Favorite Super Bowl Branding

The Super Bowl was the second NFL game I watched all season, the first being the Vikings losing to the Saints, dang Farve. I really didn't have a preference on who won the Super Bowl other than I wanted to see Austin Collie receive a touchdown pass. That didn't happen so here are my two favorite Super Bowl commercials.

Wednesday Tunes

This video makes me smile - not only do I love this song but the video is great!

Vampire Weekend - "Cousins"

Have I done any good

Funny, this is pretty much my talk was about last Sunday. Most of my talk was taken right from Pres. Monson's talk though, he can just say it so much better than I could.

Boys Adrift

With Cash money the way he is, all crazy and out of control, I've decided to turn to books about raising boys for help. Cash really isn't that bad, he is crazy but overall he is a good kid, I just want to raise him the best way that we can and we do have two boys so hoping that there is some crossover in raising them. Cash doesn't take much for listening but I think that has as much to do with him being 3 as it does with being a boy. I think that the terrible twos are nothing compared to the horrible threes.



The first book I read was Boys Adrift by Dr. Sax. This book is great if you are white-middle to upper class and have a boy. If your boy does not fit in this category, the book will be still be of help but if your boy does fit in this category it's a great book. The author mentions more then once that this is not a book about girls or minorities. The middle to upper class part I figured out in the fact that most of his stories are about boys that have the option of private schools and in good neighborhoods with decent public schools. I do believe that Dr. Sax tried to offer advice to those who do not have the liberty of unlimited funds but he fall short with this advice.

The main focus of this book is to identify why boys are remaining boys and not growing up to be responsible men. The author uses a lot of generalizations and admits this. Not all men remain boys but an increasing percentage do. Why are boys content with living at home, not going to college or trade school, why don't they care about high school or much else?

I saw much of myself and friends in parts of the book which helped answer some questions and should be helpful for me. It did take me until I was 30 to get a four year degree! Dr. Sax comes to five factors that influence boys and he does this after a long career as a psychologist. The five factors from his website:

1 - Video Games. Studies suggest that some of the most popular video games are disengaging boys from real-world pursuits.

2 - Teaching Methods. Profound changes in the way children are educated have had the unintended consequence of turning many boys off school.

3 - Prescription Drugs. Overuse of medication for ADHD may be causing irreversible damage to the motivational centers in boys’ brains.

4 - Endocrine Disruptors. Environmental estrogens from plastic bottles and food sources may be lowering boys’ testosterone levels, making their bones more brittle and throwing their endocrine systems out of whack.

5 - Devaluation of Masculinity. Shifts in popular culture have transformed the role models of manhood. Forty years ago we had Father Knows Best; today we have The Simpsons.



Dr. Sax uses the movie Failure to Launch as an example of what he is talking about. Boys are smart and creative but have no initiative to do something with their lives. Boys are living at home with their parents far longer then they should with no goal of finishing school or saving for a house but just rather because mommy takes care of everything.

From me:
1 - Video Games. He says that it's not all games that are bad but violent games and spending too much time playing these games. When boys would rather play video games then real sports then there is a problem. Of course not all boys play video games and video games do not lead to problem boys in every case.

2 - Teaching Methods. Boys are not meant to sit still in class rooms learning to read when they are 5 or even 6. Kindergarten has changed and is now what 1st grade use to be. There is less time devoted to activities that requires exploring type learning and more time is devoted to sitting in desks learning. School today are more focused on desk learning and much less on experience learning. Most boys do much better with experience learning. They could care less to read or hear about how a tadpole transforms into a frog unless they have seen and chased tadpoles and frogs in a pond.

3 - Prescription Drugs. ADHD is a real problem but most boys who are diagnosed are miss diagnosed and most boys who do have ADHD could be helped with drugs that have fewer long term side effects.

4 - Endocrine Disruptors. Im going to try and put together a post to talk more on this.

5 - Devaluation of Masculinity. American society does not have any traditions that introduce boys into manhood. Most societies have some type of ritual where the boy can show that he is ready to become or has become a man. Boys do not have role models on how to act like a man. Again these are generalizations like everything else in the book. This is where I feel that LDS boys/men have an advantage, the priesthood teaches many young men how to become and act like men (whether they do or not is a different story) and sending boys on two year missions could be a ritual of when a boy becomes a man (again, whether they do or not is a different story).

