Raising Arrows
Large Family Homeschool Life – Week 39 of 2022
Autumn School started this week, so we are busy making memories and enjoying the Fall weather!
Read all of the Large Family Homeschool Life!
You can find more Autumn School ideas, plus the curriculum we are currently using in the following post: Autumn Homeschooling Ideas.
MONDAY
It was 47° overnight, so quite a chilly breakfast on the deck. I made oatmeal for the kids and an oatmeal and mixed berry microwave breakfast cookie for me. My coffee was Southern Pecan with a caramel protein shake as creamer – something I’ve been doing for years.
I watered my lettuce, spinach, and mums while the kids did their table chores. I was really hoping to get a good crop of lettuce this fall, but it isn’t appearing to work out that way. The spinach is doing well, though!
At 10am, I called the kids to school and told them about our interim schedule while their older sister is away helping Ty’s aunt move. We will read in Hurlbut’s Story of the Bible together each morning and then break off for independent lessons. After lunch, we’ll meet back up for Autumn School. I’m excusing the 16 year old because he often has work, and is also trying to get a bunch of his schoolwork done, so he can graduate early.
I had thought about putting Autumn School in place of Morning Time while the 18 year old is away, but by putting it in its own time slot, it will be an easier adjustment when she comes back. The best way to make a homeschool schedule work is to create one that doesn’t have to change often so you can remember it!
During Independent School time today, I worked with the girls, and then took them to the library to pick up some holds for our Autumn School curriculum. We are using Treehouse Schoolhouse Autumn Nature Study and Brighter Day Press’ A Simple Autumn this year.
For lunch, the kids warmed up leftover homemade hamburger helper. I made rice and had a rice bowl with air fried wontons and orange sauce – yum!
At 1pm, we gathered for our first day of Autumn School! We read Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn. We talked about the four seasons and took a nature walk with baskets for collecting and a scavenger hunt list from Treehouse Schoolhouse.
We when got home from our walk, we emptied the contents of our baskets into a Nature Box we keep out during the Fall that allows us to play with our treasures. We put the box on our Nature Table – a super simple way to enjoy nature in your home!
After Autumn School, the boys played airsoft in the backyard. Our 16 year old bought his littlest brother an airsoft gun so he could play too, so ever since then, they have been going out nearly every day.
The little girls and I headed out to get donuts for Mercy’s special night. She wanted long johns and donuts with sprinkles. We recently moved Special Night to Monday because Tuesdays have become too crowded for Ty and I.
I also went grocery shopping. I spent $310 at Aldi because I needed to restock several items. I met Ty at Walmart and we finished up our shopping together.
I am still keeping a price list, so each week, I enter my receipts to keep track of best prices and what I am currently paying. Some things are up over a $1 from last year!
That evening, the 16 year old cut wood for the fire pit and the 13 year old cleaned up the backyard. Now that the nights are cooler, we are ready to start having a fire in the fire pit.
While Mercy was playing her game time tonight for Special Night, I uploaded my very first podcast from 2017 to YouTube. I’m going to be slowly adding all of the podcasts to YouTube so people can listen on that platform as well!
TUESDAY
I went to WW (Weight Watchers) this morning and then ran errands. Ty stayed home because the chimney sweep was coming. I’m glad to have that done so we can start having fires in our fireplace again!
I got the kids going on their independent school work so that Ty and I could run errands together before he headed out to teach military science at the local university.
The biggest errand we had to run was going to the scratch and dent store. We buy our toilet paper there (Angel Soft) and we also bought a 10# bag of pasta and some bread that was on sale for $.99.
At home, we at lunch, had coffee, and then I gathered the kids for Autumn School. Today, we used mostly Treehouse Schoolhouse. So far, I’m liking this curriculum the best!
We did a song, hand rhyme, poem, and read a couple of Fall books and learned why the seasons change. Plus, we did a watercolor leaf resist art from A Simple Autumn.
I finished up with our current read-aloud – The Railway Children. A lovely book I have not ever read aloud to the kids.
I repotted my mother-in-law’s tongue (so named because it is pointed and sharp!), and then cup up some peppers to flash freeze.
I don’t have time right now to make salsa, so I’ll bag them all up and make it later. My favorite salsa recipe is from the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving (page 203). So yummy and simple!
I also made okra salad for tonight’s campfire and put together some peanut butter freezer bombs and overnight oats from my new cookbook – Tasty Freedom. It’s full of really great sugar free, gluten free recipes that actually taste good! I’m trying to cut down the refined sugar in my diet going into the holiday season, so I added this cookbook to my collection because I had tried some of her recipes before and really liked them.
