Blair Witch Spider

Do you remember the movie The Blair Witch? It was a horror film taped by just a palm camera or something. Well, the kids and I were downstairs today. They were playing and I was doing laundry. I rounded the corner to the bathroom to get the rug in the bathroom to wash, and I saw this.

My name is Nora Bucy, and I have arachnophobia. Kevin tried to tell me it didn't look that big. Next time I'll remember to grab a ruler before I take a pic. Please try not to pay any attention to the hair in this picture. If you must know, vacuuming downstairs is the teenagers chore on Thursdays, and I shed like a dog. Anyway, I called Kevin panicking about this thing. I even told him that my motherly instinct to protect my young was NO WHERE to be found, but that my fight, flight, or freeze was in well working order...and the verdict at that moment was freeze with flight close on its heels. My knight in shining armor, Logan, looked at it and headed towards it saying, "I'll just swat it." My motherly protection showed up for a second enough for me to run in front of him as if shielding him from a nuclear bomb. Then I did what any loving mother would do and gave the camera to Rory and told her to tape me vacuuming it up like Daddy said to do. Poor, little, innocent, arachnophobic Rory. Unfortunately she taped with the camera vertical, so you'll have to lean a little to get the full effect of this.

Before I start, please feel loved. This is me...vulnerable...for you. :)
OHHHHNOOOOOOO!!!!! Google can't load the video because it's too long. Well, I guess I'll personally have to show the five of you that read this. I'll try to post Rory's videos that she took after.



Did you hear me screaming in the background? What was really funny was that every time I screamed Marley would mock me.
And Rory's last one...




After all was said and done, I grabbed the vacuum and put it outside on the back deck. I told Kevin that I didn't even wrap the cord because I was racing against the clock from the spider's covert mission to climb out and get me.


Again...sorry about the mess on the deck. This is blogging folks. Kevin came home and cleaned out the vacuum and did not see a spider. Let's hope it crawled out and decided not to come back. The end.

Freak Cat

It's no big news that I hate our cat, Moki. Hate might be the understatement of the year. He drives me crazy. The other day I set out eggs on the counter to bring them to room temperature, and he jumped onto the counter and knocked them to the floor...cracking them. He attacks my feet. He attacks my person by jumping out at me while I walk by. The other day this is what I stumbled upon.

*DUE TO THE GRAPHIC NATURE OF THIS PROGRAM, VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED*


He wasn't just laying down like that...he started to sleep like that. It was too disturbing, and I had to do something before the kids saw. I'm sorry I'm showing you guys, but I felt it was my duty as blogger and all. You're welcome!

Cute-Isms

Here are some cute stories from the kids lately.

Logan, Rory, and Daddy were watching BATMAN! (Logan's pick from the library). A character said to another character, "Be seeing you." Logan turned to Daddy and said, "He just spoke Spanish. My movie has Spanish in it. He just said 'Be Seeing You." Kevin explained to Logan what the guy had said and how it wasn't Spanish, but he seemed really excited there for a second.

Marley has been learning some new words. Among them are oreo and cheeseball. Here is video of each.







I'm sure Rory's had her cute moments this week, but I can't think of anything specific. I will say that she might have an excellent future as a nurse with the way she took care of Nana today. She was by her side every moment she could be, and she got Nana everything she needed whenever she needed it. That's Rory though...she's a caretaker. It's quite lovely to see.

Poor Marley!

Marley got hurt today. She was going down the path to the front door and fell on her knees. She scraped both of them, but one was bleeding ever so slightly, so she got neosporin and a band-aid. After that, she couldn't or wouldn't walk. She had to be carried everywhere and when you tried to put her down, she wouldn't set that foot down on the ground let alone step on it. It was pretty funny to see since all our kids are like that. They get a little scrap and that appendage loses all function.

She went down for a nap and still wouldn't walk on it when she got up. We were discussing how we were going to go to the farm and whether to leave her at home, when I got the idea to offer her some "gum", which in this house means either a gummy vitamin or twizzlers. I got a twizzler, showed it to her, and went into the kitchen. She was healed miraculously and came after me in the kitchen...with a limp mind you. It was so cute, we got some videos of it.






Chin up, Marley!

