We had Prime for about 30 Min.

I love Amazon. I shop on Amazon all the time. I had prime membership for about a year because I joined their mom's club and because I bought diapers every month or two they continued to offer me Prime Membership for a year. That all ended in December (Thankfully, after Christmas). In December we decided to get a Roku box for our t.v. so that we could get BYUtv which would allow us to watch conference from the comfort of our own home without having to have cable or watch it on our laptop computer.  With the Roku box we also are able to get the Amazontv app which would make it possible to stream movies from the Amazon library.  I had been tempted to pay for Prime membership since getting the email that says prime members would get to stream a large library of movies for free. Prime is about $80 for the year. That is a lot less than what our Netflix costs us each year so it sounded like a good deal.

Last night I finally took the plunge and bought prime membership thinking we would then be able to drop the Netflix. But after setting up the app and looking at what was available, my husband and I were greatly disappointed with Amazon. First of all, most of the things we would want to watch aren't free even for Prime members. But what we were the most put off by was the lack of a queue or list where we could collect the shows and movies that we would like to watch eventually or that we know the kids would like to watch.  This lack of a queue means that each time you want to watch something you have to search for it first. And in the searching you come across a lot of things that aren't for little eyes to see.  Just flipping through the movies listed as new arrivals was almost pornographic. Thomas the tank engine videos were right next to a slasher movies or a scantily clad female bodies. Not something any of us need to see.  Even just using the search engine where you have to click in the title of the film resulted in a lot of films other than the one you want to come up also.  This doesn't happen with Netflix. I fill my queue online and the recommendations that pop up on the homepage are all based on things we have previously watched so it is very family friendly.  When the kids click on the Netflix app on the tv they get our queue with is full of movies already approved by me for their viewing.  There aren't any adds or recommendations there. I like that!

So after just a few minutes on Amazon's web page and tv app we could tell this wasn't what we wanted. We like Netflix and it is worth the extra money to keep things clean for our family.  I quickly went back to the Amazon website and canceled Prime. Since I hadn't actually used any of the Prime benifits in the 30 minutes since I had clicked that order button, they refunded my money and canceled it. I did leave a comment with that cancellation so they at least got my opinion of the service and they could see about changing things for my demographic.

For now I will have to go back to filling my shopping cart with over $25.00 worth of items so I can qualify for free super saver shipping. And for now we will continue to pay for Netflix.

Organized? I don't think so.

About a week ago I got an email from the lady in our ward who plans Relief Society Activities (formally known as Enrichment which used to be homemaking). In this email she asks me if I would be willing to speak to the group about organization. She said I had been recommended as someone who would have something to share.

I laughed!

Me talk about organization and about getting our lives organized? Wow.. wrong person!

I of course said yes because I have a problem with saying no. I just had no idea what to talk about since I have no systems that work. My house is not run on a schedule. I don't have meals planned out and baked for the month sitting in the  freezer.  Most of my days are spent juggling all the different parts of my life and hoping it all turns out alright. I had nothing to share with a bunch of other ladies of a variety of different ages and situations who all could tell me a thing or two that I know I am not getting to and not doing.

So......

I decided to talk about Wisdom. What does Wisdom have to do with Organizing our lives?

First of all, I have been reading and studying about the topic quite a bit over the last few weeks. After reading the Duggar's latest book A Love that Multiplies I was inspired to read the book of Proverbs in the Old Testament.  Proverbs was just quoted a number of times throughout the book and I realized I had never really studied that particular book so I decided to give it a go.  So a few weeks ago, around Christmas time actually, while the rest of the Christian world was reading about the birth of Jesus I was reading Proverbs. I was reading about the Savior's birth too but in my personal study time (when I could fit it in) I was reading all these wise sayings attributed to Solomon. I was even taking notes and writing in my new Scripture Journal. This is something new for me and so far I am enjoying it.

Don't look too closely at what I wrote mostly it is just quotes from the scripture and then my little thought about it. Nothing very profound but a good start, since this is a new way for me to study.

So anyway... for a few weeks I have been reading all these great thoughts about wisdom and what a wise person is and what they do and don't do. 

As a result, I have the topic of wisdom on my mind and since organization isn't my strong suit I figured the change of topic would be more applicable to the ladies of our group. I tried to tie it into organization.

