I heart these boys

Feelings

I'm not good at expressing them. When I'm sad or feel attacked, I get mad. When I'm mad, I do NOT handle myself well. Recently, I realized this. Every night when I'm praying with my kids, I pray that we will do as Jesus would want us to do every day. I pray this with my kids, yearning for them to remember the prayer the next day when they're faced with doing right or doing wrong. I usually do not remember this until after the fact. After I have reacted wrongly. Life would be so easy if we never faced difficulty. I would be a shining light at all times! It's when I'm faced with ANY kind of struggle/confrontation/bump in the road, that I act like I have never talked to God in my life. I try. And when I can see it coming, I pray, and it usually turns out okay. It's when it blindside's me that I react like a hooligan.
Last week, I woke up on Wednesday morning with this happiness that I wanted to share with everyone. I prayed that it would be a wonderful day and that I would shine for the Lord. And then I left my house. Everything that could have gone wrong, did. It was a HARD day. And I failed at shining for the Lord. I felt defeated. I felt like a failure. How do change the way that I react when faced with unforseen trials? Well, a new and precious friend let me in on a little secret. Stay in the Word. And that is EXACTLY what I plan to do. I know that there will be many more days that I will fail, but I also know that there will be many more when I will succeed.
*Let me just clarify: I have not done anything horrible! I was just not a shining light for the Lord when I had the opportunity to be.
My 4 year old made a book of feelings at school the other day.

                     His comments were:

• "I am happy when...I eat ice cream." 
• "I am sad when....I get a toy taken from me."
• "I am embarrased when...my mommy kisses me in front of my friends." (This one is strange since he BEGS for a kiss every morning [in front of his friends])
• "I am excited when...my daddy builds my swingset."
• "I don't think I know when I am angry."
• "I am worried when....I lost my bulldog."

I could make a book about each statement if they were my own. I am happy when...(insert book). I am sad when...(insert book). What I need help with right now is reacting to these feelings. I tell my 4 year old that it's okay to get mad, but he can not...fill in the blank (throw his tows, hit his brother, ect.). I am striving to get these things through to him, but what about me? Maybe I need to make "Abby's book of feelings...and the correct way to react to them. "

New design, new perspective

My AWESOME and TALENTED friend Cat, at Constant in Chaos, has designed this great new custom blog for me that I am SO stinkin' excited about! I'm still playing with things (settings and what not), but LOVE my new blog and hope that you will too! Thanks, Cat!
I started this blog because I loved reading other's and thought that I might just share some pics of my kids from time to time. I am BY NO MEANS a writer, but would love to write more. I chose this title because obviously, we are the Moon's, and also because I want to start writing more about important things (joys, struggles, and everything in between). I hope that you'll follow us on our journey to be all that He has created us to be. Sometimes we succeed, sometimes oftentimes we fail. I want to share it all!

My no longer 3 year old

So, Merrit turned 4 last Saturday. I don't know how I feel about this. Not at all. Let's just sum it up by saying that when his big boy backpack came in the mail, I cried. Seriously, cried. He is currently attending a day care, which provides pre-k (which he will be starting next year). The school where I work has just added a pre-k program this year. I have been back and forth and back and forth about what to do. It's like I know that the logical thing to do would be to bring him to school with me, but I just know that it's going to mean a HUGE change on both my part and his. He will no longer be coddled at day care from people who know and love him. He will now be part of something bigger, MUCH bigger. And I just don't know if I'm ready for that yet. While I continue to pray and ask for guidance on what to do, I think that the answer has already been given to me. I'm just not ready to accept it yet. I honestly believe that it lies in me letting go. I just don't know if I'm brave enough yet. He's my baby. Yes, he is 4, but he is MY baby. I love this child more than life itself and would do anything in the world to protect him. But am I protecting him, or disabling him?

This was his invitation, which I made myself, and was very proud of, considering that what I normally do is spend TONS of money for someone else to make it, for it then to be thrown in the trash by the recipients soon afterward.

What we do in Mississippi

Well, these 2 squirrel hunt:

And I get to stay home with this guy: