2018-2019 Homeschool Week 16: Van Trouble and A Good Week

Mason  and Caleb building towers together

with the Citi Blocs. These two are only 13 months apart and 

lately they have been playing together more. It is sweet to see.

Monday Notes:
The first day back to school after Thanksgiving break went well, despite having appointments and other things on the calendar. The kids were all up and doing school pretty early. They wrote their own schedules out for the week and I sat down at the table to do a lot of math lessons. In between I would give spelling lists, help with little kid lessons, and encourage kids to talk less and work more.

At 8am Jason headed to the dentist to get a filling fixed that fell out last week. He dropped off paperwork at the surgeon's office and got home at 10am. In those two hours the kids and I got done all the subjects they needed my help with. Then Mason and I were out the door to get his dental work done while Daddy held down the fort and handled homeschool questions. By the time I was home again everyone was done with their work.

At lunch time I took four kids on a date. Makayla, Joseph, Emma, Oliver, and I went to see Fantastic Beasts 2: The Crimes of Grindelwald. We liked and hated it. It's a great dip into the Harry Potter universe but there were heart squeezing parts and unresolved things because there will be 3 more movies in the series. We will spend the next few days discussing bits and pieces, make theories about what is going to happen next, and just relive the movie.

Tobias is very 3 year old right now. He is opinionated,

sweet, and sassy by turns. He loves being right in the 

middle of things.

We got back at snack time. There were a couple loads of laundry to sort and put away. I think laundry is the worst when we are in the cold winter months because jeans take up so much space in the wash! Clothing for 12 people for just one day is more than 1 load of laundry.

Samuel having fun smiling for the camera.

It was soup night for dinner. Then we had a fun Family Home Evening with 'hink pinks' and learning about some of the women leaders in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Wait, you don't know what a hink pink is? Let me give you a few examples:

• What is an after dinner treat alarm?  Dessert Alert.
• What is a squash magician? Zucchini Houdini

You can find free hink pinks online, but we pulled ours from the November issue of The Friend Magazine. (Also free online)

After Family Home Evening I spent an hour in my bedroom wrapping gifts. We've finished all our Christmas shopping. We do 98% of it online so as packages arrive my goal is to check them off my list and wrap them. 

Emma working on science and 

waiting for me and my camera to 

go away.

Tuesday Notes:
We woke to a snowy day with tiny flurries swirling around. Kids woke on their own schedules and ate breakfast. Makayla and I did some Latin translation early. I remembered to charge my camera battery so I took a few pictures of kids randomly. Around homeschool lessons I baked four dozen muffins so that we would have a yummy lunch. I also wrapped a few more gifts. Caleb asked two of his brothers to speak at his baptism this Saturday. He was so excited when they agreed. One will speak about baptism and the covenants we make with our Heavenly Father and the other will speak about confirmation and the gift of the Holy Ghost.

In the early afternoon I spent a bit of time creating some peg dolls. I got the following peg dolls done today:

• Little Red Riding Hood
• The Wolf
• Grandmother
• The Woodcutter
• Three Little Pigs
• The Big Bad Wolf

Rebekah is walking! She is 9 months old and 

lights up a  room with her smile.

Wednesday Notes:
Chaos. After school I drove Makayla to work so I could take Emma to the orthodontist. Joseph babysat for part of that and then my sister and nieces dropped in for the rest. It was a good thing, because when Emma and I left the parking lot of the orthodontist our van died in the middle of a 5 lane road (2 lanes of traffic going one way, 2 lanes going the other, and the shared turn lane in the middle which is where I guided the van to when it died). We called grandpa and roadside assistance. Got the van towed to the mechanic and us dropped off at home. The plan was to have my sister pick Makayla up from work later as Jason wouldn't be home. Then the mechanic called. After pushing the van into their garage it started just fine. Nothing is wrong with it that they can find. My mom and her husband ran to the mechanic to pick up the van for me before they closed. They dropped it off about 5 minutes after Makayla texted me to come pick her up, so I did that. Now I worry every time my teen driver takes the van somewhere that it will die when she is the one behind the wheel.

