Week 17

Yeah, I know that technically we "should" be further along than seventeen weeks ... but at the beginning of the year when Little Man was born, and before that when Monkey came to stay with us again, I didn't count the weeks that we didn't do actual book lessons. Now, I'm not too worried about that so much and so I'm counting every week. Not every week do we do book lessons, and some weeks we only do a few days worth of book lessons ... other weeks we buckle down and every single day have book lessons. It all rounds out over the course of 365 days. Yup, that's right, (in case you forgot) we're year round homeschoolers. I try to plan for any major time off that we'll need ... but, sometimes there just is no planning to be done as life tends to throw curve balls and cause you to just adjust plans. This week we're doing four days worth of book lessons.

Saturday Daddy and I literally vegged out. We were watching the grand-campers for Monkey (who was out running errands and getting a little me time in) and keeping an eye on the campers as well. The great thing about having older children around with toddlers and babies in the house is that the older children can, and do, help take care of the littles. So, Daddy and I turned on The Game of Thrones season one and marathon watched it throughout the day ... completing the whole season well before bedtime. During the binge watching we had a toddler running in and out of the room every hour or so when she wasn't napping and I crocheted ... working on a blanket. We had chicken pasta for supper.

Sunday Daddy had an appointment first thing in the morning and the rest of us stayed home and relaxed. The rest of the day was spent cleaning the house and then relaxing.

On Monday Noni came out and borrowed several movies from Redbox for us to all watch, she also bought Taco Bell for lunch for everyone. We watched Pondemoniem, Deep, and Leap. Well, the girls watched Leap at bedtime. It was a wonderful and relaxing start to the week. Tuesday Daddy had an appointment in the morning, Monkey wasn't feeling well and so took a nap in the morning, and we did our lessons while watching the littles ... this is the first time we've really done this without help and it was an interesting experience, but very do-able. Lessons went without a problem ... other than ECJ trying to fudge math with a previous lesson, but I caught him and he just winked and then did his math lesson for the day. Algebra isn't his favorite subject.

Wednesday Daddy had an appointment that I went to with him at a new doctor, trying to figure out what is causing his migraines. We have no definitive answers ... just more tests and appointments scheduled. Lessons were done after we got home and were quickly done with no problems. Both Thursday and Friday lessons were done quickly so that everyone could relax for the rest of the day. The house has pretty much stayed clean and that is a blessing.

Now, it is Saturday ... Monkey is with the campers and SweetPea at the park enjoying the unseasonably warm weather while Little Man sleeps in his swing as I type. Daddy and I are planning on watching season two of Game of Thrones beginning today sometime and I'm sure I'll be crocheting during that time. We have nothing major planned for this weekend and are going to enjoy it as tomorrow is supposed to be warm as well.

Find us on Facebook here. We're also on Instagram.

Linking up for the Weekly Wrap Up and Homeschool Highlights.

Week 15 - 16

Sunday we had intended on going to mass, but instead ended up staying home. Daddy wasn't feeling very well and neither was I (remember the stomach virus that the younger kids had last week?). We lounged for the majority of the day and watched Netflix, watching Sing as a family. While the campers and I have seen it before Daddy never had and so it was enjoyed by all again. I worked on ECJ's crochet tablet cover that he knows that he's getting from me for his birthday. I didn't get a lot done on it because I simply wasn't feeling well.

16 now!

On Monday it was ECJ's 16th birthday!!! We kept everything low key because we (the adults) still weren't feeling well and we'd already arranged with him to celebrate his birthday both on the 9th and the 11th (Tuesday and Thursday) of this week. He, and his sisters, played video games pretty much all day long. He had received two new games for our Playstation 3 at Christmas and he was anxious to play with them. So hour after hour was played of both Minecraft and Black Op's 1 ... great fun was had by all of the campers and grand-campers. Daddy and I rested as much as possible and we just had soup and frozen dinners for supper. I worked a bit on ECJ's gift, but again didn't get very far on it.

SweetPea helping herself to some brownie mix lol

Tuesday was a very busy day. We were supposed to start lessons back on this day, but after looking at our schedule for the week and the amount of things needing to be done on this day alone I called one more week of break and decided that it would be called our Winter Break. The weather is supposed to be warmer this week as well, so I want to make sure that the campers can get outside as much as possible to enjoy the weather. Daddy had an appointment first thing in the morning and I had several phone calls that I needed to make. Daddy then stopped at the grocery store (Aldi's is right next to where his appointment was so it only made sense for him to stop there before coming home) and came home. He and I then went to pick up Monkey from work, taking the long way there and back to enjoy our time together in peace and quiet (not that easy with five children running around the house). Monkey made ECJ brownies for his birthday, Daddy and I spoke with him about his gifts from us this year - a new cell phone and getting the screen on his tablet replaced, along with helping him fix a car this summer if he can pay for half of it. We had pizza rolls for supper because that's what ECJ wanted for his birthday supper. I worked more on his tablet cover on and off all evening and was glad that I was beginning to feel better than I had for the last couple of days.