Special Power Ranger

We had a trip to the consignment shop the other day, and they have all their Halloween costumes out. They had a special power ranger costume, and I got it for Logan. Logan's not hard to shop for. He'll wear anything that has Batman, Spiderman, Wolverine, and Star Wars on it. He can be picky about pants, but mainly the ones with button straps that pull to tighten around the waste. So the costume was something special for him...being a boy...being non-dramatic...being non-sassy...being rough and tumble...not being a teenager. This costume fits him perfectly.
I'd be lying if I didn't say I felt a little safer with Special Ranger under my roof. Besides, Logan says that he'll "bust all bad guys in the eye."

Non-Stop Action

After having the Scott's visit yesterday, we invited our nieces today. Sam and Nik joined us for some shopping, fun, and eating today. Before they even got here, me and the three littles were off to the store and the consignment shop. The shop had a bunch of things we needed, so we spent a little more time there than expected..not to mention money! Marley went for a nap, and we were off to Kohl's and the teacher store. Kevin worked from home and stayed with Marley. We had fun. When we got home, it was dinner with Brian and Paula too. They left and Kevin and Brian went to visit their mom at the hospital. She's doing ok. She had some complications this morning, but hopefully they have it all under control. Please continue praying.

The kids made Nana cards, and we shot a pic of all of them and framed it for her hospital room. I'm told she really liked everything. Of course, I'll share the pics with you. Thanks for asking!

Play Date

We had a nice day today playing with the Scotts. They came over and hung out for a little bit. I only got pictures at lunch and only because Jess said something about it, and Kevin went and got the camera. Rolling...


It was a great time! We're going to miss them so much!

By the way...Nana is doing ok. She's in pain and all went well with the surgery. Let's pray for a quick recovery!

Weekend Recap

Have you guessed I have no pics again? Sorry!

SATURDAY

We woke up at 530a to Rory whining. I got up there just in time to give her the trash can before she started a pattern of vomiting every 15 minutes until about 9a. We moved her to the couch in hopes that Logan would go back to sleep but no such luck. She stayed on the couch all morning until she was feeling better, and then we went to Nana and Papa's to meet Kevin. He was on his bike ride with Brian. The ride didn't go so well for Brian. After falling twice and a bruised hip, they called it a day. We hung out there and took the kids to the pool. It was really nice because Kaelyn had to hang out with the family since Sam and Nik weren't there to go to the pool. We had fun. It was dinner and home that night.

SUNDAY

We had breakfast for breakfast this morning. (we normally have this breakfast for dinner...it was scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, and pancakes) For some reason, we never have it for breakfast. Anyway, we went to church and then Kevin went to help the Scott's move some wood. I put Marley down for a nap and took Rory and Logan over to the Scott's too for a little playdate. Marley was asleep with Kaelyn watching her at home. I left to get Marley, who had already been woken up by Kaelyn, while Kevin and the others stayed and helped. When they got home, we had an invite to dinner. We all went out and had a great time. It breaks my heart that they're moving. They're going to be missed so much! When we got home we were both talking about what we would want for dessert. We talked about Baskin Robbins and I remembered that they're flavor of the month was Bubble Gum Ice Cream, Nana's favorite. She's having surgery tomorrow and won't be able to eat solid foods for a month. After a quick call asking when she had to stop eating for the surgery tomorrow, we were on our way to get her a scoop. We were so excited until we got there and they said they were out. :( We were so upset that we didn't get anything to eat either.

Please pray for Nana to have a good surgery and quick recovery. Peace out!

Pi

That was the number of significance yesterday to Kevin's post. Moving on...

I'm currently reading two parenting books. The one for Rory, Logan, and Marley is called Grace Based Parenting by Dr. Tim Kimmel. The other one is Disconnected: Parenting Teens in a My Space World by Chap and Dee Clark. Anywho...in the Graced Based Parenting book the author describes different types of parents. One type he mentions is the Duct-Tape Parenting. Here is the description.

"Rather than figure out how to fix their parenting issues, these families cope by patching their problems. Temporary solutions are sought when crisis arise. These families are usually running on empty-too busy, too many bills, and too focused on the immediate rather than the permanent."

