Notes for January 25th - 31st

I love seeing my kids reading

together. Rebekah loves this 'puppy book' and

wants it read often. Samuel read it to her 

Tuesday when she asked.

Saturday got its very own post right here, because it was Mason's baptism day! After a lovely service in the morning we had doughnuts for lunch and spent the rest of the day as a family. We cleaned, organized, played games, and watched the movie Inside Out together.

Sunday was our first day back to church in what felt like ages. Illness just wipes out large chunks of winter church attendance with 11 people to take turns getting sick. It was wonderful to be back at church, listening to talks, singing hymns, and learning about Jesus together. Once we got home we had hamburgers from the crock pot for lunch and studied the scriptures together.

I took some of the spooky playdough kit toys 

and put them in this sensory bin with rice. 

The kids loved it.

Monday the kids groaned to see a 5 day school week, until they realized we had been putting 5 days of work into 4 for the last several weeks. Now that work spaces out just a bit and they appreciate it. Math started the day because most of the kids just want to get it over with first. Biology included a great discussion of Rh factor during Joseph and Emma's continued study of genetics and how it impacted my pregnancies. The younger science group finished their read aloud about forest fires/firefighting and illustrated notebook entries about what they learned. Language arts included work on adjectives using picture study, finishing essays, spelling through sentence dictation, reading a variety of books, and sentence diagramming.

We baked cinnamon swirl bread for dinner tonight because it is a little bit faster than cinnamon rolls. Everyone liked it, especially as we still pulled out icing to put on our slices.

Tuesday everyone settled right in to school work. It was an easy morning with no major hiccups. I am so grateful for these days!

In the afternoon during Rebekah's nap I did some research and curriculum planning for fall. Today's research topic was math. We like Math U See and have used it for a decade. I have a few little kids, however, who I think would benefit from a fairly new to the market math program for their first few years of school. It is more of a living math approach. Mason, also, would benefit from some of the program.

Wednesday's smooth school day was wonderful. Everyone enjoyed most of their subjects. Several kids finished current chapter books and picked new ones from the shelves to start reading. History included study of a few more things related to life in colonial times.

Buttering a roll for himself.

This week we got a new table - so let me tell you about what it is for. I found this adjustable height, folding table (aff link) on Amazon. It is 2 feet deep and 4 feet long. It fits in our kitchen along one wall, and can be set at a child height, regular table height, and counter top height. We set it to child height and it works for Mason to use with his wheelchair. He is now able to be the kitchen helper during meal prep. He is thrilled. This table also offers us more 'counter top' space when setting out food for meals. We generally dish up food in the kitchen instead of bringing all food to the dining room table, because a table of 11 or 12 people is already really full just with plates, cups, and silverware.

Thursday I woke after not very many hours of sleep. The day just kept moving along on our routines, which saved my sanity. I spent an hour on the phone with insurance dealing with problems. In the end, things have been moved to a supervisor to look at and hopefully correct. I'm waiting to hear back about that tomorrow.

Friday I woke to find that Rebekah had thrown up at some point overnight in her crib, then went back to sleep. Yuck. I'm not sure why she threw up, and she seems to be doing just fine as of this afternoon. Hopefully it was just a fluke.

I'm going to publish this post and go enjoy the start of our weekend. Happy Friday!

Happy Baptism Day, Mason!

Today was a special day for our family - it was Mason's baptism day! He was surrounded by friends and family. He was so excited!

One really sweet part of the day was that Joseph, Mason's oldest brother, got to help with the baptism, as Mason can't stand up. He needed extra hands helping him in the font.

Happy Baptism Day Mason!

Notes for January 18th-24th

Saturday we finally started to see improvement in Samuel. The day was pretty laid back for most of the family. Emma and I headed to the city to drop off her art piece for the gallery mid-morning. In the late afternoon Emma, Joseph, and I went to see the new Dolittle movie. The kids buy their own tickets and then decide if they want to invite a parent along. They bought tickets a couple weeks ago and wanted me to join them. The movie was better than I expected, though I didn't always enjoy the humor.

Sunday we kept the whole family home from church to rest. Our low-key activities included playing Dutch Blitz, baking fresh bread, and having family scripture study. I was able to get a solid hour in of homeschool curriculum research for next year. In most areas we will simply continue using the same curriculum, changing levels as needed. However, I will have two high schoolers in the fall, and in high school our kids get a lot of input into which materials they use for courses.

One area they have options in next fall is language arts/writing. They can do the next level in The Good and the Beautiful Language Arts. It is a solid mix of literature, writing, grammar, spelling, geography, art appreciation that we like a lot. Or they can choose to do a writing focused year with a side of literature. I'm looking at three courses from the same company. The company is Clear Water Press and what I love about them is they take writing and provide interesting video lessons to draw you through the year of learning. Makayla used one of these courses during high school and enjoyed it.

