Christmas

Christmas Eve was spent with my family on the hill. I seriously don't know what I would do without my amazing family especially these two. 

 The kids jammies

 Christmas Day was a very simple low key day. it was nice to relax and spend time with my little family.

Thirty-three

Thirty.... What?!? Today I am thirty-three. Sage and Aurora insisted I answer the 20 questions that I make them answer every year.

1. What is your favorite color? Pink
2. What is your favorite stuffed animal? Sidney the Lamb and Hayden the Rabbit
3. What is your favorite fruit? Raspberries
4. Favorite T.V Show? F.R.I.E.N.D.S
5. Favorite food? Rubio's Fish Tacos 
6. Something I can't live without? Hayden's ring
7. Favorite game? Uno 
8. Favorite snack? Buñuelos from El Indio
9. Favorite animal? Beluga Whales
10. Favorite song? The Right Stuff- NKOTB and When You Say Nothing at All- Allison Krauss
11. Favorite book? Heaven is Waiting - Stephanie Nielson
12. Best Friend/s/? Robert, Mom, Lydia, Aurora, Marissa, Juniper, Diane
13. Favorite Cereal? Cinnamon Toast Crunch
14. Favorite thing to do outside? Swimming
15. Favorite Drink? Vanilla Coke
16. Favorite Holiday? Christmas 
17. Favorite Movie? Pitch Perfect
18. Favorite Breakfast? Créme Brûlée French Toast
19. Favorite place to visit? Disneyland
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? A Grandma

Fifteen Things

I came up with this list last week and thought I would share.

Fifteen Things All Homeschool Mom's Will Understand

1. Kids who demand your attention before a sufficient amount of caffeinated beverages has been consumed. (In our house it's a small cup of coke and my depression and anxiety meds)

2. When someone suggests that teaching is an easy job.

3. Trying not to laugh when a student says something hilarious but completely inappropriate.

4. When your kids are giggling and you have no idea why.

5. Non-teachers and Public School Teachers telling you how you should be running your homeschool.

6. When your kids find you on Facebook or Instagram.

7. Bidding farewell to your evenings and weekends. They are spend checking your lesson plans and making sure you have everything you need for the week.

8. The first Monday after a school break.

9. When your kid asks you a difficult question that you definitely don’t know the answer to.

10. The complete loss of your privacy, and, at times, your dignity.

11. Waking up early in the morning, even on weekends and holidays. It's engrained into your brain and there is no getting rid of it.

12. Trying not to catch the flu from your kids.

13. Getting the flu and teaching that day anyway.

14. Explaining to your friends why you won’t hang out with them in the evenings. I am way too tired from doing my teacher duties on top of wifely/motherly duties.

15. Trying not to cry in front of your kids when your struggling child finally gets their head around the thing you’ve been trying to teach them all year.

Literature Unit's

This year our main focus for Sage in Language Arts is Literature. We are using the Literature Unit Studies form Confessions of a Homeschooler. Sage picked out 6 books, one for each learning period. I am beyond proud of the choices he made. He could have picked easier kiddy books but he chose to read books that most kids don't read until late middle school or even High School.

Living Reference Books

In addition to our Social Studies and Science Curriculum we will be using what we call "Living Books" to help us review and study more about each subject.

 Social Studies

Our Fifty States- National Geographic

United States of America Talking Puzzle- Melissa and Doug

Science

The Incredible Machine- National Geographic

Atlas of the Human Body- Robert's College Anatomy Book

Reference Folders

Since we longer have a dedicated school room and no where to hang anchor charts I had to come up with an idea so the kids could still access them if they had a question or needed a reminder. After a few hours the Reference Folders were born.

 This one holds Math and Language Arts anchor charts.

This one holds our fold out World and U.S. Map and State 

Anchor Charts that we will use with the Road Trip U.S.A 

curriculum from Confessions of a Homeschooler.

