Always On The Move

When Dad is Away

2011-03-14T22:58:00.002-05:00

some snippits of what happens the first week dad is away:

first morning, the kids say "Mom, remember you have to feed us dinner tonight" (that was Dad's specialty - I am no cook)
Sienna finds every picture of Justin in our house and points and says "dada" she doesn't talk at any other time or on command even, so this is precious.
Michael and Aislynn want to sleep in my king size bed because dad lets them do that when I am out of town. That lasted 5 minutes because they were so loud and jumping all over the place. To which I hear, "Ah, you are not as fun as dad."
I am generally more of a pushover than dad, so the kids try all sorts of stuff to get out of anything they don't want to do. Mikey tries to get out of going to church by saying, "I love Jesus, but I just hate going to church"
Sunday - I thought I did so well getting to church 10 minutes early -- only to realize it was daylight savings time and we were 50 minutes late.
We skype with Dad on sunday and the children are crazy, out of control all over the place, they ask dad if he has recess at his Air Force school. When we end the skype Mikey says, "so is dad coming home tomorrow?"

Don't I wish. 4 MORE WEEKS!!! We can't wait to have him back.

December to March

2011-03-14T21:50:00.007-05:00

March 8 - Dad leaves for Commissioned Officer Training in Alabama. He is a 2nd Lieutenant in the United States Air force.

February 20 - We finally get to Iowa and see our new cousin - baby Eli Casey. He looks just like his daddy.

January - I just can't get enough of Sienna. She is the perfect angel baby and she has a nice belly on her too!

O' Christmas Tree, O' Christmas Tree, why aren't my kids all smiling? We couldn't get one picture of them all looking happy and decent...oh well, this is reality at the Bucy household!

Sienna is 1 and eating her birthday cake. She likes toys she can ride on and matchbox cars and rocking chairs. She shakes her head yes and no in response to questions you ask her. Not a big talker. She can say dada and mimi (for mama) but doesn't say it too often. She knows some sign language as well, but she is just content and doesn't find she needs much. She keeps busy chasing her older sister and brother around the house. She LOVES to be outside. She is the best baby ever and I am so glad she is mine!

LONG TIME NO POST

2010-11-16T17:08:00.023-06:00

Here is an update of this year in picture form:

Kids doing a Spanish song at the Orem Public Library

Wendy Graduation from Law School at Drake in Iowa.

Mikey Birthday

Late Easter pic

4th of July

Baby Dylann!!!

A girl of many faces

Trip to the Doctors for 6 month check up and Mikey's 5 year old shots!

Hanging out at the park

When Looney Meg and Will came to town....with baby cousin in utero!

School starts at Challenger

Aislynn's birthday - Princess crown cupcakes!

Ride in the cinderella Carriage for Aislynn's b-day.

Sienna is adorable and taking her first steps at 10 months!

The star wars trio for halloween - we had a big halloween party for friends and family.

Pumpkin shopping

Sisterly love!

The first sleep-over with Kawika and Makaiya Wright, what a fun time.

Now onto the HOLIDAYS!

2010-04-07T14:40:00.006-05:00

After taking the bar - we bought a house and spent WEEKS painting it and cleaning carpets and now, here are some of the rooms that are finished!!!

Our Room -- what you don't see is the AWESOME master bath. 2 separate sinks and HUGE closet. It actually holds of my clothes and Justin's clothes.
Aislynn's Room -- she wanted pink and purple. We still have some minor touches to add, but I had fun putting this room together. Mikey's is not quite done, still needs a little more work (dad was in charge of that one ;) )
Kitchen -- love my table, Justin found it. The accent wall is cherry cobbler red.
Living Room -- brown and blue, Justin loves the fact that every seat in the sectional reclines. AND he loves his 58" TV also. I'm just glad we finally have ceilings high enough to hang my mirror collage.

COMPARISON

2010-02-01T12:17:00.005-06:00

This is Sienna above and Aislynn below -- about the same age, Sienna might be one week older.

Can you tell who is who? Aislynn above and Sienna below this time.

My girls look so similar - Sienna just has a longer head than Aislynn and chubbier cheeks, since she's a little older in the pictures. What adorable girls!

