Ma'at: The Egyptian Goddess of Truth, Order, Justice, and Balance

[I really wish I could download the pictures from Bryant's camera on to the computer so that I could share these beautiful Egyptian Wax Museum pictures with y'all! It's killin' me! Hopefully we can get the problem worked out soon and get those on here!]


Skyler was Ma'at in the school's Egyptian Wax Museum. My VT was kind enough to make this great outfit for her. I actually ventured out for a few minutes and went to the school to see her and her class. They looked great. I was so impressed with all of their speeches and costumes. Here's Skyler's little speech that she would say when people walked by:

I am Ma'at, the Egyptian Goddess of truth, balance, order, and justice. Without me, the world would be chaos. I married my brother, Thoth. We had eight children, known as chief Gods and Goddesses. I was the Goddess who decided if your afterlife would be good. The person's soul would be weighed against my white feather of justice. My name means truth in Egyptian.

Another Successful Fundraiser!

Thanks to y'all, Skyler had another successful Scentsy fundraiser for Science Camp this year! We really appreciate your orders. For those of you who may need a fundraiser in the future for camp, church, scouts, etc., I would be happy to answer any questions you may have. 20% of sales goes to the fundraiser. Skyler raised over $100 just with Scentsy, and she also did a little babysitting and got a couple of donations, so she is set! Thanks again!

Way to go Sibley!

We are so proud of Sibley. For the very first time, she got up and said her part in the church primary program. She had it memorized and everything. [I didn't get to go, but I heard all about it.] She is getting to be such a big girl. The only time she slept with us lately is when she had bad dreams from watching too many Harry Potter movies. She is still in our room some nights, but she has a pallet on the floor. With my expanding belly, there is getting to be less and less room on the bed these days. I have to say, I love waking up in the morning and hearing her go to town on her thumb. She is also practicing being a big sister as of late. She changes her doll's clothes and makes pallets on the floor for her doll too. And she arranges for a babysitter if she has to go out for a bit. I know she will be a great big sister, just like her big sister, Skyler. As always, Skyler did great on her part too. Sadly, this was her last primary program ever!

Poll Results

Well, it looks like most of you think we are having a boy. I personally think it is a girl, but then again I thought Sibley was a boy. I'm a very impatient person and it is killing me to have to wait and find out. Right now the plan is to find out at 20 weeks, which will be right at Thanksgiving. Thanks for voting! That was fun.

Skyler's Sugar Baby

For a school project, Skyler had to carry a 5 lb. bag of sugar around for a week and pretend like it was her baby. They were assigned a gender at school, and to make it very realistic, some of them were even assigned twins. Bryant wanted to take it one step further and make Skyler's Sugar Baby retarded, because hey, isn't that the real world? (I am laughing out loud as I type this. He is so hilarious to me. I know we aren't politically correct, so sorry if any of you are offended by this.)But, Skyler wanted nothing to do with Bryant's retarded or down syndrome baby idea and opted to have a normal, healthy baby boy, who she named Logan. She even found some old little boy Build a Bear clothes and put them on him. She did so well on the project. For her essay, she did a scrapbook of Logan's life, and she got a perfect score! Yes, Grandaddy, she made a hunnerd!

Brownie: Our Dog For A Week

About a month ago, Bryant went out to pick up the girls from the bus stop and came home with this cute little dog, who he named "Brownie." One of the neighbors had found her, but couldn't have her in the house because of allergies, so she handed her over to Bryant. She was obviously well cared for. She had a collar, but the nametag had fallen off. We kept her outside for a little while, but she quickly wormed her way into our home and our hearts. She was the sweetest little thing. She loved to cuddle with me, since all I do is lay on the couch or in the bed these days. And, at night, she would get under the covers and sleep by my feet. She liked to be up against my leg. She was such a good dog too. She would never bark unless someone rang the doorbell or knocked on the door. And she would be so excited to see Bryant and the girls when they got home.

