The Case of the Missing Mummies.

Sydney Nai, 8 years old, was having a birthday party when all of a sudden the phone rang. To her surprise it was " Martha... ( who was really Stacy)the curator at the museum. She knows that Sydney loves to solve mysteries and boy did she have a big mystery on her hands. She was working late when she noticed the mummies were not in their cases. So, Martha ( Stacy) called Sydney to ask if her and her friends could help track down the mummies. Some were hesitant ( chickens =) but they were all eager to solve the case.

First they had to follow the " Glowing" foot prints....a concoction I made that reacts to black lights. Then they had to follow numerous clues and decipher codes to find the final clue. We were led to a warehouse where there was a trail of " Mummy Dust" ( flour) leading to some tall boxes. A secret spell awakened the mummies and they popped out of their box.

Then it was home for cake and ice cream. Yummy! I am so glad all the kids had so much fun on their Mystery adventure. We will have to do it again soon ( after the snow is gone for good! It was freezing!)

Mothers all around the world
can give a big " Amen" to my next statement/ complaint.
Why is it we..the main caregiver can be healthy when it doesn't really matter, but as soon as a special event comes up....WHAM ...we get sick. I am around sick kids all the time. Kids who attend school bring home who knows how many germs. I am constantly surrounded by the little bugs ( the germs, I mean...not the kids). I am not a germaphobe. I am a firm believer that you have to be exposed to germs in order for your body to be able to recognize them and fight them off. But seriously...why now do I get sick. It is Sydney's 8th birthday....a pretty special one for her. We have big plans...birthday party ( which I will blog about later) and a baptism. In our church, children get baptized at 8 years old. It is a pretty big milestone. I guess it won't matter if I am sick that day....I would have been using a bunch of tissues anyhow. I am a bawl baby when it comes to my kids growing up. So go away cold....I have plans!

True Love???
There are times when I ask my self if I really am in love. Sometimes I can be so mad at Anthony...and yet I can not help wanting to be near him...to touch him....to feel his touch. I have tried to stay mad at him but it is useless! I love this man. That is my lot in life....to be driven in sane by a man that can make me mad and make me love him all at the same time. No wonder I am bonkers!

Man, I miss this game!
At one point in my life, basketball was easy as pie. Running up and down the court was continuous and fast paced. I somehow had the strength and lung capacity to be able to do this for a good hour. I remember the rush it gave me to make a 3 point shot or to do a layup only to have to book it back down to the other end of the court to play defense. Yes...I used to love this game. I think it runs in my blood. My dad gave me a love for this game. He is better than I am though. In fact, he still plays from time to time and he is well into his 60's. YaY DADDY!

Alas, my years of basketball playing have come and gone. I have not played in 9 years. 9 YEARS!!! That was until this week. I was asked by some good friends, who are our youth supervisors at church, to come and play ball with the youth. I was thrilled to do this! It seems that the teenagers of this generation do not have the exposure or desire to be involved in sports. At the very least there are less youth playing sports than there were when I was a youth.

I decided to keep the game simple because there were not very many of them that had played basketball before. There are some fun games you can play with a basketball that do not involve the full intensity of a real basketball game. We decided to play " Bump". Those of you who grew up American, you would know this game as " Lightning". It is an extremely faced paced game that involves mostly shooting the ball from the free throw line. I won't explain the game in full...that would take too long.

I said I had not played ball in a while...meaning that it is o.k. to assume that I am out of shape. It is the sad, sad truth! But, I hope the youth learned the lesson of not judging a book by it's cover. This old lady still has some juice left in her. Running was not an issue...the game is only played at one end of the court ( thank goodness!). It sure felt good to shoot the ball and get that same rush out of making a clean shot " Swoosh"! Man I love this game! I definitely need to play more! So to my good friends.....thanks for asking me to help with the youth activity!

It's about Time!

How many times do we say to a friend.... hey, we SHOULD go this, or that. Always thinking that something would be a good idea, but never getting around to doing it. I kick myself because there are things I could have seen and places I could have gone when I lived closer to them. For example, living in Pennsylvania, we only lived a short 2 or 3 hour drive from Gettysburg and other historical places. Hershey, PA...hello....chocolate central, and I never went. And now we live at least a good 15 hour drive from those places. Why didn't I go? Was I really too busy? Or was it just not that important to me?

These are the same questions I have been asking myself about where I live now. Only a 3 hour drive away is a place so beautiful, so calming and peaceful, that I feel right at home there. And yet it has been 5 years since I have experienced the wonderful feelings of that place. If I feel so at home there, why then wouldn't I go back more? Too busy? Not a priority? Shame on me!!!

Thanks to some wonderful friends who did not say " we SHOULD go", but instead said " I am going. Come with me!", I was able to again feel that warmth and the desire I have to visit this wonderful place, Nauvoo.

This is the Nauvoo Temple. It is a sacred place where we can feel close to our Father in Heaven and feel of His love for us. It was such a beautiful day! The sun warmed my face as the peace in the Temple, away from the things of this world, warmed my heart. Thank you to my good friends who shared this day with me!