Makayla is so busy! Between school, working, 

church activities, writing a novel, pet care

for her reptiles, and life in general

she's on the go and busy!

In the evening while the oldest three kids went to activities the rest of the kids made slime.

Joseph caught at the table doing some school work while snuggled under a blanket.

Perks of homeschooling for sure!

Thursday Notes:
Beautiful falling snow accompanied our morning of school work. We had no grumpy children, and no grumpy mommy. The afternoon was pretty relaxed. In the evening I wrapped the last Christmas present. This is the first time I can think of where I have no wrapping to do in December.

Daniel looking serious. 

Friday Notes:
The check engine light came on in the van so we decided to get it checked out again. Unfortunately by the end of the workday the mechanic still hadn't gotten to our van, so we now have just 1 car that doesn't fit our family in it and 12 people needing to be at the church tomorrow for Caleb's baptism, and back at church on Sunday of course. We're going to drive some of the family to o the church and then have one adult drive home to pick up the rest of the family and come back to the church. We'll repeat that in reverse to get everyone home. LOL! Joseph and Daniel also wrote their talks for at Caleb's baptismal service.

Oliver waiting patiently with his box of

Pokémon cards for a sibling to be

available to play a game.

We decided it was a perfect evening to watch a Christmas show and found Bah Hum Duck on Hulu. It is a retelling of Dicken's A Christmas Carol with the Looney Toons. We've read A Christmas Carol before and the kids like Looney Toons, so it was a hit!

Caleb is so excited to be baptized!

Scripture Reading Update: 
I'm in Third Nephi chapter 22 in The Book of Mormon and still journaling in a notebook about every chapter. It has been an amazing way to read and study this time!

I was hoping to get an  updated header made for the blog but it just didn't happen this week. I sprinkled pictures of all the kids throughout this post, for those who have been asking for pictures!

2018-2019 Homeschool Week 14 and 15

Saturday the 10th was date day at the temple with my husband. I love the peace I feel there. Being able to enjoy a long drive there and back talking with just my husband is another big perk. No kids to interrupt us!

Sometimes it is the little things that make a homeschool week special. For my kids in week 14 that was waking up Monday to the announcement that there would be no math this week. I really didn't want to take a complete school break this week, so dropping everyone's least favorite subject was the next best choice. Everything else went on as usual. Makayla spent the week writing a bunch of college essays for applications while also keeping up on her NaNoWriMo project (National Novel Writing Month).

We had our first winter storm on Thursday. Overnight everything was coated in 1/4" of ice. Then it rained for 8 hours or so. In the evening the rain switched over to snow, but didn't really do more than a dusting.

Friday there was much celebrating because once school was done for the day we were on Thanksgiving break. Week 15 was an entire week off! The weekend was a blur of family time and church. The week had more dentist appointments, finishing two college applications for Makayla, helping friends who are moving clean their new house, decorating with friends for a wedding reception, making turkey artwork with the several of the kids, cooking and hosting Thanksgiving, going to see the courthouse lights turned on for Christmas, visiting Makayla's work for treats at the lighting, and attending a wedding reception (and getting to be cleanup help after).

Painted paper gratitude feathers

made into a turkey

Somewhere in there I was supposed to print and prep things for the next 6 weeks of school. My printer decided to spend it's Thanksgiving break not speaking to my computer, so printing didn't happen until Sunday evening, but it did happen.

Rebekah also decided this week to start walking 4-5 steps at a time. She may only be 9 months old but she is in a hurry to master some of these milestones. I don't have a good picture of that because I'm trying to just enjoy every moment! I will see if I can remember to pull out my camera this week to snap some pictures of her walking.

2018-2019 Homeschool Week 13

Another week has flown past! Sunday we celebrated November family birthdays. Monday we had 7 dental appointments, ran errands, and were on the go most of the day.

Tuesday Tobias turned 3 years old. He's such a sweet, spunky, fun little man. He talks more than Samuel did at this age but has a long way to go still. He likes dinosaurs, Paw Patrol, and PJ Masks. He giggles, runs, hides, and chases. He is a pretty non-picky eater and will try almost everything. He loves salsa and hummus and anything you can dip in those.

