The Mooney Clan

Hello friends! I'm having a very exciting day. Today is the day that I received my new logo! Can I just tell you all that if you can get a sister in law that is a fabulous graphic designer - absolutely do it!  If not - I'm so sorry for you but maybe you can use mine? Just say my name and she might squeeze you in between all her other clients.  She very patiently worked with me to come up with a logo that is neat and simple. I love it. Here it is: Check out her website here . And you can like my facebook page here .

Stay in your lane. Don't look at other people's papers. Those couple of lines jumped out at me as I read Maria Goff's book " Love Lives Here" It reminded me that we can't all live the same life. Comparisons hold us back and discourage us like nothing else. We have fears of being different when we are SUPPOSED to be different. I grew up trying to fit in and not doing a very good job at it. When I was in my teens I thought I'd try a new approach so I started trying to be the opposite of what I was because I thought that is what everyone else wanted me to be. I am chatty and energetic and I tried to be dainty and quiet. I didn't do a very good job of that either. Yikes. Trying to be someone we're not is exhausting and it doesn't work. We seldom fool anyone or achieve the goal we thought we wanted. What we all really want I think, is to connect with one another and to matter. As an adult I have had goals and held them up against other p

How in the world do you teach your kids about the poverty in the world and here at home when they have so much more than they could ever need?  I don't have some big philosophical answer to this. I just know we have to start somewhere. So, for our Family Joy Project we sat down and reminded the boys about how JOY comes in being Generous and in doing things for others. We tried to explain what life is like around the world.  And we showed them a youtube video called  Generation Hope . It's the most recent mini movie made by Mary's Meals.  Basically what they do is provide one meal a day to children - at school. They purchase the products from local farmers, etc. and hire local people. The best part - with my canadian dollar - I can feed one child for a year with $16. Seriously? An entire year? And it means they get to go to school? And grow up to go to college and have jobs and give back. Oh my goodness.  We have supported Mary's Meals ever since I stu

So, did you know that exercising regularly can help you have more energy!? Okay, so did I. And did you know that eating healthily also helps with that? As does going to bed at a decent time at night? I guess we all know that but I haven't been good at acting like I know that. I was getting frustrated. I was just so tired in the evenings. I wasn't having the kind of quality time with my kids or my husband that I wanted. I didn't feel like going out with friends in the evening. I was okay during the day but that's not when I am with my people, for the most part anyway. Sometimes, I would fall asleep on the couch before my kids bedtime!! If I wasn't asleep, I was lethargic and unmotivated. Just not the me that I wanted to be. It doesn't sound like much, but I just couldn't stand wanting to be intentional but not having the energy to do the things that mattered to me. And my kids are 9,9,9 and 11. That's old enough that I can't use the

I am a grown up woman. So, when I was reading about vision boards I kept hearing "That's for teenage girls!" in my head and "Go vacuum the carpets or something!". I kept telling myself that cutting out pictures and quotes and gluing it to a piece of bristol board that I have for the kids' school projects isn't something real adults should be doing. But still, I really, really wanted to do it. So, I put in a load of laundry, took some meat out to thaw for supper and I started working on my very own grown up lady vision board. It really is a fun and creative way to remind yourself of what matters and gets you thinking about where God may be trying to lead you.  This is not my board but a cute example of one. Vision Board from  crossfitroundrocktx . com The important part of a project like this is taking the time to figure out what actually does matter to us, what our goals actually are. Here is a list from a book I read recently (I can't

You have to say goodbye to some things to be able to invite other things in. That applies to material things, things that require your time and so much more. Our family is in the process of deciding what we want and what we are willing to get rid of to make room / time for what matters to us. Minimalism is a way of thinking that really speaks to me. I've always struggled with feeling like we have too much, are doing too much, are doing things because others think we should or are not doing things because others don't think it's a good idea. It sort of drains my energy. We have so many messages coming at us all the time that I believe we don't even always know what we really think about what we are or aren't doing. We forget to stop and look; to decide intentionally. We maybe don't pay attention to the very life we are living every day. Each day just goes by in a blur. We end up being run by our habits instead of deliberately choosing how we spend our time

I love, love, love books. I love reading for so many reasons. Sometimes, I love to travel to another time or place, to learn, to grow, to put myself in someone else's shoes. Sometimes, it's just a good laugh or a great mystery that I get to enjoy. There are so many gifts within those pages. Books will be on every gratitude list I make! My friends and family have probably noticed that I'm always asking what they are reading because it is like searching for a treasure. You know there is more gold out there so you keep an eye out. If you have favorite books that are treasures to you, please tell me about them in the comments. Share the Joy! I joined the 'goodreads' app's 2018 challenge and challenged myself to read 50 books. That's one of my goals for the year. I want to blog about goals later too.  It'll be nice to write about what some of these authors and youtubers recommend for how to set goals and how to follow through with them. This season in

Boys Week 2017 Video has been posted!!  Justin gets to be a part of organizing and running Boys Week at our Camp here in Saskatchewan. Few things bring him and our boys Joy like this one very special week in the year. Seeing these boys having such a good time is a reminder that these things matter and that it is worth the weeks and months of preparation.  Good timing too as we have just begun to plan this summer's Boys Week.  Enjoy the smiles in this video, not to mention the reminder that sunshine and swimming pools are just around the corner ;).  Pray for next year's camps! Thanks!

And Away We Went! About a week and a half ago we were lucky enough leave the snow and cold behind and headed south for some sunshine. It was Justin's company trip - The IQgetaway to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. We love travelling and really don't get to do it as much as we'd like so this was a really sweet treat! My parents were kind enough to take care of the boys for the week and off we went! So many of my favorite things were there. I love the feel of the warm sun so much!! It was heavenly. We did all the things, like walks on the beach and laying by the pool, eating outside and watching the sunsets.  We read books and took naps. The weather was perfect and we enjoyed every moment of it! We went into town one day and took in some sights.  I absolutely love all the colors and textures, the sounds, and seeing people from so many different places.   The last night was Company Banquet night. It was another beautiful night out by the pool, the sun

Happiness is Early Mornings and a Really Good Mug There are early risers and night owls and people that fall somewhere in between. Anyone who knows me, knows that I fall into the early riser category. I LOVE that. The perks of an early morning are treasures for me. It gives me time to ease into the day. I get to watch the sunrise out my kitchen window and most mornings I get to snuggle with one or two of my early rising kids as well. I love that I get some of the less interesting tasks of life out of the way, first thing, so I can move on to other, more interesting things. It gives me a clear head and clear plan for my day. I'm ever grateful for my husband who takes the 'night-time shift' with the boys. By their bedtime, I'm usually slowing to a halt and he's still bright and shiny eyed. This is great because they get dad time and I can put my pj's on. I talk about this because it's something that brings me joy and gratitude. Another really important t

Our Family Joy Project What is my word for the year? That's the question I ask myself around New Year's every year. Yup, I'm one of those people. The word that rose to the top for me was "Joy". I love that word and I love the idea that we can choose joy and we can create joy. This is a choice and what a beautiful opportunity in this one life we get to live. I want to do that!! I'm a wife of a fabulous, sweet and funny man. I also get to be mom to 4 boys who fill my heart with so much joy. Yes, you can have joy and still want to hide in the closet occasionally just to find a little quiet. So, as CEO of our house, JOY is also their word for the year.  It has kind of morphed into our "Family Joy Project". It's our way of looking for and making joy, on purpose. It's been one month since we've talked about making this a priority and I've seen 2 main things grow out of this so far. The first part is simply gratitude. The ever popul