The Mooney Clan

I came across a quote today and it moved me. I just had to write it down and now I feel compelled to share it with others. "Good memories are like charms. Each is special. You collect them, one by one, until one day you look back and discover they make a long, colorful bracelet." It comes from "Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas" by James Patterson. It fills me with things to say but for once I'll just leave it at that.

We took advantage of a sunny day that popped up in between all these rainy days and we went to the spray park with some friends. It was so nice to be outside and to play in the water and to have a summer-like day. All the kids got into it - even Liam! Maybe the water issue is more an independence issue. Maybe Liam just wants to decide for himself when and if he goes in. It was a good place for us too because it was pretty much fenced and I had brought my play yard and was able to close off the park openings (no one else was there for most of the time) to stop the kids from trying to explore too far. It worked out pretty well. Anyway - here are a few pictures from the other day. filling the water guns Elijah Liam He's wet AND happy about it. Whaddya know :) Dylan Evan Yum - watermelon! Our friend Luca

We are stuck in the house during all of this rainy weather but the kids have fun anyway. They love to run up and down the hallway yelling at the top of their lungs and laughing. It's funny. Liam Dylan Evan My spiderman The boys also love to dog pile. Don't worry, they take turns being on the bottom. And Dylan can take it. This week has been great. As much as the rain is getting very very tedious, I'm enjoying my kids so much. Last night I had a moment. You know the one you have when you look in on your sleeping kids and your heart gets so big you think it's going to burst through your chest? Well, that got me started and then I let myself think about how much they mean to me and how I used to wonder what the answer to all our fertility struggles would be. I sort of went back to that 'old me' - the one who didn't know. And I had a cry for her. If only she had known how full life would be one day. Anyway, all those emotions were a lot to take and I

I'm working on my mindset. I'm trying not to rush the kids to grow up - even though some things will be a lot easier when they do. The past couple of days I have made more of an effort to relax and try to just play with the boys and get to know them better. So rewarding. They are incredibly sweet and smart and funny. Dylan is really into hugging. If he gets mad and hits his brother and I tell him 'no' and scold him, he turns around and gives the offended brother a gentle hug. And he often crawls up on the couch to hug Caden. He puts his arms around him and lays his head on his chest. It is SO cute!! The last few days we've said "go to bed" to the boys and they just turn around and head off into their beds. Liam running all dainty and with his hands up in the air. Today, Justin was outside working on something in the front yard and Dylan and Liam were leaning over the back of our couch, hollering out the open front door "DAD - DEE". O

Once again, Justin and the boys and I headed to Minot to hang out for the weekend, with my parents and my brothers and their families. I think this is the fourth year we have done this now and as a bonus, my uncle from Winnipeg and his two daughters also joined us. It was a really good time. I was, of course, a little stressed sometimes (sorry family) but we are still glad that we went and glad to have had a chance to give our kids some new experiences and for them (and us) to spend some time with aunts and uncles and cousins and grandparents. When I put my pictures on here I seem to have lost my zoo pictures from my camera. I was really disappointed about that since there were some pretty cute ones in there. I'm hoping to get some from the rest of the family. We'll see. Anyway - here are some pics of us in Minot last weekend: Dylan decided that he loved the pool. He was a complete daredevil. He wanted to play without Justin's help. He kept trying to jump into th