Thursday, March 31, 2016

Baby #5 - It's a...

Hi Everyone!

Monday i had my 20 week ultrasound and we were able to find out the sex of our baby. So without further ado, here are the results of our ultrasound...



We are so excited to be welcoming yet another baby boy into our family!


Baby is healthy and everything looks great! I can't wait for August to be here so i can hold my little baby boy in my arms!


 photo Signature1_zps25c33e22.png

Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Top 5 Marriage Tips


Hi Everyone!

My husband and I just celebrated 14 years of being together (that's how long ago we started dating, crazy right?!). This got me thinking, how are we still together after all these years?! Especially in a world where 50% of all marriages end in divorce.

We aren't perfect.

We are human and we BOTH make mistakes.

So how do we make it work?!

I found that there are 5 things have helped keep us connected over the years and have made our marriage stronger. Maybe they might help some of you too!

*Side note: There is no such thing as a perfect marriage, because we are all imperfect, therefore there is no perfect key to marriage. Please keep that in mind when reading my tips.*






1. Communication - Devote at least 30 minutes each day to spend time talking (and listening) with your spouse.

2. Don't ever talk badly about your spouse to anyone - Your marriage is a relationship between the two of you, by talking badly about your spouse to someone else you open up your relationship and let others in. (admittedly i've struggled with this in the past, but like i said we are human and we make mistakes, i'm trying really hard to follow this)

3. Put each other first - Simply put; make time for each other.

4. Go to bed at the same time - This is very important bonding time, that all couples need.

5. Prayer - Pray for each other, and also spend time praying together.

These 5 tips have helped our marriage so much and i hope they bless your's too!

 photo Signature1_zps25c33e22.png

Tuesday, March 29, 2016

2nd Grade Update

Last month i shared an update on how Super Guy is doing in 5th Grade, today i thought i'd share how Boogie Man is doing in 2nd Grade.



We are doing Math-U-See again this year with him and as you all probably know by now i LOVE Math-U-See!! He is also loving it, and using the blocks has really helped him.



As i talked about before we started to fully get into our Rosetta Stone language curriculum this year, where he is learning Spanish.

I have to say this is the one subject he really struggles with. His Spanish vocabulary has really increased, but he has a very hard time with pronunciation. I know with time (and patience) he will master this!

He loves spelling! We are using Spelling-U-See and it's made a world of difference. He is pointing out vowel chunks and constant chunks everywhere there are words (like on signs, tv, etc.).



We zoomed through his A Beka Book history and science curriculum (which he did great on), and have since been using "The Story of the World vol. 1" for history and "Exploring Creation with Astronomy" for science.

 I am finding the The Story of the World is kinda boring though and i'm not sure i would use it again.
We do however, love to do the fun projects in our Astronomy book!

We've been doing Road Trip USA for geography class and so far we have learned 27 states and i'm super happy to say he knows all the capitals for those 27 states!!

As far as everything else, he is doing great! He is reading at a 3rd grade level! :) And he enjoys doing his school work.

This year has been pretty great so far!

 photo Signature1_zps25c33e22.png

Monday, March 28, 2016

Homeschooling In... {Arizona}

Hi Everyone!

Today i'm continuing with my "Homeschooling In..." Series. I've already talked about IdahoAlaskaOregon, Washington, and Montana; so today i'm going to be talking about Arizona.



Here are some things you should know about homeschooling in Arizona.

1. All children are required to be educated once they are 6 years old and up until the age of 16. Anything before 6 years old or after 16 years old is not required.

2. Required Subjects are: reading, grammar, math, social studies, and science.

3. You are not required to test them.

4. You must file a notarized affidavit of intent to homeschool with your county school superintendent within 30 days after homeschooling begins. Which must include: child's name, child's date of birth, current address, parent's names, parent's telephone number, and parent's addresses.

5. You must provide the county school superintendent a certified copy of the child's birth certificate.

6. You can use any curriculum you like.

7. You do Not have to have any special teacher qualifications.


Here are some great resources for homeschooling in Arizona:

1. http://www.afhe.org/  – Arizona Families for Home Education.


3. https://www.home-school.com/groups/AZ.html – Arizona Homeschool Groups


Once you have decided to homeschool your child and you have looked into all the laws/rules, what comes next is picking out what curriculum you are going to use.

Best place to start with that is by checking out what curriculum other homeschoolers are using (and loving). In other words Google search “homeschooling blogs” and start reading what all the other homeschooling families out there use. You can also check out my homeschool curriculum picks.

Another place you could go is HomeSchoolReviews, they offer reviews on all the curriculum out there and those reviews are written by other homeschoolers.

Keep in mind, when picking out curriculum, your child’s learning style!

After you have the curriculum all picked out, all that’s left to do is start planning your school year.
A lot of homeschoolers like to keep with the same school year outline as our public schools, (start at the end of August and go until the end of May), but you can do whatever you would like.  It’s really up to you to decide what will work best for your family.

Now all that’s left to do is dive right on into it. The first year is going to be full of bumps. You’ll make some mistakes, you’ll have some rough days/weeks, but *hopefully* you will learn from your mistakes and in the end it will all be worth it.

Good luck with the journey ahead of you!!


 photo Signature1_zps25c33e22.png

****None of this is intended to be legal advice (i'm not a lawyer), it's purely informational. So make sure you check out your states laws beforehand.****

Sunday, March 27, 2016

Happy Easter 2016

Hi Everyone!

I just wanted to take a minute to wish all my readers out there a very Happy Easter!!

Our Family just loves Easter.

Easter morning the kids wake up early to see what the Easter Bunny has left for them. Then after looking through their Easter baskets, they search the house for plastic eggs that the Easter Bunny has hid for them. :)

However, we always like to take time with the children to remember and talk about the real reason we are celebrating this day.

Our Savior has risen!



No matter how you choose to spend/celebrate this holiday, we hope you have a great day with the ones you love!


 photo Signature1_zps25c33e22.png

Friday, March 18, 2016

7th Heaven

Hi Everyone!

I figured it was about time that i share our good news with you. In August we will no longer be a family of 6, as we are expecting our 5th child. We will then become a family of 7!!

We found out back in December the good news and we are all very excited for our new little bundle of joy to join Our Family.



 photo Signature1_zps25c33e22.png