2010 Rewind

2010-01-19T11:51:00.009-06:00

Rewinding back to December -- I'll fill in how we spent our last month in preparation for 2010. First week of Dec. I had to study for finals, my last week of law school classes, and had my last OBGYN appt. Second week of December, the crazy blizzard that kept me shoveling at least 3-4 times a day during the week and then I had to shovel the road as well so I could get out of my driveway. Then the drifts came and luckily the neighbor had a snowblower because the drifts made it impossible for us to open our front or back door. The kids had their winter dance recital that Friday and Justin flew back to Iowa.

The Next week, I was induced on my due date, December 16th (also Aunty Meg's birthday) and Sienna Jo was born after 12 hours of labor. We named her after Aunt Megan Jo since they share a birthday and we adore Meg. She's been a second mom to my kids and the best sister in law in the world I am pretty sure.

The week after Sienna was born we celebrated Christmas at the Bucy house - where we stayed from Dec. 12-26th. They were so wonderful in helping with the kids and Aislynn and Mikey got their share of fairytales while helping Gma Mary in the kitchen. Justin also loaded a Uhaul and finished cleaning out the duplex with the help of some of our best Iowa friends.

These are my favorite 2 guys and gals ever. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family. On December 26th my dad flew out to Omaha and we picked him up so he could help us in the move from Iowa to Utah. We got stuck in Nebraska due to the highway being closed, but eventually made it there. We are staying in my parents basement until we find a house. IT is such a nice basement apt. set-up with laundry and everything. It was fun to get to see my all of my siblings when I was in between studying and taking care of the baby. AND both my sisters on this side are prego so that is fun to have so many babies coming into the family.

And this is my new little angel. She really has lived up to the monicker of angel baby that Aislynn came up with while I was pregnant. She is so calm and easy-going. Not much a crier, more of a squeaker. She makes my schedule of being a stay at home mother of 3, studying for the bar and trying to unpack and house hunt, actually manageable because she is so low maintenance. It is so nice to be here with family and have all the help to keep me sane and motivated to do everything I need to. We truly were so blessed this last month and appreciate all the help and love that has been sent our way. IT's very special to have a new baby at a time of year when we celebrate the birth of the Savior and the miracle of his life. What a great reminder Sienna has been of the miracles we are blessed to be a part of as God's children.

You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch

2009-11-23T13:37:00.003-06:00

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!

2009-10-05T13:23:00.005-05:00

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

2009-09-20T15:01:00.004-05:00

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

2009-07-31T10:30:00.004-05:00

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.

2009-06-15T21:25:00.002-05:00

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.

2009-06-15T20:26:00.010-05:00

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.

2009-05-17T21:08:00.002-05:00

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!

2009-05-11T06:29:00.005-05:00

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

2009-04-17T08:54:00.006-05:00

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

2009-03-24T16:13:00.004-05:00

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

2009-03-24T16:02:00.003-05:00

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

2009-02-17T23:36:00.002-06:00

My Babies Love Their Daddy Too!

2009-02-17T23:33:00.001-06:00

2009-02-13T12:03:00.003-06:00

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.

2009-01-24T14:07:00.002-06:00

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

2009-01-11T14:00:00.036-06:00

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!

Family Photos

2008-12-02T15:29:00.002-06:00

We had our annual meeting with the Bishop of our ward and he asked Aislynn how old she was to which she replied, "ten" without pause Buck reminded her, "You shouldn't lie to the Bishop!"

Mikey was sooooo excited to get a jacket just like his dad's -- he could not keep the smile off his face. He says he is growing up like daddy now. I still can't get over my blonde kids -- seeing the pictures just makes me feel like the one that doesn't belong. good thing it was me who gave birth so we know for sure! :)

TOO COOL FOR SCHOOL

2008-12-01T14:26:00.002-06:00

My #1 Baby is already 3 - and here's his adorable school picture. He's picking up on all the bad words other kids say and is complete with a bruise on the forehead, a true little boy!

#2 Baby is 2 although she seems much older because she copies everything Michael says and does. Grandpa Tim says she looks like she's ready for college already - how time flies.

2008-11-05T15:35:00.005-06:00

Running Late on Halloween, bear with me! We had a great time with my friend from school and his beautiful wife and daughters...but for now it is my b-day and this is how I am spending it.