I shared my list of attributes that I had gathered from the book of Proverbs, used to describe a Wise person.

A wise person is

Reverent (Fears the Lord)
Has Discretion
Has Understanding
Teachable/ Humble
Willing to be chasened
Merciful
Truthful
Pleasant
Confident
Safe
Just
Diligent
Hard Working
Prudent
Balanced
Lowly
Upright
Full of Integrity
Slow to wrath
Friendly
Kind
Sincere
Abides Satisfied
Blessed
Merry
Pure
Generous
Courageous
Virtuous

I also shared a few of my favorite Proverbs

Wisdom is the principle thing; therefore get wisdom; and with all they getting get understanding. Proverbs 4:7

 Wisdom is needed in all aspects of our life. Wisdom comes from God and we should consult him about everything we do. So if we are struggling with something and lack wisdom then we just need to ask. He will share his wisdom with us.

There is no Wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the Lord. Proverbs 21:30

 We need to choose what we walk with, who we walk with and what we bring into our lives. We need wisdom to determine if what we have in our schedules and lives is worthy of our time and not a foolish waste.

He that walketh with wisemen shall be wise; but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.

Proverbs 13:20

 Life isn't going to always be easy. We are going to have hard stressful times and yet we need to not wallow in it. But be faithful and find the joy in the journey we are taking.

He that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast.

Proverbs 15:15

So it wasn't a lesson on organization. In fact it wasn't a lesson at all. It ended up being more of a spiritual thought. Thanksgoodness I wasn't the only one scheduled to speak!

To even illustrate how disorganzied I am. I arrived late to the meeting. I thought it started at 7:00 and arrived 5 min early so I could quickly run to the copier and have a handout but when I got to the church the meeting was already underway (evidently it had started at 6:30) and it was my turn in mere moments. So no handout and I was a bit flustered because I had rushed to get there, only to be late.

I guess this only proves how funny it is to think of me as organized. My brain and schedule are zipping around bouncing from topic to topic and place to place with no rhyme or reason.  I guess I need a little wisdom in my life to sort things out so my juggling act doesn't come crashing down around me.

School Work

I haven't posted a weekly report in ages. Not that these are the most interesting posts but they are a good record of what we have been doing and since I was sitting here writing up a report for our last month of school to turn into our Charter School I figured why not put some of it here.

We will start with Science.
My hardest subject to actually get excited excited about. We have only done one chapter in our Anatomy Apologia text in the last month. We learned about blood. Next week we will get into the circulatory system hopefully but we have taken a long time learning about what is in our blood and what blood does for us. I have also been having Henry read a lot of the Magic School bus easy reader books. We have read about bones, blood, germs and a few others I can't remember. Some not even related to the body but just because they are fun and easy for him to read.
The kids start back into their science workshops this week so I won't feel quite so guilty about not doing formal science with them on a more regular basis.

History isn't too hard to fit into our schedule. We love reading books and my kids have really taken to Greek Myths. We listen to our chapters of Story of the World but mostly we read books about Greece or Mythology.  We are also on the last book in the Percy Jackson series.  There are a lot of things yet to cover about the Greeks that we haven't gotten to yet so I think we will be here for another few weeks.

Writing is going well with IEW. Sophie decided to switch to the Ancient History based Lessons rather than finish the All thing Fun and Fascinating.  We have even stepped away from the lesson and just practiced the technique with things from the books we are reading in History and even Science. She has done a number of really good notebooking pages about blood and the Olympics in which she uses the techniques and dress ups she has been taught so far in in the IEW lessons. I love that she is feeling more confident in her writing.

I think I am going to start Ian on the Student Writing Intensive soon. He has been doing Literature based Language arts the last few weeks and it has been going well but I think we need to move on.

Henry is still doing explode the code. He finished book 4 and is going to do 4 1/2  and just like I did with Ian, I am going to stop them there. Henry is really starting to read well and it is time to start working on more. I am going to have to think about what to do with him in a few weeks when he has finished this workbook.

Math is going smoothly. Sophie started back into Singapore 5B and is having not any trouble with decimals. Ian has gotten through all the multiplication chapters but still doesn't have all those math facts stuck in his head so we are going to go through Math Mammoth to cement them into his head. Henry finished his 1B workbook and before moving on we are reading through the Life of Fred Elementary books that our family got for Christmas. We have already finished Apples and have started Butterflies. I don't have all of the elementary series yet so we will only get to read through Dogs right now but my boys really enjoy these even if they are really simple math. But they now have the days of the week and the months of the year down. They can even spell them, thanks to Fred and me quizzing them on them almost everyday!

