I don’t know about you but I am so ready for Spring and I think (hopefully, I don’t speak to soon) it has arrived! The trees are rustling in the breeze, the birds are chirping, and the flowers are blooming. Delicious! Easter is but a few days away. This time of year is so significant for me. The old has gone, the new has come, redemption, hope, peace…. Call me Pollyanna, but I just love it!

Backyard Tree

Our main fundraiser of the year, Great Moms Walk, is just around the corner on April 24. We are so excited to participate in the Texas Roundup as a way  to support our group! If you would like to know more about this event, click on the links or the heading at the top of the page titled “Donate to Great MOMS Walk.”

Love these ranunculus! So beautiful!

Look what a 6-yr old can do with a bleach bottle and some cotton balls!

Our host church, Mt Olive Lutheran is hosting an Egg-stravaganza on this Saturday April 3rd at 10:30 am. There will be Egg Hunts, a Jump Castle, Games, Refreshments and a Baby Petting Zoo. They are planning a special balloon room egg hunt for toddlers.  So make it a family date and make sure to bring your basket! This is a community event, so please invite your friends!

Our sister MOPS group at First Evangelical Free Church is having a consignment sale. Make sure to shop early to get the best bargains. Volunteers are able to shop early. Click on the link above for more info.

Happy Easter everyone! Comment on your favorite Easter tradition. For me, it has to be the Egg Hunt! So fun to watch the little ones pick up an egg and then promptly sit down to see what is inside while the older kids blow past them! Priceless!

And of course the main event is celebrating an empty tomb on Easter morning! Happy Resurrection Day!

Much love to all of you! Enjoy  your family and contemplate the miracle of Jesus and all He has done for you!

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8

Enjoy this song by one of my favorite groups! The lyrics are amazing! They are coming to Austin in a few weeks and my family and I are so looking forward to going!

This frame project was so fun! Heather D brought all the supplies so we could create these cute frames just in time for Valentine’s Day!

This is my attempt. It turned out pretty good, but more importantly it was a lot of fun! Except for the run in between my fingers and the hot glue gun!

Our 2nd meeting of the month was informative and interesting! We had Michelle Rodriguez from Well Styled come and talk to us about fashion faux pas and how you can be stylish and mom! Really, you can! She was amazing and we had a great time!

But the interesting part of the meeting was not what was going on inside, but outside. Austin had a genuine, bona fide snow day!  It was so beautiful and the MOPPETS had a great time!

What fun! Short lived but fun all the same!

We also kicked off our biggest fundraiser of the year, Great MOMS Walk! We are busy moms!

We have lots of fun planned for the next meeting! We hope to see you there!

We had a great meeting yesterday!

We are super excited to announce that after expenses our smart mama resale made $1300 for MOPS! Yeah! What a blessing! You all are so awesome! Everyone pulled together and did their part and I could not be prouder to be in the company of such a great group of moms! You all rock! Thanks for all you do, I could never properly thank you, but please know I am extremely grateful!

Steve Leavitt of Hope for Life Ministry spoke about loving your husband. I think everyone took away something they could apply in their life.He may come back for an encore early next year for a dinner with our husbands.

We also launched Operation Christmas Child, we passed out boxes, but you can use any shoe box or one of the plastic shoe boxes from Walmart or Target. It is a great opportunity to teach your children about giving to others. Our family has participated for 10+ years and we just love it! This year they have an awesome new feature where if you pay your shipping costs online, you can print out a label for your box  that can be tracked, and you can know where your box went. I am super excited about this! Make sure to include a letter and picture of your family in the box. It really does mean the world to these kids that someone, somewhere cares about them. It has been such a blessing to our family. Complete instructions for packing the box is on the Samaritan’s Purse website. Also if you have any questions please ask me or Sarah Smith. I will be posting some all about me inserts for the boxes on the yahoo group, so be looking for that soon.We will be returning the boxes to the next meeting and Heather will drop them off for us after we pray over them.

