rEcess comes to town
Over time, we have had folks inquire about how they might get more information on how to start a rEcess in their community. If you have contacted me wanting this information , please e-mail me at info@99balloons.org OR if you haven’t but would like some information please let me know. We will be conducting some conference calls soon in order to help pass on what we have learned along the way. If you’re looking for an “rEcess kit”, we don’t have it, but if you want a starting point for doing something great in your community, let us know.
wagon
Gin & I just bought a new car (Subaru Outback); we didn’t go with the Sienna, but after seeing this, maybe we should have. This is brilliant on so many levels. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ql-N3F1FhW4[/youtube]
the turning of a page
Anders is 99 days today. This demarcation obviously carries weight in our home. Do we celebrate or do we cry? Well, as seems always to be the case, probably both- honestly. The page is turned today whereby we are no longer able to contextualize Anders’ life in terms of Eliot’s. Having been able to do the compare/contrast thing that all parents do with their children, we now enter an era where we can only wonder what Eliot would have been like at the point in time where Anders lives. Anders would tower over his brother if they could somehow both…
nyc recap
We arrived home on Thursday night. I have been laying low and feeling sick every since. Many bring back mugs and others shirts, but I brought back the swine flu- although I suddenly prefer the more professional label of H1N1; makes me sound less like someone out rolling around in slop. Anyway, I am fine, and there is no one better to come down with this in our household than me. Drink fluids, take drugs, and stay away from the kids. Ginny is an utter champ, as she has handled the kiddos alone, as well as attempting to get back…
NYC with rascals in tow
Recently, Ginny & I have taken to referring to Hazel & Anders as, “the rascals”- you’ll notice there is no “little” in there, and that is no mistake. We all leave tomorrow (Sunday) headed to Manhattan. We’re thrilled that our friend, Becky, is joining us on the trip- although none are quite as happy as Hazel is about this fact; we can’t say “New York” without her saying “Becky”. We have gotten ample opportunity to explain the difference between “honored” & “excited” as we have discussed going on the Today Show on Monday. It is not exciting. It is an…
the circus comes to town
Anders is laughing & cooing; continuing in his easygoing and charming ways. He’s even allowed his mom and dad to sleep 7 continuous hours a few times- a feat his sister did not manage to pull off until around 8 months. Speaking of, Hazel is busy making teeth. They look gargantuan in her 18-month mouth. We are ever learning how to discipline her- and by learning, I mean trying everything once and seeing if anything works. Dear 18 year old Hazel: We love you. We’re doing the best we can. Hope you have no facial tattoos or piercings. If you…
even if
Way too long ago, I referenced a post that I was wanting to get around to. I have received a few inquiries in relation to sharing our story that hover around a particular question that I believe many have when they hear us speak as we do, or write as we do, or live as we do. Most people tend to dance around the question, thus it stays under the surface- more as a theme than an actual discussion. However, in an e-mail I received quite a while back, someone was bold enough not to dance, and I really appreciate…
round here…
This weekend, Ginny & Anders have headed off to a women’s retreat with our church. I am headed to pick up Hazel for a weekend together; she spent the night with her grandparents, so I could help with last night’s rEcess. I am sure our time together will include many puzzled pleas for “mommy”, but I am glad to get some one on one time with her. I had her heart during bed rest, and intend on using the weekend to convince her to be a daddy’s girl again. I hinted at some exciting news last time; I’m pretty sure…
easter
Ginny & I were talking last night about how wonderful Easter is to us now. I guess it always was or, at least, always should have been; however, there is no denying that the commemoration of the cross and resurrection pulses through our veins and into our heart as never before. It is not a warm, fuzzy afterthought for us- a family who is living loss; rather, it is the principle tenant of all we claim to believe. Jesus Christ overcame death and enables us all to ask of Death where his sting has gone. And that, for us, is…
Matt & Ginny start the second half of season 1 with a seemingly simply question: What is a good life? An entire episode focused on the life of a man known as Bulldog– told through the eyes of his brother, Chris Wheeler. It is a journey of Chris beginning to see a person who was…
In the age of television talent shows galore, our hosts attend one that manages to flip the narrative of what a talent show is & could be. Chelsea, Jordan & Claire want to sing at the bEfriend talent show hosted by 99 Balloons, but to do so they will have to overcome their fear of…
Matthew Lyle & Ginny Mooney continue the discussion of healing and the church by delving into the lives of their friends with disability who do not want to be healed, cured or fixed. When they stumble upon an article, written by Madeleine Ryan, entitled Dear Parents: Your Child with Autism is Perfect it is though…
When the loss of a child becomes a nationwide, prayer movement to #wakeupolive what does it say about the church and its relationship to healing? to suffering? In the first part of a two-part series discussing healing & the church, Matthew Lyle Mooney along with his wife, Ginny Mooney, set out to discuss the awkward…
Summer is here. At 5, 6 and 8 we got rascals riding bikes and swimming at a skill level whereby we are not in constant stress. I told Ginny sometime some summer not long ago that I was done going to pools. With 3 that cannot swim alone, I can only act like I’m listening…
I’ve worked hard to develop a new habit of carving out Monday mornings to sit and think and pray and grasp for some semblance of sanity before I cannonball into the week that will eat my lunch if I let it. It’s a rebellious act of counter-intuition as weekends are supposed to be the very…
We’ve reached that point in these beloved Ozarks where we’re just all waiting around for the good weather. We get all four seasons here; just enough of winter to know we don’t want to move north; which we needed no help knowin’. Being bone-tired of Ole Man Winter being a hanger-on is all you’re allowed…
I often look at my backside in the mirror. I move quickly past the place that you imagined I was seeking and find the splotchy spot just above the bend of my right leg. It’s my biggest scar- remnants of days I spent riding my Honda 80 dirt bike for hours on end along the…
Check it out, Ginny & Lena are in the current edition of National Geographic. A while back, a wonderful photographer followed our family around for a few days in order to capture photos illustrative of an article on brain development…fascinating article and wonderful pictures (we think). _____________________________________ If…
Against my better judgment, Ginny convinced me last Monday to sit beside her and watch the American Music Awards. I begrudgingly complied- mainly due to the fact that I love her and if she invites me to sit close to her, I do it- every time. I’m a sucker that way, but that doesn’t mean…