2012 New Year's Update!

December 2012

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year! Here’s a brief synopsis of 2012 for us: BUSY!

OK, a few more details:

Darla 

Almost, 17, Darla is itching to get her license. I can hardly believe that my baby girl is old enough to drive! She is having a wonderful Junior year and is quite focused on her academics as she looks forward to applying to colleges soon (I’ve been brainwashing the kids about Grove City for years, so we’ll see if my plan has worked…. I’ll let ya know in next year’s Christmas letter!) Darla has taken quite a course load at school this year with three AP classes in History, Language and Calculus! She is excited to be on the high school basketball team again and is really enjoying the season. Last spring, she had the privilege of receiving the Christian Character Award through basketball! In addition to athletics and academics, she continues to impress us with her accomplishments in music with her involvement in piano, band, choir and bells. She stays very involved at church with youth group, Bible study and summer missions.

Micah

Micah (14) began his high school career with a bang as a freshman at Plumstead Christian School! He was elected President of the 9^th grade class, joined the debate team and participated in the high school production of Arsenic and Old Lace. At the same time he was involved in a community theatre production of Stage Door. (We are having a hard time keeping him from auditioning for every role that comes along!) He is involved in several musical pursuits: choir, ensemble, band and piano. He thoroughly enjoyed participating in County Band last spring and hopes to do that in high school as well. We were so proud of Micah’s achievements at 8^th grade graduation in May, when he received the Christian Leadership Award (from PCS) and the Good Citizenship Award (from our state Senator.) Micah's also very involved in youth group and went on his first High School summer trip to World View Academy last summer.

Clara & Minnie Mouse

Little Miss Clara is now THREE! She is becoming quite the independent toddler. It’s amazing to see how much she has grown over the past year! Her vocabulary has exploded, she’s got a very creative imagination and, as her teachers have learned, she talks a lot! She has been really enjoying going to preschool this year and I think the teachers like to hear her stories because the rest of the class is so quiet! Clara and I love going to Kindermusik every week. It is so fun to see her participate more each time as she develops her love of music.

Phil & I celebrated our 20^th wedding anniversary this summer and enjoyed a couple of days to ourselves at a The Moon Shadow Inn near Hershey, PA! We both continue to be very involved in ministry at our church. Together we work with the young adults - I plan events and Phil teaches Sunday school. Phil is an Elder and also participates in the Men’s Fraternity. I have continued in my ministries as MOPS Coordinator, team teaching Ladies’ Bible Study and helping with Senior High Girl’s Bible Study. I also enjoy writing at www.MyMidLifeMotherhood.com, where you can read about our family during the year. Phil continues to be a contract engineer with Comcast though his company, Embedded Innovations.

As 2012 draws to a close, we are thankful to God for all His blessings and look forward to 2013! May God bless you abundantly in the New Year!

Blessings,

Phil, Denise, Darla, Micah and Clara Mooney

Christmas Greetings 2011

Merry Christmas Everyone!

We have had a full year here in the Mooney household.  Never a dull moment with two teens and a tot!
Hope you enjoy our highlights of 2011:

Kids decorating Christmas tree this year

Phil and Denise

PHIL
Phil started his own business this year by becoming an LLC.  His company of one is Embedded Innovations and he contracts himself out to different companies doing embedded software development.  Currently he is enjoying working on digital cable set-top boxes with Comcast Cable.  He has a long commute and takes advantage of his driving time to catch up on his "reading"...audio books! Phil is an Elder at our church, teaches our young adult Sunday school, and helps out with the sound system as well as the church website.

We enjoyed a couple of trips to Ohio to visit Phil's folks.  Over the summer for Father's Day and most recently for Thanksgiving.  On our latest visit we were able to join friends in Ohio to celebrate with Phil's college buddy, Hans, as he became a Colonel in the United States Air Force!  This whirlwind Thanksgiving tour culminated in returning to PA just in time for Denise's 25th high school reunion.

Thanksgiving Day at Cracker Barrel

DENISE
I now introduce myself as a non-stay-at-home-mom, because I am never home!  I enjoy volunteering at Plumstead Christian School whenever I can.  Last year I was one of the lunch ladies and got a real kick out of all the high school boys who enjoyed flirting with Clara who sat in her stroller, smiling and waving at all the students!

This year I haven't been able to be at PCS on a regular basis because of all the other responsibilities that have filled my schedule.  I continue to enjoy co-teaching the Ladies' Bible Study and Senior High Girls' Bible Study.  Clara and I started attending a Kindermusik class at the piano studio and she absolutely loves it!  Our church started a MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) program and much of my time as Coordinator has been working with several of the young moms in our congregation to get that up and running in a matter of months!  It has been a blessing to see God's hand at work opening the doors to allow this ministry and I'm so thankful that Clara and I can continue to be active in MOPS.

