You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch

This is the Grinch who stole Christmas -- being very scary with his long Grinch fingers.

This is the Grinch now a happy Grinch who is going to give back the Who's Christmas with the help of little Cindy-Loo Who.

This is Cindy Loo so happy she could help the Grinch's heart grow and help him love Christmas!

I took them to the Jolly Holiday Lights walk for the Make-A-Wish foundation. It was a two mile loop with lots of AWESOME Christmas light displays and I pulled them in their Radio Flyer "sleigh" - so I guess that would make me the Grinch's dog Max. They had a blast, it was a beautiful night, and they got their picture taken for the newspaper, so I consider it time and labor well spent.

HALLOWEEN is COMING!

Mikey and Aisy dress up just about every day as spiderman, a princess, skeletons (glow in the dark jammies), or whatever their imagination comes up with. {we also did a play using the miss muffet nursery rhyme - they memorized lines and we video taped it too!} HOWEVER, they know Halloween is a special dress-up occassion.


Tinkerbell - she didn't want just the regular green fairy costume, she wanted her tinkerbell to have pink on it too.

Peter Pan - "Mom, this is how peter pan stands when he fights Captain Hook!" And when he is peter, he jumps off everything and tries to fly. my couches and beds will never be the same.

Best friends Peter and Tink! They are already combing the many halloween costume magazines we get in the mail for ideas of what to be next year. The front runners are batman and bat girl or a princess and prince. I love that they want to coordinate their outfits, they must be my children!

For Love of a Dad

We got to see dad in Omaha, NE over the Labor Day weekend. We had so much fun at the waterpark hotel and fun center. I got to do some leisure reading and exercise because there was another adult to do the supervision and entertaining, it was wonderful! However, we are going on our second month without dad and it is clearly taking a toll on Mikey.

This picture was taken at the airport as we dropped dad off. Aislynn was basically asleep, but as we pulled away from the airport, Mikey put both of his hands up to his face, covering his eyes and began to BAWL - like the catch your breath type of crying with streaming tears. I quickly tried to rectify the situation by reminding him we would see dad again soon and just think about how much fun we had with dad this weekend, and then Mikey's hands drop from his face and he looks at me with his furrowed brow like I am just not getting it. And he says, "But Mom, my heart hurts."

So of course being pregnant I start crying too and say "My heart hurts too when dad leaves and sometimes we just need to cry to help it feel a little better." After we got over the worst Mikey asked if Sissy's heart hurt too - and I told him he could ask her when she woke up.

Aislynn replied to Mikey, "No, Dad said he was going to take me on a date!" Apparently money and time with dad alone speak volumes to this girl and that holds her over until the next time we get to see dad.

summer fun

Part of our summer fun is moving....again. This makes 7 moves in almost 6 yrs of marriage. I suppose one day when I can write a book on effective moving the Lord will say, "it is enough", and let me stay in one place. Until then, I will be in Des Moines through December (when I graduate) and Justin will move for his new job to Utah this weekend. We will miss our daddy!!!!

Hudson days kiddie parade - 60's theme, can you guess who they are?

If you couldn't get it from the sign, maybe the disco pose will help ;) I spent about 2 hrs making their costumes right before the parade, they got to pick out the material at the fabric store -- Aislynn was worried the whole time that she would not have enough sparkles.

But dad was the real hero because he spent 5 minutes doing the color hair spray and painting on the chops and mustache. There is no hope to compete with him, he is always much cooler than mom.

Aisy = haha, I'm still awake!!! Mikey = I have done wrong, I'll repent now.
I love that my kids are best friends, most of the time. When it is 10:30 at night and they were put to bed at 8:00 pm and I come in to find them still awake and playing, I wish they didn't have so much fun together...or maybe I just wish we had 3 bedrooms. To get them to sleep, I have told them there is a troll in the basement and the first one who talks will have to go sleep with the troll. This is sure to cause some type of psychological issues for them in the future - but for now, it is the ticket to peace and quiet at bedtime.

