Happy Halloween!!!!!

Hope you all have a safe and fun night of Trick-or-Treating!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN from the Berenstain Bear Family (aka-the Stangs)!

Remembering a Beautiful Baby Girl Today...

Hard to believe Mike and Holli lost their baby girl Hannah a year ago already.

They are two of the strongest individuals I know - grateful to call them our friends.

And praying the last few months of Holli's pregnancy with their baby BOY goes well.

Hannah will never be forgotten. RIP

Self Care...

Happy Birthday Gpa Shorty

Happy birthday to the best grandpa a child could've asked for.

Gpa Shorty would've been 92 years old today.

He is missed.

Thankful for great memories.

Happy Halloween from the Berenstain Bear Family!!!!!

Happy Halloween from the Berenstain Bear Family.

(aka- the Stangs)

Papa Bear, Mama Bear, Brother Bear, Sister Bear and Honey Bear.

Gotta take advantage of dressing up with the kids while they still think it's fun and exciting :)

Papa and Mama Bear - where it all began!

Before there was 5...

There was 4...

Carrine wasn't the most cooperative for the photo shoot!

At least "Brother Bear" was willing to wear "Honey Bear's" green and pink head band!

Our girls...one happy "Sister Bear" and one sad "Honey Bear."

All Carrine wanted to do was go outside ;)

So after the photo shoot we went outside to rake and play in the leaves.

Yep, I'm that mom who threw out her "cool card" and went outside in my "Mama Bear" costume to play with the kids before supper.

We had a blast yet again in our neighbor's gigantic leaf pile!

Have a great Halloween Week everyone - can't wait for Friday night!

Fall Fun!

Another amazing Fall weekend in the books!

Enjoyed my extra time with the kiddos.

Looking forward to Trick-or-Treating this Friday!

This week starts yet another adjustment for our family.

Big kids start going full-time to After School Care and Carrine is at daycare full-time during the days.

Wish this beautiful Fall Weather could stay until April!

Kids and I headed to a craft show in town on Saturday!

Yep, that's my Rozzy - picked out the most beautiful flowers for her hair and Carrine's hair :)

Love Andray and Roslyn's imaginations. They made up a 2-hour game outside with the head bands and flowers.

Have a great Halloween Week everyone!

15 Things Happy People Don’t Do

WELLNESS • ASHLEY FERN • JUL 29, 2013 - 10:34AM

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Happiness: something everyone hopes to achieve in his or her lifetime. Such a simple concept, yet many have trouble realizing how to obtain it. Sometimes we unintentionally create our own obstacles that prevent us from achieving this goal. It is ever so important to realize the ways we are limiting ourselves so we can fully reach happiness.

Happy people and unhappy people see the world through two completely opposing views. Let’s look at the ways happy people stay happy, while the unhappy remain miserable.

1. Gossip

The only people who gossip are people whose personal lives are not fulfilling enough. If you are happy and content with your life, why do you even care what is going on in someone else’s? There is no reason to engage in this petty behavior — all it does is make you look pathetic and jealous.

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2. Concern Themselves With Other People’s Problems

People who are unable to mind their own business are most likely internally miserable. They seek to find faults within others just to make themselves feel better. They tend to lead boring lives and have no excitement in their own, so they act in this manner to create something out of nothing. They seek to fill the gap in their lives by discussing the lives of others and judging them harshly, so that they can feel better about their own miserable existences.

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3. Think Negatively

There are the miserable people, who are always complaining about anything and everything, while on the other side, we have the optimistic people who always look at the glass as half full and are constantly looking for more out of life. Thinking positively will directly affect your happiness since you are focusing on the good as opposed to the bad.

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4. Act Jealous

There is no reason for a happy person to act jealous towards others. They recognize the good fortune they possess and relish in it. They do not compare themselves to others since they are more than likely content with themselves. Instead of acting jealous towards others, they take pleasure in their success and celebrate their accomplishments with them.

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5. Seek Validation From Others

Happy people do not look to others to confirm their self-worth. They recognize their value on their own and don’t live up to anyone’s expectations. They do things for themselves that they believe will advance them in life. By not concerning themselves with the opinions of others, they can focus on personal growth.

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6. Seek Revenge

There is no reason to actively seek revenge against another person. Leave that up to karma and just continue living your life accordingly. Instead of focusing on revenge, happy people try to make peace with the issue. The only way to stop revenge is to give up and to accept it. Replace the evil feelings with opposite thinking. This is the only way; rise above it and let it be.

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7. Hold Onto Resentment

By holding onto resentment, all you are doing is continuing and intensifying your own sadness. Learn to let things go, especially those which are unchangeable and that are in the past. This feeling will eat at you from the inside and cause stress. There is a unique sense of freedom once you let your anger go.

