Junk Sculpture

The other day, Kaelyn, took two bags of recycling and put then in her room. She had an art assignment to make a sculpture out of junk. Why she had to get materials outside her room is beyond me. HAHA! Get it? Cause she doesn't clean her room? Anyway, it was 1130p the night before she had to turn it in when she started on it. The next morning I came up to get her on the bus. I washed my hands, and when I turned around, this was on the table.
It's not an owl if that's what you're thinking. I called it that and nearly got my head cut off. It's a bird. It's a bird made out of plastic water bottles. The wings are Diet Pepsi cans, and the tummy is Capri Suns.
This is the front view. Forgive the bad lighting and angle. It was 630a and all I had was my iPhone. Besides this, she did a sculpture last year made out of clay. It's a guitar. Her art teacher informed her that it has been picked to be displayed at the community college. She's pretty excited, and we're pretty excited for her. We go there Sunday for something. I don't know if she's going to present it, or if they're going to present her with something. Regardless, we're extremely proud of her!

Struggles

I already told you what I'm giving up for Lent. The purpose of this is not for fun, but to sacrifice for Jesus as He sacrificed for us. Every time I'm faced with a temptation to eat or drink something I have sacrificed, it brings me closer to God. It draws Him to my center and my struggle doesn't seem so hard because only God can really "fill" my want. This is a hard lesson I'm learning. I used to just give something up because my dad told me I had to. :) Then it was because it was something I just "did." I never understood the meaning behind it...the true meaning and purpose of it.
This weekend we went to lunch at our friends' house. They asked us to bring dessert. Saturday afternoon I made cookies. This was really hard for me. It was temptation and fear that I would fail and eat one. I didn't, but a lot of you got a ton of prayers! Just so you can get a sense of the saliva I offered up...
Apparently at my church, you're allowed to eat whatever you want on Sunday. It's a feast day and not included in the 40 days of Lent because technically, the time between Ash Wednesday and Easter is 45 days. I wasn't raised that way, so I'm not sure if I'm going to follow that or not. It's evening on Sunday, and I haven't had anything I've sacrificed, but the day is not over. :) I might have some lemonade later. My mission is to grow closer to God, not test my will power. When that change takes place in you, it's a whole different ballgame. Good luck to all of you sacrificing. PLAY BALL!

Bucy Bits

Have I told you lately that I love alliteration? So it got warmer here in my part of town, and the kids got outside. Here are some pics and captions around the Bucy household.
This is a picture that Kaelyn "drew" entirely out of words. Say it with me, "Wow."
I was reading A Door in the Wall, and he fell asleep. I guess that means he doesn't care for the story?
Marley's first time actually pedaling a bike rather than pushing herself along with her feet. It was a proud mommy moment.
Swimming upstream.
Falling downstream.
A Happy Ending.

Happy Lent!

Considering all the things I'm reading today, "Happy Lent" is an oxymoron. That's not the point of Lent. It is a time of sacrifices and bringing yourself closer to God. In light of that, I've been perusing Lenten websites to get some new ideas of what sacrifices I can make. I already feel a little kamikaze with my giving up Diet Pepsi and sweets. Yes, you read that right, sweets. It's going to be so hard, and the sad part is that it won't be as hard as the Diet Pepsi is going to be. Some mornings when the kids wake up on the wrong side of the bed, I grab the Diet Pepsi out of the fridge and all is well. It could probably be likened to some sort of drug addict behavior (which I know nothing about). :) Regardless, I'm going to do it.

Kaelyn found a website for teens giving creative ideas of what to give up. One of them was not so much a give up, but I love the idea behind it. You bring sticky notes with you everywhere, and every place you go, you leave behind a positive note. I like this idea because I get warm and fuzzy when I think about it, so I'm going to do it. If I cross your path and don't leave a sticky note, please feel free to call me out on it. :)

I'll still be blogging. I will be noticing how often I have my phone out, how often I'm checking my email, how often I'm playing words with friends. :) In every instance that I find myself aware that I am out of my usual behavior in something, I will offer a prayer for someone. Something tells me that if you're reading this, you'll probably be receiving some prayers from me.

And since it's Fat Tuesday, let's end with a scrumptious picture..or two.

Crazy Kids

So when I was younger and a bit wild, I used to go to raves. Raves are big dance parties. We dressed weird, we acted weird, we were weird. These pictures were taken some evening when we didn't go to the gym and were all hanging out in the living room...sans Kaelyn that is. I'm not sure what they were pretending, but it could've been a rave.
They look like little punks.

Hey Girl Take Two

My father-in-law mentioned that I should share the love of my Hey Girl ads. So...here's one for my brother-in-law.
Oh, don't worry. I'm going through ALL my pictures. I wonder who I'll do next?