Anyway, we made lots of posters and hung them all around the neighborhood in an effort to locate her owners. No luck. We finally had to turn her over to a dog rescue. I would have kept her, but Bryant is already so overworked having to take care of me and the girls right now. And the cats weren't too happy about a dog being in the house. Brownie was fine with them, but the feeling definitely was not mutual. One night Brownie was sleeping under the covers down by my feet and Snowball came in and laid smack dab on top of her. I was afraid WWIII was about to erupt right there on my bed. I jumped up and grabbed Snowball before he ever knew anything. He's pretty stupid anyway, as y'all know. So, if any of you recognize this cute little dog, call me and I'll tell you where she is now.

Toler Reunion

For those of you who don't know who the Tolers are, they are very good friends of mine from Alabama. Well, they're not from Alabama, but Brother Toler was stationed there in the military, and so we were fortunate enough to have them go to church and school with us for many years. Kelli, their oldest daughter, lives in Chandler now, so we get to see each other some, although not near as often as we'd like. Kelli and her husband, Justin, had a baby about a month ago (a beautiful little girl named Cora) and the rest of the Toler Clan came to town for the blessing. They were sweet enough to invite us over for brunch.

It was sooooo good to see them! I was just so happy to see them and I got to runnin' my mouth and before I knew it three hours had passed! I hope to get to see them again at Christmas. Amanda and Chelsea, their other two daughters, live pretty close to my brother and his family in Utah now. And we are going to Utah for Christmas this year to visit my parents, Jacob and his family, Amanda and her family, the Cornwells, the Atwoods, and Georgia and her family. Thatcher will be starting BYU in January. Yes, I am old enough to have a nephew go to college. I can't believe my little Thatcher will be going to college, but he's not so little anymore.

Back to the Tolers - Oh! Y'all know the fudge I made for Christmas that many of you gave rave reviews? Well, Sister Toler taught me to make that fudge and I think of her every Christmas when I make it. Sorry, that was kind of random. And now I want fudge.

Also, about the picture - I hate that I looked so terrible for our pictures. I must admit that it is kind of a pain to take a shower with my medicine pump in my leg, and I don't have hardly any energy anyway, so I don't shower as often as I should. And I haven't worn make up in months. And I don't brush my teeth as often these days because it makes me gag, and it gives me a stomach ache. And I really need to have my roots done, but I figure why do it right now? I never go anywhere but the doctor's office. This Toler outing was a very rare occurrence in which I went out and not to the doctor's office. Anyway, I guess I felt I owed y'alll an explanation as to why I am so ugly and stinky right now in the picture and in general. My mother would call me "Gravel Gertie." Yes, Mama, I am Gravel Gertie these days.

So, again back to the Tolers. Sister Toler was my Young Women's Leader for several years at church. I must say I was not the best teenager, but Sister Toler always loved me and supported me and had my back anyway, and God love her for that! If not for her, then I probably would have been even worse. The teenage years are hard, you know?

She reminded me when I saw her about one time she was substituting for Sister Bailey in early morning seminary. Well, me and Jenny Sue were obviously mad at each other about something. [Probably clothes, if I had to guess, or maybe she was running late that morning and I had refused to wait on her and went on to seminary without her. Then Mama would have dropped her off and she would have been fighting mad. It could have been a number of things, really. Mostly we would fight because she would borrow my clothes without asking and then I would go to wear them and there would be a hole in them. Or she would use my makeup. Or I would use her toothbrush. That really irritated her. It irritates Bryant now, so I have to do that to him every once in a while. Or she would want to be alone and I would bother her. She always liked to be alone, like my Skyler does, and I didn't, like my Sibley. But, I digress...] Well, we Enslens are not the best at controlling our emotions. Some of us are better than others. I am probably the worst at it, although I am much better than I used to be. So is Jenny. I like to think that every family is dysfunctional, yet some families, like ours, are very open about their dysfunctionality.

At any rate, those of you who went to church with me and Jenny in Alabama know that we had a tendency to sometimes erupt into violent tussles no matter where we were - be it Seminary, Young Women, it didn't matter. Sister Toler reminded me of one such incident and we had a good laugh about it. She said this time we went to fighting and Nathan Pattillo and David Bailey broke us up. They were usually the early morning seminary bouncers, I guess. Although, when Sister Bailey would yell at us to stop fighting, we usually would because we loved her so much.

