This Week at Our House #24

1. Happy father's Day to John. He's such a good Dad. He spends one on one time with each of the kids every week. He will often find things they like to do and do it with them even if he hates it. In fact, he started playing basketball with Adam because Adam loves basketball, but John absolutely hates basketball. When John was a missionary he would sit down and do math research while the other missionaries played basketball.
2. We bought a nice camera this week. I plan to start doing some photography to earn money for missions and colleges and for a back up if John is ever unemployed again. It's been fun getting to know the camera some. I have been working on using photoshop and I plan to get to know that a lot better too. It's kind of fun to take up a new hobby, and one that I have always had some interest in.
3. Ruth worked and rested and that was about all. She and I have had a bit of a sinus infection, so feeling bad for me, she has taken it upon herself to do dishes and such a little more.
4. Kate has been my cleaning everything out help. I keep her so busy and tired that on Monday she said, "Mom, you have a lot of energy for an ol... nevermind."
5. John bought some new video games for the kids this week, so I didn't have much interaction with Johnny other than "Get off the computer and do you chores," and "good night, mom. I love you."
6. Adam has been playing video games right along side Johnny all week. Adam however takes a little time to talk to me. He asked me if he looks better in his glasses or not. I said not, and noticed that he is now taking them off for pictures.
7. Once again Rachel is making a concerted effort to be less argumentative and is doing a good job. I suspect this will be a temptation for her for much of her life, but it is good that at such a young age she understands and is trying to be better about it.
8. Anya took a black binder and made it into her pretend laptop. She has since used it to write stories. That is just so cute and makes me so happy.
9. I noticed some black stripes on our toilet paper as well as some black smudges on our toilet seat and I knew that Joseph got a Sharpie.
10. Joshua has become quite the amazing artist. I am astonished at how good his pictures are. I will have to photograph some and put them up. Three months ago he could not even draw a face.
11. Arwen, my dear, is potty trained!!!!!! I have not had to tell her to go at all. I don't even know when it happens, I just know that she is dry! And for the first time in a very long time, we only have one kid in diapers full time and I am not pregnant.
12. Suzy of course had her birthday. She got a little fisher price smart phone and loves it. It plays music and she dances. She loves pushing the buttons too.

This Week's Pictures

Suzy's Birthday!

My darling,spunky, little Suzy, turned one today! It's bittersweet. Babyhood goes so quickly. We're so glad that she is a part of our family. She's been such a fun little baby. We'll miss these sweet days, but we look forward to the joy she will bring in the future.

This Week at Our House # 23

1. John worked a fairly long week. He needs to get everything finished up. He's been working on getting our back yard looking better. While it definitely needs more work, it's looking transformed.
2. We had our second full week of summer vacation. I sent the 3 oldest kids to Lagoon (our local amusement park) on Tuesday, and then Ruth and Kate were gone Wednesday night through Saturday for youth conference, so I was a little busier without my most reliable helping hands. 
3. Ruth had a fun week. She worked Monday, but then had the rest of the week off for Lagoon and youth conference. She had a week of fun. Youth conference was river rafting. The first night rained, so they were pretty cold, but the next day it was pretty hot and they had fun going down the river. Of course she came home pretty tired. 
4. Kate had a really fun week. She had some good friends with her on the raft during youth conference, so she kind of lucked out in that way. 
5. Johnny LOVED Lagoon with his sisters. I let them spend the entire day there. But Johnny did not get to go to youth conference, so he stayed home helping me with some pretty heavy duty house cleaning and repairs. He did two dump runs with me, and a lot of yard work with John. He's definitely getting a taste of real hard physical labor. 
6. Adam likes to wear his pajamas in the house. He gets annoyed when I tell him to get dressed because he likes his clothes and is worried about ruining them. It's pretty funny really. I took the 8 youngest kids to This is the Place State Park for Huntsman Day (which was free with free ice cream). Adam LOVED it. He was fascinated with the blacksmith, the wood workers, and the tinsmith. As we were leaving, Adam said, "Thank you, for such a great Friday."
7. Rachel told me how unfair it was that Adam is a big kid and can do big kid things and how she is only a year younger than him. I reminded her how when Adam was 5 he said he wanted to be a big kid, so I told him that he could be if he did chores like a big kid, which he did. I also reminded her that I had told her that she could do big kid things if she did big kid chores and she told me that she just wanted to be a little kid. So Rachel said that she will be a big kid now and do big kid chores, but she has not been very successful.
8. Anya's in a bit of the same dilemma as Rachel. She wants to be a big kid and stay up until midnight, but she is not there, not even a little bit. She needs her sleep for one, and unlike the older kids, she expects me to hold her and cuddle her and play with her until midnight. Since I need my time to be me instead of mom, I just can't do that until midnight.
9. Joseph is having a good summer. He had a lot of fun at This is the Place State Park. He loved the pony ride and panning for gold and the little play houses. 
10. I think Josh is actually potty trained. He's really not wetting his pants anymore. I'll have to keep a close eye on it, because he gets a train ride when he finally finishes this process. Although he did get a mini train ride at This is the Place.
11. Arwen is potty trained for the most part. She rarely wets her pants. She takes herself to the bathroom, cleans herself up, and washes her hands. She's fiercely independent compared to Josh.
12. Suzy's birthday is Friday. She is a funny, stubborn, cute little girl. We all adore her, so she's pretty soiled.

