Need TV Watching Advice (Please offer a comment)

So how much TV do you watch?  How much are you willing to pay for it?  Do you watch it live?  Do you record and catch up? Do you stream?

This is how we were feeling.  We have always felt very attached to our shows.  We thought it was a must.  TV is an essential, right?  I know that sounds silly but we thought so.  The idea of letting go never crossed our minds.  We are not one of "those" families that hates all things of the world.  I do not believe that TV is evil.  Our family has bonded over our love of certain shows.   J and I have found it to be a crucial part of our parenting.  We have watched TV with our kids.  When things come up in the show we talk.  We have always had a world full of lessons on had as we start our evening family time.

There have been a couple of things that happened lately within the shows that we love that pushed me into cutting the cord.  I see it as a new adventure and the rest of the family sees it as a punishment.  I really am not sure if we will make it.  I do admit that calling and canceling our service was fun. Our budget will enjoy the changes I am sure.  I am embarrassed to say that we have been spending about $130 a month for the convenience of turning on the TV and having a show there all ready.

I am writing this after one day of switching.  Dad was out of town last night and texted me about a cool show he watched from his hotel room last night. Ouch, we don't how to use this new thing yet and he was rubbing it in.

Roku, we went this method but I am not sure why. I am beginning to wonder if a disk player with the streaming options would have worked just as well.  This is where you come in.  Do you stream? How do you do it?  What channels or apps do you think it is important to pay for?  Give me a list of great shows that you have enjoyed as a family. 

This little box (about the size of two hockey pucks stacked) has a lot ridding on it. (It was a great deal for the one time purchase of $79 so I am still ahead for the first month if we can make this work!)  So this might be the right decision.  We might still be able to have TV without the high costs and crazy shows that we don't want to support but we are not opposed to TV?  Where does that leave us?

 

I was lost last night trying to decide what to watch and how to watch it.  We have Netflicks ($7.95 a month) and have enjoyed that for years, it is wonderful for older shows and movies.  We are also Amazon Prime ($79 yearly) members so that gave us more options.  Honestly we joined Prime because of the free shipping for Amazon.  I was amazed at all the shows that does open up to us.

 

BUT, neither are great for the latest TV shows and we discovered that many of the channels are subscription only.  So what do you watch, how do you watch it?  We love all kinds of shows from SciFi to Period Pieces to the latest Disney.  So I need recommendations to search out.  I would also love to know what channels or apps you subscribe to.  (Is Hulu Plus worth the minimal costs?)

 

This picture might show all that is possible but to win my family over I am going to need some help.  I don't want to be so old that I refuse to learn new ways of doing things, but help!  I feel lost when it comes to TV.  How do you watch sports?  How do you catch up on the news? I know this is all possible, but I am lost.

After you stop laughing at me - go ahead I deserve it - please leave me a comment and help me out or at least recommend your favorite movies or shows! 

Reading Time

 Jumba loves his baby sisters so much.  I love watching him read to them. 

 Twin Adorable then tries to reread that story by herself.

Twin Beautiful comes and sits down to hear the story.  I did not understand their words but Adorable was reading out loud to Beautiful and they were enjoying the story.

Growing Up

Possible is no longer a little girl needing her mom to cash her checks for her.  She has her own high school account.

 She decided to celebrate having the new card when she headed to the movies with some friends.

Good friends that are willing to do fun stuff with you make life more fun; and paying for your adventures together with your own debit card makes you that much more grown up.

Shhh Mom, the Dog is Sleeping

I love watching the twins.  They crack me up.

Super Bowl Party

 

Followers of this blog will know that this means it is time for a Texas T family tradition and party.  The big kids had just returned home from helping to run a retreat and were exhausted.  J and I prepared the party food and called everyone to what we hoped would be an exciting game of football.

 

In fact we got so excited about the start of the game that we moved the food into the living room to enjoy all the commercials.

 

The game was not nearly as good as the food.  Just kind of boring.

I remember being very thankful that the kids cleaned up all the food and everyone disappeared into homework and projects as the Seahawks beat the Broncos without much show.  Honestly for our family it was a BLAH game and we lost interest early on.  At least the food was fun and yummy.