Hey Girl Fun

Have you seen the Hey Girl ads out there? They're pictures of Ryan Gosling with funny quotes added to the pics. On a blog I read, they're having a linky something or other where you link up your Hey Girl post. I don't know much about this stuff, but I thought it looked fun, so I figured it out...with the help of these bloggers. Here's my first one...

My second...

Then I decided to do my father-in-law and Kaelyn's boyfriend. :)
This is entirely way too much fun!

Blistery Sunday Daybook

Outside my window...
it is dark and frigid cold. The wind is roaring, and the Christmas lights that are still up, are swaying in the wind.

I am thankful for...
my friends. Their support, friendship, and love. It overwhelmed me this weekend.

I am thinking about...
Lent. I'm trying to decide what I'm giving up with Diet Pepsi. My choices are fast food or sweets. (Warning: Considering these are the only two choices and the Diet Pepsi is a definite, I might steer clear of me for about 40 days).

Learning all the time...
We went to bookclub last Wednesday. Rory's group read The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. I, Last Minute Lucy Bucy, got the book from the library two days before book club thinking it was a picture book. It's a chapter book that's pretty thick, definitely more than 2 days thick. I didn't even crack it open and just told Rory to tell them we didn't read it. We started it last night. Oh my goodness! This book has made us laugh, cry, snarl, and cower. We're on chapter 18 out of 27. Quite honestly I have to fight the urge to read it right now while they're in bed just to see what happens. If you haven't read it and have a child somewhere 2nd-4th grade(that's Rory's age group for book club, but Logan's in K is listening in), pick it up and let me know what you think. I think you'll be glad you did!

From the kitchen...
Dinner is a constant stress. What are the kids going to eat? How are we going to get to the gym and get back in time to make it and eat before we have to go do this? Yes, I have a crock-pot, and I even use it sometimes. Kevin doesn't like much in it though, so I don't use it as often as I would like.

I am creating...
little Zumbistas. I have a CD from my favorite Zumba instructor. The kids put it on and either we do Zumba together or they do it themselves. Rory's making up routines and everything. It's pretty cool to watch how much they love dancing.

I am working on...
being disciplined. It's not working so well. I'm hoping Lent will kick my bottom into gear.

I am going...
on a paper route this week. It's not newspapers though, it's Thirty-One catalogs. Instead of spending money on the postage, if you're close, you're getting one delivered to your door. Feel free to let me know if you want one!

I am hoping...
that God takes mercy on our little family for a little bit...just a little bit. Who am I to ask that?

I am reading...
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo and the same book about St. Terese. It's slow going.

I am praying for...
so many things and people. I have three prego family/friends that are getting a bulk of my intentions as one of their due dates is almost here.

I am hearing...
The Grammy's. Kevin and I put it on to see if they said anything about Whitney Houston. She apparently passed away last night. May God be with her friends and family.

Around the house...
things are in some order. Parts are getting better and parts are getting worse. I figure that's how I roll, and I just have to breathe and accept it.

One of my favorite things...
Words with Friends. I think that might be on the list of things I give up for Lent too. I'm a word person. English is my best subject. It was bound to happen, but even I know when something has gone too far, and I think I have with this game.

A few plans for the rest of the week...
I'm hoping to actually make it to a piano practice. It's been a couple of weeks. Valentine's day isn't anything special around here, so we're probably spending it at the gym. Nothing says, "I love you," like sweat. :)

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you...
This child...I just can't tell you what a blessing she is...a loud one...but a blessing nonetheless. :)

A Valentine Bookclub

Today was bookclub! We skipped last month. After this month's bookclub, we had a Valentine party. The kids were to bring valentines for everyone and a box or bag to put their valentines in. At the last minute I remembered about all the pink bags I had bought for Karla's babyshower. Marley and Rory used those, and I went and bought another one in blue for Logan. I wrote their names in Sharpie. Had I thought about it, I would've gotten some heart stickers for them to decorate them.
Today we read Chicken Big. Then we made little animals out of pom pom balls. The reason why I'm telling you all this is because my camera had low battery, so I couldn't take a lot of pics like I usually do. Afterward, there was a swarm of kids with boxes and valentines EVERYWHERE. All the kids were trying to put them in all the bags and boxes on the tables. It was chaos.
Now when you take a little Marley, and you keep her up from her nap, then you add a dessert table, you have a perfect storm. That kid was screaming her head off begging for a lollipop. All I kept thinking was my latest mantra...slow to anger, quick to patience, slow to anger, quick to patience. I would calmly tell her that I didn't think she should have any more sugar. She would scream more, and other moms around me would snicker.
It was crazy, but I got some mom time. Here are the few pictures I managed to get.
Sorry. That's all I got.

Miss Marley

Random Rory

So Rory got my camera the other day under the premiss of "her blog." Here is what she and Bonnie and Clyde did with it.
I wanted to put this last picture up because all of Logan's friends are losing their teeth except for him. I don't know what this is going to do to him, but he keeps talking to me about it. Maybe I should just pop him? JUST KIDDING!