For dinner, we had hot dogs over the campfire along with the okra salad and sat around the campfire, talking and laughing.
We recently changed our screen time rules a bit because it seemed like everyone was watching way too much tv at night. So, now we take off Monday-Wednesday from tv time at night and find other things to do. Even the big kids and adults are not aloud to watch after the littles go to bed We used to not even have a tv, so it’s nice to see the kids being creative again in the evening hours.
WEDNESDAY
Mercy and I had breakfast on the deck together. She dips her toast in her hot cocoa just like I did when I was a little girl.
I did my Bible study, then worked with the kids on school. After lunch, I ran the 16 year old to work. Since the 18 year old is away, and he doesn’t have a driver’s license yet, I will have to drive him for the next couple of weeks. However, it isn’t a big deal since I really enjoy the time I get to spend talking to his boss, who just happens to be a friend of mine. She ended up sending me home with a watermelon, butternut squash and a pumpkin from their farm!
For Autumn School, we did our Art & Artist study (Treehouse Schoolhouse), read Full of Fall (really good book, by the way!), tried our hand at a leaf symmetry lesson, and made Autumn Spice Cake. I don’t have an oven right now, so I had to make it in the toaster oven. It turned out better than I expected!
Ty came home from work, and he and the kids worked outside. My friend and I grabbed salads and headed to Bible Study. It was BYOD(inner). Which was kind of fun! The hostess did have cookies there, so I brought a few home to the kids.
When I got home, the kids and Ty were watching a movie with popcorn – an adjustment to our tv watching schedule since he will be out of town during their usual tv days.
THURSDAY
It was 60° in the house this morning, so I cooked up a warm breakfast for Ty and I and made some coffee to warm us up. When I first got up, I was freezing, but it was nothing a little homemaking couldn’t cure!
The kids went out to play before school. They LOVE the colder weather so much more than warm days. While they played, I ground up some oregano that I dried last night in my Ninja Foodi 5in1 grill. I mainly use it in our Italian seasoning.
I helped Ty pack for his antelope hunt and filled up his huge Stanley thermos with German Chocolate coffee. He’ll drink on that for days!
After Ty headed out, I took Keian to work and grabbed gas for $3.13 and picked up MORE library books! The librarian said she detected a theme in all of my books. Indeed you do! It’s AUTUMN SCHOOL!
For Autumn School today, we focused more on A Simple Autumn. We read Busy Little Squirrel and threw apples and almonds into the backyard for a squirrel buffet!
Then, we read Because of an Acorn and made peg dolls. I purchased the unfinished peg dolls in bulk from Amazon. The kids really enjoyed the project!
I picked Keian up from work and then made lasagna – again, in the toaster oven – which did not go as well as the cake. It took a long while, so the kids played outside. It turned out ok, but I sure do miss my oven!
I decided to start the Great Clothes Switchover tonight! The little girls helped me go through all of their clothes. It was bittersweet because I am giving away outgrown items to a friend and sending some to Goodwill and also keeping some for keepsakes, but everything that is outgrown will not have a new little one to wear them. There are no tubs labeled baby for the next baby, only keepsakes and memories. I remember feeling this way last year too. I wonder if someday these “lasts” won’t feel so sad.
FRIDAY
The 16 year old had to work this morning because there is a big festival this weekend that his employer is getting ready for. I gave orders to the newly turned 12 year old to manage the Friday tidy up so that we could get to cleaning chores when I got back. He’s a good manager, and did a really good job keeping everyone on track – even his older brother!
I pitched in with the Home Blessing since 2 of the kids are away this morning, but I also worked more on the Great Clothes Switchover and did a few other jobs. I use Friday mornings to take care of jobs I haven’t gotten to during the week, like scrubbing my husband’s dress blues shirt collar and sorting through piles of paperwork. Home Blessing is my chance to reset the house, and I try to work hard and smart.
While I ate lunch, I did some blog planning. I need to write a few posts and send out an email. I’m hoping that having a plan written down will force me to stay on track!
I picked up Keian from work and grabbed some okra from his boss to pickle this weekend. Then, we headed to the DMV for his written test. Unfortunately, he failed it by 1 question, so he’ll try again in a couple of weeks. Our DMV has been really weird with not letting people just walk in when they want to and there’s a security guard there too. Eek!
We stopped by the library (yes, more books came in), and Dairy Queen for a consolation ice cream.
For dinner, I ate spaghetti squash with pepperonis and cheese and marinara sauce. I had put it in the crock pot this morning, so it made for a super simple dinner. I told the kids they were on their own because I was working on blog stuff. They ate leftover lasagna, watched their shows, and made more peg dolls. So fun!