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8. Argue For The Sake Of Being Right

It’d be easy to voice my thoughts rationally, but quite as easy to do it condescendingly as well. Many people will have a belief and will hold onto it even when contrary facts are presented to them. If it is a topic that you know they won’t listen to with open ears, don’t open your mouth just so you can appear wiser in the eyes of those around you. You’re only boosting your ego. Do not force your opinions on others or think you know best, as everyone is coming from somewhere. State your point calmly and listen to others. At the very least, you can always agree to disagree.

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9. Have Expectations

One of the biggest challenges we face in life is learning to accept people for who they truly are. Once you realize that your expectations cannot change people, the better off you will be. The problem will arise when the expectations do not materialize. Unrealistic expectations will, can, and most often do lead to disappointment. Do not expect things out of situations; just go into them with an open mind. This will allow you to fully immerse yourself without the pressure of living up to preconceived notions.

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10. Avoid Personal Problems

When a problem arises, it is the unhappy people who tend to ignore it. This is an awful way to handle situations as the longer you let a problem linger, the greater it will become. You need to tackle issues head on and as soon as possible in hopes of rectifying the circumstances. The stress and anxiety of ignoring such things can and will make you miserable and consumed with worry.

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11. Look For Happiness Externally

Your happiness is contingent upon your outlook and not the actual situation. You have the power to view things in certain ways, so it is crucial to try and remain positive. Look within yourself to create your own happiness. Do not look at others to fulfill you, you are more than capable on your own. No relationship or material possession can bring you true happiness until you are happy on your own, first and foremost. This is a fatal error far too many people make in their lives.

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12. Over Think Things

Over thinking is what creates problems from nothing and is probably the leading cause for arguments between two people. Many people falsely believe that by over thinking certain things, they can garner a better result. There are actually little to no benefits to overanalyzing any given situation. All this will do is cause a person stress and anxiety. The more time a person analyzes a decision, the more time this person makes themselves susceptible to negative thinking. Rational decisions can become clouded when a person lingers on them for too long. The motivation and drive behind the initial idea can and will start to obscure.

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13. Live In The Past

The past is the past for a reason — it has already happened. There is no reason to linger there since it cannot be changed. Happy people tend to make peace with their past and focus on the future. They actively seek out different opportunities in order to make the most out of their lives.

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14. Follow The Crowd

Confidence is a crucial aspect of any happy person, just like this is a critical characteristic for a leader. Happy people tend to be secure in their values and beliefs and, as a result, have a propensity to be leaders as opposed to followers.

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15. Take Things Personally

When you hear a comment that you think is directed at you, take a moment and think. Do not over analyze the situation at hand, just let the other person speak freely. Listen completely to what this person is saying – selective hearing is the cause of these misinterpretations. People tend to get caught up in petty drama, which typically occurs when one person takes something the wrong way. When it comes down to it, you’re in control of how you interpret things. Think of how much more you could achieve with a new perspective, one seen only through your eyes.

Moms Are The Best!

Ah, was a bitter/sweet morning as Mom left back home for RWF.

Beyond grateful to have had her with us the past 6 weeks as our family re-adjusted to me returning to work full-time and the kids starting up school again. Was definitely a great bonding opportunity for our kids with their grandma and for me to spend some QT with my mom!

I miss her already.

We all love you Mom - you are the BEST!

School Pictures. ..Way Too Grown Up!

1st grade and Kindergarten - a blink of an eye!

Proud of our big kids...they are LOVIN' school!

Stay Patient. ..

Prayer is Powerful!

Amen!

Feeling Proud. ..

Our family is lovin' this MN Fall weather!

Got to enjoy our annual "leaf pile day" last Sunday at the neighbor's!

Earlier this week we had conferences at school for Roslyn and Andray and both kids had

GREAT REPORTS!

Roslyn is doing great in school - her reading and writing are improving every day.

Her favorite thing to do at school is FREE PLAY and Calendar duties ;)

Andray's teacher was all smiles when she spoke about him.

He's taken 9 AR tests already and scored 100% on all of them!

Jake and I were proud parents on Monday night!

9 Years Ago...Feels Like Yesterday...

9 years ago already my Gpa Shorty earned his eternal wings in Heaven.

He's thought of and missed every day!

We grandkids learned a lot of LIFE LESSONS from Gpa Shorty on the farm...

NEVER GIVE UP!

Oh Happy Day...

Happy 87th Birthday to this beautiful woman - my Gram and best friend.

Wish I could give you a hug today!

87 years old, still living on the farm, still gardening...and still playing ball with her grandkids!

