a weekly recap {art, razorbacks, babies & a brunch}

Last Wednesday night, Tim and I visited Crystal Bridges to see the State of the Art exhibit while the kiddos were in church.

 This set of photos was titled "Recession." It was homes, land and businesses in the after effects of the recession. I felt so connected to this, I guess because we lived through it.

 This was made from pages in the Bible. Below, you can see in more detail what it said.

 We hope to go back with the kids soon to see the things that we were not able to fit in that night!

On Thursday evening, we had a baby shower for my friend, Mary Avery. Sadly, I don't think anyone took any photos :-( This is their 4th child and they do not find out what they are having prior to the birth. They have 3 boys already. She went in Sunday night and was induced Monday morning. I'm happy to report that they had a sweet baby GIRL!!!! They are so thrilled! I cannot wait to meet her!

I have two more friends from Sunday school who are having babies next spring!

 Friday evening was the 2nd annual bowling party for the faculty at Tim's school. I hadn't felt the greatest on Friday, so I didn't bowl, but everyone had a wonderful time eating, visiting and bowling!

I don't get very many opportunities to interact with his staff, so it's always nice to get to know them a little better.

Saturday afternoon, we went to see Big Hero 6. I cannot say enough good things about that movie. 

It was so great!

 Saturday evening, our Razorbacks took on No. 17, LSU. 

We have had 17 straight SEC losses. 

It has been a HARD few years for our program. 

We shut.them.out! 

No, we did not beat the #1 team in the nation, but that WIN was something that we needed like air. 

We probably shouldn't have rushed the field, but it was beautiful. 

And to anyone on Twitter who was annoyed at my celebrating- I'm NOT sorry! 

You have your #Twitterparties, I have my #Razorbackparties. 

I don't know where that came from except that some non-fans seemed a little annoyed. 

But do you hear me snarking about your #sponsoredAD? Nope.

I fell in love with the Hogs when I fell in love with Tim. My family did not watch sports when I was growing up, so this love is a chosen love.

I've been to many games and lived through many losses.

This team has never given up this year despite everything that has not gone right.

You just have to be a fan to understand how we feel.

We feel lots of excitement right now. GO HOGS!

p.s. none of these stadium pics are mine, they are all from Twitter.

We were SUPPOSED to get snow on Sunday afternoon. And while we did get some, we pretty much just got dusted. That was okay though. It was pretty to watch it falling, we had a nice relaxing afternoon/evening, and the kids to not have to miss school the next day!

They did play some Monopoly, which was great until it wasn't. 

B Boy had not been dealing with "loss" very well lately!

I had a district PTO meeting on Monday morning to go over changes to our bylaws. 

I've learned so much over the last 3 years being involved in PTO, some good and some bad.

I've also firmly learned my limits in how much stuff I can add to my daily routines/duties that I have to family and church.

It has been so interesting learning how things work in a school district that is as large as ours and continues to grow. 

I've learned to work with a variety of people, most of whom, are not from our state.

It's also been interesting being the wife of a principal with managing my words and actions very carefully- I always want to be respectful of him! 

 Tuesday morning, was our annual fall brunch for our women's ministry. 

It was so great! I heard that there about 80 women there! 

It was an amazing turnout, wonderful food and we heard the testimony from one of our ladies. 

She shared about her life so candidly and I am so thankful for women who will do that. 

I hope to be that way as well. 

Her words touched me so much.

I will never be able to express what this church, women's ministry, and Sunday school class have meant to me. I love these women so much!

Our women's ministry director announced that she was retiring from her position to help with a new family business. 

She has been a wonderful leader and we will miss her so very much!

Twitter Break

So, I took a little Twitter break the week before Easter to clear my mind from the constant feed and to get my mind in tune with what Easter is about.

I definitely learned some things while being away from Twitter.

I learned:

• How much I rely on it for news especially since we no longer have TV
• I would have thoughts during the day and I would think, oh I need to tweet that!
• I got more blogging done and some more things around the house.
• My mind did feel clearer
• I missed the interaction of my Twitter friends a lot!
• How much time I had been spending on it!