Phil and I also work with the young adults at our church, which involves Sunday school, dinners at our house, movie nights, game nights, sports nights and 1/2 price appetizers at Applebee's after 9 p.m.  Let's just say they keep us feelin' young!

In addition to all this, I play Mom too.  This means, driving, driving and more driving - to school, to church, to play practice, to piano lessons, to music class, to basketball practice, etc.  The games, cheers, recitals, performances, applause, awards, hugs and kisses (these are usually from Clara!) are worth every mile in the car!

Target portrait for Mother's Day

When I get the chance to sit and relax I try to work on my blogs, My Mid Life Motherhood (www.MyMidLifeMotherhood.com) and Denitra's Den (www.denitrasden.blogspot.com).  I have had a lot of fun opportunities and trips as a result of my blogging and am looking forward to doing more in the future.  You can keep up to date with our family throughout the year at each of those websites.

THE KIDS

DARLA

Winter Ball 2011

Darla will be 16 in a few weeks!  She is anxiously anticipating her Sweet Sixteen and is already looking forward to learning how to drive.  Darla is a very active young lady in school, church and community. She continues to grow musically playing piano, saxophone and hand bells. Last Spring she was awarded "Most Improved Musician" in the high school band. After only playing for a few weeks, she found herself performing with the band last November for Sarah Palin!

Darla enjoys being part of the youth group at church.  This summer the group went to West Virginia on a missions trip where they did construction work for needy families.  Currently the youth are working on some service projects for this Spring and Darla is very excited about the opportunity to help organize a fundraiser.

TEEN WATCH

Darla & Micah in a friend's Quinceanera

This was quite an eventful summer for Darla and Micah.  MomMom and PopPop McNulty took all their grand kids, minus Clara, to Florida!  They visited family, Universal Studios with the new Harry Potter amusement park, and of course, Disney World - it was truly a trip of a lifetime for them all!

Disney World with the cousins

Darla and Micah also participated with Theatre and Kids Summer Camps, Micah as a camper and Darla as an apprentice.  Darla had great opportunities to learn, perform and tour NYC.  Micah had a lot of fun, especially enjoying learning to juggle - which he has not stopped doing every day since - it's his goal - juggle something every day!  This fall both of them were involved in the T & K performance of Jane Eyre.  Darla landed the role of Jane and performed beautifully!

Jane Eyre and St. John

MICAH

Micah is 13 and has been having a great year in 8th grade.  This fall he was elected as President of Junior High!  He has been enjoying this new role in addition to his academics, band, choir, hand bells, and basketball.  Micah continues to grow musically as well, continuing piano and playing percussion.  He too was awarded the "Most Improved Musician" for the Junior High Band last Spring and was thrilled to perform for Sarah Palin.

As Court Juggler for Madrigals

Micah started playing basketball and tennis at school last year.  He is looking forward to continuing in those athletic endeavors.  He had fun doing a juggling act at school as a jester in their annual Madrigal dinner. He has a new love for debate (could be the teen years kicking in?!) and is interested in joining the debate club when he gets to high school.

CLARA

Clara wearing one of Darla's ballet recital costumes

Clara turned 2 in August and we celebrated with a big birthday bash for her and PopPop who celebrated his 70th that same month.  It is hard to believe that last summer she was just beginning to walk and say a few words, because now it's hard to get her to stop running or talking!  She is a typical active toddler who loves to dance, climb, chase the cats, and play peek-a-boo.  Clara loves to read and watch Mickey Mouse Club House, which Mommy appreciates for much needed breaks to do laundry or dishes!  Clara especially loves going to music class weekly and cries when Darla and Micah go for their lessons, because it's not her turn!  Her favorite thing is dressing up as a princess.  Everyday she asks to put on her "pincess dess!"- of which we have many. Clara fills our day with lots of hugs, kisses and cuddles which is the perfect antidote to any teenage drama that may occur!

Well, those are just a few of the highlights of our year (like I said, we are a busy family!)  We hope that each of you have a wonderful Christmas and, despite the hustle and bustle of the season, can rest in the joy of salvation we celebrate through the birth of Jesus Christ!

Love,

Phil, Denise, Darla, Micah and Clara Mooney

Ode to a Nut

A year ago this week we lost our favorite nut: Peanut, our cat. He was the best cat EVER and I still miss him dearly. I figured it was high time to write a proper tribute about my favorite pumpkin sized feline, recording some of the antics and highlights of his years with our family.