Summer 2014 - Priceless!

And a very Happy 14th "Golden" Anniversary to my big bro Aaron and his beautiful wife Megan!

Was a perfect fall wedding 14 years ago!

So thankful for the family Aaron and Megan have created!

Gram holding her 15th great-grandchild, Louis William!

OH HAPPY DAY!

Remembering a Great Man...

2 years ago today Gpa Andy left us for Heaven...he is missed!

So thankful Andray and Roslyn had a relationship with him and remember him.

Gpa Andy was by far one of the greatest and sweetest persons I've ever known. 

Something to Think About...TGIF!

The Learning "Myth" - Interesting Point of View

The Learning Myth: Why I'll Never Tell My Son He's Smart

Tue, 19 Aug 2014 14:43:00

By: Salman Khan

Join the #YouCanLearnAnything movement

 

My 5-year-­old son has just started reading. Every night, we lie on his bed and he reads a short book to me. Inevitably, he’ll hit a word that he has trouble with: last night the word was “gratefully.” He eventually got it after a fairly painful minute. He then said, “Dad, aren’t you glad how I struggled with that word? I think I could feel my brain growing.” I smiled: my son was now verbalizing the tell­-tale signs of a “growth­ mindset.” But this wasn’t by accident. Recently, I put into practice research I had been reading about for the past few years: I decided to praise my son not when he succeeded at things he was already good at, but when he persevered with things that he found difficult. I stressed to him that by struggling, your brain grows. Between the deep body of research on the field of learning mindsets and this personal experience with my son, I am more convinced than ever that mindsets toward learning could matter more than anything else we teach.

Researchers have known for some time that the brain is like a muscle; that the more you use it, the more it grows. They’ve found that neural connections form and deepen most when we make mistakes doing difficult tasks rather than repeatedly having success with easy ones.

What this means is that our intelligence is not fixed, and the best way that we can grow our intelligence is to embrace tasks where we might struggle and fail.

However, not everyone realizes this. Dr. Carol Dweck of Stanford University has been studying people’s mindsets towards learning for decades. She has found that most people adhere to one of two mindsets: fixed or growth. Fixed mindsets mistakenly believe that people are either smart or not, that intelligence is fixed by genes. People with growth mindsets correctly believe that capability and intelligence can be grown through effort, struggle and failure. Dweck found that those with a fixed mindset tended to focus their effort on tasks where they had a high likelihood of success and avoided tasks where they may have had to struggle, which limited their learning. People with a growth mindset, however, embraced challenges, and understood that tenacity and effort could change their learning outcomes. As you can imagine, this correlated with the latter group more actively pushing themselves and growing intellectually.

The good news is that mindsets can be taught; they’re malleable. What’s really fascinating is that Dweck and others have developed techniques that they call “growth mindset interventions,” which have shown that even small changes in communication or seemingly innocuous comments can have fairly long­-lasting implications for a person’s mindset. For instance, praising someone’s process (“I really like how you struggled with that problem”) versus praising an innate trait or talent (“You’re so clever!”) is one way to reinforce a growth ­mindset with someone. Process­ praise acknowledges the effort; talent­ praise reinforces the notion that one only succeeds (or doesn’t) based on a fixed trait. And we’ve seen this on Khan Academy as well: students are spending more time learning on Khan Academy after being exposed to messages that praise their tenacity and grit and that underscore that the brain is like a muscle.

The Internet is a dream for someone with a growth mindset. Between Khan Academy, MOOCs, and others, there is unprecedented access to endless content to help you grow your mind. However, society isn’t going to fully take advantage of this without growth mindsets being more prevalent. So what if we actively tried to change that? What if we began using whatever means are at our disposal to start performing growth mindset interventions on everyone we cared about? This is much bigger than Khan Academy or algebra — it applies to how you communicate with your children, how you manage your team at work, how you learn a new language or instrument. If society as a whole begins to embrace the struggle of learning, there is no end to what that could mean for global human potential.

And now here’s a surprise for you. By reading this article itself, you’ve just undergone the first half of a growth­-mindset intervention. The research shows that just being exposed to the research itself (­­for example, knowing that the brain grows most by getting questions wrong, not right­­) can begin to change a person’s mindset. The second half of the intervention is for you to communicate the research with others. We’ve made a video (above) that celebrates the struggle of learning that will help you do this. After all, when my son, or for that matter, anyone else asks me about learning, I only want them to know one thing. As long as they embrace struggle and mistakes, they can learn anything.

Interesting Read - I'll still always remind my kids daily how SMART they really are :)

Parenting is quite the JOURNEY!

I truly learn something NEW every day!