I started the twlight series after my sister-in-law Megan gave me the first two books for my birthday. I am REALLY zoned out of law school at the moment and decided to distract myself with reading. Actually, I was not able to sleep because I am really stressed and picked it up at 2 AM to try and put myself back to sleep -- however, I loved it so much I finished it by the beginning of my Constitutional law class at 3:00PM.

Then, I started the next one that night and finished it (New Moon) by the end of the next day. I didn't like this as much because Edward wasn't it most of the book, but I just love juvenile fiction, so these were right up my ally -- and my hubby got me the soundtrack that came out yesterday and I got my best law school friend to start reading it, so we can go to the movie premiere on Nov. 21st! WOW, what a teenager. First love though, who doesn't remember theirs? Boys and girls raise your hands.

NEXT - because I LOVE to serve, I am doing a fundraiser, where I have collected pledges toward my big night, where I am in competition with other law students and alumni to see who can eat the most chicken wings in 15 minutes. I really am shooting for 40 wings...we'll see how it goes. I raised about $1,000 so thanks for all who supported me. This is going to help families in Central American have food/clothes during the holidays.

The big 26! But Mikey said I was only 16, so that made me feel great. I won't mention that earlier he also asked if those were my boobs down by my belly button...we'll leave that out of the equation. Oh aging, isn't it splendid! Hey, I still get asked to be on the co-ed intramural basketball team, so I can't be too old yet.

Isn't She LOVELY

2008-10-07T10:37:00.005-05:00

If you can't tell, I think my daughter is the most beautiful baby ever. That is why I take a million pictures of her, because every outfit looks cute on her since she has just the right amount of baby fat and adorableness. (I'm sure that's a word)

These are part of her 2 year old birthday pictures. Her hair is naturally curly, but I like to enhance it with curlers every once in awhile. I always grew up wearing curlers, but everyone always comments that they never see little girls with curlers anymore. She is very accustomed to them and she can even sleep with them in. But, where the beauty ends, the attitude begins!

It was crazy trying to get her to take pictures. She won't sit in one place for more than 3 seconds, let alone trying to get her to smile or pose. She always has an idea of what she wants to be doing and will gladly throw a humongous fit if she doesn't get her way. Even though I am very consistent with not giving into her fits, she keeps them coming. I am sure her strong will should help her out in life and she will never get walked all over, so there's the bright side.

This is my favorite one. We got the cute Baby Phat sweater while we were in Yellowstone of all places and it was rediculously cheap for designer, so I had to get it for her. I can justify the price, since we got her skirt from a garage sale! She usually tears out her headbands, but she was kind enough to leave them in for her pictures.

Now a little bit about Aisy - She LOVES mirrors and talking on the phone. She just sings all the time. She likes itsy bitsy spider, twinkle little star, lion king songs like "hakuna matata" and "I just can't wait to be king", and "I like to move it move it" from the Madagascar movie. It's funny because she just always has a song in her head and inline with that, she is always dancing.

She likes to eat with her hands. She knows how to use utencils, but prefers her hands. She loves pretties of all sorts, necklaces, bracelets, hair pretties, ribbon, and make-up. She speaks very well and is the best talker in her pre-school class. The teacher says she also acts as an interpreter because she can understand what the other kids are saying and then tells the teacher what they are saying. She doesn't mind being dirty, having food all over her face, or dirt between her toes.

She listens much better to daddy than mommy. She likes to sing "digging up bones" with Dad and she loves to cuddle cheek to cheek. Instead of saying "Mommy hold me" - she says "Mommy, I hold you" and she will give me the biggest hug and just cling on like a monkey. She loves her brother. Everywhere she goes in the house she says "C'mon Mike" or "let's go play upstairs, K?" Much credit to him, he goes along with it most of the time and just lets her be the leader. What a big personality for such a little girl.

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!

2008-10-07T10:18:00.003-05:00

The Annual Flag Football Tournament
for Drake Law School Students was the last Saturday in September. The rule is that only law school students and their significant others can play. It is 8 on 8 and single elimination. Here's our team below, made up of most of my best law school friends and 2 spouses.

