No one can do this...

And by that I mean: make a $1 kite fly...it just doesn't work. I know that some people think the dollar store is the best thing on earth, but I don't share that sentiment. It is full of crap. I'd rather not receive a present than get something from the dollar store that breaks within five minutes of purchase. What a waste of time and money! I'd much rather save up and buy something worth owning. Case in point: the kids recieved some dollar store kites as a gift at Easter time. In the high winds today, we had the idea to pull them out and try to fly them. The kids were really excited, but their hopes of kite-flying fun were dashed within five minutes as the kites came crashing to earth and broke into many pieces.
While momentarily dismayed, the kids were not out of ideas yet. They took their kite strings and ran around and around the playground until they had wrapped it up good and tight. At least they were able to still have fun.

Are We Born Moral Beings?

I've had this post in my head for a while, but time and life and circumstances don't always permit one to sit down and type one's thoughts. School is now out, however, and that helps the whole time issue immeasurably, so here we go.

(Merritt- 3 months old)
I was cleaning Marie's house a few weeks ago and listening to NPR...I love NPR. Marie totally got me hooked on it so it's all her fault that I am now a public radio geek. The Friday News Round-up with Diane Rehm is really excellent and I love Radio West with Doug Fabrizio (a local show broadcast on-site at KUER in SLC!). So, on this particular day, Doug F. was interviewing a Yale psychologist named Dr. Paul Bloom who has been conducting experiements to determine whether or not we are born with an innate sense of morality. To that end he and his wife (also a psychologist) did a series of tests and experiments using babies as young as 6 months old and discovered that, "babies possess certain moral foundations — the capacity and willingness to judge the actions of others, some sense of justice, [and] gut responses to altruism and nastiness." This is direct contradiction to the long held notions of scientists and humanists that we come into this world as blank slates, and that our notions of morality are written in our hearts by our parents. While it is true that the home in which we are raised shapes, in large measure, our world view and notions of right and wrong, it is our Divine Parent who has given us a light to guide our lives right from the very start. It is the light of Christ, "the true light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world" (D&C 93:2).

(Grace - 1 month old)
Dr. Bloom examines some very interesting points in his article, one of which involves the idea of God's hand in our moral development. He quotes Alfred Russel Wallace, who worked with Charles Darwin in developing the theory of natural selection. Wallace felt "that certain human capacities — including 'the higher moral faculties' — are richer than what you could expect from a product of biological evolution. He concluded that some sort of godly force must intervene to create these capacities." Bloom also quoted Dinesh D'Souza, a social and cultural critic, who holds the same view expressed by Alfred Russell Wallace. "[D'Souza] conceded that evolution can explain our niceness in instances like kindness to kin, where the niceness has a clear genetic payoff, but he drew the line at 'high altruism,' acts of entirely disinterested kindness. For D’Souza, 'there is no Darwinian rationale' for why you would give up your seat for an old lady on a bus, an act of nice-guyness that does nothing for your genes. And what about those who donate blood to strangers or sacrifice their lives for a worthy cause? D’Souza reasoned that these stirrings of conscience are best explained not by evolution or psychology but by 'the voice of God within our souls'."

(Grant - 8 months old)
Though Dr. Bloom in the end states that "there is no need to posit divine intervention" and that what we should truly celebrate instead is cultural morality, or our ability to make the world a better place through our own learning and hard-won insight, I took away from this article something else: I saw the hand of God in our development as beings capable of deep goodness. Without the light of Christ we truly would be born the amoral animals Sigmund Freud believed us all to be at birth. Without the light of Christ we would not have that basic knowledge of right and wrong, nor be led to godly things. It is the influence of our Heavenly Father, our own divine natures, and the acceptance of the Holy Ghost that lead us to be better than evolutionary biology would ever expect us to be. Don't be too quick to pat humanity on the back for the development of a higher morality Dr. Bloom, for we surely don't deserve the credit. "Blessed be the name of our God; let us sing to his praise, yea, let us give thanks to his holy name, for he doth work righteousness forever" (Alma 26:8).

To read Dr. Paul Bloom's article in full, click here.

I Laid Two Eggs

Grace and Merritt were pretending to be dragons on Sunday (as we had just seen the very funny "How To Train Your Dragon" on Saturday and it was fresh in their minds) and wanted to start out as eggs. Grace came to get me and said, "You are the mommy dragon. You need to lay two eggs!" I was highly amused by this pronouncement and game to try, so I "laid" some eggs...


which then began to hatch...


and finally I had two darling baby dragons!

Rainy Days

Rainy days make me feel lazy...like I don't want to get out of my warm bed. But, children need to be fed and ferried to school and the floor isn't going to vacuum itself (more's the pity). Coping with being cooped up requires some serious creativity, which is why children are so great - they have loads. Grace found a treasure and we killed quite a bit of time doing this...


What's not to love about jumping on bubble wrap? It involves jumping and popping noises which are, when combined, very satisfying.

Next we played hide-and-go-seek, which basically involves me counting, the kids hiding in the same obvious place every time, me elaborately acting surprised at finding them in said same hiding place, and the kids screaming in laughter. It's good for the soul.

Then Grace and Grant decided that Merritt's dinosaurs were dirty and needed a bath in the sink. I stayed out of that activity, except to clean up the mess at the end (and peel off about twenty soggy layers from the toilet paper roll).