On Wednesday we had a relaxing day at home the whole day long. Thursday, Noni came out and the campers and I went with her shopping for ECJ's birthday. Daddy stayed home with the grand-campers and Monkey went to an eye exam in the next town. While out with Noni we ate lunch at Denny's, shopped at five stores, and then came back home with mega amounts of bags. Each child was thrilled with what they had gotten (Noni spends money on the birthday camper and gives each sibling $25 worth of spending money while we're out). I was able to pick up a few things I was missing for supper that night and some over the counter supplements and medications ... One of Peanut's medications is no longer covered by her medical insurance because it can be bought over the counter, so I picked up several months worth of it while we were out so that I could be sure that we wouldn't run out.

First ride on the
carousel!

Friday through Sunday we mainly relaxed. We ran some errands each day (just stuff local to town as was needed) and everyone seemed to enjoy the weekend. Daddy and I slept in a bit on Sunday morning and had some quiet cuddle time in lue of dragging the campers and grand-campers out in below freezing temperatures to go to church. Some general cleaning was done ... you know, things like vacuuming, doing laundry, sweeping, taking out the trash. Daddy ran an errand in the next big town from us and was gone a couple of hours. This being our last day of break the campers were keen on getting their chores and tasks asked of them completed so that they could get back to their preferred passtimes ... such as making videos, watching YouTube, and reading. In between tasks I crocheted just a little bit because some how during the course of the morning I pulled a muscle in the top of my back. 

Monday was the only day this week that we didn't have appointments during the day. And, as I sat in bed drinking my first cup of coffee, I contemplated if we really should come back off of break this week or not ... most days we were going to be gone several hours out of the day and we've tried schooling in the evening before and it simply doesn't work for us. So, instead of getting back to our book lessons I gave each camper a goal for the week. ECJ needed to start his learning for coding (second semester plan anyways) and he did so by finding his own site that he preferred over Khan Academy (he really doesn't like Khan and I don't know why) and began studying on his own and researching... even wrote his first bit of code before midnight this night. YCJ was given the goal to make three well edited videos as that's her current passion ... she takes her Beenie Boos and makes videos of them, edits them, and then posts them to a share site. Peanut was simply told that she must work on her crafts (she calls them her DIY's) each day at least once a day, she truly is becoming a talented artist and I become amazed nearly daily by her creations. On top of these general goals they're to either work on their reading or read a certain amount of time each day, the reading material can be of their choice. ECJ's chosen to read about programming and really research it as he feels that it might be a career choice in the future, YCJ chose to read a bit daily about how to edit videos so that she can possibly get even better at it, and Peanut and I are working through Phonics Pathways again doing a bit each day. We had stopped reading Charlotte's Web over the holidays and chose to pick it back up this week ... but didn't get to it Monday night. 

On Tuesday morning Daddy, ECJ, and myself woke up early to take ECJ to his yearly physical appointment. ECJ rarely gets ill so he doesn't often see the doctor other than this yearly physical appointment ... this year he chose to ask about getting back on some ADHD medication but had specific requests (such as not wanting to be put back on Ridilin). Our wonderful pediatrician started him on another medication that doesn't have a stimulant in it. This was our main appointment for the day and we were home before ten in the morning. Each camper worked on their projects for the week, helped look after the grand-campers, did their chores, and helped prepare meals. All in all it was a good day.

Wednesday was a rather busy day with Monkey having an eye appointment in the morning (she'll have to see a specialist about her vision) and the grand-campers having check-ups in the afternoon. Both babies are doing well and are right on track for where they're supposed to be. Thursday Monkey had an appointment in the morning with her new primary care doctor and I went with her, everything went very well. Really life just hummed along happily all week long. I rather enjoyed it! That afternoon I made our lesson plans for next week ... making sure to take into account that Noni will be visiting on Monday so we'll be having a four day school week for the book lessons.