Back Row: Chris (spouse of Cholla), Cullin, Matt Sease, Justin (my spouse), and Craig
Middle Row: Miguel, Stephanie, and Matt Kaufman
Bottom Row: Wendy & Aisy, Chris, Natasha, Cholla, Megan & Mikey, Rick

Since Rick doesn't generally like playing football, he was kind enough to watch Mikey and Aisy during the games. They love him and he is soooo much fun it is probably a let down to have to go home with mom and dad and not uncle Rick.

We had shirts made for the game. Our team name was Bills of Attainder. It's a legal term that we were tested on last year even though nobody had it in their notes and I think the teacher may have mentioned it once, MAYBE. We each came up with our own "Bill" name. I was Bill Mama, Justin was Bill Doe, there was an Un-BILL-ievable, Farmer Bill and others that were pretty great. We had lots of fun together, which was good since it lasted from 9AM - 3PM and it was a HOT HOT day.

Justin was the star quarterback. You can see me on the far side of the line with the awesome green knee socks that game me a really nice tan line. I also have some sweet sticky reciever gloves on, even though I only got one pass and I didn't complete it! ooops, let's just say I'm better on defense. We won our first two games. The second one was intense and there were some questionable calls by the Refs. But we won by a point. In the championship game against last year's reigning champs, we killed them mostly because Justin had an amazing pass to Craig that was almost the entire length of the field and Chris Kemp had a great run back for a touchdown. SOOO, moral of the story, it's nice to have fun, but it's always MORE fun when you WIN!

These are the Days

2008-10-06T21:11:00.009-05:00

Most people who know me understand that I am not a home body. I have to be on the go doing something from morning until night. So, when my kids are with me - they get to come along and I am always trying to find fun things for my kids to do...but these are their favorites right now.

Earning a quarter by being good, so they can take it to the mall and get some candy. If you notice, they are getting the same thing. Because although they have their moments, for the most part my kids are two peas in a pod. They play together everywhere they go and their relationship works mainly because Mikey does what Aisy says.

"I want to ride Marty" is another favorite. The carousel ride at the mall happens about once a week and aislynn always gets to ride Marty the Zebra and Mikey is just happy to ride alongside her. What a great brother.

Here they are standing on top of their fort in the basement. When we do stay inside it is always an adventure and I thouroughly enjoy playing make believe with my kids. To the point that Buck has to tell me to not be so realistic and talk about scary dragons and witches because my kids may have nightmares, what can I say, I have a flare for the dramatic.

Here we are at the playgound at the zoo. What one does, the other must as well. This only becomes problematic when there is only one of something and they haven't quite grasped the concept of taking turns. We are working on that, along with asking nicely for something back when the other steals it!

Here are Aislynn's pretty princess slippers. I had to include this because Grandma Becky gave these to her for her birthday and these are the only shoes she MUST keep on. Everytime we get into the carseat, she takes her shoes and her socks off immediately. She got the fat hobbit foot gene from me and so is inhibited by uncomfortable shoes. However, she thinks these are so pretty it is a task to get her to take them off. Good find Grandma!

As I got these costumes over a month before Halloween, they are getting their use. We try to use them at least once a week during imaginative play time and sometimes they like to sleep in them as well. It makes me feel better that they get so much use since I probably spent way too much money on them.

That concludes our fun adventures for now. But I have more to come shortly! I am just in the middle of a couple mid-term tests, so that is eating up LOTS of time.

To The Dentist

2008-09-18T09:40:00.005-05:00

Maybe I am just a little behind, because this is the first time I have taken my kids to the dentist. I remember going to a fun dentist in Utah that was specifically for kids, so I tried to find a good one for the kids that would be similarly enjoyable...as enjoyable as possible when at a dentist.

SO - boy did I do a good job. The waiting room had video games all along the wall, plasma screens playing kid DVDs and toys toys toys! Then, when they call you back, they had Aisy and Mikey get their pictures taken of their big smiles. After that they take them to the colorful chairs, and of course the aids are all wearing fun character scrubs. We practiced all month with me being the "dentist" and having them say "AHHHH" and I would check out their teeth and help them brush. But, before the lay down and open wide, they showed the kids all the tools they would be using and what those tools did, then they showed them the new toothbrush, toothbrush cover, flosser, and little timer, then they got to choose their flavor and now it was time to clean those teeth!!

