A new moon

Welcome to the new Behind the Moon.

This is a season of change for me and the new look is just one of them.  

It comes in celebration of a renewal of spirit for me.  

A new mindset.  

A go get 'em attitude.  

I do hope you'll stick around for the journey and 

let me share a little of what makes my soul sing.

I've been bombarded with inspiration lately from all the beauty I've been able to find in my everyday.

One thing I've learned over the past year is that you need to be intentional about life.  Put a little effort into finding the beauty.  It may not always be staring you in the face but it's there.

in a smile from a stranger

a beautiful sky

a hug from your child

a touching song

your husband's eyes

a delicious meal

a colorful rock

A simple life and a grateful heart is what I'm after.

I'll leave you with one of my favorite fall photos.
It accurately captures the spirit of my boys :)
So happy fall is here!
(at least in spirit anyway) 

Until next time.....

Letter to E

Sweet Little E,

You are a wonder.  Just when I thought my heart couldn't get any bigger, you came along.  We may have had a rough start, you and I, but you have added so much love and laughter to our lives.  I can't imagine our family without you.

You're 3-yrs-old right now going on 65.  Your so funny about this age thing.  Half the time you act like an old man and yet you totally have a Peter Pan complex about growing up.  Believe me, I would keep you little forever if I could.

You're our little fireball.  You never know what is going to come out of your mouth.  You've added so much humor to our days and I thank God for that.  You're really getting into conversations and will go on and on and on if we let you.  You'd rather play than eat.  You'd rather play than go to the bathroom.  You'd rather play than go to bed.  Your world revolves around playing and I'm grateful that we can indulge you most of the time :)

You adore your brother and want to do everything he does.  You hate when he gets to do something that you can't.  Be patient little one.  One day you will be as big as L, if not bigger.  I want you to enjoy being little as much as you can.  You've started preschool this year.  I am in denial about that.  What happened to my baby?  Lucky for me you are snuggly and loving more now than ever.  You always want to do something "just us".  You love to help me.  Especially at the grocery store.

You recognize some letters.  You think anything that has an "e" on it must mean it's yours.  You are OBSESSED with the color blue, and we give in, you always get the blue one.  You like to do things yourself Mr. Independent.   You have the most beautiful brown eyes and long lush lashes.  You think Jesus lives in the attic.  You say that food is "delish".  You like to dance around naked after a bath.  You are simply so much fun to be around.

You love music, particularly country.  You sing along amazingly well and get most of the lyrics right.  You have a mechanical knack and love to put things together.  Blocks and puzzles are your favorite. Your smile lights up a room and all our family adores you.  You are a bright and creative little boy....and tons of fun. 

I'll love you forever.
I'll like you for always
As long as I'm living
My baby you'll be

You'll always be my little spider monkey and I will forever treasure the joy you have given me.  I try to tell you how much I love you and you always say "I know".  But I know you don't REALLY know yet but hopefully one day you will understand just how deep it goes.

Love,
Mama

Letter to L

Dear L,

I wanted to take a moment to write you a letter.  Maybe one day you will look back on it and smile.

Quite simply, I love you.

I hope you one day understand just how much power and meaning that phrase has.

You are now 6-years-old and moving on to 1st grade.  No longer a little boy.  And I can see the evidence every single day.

You have really blossomed in the last 6 months.  Your athleticism has grown leaps and bounds.  I think it's the result of being in school and keeping up with the other boys.  You are now riding a bike with no training wheels and are drunk on your new found freedom (as I knew you would be), wanting to ride it every day.  Your balance and strength have improved.  You take way more physical risks than ever before, which just about stops my heart sometimes.  Your daddy is loving this new phase.  The two of you are always out in the backyard playing catch of some kind.  And let me tell you, you can throw a mean football boy!

Your little brother wants to do everything you do.  He adores you even though you are annoyed with him most of the time.  But every once in a while you do something so incredibly sweet for him and it reinforces my hope that you will be the best of friends when you are older.  You definitely like to be in control of the situation and have things your way but your generous heart shines through just as much.  Like how you never want me to feel bad or cry.  And always telling us how much you love us.  Boy I will NEVER tire of that!  You always want some one-on-one snuggle time with both me and daddy before bed.  And you fall asleep the second the door closes.

You love me.  And I love it.  There is always a happy face for me when I come home.  You constantly tell me how pretty I am and what a great mom I am.  Remember this and do the same for your wife. You're gonna make a fine husband one day for some lucky girl ;)

You are starting to roll your eyes at me when I act goofy but more often than not you join in the fun.  I love this about the age you're at right now.  You and me can be total goofballs together.  You have quite the imagination.  You tell awesome fish tales and then say "seriously guys", it cracks us up.

