Four Generations

My Grandparents have been visiting us for Christmas every year since I can remember. I'm so glad they are still able to. We don't always remember to take pictures when they're here, but I love that we snuck one in this year!

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like..

Christmas at the Mooney's =)

Poor Brendo is scared of the camera timer :(

Thankful #24

Happy Thanksgiving! The Mooney's have a lot to be thankful for. Today I'm especially thankful we have each other.

Thankful #23

I am thankful that we have a wave of fall wildflowers popping up in the back yard.

Thankful #22

I am thankful that my house smells like yeast rolls.

Thankful #21

Today I'm thankful for the Christmas Station on Pandora....I know it's too early, but I can't help myself today.

Thankful #20

Today I'm thankful for my camera. I love this thing and I'm so happy to be getting behind it again.

Thankful #19

Today I'm thankful for a loving and supportive group of friends.

Thankful #18

Today I'm thankful for good restaurants with playscapes. We love the Hat Creek Burger Co.!

Thankful #17

Today I'm thankful for James' preschool. They are so good with James and it's plainly obvious that they love him almost as much as we do. They have been an amazing support in raising this child and it will be a sad day when we have to leave them.

Thankful #16

Today I'm thankful for our home. It's been a great place for bringing babies home and playing in the back yard. Everyday I love this house more and more.

Thankful #15

Finding something to be thankful for today is easy (everyday is easy, but today especially). Today I'm thankful for RAIN!

Thankful #14

Today I'm thankful for this time with Sam and Brendan. Soon they will have a new baby and be visiting us as a family of three. We really had a great visit with them.

Thankful #13

Today I am thankful for having had a great soccer season. Four year old soccer is quite the experience =) Go Dragons!

Thankful #12

Today I am thankful for Hockey! Go Stars!

Thankful #11

Today I am thankful for our veterans. Happy Veterans Day!

Thankful #10

Today I'm thankful that my Brother and sister-in-law are going to make me an Aunt at the end of January. I'm going to be an awesome Auntie.

Thankful #9

Today I'm thankful for the minivan. Sounds weird, but it keeps our family safe on road trips, it can carry a lot of people, and I love the ease of the automatic sliding doors. We have a lot of good memories in the van. So today I'm thankful for Wanda the Honda.

Thankful #8

Today I'm thankful Jimmy convinced me to get chickens for our back yard. They have been super easy and enjoyable. The kids are learning responsibility and how to be gentle with them. They have been so fun.

Thankful #7

Today I'm thankful for rain! Texas sure needs this rain we got today.

Thankful #6

Today I'm thankful for my brother, sister, sister-in-law and Jimmy's brother. We love them so much and the kids do too. It's so fun to have a cop and a fireman for uncles and aunts who spoil them =)

(I need to make sure to take more pictures of them. There aren't any recent ones!)

Thankful #5

Today I'm thankful for our Aunts and Uncles. They are all so great to us and our kids.

Thankful #4

Today I'm thankful for our parents and grandparents. We couldn't raise these boys without them.

Thankful #3

Today I'm thankful for airplanes (or helicopters, as Brendan calls them) We're on our way to Tucson!

Thankful #2

I'm thankful for my boys. They are smart, funny, handsome, and kind. I'm lucky to be their mom, and I also love them more than life itself.

Thankful

One thing I'm thankful for every day until Thanksgiving :)

1: Jimmy. I'm thankful he asked me to join him in this adventure of marriage and parenthood. He's an amazing husband and father, and I love him more than life itself.

Brendan Turns 2!

Happy 2nd Birthday Brendo! We love you times infinity!

Loves:

Trains
Trucks
The Moon
Being outside
Ducks

James Turns 4!

Happy Birthday James! We love love love you!

Loves:

Preschool
Toy Guns
Toy Swords
Video Games
His Best Friend, Julian
Swimming

Alaska 2011

Jimmy and I went on an amazing cruise to Alaska. We had such a great time and came home well rested and happy to see the boys. Thanks to Grandma Sandra and Grandpa Bob for watching the kids while we were gone. Here's the slideshow of your trip.

Camping

My MOMs club planned a trip to go camping last weekend, and we decided it was the perfect opertunity for our first camp out with the kids. We planned on just doing one night so if there were any problems, it was only a short trip, and we would only loose one night's sleep. As expected, camping with a 19 month old was a little challenging, but we had an amazing time! We're already planning our next trip with the MOMs club in October.

Before heading out, we stopped at the sporting goods store to pick up a shade, and new camp stove, and some chairs for the boys. We got to the park after about an hour's drive, and checked in. Set-up went smoothly with me corralling the kids and Jimmy unloading the car and putting up the tent and shade. Our site was on small road, so there was a lot of "Brend-O! Stop!" But he mostly listened (still working on that) and never really got away from us. Soon, we were set up, had had lunch, made a quick trip to the local HEB for some things we forgot (a Mooney family camping tradition) while the boys took a nap in the car, and headed down to the Guadalupe River. We didn't know what to expect, so we were pleasantly surprised to find a lot of people wading in a slow moving, shallow river. The kids had a ball! Jimmy and I did too =) James found some new friends and played with them and Brendan picked up every rock to see how it would splash when dropped. It was so fun! Eventually we were all sitting in a shallow section skipping rocks. By that time we were all tired (I was getting sunburned) and hungry so we packed up and headed back to our camp site. We had a snack and rested in and around the tent before heading on a short (like really) hike before dinner. We walked up to the bathrooms than down the trail for about 10 minutes before James and Brendan had lost interest in walking in the heat. They both made it back on their own feet though! Tough guys =) Then it was time for dinner. Hot dogs, of course, salad and s'mores bars (no campfires in this drought). We cleaned up from dinner and got the tent ready for sleeping, then walked to another family's (from my MOMs club) camp site and brought our chairs and flash lights. James had so much fun walking in the woods with his older friends in the dark. Brendan played with some balls and talked to everyone. We sat and talked with the four other families until the camp's curfew. Brendan was sleeping so we carried him back and James was wide awake (much to my surprise!). But we got back to our tent and Brendan immediately woke up and James immediately hit the sheets. It took a while to settle Brendan down (after midnight...yawn) but eventually it was me and the kids on the air mattress and poor Jimmy on the ground. It was a sleepless night (as expected) for me and Brendan, but Jimmy and James seemed to do quite well! James woke up at the crack of down (as usual) and woke us all up. We decided to pack up early and have bagels and cream cheese (instead of scrambled eggs and sausage like we were planning) for breakfast. After packing up we walked around to the other campsites, as they were waking up, and said our goodbyes. Then it was time to head home. Jimmy and I were pretty tired, so we stopped at Starbucks (a rare treat for these dieters) on the way home. We ended up being home and had the car unpacked by 10:30 am! We all had naps after lunch and were all talking about when we would go camping again =)

