Jane Anne turned me on to this. I thought it was pretty cool. I'm not quite sure what Carmom is so large since I can't remember using it very often except in the title of my blog. If you haven't guessed each word gets progressively smaller with the more common words being larger and then getting progressively smaller. Anywho, here's the link if anyone else wants to try it out.

Thanks Tank Thursday

Counting my blessing is what Thanks Tank Thursdays are all about. Here are the things I am thankful for this week.

1. Anticipation: Though it looks like we won't get any snow tonight, I am thankful for the excitement that anticipation brings. I want to have a good snowfall and everytime we think we will have one it doesn't happen but the anticipation is almost just as much fun as actually getting the snow I've been hoping for.

2. BUNCO: I joined the Columbus Newcomers Club shortly after moving to Columbus. One of the activities they have for us women is BUNCO on the third Wednesday of every month. Last night I played at a neighbors house and for the second time won a prize. It was fun winning that prize but I think my favorite part about the whole evening is talking with friends and having female companionship.

3. Organized Desk: Today I took the time to clean out my desk. It's amazing how quickly it gets cluttered and disorganized. It is also amazing how good it feels to have it organized again and be able to find what I am looking for. If only I could stay disciplined and put things where they belong instead of just tossing them willy nilly.

4. Reading: I have enjoyed reading with Gabriel the past couple of nights. It's amazing to me how quickly he is picking up on his reading skills.

5. Open Gym: I had forgotten how much fun Open Gym can be. One of the local gymnastics centers opens for playtime on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. I have been taking the kids and it has been so much fun to see the running, jumping, flipping, playing and just plain having a great time. Even Elizabeth gets to have fun.

6.Laughter: I have enjoyed playing with my kids this week and listening to their laughter as we had tickle wars, joked with each other, and played silly games. Laughter really does the heart good.

7. Gamnastics: I have enjoyed watching Abby learn to tumble, flip, and start cartwheels over the past couple of months. She has begun to listen and pay more attention to the instructors. And it shows in the strengthening of her abilities.

8. Prayer: I have ejoyed and am thankful the prayers we share with our kids daily. I enjoy listening to them express all they are thankful for and the blessing they see in their lives. I especially enjoy our bedtime prayers.

I hope everyone else takes the time to ponder and thank God for all the blessing in their lives. Have a great rest of the week!!!

Thursday Thanks Tank

Today I have some wonderful things to be thankful for.

1. I am thankful for the birth of Rexine Francis. She is the daughter of Matt's brother Danny and his wife Lucy. She was born this morning at 4:09 weighing 6 lbs. 10 oz. and coming in at 19 inches long. Mom, baby and Dad are all doing well and are currently giddy and tired.


2. I am thankful for the gym membership Matt bought me for Christmas. It's amazing how good I feel when I go and work out at the gym. I really do seem to have more energy.
3. I am thankful to see Abby so happy over a simple tutu. Now I just have to make Elizabeth's. Abby said so. :)
4. I am thankful for my new hobby of making bows. I have really enjoyed making them and they are easy to start and stop and don't take long to make.
5. I am thankful that for the moment my laundry is done. I will have more to do in no time at all, I'm sure, but for the moment it's done.
6. I am thankful that my dentist appointment went well today.


It's a very simple list but it's the things I am thankful for at the moment.

Can You Help Me?

I volunteered to come up with a question that would divide our MOPS moms into seperate tables or groups of table during the social time of our meetings. I thought this would be easy but am having trouble coming up with questions with enough different answers to have 6 or 8 tables. The reason we are doing this is to get the moms to sit with other moms in the hopes of meeting someone new. We will also have ice breaker questions at the tables once the moms find the table with their answer. If you have any cool, interesting or just good questions I would love your input. Thank you for your help.

Bows I Made

Abby's Birthday Dress

Today I made this tutu for Abby. I knew when I finished it I wouldn't ba able to wait to give it to her. She has said that this is her birthday dress. She plans on wearing it to her birthday party. Unfortunately she will have to take it off since we will be having it at the gymnastics center.

Sick Kids

Yesterday, Elizabeth had diarrahea.
Last night, Gabriel started throwing up.
This morning, Matt says his stomach hurts.

I gues we will see if it gets any worse than this.

Mommy, I Saw An Angel

On Thursday as we were driving to gymnastics Abby exclaims, "Mommy, I saw an angel. She was doing this, (And she starts rocking back and forth). What she actually saw was a person dressed up as the Statue of Liberty advertising Liberty Tax. I think I like what Abby saw better.

Great Christmas Gift

Matt got me one of the best Christmas gifts this year. He got me the one thing I really wanted. I wanted it for several reasons but we are now both enjoying the benefits of this wonderful gift. What is the gift you ask? It is a gym membership. I wanted it so that we could both get back in shape, so that is would help us both lose some of those unwanted pounds we have both put on over teh past couple of years, get healthly and so that we were a good influence on our children. Matt is actually using the membership more than I thought he would and he is really enjoying the benefits as am I. I hope we continue to do as well as we have.

Over Christmas

Over Christmas we had several exciting things happen.

On Christmas Day Elizabeth took her first unencouraged steps. She had two bottles of antibacterial foam in her hands, holding them straight up in the air she lets go of the table and walks toward me. She took 5 or 6 steps before she plopped down on her bum. It was pretty exciting for us. We are now able to say that Elizabeth's present to us was to walk on Christmas Day.

The second exciting thing that happened was that Gabriel lost two teeth over Christmas. He lost one at my sister's house, more on that in a minute, and lost the second one yesterday during rest time. The back story on Gabriel losing his tooth at my sister's is as follows. Gabriel and Abby both spent the night with my sister's kids. I get a call from my sister the next moring saying that Gabriel has lost his tooth and can't find it. I throw on some clothes and head up the hill to see what I can do. Armed with money from the Tooth Fairy I am ready to put some money under his pillow and say that the Tooth Fairy must have already taken his tooth. Anyway, I start asking Gabriel when he knew it was missing, what he was doing that morning, etc. Upon investigation my sister remembers that the kids ate apples that moring. We locate his apple and I start looking for a tooth sticking out of it, my sister says something about swallowing it and before she even says it I say, I don't want it that badly. Then Gabriel all the sudden remembers the 'seed' he spit out in the window sill. I was gald he didn't throw it away but man I wish he didn't spit it out in the window sill and leave it for Kim to find later.

The second tooth loss was much less eventful. Though we did have some searching to do last night since the tooth fell out of the Tooth Fairy pillow. By the way I like the pillow because I don't have to rifle under the pillow looking for the tooth. We leave the pillow hanging on the door. It makes it much easier.

Back to School

Today was back to school day. The kids were extremely happy to return to school. I was extremely happy that they went back to school. I enjoy the routine that school creates in our family. I enjoy the kids being home don't get me wrong. On school breaks we do many fun things as a family like going to the museum, having playdates, and doing crafts. But I think I enjoy our routine much better. Even though it is a busy one for all of us I enjoy it. As the kids get older I may begin to have more trouble keeping up but right now our schedule is perfect for us. Both kids may choose two extra curricular activity outside of school and that works.