The Mooney Clan

I just keep reminding myself that Creativity in a child is a good thing.... (It's washable marker)

I saw this on pinterest and thought it would be so much fun.  We have since made a new list, including activities in the local area and things that are more age appropriate for the little kids.  A lot of them will just happen naturally or just almost every day.  Some of them though will take a little planning and prearranging but it will be so much fun.  Justin requested that we add a column for when we did it and that we document it with pictures so that we can make a photo book at the end of summer or slide show.  Some keepsake thing.  This weekend we did a few things.  We : Made Popsicles Built a Fort Found a playpark we'd never seen before AND had a picnic... To finish off the day we rented a movie and had a movie night... Yesterday was a good day.  I love spending time as a family.  On that note - I'm off to spend the better part of the day on my ...

I mentioned in my health and fitness post a few posts back that I have set some challenges for myself.  This quote speaks to one of them so perfectly.  I am a list person; a planner.  I like knowing what is going to happen and that it IS going to happen.  That brings me confidence and peace.  Is that how life goes?  And what if you add 5 males to the equation?  I'd say my expectations are rarely met.  The key to this for me is to remember that if I didn't have those expectations I wouldn't be disappointed.  Now I used to be afraid to say that because it can sound pathetic.  Like saying "no point in believing that. It's never going to happen".  I certainly don't approach it that way.  I'll still set goals and look forward to things.  My challenge is to be able to roll with it, even when that isn't what happens.  Everyone knows that sometimes the blessings in the 'change of plans' are more than worth the loss of the...

This morning I am tired.  One of the boys was up from 3 am until after 5.  The others were up at 630.  At that time of night it can be hard to be sweet and positive. The chatter of birds at 5 am isn't always as sweet as a couple of hours later but I tried to appreciate each of those things.  Once I was awake a few minutes I remembered how grateful I am for my life and my boys and the health we all have in this moment.  I thought about how I am watching for those little blessings and small miracles in every day and I need to look for them even more when it's a little harder.  In all of this though my mind kept going to Jordan and Kari and Peyton Clark.  Some of you that read this know them and the journey that they have traveled.  They inspire me with their faith and their ability to share with others and in that way have blessed so many people.  Today they will celebrate the life of their little girl and I will be thinking about them a...

I heard that a couple of my favorite shows are being cancelled.  The Sing Off and Who Do You Think You Are.  I'm quite disappointed.  So I was watching clips from last season.  Love these guys: From The Sing Off - these guys are amazing!

We are celebrating today.  I was starting to dread the triplets' soccer games because it was me, chasing them, to force them to play soccer.  That isn't fun for me or them so what was the point?  Evan would wander away.  Liam would sit on the blanket and not budge, and Dylan would go out for a bit and then mope around and come back to the blanket all the time.  We started to talk about pulling out and waiting a year.  But, since Justin is the coach and really, they've only just started and probably needed time to figure it all out, we stuck to it.  And wouldn't you know it, last night at their game, they all played quite a bit and Liam and Evan both scored!  Their first goals in a soccer game.  YAY!  No point mentioning that the other team didn't really ever try to take the ball from them :).  They had fun and enjoyed people cheering for them and it turned out to be a really good time.  I just really wanted it to be fun for...

For Mother's Day weekend we decided to go to my mom and dad's and spend some time with people there.  We had the most fantastic weather and had lots of fun and some really good visits.  It still feels like home even though I've been gone for almost 20 years.  Here are some pictures of the fun (and mom and dad's apple tree.  It was blooming so beautifully while we were there)...