So, today is Friday, and I've just gotten back from the last appointment of the week with Monkey. The kitchen is being cleaned by Daddy who went on a cleaning jag this morning, ECJ is in the other room working on his coding right next to Monkey who is working on her new online college class, YCJ is editing a video that she made last night, and Peanut is watching some YouTube videos for inspiration for her DIY's for the day. I'm blogging with SweetPea on my lap while Little Man sleeps behind me in his bouncy chair. Our afternoon plans include cooking a pork roast on the rotisserie cooker for supper, me working on a crochet birthday gift for one of my nieces (I didn't get all the blankets done for Christmas so they're becoming birthday gifts for this year), and in the evening Daddy and I will start a marathon watching of Game of Thrones season 1 again. I also plan on starting back to the reading of Charlotte's Web so that we can finish it by the beginning of next week and the girls can watch it on Netflix.

You can find us on Facebook here. We're also on Instagram.

Linking up today for the Weekly Wrap Up and Homeschool Highlights. 

Weeks 13 & 14 Christmas

Tablet before it cools.

Christmas Eve and the day before were spent cooking large amounts of food, making a Scottish desert called Tablet, and having the girls make their own butter as part of our Little House unit study. They didn't much like the taste of the homemade butter, but they enjoyed jumping around and shaking the jars until the heavy whipping cream turned into butter before their very eyes! My tablet didn't turn out exactly as my grandmother's used to and so I'll have to play with the recipe a bit until I get it right. It tastes right but it's too runny and more like a caramel instead of a fudge. We were supposed to have guests over for supper on Christmas Eve, but they were ill and so they stayed home. So this year we had two Christmas meals! One on Christmas Eve: stuffing, turkey, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, and tablet for desert. The other was made on Christmas Day by Grandma: ham, lasagna, mashed potatoes, cheesy potatoes, rolls, veggies, and more! Not to mention the pies and cookies for desert!

Butter, and buttermilk, in the
bottom of a jar!

Christmas Day we all woke up early and found that Santa had arrived to give gifts that were waiting for us under the tree! The campers and grand-campers had a blast opening their gifts. Then we all got dressed for church and drove two vehicles (eight people do not fit into any of our current vehicles) down to Grandma and Papa's area to go to church with Grandma and hear Papa sing. We then spent the rest of the day helping get supper ready and visiting with each other. It was a wonderful day and we spent a lot of quality time with family that we don't see as often as we wish. One of the Aunt's was there along with her husband and her children (the cousins) so it was a full house of sixteen people, most of whom were children ages 17 and younger. Lots of love and happiness abounded.

The rest of Christmas week literally went by in a blur. Not much time was spent outside due to freezing cold temperatures and even more cold wind chill factors. Many electronics (including a few new ones) were used during the week. Toys were played with. Baby toy explosions happened to where you can certainly tell when walking into the house that there are babies in the home. So, in short we had a lot of fun!

Sunday, New Year's Eve, we had a quiet supper at home and then let the older kids stay up to watch the ball drop on TV from New York. SweetPea woke up shortly before the ball dropped so she got to see it as well and Little Man was already awake. I'm sure that they didn't really understand why everyone was so excited but they sure did smile a lot for sleepy little babes. 

On Monday we had probably the most chill day of them all during our break. Video games were played, naps were taken (by myself and Daddy included), books were read, and a bit of laundry was done. We had roasted chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy along with some green beans for supper. All of the campers and grand-campers went to bed early ... and that had been Daddy's and mine plan as well, but we ended up going to bed closer to midnight.

Tuesday we started the day off with several errands being ran to take care of some things with health insurance and other important things. Both SweetPea and Little Man weren't feeling well, so we called the doctor and got an appointment for that afternoon. Poor Little Man was puking up just about as much formula as he was drinking, both had fevers, and SweetPea was not her sweet little normal self. Both babies had a stomach virus, which is probably what Peanut is suffering from as well without the vomiting ... and Daddy isn't feeling too well either. 

Wednesday through Saturday were literally spent dealing with running errands and taking care of sick babies/children/campers. Being that it's a virus there's really nothing we can do but let it run it's course. Thankfully it didn't seem to spread through the whole household and stopped with the four people affected by earlier in the week. So much laundry was done this week that I think my washer and dryer never stopped even over night. And most suppers were fend for yourself all week long as all of the adults in the house were busy dealing with the campers and grand-campers that didn't feel well.

We start back to our lessons on the 9th (Tuesday) of January. We're having a three or four day week depending on how it goes because we'll be going shopping with Noni on the 11th. ECJ turns 16 on the 8th! (Where has all the time gone?!?!?!) Here's to a great year in 2018!!! 

*I had over two hundred pictures from Christmas Eve until January 6th! I chose just a couple to share in this post because the mayhem of opening gifts I'm sure happened at every house, and there were several pictures of sick babies cuddled up with well people over the course of the week... No outdoor pictures this week because with the wind chill factors we've been well into the negatives most of the week!*

Find us on Facebook here. We're also on Instagram.

Joined up for Homeschool Highlights this week!