Prior to bringing Peanut into our home, we had already had two kitties. A brother-sister duo named, ironically, Peanut and Parfait (in honor of the peanut buster parfait at DQ!) While I was very pregnant with my son, Peanut got sick and died suddenly. Naturally, I didn't handle that well. Cried for days. Original Peanut was an adorable fluffy peanut colored kitty. He was very smart and could even speak and fetch with his favorite toy: a rolled up napkin ball!

Nearly a year after Peanut passed away, friends of ours were looking for a home for their kitty, named - you guessed it - Peanut! My immediate response was to fill that Peanut shaped hole in my heart, so we took in the little nut. He adjusted fairly well, considering the strange environment with another feline in the house. He and Parfait pretty much kept their distance from each other and he attempted to escape on a daily basis. I have never seen a cat so intent on getting outside. If you put your foot in the doorway to stop him, he'd just wrestle it down, flip over and make a run for it. Despite living on a very busy street, I finally gave up and let him become an indoor/outdoor cat. He was extremely well suited to the task and seemed to really enjoy the freedom.

About a year after we adopted Peanut we moved to a more country suburban home with a big yard backing up to some woods. This was heaven for Peanut! He roamed the neighborhood, hung out in the woods, kept many wild animals away from our house and everytime I would look out the window when the kids were on the playground - there he would be standing guard. Anytime we headed out back to play we could just call his name and he would come bounding out of the bushes to greet us. Considering he had grown immensely over the years, to a whopping 22 pounds at one point, his "bounding" was quite humorous! Peanut was the quintessential fat cat. He was basically Garfield in real life. When I saw those movies I couldn't help but laugh extra loudly at the fat cat maneuvers and falls which was art imitating the life of my cat!

Peanut became a household name in our neighborhood - everybody knew and loved him. For awhile there he would come home in the summers smelling like perfume! We never did figure out with whom he was having a regular rendezvous. One time I opened the front door to let him out, I heard laughter coming from our neighbor's yard and then "Hey Peanut, come on over!" Yup, our cat had just been invited to the party!

The neighbors on our other side loved Peanut like their own cat. They had a little bed for him in their garage and sometimes he'd have sleepovers at their house. They would even let him inside their house to hang out. When Peanut passed away they came over to the grave to pay their respects and we all shared our favorite stories about our shared pet!Some of Peanut's favorite things were:

FOOD

BEGGING FOR FOODLOUNGING NEAR HIS FOODPAPER BAGS

BOXES

LOUNGING IN GENERAL

Over a year later and I still pull into the driveway missing how the big nut would run to greet me as I got out of the car. I miss his addiction to feet - he had quite a foot fetish and loved to rub his face all over anyone's feet if they'd let him. If you didn't allow him to do so, you risked getting nipped in the ankle! In general we all greatly miss the cool cat whom we lovingly remember as being a "really good dog!"

Waking Up Is Hard To Do *updated*

"Waking up is hard to do, la, la, la, la, la!" That's pretty much our theme song 'round the den these days.

Yesterday morning when Hubby tried to get Lil' Buddy up he said, "Time to get up, Bud. I thought you wanted to get up at 7 a.m." "Yup" he replied. "Well, it's 10 after." His response, "I was rounding."

This morning our son was still asleep and Hubby called up the stairs. "C'mon Bud, it's time to get up." A groggy answer from the dark hallway, "But it's not seven yet." Hubby retorted, "I was rounding!"

The cubs seem to be spending way too much time on homework so consequently their bedtime ends up being closer to 9:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. instead of 8:30 p.m.! This makes for some rather groggy mornings!

Yesterday, both of them went a bit overboard on their homework assignments. I think I got myself a couple of overachievers here.

Pulling in to our driveway from the bus stop, Buddy burst into tears at the realization that he had forgotten his history book. After quite a few attempts at consoling him, I finally convinced him to call a friend to see if he could borrow the book for the evening if his friend had finished the assignment. The alternative was to get to school early when he would have about a half hour to do the work. This suggestion only brought wails of, "But that won't be enough time and I'll get an "F"."

Fortunately, we were able to avoid more tears by borrowing the book and he happily worked on it the rest of the evening. Since I was busy with my own study and he was contentedly working as usual, it didn't occur to me that he was still doing the same assignment at 9 p.m. My question to him was, "Why was your friend done at 4:30 p.m. and you're taking so long?" His response, "I think I'm doing too much notes." Yaaaah, I think so! That'll be a doozy of a 5th grade history test to study for tomorrow.

Darlin' who loves to write had an assignment to write a memoir of a specific event in her life. She has thrown herself into that assignment with much enthusiasm over the past week or so. Being in 7th grade, she's been pretty independent with her homework, bringing home the usual straight A's. All this to explain why I was quite surprised when asked to proofread a 10 page paper! I probably would have curbed her enthusiasm a bit if I had been more aware prior to late last night that she was writing a small novel. Despite all our efforts, Hubby and I could not find any information on guidelines for this particular paper (ie how long was it really supposed to be? I'm guessing a couple pages!) In fact, Darlin' was shocked at the suggestion that some of her classmate may only be writing a page. Oh, well, live and learn. At least it was a good read!