Apparently, all the different types of parenting are based on fear. I'm not going to get into all of that, but I will admit that the Duct-Tape Parenting sounds like Kevin and I. I feel like we are constantly putting fires out. Take today for example:

We woke up to the kids being loud at 6a. When we got upstairs, Logan noticed that there was water all over the kitchen floor in front of the dishwasher. The dishwasher was leaking. Kevin cleaned up the mess and checked the thing, and it seemed fine. He went back downstairs to go to work from home. I called him on his cell because, yes, I am that lazy, and asked about the dishwasher. He let me know that the dishwasher was leaking through the floor into the laundry room . Luckily all the water was landing in the washing machine. Good thing I put the load into the dryer so the lid was open! That was just today's fire! Good thing that we ran the dishes again and there was no leaking. We just have to watch it I guess.

These kind of days (fires) happen more often than not to our little family. I don't know why they keep happening, but I guess it's not for us to know. We'll just lock and load our duct-tape and be ready. Whatever works!

Here is a picture for you of Marley desperately wanting to wear her bathing suit, and after many times of hearing me say no, decided to do it herself.

Sorry Guys

I need to get some more pictures. I've run out! That's ok. There's not really anything to report. I'm babysitting teenagers again tonight because the gym was closed, so if I do it tonight, then hopefully I won't be asked about it for a while more. These are the issues with teenagers folks. (I think I can actually hear my mom laughing) Nice, mellow day today...got some things done. Half of the basement is clean. It took me 2 hours to get half done. That right there should tell you the mess it's in. It felt good. I don't know how long it will last, but it is nice walking down the stairs and not having an obstacle course to go through when you get to the bottom. I'm going to try another grateful list tonight. Here we go...

1. my husband (he came home early and took the kids out...all of them except for sleeping Marley)
2. butt dialing (you had to be there, but my in-laws know what I'm talking about)
3. chicken casserole (it's just that good)
4. my favorite Jenny Craig meal for lunch because my mom gave some to me
5. my mom (see #4)
6. cuddles with Marley in the morning
7. playing catch as a family + another teenager
8. rain
9. friends
10. my time with God this morning

These are in no particular order...KEVIN! Tomorrow is supposed to be really chill too, so I'll have to get creative with my camera. Watch out!

Cupcake Throwdown

On Saturday we watched the Dora Cake Challenge on Food Network. Rory immediately asked if we could have a cake challenge too. I suggested a cupcake challenge instead. We would make them and compete decorating them. We couldn't do it Sunday because we were down at my parents, so we did it yesterday. Keep in mind that this wasn't really a throw down because a) Bobby Flay wasn't there b) the competition was between a sister and brother respectively 7 and 4 years of age and c) we just decorated the cupcakes we didn't "make" them...Betty Crocker did. :)

Here's how everything turned out.
Here are the finished cupcakes. I took two of them and put chocolate frosting on them because that's Kevin's favorite...yellow cake with chocolate frosting. If you're looking at the above picture going left to right in rows of four, here are who made each cupcake. Rory, Mommy, Rory, Rory
2nd row...Logan, Logan, Logan, Mommy 3rd row...Mommy, Rory, Rory, Logan

They were both winners because Nana and Papa judged and they almost all got eaten. Here are their video tutorials.



And Logan's...



Watch out Food Network!

PICTURES!!!!!!!

I promised you pictures, so here we go. These are from my visit with Maureen(Rory's godmother) at my parent's last weekend.

Her son, Sawyer.
Thanks, Maureen, for an awesome visit!

My Weekend

Well, I got my camera from my parents this weekend. Since I got no pics, I'll just go over the weekend and we'll return to our regularly scheduled blogs tomorrow.

Saturday morning, Kevin went on a bike ride with his brother. I took the kids to the gym. I specifically told Rory and Logan that they couldn't go in the back (where they have obstacle courses and such) because I wanted them to stay with Marley, since she's not really comfortable there yet. This is the second time I've told them this, and they got in a lot of trouble for not listening last weekend. Normally I get a call through my workout for Marley having a dirty diaper or something, so I made sure I listened closely. I got through the whole workout with no problem. I made my way down to the kid's club, and there was Marley, all alone with one of the workers, with a blotchy red face that signaled HARD, LONG crying. I looked up and Rory and Logan were in the back playing and laughing. You know how sometimes you control your emotions a little bit when you have an audience...well, I didn't seem to care what the gym workers thought. I lit into Rory and Logan telling them they were in trouble and to get ready to go. The workers started saying it was alright because they got Marley calmed down and not crying...thinking about it now and how I'm going to have to leave her in the nursery this upcoming school year, they're probably right, but at that moment I only heard unwelcome opinions. I simply ignored whatever the ladies said, got the kids ready, and walked out with a thank you, of course.

