October + November Rundown!

I’m here today for a combined Rundown for October AND November! For weeks this winter, I did weekly rundowns, but as life got more hectic this spring/summer/fall, I decided to bring it back to the blog, but on a monthly basis.

This fall has been busy! Mostly because I’ve been working on launching a huge new project–but I wanted to take a minute to share things we’ve been doing around the house, how homeschool is going so far, books we’re reading, and more.

OCTOBER + NOVEMBER ROUNDUP!

We spent Thanksgiving break with family in South Dakota, like we have every years since we moved back to the Midwest. This break was extra fun because Sophia got to go hunting with the guys for the first time!

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Also, my friend and assistant Annie, who you may know from following along on IG @learningwell, came met us with her family for a couple of days. We have worked together for years at this point, but have never met! Her family moved from OR to SD last year and it was SO awesome to have her close by and meet her this time!

BLOG UPDATE:

We’ve been working super hard here on the blog this last month and have put together so many great posts for you! In case you missed anything, here is a list of latest posts:

Get the 6 Secrets to a Simpler Mom Life

MAKING HOME

I have been diligently working through a checklist to organize and declutter our house room by room. I have gotten so much checked off. So far we’ve:

gone through the kids’ drawers and purged outgrown clothing
purged the pantry and organized (see the September rundown)
organized the bathrooms
rearranged the garage and shed and gotten rid of unneeded items
cleaned the storage room
and organized the school room too

Those last two, I was set on getting them done before we left for Thanksgiving break–and I did it! I know you’ll appreciate a newly organized room…

WHAT WE’RE LEARNING

As I type, we have had two full weeks OFF of school–yikes! I was not planning that. We did plan on taking a week off for Thanksgiving. But the girls got sick the day after we got home and it lasted the rest of the week. We tried to do some reading and start our Christmas Homeschooling, but they were just not feeling good enough for any of that.

It’s ok. We will start again today!

School In October:

We’ve been having a really fun school year actually. I’ve been intentional about adding in fun things–art, little unit studies, movies, etc. It just keeps it fun and fresh instead of dull. I know we need to push through some of the more boring things, but we can keep it fun too. 🙂

In October, we had so much fun studying the Reformation. We are reading a book on church history right now and taking a deep dive into the Reformation just made it all connect, which I love! Head HERE to see what we did to study the Reformation.

We went on some field trips and nature classes again, which felt great!

The fall here in Minnesota was absolutely GORGEOUS, so we went on SO many beautiful walks. We are still walking, but the trees are now bare. Just waiting for the frost and snow to come in and decorate them again.

Homeschool In November:

We started puzzling like crazy in November.

Check out a couple we loved HERE and HERE!

Also, we have been plugging away at our Mission study too. Read all about that study HERE.

NOTEWORTHY

In case you missed it, on November 1st I launched a project I have wanted to create for years…literally years–I think 7 years if my memory is serving me correctly.

We launched LEARNING WELL JOURNAL!! A quarterly print magazine for homeschool families. It’s FULL of articles to help equip and inspire you in your home, your homeschool, your family and your faith.

I am thankful for the delay in this project because it is different than I thought it would look 7 years ago.

Each issue is based around a verse in scripture. The first issue, Winter 2021, was based around Deuteronomy 6:9 on diligence.

There are articles on:

navigating difficult times
easy weeknight meals
an afternoon unit study
monthly idea lists
family movie night ideas
and TONS more!

This is a perfect gift idea for the homeschool mama in your life that you love. (Or grab one for yourself 😉 We are well underway for the spring issue and are SO excited about the contributors, theme, AND content!

Head to THIS POST for gift ideas for giving the magazine!

Check out the Magazine

We shipped out a bunch of copies ahead of time to friends and family and here’s my little assistant helping 🙂

ON MY HEART

Life is very up and down right now, isn’t it? So many people I talk to are facing really difficult things–job loss, forced/coerced vaccine, marriage trouble and more. It’s hard to even know what to day.

Something that has brought be so much comfort lately is just meditating on God’s omnipotence. In other words, His mightiness.

Reading through Revelation has really shown me how mighty He is! He is on His throne right now, watching us destroy each other and nothing–not one second of it–surprises Him, shocks Him, changes His plans. None. Of. It.

Does that bring you comfort?! It does to me!

God is mighty. I am not.

God is in control. I am not.

He knows the number of hairs on my head, what I need, where I’m going to be a year from now. I do not.

This brings me comfort. Gosh, He is so good.

Read Revelation, friend. It’s not too Christmassy, but also, it just highlights that He can do whatever the heck He wants–including make a virgin pregnant.

ON MY NIGHTSTAND

We are reading some awesome books in our homeschool, but I will share those next monthly roundup when we’re finished. For me, here is what I’m reading and have finished recently:

Stories of the Pilgrims–my goodness I love this book. If you don’t own this one, I highly recommend it for next November!
For the Children’s Sake— I read this one years ago and it is a MUST read for any Christian homeschool mom!
Women of the Reformation from Spain to Scandinavia— very interesting book. I read this in October while we studied the Reformation.
Hudson Taylor: Deep in the Heart of China–we read this as part of our Missions study and we loved it!
AND CURRENTLY READING:
Dumbing Us Down–I JUST started this so I can’t comment on it quite yet but so many of recommended it to me.
Discipline by Elisabeth Elliot–just starting this one too.
The Winemaker’s Wife–just a few chapters into this one and it’s good so far!

BE THANKFUL

There is always something to be thankful for! Here is my quick list:

healing after a flu bug!
going to bed early and feeling really rested
a week of workouts–feeling strong (and sore)
losing 15 pounds since end of July–woohoo!
God’s omnipotence!
Decorating the kids’ Christmas tree with them and all the memories we have doing this together.

How about you!? How was your fall? Do you feel like it should be December yet?!