So, though I'm very, very glad to be back to enjoying The Twitter, I will be setting limits for myself so I don't get too wrapped up in it!

Free Your Mind!

I've mentioned recently that I have felt overwhelmed.  Today, I decided to step away from the computer for the most part.  After I dropped B boy off at preschool, I came home to do some cooking. 


I cannot even convey how much I did not realize that I missed cooking.  Especially cooking from scratch.   


I turned on Pandora and got busy!

I whipped up a double batch of pumpkin muffins.

I boiled some chicken to make chicken broth and to use the chicken for homemade chicken pot pie.

I got things ready for a salad to go with dinner.

I cut up a pork tenderloin for chops later next week.


My mind felt so free and clear.  I was in such a great mood!  I began to think that maybe social media has been making my brain crazy!  Honestly, when you are on Twitter a lot, you do feel pressure to do things that other bloggers are doing.  I think the pressure sometimes gets to me and I should not let it!


I felt better today than I have in a long time!  I think I will take more time away from social media from now on!

Get organized and get your sanity back!

We had a very low key weekend.  


It consisted of going to a couple of parks, eating some good food, watching the Razorback game and generally being lazy.


Sometimes, it's just nice to be lazy.


This week, I'm going to get in a rhythm with our new, busier schedule.  I've already dropped things at Goodwill, checked out some local stores I'd been wanting to see, went to a PTO meeting, dropped off and picked up B boy from preschool and am catching up on some computer work.  I have another meeting at 2 and then I have to pick up C girl.


I posted on Twitter last night that "I feel more organized now than I have in a loooong time."
A fellow Twitterer said "what's your secret?" and "Clutter=stress and boy am I stressed!"
I realized that clutter and disorganization had made me very stressed. 
I finally got fed up with it recently and took some time out to get some things done that would help keep me organized and sane.
Some tips I have are:

• to just start.  Starting the project made me more apt to finish it.
• just do one or two things a day, just to feel some accomplishment.
• stop walking past things that "I would get to later." I went ahead and did stuff as I walked by.
• declutter. I know it's hard to get rid of things, but I have felt so much lighter by just tossing stuff.  If you haven't used it/wore it in a year or two, there is a strong possibility that you never will!
• make a place for stuff. If you have a set place for things, they won't be strewn out everywhere. We made a "launching pad" for school mornings where backpacks, lunchboxes, etc are kept. I also have shoe baskets and designated places where I keep papers and mail.

We had a lot of fun at the park this weekend!-------->

Great Women

Last December, I wrote about some Grand Ladies in my life that I had lost.  


Last year, was a really tough year for me. 
 Some would say that I was lucky that I had never lost someone close to me before.  


That may be true, but that made it very hard for me to deal with the loss.


Losing someone makes you think. A LOT.  And about lots of things.  


I realized through this thinking that although I lost many great women in my life, I have been blessed with many more.


I started making a list of these women:
Tim's sisters (Karen and Tammy)
My half sister (Marie)
His neices (Khelli and Megan)
His nephew's wife (Sherry)
My brother's wives (Jessica and Veronica)
My brother's wives' moms (Maggie and Diana)
My great, awesome friends (Jessica{she made 2 lists!}, Amber, Kelly, April) [These girls deserve a whole post to just them!]
My aunts (Brenda, Sue and Ann)
My cousins (Love you Missy and all the other girls!)
Grandmas and relatives of my SIL's and my friends
My mom (even though it's not the typical "mother/daughter" thing, she is still my mother)
My Twitter friends (there are some AWESOME, AMAZING women on Twitter!)
Bloggy buddies (most of these are also on Twitter)
Even extended friends and relatives that keep touch and comment on Facebook


I look at that list and think, Wow.  That is a LOT of amazing women that orbit around my life.  They are there for me. They inspire me.  
And? I know there will be more.


