This Week at Our House # 35 Last Week of August

 Is it really September 1st already???

This week was busy, busy, busy and I did not get everything done that I needed to. Oh well, probably most women alive could say that. School went well.

Monday is our hardest day of school. We made it through, survived 3 dentist appointments, and even mowed a bunch of our lawn. Monday was probably my most productive day. Johnny had his dentist appointment and has no cavities. Rachel had one filling done and has one more to go. Rachel managed the Novocaine shot and then was a pro through the drilling and filling. Arwen had sealants put on her 4 six year old molars. The taste of the cleaning solution, bothered her so much that she started to puke. But she swallowed it back and bravely got all the work done. I think the dental assistant was relieved that she was not puked on. I made a crockpot dinner, which gave me time to get some mowing done. John and Adam mowed some too.

Tuesday we stayed home all day and got school in, and more mowing done. We still have more mowing to do. Rachel has been slow about getting her school work done. Some days she spends so much time sitting and day dreaming that she doesn't finish until 6pm. Everyone else is done by 2 or 3pm. Adam finished mowing our biggest section of lawn while Rachel slowly got through the same work that Adam finished hours earlier.

By Wednesday the kids have less school to do. I make each day a little easier, so by the time we get to Friday, our wish to have the school work over with comes true faster. Arwen and Josh have a world history workbook that they love because it is a little bit of reading a big amount of craft projects. We did the biggest craft project yet for this course. Susan joined in. Susan and Sam have decided that they both enjoy cutting and gluing.

Thursday we completed school and

then I went on our weekly shopping trip. The trip is long because it is about a half hour drive to the stores. When we moved here, we ended all quick trips to stores. I go once a week at most now. I have to carefully plan a menu, seek out what ingredients I need to buy. I also need to make sure that I get everything we need that is a non-grocery item. If I miss out, we wait until my next trip. This has made it so I have to be much more organized when I shop. Our errands, while not really taking longer, take a large chunk of one day because they are consolidated. This Thursday, I took the 6 youngest kids and left the 6 oldest home to clean up and make dinner. When I take the youngest kids with me, I get a lot of comments about my hands being full or about having too many little problems. Joseph is a big helper now, though. He helps with the younger kids. Joseph, Joshua, and Arwen all love getting items off the shelf and helping that way. All 6 of my little kids were good too. They aren't always, but this week they were and the trip was reasonably easy.

Friday is our easy school day and also our clean the house day. When we planned on making homeschool a permanent part of our lives, I knew that I would need the kids to do a lot more housework. When the kids were in school, I was happy to do most of the work during the day while they were in school and have them help get their bedrooms and bathroom cleaned on Saturday. Since I tried homeschool once before, I knew that would not work because I just do not have the time during the school day to do all the work that I did when they were in school. I decided that the kids would have housework as part of the school week. It would teach them to clean and organize and to have responsibility for their living space. I chose Friday as the cleaning day. On Fridays we have spelling tests, story club, and a weekly drawing competition and housework. We mow, we repair, we wash floors, walls, clean underneath and around furniture and appliances. We wash bathrooms, and the kitchen. Pick up and vacuum and dust, and just whatever is in needed gets done. I make assignments that morning according to what needs to get done. And that is our school day. For an example, this week, Ruth did laundry and vacuumed. Johnny

put in a floor divider between the hall carpet and the bathroom and swept. Kate and Rachel cleaned the kitchen and baked homemade mini eclairs (treat for after chore time). Joshua picked up the main living area and cleaned on and under couches. Joseph picked up the boys room and hallway. Anya picked up the girls room and the parents room. Adam and Susan and Sam cleaned out the van. I scrubbed down the two bathrooms and helped clean the van.

Saturday is our free day. No one is assigned anything other than floor pick up, cooking, and dishes. This Saturday, my sister Amber had flown into Charlotte to visit my family. I took Ruth, Adam, Rachel, Anya, Joseph, Joshua, Arwen, Susan, Sam, and Gideon early in the morning, drove for five and a half hours to my parents. We visited for 5 and a half hours and then drove home. My sister Amber is doing really well. It was nice to see her.

Sunday, we went to church, and I found out that hurricane Dorian may take a north easterly route and we may get hit by the tail end of it, beginning on Thursday. We have already done some hurricane prep, but we have more to do. We may take a day or two off from school to get the house ready.





More Pictures

Adam's drawings

Joseph's Drawings

Kate's drawings

Anya's Drawings

Rachel's drawing

I'm pretty sure this is Rachel's