You are reading and writing now and love to write in your little notebook.  You never want to throw anything out, and you want to keep every scrap of artwork or school project you ever made.  We've given you a bin to keep things in but it is already too full!

You are handsome as the devil and I suspect that will never change.  That chin dimple is gonna getcha in trouble with the girls one day but for now you still think they're gross.  Except for mom.  But I'm not really a girl according to you.

You love nature and science and are always asking questions.  I wonder if one day you will be a scientist of some kind.  For now you want to be a farmer like your Grandpa, which is totally cool with me.

You have blessed our lives immensely and I want to cry when I think of you being a grown man with a life of your own.  When those days come, just remember that I have loved being your mother.  These years of being a little family are without a doubt the. best. days. of my life.

You rock my world L.
And I just wanted you to know it.

Love,
Mom

IKEA $500 giveaway - you don't want to miss out on this!

Hi all!

Happy Friday and happy long weekend woohoo!

Just wanted to share an awesome giveaway for you all to take advantage of.  It's for a $500 giveaway to IKEA or Wonderland as I like to call it ;)

Love me some IKEA!

Go visit Natalie at the Busy Budgeting Mama to get in on the action.  

Feast your eyes on this wonderful cuteness she did for her girls' shared room.

Good Luck!

I needed that - Part 2

I saved the best for last  :)

Introducing....the stars of the show!

The wild horses

Is there anything more glorious than wild horses on the beach? 

I think not.

See for yourself 

(picture overload here, I couldn't stop myself...you've been warned)

Yes that's a pile of pooh, but basking next to these beauties I say who cares!?!

No horses were harmed in the taking of this photograph, they were simply taking a snooze :)

Grazing in the marshes on the bay side of the island.

The day we left there was the most stunning sunrise and Hubsy did a great job of capturing it, 

these photos are unaltered!

And now for my favorite photo from the entire trip...ta da!

Until next year my beautiful island....

I needed that - Part 1

Whew!

I needed that.

A bit of a break from the "real" world AND the "online" world.  I love the online community of friends I've gained through this little blog o' mine but sometimes you just need to 

step back from everything and rest a bit.  

You hear me?

Anywho, we had the most fun family vacation just the four of us and 

I simply have to share it with you!

Welcome to Assateague Island, or blissdom as I've come to think of it :)

Now if you're a pamper-me type of girl (and there's nothing wrong with that) this vacay may not be for you.  But seeing as the natural world is definitely how I feel and experience God's presence and peace, 

well this one was right up my alley.

I am renewed.

I am now ready for the next chapter of life.

This was our first real vacation in 5 years so to say we were excited is an understatement.  We spent 6 days camping at Assateague island State Park.
Camping you say?  Why yes, camping.

1 week

4 people

itty bitty living space

We all lived, rather well I must say.  There's just something about being away from it all that makes you all in a better mood.  I was a better mother.  The boys fought less.  Hubsy was relaxed.  All was right with the world even though we were often sweaty with lots of bug bites.
Needless to say we didn't spend a whole lot of time in the camper,
we were there for THE BEACH darn it!
It was fabulous though, not a hotel in sight and only fellow campers on the beach
so everything was so quiet and peaceful.

View from the beach side of the dune looking at the campground, nothin' but campers and when you were down on the beach you couldn't see a one.

love fence lines

nice private beach

Without a doubt my favorite thing about this vacation was the ability I had to be a "yes" mom.
No "later honey" or "not right now sweetie", it was "sure thing!" all the way.
E wanted to fill his bucket in the water and carry it up to dump on the sand 10,000 times
and every time he would say "let's go get some more" and I said "sure babe".  Just being able to let him enjoy it over and over and the fact that I was doing it with him was priceless to me.
L spent tons of time playing in the surf with Hubsy, some special moments there I tell ya.

And we all built sand castles practically every day.  Sweet heaven.

One of the most charming things about Assateague is the wildlife.  It's everywhere and the boys loved spotting it and tallying all the different things we saw.

A Sika deer.  They were all over and not afraid to walk right up to your campsite.

This campground is in high demand and fills up a year in advance.  Hubsy had to use 2 ipads, an iphone, and a computer when the sites became available to assure that we got a spot for next year.   It took a bit of the sting out of leaving knowing that we would be back soon.

Stay tuned for Part 2 - That's where the real gems are ;)

Be back soon

Pardon the lack of posting but I have a much needed break to attend to

(which just happens to be taking place at the beach).

Your regularly scheduled programing will return soon :)

Happy final days of summer!