I need to post my favorite story that perfectly depicts my children's personalities - before I forget it amongst the case law. This happened in my parent's stairway in Utah. Mikey and Aislynn are walking quietly down the stairs and I hear Mikey say, "Shhh I hear the monster we have to zip our lips and lock them!"

So they both do accordingly and take a couple more quiet steps. Then, Mikey turns to Aislynn who is one step behind him and says, "I will go down first to see if there is a monster because I'm braver." He gets about 3 steps down before Aislynn barrels after him in an outrage.

She looks right in his face and yells, "Let me tell something to you" - pause - "I'm braver too and I can do the monster if I want!"

Always calm Mikey turns to her and says, "Sis, I am a gentleman, I will go first to make sure there is no monster." And yet, Aislynn is still furious and jaded - "I can do the monster if I want!" Then she rushes down the rest of the stairs.

Gentlemen and Players beware. Headstrong Princess on the loose. As for the ladies, snatch up this sweet and cuddly guy while you can...or his mom just might keep him forever.

I think I am finally out of the finals coma and now heading into the summertime rush. The kids have day camps in the mornings while I do my clinic work at school (I handle real cases - the clients are kids so they don't complain much about my lack of experience...just Guardian Ad Litem or Attorney roles for children in need of assistance and juvenile delinquents) - I am supervised by a professor/attorney so it's not too stressful that I am going to ruin someone's life.
Then, off to the gym to work off those extra finals pounds - plus swim lessons in the afternoon, if they take a nap then I do my CASA (volunteer case worker) or Zero to Three (federal juvenile court program) work- only 35 files for that role, but at least I can do most of the work from home and I get paid! Then I have a night class that is twice a week too. Luckily I have a husband who makes it possible for me to do all of these things. He is such a great support.

YW camp activities at least once a week since I'm camp director and additional leader meetings at least once a week for that, plan my lesson for church every Sunday, take kids to the doctor, travel to Utah and northern Iowa to visit family, have graduation and birthday parties, attend weddings, pack for the inevitable move (we don't know where we are going yet, but will move at the end of July) MAN, I need a break from Summer!

WITH ALL THIS, I have not had much energy to take pictures. This makes me sad, for I LOVE pictures. Also, not much time to read, my other love. But, here's the few I have taken in the last couple months to give some update!

Omaha Zoo with Jeff, Gma Becky and Gpa Tim!

$1 goggles from target that lasted Mikey 1 day

Camel ride at the zoo - only available memorial day to labor day - let's take a spin!

Jeff's graduation - Andee, Steve, Ethan, Mikey, Buck, Mom, Jeff, Hutch Elise, Aisy, Dad, & me (in jest I am actually wearing the same outfit I bought myself to wear on my high school graduation day under my gown...fits a little tighter this go around!)

Our favorite cousin and nephew - Ethan is soooo big now, and I heard him say "dada"

Mikey's improvised party - with spider cupcakes by grandpa tim (the kids ask me every day where aunt elise is at...she's quite the favorite)

THE BIG 50th party, great planning dad, it was the bomb. This photo is missing the star of the night, Jeff aka Nacho Libre. I need to get the video - hilarious. You may notice my hair is shorter -- or not, the only people in Utah or Iowa that did notice also knew I was getting a hair cut. I mentioned it to buck on the drive home and he still can't tell the difference. I thought cutting 5 inches off was a huge difference. guess not.

We also had a bday party for Mikey with the Bucy fam, but those pics are on Mary's camera. Per Mikey's request we had a BIG water fight - his first - and dad won, he pulled out the hose.

Happy Easter - was that a month ago? WOW, i just wanted to show their over-priced oufits that have only been worn once. next year, we'll shop at goodwill.

