The Red Headed Hostess

Grateful for the Red Headed Hostess

My Learning Style: Visual, Hands on Interaction

One part of the day that I truly enjoy is my personal devotion and scripture study. 5:30 AM rolls around so quickly, but it's worth getting up to have some quiet moments of reflection and peace before the joyful chaos ensues. I am a visual and interactive learner. I don't do well with just one-sense learning. Just reading the scriptures quietly does not catch my attention. Just listening to the scriptures on my phone does not provide adequate depth. I need to read, write, highlight, and record my thoughts to have a truly meaningful experience, and to embrace the lesson that is meant for me.

For spiritual organization, my new friend is The Red Headed Hostess. I discovered her website a few weeks ago and instantly felt like this was the method that would work for me. She has developed scripture journals, a fabulous way to organize your scripture study. I picked up a chapter journal and a topic journal when she had a $3.00 off per journal sale. The chapter journal allows you to take notes and write down inspiration for particular scripture chapters. The topic journal is for recording scriptures, quotes, and thoughts about specific topics. Both journals can be referenced to the other due to her thoughtful and organized layout. Multiple designs are available to fit your style. I also purchased a topic journal for my son who is preparing for an LDS Mission. Just for your information, his journal is not pink and green like mine.

Because October is our Be Grateful month, I chose Gratitude as the first topic in my journal. Immense joy has been had as I've recorded all the scriptures, quotes, and personal experiences I've had this month in one place. Now I have a complete two page spread about gratitude that I can refer back to for future reference.

Now that I've finished my Gratitude scripture study, I've moved back to regular chapter reading. I love having an organized journal where I can record insights for specific verses, words I looked up, other scriptures I cross-referenced, or thoughts from study guides. It makes my scripture study more meaningful and I feel like I internalize the principles more fully.

I'm grateful today for The Red Headed Hostess. She has provided a product that fits my style and my needs.Try it out and let me know what you think!

More to Come...but until then, Stick-to-it!

Media Fast - Day 3

Observations for Day 3:

1. Creativity and Research - My daughter wanted to know what a crow and nightingale look like (they were referenced in a story she was reading). We printed out a picture of each and she drew them in her sketchbook.

2. My little guy was sick with a fever last night and went to sleep at 7 PM. My 12 year old son said, "Doesn't it feel lonely without him here?" I said, "Why don't you go check on him?" He quickly replied, "I already did...I was hoping he'd wake up and play with me." Thoughtfulness!


3. This one doesn't like reading very much. Wow - glad to see it happening...and such a big book, too!

4. Fun, pretend, play time. I love these super heroes!

5. Playing games in the evening together...patience for the little ones, too.

6. Superman doesn't usually play with toys very much. He got out the blocks and made a telescope.

7. By accident, I cheated. My brother posted a video on our www.MyFamily.com site and I clicked on it without thinking. I saw a bit of "The Dance of Joy" and then closed it. It takes practice and vigilance to train yourself to "shut down" or "power off". 


8. Progress on school work! My daughter accomplished more last night than she has in quite a while!


9. A cleaner house! Everyone has more time to finish their chores!!


Tips for success:
- Unplug the equipment. We don't have TV - just the ability to watch movies. We unplugged the TV AND disconnected the Roku and DVD player from it so the little people cannot turn anything on themselves. They haven't even asked to watch a movie in the last three days.
- Come up with an alternative. My daughter enjoys listening to CD's in her boom box. We found her some church/religious CD's that she can play instead and she's been plenty happy with them.
- Think about the things you want your children to spend time doing, but never seem to get there. Encourage working on some of those projects. 


More to Come...but until then, Stick-to-it!

Media Fast - Day 2

Observations for day 2 of the Media Fast:

1. The kids are really trying. Our stalwart Jazz Fan was dying to know the score of the game last night. He realized the only way to find out was to call a friend of his, but it was too late. He had to wait until this morning to hear the outcome. Also, last night, our four oldest children went to a youth activity. They were in other people's cars who turned on the radio. Two of my four kids told me that they politely asked for the music to be turned off. They had the opportunity to talk about the media fast. They promptly replaced the music with religious music.

2. My daughter sang a church song all morning as she was getting ready for school. Usually, I hear a "popular" tune. Love it!

3. Do you have any children that tend to clash? We have a pair...12 year old boy/17 year old girl. This morning I found them on the same couch together, half asleep/half awake. When they realized I was taking their picture, she quickly covered up. I don't know if this kind of togetherness has ever happened before...

4. When Buster Brown wakes up, he likes to veg in front of "All About Cars & Trucks" or "Veggie Tales". This morning, I found him doing this...

Wow, a book. What a concept! We don't need to watch Larry Boy to be entertained.

5. My nine year old son got all of his homework and chores finished by dinner time. Awesome!! He wanted to play a game with me...Life. That doesn't work very well with a 2,4 and 6 year old so I gave him a rain check.

6. When the kids found out that I ALWAYS turn off the radio when I'm driving in the car by myself, they were shocked. "It's one of my few moments of quiet", was my response. No music while driving in the car hasn't affected me. However, I have noticed more conversation in the car because of it.

Good Stuff!

More to Come...but until then, Stick-to-it!

Dedication by drawing, describing, designing

I found a great way to enhance scripture study as a family. It's a product by Doris Johnson called Book of Mormon Picture Pages. http://www.mormonlittlebooks.com/picturepages.html

You receive a CD of PDF files that correspond to verses throughout the scriptures. There's a summarized caption at the bottom and then a blank page to design a picture that relates to the verse(s). Print out a different page for each family member, and over time, you'll have a complete, illustrated copy of the Book of Mormon. It gives the family a visual reminder of the scriptures and builds creativity as well. We started our scripture pages on Monday night as part of Family Home Evening.

Thanks, Doris, for a great product!! I'm excited to build knowledge, appreciation and love for the scriptures!

More to Come...but until then, Stick-to-it!

"Work While You Work"

I've taught my oldest children to read out of Phyllis Schlafly's First Reader. It is a fabulous, phonics-based system that starts with the letters, moves to words, then sentences, and finally, stories. It begins with the short vowel sounds until they are sooooo pro, and then moves to long vowel sounds, special sounds, blends, etc.

You've served us well, First Reader! $30 for 6 children - can't beat it!

I'm in the middle of teaching my sixth child right now. We've just made it through the long vowel section and we're moving on to special sounds/phonograms. Wow, it's been a bit of a fight with #6 but we're making it. My brother, a real Stick-to-it Dad, is working on reading with his daughter, as well. They pray before each reading session because he needed extra help with patience during this process. You mean you need patience to teach a child to read??? Thanks for the reminder! Inviting the Spirit into learning truly is the best teacher and motivator.

The main reason for this post is because of a little poem that my children have memorized from First Reader...

Work While You Work

Work while you work; play while you play,
One thing at a time; that is the way.
All that you do, do with your might.
Things done by halves, are not done right.

I love this little poem! It is a great reminder to stay true to the task at hand and do it well. We like to encourage our children to work hard while you're working. When you're playing, really play! When it's school time, put your heart into it. When it's meal time, enjoy that grub (but remember your manners)! When we're at church, be reverent and think about spiritual things. When it's piano practice, focus and enjoy yourself.

We all have a tendency to work on something, get distracted, play a little bit, go back to it, etc. etc. and the original task takes FOREVER to complete. Finish your math lesson and then go play with your friend. Clean your room and then play with your legos. Work while you work. Play while you play...

And while you're at it, do it right the first time so Mom doesn't need to tell you to do it again. Please!!!

More to Come...but until then, Stick-to-it!