Reflections

We started school last week! I say "we," because unfortunately it's true. I've already had a great refresher on the suffix "-tion" (via this week's spelling list) and reviewed my multiplication tables. I'm also brushing up on the difference between "tens" and "ones." (I'm very proficient at the "tens" column, you'd be proud.)

Anyway, since we are in the mood of "back to school bonanza," I encouraged Carter to step up this year and participate in the Reflections Contest. He's never done it and since school is rather easy for him (just the way he likes it), I think he should stretch a little and do some extra credit (just the way I like it.)

This was met with ample resistance. At some point I said, "Photography is a category, you could do that. The theme this year is 'How I can make a difference.' You could go around and take pictures of people 'making a difference.'"

He looked at me with the same face you are making now.

I continued, "Well then, you could take pictures of yourself making a difference."

He responded, "How?"

"I don't know," I said. "Like doing nice things for people. Making a difference at school."

He rolled his eyes and said, "No, I mean, how am I supposed to take pictures of myself?"

I thought about this for a minute.

He began to walk away, so I simply stated, "I'm sure you could find some way to make a difference."

He shook his head and said, "I'm just not that kind of guy."

Hmm, I think we are going to have a few projects this fall. One will be the Reflections contest, one will be helping Carter learn "what kind of guy" he is, and one will be a refresher on physics.

Story Time

The other day, Spencer pulled up a chair and
read Bryce his favorite Sandra Boynton story.

"Yellow pants, red pants, green pants, oops!"



"Spencer speak" translation: "I love you, Bryce."

Spidey Spence

We're all Spiderman.

All the time.

If you think the outfit is over the top,
you should hear his "Spiderman Song"
and see all his "Spiderman moves."

We are frequently subjected to both.

PB&J -- the right way, please!

Children prefer very simple tasting foods. I know this. I swear we keep Grandma Sycamore's bread company and the Skippy peanut butter factory in business. Quite frankly, I think Spencer would shrivel away to nothing if it weren't for the staying power of peanut butter and white bread. Now for me, sticky, hydrogenated peanut butter on white bread is barely on the fringe of acceptable food choices. I prefer Sycamore's Whole Wheat & Honey with Sunflower Seeds and Maranatha's organic smooth peanut butter. A sandwich such as this has delicious texture and just a hint of sweetness. It is also substantially healthier.

At 11am, when my sweet hobbits were requesting their third meal of the morning, I decided to see if they would like (okay, tolerate) a peanut butter sandwich with my sunflower bread (for continuity, I still used the Skippy --- shudder). I meticulously cut all the crusts off, cut the sandwhich in half the long way, and made sure that everything looked appropriate. I even cut up an apple (all traces of peel removed) and poured them some cranberry juice. I was thrilled with this healthy offering. I took it out to them on the deck, where they had decided to take their meal.

Chelsea eyed the bread suspiciously, "What is this?"

"It's your peanut butter sandwhich," I responded.

"What's the matter with it?" She asked.

"Nothing. Try it." I sat down casually next to her.

She took one small bite, apparently missing the sunflower seeds. "It's okay."

Spencer didn't eat. I had served his sandwhich on the red plate, instead of the green one. In response to this outrage, he was hiding under the chair chanting, "Green, green, green, green," until the plate magically changed color.

Chelsea took another bite and chewed for a minute. Suddenly her face contorted into what appeared to be a convulsion. She ran inside, leaned over the garbage and violently spit everything out of her mouth. She then got a drink, gargled, and spit into the sink.

When she came back out on the deck she looked at me with horror. "What is in that bread??!!"

I found her reaction to be so overly dramatic that I responded simply, "Cockroach legs."

"What?! Mom that's gross! Nobody eats cockroach legs!" She yelled.

"Oh, com'on, Chelsea. They're all dead. Cockroaches are great fiber."

Spencer stopped chanting "green, green, green" and climbed up on his chair to look at the bread instead of the plate.

"What?! I'm telling Carter!!" She stormed off and returned with Carter a minute later.

"Mom, tell him there are cockroach legs in the bread!"

I said nothing.

Carter looked at her sandwich and said, "No, Chelsea, I've had that bread before. It just has seeds in it or something."

"No, she said it was cockroach legs!" She pointed at me.

Carter asked me, "Mom, is it really cockroach legs?"

"Chelsea acted like it was," I said, eyeing her. "It's just sunflower seeds. But you acted like I was trying to poison you. Do you think I would feed you something bad?" I asked.

They all looked at me for a minute, pondering.

"Well, I wouldn't," I answered for them. "I want you to be healthy, so I gave you a healthy wheat bread with some seeds in it. They are delicious and they give it a little bit of a crunch. It's good," I said with a smile.

But, nobody was convinced. I went inside and made them all sandwiches on bleached white bread with sticky, hydrogenated peanut butter. At least this time, I got the plate colors right.

A of F #12:

Some of my favorite laws in my favorite states:

Utah
• Birds have the right of way on all highways. (Solution: swerve!)
• Daylight must be visible between partners on a dance floor.
• It is illegal to fish from horseback.
• When a person reaches the age of 50, he/she can then marry their cousin.
• It is considered an offense to hunt whales. (Where exactly, does one hunt whales in Utah?)
• It is illegal not to drink milk.
• It is illegal to detonate any nuclear weapon. You can have them, but you just can't detonate them.
• Women may not swear. (Except on miniature golf courses. See California.)
• No one may walk down the street carrying a paper bag containing a violin.
• The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BAFT) bans the word "refreshing" to describe any alcohol beverage.
• Pharmacists may not sell gunpowder to cure headaches.