• Cover Story - Writing a variety of pieces that combine to create a themed magazine at the end of the year. 
• Byline - Essay writing with a side of journalism that creates a newspaper at the end of the year.
• One Year Adventure Novel - Studying about and writing a novel. Makayla did this course. We would simply need to pick up new student materials.

Monday was 17 degrees of cold when Daniel and I headed out the door to do a grocery pick up order. Then the last two eye doctor appointments happened, followed by lunch, and then three of the last four dental cleanings. Daddy also had an appointment with his vein surgeon. He has some problems, including clots, and will be having surgery. They are doing updated scans and they will schedule surgery.

Tuesday we started the homeschool week with math for everyone. The oldest two had biology and are beginning a study of genetics beginning with Gregor Mendel. I love genetics, which they found hilarious. Then they had fun looking for evidence of some of their own family genetics based on traits like the ability to roll your tongue, attached or free earlobes, etc. History was learning about the beginnings of the last two American colonies we had to discuss - Pennsylvania and Georgia. For language arts various books were read, essays worked on, sentences diagrammed, and so on. We tossed in a quick trip to the doctor for Caleb to check on some illness symptoms he's dealing with.

Wednesday was the last day with a doctor's appointment this week, a checkup for Samuel. He is recovering nicely from pneumonia. The morning was school work, of course. In the evening the oldest 3 had youth activities. There were communication exercises, giving speeches, and doing family history research between the three groups.

Thursday morning I got desperate. Rebekah was in a mood and was just unhappy unless she had my undivided attention and was on my lap. This makes teaching some subjects a challenge. I finally pulled out some sensory bin materials I had gathered weeks ago. It was a hit, and various kids gravitated to the bin as they finished school subjects. We started studying forest fires, ecology, and firefighting in science.

Late Thursday afternoon I headed to the library with a couple of the kids, while Daddy held down the fort at home with the rest. We found a nice stack of books for various people's interests.

Friday is here and I'm listening to one child practice piano, dictating sentences to another, and just having a steady morning of learning. The kids also let me know it is National Peanut Butter Day, and that they plan to make no bake cookies this afternoon to go along with it. Yum.

Tomorrow is a special day. I'll try to get pictures and share more about it soon.

BOOKS

I try to share updates occasionally on the books my kids and I are reading because I look back at this blog when updating homeschool records. Here are some of the books happening around here lately, not including picture books or school assignment books :

• Maria's Many Colors (Mason)
• Dr. Seuss books (Samuel)
• The Tale of Peter Rabbit (Caleb)
• Grasshopper on the Road (Caleb)
• Childhood of Famous Americans: George Washington (Mason and Oliver)
• The Mysterious Benedict Society (Daniel)
• The Falcon of Eric the Red (Daniel)
• Race for the Prairie (Joseph)
• Trials of Apollo (Emma)
• Hawkeye Comic Books (Emma)
• Keeper of the Lost Cities (Me) - I'm on the 4th book in this series and it is fantastic. LOVE!
• Divergent (Joseph)
• Inheritance (All boys)
• Dragonwatch book 3 (Joseph)

Pneumonia? Sure, why not?!

Saturday was full of rest. Few people were well enough to do much of anything. I did a grocery pick up order. We sorted our card games into storage boxes made to hold crayons. And we rested some more. Dinner was chicken noodle soup made in the instant pot for the few people up to eating.

Sunday Daddy took the only not sick kids to church (Joseph and Emma). A few of the middle kids at home pulled out Harry Potter Clue and played a leisurely game on the bedroom floor. The younger kids used kinetic sand at the table. I video chatted in for a Primary presidency meeting after church. By mid-afternoon the kids were all descending back into feeling yucky again. No more playing, just laying around resting. Tobias fell asleep on the floor. Samuel looked at me at dinner time and said, "I'm going to go take a nap in my bed."

Monday was another round of appointments. Three more eye checkups (no changes) and three more dental cleanings (one person with a cavity). In between, I spent an hour on the phone making more appointments: 1 for February, 3 for March, 1 for May. What was left of the day was our usual routine of dinner, family scripture study, and play. We are reading through the Book of Mormon as a family and studying it this year, and it has been a lot of fun so far. The kids are noticing things and relating it back to our study of the New Testament last year.

Tuesday I decided that Samuel really wasn't improving any more, so a check up was set for the afternoon. He has bronchitis now, and may have pneumonia. He started some meds and in 48 hours we will see if he is improving or if we need a chest x-ray and more aggressive treatment. Beyond that, I woke up unable to speak even as loud as a whisper. The kids loved it. We had to work together to get homeschool accomplished, with older kids taking a role in teaching during history because of the need to read aloud. Emma got some blood work for unrelated issues.

