Thankful Thursday

It's Thankful Thursday! I've been a little slack with this lately, but it's time to get back to it!  We have been truly blessed this week, so I'm giving thanks for:

1.  Uncle Sam puttin' a nice chunk o'change back in our pocket! (YEA!)
2.  Finding time to move-it-move-it today! (quite an accomplishment!)
3.  A second financial blessing on it's way! (YIPPEE YEA!)
4.  My lil' Pookie Bear and Sweet Pea...even when they make me crazy.  Which is often.  Gotta love 'em!
5.  Speaking of #4, I'm thankful that God (and the hubs!) made me a Mom.  Here's an essay about motherhood that my friend Katie posted on her blog that I found so powerful (thanks for sharing, Katie!):

Mom 2.0:  Defining a Movement by Katherine Center
You are a miracle.

And I have to love you this fiercely: So that you can feel it even after you leave for school, or even while you are asleep, or even after your childhood becomes a memory.
You’ll forget all this when you grow up. But it’s okay.
Being a mother means having your heart broken.
And it means loving and losing and falling apart and coming back together.
And it’s the best there is. And also, sometimes, the worst.
Sometimes you won’t have anyone to talk to.
Sometimes you’ll wonder if you’ve forgotten who you are.
But you must remember this: What you’re doing matters.
And you have to be brave with your life so that others can be brave with theirs.
The truth is, being a woman is a gift. Tenderness is a gift. Intimacy is a gift. And nurturing the good in this world is a nothing short of a privilege.
That’s why I have to love you this way. So I can give what I have to you. So that you can carry it in your body and pass it on.
I have watched you sleep. I’ve kissed you a million times. And I know something that you don’t, yet:

You are writing the story of your only life every single minute of every day.And my greatest hope for you, sweet child, is that I can teach you how to write a good one.