As we start our journey with school and getting more involved in community and church, there will be more amazing women entering my life.
I feel so blessed to have such amazing women in my life.  Who are the great women in your life?

Is your Husband supportive of your blog?

That is my question of the day. 

I first began to think about this when I was reading a blog where the wife had put a lot of personal stuff out there about her marriage.  I began to wonder, is her husband okay with this?  Does he read her blog and know what she puts out there? 

Don't get me wrong.  I'm not saying it is wrong to put it out there and even that she needs his support, but I did ponder about it.

My blog is about my family, but I do try to be considerate to what personal things I put out on the Internet.  I think some things are better kept in a journal in your desk drawer! 

My hubs happens to be very supportive of me writing this blog.  He loves reading it.  I believe it gives him a nice glimpse into our daily lives and some of the things he misses while he is at work.  Plus, he feels like me, it is nice to look back and see what we were doing when those memories start to fade.(And, boy do they fade quickly!)

I put the question out on Twitter and these are some of the responses:

--my husband is very supportive and gives me ideas!

--ignorance is bliss. He doesn't pay much attention to it, unless he thinks I'm writing about him.

--I'd say supportive, though it makes me crazy that he never reads.

--very! He takes a lot of photos for me (outfit posts), & he reads it too, tells me what he likes ... it's sorta cute.

 --mine is!

--I should think many hubs are on board, it's a fairly inexpensive / free hobby! :)

So, it seems the consensus is that most husbands are supportive!

Is your hubby really into your blog?  Does he give you ideas or frequently read?

I'd love to hear from you!




image via technmarketing.com

A Vacation in Tweets

mommysparrowLenette Sparacino

-This is a two day drive people. Warning- I may be tweeting a lot!

-We are almost 2hrs into today's drive. 10 more to go. #Vacation2011 

-We are now entering hour 3 of today's 12 hour drive. We just started a movie. The natives are restless. #Vacation2011

-Hour 4 of 12. Rice fields everywhere we look. #Vacation2011

-Hour 5 of 12. Driving into Mississippi. Kids got to see the Pyramid in Memphis! #Vacation2011

-Hour 6 of 12. Just almost had an interstate collision. Dang drivers. #Vacation2011

-Hour 7 of 12. Driving, driving & more driving http://instagr.am/p/GBSGS/

-Hour 8 of 12. We are in our 4th state of the day. Heading to Birmingham! #Vacation2011

-Hour 9 of 12. I'm driving now. #Vacation2011 http://instagr.am/p/GBpBx/

-Hour 10 of 12. Atlanta, we are coming for you!!! #vacation2011http://instagr.am/p/GB1_Z/

-Hour 11 of 12. 5th state of the day. #vacation2011http://instagr.am/p/GCJ3m/

-Hour 12 of 12! Finally stopped for the night. Eating some dinner. Can you guess where?#vacation2011 http://instagr.am/p/GCWUa/

-Just made it through morning rush hour traffic in Atlanta. Heading to Macon, GA!

-On the road to Macon! #Vacation2011

-Mellow Mushroom Pizza :-)

-Tybee Island! http://instagr.am/p/GFI3D/

-Out to dinner :-) #vacation2011 http://instagr.am/p/GF3IA/

-Lounging by the pool #vacation2011 http://instagr.am/p/GH6Fy/

-Swimming all morning is the perfect recipe for a great afternoon nap!

-I'm enjoying a little down time before the wedding.

-We played in the waves today and they were HUGE!

-Is it weird that I'm sad about going home tomorrow, but also ready to go home?

-Heading out for our last dinner on the island. Leaving in the morning and we have a two day drive :-(

-Not an enjoyable dinner = going and eating a lot of ice cream!

-Bye bye beach. We are officially starting our two day drive home.

-I love when we stop for a bathroom break and then 10 minutes later the boy yells that he has to poop. #notreally

-I just had my first Five Guys burger. OMG yum

-Man I love captain D's!

-On the road again. 5 hours till home.

-Hubs singing "Leyla" son neighing like a horse. #CarTripSounds

-We are home.