This Week's Pictures

Some Thoughts: Rejecting Our Biology

I am writing this here because I think my ideas will be pretty unpopular, and I don't feel up to handling all the backlash for saying something that many people disagree with. But I think there is some truth in what I say.

With all the transgender issues being discussed everywhere, I've found myself pondering about human biology. And I thought, this does seem an ultimate rejection of our biology. But I think we've been heading toward this in little common ways for a long time. In small ways people have been turning toward drugs to reject their biology for many years now.

We've rejected our biological functions of reproductions. We take pills, insert chemical devices and have surgeries to stop the process. Of course, some people have really good reasons for doing so. But when a majority of the people do it, it's basically become a societal rejection of a natural biological function.

We've rejected our natural emotions and anxieties. Many of us have decided that our emotions and anxieties are a mental illness and must be fixed. That may be true for a small number of people, but it shouldn't be for the majority. Our emotions tell us things. They teach us to love and care. They attach us to one another, and they help us seek out God. Our anxieties warn us when something isn't right. These are natural biological functions, not illnesses. They make us human. Often they are uncomfortable. Negative emotions and too much anxiety need to be controlled. But we can learn to do that. Learning to control our emotions and put our anxieties in proper context is part of maturing. Two year old children, for example, are very emotional beings. But they learn from those emotions. The toddler years are some of the most important years in which people learn to control their emotions, emotional responses and to put them in the proper context. Of course that process should continue throughout our lives. I often wonder what we are doing when we drug ourselves so those emotions and anxieties are numbed or non-existent. Are we rejecting a need to learn self control? Are we missing important biological signals that would help us alter the course of our lives? Are we making it so we are incapable of attachment? I worry about the extensive use of drugs to correct an important part of our biological make-up. If I feel anxious, I ask why? Have I done something wrong? Am I not treating my body well enough? Do I need more exercise or more hydration or better nutrition? If I am medicating those feelings away, I do not have what I need to signal a course correction.

And now, here we are rejecting what our eyes see and more of our natural biological functions saying that gender is fluid. It does not matter what you look like, it only matters how you feel? And what does one do about that? Why take pills and have surgeries of course. Since we already take pills and have surgery to stop reproductive biology and we already take pills to eliminate our emotions and anxieties. What else would we do? Something makes us feel uncomfortable or makes us afraid, so instead of trying to solve that problem, we take pills.

A big part of me thinks this phenomenon of so much medication to fix what is normal has it's foundation in money. The big drug companies, doctors, and pharmacists are making a lot of money from these daily drugs. I am sure there are many honest doctors and pharmacists, and I suspect most people really do think there is something wrong that needs to be fixed and nice people want to help fix it. I just wish the conversation would turn to what is normal about us.