2014-2015 First Day Pictures

While the first day of School isn't for another 2 weeks, I decided to go ahead and get pictures out of the way. I cannot believe that we have a fifth grader this year, just one more year of Elementary School for Sage. Aurora, my baby is in Second grade, I cannot believe how fast they are growing. I am beyond blessed to be able to keep them home with me.

Serious 

 Silly

2014-2015 Classroom

While I still don't have everything done, I have done all that I can for now. The Homeschool charter that we homeschool through still has the majority of the curriculum and I should be receiving it next week sometime. Thankfully, school doesn't start until after Labor Day.

I have been working very hard to get this part of our home ready for the year and with a severe back problem it has taken me much longer than I would have liked.

We will be using our kitchen/dining room for school this year

This cart hold our supply caddy, Library book basket, math manipulative's, and cubby's for misc. things

This dresser has definitely seen better days but it serves it's purpose well. The middle drawer on the left hold the teacher's manuals, my lesson planner and all of my things. The middle drawer on the right holds construction and art paper.

The top left and right drawers hold Sage and Aurora's mini white boards, writing paper and still have plenty of room for their workbooks for each subject. There is also a basket for them to put their finished work in so I can grade it and log it onto their state required individual learning logs.

The bottom left drawers hold extra crayons, pencils, pens, index cards, notebooks and lined paper. The bottom right holds art supplies.

Thankfully both of the kids are old enough to not need posters and calendars on the walls. my project this week is to make a reference binder for our anchor charts so if they ever forget or just need a reminder they can look it up easily.

I am linking up with the iHomeschool Networks 6th Annual Not Back to School Blog Hop. Click {HERE} to see other great homeschool spaces. 

2014-2015 Curriculum

Sage

Social Studies - Road Trip USA from Confessions of a Homeschooler

L. Arts - Literature Units from Confessions of a Homeschooler

Spelling/Grammar - California Excursions grade 5

Science - The Human Body

Math - Primary Mathematics (singapore approach) grade 5

Handwriting - Daily Handwriting Practice

Typing - Typers Island Typing Instructor

Aurora

                                                           

                           

L. Arts - California Excursions grade 2

Handwriting - Daily Handwriting Practice

Typing - Typers Island Typing Instructor

Math - Math in Focus grade 2

Social Studies - Road Trip USA from Confessions of a Homeschooler

Science - The Human Body

For Art we do KellyKits which can be found at KelleyKits.com

Sage's 10th Birthday

Sage's birthday was actually very low key this year. Sage opened one present which was his custom-made by Mom birthday shirt.

We then went to Boomer's for some Mini Golf, then to 7-11 for giant Slurpee's with mustache straws. We spent the rest of the day having fun at home. When Dad got home we headed to Souplantation for dinner.

I made the name banner to look like LEGO bricks and the cake was Lego Movie themed. It was an extremely hot day so the frosting kept melting. I'm not happy with the way it turned out but of course Sage was so, i guess that's all that matters.

 After dinner we came home to open presents, beat the pinata open and have cake. The trick sparkler candles were a big hit with Sage. He made out with an Emmett shirt and a huge LEGO set. Lydia and Shane took him to Legoland for the very first time. He loved it!

I cannot believe that my little boy is 10 now.

Double Digits

Ten years ago, today we were finally blessed with a healthy baby boy. I cannot believe that my Sage is now 10 years old. We love him so much and are extremely grateful that he chose us to be his family.

Here is this years edition of 20 Questions.