They lay the seat back and there is a movie screen above each seat and the kids have headphones to listen to the movie. I sat by Aisy to help her stay calm and they both did so well with the cleaning.

Then Dr. Wade came to see them and drew a little kite and wrote "Good Job" on the pictures that were taken earlier and had them lay back again and he counted their teeth and told them they did such a great job and then said they could both have 2 prizes from the prize box. One because God made only 1 of them and another for being so happy!

Wow, a christian doctor, praise the lord! (as my brother jeff would say) I really was so happy with my choice and the kids are excited to go back, can't ask for much more than that.

I really need to get out more!

2008-09-11T14:50:00.003-05:00

I Guess I totally Missed My Era, thanks for encouraging me to find out Ash! - I must be a sucker for the tight jeans, colorful make-up and frizzy hair. Although I did love those aerobic outfits, I'll have to post the one I had as a kid!

You Belong in 1980

Wild, over the top, and just a little bit cheesy. You're colorful at night - and successful during the day.

What Year Do You Belong In?

Happy Birthday Aislynn & Other Summer Fun

2008-09-07T18:00:00.011-05:00

This Saturday, September 6, 2008 - we celebrated Aislynn's 2nd Birthday at a nearby Des Moines Park with my next of kin, fellow law school students and their families! I actually invited more people who weren't married and didn't have kids, but they are closest thing to family, as I see them every day and depend on them for alot of different things. So, here's the birthday girl on part of the new-age jungle gym they have here. No more woodchips or tire swings, this place was high tech.

This is Sami Craven (3), Maggie McCullough (4), and Michael (3) on the cool play structure.

This is McKenzie Craven (9 mos) in the Shark ball pit, it didn't really go with the princess party theme, but it only cost $5 and I thought it looked cool, so we set it up!

Here are Mikey and Sami eating their cupcakes. Nothing like loading the kids up on sugar and letting them run it off. We had a lunch and then the kids just played on the swings, jungle gym and slide. I bought a bouncy house, but it hardly got used because of the lure of the jungle gym and open grass to run around in.

Miss Aislynn had cupcake all over her face most of the day, wouldn't let me do her hair today, (which was unusual) and she also wouldn't wear shoes, so her feet were extremely dirty. When it came time to open presents, Aisy was too interested in playing and didn't open a single one. I guess she really takes the "it's her party and she'll do what she wants to" attitude. Overall, it was about 3 hours of fun with friends, Matt, Rick, Miguel, and Megan were also there -- these are the "uncles and aunt" we've adopted. They are great people and make my law school life bearable. Luke and Linda Craven are the parents of Sami and Kenzie, Dave and Katie McCullough are Maggie's parents. Not too many people are married with kids in law school, so it's nice to have a couple of friends who know the particular parent struggles.

Some more Aisy -it's her day, so why not a few more pics of my pretty princess? She's only 2 once, thank goodness because that "terrible" saying might apply here!

But those big puppy dog eyes sure do make it hard to give timeouts or do anything besides kiss and cuddle my little chub. Her new saying when she pees in her diaper is "I poop myself mommy". We tried potty training at the beginning of August, but she is NOT ready for that. She just was hit and miss and didn't mind having pee running down her legs, so we will wait maybe until Christmas break to undertake that feat again.

This was our other summer fun - we had the chance to spend a couple days with Brynn and Caden when they came to visit Iowa. We went to the Library and watched a movie, then we went to the Burger King play place, the park, the pool, and finally spent time jumping on the tramp. They had so much fun and love to see their cousins. The age differences worked just perfect because Brynn and Caden were good helpers with Mikey and Aisy.

This was at the Dysart park before we went to the pool, not sure exactly what it was, Caden says it is some canon of sort and I believe him because he is so smart and a great reader.

This was on the way into the pool, Bryn and Caden helped with Aisy so much. They made sure she was safe crossing the road and couldn't believe how much she was talking. Bryn kept saying, "I just love her little voice". Bryn and Mikey splashed in the pool together most of the time and Caden swam in the deeper water and did flips and canon balls. He is a great swimmer. Aisy went down the little frog slide once, but didn't really want to be in the water that much.