And I was trying to get Aisy to show off her "princess braid" that I did. She is such a great daughter to let me do her hair all the time. this was a hair-do my mom used to do on me.

Black mail! She gets that from her grandpa Tim :)

One close shave! Dad says, "ready for your summer buzz?" Mikey says, "No, I like my long hair." Dad says, "You golf better with short hair" and Mikey says "yeah, let's buzz it off dad!" Mikey is now in golf lessons and says he wants to be on TV like Tiger Woods.

If aislynn were writing the caption she would say, "This is lyvia, she has a baby in her tummy" And then she would not let me move onto any other picture. My daughter's first horse ride. There were a couple half-lings and two cute ponies, but Aislynn wanted the big draft horse. She rode the horse 5 times. I have never seen her so excited and in her element - Petting lyvia on the mane and not caring when lyvia kicked the horse behind her. So this birthday I think it's going to be, "daddy I want a draft horse."

The Greatest Mommy Ever!

I've read various posts on different blogs where a person will write to their lover and recite historical accounts or Greek mythology and then draw inferences between those accounts and their own relationship. Well, I've never been one who is terribly interested in history, and even less interested in the history of love. Nor do I care to spend the countless hours it would surely require me to establish some comparison between Greek god's relationships and the one I participate in within the walls of my own home. Additionally, much to my wife's dismay, I am generally short for terms of endearment as it is. For some reason unbeknownst to me, I have terrible difficulty expressing my appreciation for all she is to me.

10 years ago, nearly to the month, I vowed to myself on the day I met her that she was gonna be all mine. It was the summer of '99 and everybody had come back to Iowa for Mike's mission farewell and the coonfeed. I was 19 and had just finished my first year of college at Wartburg. She was, well.....we'll leave that detail out and you can do the math. And, she was soooooo stinkin cute, and flirty, and funny, and adorable, and athletic, and........ Anyway, the few days passed and she left for home, and left me wanting more (not a bad more, a good more). To this day Gma Jo swears up and down there was only one reason (use your imagination) I asked Wendy to marry me. We spent the next few weeks I.M.ing back and forth til the weeeeeeeeee hours of the morning, much to my future in-laws dismay. I mean, I was a non-member dirthead (Tim's previous term of endearment for me; has since been changed to personal mechanic/laborer) who had no business seeking out a relationship with their daughter.

A month later, Ben and I drove to Utah to see Mike fly out for Zimbabwe (back when you could walk to the terminals). We stayed for a full week at T&B's house. I fell in love with the Utah scenery and decided I was going to move out there. Of course, I had no alterior motives. I returned home and the I.M.ing continued. I told Wendy I was moving out there before September and inquired about a possible dating relationship. Her angelic response: 1. You live 1200 miles away. 2. Your a non member. 3. You have a girlfriend. I though to myself, uh oh, now what? My quick thinking in action responded as follows: 1. I can move. 2. People change. 3. On the rocks. Folks, the rest is history.

What I can tell you is this, I have the most beautiful woman by my side that I have ever laid eyes on, and she has the best relationship with her Heavenly Father of anybody I've ever met, and for that I am eternally grateful. I am thankful for her inability to be satisfied, for always needing to do more, to progress, and to be better than she was yesterday. She is the best mother our children could ever have. I am grateful for her patience and longsuffering and for learning how to live with somebody like myself. And even more daunting of a task, learning how to love me. To all of you who know me, you may find it hard to believe that it could be so difficult to live with somebody so humble, submissive, patient, loving.......as myself, but at times it proves to be a real test. I don't doubt that oft times she even wonders why she said "yes". I am grateful for her acceptance of others and her non-judgemental nature. I am grateful that she loves to make-out with me, because that played a big role in her becoming a mother. I am a lucky man.

I love you baby girl.