Overall I thought that this was a great book and gave me many ideas on how I can better raise my boys. I would suggest this book to anyone who is raising boys at any age. My sister is reading my copy now and then T will is going to read it, after that any of you are welcome to borrow Boy Adrift.

2010

I've never really been one for new years resolutions or even setting goals. I usually enjoy living one day at a time and taking everything in stride. The things I have accomplished I've never written them down as goals or something to be achieved, I just did them. My issue with setting new years resolutions is why do you have to wait until new years day? Or any day for that matter to set resolutions? If you want to change or do something then don't wait.

My problem with goals is many, I'm lazy for starters and if I actually write down a goal that means I would have to do something to achieve it. To where getting a degree was never a "goal" meant if I didn't get a degree I didn't fail at achieving my goal.

Going against everything I know to be true I'm going to make some goals for this year. It's a first and probably a last - we'll see how I do.

- Exercise

- This one I will be forced into- I have signed up for RAGNAR which is a race from Logan to Park City. Luckily it is a 12 person rely race, so I only run three legs at 4-10 mile a leg. More info can be found here

- Get OUT

- I NEED to get out more - by that I mean I need to hike, camp, fish, backpack, snowshoe, ski and all that. The eight+ years I've been married I think I have only had a fishing licence 2ice and not once since we've had kids. I need to hike way more whether it's with friends, the kids, the wife or solo. I have never been snowshoeing but is something I really want to try and hopefully will before spring.

-Watch less teevee

- I don't really watch much teevee to begin with, mostly just to fill the room with noise and to distract my brain to think about nothing. I really hate teevee and think it's generally bad for me and my kids. By teevee I just mean in general and does not extend to movies or other shows on dvd without commercials. Going to get rid of cable, will be easier for me then the wife. There is little time as it is.

- Read more

- I have a stack of books that I have started reading and five other stacks that I want to read.

-Blog

- I kinda already do this but I would like to have better written blogs. I've decided that even though I can't write I'm going to randomly review a variety of things. Just about anything and everything I do, read, buy and or use and just about anything else. This way if you are thinking of buying or using or reading something, maybe I'll review it and you can see if it's worth your time and money

-School

-Last but not least - finish school by receiving my Master of Public Policy

Well, there you go, my 2010 goals. Now TAKE STATE!!!

Wednesday Tunes

Ok not really a tune but a video.

Happy New Year and New Decade!

I have been working on this post of a while now, for some reason I just can't get it out to you all. I know how you all wait on pins and needles for my blog updates.

We had a fantastic holiday season! The kids loved Christmas as well as us parents. Christmas day has sure changed a lot from when I was a kid, it was fun and exciting to experience Christmas as a kid. Then when your a teenager, it's still kinda fun and exciting but nothing compared to what it was when you were younger. Then in the young adult years, it's just another holiday where you have to buy everyone presents and now that you making decent money you feel abliged to buy better presents. Then you get married and you spend all your money on your spouse but the excitement that was Christmas is still missing though the spirit of Christmas never really leaves. Then when the kids come along the old excitement of Christmas returns. I think I get more excited about the kids opening their presents they do!



My beautiful wife was the last baby of the '70s born in Utah. They received all sorts of gifts and goodies for having the last baby of the decade. It's interesting to look back on this last decade and the many changes that have taken place. Ten years ago I was single and hadn't even met T yet and in all seriousness I wasn't ready for marriage in many ways. I was living with a good friend and we had one heck of a bachelor pad if you know what I mean. Now, ten years later, I'm married with three kids, a college degree, almost a masters, a mortgage and a career. What a crazy ten years. I wonder what the next ten years will bring? What kind of technologies our kids will be showing us how to use.




"Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that he has been robbed. The fact is that most putts don’t drop, most beef is tough, most children grow up to be just like people, most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration, and most jobs are more often dull than otherwise. Life is just like an old time rail journey ... delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride."
— Gordon B. Hinckley





I am surely blessed with more then my fair share of beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed!