Well, I can't complain about having two exceptional students who take their elementary and junior high studies very seriously, but I suppose I can have a good chuckle every now and then!

*updated below*
Thought I'd let ya'll know that the kids fared very well the next day at school. Buddy's teacher told me what a wonderful job he did on taking notes. He was so proud of the +8 he received - note that it's out of 5 points:) Darlin' was also quite proud of herself when I picked her up from school. Apparently, she seemed to be the "talk of the town" that day with her 10 page memoir. The teacher indicated that there was no limit and she enjoyed the paper:)

A Monumental Day

Well, ladies and gentlemen, today we had cable installed! I know that every single one of you reading this post probably has had cable TV or Satellite for eons now, so you can't comprehend how this could possibly be a monumental event to our family . . . but believe me . . . it is.

We even have a Family Cable Contract. Yup, you heard right. All of us, even the cubs, had to sign on the dotted line that we would not "be mastered by the TV."

That's pretty much the main reason we have not gotten cable before. Just way too much stuff to waste our time and brain cells on. C'mon, do we really need hundreds of channels? Nope.

Besides, what seems to be on most of the channels is certainly not something we want our family to be watching. Can't tell you how many shows, ratings, and channels we blocked - it took almost an hour to go through it all!

After my less than stellar reaction to our recent cable hook up, you may be wondering why we are wasting precious money on this. Hubby will be creating software for the set top cable box, so it seemed a logical step.

All I care about is the clear picture! I'm just happy to finally see my favorite broadcast shows clearly after 12 years of bunny ears and static! (The DVR is pretty darn cool too!)

So I'm gonna make sure we all stick to our family contract, because if we don't it's back to regular old snowy, blurry, buzzy, intermittent broadcast TV. . .yikes!

Tea Time

On a day when the house is chaotic and I just can't wait for some peace and quiet to properly wake up, there is nothing like a cup of tea (OK, coffee would be better, but sadly it is not coffee day!)

A friend of mine bought me some Solebury Home Earl Grey Tea with rose petals in silken tea bags. It smells glorious and tastes wonderful (not at all like the barnacles on a bottom of a boat as my Dad claims - come to think of it, how would he know what that tastes like anyway?!)

I almost feel like a Queen whilst sipping from my huge Winnie the Pooh mug. More so if I could extend the pinkie, but you need a firm grip on such a huge drinking vessel. Besides, being different from the English is the American way, isn't it?!

Now that my tea is almost done, I feel like I may be able to tackle the day. There's lots to do in catching up from a brief increase of vertigo this long weekend. The never ending piles of laundry, meal planning, grocery shopping, and the dreaded litter boxes are just a few of the items hubby reminded me of on his way out the door. So I better get to my "honey do" list and hopefully I'll meet you back here later with another cup of tea!

The Blahs

I am here, in case anyone out there in cyberspace was wondering. It just seems that I've caught the blahs too and am having a quite unproductive day myself (My Thoroughly Unproductive Day) .

Now that I've cuddled with my kitty and had a snap-to-it-already-and-get-something-done-kick-start shower, I actually need to go get something accomplished. If for nothing else, so that when hubby comes home, he can see some improvement around here. Currently, the place is reminiscent of the movie Animal House! All except Darlin' Gal's room. Somehow she inherited the neat gene from my Mom and someday I hope it will rub off on me!

I shall return to post my first "meme", as I've just been tagged. However, I have to figure out exactly what that means. . .I'm such a newbie!

A Favorite Christmas Gift

Ahhh, there's nothing like sparkling new appliances! I'm sitting here now enjoying my celebratory cup of homemade mocha that I just cooked on my new glass top oven range. A nice moment to relax and enjoy the lights on the Christmas tree (yes, mine is still standing!), the scent of the cinnamon bun candle, the taste of the cocoa and the thought of yummy things to bake in my new oven. Whoever said appliances were terrible presents never experienced this! What would be your celebratory treat if you had a new oven? Let us all know.

It's been a perfect way to recover from the mayhem of the delivery this morning. Arrival time was to be between 8 am -10 am, naturally they showed up at 7:40 am. This made for a bit of chaos as we chased kids and cats around until the delivery guys left at 8:15 am! Now my little den is quiet and calm and I look forward to a bit of a catnap with one of my kitties. What could be better than that? I know - the new dishwasher that gets installed tomorrow! Thank you Mom & Dad!