Summer Notes: May 11th - May 22nd

The weekend was family time and Mother's Day. I spent time with my mother and sister on Saturday sans kids. It was a lot of fun talking and laughing together without interruptions. Sunday we had church and then spent the afternoon at home together.

Monday was full. Makayla went to investigate a job possibility in the morning while I went grocery shopping and errand running. When I got back Daddy worked on his college class until it was time for Oliver and Samuel's dental cleanings. He took them while I fed kids, mixed up the meatloaf for dinner and put it in the fridge, and did afternoon medical care with Mason for 75 minutes. By the end Daddy was back, got Rebekah down for a nap, and ran Joseph to the movie theater. We passed each other as Mason and I headed out for the big city to pick up his new glasses at Children's Hospital. Two and a half hours later, mostly spent driving, we were home and Daddy was again gone picking up Joseph from his movie. I put the meatloaf in the oven, turned on the Instant Pot full of potatoes that daddy had washed and prepped while I was gone, and kept the general pre-dinner activities moving along (chores, more chores, food prep). After dinner the kids made sure their bedrooms were clean and got pajamas on because Daddy's first day back to work was going to be Tuesday and he needed to get to bed at 6pm. That means the upstairs is off limits all evening. The girls headed out to walk a friend's dog, pick up Joseph's epi pens at the pharmacy, and do some shopping of their own. 8pm was the general bedtime and 9pm was lights out.

Tuesday we all survived Daddy's first day of work for 2019. He is not back to full pay, but anything is better than nothing. We missed him a lot and simply kept busy at home until he returned. There were games of war, checkers, and chess. We pulled the Little People collection out of the attic. I read aloud The Gold Bug by Edgar Allan Poe out of my old 1962 copyright ten volume Collier Junior Classics set. Joseph, Emma, and Daniel loved it. Kids had piano lessons (and some even ate little dried fish and other snacks from Japan our teacher shared). Makayla worked and then got her first semester's college schedule. Southern Virginia University schedules your first semester of classes for you. She's enrolled in a variety of classes including classic Western literature, general psychology, and servant-leadership. It's getting more real every week that she is leaving on a grand adventure.

Wednesday and Thursday I have no notes. I know that Wednesday was the last Cub Scout meeting of the school year. I'm ready for a break! Thursday was spent getting the house and family ready for my absence, and packing.

Friday morning Grandma arrived before 6:30am to take over the house and kid care. Jason was already at work (he had to be there before 4am) and Makayla and I climbed in the car and started driving. A seven-ish hour road trip later through a couple states, hills, mountains, and very winding roads we arrived in the tiny Virginia town of Buena Vista, home of Southern Virginia University. We had appointments with financial aid and academic advising, then a quiet evening exploring the nearby communities.

SVU Visit - Go Knights!

Saturday morning was the SVU Open House. We had so many questions answered, met important people and departments, she got to do a mini-class in Psychology (her declared major), then we had a solid tour of campus including the dorms she'll be in. It made everything feel very real. Now that we've seen everything in person, asked questions of both staff, current students, and past students, and felt the spirit on campus, we both know this is the right place for Makayla. It is a fantastic fit.

Sunday she and I climbed back in the car and drove home. It was a beautiful drive and ever so nice to be home again.

Monday was 'get all the things done' day, knowing that I would only have a vehicle that day. There were groceries to pick up, library books to return, library books to pick up, the final dentist appointment, and so on.

Tuesday Daddy was at work and the kids and I started off the day with breakfast and chores. They have not had assigned chores for a while. I simply ask for helpers as needed. Now that our two week total break for summer is over we are beginning to build routines in. This routine is fairly simple - in 30 minutes everyone is given 2 chores to tackle and the entire house ends up clean by the end of the 30 minutes. Yes, that is one perk of a large family, many hands truly make light work.

Wednesday the next routine was introduced: summer reading. My kids are split between solid readers (Oliver, Daniel, Emma, Joseph, Makayla), a solid reader who is finishing All About Reading level 4 because he wants to (Mason), readers still needing regular lessons (Caleb and Samuel), and non-readers (Tobias and Rebekah). This summer we decided to set a basic reading goal with a small incentive (something we don't use during the school year). I printed out a page with 20 black and white graphics (Pokeballs from Pokémon) for Joseph down through Tobias. Each day that they read at least 20 minutes, or have someone read to them, in Tobias' case, they color a ball. When the sheet is filled up they get a small frosty from Wendy's. Makayla elected not to participate as she is busy living her nearly adult summer. If a kid decides not to read I am 100% okay with that, natural consequences will follow. Most of my kids naturally read an hour each evening, plus their personal scripture study time.

It is Wednesday afternoon and I'm hitting publish on this post while I'm thinking about it!

2019: May 6-10

Monday began with a dentist appointment (cleaning for 1 child). The people at home spent the morning playing, drawing, and creating. Lunch and an afternoon appointment for daddy came next. We got our car back from the mechanic. At 4pm everyone headed outside to play in the backyard. We also released all 12 butterflies. The kids enjoyed watching as they flew around the yard and off to explore.

Tuesday we had another 4 dentist cleanings (and no cavities). That leaves two more children to have cleanings next week. Phew!

Wednesday I took no notes.

Thursday was stressful. Joseph and Mason had their soft cooked egg (scrambled) food challenge at the allergist. Mason passed, no reaction to eating eggs that we could see. Hooray.

BUT ---

Joseph had a very obvious negative reaction to eating the eggs. It took claratin, Benadryl, two rounds of Epinephrine, and an injected steroid to control his reaction. We spent 8 hours in the office before it was all done. Joseph is just fine now, we have more information than we had before, and we can definitively say he is still allergic to egg. He is cleared to continue eating egg baked in items (the temperature and time baking make bigger changes to the protein that his body is able to handle). But anything cooked on the stove top with egg is out (think: omlets, French toast, boiled eggs, mayo or anything with mayo like potato salad, ranch dressing, or pasta salad, fresh pasta, eggnog, etc).