California
• Animals are banned from mating publicly within 1,500 feet of a tavern, school, or place of worship.
• A regulation in San Francisco makes it unlawful to use underwear to wipe off cars in a car wash.
• You are not permitted to wear cowboy boots unless you already own at least two cows.
• Santa Monica: You may not play percussion instruments on the beach.
• In California you may not set a mouse trap without a hunting license.
• In California, selling a gold piece without tooth marks in it is considered forgery.
• San Diego: The owners of houses with Christmas lights on them past February 2, may be fined up to $250.
• Long Beach: It is illegal to curse on a miniature golf course.
• It is illegal to drive more than two thousand sheep down Hollywood Boulevard at one time. (However, this is not illegal in Cedar City, Utah.)

And my personal favorite:

• San Francisco: Persons classified as "ugly" may not walk down any street. (This means you, sheep.)

Happiness IQ

10 (or so) Ways to Improve your Happiness
(according to Time magazine)

#1. Count your blessings
Experimental psychologists discovered that people who counted their blessings three times per week reported greater life satisfaction than those who did it less than three times, irregularly, or not at all. Additionally, those who regularly contemplated people in their lives who had been kind to them reported higher levels of happiness.

#2. Hear the music
Music activates the part of the brain that triggers happiness. Enjoying one's favorite music has also been shown to relax the body and reduce anxiety levels.

#3. Hug
Hugging releases endorphins that reduce pain and can induce euphoria. It is the perfect way to show affection and improve close relationships.

#4. Nurture your spirituality
Survey after survey shows that people with strong religious faith — of any religion or denomination — are happier than those who are irreligious. David Myers, a social psychologist at Michigan's Hope College, says that faith provides social support, a sense of purpose and a reason to focus beyond the self, all of which help root people in their communities.

#5. Move your body
Physical motion can provide a rush of good energy that can lift a mood, be it anxiety or mild depression, and it's a good way to keep healthy. So do a dance, go for a walk, hike up a hill, or just engage in some high-intensity vacuuming!

#6. Laugh big
Laughter, like so many other endorphin-triggers, helps to reduce certain stress hormones and strengthens your immune system. Additionally, people are 30 times more likely to laugh in groups than alone and, not surprisingly, laughter is associated with helping to develop person-to-person connections.

#7. Do something nice for someone else
Small or big, directed at friends or strangers, random acts of kindness make the person performing the kind act happier when they're grouped together, according to Sonja Lyubomirsky, an experimental psychologist at UC Riverside. Doing a considerate thing for another person five times in one day made the doer happier than if they had spread out those five acts over one week.

#8. Seek positive emotion
Happiness can lead to success, rather than the other way around. Happy individuals are predisposed to seek out new opportunities and set new goals. A team of psychologists concluded that while previous research assumed that happiness stemmed from success and accomplishment, happiness is often a result of positive emotions, regardless of life status or situation.

#9. Identify with your heritage
Appreciating one's culture creates and strengthens bonds with others who share that culture and also allows one to identify and appreciate cultural difference. A recent study showed that adolescents of Mexican and Chinese ethnicity maintained feelings of happiness despite daily stress when they had a strong sense of cultural identity.

#10. Play the part of an optimist
Optimism is a learned skill and there are a variety of ways to acquire it, says psychologist Mary Ann Troiani, co-author of Spontaneous Optimism. Through her research, Troiani has come up with three things that you can do to enhance your sense of optimism. First, straighten out your body before your emotions by keeping a straight body posture, taking big steps and walking quickly with your shoulders back and your head up. "People who are pessimistic walk slowly with small steps and their head down," she says. Second, change your tone of voice so that it is cheerful and full of energy. Third, use upbeat or happier words, such as "challenge" rather than "problem," or think of "opportunities" rather than "losses." "Positive thoughts and behavior have a positive impact on the brain's biochemistry," she says. "[They] boost your serotonin levels and signal that you're happy. Your brain will catch up to you." Troiani reminds us: it takes about 4 to 6 weeks to really change a habit.

#11. Hang a picture of a grinning ape on your fridge.
This one is my personal addition to the list. I find it provides immediate results.

Beach Boys

Last night we went to the Beach Boys concert at Tuacahn.

I think Tyler and I were the youngest ones there. I spent the 20 minutes before the concert thinking of alternate band names, like: "Geriatrics Unite!" or "The Grateful [we're not] Dead," "Lipitor Lovers" or even, "The Osteoarthritic Band."

Although there was no mosh pit or crowd surfing, it really was fun. I've never been a big fan of the Beach Boys, not that I dislike them, just that given the choice, I'd probably listen to something else. But I'd have to say I was converted. It was nice to sit in a clean, outdoor theater and listen to upbeat, non-offensive music. I didn't worry once about the lyrics, or what the people sitting next to me were doing (on one side: 6-month old with parents, on other side: family with four kids, everywhere else: retirees). At one point we all raised our lit cel phones and there were even beach balls hit around the crowd for a few minutes. (I tell ya-- we know how to party).

It was a fun date. Thanks for the good idea, Tyler!

Backyard Photos

We took some pictures today of Bryce in the backyard.

Isn't he darling?

Those cheeks need a kiss!
Excuse me for a sec...