childhood obesity through the eyes of a child

I have to write a 12 page research paper for one of my classes this semester, and I'm considering childhood obesity as the topic of choice.  Jeremy suggested taking a different angle on the subject rather than writing a basic causes and treatments type paper. I considered writing a paper about childhood obesity from the perspective of children. I was trying to explain this to Bella, and thought I'd ask her thoughts on the subject. You know how people say a child can be brutally honest? Yeah, that's pretty much what I got from Bella on the subject. Here is how the conversation went:

ME: What do you think when you see fat kids?

Bella: It's sad.

Me: Why is it sad? There is no right or wrong answer here, I just want to know your thoughts.

Bella: Because they can't fit through doors, and then you'll have to butter them up, and then they won't have any butter left for toast, and that would be sad.......... and it's sad that they are not healthy and they'll probably get a disease like number 2 diabetes.


(we've had a discussion about type 1 vs. type 2 diabetes, because there is a girl at gymnastics with type 1 diabetes)

Wow. (I did warn you it'd be brutally honest!) Now, I KNOW Bella would not say this to a child, but the fact that she thought it makes me wonder what other "normal weight" children think about obese kids.

flowers!

It's been a few years since I've had a successful garden, but thanks to my mother-in-law's help and hard work, I have some beautiful blooms to admire this year!

I love how this one looks like there are flowers growing on the flower

can you spot my little spider friend on his web?

have a couple pumpkins growing on the side of the house

please don't ask me for plant names; I haven't a clue

LOTS of peppers on my pepper plants!

don't know what these are, but I think they are super cool and so beautiful

a story

I found this while going through some old stuff on my computer. It's a story Genna wrote back in 2007, when she was 5. Enjoy!



Once upon a time there was a princess named Hannah walking in the forest to see some unicorns. But the unicorns had very sharp teeth. The unicorns were going to bite her, so she had to go back home. Princess Hannah lived in a very big land in west Asia, and there were lots of castles there. Princess Hannah’s castle was very big, had very big windows with beautiful sparkly curtains, and was decorated with beautiful flowers. The castle was covered with hundreds of flags, and the flags had flowers and stripes. The castle also had balloons all over. The castle sat at the edge of a cliff, and the only way to get there was on the draw bridge. The draw bridge had a fence so you won’t fall off if you walk to fast. There was also a guard at the draw bridge to keep bad guys away. Princess Hannah lived in the castle with Prince Eric. There were married, and had 3 pets. They had a grey cat with a sparkly collar named Kadence. They had a black and white spotted dog named Murk. He had a shiny red collar. They also had a red fish named Sam that lived in a shiny tank in the middle of the castle. Outside they had a carriage with two brown and white horses named Jenny and Carl. Hannah’s mom lived in the castle too, her name was Queen Lara. One day Queen Lara had a birthday. They had a big party, and then took a ride in their carriage. They threw candy out of the carriage for all the people in the other castles. After their carriage ride they went home, but they forgot to close their draw bridge. Later that night they hear noises........bad guys were coming in! Bad guys were stealing all of their toys, decorations, and their Christmas tree. When they woke up they looked around the castle and said "Oh no, our things are gone! The bad guys took them!" Princess Hannah, Prince Eric, and Queen Lara went to look for their stuff. The bad guys threw their stuff all over the forest. The princess, prince, and queen followed the muddy footprints in the forest and found the bad guys. They hand-cuffed the bad guys and put them in jail in the castle dungeon. Suddenly the castle was at war. They sent the bad guys outside to fight. The bad guys were killed and the war was over. Now it was time for Christmas. The castle was decorated beautifully for Christmas and Santa was coming soon. On Christmas morning the queen got new make-up, Prince Eric got a sword to fight bad guys, and Princess Hannah got a new doll. They had a wonderful Christmas. The end.

YAY CAKE!

I think she might have a sweet tooth.....

no such thing as time off when you're a gymnast

summer girl