Sage Landon Parker

1. What is your favorite color? Blue
2. What is your favorite stuffed animal? Jack the puppy
3. What is your favorite fruit? Apple
4. Favorite T.V Show? Wipeout
5. Favorite food? Chicken Nuggets or Pizza
6. Something I can't live without? Lego's
7. Favorite game? The Lego Movie video game
8. Favorite snack? Fruit snacks
9. Favorite animal? Sharks
10. Favorite song? Everything is Awesome
11. Favorite book? The Lego Movie Jr. Novel
12. Best Friend/s/? Aurora, Andrew, Joshua, Keenan
13. Favorite Cereal? Cinnamon Toast Crunch
14. Favorite thing to do outside? Swimming
15. Favorite Drink? Chocolate Milk
16. Favorite Holiday? Christmas
17. Favorite Movie? The Lego Movie
18. Favorite Breakfast? Pancakes
19. Favorite place to visit? Disneyland, Sea World, Utah
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? Architect

That Time of Year

Here it is, the end of the school year. I am so excited that I can hardly stand it. However, in all honesty I know that after a week or maybe two I am going to be ready to get back to school.

I have all sorts of fun things planned and cannot wait to spend time with my munchkins while we continue to learn and have tons of fun doing it. 

Here's a link to my last post about the summer blues.  

http://culaparker.blogspot.com/2013/05/is-it-over-yet.html

2014 summer fun list

Presenting our 2014 Summer Fun List

1. Welcome Shane home from Afghanistan
2. Jawbreaker Contest
3. Visit family in Utah
4. Have a picnic with Hayden
5. Have a picnic with Grandma
6. Play dates with homeschool friends
7. Read books
8. Go camping
9. Swimming
10. Sleepovers in Mom and Dad's room
11. Go to the Drive-In
12. Kids dollar movie club
13. Have a water fight
14. Go to the dog park a lot
15. Ride bikes

Sleeping Positions

I am constantly finding Robert in funny positions while sleeping or napping.

Lydia Turns 20!

We celebrated with a donut cake for breakfast, presents, cuddles, yummy sugar cookies and a pink camouflage cake with blue raspberry filling.

                      

                             

And no birthday would be complete without a trip to the ER for Lydia with yet another Kidney stone. 

20 for 20!

Lydia Katherine Miiler

April 15, 2014

20 Questions

1. What is your favorite color? Yellow

2. What is your favorite stuffed animal ? Major Cuddles a.k.a SB

3. What is your favorite fruit? Mango

4. Favorite T.V Show? Twisted

5. Favorite food? Egg rolls 

6. Something I can't live without? Music

7. Favorite game? Wipeout for kinect and intense games of UNO

8. Favorite snack? Smoothies and wheat thins

9. Favorite animal? White Tiger

10. Favorite song? She Wouldn't be Gone- Blake Shelton

11. Favorite book? The Me Nobody Knew

12. Best Friend/s/? Dani and Shane

13. Favorite Cereal? Cinnamon Life

14. Favorite thing to do outside? Swimming and Bike Riding

15. Favorite Drink? Milk

16. Favorite Holiday? Halloween

17. Favorite Movie? The Moulin Rouge

18. Favorite Breakfast? Hashbrowns

19. Favorite place to visit? Beach

                          20. What do you want to be when you grow up? A Radio-Oncologist

Date Night

Robert and I were in desperate need of a date night so off we went to dinner at The Brigantine and then to Boomer's for a round of mini golf and the batting cages.

I don't remember the last time we had so much fun.

I am so lucky to have a husband who is not afraid to act silly with me.

Pack Meeting

I am beyond proud of Sage and all that he has/is accomplishing in Cub Scouts.

Aurora Turns Seven!!!

We had so much fun celebrating Aurora's 7th birthday. We had a family dinner and opened some presents followed by cake and a piñata.

Lydia and I  made a banner and hung snowflakes from the ceiling for the FROZEN theme. Aurora ended up taking a much needed nap before the festivities.

Piñata's are always a hit!

Best Laundry Soap Ever!

I love making my own laundry soap. Lately I've found myself wanting to try a new recipe so after a few trial and error recipes I have finally found the one that I love, and the best part is you only need 2 tablespoons per load.

I found all of this in the laundry section at Walmart.