Friday is finally here and I took some time this morning to put together this:

That is my beautiful homeschool graduate! It has been an amazing journey together and now I'm excited to watch her life unfold as she moves into adulthood.

For others whose children are homeschooling high school I wanted to share a neat Etsy store with some helpful items. The Plaid Polka Dots offers editable transcript templates that will calculate GPA for you. I am excited to use this throughout high school to keep records neat, clean, and organized for the rest of the kids!

They also offer custom diplomas for homeschool graduates. You have several options in font, text, and customizations. Then you can choose to have them print and mail you the diploma on a nice linen-textured paper or you can download the file and print the diploma yourself.

Friday continued... 
As I type this it is early afternoon. My children have been pestering one another all day. It is summer break, and we always start off with a total break. They are driving me and each other crazy!

After about two weeks of total break we start summer routines. In a family with this many kids there have to be routines or everyone goes crazy. It's the time of year when we brush up on or learn new chores. We set up daily routines that include no media mornings. We plan some out of the house activities like kids bowl free, trips to the zoo, and science museum adventures. The kids get two days of math practice a week and know that they need to grab a timer for summer reading and curl up with a book most days of the week. Some kids choose to learn typing and get to use Typing Instructor for Kids. All the kids set personal goals to learn new skills or practice old ones, and so do I.

I'm off to enjoy a leisurely afternoon of handing out chores for anyone who is pestering a sibling. Maybe I'll pull out a couple games and see if anyone wants to play, too.

Homeschool Notes: The End of the School Year

Saturday was a typical Saturday morning. The kids pulled the video game systems out of a box in the basement and brought them up to our tv for their once a week 30 minute turn. Makayla was working. Jason was doing college assignments. Joseph and I ran errands (post office and library) before going to Aldi for some fresh fruits and veggies.

In the afternoon my sister and I took off for our very first trip to IKEA. Recently a family from church passed a toddler bed frame down to us, but it was in need of a new mattress. It turns out this wasn't a toddler bed, it was a junior size bed at IKEA that has a special mattress size. This means Tobias will be able to use this bed for several more years. You may remember that our 7 sons share the master bedroom - with two triple bunk beds and Tobias' toddler mattress on the floor after his last frame broke because of #boys. Space is at a premium to preserve floor space for building with Legos. My sister and I were able to find the correct size mattress, sheets, and a waterproof cover for less than $90 total. We also realized that IKEA is a wonderful place to wander and gather ideas and plan to go back again.

Sunday was a sweet Sabbath day. Church was uplifting, with wonderful talks and lessons I needed to hear. We arrived home hungry and worked together to make tacos, cut fruit for fruit salad, and eat. There was some game playing in the afternoon: Checkers, Labyrinth, Dr. Microbe. Makayla got senior pictures taken by a sweet friend at church. I'll share some soon. After dinner several of the kids sat down to play Hero Kids together.

Monday began with quiet time for me at 6am (pretty normal, I just don't usually write it down) and then the usual morning line up. School is winding down SO quickly here. Kids are diving into the last of the lessons and books with gusto most of the time. I have not announced the official last day of school, they just all know we are close. (Psst… our last day is Friday! Can you hear my happy squeal?)

In the afternoon I went to see Avengers: Endgame with Emma. She had already gone Friday with Jason and a couple siblings and wanted to use her Christmas gift card to go see it again. She is my Marvel fan and she had spent the weekend talking all about the movie. I was perfectly content to wait to see the movie when it comes out on DVD. When she asked if I would go with her I couldn't say no. So we sat in a theater for 3.5 hours this afternoon. I laughed, had happy feels, and sad ones. I cried right alongside my girl as the movie unfolded. It was worth it to dive into this interest of hers.

Tuesday was my birthday. It was just a normal day with homeschool in the morning and 5 doctors appointments mostly in the afternoon. Jason had another checkup with his surgeon and is cleared to go back to work in two weeks. Hooray! We will miss having him home, but it will be good to have an income again.

Wednesday we told the kids our last day of school is this Friday. There was much cheering in the house. Now, let me be clear, we started our school year on August 13, 2018 - 38 weeks ago. In Ohio homeschoolers do not have a required number of days or weeks to homeschool. We have a guideline of 900 hours and that runs from the beginning of one academic year to the next. Because we homeschool, we have flexibility to accrue hours of learning on weekends, days off, holidays, vacations, and during the summer. While my kids are excited for 'summer vacation', they already know that after a couple weeks off in May they will each choose personal goals for the summer. They will be required to practice math 2 days a week and read at least 3 days a week. The goal is simply to maintain skills and enjoy stories.

Makayla decided to do all the rest of the week's lessons today since she is off work. She is officially finished homeschooling and it has been one long, amazing journey. I'm grateful for every day of it!

Thursday Daddy held down the home and family while Mason and I spent 5.5 hours on a check up with his eye surgeon. Mason had double eye surgery 3 years ago and everything is stable. Hooray! He ordered new glasses.

Friday was the last day of our school year. We snuggled up and read. There was science to talk about with the middle schoolers. The elementary group's first two butterflies hatched. People worked on stories they are writing. It was a good day.

It is now Saturday morning. I will start going through portfolios with each child today individually. We will reminisce over the school year together and see their progress. I will write down notes about what they loved and what they didn't. I will ask for ideas of things they want to learn about next year, or different ways they want to learn. Then we will pack away their books. These portfolios will be evaluated by an Ohio licensed teacher according to Ohio's homeschool laws. It is the last step before the school year is truly 'over'.