Spring

It has sprung!

 

 

Coupons...the devil or a lifesaver?

Okay, so I've been trying this coupon thing. I went to a workshop on how to get started with some friends a couple of weeks ago. Let me just say...the girl leading the workshop, had it going on! She knew all the tricks of finding a good deal and only buying what she needed (not all that other junk most people end up buying when they have coupons). I've been wanting to get into this for a while. My sister-in-law and my cousin are really good at it and have motivated me to start. This workshop was just the icing on the cake!
And then the problem....actually doing it. It can be EXTREMELY overwhelming. Especially when you don't have all of the resources and time that some people do. I know that these people say that if you just make time, then it will be worth it. Here's my question...how do you MAKE time? I didn't know that was possible.
Here's just a snapshot of my days right now.
5:30 a.m.-(I say 5:30, but I usually hit snooze about 4 times) wake up, shower, get dressed, get my children up, ready, dressed and in the car with breakfast in hands
7:00 a.m.-  (again, I say 7:00, but am ALWAYS late) drop kids off at daycare and head to work
7:20ish-3ish - work, work, work; and let's just say, it's THAT time of year
3ish-4:30ish - either a meeting or the gym (the gym thing just started last week, but it's a must right now)
4:30- pick up kids
5:30- 2 to 3 days/week we're at t-ball, church on Wed. nights (again, another thing that just started last week, but we're really enjoying the Wed. night services) My family has become accustomed to crock pot meals on the days that Merrit has t-ball and something quick and easy the other nights.
6:30-8- play, feed, bathe, read, sing, put kids to sleep
8:00- SERIOUSLY, by this time, I am NOT going to get on the computer and look at coupons/store ad's/ect. When my kids go to sleep, I have to clean, pick out clothes, and pack bags for the next day.
All of that said, when I do it, I do actually enjoy it and I LOVE the savings. Take right now for instance, my husband is outside playing with the kids (I've had them all day while he's been playing in Starkville with his buddy), and I am about to "coupon" it up. I guess I just have to realize that I can not go to the extreme that some people go to, but just do what I can when I can. Another lesson I've learned: I can NOT take my kids shopping with me anymore if I'm going to figure out the best deals and use coupons. Not.Fun.
I have heard that it gets easier the more you do it and I'm hoping that that's true! For now, you will NOT be seeing me on Extreme Couponing. I'm just going to say it...those people are crazy (but I LOVE watching them)!

Are you the mom who.....

1. pours juice into sippy cups from the grocery store, at the grocery store, before the sippy cups have been bought, brought home, and properly washed in order to avoid tantrums?
Guilty...although this has only happened once, I left the store completely flustered saying that I would NEVER, EVER take the kids shopping with me again right after picking them up from daycare. Other people were looking at me like, "I can not believe that that woman is doing that." We had no food. I had no choice. My kids did not get any crazy diseases. Everyone is healthy and fine.

2. gets in the tunnel at the park and then is unable to get out?
Yes, guilty again. And I have to say that this has not only happened once, but twice!

3. gives your 1 year old a chocolate pop-tart on the way to school?
Yes, and it will never happen again (unless of course he sees them, points, and says "pees, pees, peeeeees").

This is me these days. I choose my battles (but not in the grocery store, they win every time). I get down and dirty with my kids at the park (even when I end up in positions that I know are not meant for a close to 30 something person to be in). And when that baby boy with those big brown eyes and those chubby cheeks looks up at me and says "pees," I would give him the world if I could. So am I THAT mom? I guess so :)

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.