I will also have to post a little bit about our yellowstone trip and tell my bear story, but that will have to wait until next time.

Best Summer, EVER!

2008-09-02T22:46:00.010-05:00

Well, it would be hard to beat the fun in the sun, every day at the pool with Rochelle, Brynn and Caden, that made up our last summer, but I think the kids just LOVED having their "looney Meg", as she has been affectionately nicknamed, here for the summer.

It was probably a big eye-opener to marriage and young children, and a great birth control method, for her to live at our house this summer. (probably remarked how she didn't want her marriage or children to be...like I used to do before I realized how little control I have in all that)She pampered us, cooked, did laundry, took the kids to see wondrous things like the "Holy" Mammoth (Mikey couldn't understand the whooly concept), Pool days, Zoo days - we had an elephant mom and baby visit our small zoo and they do camel rides and a new baby giraffe was born this last month too!

They often mixed up the mom and meg and just called her mom, which was appropriate since whenever we were out in public with me, meg and the kids people would think they were hers anyway. Our duplex neighbors moved in a month after we did and thought that Justin had two women and that Mikey was my kid and Aislynn was Meg's because they just couldn't fathom that Aislynn was mine when she looked so much like her aunt. It's a good thing I was the one who gave birth or else I might have been questioning it too!

Meg also helped with our spanish instruction. I have yet to convince Buck to speak spanish to the kids full-time and in fact, I probably speak more spanish to them than he does, but Megan is a secondary education Spanish Teacher major, so she taught lots of vocabulary to the kids. Mikey's favorite is Gato = Cat and Aisy mostly likes elephante = elephant, because she doesn't pay very much attention and I think that's all she remembers. Mikey also likes to say Adios Che and we used the "Muzzy" spanish teaching DVDs that are put out by the BBC - not that great but the kids liked them and they would copy what was being said on the TV. We'll see how the whole spanish thing comes along. Mikey has a great memory for the vocab, but sissy doesn't seem too interested.

Anyway, we will miss having Meg here. Justin will miss his nightly wheel of fortune partner, as I am no competition and I think Meg was ahead on the W/L record. But, I'm sure she's enjoying the single life again, being able to take a shower whenever she feels like it or leave without packing the whole house. Yet there is just something about the big hugs and kisses these little ones offer to readily and being able to see their excitement about everyday life that reminds me why they are so wonderful.

Of course, with the end of summer, comes the beginning of school for me and part-time daycare for the kids. Mikey has moved up to the pre-school class and Aisy is in the 2 year old "Explorer" class. I really like the daycare they are at. They are flexible with my schedule but more importantly they have the same teachers move up with the kids, so Aisy's teachers are in the new room too. They also do many great activities and have lesson plans and structure that help the kids thrive.

Their first day was only 2 hrs, since I only have one class on Mondays, so we started off the day by going to the zoo - yes, those are harnesses - the only way to travel with two toddlers who won't stay in a stroller.

Mikey with his Nemo backpack and all the school supplies he gets to use now that he is in the pre-school class, like markers and scissors and the lined alphabet pad. His favorite friends are Max and Jayla.
Aislynn doesn't like to pose for pictures, she's just too much of a busy body with her own agenda. I think she is soooo much like her dad because whatever she wants to do is the most important thing and don't even try to redirect her. She also has a nemo backpack because she wants everything the same as her brother...sound a bit like me, second child syndrome.

(But I can capture a fleeting moment of pure emotion every now and again as seen in the picture below - we were trying for a good 2 yr old pic but I got this instead)

Fun Times

2008-08-21T15:19:00.001-05:00

2008-08-21T12:55:00.004-05:00

Okay - I don't post often enough and that could be the fact that we have moved twice since my last post and so I am staying true to my blog title if nothing else.

These pics are from last summer at my Aunt Amy's doing corn. We love spending days there because Aunt Amy has the most fun toys and yard and my kids love corn! It was good to see Gpa Dale and Gma Jo too. We miss our Waterloo and Hudson family.

Now I am getting ready for another semester, so maybe in another year I will post again! haha.

Can you say cute?

2007-07-19T14:58:00.000-05:00

This is Aislynn's 9 month picture. She stood all by herself for about 2 minutes clasping her pearls and loving every girlish amenity present!