Kevin had some trouble with his ride, so he didn't get home until lunch. Kaelyn's boyfriend came over and Kevin took all the kids (except a sleeping Marley and stressed mommy) to the store. Kaelyn got a new phone and Kevin got a FLAT SCREEN TV (sorry...inside joke with Kevin) for the living room. We spent the afternoon rearranging the living room around the TV. :) The kids went to bed, Kevin went out with his friend, and I sat in the living room babysitting Kaelyn and her boyfriend. FUN! I got to finish reading a book though, so it was all good.

Today we went to my parents to bring them food that they ordered from Kaelyn's fundraiser. It was a good time. We got Kaelyn some shoes, and I found my FAVORITE calendar at Border's. My mom made an awesome lunch and dinner, and we were off. It's my free eat day today, so I took advantage of it. Other than that, it was a "get things done" weekend which is always good.

A Rough One...

It was a hard day today. The kids were crazy. I was crazy. It was really bad sometimes. We got through it intact. Kevin and I went to dinner tonight in honor of the miscarriage we experienced last December. We'll be going to dinner for the same thing September 20th. It's hard. Maybe that's the grace of a hard day today...because today...I wouldn't want to imagine having another one. Is this too deep? My father-in-law will probably drive down to my parents himself and get my camera after this post. :) On the blogs of my friends, they say what they're grateful for. Kevin, the kids, and I do this every night before prayers too. I'm going to list a few to try and get out of this funky bad day.

1. the guy selling paintings at our safeway
2. an understanding husband who is having an extremely hard time while trying to help me through my extremely hard time.
3. a mother-in-law who isn't afraid to discipline a crazy 7yo.
4. my counselor
5. broccoli (I had some really good stuff tonight)
6. a house no matter how small
7. getting drenched in a thunderstorm while delivering a meal to a friend
8. friends
9. 20 minutes of reading
10. my hair straightener

good night!

Envy

What a dangerous emotion. Along with guilt, I experience it often. On Monday, Rory was invited to an "end of summer" swim party at her friend's house. Besides the fact that the house was amazing and beautiful, as they are in this neighborhood, their pool was the exact layout, color, everything I would want. It was one of those deep blue pools. It had a toddler pool that was roped off and had an umbrella coming out of the ground, so the littles didn't get burnt. It had a water slide into the pool that was cut into the rock landscaping around the pool. Their basement was huge with dress-up, ride along toys, even a see-saw!

The fact that my house is the size of their pool was only the start of my envy. Even though I try to pray it away or remember that we're a little younger than these people, it doesn't help. It's embarrassing admitting it. So what do I do? What do I do when my kids ask why we don't have a house like that? It hurts because when I was growing up, I didn't like my house either, so I feel like I know what they're feeling. I don't really expect any answers or solutions, but since I have no camera, this is what you get.

So...I'm going to try and clean and unclutter this house to the best of my ability. It would probably feel a lot bigger if I did. Plus, I want to make ALL the rooms ones you want to be in. I don't know how long this project will take, but I'm already starting on the living room. I would show a before picture now, but you'll just have to take my word for it.

PS-I'm hoping to get my camera back this weekend. Whew!

Since I Have No Pictures...

You'll have to read my rants!

So Sunday at my parents, I got to meet up with Rory's godmother, Maureen. We also met her son, Sawyer (insert picture I don't have here). I grew up with Maureen. She's one of the only friends that didn't abandon me as a friend when I became and unwed, teenage mother. Shortly after I had Kaelyn, Maureen became an unwed, teenage mother too. I think we bonded more than most friends our age. Maureen is my inspirational friend. She always inspires me to think differently of myself. She's constantly telling me how talented I am at this or that, and honestly believes I can be anything I want. Basically, she's a major ego trip. :) She makes me want to be who she sees. She's a very powerful friend.

It was so great to see her and spend some time with her even though it was short. She lives in California and already has my kids asking when we can visit since she says we can stay at her house. That's right up Kevin's alley for a vacation. He's always saying how he wants to move back. He lived there in his military brat days. I guess we'll see. I, for one, have to have seasons, so I think that automatically rules California out.

Sorry....

I have to go to bed. It's 1007p and I was up from 3-5am this morning. I just got home, and I'm going to bed. Nighty-night.

And I Think To Myself...