I would like to say here that our behavior is not representative of Southern teenage siblings as a whole. We were definitely atypical, so don't go judging Southern people and calling us violent and trashy on account of me and Jenny acting fools. And, though we sometimes had fist fights, we would only stay mad at each other for a couple of minutes - maybe an hour or two at the longest. Then we were best friends again. I guess we got our frustration out and felt better. Enslens don't hold in their feelings. We feel like not saying how you feel is like storing up a lot of poison. So, we say our peace, or in my and Jenny's case, we yell and hit and kick each other a couple of times, or at least we used to, and we'd feel better. Yes, I guess we found fist fights to be cathartic.

Wow, this blog entry about the Tolers turned out to be much longer than I intended and somehow evolved into an analysis on Enslen teenage behavior. Sorry. I love you Tolers, and can't wait to see y'all again! Thank you for being so kind and gracious to me and my family and just being wonderful in general. Y'all are the best!

They're here!

I got the new Fall/Winter Scentsy catalogs today, as well as the new samples. They are wonderful! After smelling them, I am really excited for Fall and the holidays. Skyler is going to do another Scentsy fundraiser for camp this year. She will be going to Science Camp in state. She has to raise $130.00. She has already started saving. She will be sending around a fundraiser email soon. Thanks again to those of you who supported her last year. Now really is a good time to start on your Christmas gift list. And the Fall/Winter catalogs have new and improved packages. They have made the Scentsy System more affordable and they have added a couple of very affordable plug in packages. So, expect to hear from Skyler soon. And, don't forget, she is babysitting now days too - and she is an excellent babysitter!

I guess my birthday is pretty special for more reasons than one this year...

Why 09/09/09 Is So Special
Have special plans this 09/09/09?

Everyone from brides and grooms to movie studio execs are celebrating the upcoming calendrical anomaly in their own way.


In Florida, at least one county clerk's office is offering a one-day wedding special for $99.99. The rarity of this Sept. 9 hasn't been lost on the creators of the iPod, who have moved their traditional Tuesday release day to Wednesday to take advantage of the special date. Focus Features is releasing their new film "9," an animated tale about the apocalypse, on the 9th.


Not only does the date look good in marketing promotions, but it also represents the last set of repeating, single-digit dates that we'll see for almost a century (until January 1, 2101), or a millennium (mark your calendars for January 1, 3001), depending on how you want to count it.


Though technically there's nothing special about the symmetrical date, some concerned with the history and meaning of numbers ascribe powerful significance to 09/09/09.

For cultures in which the number nine is lucky, Sept. 9 is anticipated - while others might see the date as an ominous warning.

Math magic


Modern numerologists - who operate outside the realm of real science - believe that mystical significance or vibrations can be assigned to each numeral one through nine, and different combinations of the digits produce tangible results in life depending on their application.


As the final numeral, the number nine holds special rank. It is associated with forgiveness, compassion and success on the positive side as well as arrogance and self-righteousness on the negative, according to numerologists.


Though usually discredited as bogus, numerologists do have a famous predecessor to look to. Pythagoras, the Greek mathematician and father of the famous theorem, is also credited with popularizing numerology in ancient times.


"Pythagoras most of all seems to have honored and advanced the study concerned with numbers, having taken it away from the use of merchants and likening all things to numbers," wrote Aristoxenus, an ancient Greek historian, in the 4th century B.C.

As part of his obsession with numbers both mathematically and divine, and like many mathematicians before and since, Pythagoras noted that nine in particular had many unique properties.

Any grade-schooler could tell you, for example, that the sum of the two-digits resulting from nine multiplied by any other single-digit number will equal nine. So 9x3=27, and 2+7=9.


Multiply nine by any two, three or four-digit number and the sums of those will also break down to nine. For example: 9x62 = 558; 5+5+8=18; 1+8=9.


Sept. 9 also happens to be the 252nd day of the year (2 + 5 +2)...