By this time school was out, so we picked up Merritt. He wanted us (meaning he and I) to play Duel Monsters. I have only myself to blame that he likes Yu-gi-oh! I mean, I used to watch it a couple of years ago...yes, I watch cartoons. Don't you? I actually think that a large part of my fascination with the show was the outrageous hair-dos. It seems to be an actual requirement for the characters. Case in point:That's Yu-gi, Joey, and Kiaba. I couldn't begin to explain why Yu-gi has three colors of hair or how one would get lightning strike thingies going on in one's do. That is some serious bedhead.

Anyhoo, our Duel Monsters game consists of drawing monsters on doodle boards...so much cheaper than buying cards! I was doing pretty well (by well I mean I actually was remembering some of the monster's names without being prompted by Merritt), but then Grace wanted in on the action. She created the fearsome monster "Sun Angry Legs" which apparently eats grandparents. She made one of them (a cranky looking sun with long rays) and then decided that it needed a family, so she drew some more. I laid down and laughed while Merritt stalked off in disgust, his grand schemes momentarily derailed. It was a good sort of rainy day yesterday...I was highly entertained.

Weird Things

Weird things in nature...

Carnivorous Sundew Plant

Duckbilled Platypus

Weird Things in the Ocean...

Goblin Shark

Lionfish

Weird Things in my House...

Plate-lickers!!

What's the deal with that anyway?

What is thing we all seem to have for food? It is the answer for everything. Feeling happy? Celebrate by eating. Feeling sad? Get some comfort food. Feeling homesick? Cook something your mom made when you were a kid. Wanna get healthy? Eat good food. Wanna be hugely fat? Eat fatty food. Wanna be smart? Eat brain food. Welcome someone to the neighborhood...with food. Say thank you...with food. Say I love you...with food! It's all about the food people! I told my visiting teachers that my mother had a mole removed from her neck that was diagnosed as a malignant cancer. (It required further cutting but, thankfully, no other treatment.) A few hours later one of them returned to my home with this...


I was so touched...I felt loved because she made me food. And not just any food - beautiful chocolate food. (Amy says that anything tastes better if it is heart-shaped and I must say that I think she's right!) Today, I found out that a lady whom Chad home teaches just lost her mother. I took a page out of Amy's book and made her a cake...chocolate of course. It's the power of food, it fixes things. I think it is something about the time it takes to cook or bake something, the thought that goes into the meal or decadent treat, and the time spent considering someone else and their situation be it happy or sad that makes food the ultimate emotional fixer upper. I like to think of it as a tangible (and tasty!) expression of love.

Painful Lessons

I've heard it said that pain is the gift no one wants. Nobody wants to be in pain, unless you're a masochist and that's another story, but pain does have a lesson to teach, a gift to give if you're willing to be open to it. I first injured my back when I was 20, then was in a bad bike wreck at 22. My back finally crapped out on me at 24 and that was my introduction to wrenching physical pain. A diligent chiropractor got me up and running again, but my first pregnancy brought it all back and I've been battling this demon ever since. Last week, in the horribly strenuous process of making a bed, my back gave out again. It was so amazingly painful! I was bedridden, walking made me sob, I could barely stand long enough to change Grant's poppy diaper, and I didn't know what I was going to do. How could I be a wife and mother, be dilligent in my callings, or accomplish the things I desire to do if I couldn't walk, stand or even sit? For the first time, however, I didn't question what was happening...the pain and the situation were what they were. I got on my knees and the first thing out of my mouth (which surprised me a little) was, "Thank you for this opportunity to learn." And I finally saw that pain is indeed a gift and a teacher. Here's what I've learned in the past week:

1. Pain turns our heart to Christ.
- For however many steps it took for Him to understand, feel, and bear all the pains, sorrows, sins, disappointments, and afflictions of my life, He walked in my shoes. If the pain I experienced caused me to almost pass out at the doctor's office, I can easily understand how taking on the pain and sins of all of us caused Christ to sweat "great drops of blood."

2. Pain helps us be more compassionate and less likely to judge.
- "The Lord seeth not as man seeth, for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart." (1 Sam. 16:7) When we experience pain in life it can open our heart to the idea that others are feeling something similar. Instead of looking on the outward actions of someone's life and judging them harshly, we can extend mercy and kindness because they may be hurting.

3. Pain is a doorway to greater blessings.
- If I hadn't had this experience, I wouldn't have been searching for help close to home. I wouldn't have asked the Lord to guide my thoughts, wouldn't have had the Spirit help me recall a forgotten conversation I'd overheard which then led me to medical help that has produced miraculous results. The Lord wants me whole because I have more work to do, and now that will happen.

4. Pain allows us to feel God's love.
- The tremendous spiritual help I've received this past week reinforces my testimony that God is mindful of me, that He is an anxious and loving parent desirous of granting much needed blessings.

5. Pain provides opportunities to render service.
- My husband, my children, and my parents all came rushing to my aid. Their tender and loving care could not be more appreciated. Especially big kudos go to Chad who was mother and father and nursemaid all rolled into one.

6. Pain helps increase appreciation for life's little things.
- The first time I was able to sit up was a revelation - what a wonderful thing it is to sit! When I could walk to the bathroom by myself I wanted to throw a party. When I was able to contribute to the household maintenance by folding laundry I wanted to weep with gratitude. It is the small things of life that make it a such big, wonderful experience.

The last thing I learned is that it is really only fun to be in bed if you choose to be there. Enforced bed rest is the pits. :)