The Weekly Photo + Some Thoughts

I love this picture of these two. Elanor being goofy and Alice watching and trying to figure Elanor out.

Some thoughts:

I am generally an optimistic person that believes there is much good in this world--and I still do. But I was having a real Theoden moment today. In the Two Towers film, Rohan seems to be on the point of destruction and the battle lost and the king, Theoden, says "What can men do against such reckless hate?" He said it in a moment of despair. I felt a bit like that after hearing and pondering much on the massacre in Florida. Also, added to that is all this built up sadness over the plight of so many refugees and my brother (who is on a mission in Sweden) hearing first hand so many horrible stories and knowing how burdened he feels because of it all and add that to an absolutely horrible and callous person running for president (ie Trump), and the fact that there are so many Americans who support him, and that gets me back to thinking about all these hurts and wrongs, and mean people and prejudice and racism and sexism and men getting away with rape and murder and what in the world is wrong with people?

But. 

Feeling pain and anguish and love is human and makes us human, to not feel means you must not be human, as Dumbledore explains to Harry (Book 5). Feeling these things is good, even if they break your heart. Harry did not beat Voldemort with violence or fancy wand waving. He sacrificed himself for the love of others (+plus some smarts and the Elder wand). This is the only way we can win too. Love. Sacrifice. Empathy. Service. I do not like the title "The War on Terrorism". We cannot fight evil with violence. It will not work. We can all be better. I can be better. We can love more. And I know in so many ways it does not seem as simple as that and there are so many complex and difficult things going on, but if everyone acted a bit more like the Good Samaritan all problems would cease.

I don't want to go on and on, but if you need to feel like there is good in this world or would like to feel some hope you should check out these videos:

I wrote a letter to my brother talking more about Harry Potter and love and if you would like to read it go here: https://scottboys.wordpress.com/2016/06/07/help-from-harry/ 

While there, you should also check out some of his letters about his experiences in Sweden.

To close, we cannot let fear get the better of us and stop us from helping those who need it. We are all human in this world and our differences should not stop us from rescuing those in need. All that matters is that we are all related and we should all love one another.

Also, sending so much love and many prayers to those in Florida affected by the horrendous massacre.

The Weekly Photo (s)

Ugh.....

I got behind again! There has been a lot going on and I have started on some posts, but never got around to finishing them. I also cannot get this Syrian refugee crisis/Paris bombings/ISIS stuff out of my head. My heart hurts so much for the refugees and I want to help. I am also so infuriated that U.S. governors (half of them) will not let refugees into their states (even though the immigration process is very thorough and safe). Plus, the U.S. is hardly accepting any refugees and the small amount that Obama wants to bring in, has crazy right-wingers up in arms about it. I just don't understand how people can be so un-feeling and anti-human. It has been troubling me greatly. 

This week is Thanksgiving and I feel very blessed and lucky to be where I am. Running for my life with my husband and little girls, with hardly any food or water, sleeping wherever and having nightmares of the horrors we've seen would be a very grim situation. While I am grateful for what I have here, I am so extremely sorry for these Syrian refugees and I want to help. What can I do?

My brother is on his mission for the LDS church in Sweden. He is right in the midst of it, with refugees streaming into Europe for sanctuary. His missionary letters are wonderful and his pictures beautiful. You should really consider hopping on over there. https://scottboys.wordpress.com

Here are some Weekly Photos and hopefully I will write again soon.

For November 2:

November 16th:

November 23rd:

The Weekly Photo + a Little Rant About School

Elanor's 1st day of preschool.

This is the first year Elanor has gone to preschool. There are a variety of reasons I did not put her in earlier (too expensive, I taught her at home, and she had plenty of friends to play with already), but we decided to put her in this year because we just moved here and she needed friends, there was a close preschool with good reviews, it was inexpensive and we knew a couple kids going there. Elanor just started at the beginning of October and is loving it!