Crazy Cousin Cartwheel Karla's Babyshower

Some of you may remember me talking about my crazy, cousin, cartwheel Karla. That blog has a picture, but let me tell you about her. Karla is Chris's wife. Chris is Kevin's cousin. He is Jerry's sister's son. Karla is his wife. I met Karla a couple years ago. Chris and her and their family moved to Maryland.(That's where I live) :) Anyway, they came over to my in-laws for dinner. I remember that Chris knew how to talk to people. He kept the conversation flowing. Karla was very welcoming and easy to talk to. At first I thought it was just the southern accent (I just don't see how people can sound mean with a southern accent). Then I found out that she was a missionary kid stationed in The Philippines! Hey! That's where my dad is from! So we got to talking about that and this and the other. Their daughter got along well with Rory so much so that they were wearing the same shirt! They also have a son that Logan would gladly follow around FOREVER.
Rory went to their daughter's birthday party. Then Karla came to my first Thirty-One party. Then she had one of her own. Then she started teaching Rory piano. And we got close. They really feel like family, and I love it because duh...they are family. Then...late last year Karla told me that she's pregnant. Her youngest, her daughter is 10. It's been awhile. She doesn't have baby stuff anymore. I love her more than my luggage, so I offered to throw her a babyshower. I can hear the sighs now. For those of you that know me, my love language is giving things. I tend to bite off more than I can chew, so this was right on par with "me."
As the planning got started, Karla told me that her friends from out of town were going to take care of the food. They wanted to try Georgetown Cupcakes (ummm...I'm not going to argue when cupcakes are on the line.) Then her daughter wanted to take over the decorations. I wanted her daughter to be a part of it because it has to be hard being the youngest and then not being the youngest. So really...all I had to do was the invitations and flow of the party. I got the invitations and started googling baby showers. I got the idea to have everyone bring their favorite childhood book to build the baby a library. I've been to a few baby showers and can honestly say I really only like one game I've ever played at one. So I looked for other ideas, and then I found it...decorating onesies. I can hear the sigh again. I know...I know. It was a lot, but I could do it.
It actually wasn't that hard. Renee has a lot of fabric from her various projects. I just needed to get some markers, glue, and stencils. I got some iron-ons, and we were set. Then I saw the idea of a blessing tree. Some lady said she got some branches, put them in a vase, and had pieces of paper that people wrote blessings to the baby on. What do I have in my backyard? Two big trees! I went out and got some branches, got a vase and some sand, and voila! A Blessing Tree
I found some scrapbook paper that had these lovely little designs on them. A hole puncher and some ribbon, and here is The Blessing Tree. In the meantime of finding this idea, I started browsing through a cake pop book that Kaelyn got for some occasion. There was a picture of cake pops decorated like babies.(sharp inhale) "I could do that!" Rory was on board, and we were off doing a dry run and seeing if we could do it. Since I'm a last minute Lucy, (hehe...Lucy Bucy) I did them the night before the shower. And when I say night, I mean
That's PM folks! Kevin helped me. When we were done and had the flowers for their hair and the pops dipped, Kevin looked at me and said, "These are great, but we're never doing this again." Here they were that night.
The next morning I finished them off with candies from those necklaces, and some edible ink. Here's the finished product.
Kevin and I had a running joke the whole time because I kept saying, "I don't think they're that bad." I'm sure my voice was full of shock and amazement that we actually might have been able to pull them off. These were part of the goody bags. Don't get me started on the goody bags. It's a long, painful story. Here's what those turned out like.
Unfortunately I wasn't good at taking pictures at the actual shower. There were wonderful onesies made by Karla's friends. I managed to only take pictures of the one I made and the one Renee made. We used fabric from Chris's grandmother. I think he was touched. Here are those pictures. I'm sure Rory is going to kill me for not taking pictures of the one she decorated.
This was mine. It's a play on words, and that's all I'll say about it. The purple and yellow fabric is Chris's grandmother's. I love turtles. The end.
This was Renee's. She used Chris's grandmother's fabric too. She even put little flowers on the mitten part. And the bow in the middle? Too cute! All in all, I think it all went well, and Karla was grateful. She deserves it! I love you guys!

Rory's Guest Blog

This is Rory. This is my first blog. Mommy and I are doing it as school. I didn't mean to make Marley cry in this video. I think she got a really bad rug burn.



You may laugh your pants off on this video.



Hahahaha! That movie was so funny! Are you laughing? I am going to be running around in this one.



And again I am laughing. Aren't you? In this picture Marley spilled way too much glitter.

The first one is Marley's picture and the second is Logan's. I was the "art teacher" this day.
Up next are my pictures. This one is called "Christmas is hustle and bustle."

This one is called "Christmas is a Tower."
Talk to you tomorrow. Bye!