Love & Hate Experiment

So, I saw this experiment on Pintrest and thought it was cool, but didn't believe that it would work. The next week I went to Time Out For Women and Hilary Weeks talked about how she had done this experiment and the valuable lesson that it taught her about speaking kind words to yourself and others. I still didn't believe that it would work, but thought I would give it a try. So, for FHE a couple of weeks ago we had a lesson about kindness & love. I told the girls we would try this experiment, but I even gave a disclaimer stating that I wasn't sure that it would work. Basically, you cook some white rice and put the rice into two separate jars. Label one jar LOVE and the other HATE. Basically, we talked to the rice for a week and saw what happened to the rice after a week. We talked about how hateful / angry words are hurtful to our spirits and souls and also hurtful to the rice. I didn't really want the girls purposely speaking hateful words, so every time they got frustrated and wanted to say ugly things, I told them to go talk to the HATE jar instead of yelling at their sisters. Every night before bed we would tell the LOVE rice that that we loved it, were happy it was in our family and how smart and beautiful it was. I couldn't believe the results after a week. IT WORKED!! The only difference in our experiment and the one that I have given a link for below is that we kept the jars in separate closets. The girls didn't want the LOVE jar to get it's feelings hurt if it overheard what the HATE jar was listening to. Below are pictures of our results and a link to the experiment. What a great object lesson!

Day 1  - Our Love & Hate Jars with Clean, White Rice

 

Day 8  - It is hard to tell in the picture, but the Love Jar is just as white as Day 1 and the Hate jar's rice has turned yellow with black mold growing inside it.

A Close Up of the HATE jar on Day 8 - See the nasty mold!!

 

I think this really hit home for my girls. They can see the damage that unkind, hateful, mean words do to you. So the age old saying is a big fat lie "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me." Words cause just as much damage to the spirit as a physical injury. Everything has a spirit that needs to be loved and nourished. It brings to mind this scripture "The Lord created all things spiritually before he created them physically" (Moses 3:5).

 

Below is a link to the experiment:

http://www.billionclicks.org/blog/2012-09-25/the-rice-experiment/

 

Opera, & Soccer, & Veggies, Oh My!

Carson got his first taste of baby food this week and he seems to be pretty pleased with the variety of flavors that he is experiencing.

Soccer season started and Elizabeth was so excited to play. Abigail and Emily chose not to play, but were excited to cheer their sister on. It was nice for Elizabeth to have some individual attention placed on her. She gets mixed in with the bunch sometimes. I think she loved it that she had a great time and had so much love and support from her family.

Even Cousins Madie & Bella came from California to watch Liz play. They were pretty cold with the windy and overcast day.

Abigail was in the ISU Opera Noyes Fludde (Noah's Ark). She was one of 10 out of 40 selected to participate as an animal. She was a rabbit if you can't tell. She said she had a fun experience and even got flowers all the way from Grand Nan and Papa in Texas.

Has it been Six Months Already?

I can't believe that my baby is 6 months old! Seriously, where has the time gone?  

Grandma Mimi & Grandpa Del got the perfect Easter gift for Carson: a package of plastic, empty eggs that he could bang together. He played with them for quite a while, but the football egg seemed to be his favorite.

                           We have misplaced his 6 months old sticker tie, so a piece of construction paper will have to do. I just love this little 6 month old of mine.

Easter 2013

We had a fun Easter this year, and it was just the right thing to end our relaxing, low-key spring break.

 

We went to the church on Saturday for the annual breakfast and Easter Egg Hunt.

On Sunday morning before church, the girls woke up to find plastic eggs with scavenger hunt clues to help them find their baskets.

 

Carson was pretty excited to dig through his basket full of formula, bottles, pacifiers, and a "My first Easter" hat, onesie, and booties.

 

 

 

 

Then it was off to church for sacrament meeting to better understand the Gift of Christ's death and resurrection. Most Sundays. the girls go to church with pony tails, but they wanted Fancy Nancy hair to match their beautiful Fancy Nancy Easter Dresses, so I tried my best to give them what they asked for. It is very clear though that hairstyling was not one of the talents that I got in the  pre-existence.

 

 

Then we ended our day in Utah at my cousin Kristin's house. We had a great dinner, and as an added bonus Darin's good friend John Eskelson from Ricks college was there with his wife and kids.

Left to Right: Emily Ralphs, Abigail Ralphs, J.D. Eskelson, Mary Eskelson, Jeffrey Eskelson, Elizabeth Ralphs