"I'm so excited.... and I just can't hide it...."

I have a HUGE announcement. And no, I'm not pregnant. Beat you to the punch.

I'm so excited and proud to announce a project I have been working on for a while now with a dear friend of mine who I've known since I was little. Dana and I began this project this past winter, when we both felt as if we were going crazy with cabin fever and cooped up kids. Winter is definitely not my favorite time of year, so as the dark days became shorter, so did my patience level. The more I struggled with being a good Mom, the more I leaned on other Mothers like Dana, who have a sweet spirit and uplifting outlook on life.

I realized this year, just how much I was depending on Dana, and others to help me through these tough times of Motherhood and thought about how much fun it would be to create a larger network for us all. I pitched the idea to Dana, and we both began fast and furiously trying to figure out the best way to go about it all. We had a ball, using our brains for something other than singing our ABC's and helping our first graders with their reading assignments. But after a couple of months realized that time constraints with our families was going to make this a little harder than we had originally planned. We put our blog on hold and took a few deep breaths, to clear our heads and open our hearts. I'm so glad we did too.

After a few weeks of "rest" on the project, Dana came back to me and said, "What's really missing from our lives? What's needed most right now for us?" And we both immediately came to the conclusion that a specific time set aside to study and talk, woman to woman, was lacking for us, due to all the activities our family required of us. I was so excited about the ideas we had, but grew disappointed as I realized just how much I was neglecting my own family trying to get the blog up and running. Then there were the feelings of intimidation to go along with the realization of being a Mom who cannot do it all. Period. Shying away from the new project, I was relieved when I heard Dana say she thought we should put it all on the back burner for now. Down the road, perhaps our blog dreams could be realized... you know, when we're not as busy... like when our kids are teenagers... 'cause all you parents with teenagers know how not-busy you are. Insert laughter here. Are moms ever "not busy"??

Just a couple of days after Dana and I officially put our plans on hold, I got an e-mail from Dana with the subject line, "Is God Speaking??" She had just received word from a contact at Zondervan Publishing, offering an opportunity to host book discussions with various authors in an online format. Zondervan liked our blog idea, and wanted to help.

So, after some discussion and prayer, Dana and I decided to move our Spaghetti O's over, to make room for our boiling pot of blog dreams. After all, our stoves do have TWO front burners.

It is now that we would like to invite you to come over and visit with us a bit at

Drum roll please...........

THE MOM-TAGE

You can check out our latest post and see what books and authors we have lined up for the months of June and July. We will have more details soon, but for now would love for you to stop in and look around. Let us know you stopped by and become a member! It only takes a second, and it would mean so much.... to my self-worth as a woman, but no pressure or anything.

We will have the book discussions as well as other Mom-related topics to discuss from time to time and posts concerning things we've been through as Mothers, to try and help others who may be struggling as well. This is by no means limited to moms with young children. Matter of fact, we NEED to hear from Moms who have been through this and survived to tell about it, so please, PUH-LEASE come have a cup of coffee with us. The best part is, you don't even have to change out of your pj's. Not that I would anyway, even if we were meeting in person for coffee.

You have more to offer than you realize. And we need YOU to make this a success.

Also, we plan to have give-aways, so if all the begging and pleading and my judgement on our friendship doesn't get you over there, maybe the freebies will.

And please, grab our button to stick on your blog too. Isn't it cute? Dana designed it herself. Pretty spiffy for a girl with no formal com-pooter education. To stick our button on your blog:





<center><a href="http://themomtage.com"><img border="0" src="http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n235/danaellis/THEMOMTAGEBUTTONcopy-1.jpg" /></a></center>

Copy the code below the button and paste it in your layout side bar, click "add a gadget, html code" and voila! You're now my best friend. :)

We really do want you there. No matter your age or stage of life. It would mean so much to us, and help us to grow together, as women.

Also, any feedback on the site would be greatly appreciated. Just e-mail us at themomtage@gmail.com and spill your heart to us. If you have suggestions on topics you would like to read more about as well, we're all ears! And sweat pants.