green smoothies

Brendan is quite the picky eater. I hate to say that much and make it a self fulfilling prophecy for him, but I really struggle to get him to eat anything but carbs. So a friend of mine turned me on to green smoothies. We call them Shrek smoothies. The boys LOVE them. They get a full serving (or more) of kale or spinach, and they don't even know it.

Embrace the Camera

I found this idea on a blog I follow. The point is for parents to get in pictures with their kids. I want my kids to have photographs with me that they can look at for many years. So I'm going to make an effort to get in front of this lens with my kids, and also capture Jimmy with them.

This is a picture from Christmas. James and Jimmy are so excited about the whoopie cushion James got, and Brendan is scared of the noise (poor guy is scared of the oddest things).

Note to self: Get more pictures of Jimmy with the kids...and with me =)

Date Night

On Cinco de Mayo we had plans to go out for Mexican food as a family. I had talked it up with James so he would be excited. Well, Jimmy ran late at work, so we had to change plans last minute. Jimmy called a sitter and James and Brendan had pizza with her while Jimbo and I went out for dinner. It ended up being a good thing it worked out this way because there was a long wait (duh) and I don't think the boys would have lasted.

My point.

James was pretty sad about Dad and me going without him, and the next day he said to me, "I want to go on a date with you tomorrow." So we planned it!

He said he wanted to go on a "cupcake date," and to "Old McDonalds." =)

I asked what I should wear and he said a dress. I asked if he was going to wear a tie and he said "sure!" So tonight we dressed up.


At the last minute I got a text from my friend Lissa saying there were model trains at the Amtrak station because it was National Train Day. What a perfect idea! James was in heaven!

We stayed there for a long time. The conductors (?) let James push the button on the remote control to blow the whistle. He thought he was pretty big stuff. Eventually we both decided it was time to grab a bite.

I convinced him P. Terry's had better milkshakes than "Old McDonalds" So it was off to P. Terry's where we shared a strawberry milk shake and french fries "with ketchup." (I insisted on a burger as well)


Then it was time for the "cupcake date" portion of the date. We drove to Central Market for a cupcake. James picked out a tres leches cupcake (it had a cherry on top). As luck would have it there was live music. James and I enjoyed the blues band while we sipped ice water and ate the cupcake.



Soon it was evident that the sugar was kicking in. I knew we had a little bit of sunlight left, so I suggested a trip to the park. "SURE!" was the response. Big surprise =)

James quickly found a couple friends and was off running and playing "hide and seek tag."


After all of the kids left James and I went on a short hike to see some of the forest that had been burned in a recent wild fire. He was concerned that everyone was safe (luckily everyone was). We talked about it for the rest of the night.

He was exhausted by this point and wanted to go home. I even told him he could go down the slide once more and he refused, so I knew he was pretty tired.

We got home, blew Daddy a kiss good night, read The Lorax (his current favorite) which he was trying to find a connection to the burned trees we saw at the park, and he went to sleep (after stalling for only a little while).

It was a magical evening. James and I differ in many ways. It makes it a challenge for me to parent him sometimes. Tonight we really bonded, for the fist time in a long time. I truly enjoyed his company as a person. Homeboy is funny, charming, smart, and has the best smile. He is a huge blessing and I love him fiercely. He my not remember our date tonight, but I will cherish these memories forever.

Haircut

We probably waited too long to go ahead and get Brendan's hair cut, but I just love baby hair, and I wasn't ready to let him grow up yet. Well, we finally went and did it on Saturday. He wasn't very thrilled about having some lady touch his head over and over, but she was very patient and quick, so it was relatively painless. Afterwords we went out to lunch to celebrate. He looks so handsome, and I'm glad to be rid of the baby mullet =)

We're in Trouble Now!

Mooney Christmas 2010

Happy New Year!

Love,
The Texas Mooneys

Something I Want to Remember

I haven't had a moment to sit down and write a Christmas/New Years 2010 post, but I wanted to get this down on the blog so I don't forget-

Everyday, it seems, James is warming up to Brendan more and more. We know he loves him, but he's still having a little bit of a hard time sharing his parents/toys/house with his pesky little brother. But, he said something the other night, while he didn't think we could hear him, that made Jimmy and I look at each other and think he's coming around.

A little girl (maybe 7) to James (at the top of the slide in the Chick-fil-a): "We have 4 kids in our family. How many do you have?"

James: "I have Brendan."

He was so quick to respond and he said it as if he was really proud.

Although he has had a hard year dealing with this huge change in our lives, James is really proud that he has a little brother. I hope this never changes.