Mohaus Schoolhouse Week 11

Week 11 of our school year had a rocky start. We have had a hard time settling into normal and there had been a lot of tension around school. 

The good news is I reached out and got advice and encouragement and we had a much better week. So thank you to everyone who commented here, talked to me in real life or online. All of your comments really encouraged me and I was able to regain my perspective.

One suggestion was to take the week off and hone in on what was important to me in our schooling. I didn’t take the week but I did take time for reflection and prayer and to really consider my approach to school.

It dawned on me that I was trying to fit us in a box. And that didn’t really play to my strengths. So we took a break from all the things that were weighing us down, causing tension. 

We met friends for breakfast in our Halloween costumes, we visited the library. We spontaneously started a new study on happiness that I think will benefit the whole family.

We enjoyed Halloween related activities. And carved a pumpkin as a family. The kids painted. We read a book about Zombies found in nature. 

We trick-or-treated with our best friends. I got more creative with writing exercises. It was an overall better week in so many ways. 

We are currently listening to Peter Pan. The Young Ben Franklin podcast has us ready to do a deep dive into the life of Benjamin Franklin and I have picked up a bunch of books to start reading this week.

It’s November so we will be writing down things every day that we are thankful for.

And we ended the week by celebrating my birthday all weekend. Having the support of family and friends, both online and in real life makes the hard parts of life less hard. So thank you all for your words of encouragement and birthday wishes.

What Our Homeschool Looked Like in October:
Week 7 (Sept. 30-Oct. 6)
Week 8 (Oct. 7-13)
Week 9 (Oct. 14-20)
Week 10 (Oct. 21-27)
Week 11 (Oct. 28-Nov. 3)

Halloween 2017

One final post about Halloween (October is a crazy month!). See my posts about pumpkin carving here and church activities here.

Isaac had a Halloween Party at preschool, so he got to wear his Batman costume to the celebration. Jack had Homeschool PE at the Y, with no party, so we stopped for Halloween donuts on the way to the Y.

After I dropped him off, I headed back to preschool to celebrate Halloween with Isaac's class. Halloween is the first party of the year and Isaac had so much fun celebrating with his classmates.

He was very proud of his Halloween cookie and showed me how they line up in the hallway. At the end of the party the kids played on the playground and Isaac showed off his bike skills by riding all of the riding toys at school.

Last year we hit our sweet spot with Trick-or-Treating: Jack was big enough to run up to all of the houses without us following close behind, and Isaac was stuck in a stroller...

This year, Isaac insisted on running up to EVERY house with the bigger kids. This meant Daniel and I had to take turns walking up with him.

Which is totally exhausting.

Isaac kind of kept up at first, but eventually we were carrying him to the doors. Then we were skipping houses and making him ride in the stroller.

As a two-year-old he was not impressed because he wants to be a part and do everything himself.

But we all survived and had another fun year of trick-or-treating with our close friends.

It's hard to believe this was our fourth year to trick-or-treat together!

We met up for dinner before and then our friends bigger kids ended up splitting off and going on their own. It wasn't a particularly cold year this year, but it also wasn't hot like last year.

Halloween with friends is one of my favorite holidays! I'm not sure how it will look as the kids get older, but it is fun right now. And next year, Isaac should be able to do most of the houses while the adults trail behind and chat in the street!

The best quote of the night was from Isaac: We walked up to a house with skull lights and he told them, "Don't bite me!" Very matter-of-factly. He also told someone in a life-size T-Rex costume, "Don't eat me!" and ran away.

A Look Back at Halloween's Past: 
Cow in 2012 ⎮  Cow Part 2 in 2013 ⎮ Optimus Prime in 2014 ⎮ Iron Man and Stay Puft/Fire Fighters 2015 ⎮ SpiderMan and Ninja Turtle 2016 

Halloween Festivities 2017

Starting in the month of October our months get pretty busy. Besides trick-or-treating, our church has a Costume Parade at church and a Family Fun Day that we always enjoy attending.

For the Costume Parade, the kids dress up for church and get to parade through the hallways, showing off their costumes. At the end, we all meet up in the gym for cookies and fellowship.

The Family Day at our church always includes a hayride and ends with a movie (normally on the lawn). This year it was cold, so they moved the movie to the gym.

Last year they had a petting zoo, this year there were bouncy houses. It's always a fun time and we look forward to this experience every year.

Our small group also tries to visit a retirement home and reverse trick-or-treat every year around the time of Halloween.

This means our kids dress up in the costumes and load up their bags with candy, but instead of receiving candy, we visit everyone in the retirement home and pass out candy to them.

The people how live there always love it. They apologize for not having candy to give our kids, but we explain that we are there to give them candy and bring a little joy to their day.

The kids get to interact with different people and we spread a little sunshine.