The mind

I have never been one for horror, gore or just plain creepiness. That stuff sticks with me. I see it over again as soon as the lights go out.

I also happen to have a baby who requires me to get up during random hours of the night.

Watching a TV show with grotesque images shortly before bedtime is not a brilliant idea for me. I wound up doing that anyway last night. Even though we then watched something humorous immediately following the image was still burned brightly into my brain and was haunting me when I needed to fall asleep. Phebe however did not think we should go to sleep.

I learned an interesting lesson last night about my mind, as I was up over and over again taking care of an infant at 1 am trying to rid myself of a terrifying scene.

I realized I can not fence off a bad image in my mind.

I can't simply tell myself that we aren't going to think of that any more and hope my thoughts will find something else to do.

We have all been told not to think of something and suddenly that is all we can think of. The same concept applies here. I do not want to think of it so what do I do? I obsess.

When left to wander my mind always came back. However, if led in a very purposeful distinct direction the results were significantly better. I have to give a talk soon in Sacrament meeting at church. Once I decided to think about how I was going to present my material I no longer had any problems of drifting back. My mind had a direction to go and was doing a great job in accomplishing its task.

You must replace not just try to avoid.




Sorry if you already knew all that. It was a pretty profound moment for me.

Naomi's dream

Naomi had a dream lastnight that Raphael the Ninja Turtle came to visit her. He asked her to watch a movie with him. What did they watch you might ask? Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles I. Raphael really likes that movie .

Hugs

Me: (pulling Caleb in for a hug.) "I need a hug."
Caleb: " I need a hot dog."

Alter egos

Caleb can't say Naomi. It comes out similar to "wo-i". The other day I came down stairs to him struggling to get her attention calling "Wo-i, Wo-i"!

Naomi turned around and said "No! That isn't my name! My name is Squirrel. Call me Squirrel!'

Mother's Day

Last night my elder daughter woke up at 3:30 am crying and wheezing and coughing and choking out,"Somebody please help me breathe." It was truly terrifying. I am so glad that prayers work and the Holy Ghost is actually there to help. We finally all went back to bed around 5; after baths and Vicks Vapo Rub and goofing off.

Dr say it is probably croup. Bleh. Also claims croup is an illness that nearly disappears during the day and shows back up full force at night. 3 days long. 2 more nights to go.


Today I was honored to attend a "Mother's Day Tea Party" in my son's kindergarten class. It was wonderful. A room full of kindergartners singing about how they love you is a touching thing. There were many highlights of the morning. I will share some:

When asked what your mother would do if she had 5 minutes of peace a little girl told us her mom "would bake cookies for her sisters and me." Her mom commented " Well isn't that nice of me."Every child was asked what food their mom makes best. I am pleased to report that my son said I cook the best shrimp fried rice. Out of a class of 20 kids there were:

• cookies- 4 votes
• brownies-2
• pizza -3
• cake-7

They then drew a picture of their mom cooking and wrote the recipe on the back. All of the recipes were compiled in a book for us to take home. I bet you thought you knew how to make cookies. Well wait till you hear some of their tips.

• "Put in bowl for 20 or 6 minutes a little bit hot and a little bit cold."
• "Put into the oven (warm for a minute). Take out and put a doll in.
• "Put it in the oven for 10 mins at 2 degrees"
• "Put them in the oven at 1 degree. Bake them for a while... one minute."
• "Put in microwave at 50 degrees for 10 minutes. Put mayonnaise on the sandwich ( a little... actually a lot.) Heat up the whole sandwich in the microwave for 50 mins. Eat and watch some television.
• "Put in the oven for 43 seconds at 700 degrees."

And you thought you knew how to cook.....