November

On October 20th, we had to have Houdini put to sleep. He was very sick and it just wasn't fair to keep him with us for our own selfish reasons. We all miss him terribly but we know that he is happier now that he is free from pain and able to run, jump and play with Bryton and Hayden in Heaven.

 The kids love sending balloons to our loved ones who have passed so we decided to send one to Houdini.

 Old Man, Robert turned 40 this month.

Aurora and I were able to attend her first Broadway Play. It was amazing!

October

 I'm finally catching up with pictures. I've been extremely forgetful about our blog.

 Houdini loved getting into things. Oh, how I miss him.

We learned about the mechanics and science behind roller coasters using plumbing insulation and marbles. Of course, Houdini had to be right in the middle of it.

 We built roller coasters out of marble mazes. I loved teaching this unit. 

 Cuddle time with Simba and Tiger.

 Sage got new glasses. He looks so grown up.

 We celebrated Back to The Future Day by making Flux Capacitors for Art

 I spoiled myself and had my friend Shawna make me a birthday cake. Easily the best

birthday cake known to man.

 It was a great birthday!

 Happy Halloween from Zombie Sage and Aurora the Bumblebee

I {HEART} A SHARP PENCIL, TAKE 2!

A little over three years ago I reviewed an amazing pencil sharpener HERE from Classroom Friendly Supplies. A couple of weeks ago the company contacted me to do another review of their amazing sharpener in their newest color "Popular Purple". I jumped at the chance because I love this pencil sharpener as much as I love all of my other school supplies.

Step 1: 

Pull out the silver piece and squeeze the black squares to insert the pencil into the sharpener.

 Step 2:

Place your hand on top and turn the handle. The sharpener will slow down once the pencil has been sharpened.

 Step 3:

Squeeze the black squares to remove your pencil from the sharpener.

Not only does this sharpener out perform all of the other sharpeners we have had in the past it saves us quite a bot of money of purchasing pencils for school since it is impossible to over sharpen a pencil with the sharpener. 

Here is our new "Popular Purple" pencil sharpener among our school supplies on our Homeschool shelf. I love the pop of color it adds!

Sassy Mouth

Anyone who knew my Grandma Bigler, me as a child and now knows Aurora will know that she's is a carbon copy of us. Her sassy mouth originated with her Great Grandma Bigler. I inherited it and passed it directly onto Aurora. 

This morning when she woke up she picked out her clothes, shoes and accessories for the day and then proceeded to pick out matching clothes for her sister, Lydia. 

They are both wearing dark denim shorts, black shirts, yellow flip flops, Blake Shelton hats and glasses(Aurora's are fake).

After they were dressed, Lydia was putting Aurora's hair in a ponytail and said something sassy to Aurora. Aurora's sassy response was...... "Excuse me? Who's buying you ice cream today? That's right, me! I can always change my mind you know?!"

This little girl cracks me up! She even has a certain facial expression that reminds me exactly of my Grandma Bigler. Aurora was only two weeks old when my Grandma passed away so it is amazing to see her everyday in my little sassy mouthed Princess.

Expedition Earth - South Korea

This week we learned about South Korea. We learned how to say Hello, Thank You and Goodbye in Korean and learned everything we could about the country. We also had some yummy seaweed snacks.

Dr. Who

Sage and Aurora have been obsessed with Dr. Who for about a year now and are always re-enacting episodes. Sage finally realized that he could build his own T.A.R.D.I.S out of Lego's. I love these kids and their imaginations!

Expedition Earth - China

 This year we are learning about the continents and various countries. This weeks country was China. We learned all about China, watched a documentary about The Great Wall and had some yummy almond cookies.

Saltines, Pretzels and Marshmallows, OH MY!

Sage and Aurora have both struggled with learning math. We try to make learning math as visual and as fun as possible. We broke out the snack food today to help Aurora understand place value to the thousands place.

Book It!

We have been lucky enough to be able to participate in Pizza Hut's Book It! Program. We just received the chart and reading vouchers in the mail today. 

The kids love reading and get rewarded for it just like public school kids. Seriously, who doesn't love FREE PIZZA?!

Let's Get Comfy

One of our favorite things about homeschooling is that we don't have to work at a desk or table if we don't want to. Our favorite place to do our work is in the family room on our big comfy couch. 

The kids love to grab their clipboards and workbooks and cuddle into the couch. It makes school so much more enjoyable. 

First Day

The First Day of School is here! The kids were so excited to start a new year full of new curriculum and on-site classes. I cannot believe that today marks the beginning of our 5th year of this amazing homeschool journey. I never knew it would bless our lives this much! 

2015-2016 Curriculum

The choices have been made and ordered. I cannot wait for everything to come in and get it all sorted into the 6 learning periods. I really do love what we do!

Language Arts

Reading Comprehension - Once again we are using the Literature Units from Confessions of a Homeschooler. These are the 6 books we will read and study together

Spelling - Spelling Power 

This will be done together using separate spelling words for both Sage and Aurora

Grammar -  Wordly Wise 3000 

Aurora will be doing this independently

Science - Evan Moor Daily Science and weekly experiments

Sage and Aurora will do this independently and then we will do the experiments together

 Social Studies - Expedition Earth

This will be done together. We really love Confessions of a Homeschooler Curriculum

Math - Math in Focus

Sage and Aurora will each do this independently with one on one help from me if needed

Handwriting - Handwriting Without Tears

Aurora is wanting to learn cursive.

Sage is being homeschooled full time but he will be participating in Occupational Therapy one day a week and in a STEM class twice a week. Aurora will be homeschooled full time this year and participate in fun enrichment classes one day a week.

We are so grateful for an amazing Charter School has helps our family learn in a way that is fun and best allows our children to grow as life long learners.

Girl Scouts

Aurora and a few friends decided that they wanted to give Girl Scouts a try so a few mom's 

and I from TLC started our own troop. 

This was our very first meeting

Trail Day

Summer Movie Day

Mother/Son Date night

Sage and I were long over due for some one on one time. We went to dinner at McDonald's and then headed out to see MARVEL Live! Sage and I had a great night and were able to talk and laugh together. All in all it was a success!

Eleven

Where have the last eleven years gone? It is so hard to believe that my Sage Landon is eleven years old today. He may be extremely small for his age but he makes up for it by being the most loving, creative, kind kid I know. He is all about things being fair,  he gets so upset when he see's an injustice. He loves and lives for Scouting and is so excited to be a REAL Boy Scout.

he loved all of the camping gear he got for his birthday but was NOT happy with a prank gift of Oatmeal.

Sage's Birthday Cake

 Trying out Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans

 We celebrated at Corvette Diner

 A week before his actual birthday we celebrated with friends at the Minion Movie

He's going to be starting sixth grade soon and I am definitely NOT ready for him to grow up. I know that he growing into a fantastic young man. He is my miracle and I will forever be grateful that he picked me to be his Mom. Happy Birthday my sweet boy!