I think preschool is great and a couple hours a day, four days a week is perfect. I have been thinking and stressing about school ever since Elanor was born, because I don't know what to do! There are a lot of things I love about public school (variety of students, learn from a variety of teachers, its free, etc). However, there are a lot of things I do not like (too long of hours each day, too much homework/stress, they don't even learn all that much). School has changed so much since I went. The amount of homework and stress placed on kids, even small ones is so intense.  When one of my brothers was in school at Corbett as a freshman, he was in two AP classes, as all freshman had to at his school, and he said people would have anxiety attacks all the time over homework. It is just not necessary for school to be so intense. I do not think kids (high school, yes, but not so much that the average student has a panic attack about it) should have homework at all. If they cannot get it done the seven hours they are at school, then they do not need to do a further two hours when they get home. Kids should be able to play, have family time, etc. In other countries, such as Sweden, they have shorter days and shorter school years and yet out perform much of Europe. I love being in school and I want Elanor (and Alice) to experience that, but not in the schools we have in America. I don't really want to homeschool either. Perhaps for a year or two or whenever Elanor would want to, but I think learning in a diverse environment, such as public school is really wonderful. I basically wish Elanor could go to public school half of the day and then do homeschool as well. I am not sure it really works like that though.

Much of what we choose to do will be based on where we live at the time, the teachers at the school and how much I am able to help out at school (my mom did a ton at our school growing up). What do you do/plan to do? Thoughts, please?

Friends

This post has been floating around in my head all week, but I have just now sat down to write it. 

Sometime last week, Elanor announced, "I like my friends, Mommy, know dat?!?!" 

{She ends a lot of sentences in "know dat", meaning "did I know that?" ("that" meaning whatever she had just announced).}

Eli and Elanor (about 11 months old)

This little statement got me thinking. Elanor really loves her friends (Grey, Micah, Eli, Hazel, Noelle, Malachi and others at church). We see our upstairs neighbors a lot, since they obviously live upstairs and have twins the same age as Elanor. She loves them and her day is not complete unless she has seen Grey and Micah at least once. She often talks about how much she loves Grey, how she wants to hug Micah, how she wants to walk to Eli's house, or ask Hazel to play. She seriously loves her little friends so much. It amazes and inspires me that such a young little person already loves and needs friends so much. We, humans, are born with a desire to love and be loved. We are not complete unless we can love and be loved. I love that this is evident in two year olds. Of course, I already knew that about the parent/child relationship, but seeing it in a peer to peer relationship is something new (well, it has developed over the last year). I love it. I love that Elanor loves other people so much (sometimes a bit much--she is a hugger and kisser--and some kids do not always want so much attention). That is not to say that there are not fights (there are plenty), but parents are there to supervise and two year olds forgive each other in about a second. 

Elanor and Malachi (Elanor--about 16 months)

Elanor with Grey and Micah (Elanor--21 months)

This gives me hope for this human race of ours. You know, that race that kills other people, bickers over gun laws, starts wars, and such. If a two year old can love so much and is born with the need to love and be loved, then what is our problem? We need to be more like children (in a good way, no fighting over toy cars, boots, or baby dolls) and love and forgive easily. Everyone needs a friend (or several) no matter their age. I know when we first moved to SLC it was hard because I had left so many good friends in Virginia. I made friends here eventually and it makes me so much happier to have friends. It sounds cheesy, but everyone needs friends. We need other humans. So, lets try to be more friendly, more free with our time to help others, more likely to give hugs, and more willing to play/talk. After all, if a two year old can do it, then surely an adult can. 

{And since I could not pick just a few pictures, here are a ton more adorable pictures of Elanor and her friends. I actually had more, but limited it to non-posey pictures, if you get my drift.}

Eli and Elanor at the zoo (Elanor--26 months)

Elanor and Grey chillin' in the hammock.

Elanor with Malachi (and Tyler of course)

Elanor with Grey and Micah (and Becky)

Cake!


Friends are the best.