We have reviewed our Latin Lessons this week since we have taken some time off from doing any Latin lessons over the holidays.

We read books about Grandma Moses for Art. I can't say it was an in depth study but we read her biography and looked at a few other books that use her artwork. It has also been a good way to go over the months of the year and the seasons.

Our read aloud has been The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster. We then discussed it at Co-op.

I really liked the book but I can tell the kids only got some of the greatness of the book. It is hard to get all the puns and use of idioms when you are young and haven't heard them as much. But the kids, even at co-op, seemed to understand the point of the book.

My favorite quote from this book.

"Whenever you learn something new, the whole world becomes that much richer."

"Many places you would like to see are just off the map and many things you want to know are just out of sight or a little beyond your reach. But someday you'll reach them all, for what you learn today, for no reason at all, will help you discover all the wonderful secrets of tomorrow. "

Other read alouds have been plentiful. I feel like I read and read and read to these kids. Molly loves the Fancy Nancy books and I noticed that the boys got very excited when they saw that I found a whole bunch of new ones at the library this week.  I have also picked up a number of books to read about Mr. Magee. These are some very funny, rhyming books that are just fun.

Sophie was very excited when I found the new American Girl of the Year book at the library.  She has already finished it.

That has been about it. There is all sort of other things we are doing but that is it for school.

Of course what I can't report to the school is the gospel study. They don't want anything to do with that. But we are reading the Book of Mormon again this year. We started reading the old testament at Christmas time because we had finished the Book of Mormon but our Stake President and Bishop challenged us to read the Book of Mormon since that is the course of study for Sunday School this year.  My kids decided they would have to come back to the Old Testament once we have read through the Book of Mormon again.

We are reviewing the 2 Psalms we have learned. My kids have psalm 23 down but 100 needs a lot more help. After a week or two of not repeating it they have forgotten a lot of it. We added in 1 Nephi 3:7 to the list as well as all 13 articles of faith which they all have down pretty well thanks to those Scripture Scout songs.  Ian has also been working on the things he needs to have memorized for his Bobcat badge. I signed them off so I think he should get that Bobcat at the next pack meeting.

As for our Hymn, Primary song for the month. We decided to learn Nephi's courage since we are reading those stories right now in the scriptures.

So that is a long list of the things we are studying. There is a lot going on and I know there are holes here and there in our studies but my kids love to learn so those things will eventually get filled in. 

For now we are doing pretty well.

Art Class

I signed Sophie up to take an online class this semester.  She has wanted to take an art class for a long time and as much as I would love to have her actually attend an art class I just couldn't add yet another outside activity into our already busy schedule. This is where the internet steps in. She gets to take a class and we don't even have to leave the house.  Plus if I sign up for something and actually have to pay for it, I am more likely to make sure it happens. Art is going to happen this semester for Sophie!

The class is given through Leadership Education Academy.  Sophie sits in front of the computer with a set of ear phones and watches the instructor draw and she listens to the lecture. She has a sketch book in her hands and draws or takes notes during the class. An assignment to complete during the week is given. She is expected to complete it and then email it to the teacher. It sounds simple enough.  So far it has gone smoothly except that I can't seem to get the microphone to work on her headset. I don't have the settings right on the computer or something. So she has to type her responses rather than talk.  We are going to have to figure out the problem.

Her first assignment which was due last week was to draw cartoon characters.  She choose Luigi and Mario. I think they turned out great!

 

She wasn't totally happy with this one because of the smudge on the right side of the paper that wouldn't erase and she did this drawing on a piece of scratch paper rather than on good drawing paper or in her sketch book. She also did another drawing just in case this first one wasn't good enough. This time her drawing is of the pink panther and totally from memory and not from a picture.

So far she has enjoyed the two days of class she has "attended".  L.E.A. offers many other classes for her age and also for high school students so now that we have given one a try we may do more in the future.

She gets to give cross hatch drawing a try this week. I wonder what she will come up with for that assignment.

All in One

Ian's birthday was a very busy day! It started off with streamers and balloons as usual. He decided to have Toad in the Hole and of course was given one of his gifts for breakfast.