WHAT A WONDERFUL WEEKEND! I don't have any pictures for this blog today, but I'll have them tomorrow, so please take my word for it. Saturday, Jerry's nephew, Chris, and his family came for a visit. He brought his wife, Karla, and their daughter, Ansley. Their son was not available for this play date. :) We had a blast! Chris is definitely a people person. He can get people talking and carry a conversation. Karla is someone that I hope I definitely get to talk to more! She lived in the Philippines for 15 years as the daughter of missionaries. How awesome is that!? I hope I get the opportunity to pick her brain and hear her story. Her life story must be so amazing. Their daughter and Rory got along great. I think Renee might have found her knitmate with her.

It was a relaxing day with family. I have to admit that I didn't know what to expect. I thought I would feel uncomfortable because it's the extended family of my extended family, but I can honestly say that it felt just like family. Chris and Karla are so heart warming. They just make you feel comfortable from the start like family is supposed to. It was really a great day and fabulous visit. If they didn't have to go get their son, I have a feeling it would've been A LOT longer of a visit. I know we're ALL looking forward to another get together. Again...tomorrow we'll have some pictures of the event.

Logan's Photos

There are a couple things I can expect when Logan gets hold of my camera...

1. A lot of pictures
2. Silence
3. More pictures
4. My camera not back for A WHILE

At one point, Logan asked for my camera while in the car. Here's the turnout.

I wasn't going to add the last picture, but for the sake of his art, I swallowed my pride. Logan had been calling my name in the midst of a highly stressful situation (ordering at KFC), and I finally turned around and said, "WHAT?!" My artist captured that moment...of course.

Some Old Videos

I was looking for a blog tonight, and I went through some of my old videos. Two stood out to me, and I realized that I had never posted them. Without further ado...First us is Rory...vacuuming. That's right...because we like proof of our child labor law breaking!



Up next is Marley dancing to none other than "Baby Are You Down, Down, Down, Down, Down." There's just something about that song.



I love the leg slapping! Hope you enjoyed the show!

Canadian Mosquitos

My sister said that everything in Canada is bigger. I thought she was joking until the night before we left, I got bit twice by a mosquito. Maybe it was two mosquitoes but whatever. The night we got home and were eating dinner at my parents, I looked at why my foot was itching so bad. My foot looked like it had elephantiasis. Don't believe me? For the sake of this blog, I took pictures for you.
This was the bite on my ankle.
This was the one on top of my foot. It doesn't look bad, but it was SWOLLEN! I tend to believe my sister now. Do not mess with Canadian mosquitoes, eh? Sorry...had to do it.

Ouchie!

I have a boo-boo. I got my tooth pulled today and an implant put in. It hurts and I'm nauseous. I'm sorry, but I'm going to bed. I'll be back to blogging tomorrow about my new washing machine that's arriving tomorrow morning. I can't wait! Hopefully I'll get some sleep even though my tooth is still hurting. Have a good toothache free night!

Prairie Dogs

We visited my sister in Canada two years ago. We stayed in a hotel in the city and drove 50 miles out to my sister's house in the prairie. On one of trips out to her house, I looked across the prairie and saw little animals popping up out of the ground. There were holes everywhere that these little things were popping out of. We were going about 60 mph, so they were hard to see, but I SAW THEM. I decided to say something to the rest of the family in the car. They all thought I was crazy. They all consisted of my mom, dad, husband, and two daughters. Logan was still pretty young, but I like to think he believed me. Anyway, they all started looking and not one of them anything. They thought I was seeing soda cans or trash, but that stuff doesn't pop up out of the ground, so I knew I wasn't crazy. I kept calling out to them when I saw one, but again, we were going pretty fast.
When we got to my sister's house, I told her about the holes and little animals I saw popping out of them. She said that they were prairie dogs...little canadian gophers. She said the prairies on the way out to her house are covered with them. I felt vindicated! Still, none of the other family members believed. On the trips back and forth to the city for the rest of the time, everyone was looking. While I could still see, none of them could.
Flash forward to my recent trip to Canada. My sister mentioned that there was a hill near the park she takes the kids to play covered with prairie dogs and their holes. She said she recently saw about 20 of them. We went to the park with cameras in hand...and wouldn't you know...
This of whack-a-mole...canadian style. I even got one running...
SO..to my family I would like to give a big "up yours!" :) Thank you Maria!!!!!!