Rebekah turned 9 months old on the same day. Her second  tooth came in this week. She cruises the furniture all the time and will let go and stand there for a few seconds before grabbing on again. She is generally happy and has favorites among her siblings depending on the day.

School on Tuesday was an exercise in patience. It felt like dragging certain children through the morning. I can tell it is time for a solid break soon. We are going to take the week of Thanksgiving off, which leaves us this week and next to get through.

Wednesday was a much smoother day. People trekked right through their work in a cheery mood. There was reading and history and math and all the usual subjects with no grumps. The evening had our usual church youth activities and Cub Scouts.

Thursday one grump surfaced. It is just a fact of life in a large family - there are so many personalities and so many feelings swirling around. Rarely will we go through an entire day without someone being out of sorts for a bit, and that is okay.

My husband and I had a budget update meeting together in the evening. It isn't the most exciting thing to do together but I love that we stay on the same page with our money.

Related to that, we also got my husband's official surgery dates. Yes, plural. He will be having knee surgery January 2nd and shoulder surgery January 30th. The surgeon expects him to be off work for 4 months. For one-third of the year we will have no income. That is a very overwhelming idea for a family of 12. It isn't the best news in the world, but we are doing all we can to prepare for this adventure. For most of that 4 months he won't be able to lift the little kids, including all the lifting we do multiple times a day with Mason. It limits a lot of things, like me taking a short term job while he is off work, because he won't be able to take care of the kids. We are looking on the bright side and plan to enjoy the extra family time this winter with Daddy home!

It is Friday afternoon as I type this. One child is practicing piano, three are playing Legos, two are drawing, one is at work, one is cruising the furniture, and two are discussing a favorite show. Dinner is in the crock pot and it is time to hit publish on this post. I'm going to turn on some Christmas music and gather some helpers to put away the laundry.

Happy November everyone!

2018-2019 Homeschool Weeks 10, 11, 12

Three weeks have passed since I last checked in here and it is all a bit of a blur. We started with a trip to the Ohio Renaissance Festival. It is always a fun adventure with lots of people in costume, a live joust, acrobatics, sword fighting shows, a village, shops, and games. The kids all had spending money and came home with a variety of items from handmade leather notebooks to wooden swords and shields. We have had a host of bruises, bumps, and bandages since!

The blur comes because in 3 weeks we managed to have TWENTY doctors appointments. We have at least seven more appointments next week.

We did all our school work, the house was relatively tidy, and everyone was fed each day. It is hard to imagine but we are done with 3 months of school work already. We have had a few adjustments here and there, but overall we are still using the curriculum we started the year with. I absolutely love The Good and the Beautiful Language Arts and History. From my perspective the Language Arts is much more streamlined in hitting all the different things we want without hopping between different curricula for writing, literature, grammar, etc. The History is a great mix of reading, audio stories, notebooking, activities, and research. I like that there are extensions for different grade levels in the notebooks to take things deeper but that we can still have a group lesson for topics. We have also learned a few interesting things, like the fact that Makayla does much better with Trigonometry than she did with Algebra 2, that Emma loves writing and hates writing assignments, and that noise cancelling headphones like you would wear at a gun range are a great tool for Daniel when it's time for school.

The biggest event in  the last three weeks for us was that Joseph passed his baked egg food challenge at the allergist. After 13 years of a total egg ban in our home we are now introducing eggs into our family's diet in a limited way. Joseph and Mason both have passed the baked egg challenge so they need to eat something with eggs in it at least 3 days per week for the next 6 months. Baked egg means some foods are still restricted: eggs cooked on the stove top like scrambled eggs, omlets, French toast, pancakes, waffles, ranch dressing, mayonnaise, fresh pasta, etc. Most everything else is fair game. So far we have tried doughnuts, meatloaf, snickers and milky way candy bars, corn dogs, and Hawaiian rolls. Cookies is next. In six months Joseph and Mason will each be eligible to try a soft cooked egg food challenge at the allergist's office.

I panic every time we eat something new, checking frequently that each child is not having a reaction over the 3 hours following consumption. I think after everyone has eaten a food item once and survived I won't worry about that food item the next time. It is going to take a while to get there.

Happy November everyone!