In Hopes Of A Mediterranean Cruise

This is Buck, and it's my first post on here, so if the layout seems odd or things don't line up, or.....bear with me. A great friend of mine (let me put emphasis on the GREAT.....one of 2 people in this world with whom I'd trust my life) led me to a website his father created called http://www.embnutrition.com/. I'd encourage anybody who is into fitness or looking to get into it, to check it out. It offers a plethora of valuable information. As part of a promotional package, and to encourage good physical fitness, periodically they run 12 week contests for 6 different categories based on age and gender. It is similar to The Biggest Loser, but is based on % body fat lost. You then have 12 weeks to lose as much body fat as possible. They require a "before" picture and body fat test, as well as an "after" picture and test. The winner of each category wins a week-long cruise for 2 to the Mediterranean. Long story short, my wife encouraged me to embark on this adventure (surely it wasn't in hopes of winning a cruise for 2) and see how well I could compete. My beginning body fat test was 10.2% and I weighed in at 210lbs. 12 weeks later I finished at 2.92% and 198 lbs. All said and done, I had lost 71.4% of my original body fat. It was an amazing ride and I hope to get a phone call in the near future that will send me to Europe. I am posting a before picture for nothing more than an embarassing reference, as well as a few of my after pictures. WARNING!!!!!!!!!!! I'm in a speedo, so if you don't wanna see, close your eyes.

Shark v. Crocodile

I had no idea this was a largely debated face-off. There are multiple Youtube videos and pictures on this subject. The discovery channel even did a special on this hot topic. It came to my attention in the following manner:

I was driving my kids to daycare at about 9AM and Mikey asks, "Mom, where does a crocodile live?" Being rather vague I answered, "In the water." He then replied, "Oh, like the sharks live in the water."

Then, Aislynn decided to join the conversation and said, "the shark will eat the crocodile with his sharp teeth." And just because they love to argue and because Mikey generally has random logic he replied, "No - the crocodile will eat the shark because he is green....like the Green Bay Packers!"

Only in a home where Brett Favre is featured on more walls than our own family members and at least one option for Packers clothing must be in the drawer at all times, would that logic rule out. So, Aislynn eagerly agreed, nothing beats Packer logic if you are a Bucy.

Birthday Brothers

Well - my brothers have made it to 28 and 18! I want to wish them happy birthdays and also let the world see how incredibly good looking my family is! :)

Oh the Little People, cute Wee Ones

My Babies Love Their Daddy Too!

In ancient Rome the practice for securing a mate was for the man to steal the woman, and the woman to resist - in order to show his manhood and her virtue. The Rape of the Sabine Women is an art piece which depicts this tradition.

almost a decade ago my husband started instant messaging me and quickly there were sparks and he stole my heart. To further secure the deal he moved from Iowa to Utah to properly steal me away from the childish ideals I had at the age of 16. He was my first love and I did have proper resistance by "calling off" our dating about 3 times before getting married, so my virtue was definitely proven...too much for his liking, I'm sure.

Justin was my first love and will be my last. He knows me so well and still loves me and chooses every day to treat me the way a true man should treat his wife. My favorite things about him are when he is thoughtful and comes up with little ways to surprise me and when he is cuddling and talking with our kids. He does a great job of showing the tough guy side, but I know he is tender and gentle and perfect for me.

Happy Valentines Love! Sparks? Forever.

Justin's Birthday was on the 11th and he was 29 years old! He is such a cute dad and a hard-working husband. I don't think anyone will ever deny that he works hard, plays hard, and is pretty much great at everything. Since the kids are a little older this year, I had them dictate letters to their dad for his birthday and they came out like this:

To: Dad, Justin Thomas Bucy
I love you Daddy - Because I love him.
I love to work with him and go to the zoo.
I love to see daddy it makes me feel good.
My favorite thing is going golfing with dad.
Because he likes me to go with him a long long around to go golfing.
I love my dad even longer good.
From: B

To: Daddy's Birthday
I love you dad.
I love you daddy.
I love you MOST.
I like to play with daddy.
He gives me mooches.
I sing with Daddy and play.
Daddy, I love you.
From: Aislynn

CHRISTMAS UNWOUND

Here is our Christmas RECAP - in Rewind mode: Mikey and Aisy wear their Christmas church clothes for 5 weeks in a row, just to get good use out of them. And now they will be retired and passed onto future cousins to come.