I then spent the rest of the morning cutting veggies and making cake for later in the day. He spent some time working on his new Lego Technic set. He LOVED it and I was reminded why the tradition got started to open on gift at breakfast. It keeps the super excited child busy for a little while while he waits for the party to really get started.

 Cousins arrived at about lunch time and after some food and a bike ride everyone returned to our little house for cake and Ice Cream an of course presents.

 I don't think Ian could have been happier with the gifts he received. Tintin Wii game, another lego set, Mario Knex car, a fort building set and his very own set of scriptures.  Until my kids turn 8 they use an old set of scriptures from my youth. Ian was very thrilled to get his own set with his name on them as well as a set to scripture stickers to put in. Everyone knows this boy well because he couldn't have been happier with all this gifts.

 Since this is the birthday that Ian turned 8 so after all the cake and presents we put on our dresses and headed to the church for Ian's baptism.

 Ian of course insisted on wearing his cub scout belt and hat along with his ever present bag to his baptism. The hat did end up staying in the car thank goodness.

 I can't say we took many pictures at the baptism itself. It went really quickly and I felt pretty busy the whole time so this is the best picture of my beaming boy that was taken at the event.

I am so proud and happy for my little guy. He is such a wonderful boy and tries so hard to do what is right. He also is just so enthusiastic about life.

Happy Birthday and Congratulations on your baptism.



p.s. I don't want to do both a birthday and baptism on one day again. It was convenient but made for a rather stressful, hectic day! Good thing I have a year and some before we having to think about planning another baptism.  Everything went lovely but I felt like we rushed from one thing to next and didn't get to really enjoy or savor the experience of either the party or the baptism.

First Den Meeting

And so it begins.  This big kid is so excited to finally get to be a boy scout.

We bought the uniform a few days ago and he has worn at least some part of it ever since.

Henry is very sad that he has to wait a few years before he gets to go.

Very Umbridge

On Monday night we had an FHE lesson on safety. Ian is starting cub scouts and needed to go through the child abuse pamphlet that was included with his new Wolf handbook so we went through it for FHE and went over the rules of our house. One of the things that was emphasized was the fact that they always tell me where they going and if there is a change in their plans then they need to let me know what the changes are.  They kids knew all the answers and were able to go through the different scenarios giving all the correct responses. I thought they had this down.

Tuesday afternoon some of our kids friends showed up at the door on their bikes. They often ride over to our house and hang out for an hour or so after school. They are always welcome to come but sometimes the fun of having friend over makes my kids forget the rules. When it was time for the others to head back home all the kids went out to what I thought was just saying goodbye. Next thing I knew all was quiet in my driveway and no kids were in sight. Luckily Molly was snoozing soundly on the big blue chair. But my older three were nowhere.

They were only gone for 15 min. They had only gone and rode their bikes with their friends for a few extra minutes in the cul-de-sac. My kids often go are ride there on their own. But they know they have to let me know they are going there. When they came home and came inside I sat them down to discuss this infraction. I knew they needed a punishment to make sure they knew they had the rule ingrained into their memories.  At first I thought to just take away privileges like screen time or computer/wii time. But that wouldn't happen until the future so instead I gave them the only thing I could think of that would be immediate and "painful" enough to make a point.

I gave them lines.

"I will not leave the house without telling mama".

100 x for Sophie
75 x for Ian
50 x for Henry

Oh my goodness was there weeping, wailing and all sorts of begging.

It took them a long time to complete this task. A full three hours for the boys and Sophie actually finished hers in about two. I did give them a short break for dinner. I don't withhold food. My kids get too crazy when they are hungry.  It was amazing how much less crying and whimpering went on once they all had their stomachs full.


There was still a lot of begging to only have to do ____ instead of the number I gave them. But I didn't budge. I made them each meet the number I told them.  I was so mean and I felt like Pro. Umbridge from the Harry Potter books. At least they didn't have the sentence etched into the skin of the back their hands. They were writing in pencil and not their own blood.  I just hope the rule is now something they will remember.

I don't know if this break in the rules would have hit me so hard if we had not just had the discussion the night before.


They were all smiles once they each reached their number. They actually felt like they accomplished something.  I hope we don't have to repeat this punishment again. I just hoped it worked and they will not have this problem again in the future.