Wednesday Samuel was stable, but no improvements. I was still voiceless. Everyone survived.

Thursday things imploded a bit. Samuel was worse, so we put a call in for a chest xray. Yes, Samuel has pneumonia. They are continuing the current antibiotic and added a second. Daniel had dental work done. Emma's bloodwork came back with some bad answers and more bloodwork is scheduled for a few weeks from now with things like diabetes on the table as possible answers. I was still sick and not able to talk much.

Friday's high point was video chatting with Makayla. Friday low point was a 104 fever for Samuel, as well as fevers for Tobias, Caleb (going downhill now, had avoided being very sick up to now but also has a headache), and Joseph. Yep, the one who got this cold 2.5 weeks ago now has a fever and headache. I am not even going to guess what tomorrow will be like. The pediatrician said that if Samuel has a fever in the morning or isn't showing noticeable improvement then he needs to come in for Saturday hours. From there we may see a medication change or a hospital stay. I just don't know yet.

Needless to say, I'm tired. I napped for a little bit today while the teens were on duty and everyone was watching a movie.

On a positive note before I go check temperatures and pass out medications again:

Emma had a piece of her art chosen to be part of an upcoming gallery. She signed a loan agreement today and drops off her art tomorrow. The gallery opens February 28th. She is beyond thrilled.

January Homeschool and Illness

Mason reading to Rebekah.

Saturday everyone felt well so we headed to COSI to explore a visiting exhibit. Unseen Oceans was fun, with interesting information about creatures of the deep, submersibles, underwater research, and more. We visited a few other exhibits before heading home. The rest of the day was spent on an organizing project and family time.

Saturday night I noticed coughing while some of the kids were sleeping. By Sunday morning Tobias had a fever, just like Joseph last week, and he and Rebekah were coughing, along with Makayla. I stayed home from church with those three. We read books, watched some cartoons, and did laundry I had not gotten to on Saturday.

Snuggling sickies on Sunday.

Monday we had three dental cleanings and three eye checkups. We will do that for 3 Mondays this month to get through the family. I got to go see the new Little Women movie with my sister and Makayla. It was good! I think the way they jumped forward and back in time was a bit confusing, but once I realized what they were doing, I enjoyed myself. The movie was beautiful and it made me want to reread Little Women soon.

By Monday evening Samuel had a fever and was sick. Basically, every day this week a child or two took their turn to get a high fever and then end up with the congestion and cough that follows. It hit my younger 4 especially hard and the fever lasted days for each. It wasn't the flu (tested to be sure), but to be honest, we haven't had the flu in years, which I'm grateful for.

Tuesday we started second semester of our homeschool. Between math, language arts, and history it was a solid day. In history the family group (everyone but Joseph) studied Henry Hudson, the Dutch colonies in America, their issues with governers, and the British takeover of what became New York - without the firing of a single shot. Mason had some dental work in the afternoon. By evening he was the child with a fever.

Wednesday morning we worked through our school plans. Two cousins came over to visit while Makayla had a scope and biopsy of her airways and stomach under anesthesia. We'll wait for results of the biopsies, but everything they saw looks ok, just GERD (acid reflux), nothing unexpected like an esophageal hernia or an ulcer. On this day the illness really peaked, with the 4 youngest kids all really sick and miserable. The 1, 4, and 6 year old each fell asleep right after dinner laying all over the couch.

My night was relatively sleepless. Rebekah did not sleep well, coughing and waking 15 times before my 5am alarm clock rang Thursday morning. My husband's work schedule has him up between 2am and 3am each morning to head to work, so night needs are mine to handle on his work days. At 5:40am I drove Joseph to seminary and the day pretty much just kept moving from there. We did school, despite illness, because it was something quiet to do. Rebekah just wanted held all morning, fell asleep on the couch before lunch, woke up for a bit, and then went down for her usual nap in the afternoon. We survived a cranky, coughing, sick house all evening. I got a 45 minute nap after dinner, once my husband was home. He has started his next college class, so he spent the time working on his class while the kids played quietly.

That night Rebekah slept well until 3am, and then was awake and unhappy until 4:30am. I was glad to get back in bed when she finally drifted back to sleep. At 6:15am Friday morning kids started waking up (No alarm clocks) and Makayla got ready for her ride to the airport (thank you grandpa!).
She left at 8am, with only a few tears by siblings, who will miss her bunches. Forty minutes later I ran Mason to the dentist to finish up some dental work. We had no school planned for today. The kids all lounged on the couch, the floor, in their beds and read, played, or relaxed together. One of the perks of this homeschooling life is that we can truly allow our bodies time to rest and heal. We aren't tied to an artificial schedule or pressured that we may end up 'behind'.

Rebekah is still snuggly. She also looks around sadly and says, "I want Pay-wah." That's what she calls Makayla.