You will need:

1- 3lb box of washing soda -  $ 3.24

1- 3lb box of baking soda - $ 2.24

1- 4lb box of Borax - $ 3.97

1- 3lb tub of oxi-clean - $ 7.52

2- bars of Zote or Fels-Naptha soap - $ 1.94

2- bottles of Purex Crystals - $ 7.94

Grand total: $ 26.87 for 20 lbs of laundry soap

             

                                   

 You will need to grate the soap. I used my Kitchen Aid grating attachment. Then pour in half do everything into a 5lb bucket and mix with a large mixing spoon. Pour the rest of the ingredients in and stir again.

                                       

It should look like this when it's all mixed together

        

You can scoop some back into the Purex Crystals bottles and if you pour it to the second line on the lid it equals exactly 2 Tablespoons.

                               

 After filling these two bottles I still have half of the bucket left. This will last forever!!!

20 Questions

Aurora Janell Isabelle Parker

February 23, 2014

20 Questions

1. What is your favorite color? Pink

2. What is your favorite toy? My Little Pony

3. What is your favorite fruit? Strawberries
4. Favorite T.V Show? Ellen
5. Favorite thing to eat for lunch? Chick-fil-a
6. Favorite piece of clothing? My Little Pony shirt
7. Favorite game? UNO
8. Favorite snack? Mozzarella cheese sticks
9. Favorite animal? Zebra
10. Favorite song? Let It Go
11. Favorite Book? Skippy Jon Jones and the Big Bones
12. Best Friend/s/? Casey, Bella, Gabby
13. Favorite Cereal? Cinnamon Life
14. Favorite thing to do outside? Swimming
15. Favorite Drink? Vanilla Bean blended cream from Starbucks
16. Favorite Holiday? Her birthday
17. What does she take to bed with her? Her stuffed dog, Elvira that she got from her Grandma Foti
18. Favorite Breakfast? French Toast or Scrambled Eggs
19. Favorite place to visit? Disneyland
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? A Mommy

Hayden is 11!!!

Happy 11th Birthday Hayden Andrew!

I cannot believe that it has been 11 years since our sweet Hayden Andrew joined our family. We miss  so much that it hurts. We always send him balloons with messages, one balloon for every year old he is. We can't wait to be with him again.

Three Generations

Lately, I find myself missing these two women everyday. I remember when this picture was taken I thought it was really stupid to be taking a pictures with my Aunt and Grandma but now I am so very glad that I have it to remember these AMAZING women and how much they mean to me.

They helped my Mother raise me and have greatly influenced to woman I have become. Those who knew my Grandma and Aunt will remember that they had little to no tact and always said what she thought, they would do anything for those they loved and had a deep love/hate relationship with Carbohydrates. I am constantly having to remind myself to think before I speak but then I think of them and it makes me happy to be so much like them.

Tap, Tap, Tap.......

In honor of our 12th Anniversary here's a breakdown of our twelve years together.

12 - Years of Marriage
11 - Trip's to Utah to visit Family
10 - Years we've lived in San Diego
9 - Pets we have had/have
8 - Years working for Kaiser
7 - Days a week that we are grateful for each other
6 - Months between our first date and our wedding
5 - AMAZING Children
4 - Different homes we have lived in
3 - Years we've been Homeschooling
2 - States we have lived in / Children in Heaven
1 - One happy couple

Aurora On Ice

We had Aurora's birthday party early this year. She was able to pick 2 friends to go with her to Disney on Ice. Two of her friends already had tickets for the same night so she ended up being able to have 4 friends join her instead. 

First, we headed to Chick-fil-a for dinner then next door to Viejas Center for the show. Hannah and Bella had seats on the opposite side of the arena so we said our goodbyes and went to find our seats with Casey and Gabby.

The girls and I had a great time and can't wait to do it again!

The Coolest Brr...thday!

Aurora has been begging for years to see a Disney on Ice Show. We decided to celebrate her birthday party early and let her take two friends to the show with her. We'll start with dinner at Chick-fil-a and then finish our night with Disney's Rockin' Ever After Ice Show.