Our Handy Manny

Christmas was great! Our kids are spoiled as well as us. Thanks to everyone for everything! It's so hard to stop buying for the kids. I could totally get out of control but this year we kinda kept it under control. While they did receive less this year, what they did get cost more. I think we're done buying presents for a while, they all have more then what they even know what do with, so I don't think we'll have to buy them anything for several years.



The jet loves his handy manny tools. I mean he LOVES them. He is the first of our children to behave this way towards an item. He packs the tools everywhere he goes, and usually two at a time instead of all of them in the tool box. He makes multiple trips from one place to another transporting his tools. If he can't get all of his tools someplace, the world is coming to an end! or at least that what jet thinks as he throws huge fits. At my moms house, we started to vacum while he was playing with his tools on the floor, he hurriedly got up and started moving his tools to the couch, I guess he was worried they would be sucked up into the vacum. The first night home when it was bed time, he ran from the family room to his room with two tools at a time putting them in his crib. He wants to take them everywhere and we make him leave the tools behind, huge fits!! He's a nut! At least we know he likes his christmas present.

Christmas Card

With both of us in school this year we didn't get around in ordering Christmas Cards, so this will have to do. Not really sure which picture we would have used but probably one of these would have been the family pic.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Years
Love the Bartholomew's!

Christmas Smells

I'm curious on if any of you fill your houses with Christmas smells? Since I can remember my mom always boiled cinnamon and cloves around Christmas, filling our house with holiday fragrance. I love this smell so much that I always burned the Christmas mix on my mission and have continued to do so throughout my marriage. We also always had a real tree and I LOVE the smell of fresh pine. The last few years we have gone with a fake tree and I soo miss that smell. This year we bought a wreath made from real pine that kind of filled out house with pine. I think next year we will buy two or three wreaths.

Let me know what if any Christmas smells you fill your house up with!

The Christmas Spirit

My wife informed me that my last post was too long. So this one will be short.

Remember the Christmas spirit during the Christmas season.

Turkey or Kittens?

I haven't posted anything from Turkey day, mainly cause we have been super busy with finals and we took a total of 5 pictures from a four day Idaho trip. I really can't believe we only took 5 pictures and not any good ones. I don't know if we're getting lazy or just tired of taking pictures or what?

I'm not so sure about both T and I going to school at the same time. I'm pretty sure there is a reason that you finish college as soon as you can out of high school, mainly because it's EASIER!! You don't have kids, a full time job, a mortgage or half the other crap. Needless to say, between Thanksgiving and last week not much got done around our house, the laundry and dishes were stacked to the ceiling, doing only what we needed to get by, the kids were running rampant and wild, oh wait, they do that no matter what. We only have one more semester with both of us in school and then I'll be DONE! I have two more classes and I'm done with school!!! I don't even know what I will do with myself? Not homework!

Back to turkey day. It was a good time. Went to Idaho on the ranch. The kids love it up there and with Cash loving to play outside, made it that much better. Their cat just had a litter of kittens that the kids loved to chase down and catch then lug around. It was great to watch the kids run around after the cats along with the dogs. Watched cash corner this one kitten with the help of a dog, not sure which one the kitten was more terrified of. Cash grabs the kittens tale and just pulls the cat from out under a bush, poor cat. Cash left the ranch that weekend with his hands all scratched up. The poor kittens are ranch kittens, meaning they live out side in the freezing temperatures and don't get much for food from humans. They had already lost 4 or 5 of the kittens and I'd be surprised if any are there when we go back this spring. One of the kittens was missing the fur off half it's tail.

One of my favorite things about turkey in Idaho is black Friday in Idaho. We're about two and half - three hours out of Twin Falls so we miss all the morning specials deals. But for some reason I enjoy going there for black Friday and shopping, kinda crazy I know. We actually did make it into Twin for the Fred Meyer (Smiths Market Place) sale, we loaded up on socks, shouldn't need new socks for a year. Usually we don't get out their until afternoon but for some reason we were all excited to go out Christmas shopping.