It's Friday afternoon. Kids are laughing behind me and preparing for a round of Dutch Blitz. I've been invited to play, so I'm going to hit publish on this post and join them.

UPDATE: It is Friday night. By bedtime the rest of the kids and Mommy joined the ranks of those with fevers. This should be an interesting weekend.

Christmas and New Year's Break - Two Weeks

Saturday there was movie watching, game playing, family time, grocery shopping, and cooking.

Sunday there was church, then graham cracker house making, and pizza roll baking.

Monday there was graham cracker house eating and play and final shopping for fresh sub buns and deli meats for Christmas. My husband had to work today, which is unusual, and it was a long day driving a truck through the holiday traffic to make deliveries. He got home not long before his 8pm bedtime (to get back up for work at 2:30am as usual). We were surprised by a sweet treat of mini cupcakes from a family at church this evening as well.

Tuesday we finally got Makayla in to see a GI specialist. She's been waiting for months for this. They doubled the acid reflux medication she is on and scheduled a sedated scope and biopsy of her esophagus and stomach for right before she flies back to college.

Once Daddy got home from work we had dinner, then read Luke 2 for our advent countdown. The kids were excited for bed time - and so were Mommy and Daddy.

Christmas Day was family, family, family. We opened gifts in the morning. It is so fun to see the kids take turns one by one opening a gift. Everyone watches. Everyone enjoys. Then the next person opens a gift. As a side note, even when we just do 3 or 4 gifts, there is a big pile under the tree with a family of 12. All the wrapping...sigh. For several hours after opening gifts everyone just relaxed, played, and enjoyed cinnamon rolls. In the afternoon we headed to my sister's house for a late lunch and fun. Then it was home for quiet family time again, and some video chatting with a grandma in another state.

Thursday my husband was off work (the first time they've given drivers that day off in years and years). We made good use of the day to take out groups of kids with their Christmas money from some grandparents to shop, I picked up prescriptions, etc. Makayla and Emma got picked up early in the afternoon to go to the Transiberian Orchestra Christmas concert with cousins, an uncle, and grandparents (my mom got 8 free tickets through her work - phew!). The rest of us at home played with the fun new gifts in the house, including Monopoly Cheater's Edition. We took down the Christmas tree and decorations. We also did some cleaning out of bins in the boys' bedrooms and a solid vacuuming. Then my husband went to bed at 7pm for an earlier than usual wake up time for work.

Friday disappeared into the void that is the week between Christmas and New Years. Hubby was working. Saturday also disappeared. Sunday was a wonderful day of church. Monday was another holiday work schedule for hubby. We did some game playing and organizing around the house. Tuesday evening we got to go to dear friends for dinner and visiting.

Wednesday was the first day of the 2020. It was a crazy day with a cranky toddler and a teen who developed a sudden high fever.

If I were to choose a 'word of the year' in 2020 it would be "Simplify". That is the idea on my mind and heart for so many areas of life right now. I'll share a few examples:

• My health and wellness goals this year are simple: Do the diastasis recti and pelvic floor exercise program I have (thank you 14 pregnancies and 10 babies, you left me with some crazy muscle separations and issues), and cook with more whole foods (leaving less room for processed foods). 
• Our family scripture study plan is simple: Read the Book of Mormon every day using the Come, Follow Me schedule. Look at the church magazines we already receive each month for articles and activity ideas to go along with each week's readings. They're already marked in the magazines. 
• My personal reading plan is simple: Read. Ok, so this is an easy one. I read between 125-175 books a year, not counting picture books I read to my younger kids. 

Thursday was a mix of running (bank, grocery stores, post office, haircut for 1, another store, doughnut shop with a gift card to get doughnuts for dinner), organizing, and updating the budget. We did finally gather all the board and card games we own into one room of the house. That led us to Friday.

Our game collection

On Friday we tackled the stacks of games. Our goals were to catalogue all our games and sort them into labeled boxes/bins for storage in the attic. The catalogue became the master list, telling which games were in each box. Now we can find the games we want easily, and rotate in and out games from our dining room shelf. We have 115 games and plan to play every single one at least once this year, but most likely more.

It is now Friday afternoon. Some of the kids are watching the musical Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, some are playing with Legos, and one is napping.

Makayla just got two fun emails from her college. She is on the Provost's List (like the Dean's List) because she has a college GPA of greater than 3.5. She is also on the President's List because her GPA is in the top 10% of students at the college - she has a 4.0.

Yes, an always homeschooled child can thrive in college. She laughed at me as I got teary, but it feels amazing to finally see some big fruit from more than a decade of homeschooling work. Knowing I didn't totally fail as a teacher is reassuring.

Now I'm going to work on school preparations for the rest of the kids, because we start back to the books on Monday!