SAYING GOODBYE to our LOVELY UTAH FAMILY - of those pictured here are Andee and Ethan Ott...I think Andee should be sitting on the 3 little santa's laps! And I am sure she would be wishing for sleep this Christmas, oh the joys of being a new mom -- Andee sure is a great one.

Mikey and Aisy in the BIG stocking! Getting packed away for Christmas in Iowa.

Wendy's Timpanogos High School Basketball team dinner at Coach Carey Hopkins (Potter). In the BACK: - Aubrey Young Johnson, Ashley Buswell Larsen, Melanie Davies, Carey Potter Hopkins, Korbie Tomlinson, FRONT: Stacey Gonzales Thomas, Celeste Roberts Fiefia, Wendy Ott Bucy, Emily Durrant Bennett (with her adorable baby), and Melinda Champlin Andrews.

We really missed having assistant coach and team spirit Mickey Jacobs Coombs there and some of the other girls who have since left the state or recently had babies. What a night, how I miss the girls and how so many haven't changed a bit!

Trip to Cabella's with Dad and Grandpa Tim. We saw soo many animals, they loved the fish tank and all the Wildabeast heads - because they killed Mufasa.

Aislynn decided in the 'Big Game' area that I am the girl moose and Dad is the boy moose.

We had a fun game night at my parents and it was exciting to see all the new babies. Here was the older bunch, because Sean and Josh weren't able to come - but Louk, Mikey, Aisy and Sofia sure had a riot.

Here's those new babies - Jessica's little Alyson (being held by Aunt Shelley) and Katie's little Nicholas. Both were so content and beauiful. Nicholas was a little brick, he carries his weight well and Alyson was just perfect with so much hair!

Having fun and watching WALL-E.

After Christmas we had a spledid arrival of Steve, Andee and Ethan - how sweet they were to come up after they had about 10 christmases already. Mikey was very happy to get a chance to hold Ethan. He couldn't talk about much else - it was definitely a highlight, along with riding Grandpa's motorcycles.

SLEDDING - another highlight. My little oompa loompas went sledding with Grandma and Elise and I snapped pictures mostly. There was a little hill at the junior high by my parent's house and to get back up the hill, the kids layed in the sled and were pulled up. Aislynn is portraying the "Lady of Chalot" (Anne of Green Gables anyone?)

Mikey accidently started sliding down the hill before Grandma could hop on. He was so proud and yet mildly horrified to be going down by himself and he gently glided right into a pole to stop his progress. Luckily he was going slow so there was no repeat of biting off a tongue like Steve did when we were kids and he hit a pole.

Here's more baby Ethan, the biggest blue eyes, what a handsome little man.

Ready to go sledding? Remember I said this is a recap in rewind! What cute snow babies.

And here's Christmas Day - with captions only when necessary.

I believe they were singing about an apple tree....Uncle Steve must have influenced them.

Cool goggles - "Uncle Jeff, poke me in the eye"

This is Christmas Eve - we went to Temple Square and rode on a horse drawn sleigh.

Aislynn loved the Horsies and as we got in the car on our way to see them she asked Aunt Elise, do you love horsies? To which Elise replied, yes I do - and then Aisy said, oh, me too!

Walking with Grandpa to see the lights while we waited in the horse line and donated money to the beggars passing by.

Jeff skipping Priesthood to play with Aisy and Mikey, what a rebel...

Mikey frosting and sprinkling some of Grandpa's famous sugar cookies.

On the sleigh in Des Moines and ready to dash through the snow and ride 16 hours to Utah -- oh what fun!