Valentine Soda Shoppe

Every year our neighborhood has a fun activity.  The association pays for it, some neighbors run it and everyone enjoys it.   Ice scream soda floats and cookies are so much fun.  We missed the four oldest kiddos this year; they were at the Confirmation retreat as teachers! 

 

Here are seven Texas T's that have had their sugar rush for the day!

Goals for 2014 - UPDATED 2-1-14

As the New Year rolled in I set aside 5 basic things that I wanted to focus on for the year 2014. I promised monthly updates in hope that it will keep me focused on accomplishing these.  Here is the original post:  Goals for 2014 as posted on 1-4-14

1)  Replace Holy Mary Tree Topper:
This one is going to be harder than I thought originally.  While putting away this years Christmas mess it was brought to my attention that the original broken topper that you see here was thrown away last year.  I was extremely upset as it has always been my intention to fix it. As we clean out closets we might run into the pieces but it is unlikely.  I guess I am now starting from scratch.  I am now looking for a beautiful Mary face, hands and Baby.  I might be better off just buying one next season knowing that I will be paying top dollar. 

2) Create Heirloom Quality Christmas Stockings:
I have decided on denim (you know, jean material) as the base.  I don't yet have the pattern worked out for the size of the stockings.  I do have several pairs of old jeans that I set aside.  I plan to start with that as our base material.  I can't decide if I should line them or not.  I think they need the lining to add shape and make them softer.  Any thoughts?

3) Improve Flexibility and Stamina:
 Not much on this one at all.  I have been parking farther away on purpose.  This has been very hard considering we have had the first real winter since moving here.  Even Houston has had winter this year.  Three (yes I said 3) snow storms so far.  Well they had ice.  Notice how I did that, I changed topics.  I do that when it comes to exercise of any kind.  Family goal after January is to attend the March for Life 2015 together - all of us.  I need to be in be able to walk quit a bit for that trip.  The goal is to walk 20 miles in an hour.  Not hard for many who exercise but very specific for me.

4) Move Into a Home That Better Fits This Big Family Needs:
We have spent weekends looking at new homes.  We have looked at "build your own" designs on lots and toured several newer subdivision builds.  Where should we go, how should we do this, what can we afford? The hold up on this on is me.  I just can't admit that we are here in Houston long term. 

5) Be Adventurous:
We are ninny butts.  I have realized that this month, as I paid more attention to everything.  Right now I deactivated my Facebook account and have taken on a new attitude.  We have changed our internet and unplugged the cable. That was so hard.  I know it sounds silly but any change is difficult.  I have grown very complacent as well. I don't like our lives but I don't know how I want it to change.  My kids did the math and I am one year older than I thought I was. I can't picture the perfect result.  I don't know why but 45 is a big deal to me. At 25 I had two children and knew that we were on our way to our own life.  We got our first house that year and I liked where I thought we were headed.  20 years later I feel trapped by the choices we have made and I want to be a stronger and more adventurous person at 65.  I am finished looking back to the previous generations.  I realized that we have been so restricted in trying to please and live up to perceived expectations of others.   (There are probable no expectations that exist anywhere but in our own creation.)  I watched my aunt pass away and I realized that I don't need to live up to the person I thought she wanted me to be.  She loved me for me and not for what I did or how much money I made.  I need to stop carrying about what we think the last generation thinks or us or wants of us.  If they truly love us they will be happy if we are true to ourselves and to God.  If they are not happy with us then we need to let it go.  I need to live for God and his expectations, and no one else.  J and I have done a great job at this in the major things but we still get hung up and upset when we hear that someone is not happy with our choices.  "Let it go!" is easier said than done.  That is the hard part for us.  So in adopting a new attitude the plan is to focus more on becoming better versions of who God wants us to be and letting go of the earthly expectations.  So general, I know, but it does mean something to us.  Our goals are becoming more about forming ourselves for the next season in our lives.  We will be the in-laws and the grandparents within the next few years.  We are leaving the last 20 years in the past and concentrating on the next 20 years.  We hope to have children, children-in-laws, and grandchildren that admire us for being who God called us to be.  For me it is very adventurous to live for God and no one else.  I hope that I become more authentic as I become more adventurous.