, and I did 97,000 dishes by hand because our dishwasher that was 'fixed' last week isn't fixed. A new part has been ordered by the repair company.

We even got bedding changed on 10 beds and the removed bedding laundered. The laundered set of bedding for all 10 beds fits perfectly in my Large Utility Tote - let me know if you want more details on how to get one for just $10 this month! The next time we change bedding it will be so easy having everything in this one bag. I also got our daily medications together into the All-In Organizer. Do you have any idea how many daily medications a family of 11 has? Between vitamins, prescriptions, and inhalers we have tons. Before putting them in this Thirty-One Gifts bag they would fall out of the cabinet every day as people dug around looking for the ones they needed. Now we can just set the bag on the counter and grab out what we need. Did you know I'm an Independent Thirty-One Consultant? Yep, I love that their products are pretty and functional at the same time. You can click here to visit my website and browse the many fun and helpful products there. 

Tuesday was a regular old homeschool day - my favorite! Morning basket had us doing our 3rd civics lesson. This was about different types of government and was helped along by a dose of M&Ms to explain how different rulers or governments could handle the law making. Our laws all related to M&M access. Then 3 kids had to choose new literature books because they had finished theirs. Makayla is now reading One Second After, Joseph chose Ranger's Apprentice book 1, and Emma is trying How to Train Your Dragon. We had new math lessons today. This year we're trying something different and watching the dvd lessons together instead of just having mom teach the lesson. Then we work together on their first practice page.

Wednesday was our biweekly art class. So much fun! I blogged about it HERE. We also did some basic school afterward (history and math). History for the younger group (6th grade and under) is a new book, as we finished Beowulf last week. We're reading Roger Lancelyn Green's King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. It's good!

Thursday was another out of the usual day. I had a dentist appointment in the morning to fix a filling that had chipped. We did school before and after my appointment. Makayla is sick and so she napped a lot of the afternoon away. That meant she and I were sitting on her bed at 7pm laughing over her first draft of an opinion essay - much later than school usually happens at our house. She's writing her opinion about whether teens should have credit cards or not.

Friday we got moving bright and early on school work because grandma will be coming over for lunch today. Kids did math tests, literature, scripture study, biology, etc. Makayla and I had a writing conference. I read history aloud while the 6th grade and under crowd drew and notebooked about King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table so far. Our family movie today is The Sword in the Stone because they want to compare it to that portion of the book we read and find differences.

What We're Reading:

• King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table
• The Vintage Wren
• The One and Only Ivan
• One Second After
• Ranger's Apprentice
• How to Train Your Dragon
• 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
• The Medieval World
• Various Harry Potter books (2, 4, 5)

That's it for us this week! So far we're off to a great homeschool year.  How is your September going?

This post is linked to the Weekly Wrap Up.