Saturday is Thanks and Giving Back at Mount Olive. It is from 2-4 pm. There will be several service projects going on at the same time. We are doing Christmas craft kits for the children at Dell Children’s Hospital. We still have a few spots if you would like to volunteer to help with the booth or just come and bring your family and friends for an afternoon of fun and giving back!

Our craft for our next meeting is glass tile necklaces, so cute! If you would like to out a picture of your child, children, family, etc on your necklace and are not sure how to reduce your pic to a 1X1 inch square please e-mail it to me and I will do it for you and print and bring it to the meeting, If you do it yourself, please print on matte photo paper as it gives the best image in this format. I super excited to see how awesome these turn out. I will also be bringing some designs to choose from, should you not want to do a picture.

Be on the look out for the evite for our 3rd annual Favorite Things party, MNO coming up on the 19th of November. This is being hosted by Stephenie Gilmore and will be an awesome time! So mark your calendar now!

Ok…. Wow! That’s a lot! Well, you know moms, we are the ultimate multi-taskers!

Hope to see everyone soon!

Happy Fall!

my little smart mama

We are so excited for our smart mama resale event! Sat Oct 24th 7am Mount Olive Lutheran Church, 10408 Hwy 290 W Austin (click for map) Please click on the tab at the top of the page for all the info! Remember we are hosting our first ever smart mama pre-sale soireee Fri night Oct 23rd from 7-9pm. Not only do you get first access to the best deals, but you can do so in a fun, relaxing environment with other smart mamas. Dessert and drinks will be served as well. Tickets to the pre-sale  are free for those who donate 12 or more items to the sale. Tickets to pre-sale may also be purchased for $5 at the door. Here is a sneak peek at our smart mama tees! We all know that we are smart mamas, so why not let everyone else know? Donation drop-offs are Tues Oct 20th-Fri Oct 23rd 10am -4pm. So clean out those closets, toyboxes, and garages and join us! We look forward to seeing you there!

Ginger Armstrong

This year, Ginger serves as Publicity Director.  She has three children: Lane Grace, 5 attends Kindergarten at Veritas Academy, Sarah, 22 attends  Texas State, and Jason, 26 serves in the Air Force and stationed in Korea.  On one thing you may not know about her, Ginger said,  “I can sing the ABC’s backwards, really I can.”  On favorite place to go in Austin, she said,  “NoRTH Italian Restaurant at The Domain, with or without kids.  I am just happy to go!”  When Ginger has two hours off, she likes to take a bath and read a book or browse a bookstore.  As far as cheering for teams, she admits she is not loyal to any college but she always loves to cheer for the underdog.  Ginger shared a silly or dumb “Mom Moment” she had recently, she said, “I got things ready and then left the house, not once but twice without the things I need.  I seriously need a brain boost, anyone?”  One activity Ginger would like to do in her lifetime is take another long road trip with her family.

Andrea Craig

Andrea is the Shooting Star Sweeties/Orange Table Leader.  She has three children.  Adrianne is 5 and attends Kindergarten.  Riley is 3 and Emmaline is 8 months.  Andrea says one thing others may not know about her is she has never had a manicure or pedicure.  Her favorite place to go in Austin with her kids is the Barton Springs Pool.  She questions, “you can go places in Austin without kids?”  If Andrea has two hours to herself she prefers and I quote, “SLEEP!!!!!”  She also will take a long, hot bath in her free time.  Andrea attended Ohio State University and cheers for the Buckeyes.  The silliest or dumbest thing Andrea has done recently is to ask her kids to clean their room thinking they would actually do it.  On her Bucket List, Andrea has traveling (to Europe specifically), reading more, getting her tattoo…

Kristin is Mt. Olive MOPS’ Cosmic Cuties/Aqua Table Leader.  Kristin has two boys.  Matthew is age 5 attending Kindergarten at Walnut Springs this year.  Ryan is 2 years old.  One thing people may not know about Kristin is she was a high school science teacher for nine years and she played professional women’s tackle football in 2008. Her favorite spot to go with kids is Austin Science and Nature Center (“it’s free!”) or Pedernales Park.  Without kids, Kristin prefers a nice restaurant (“anything without a playscape”) or a massage.   When Kristin has two hours to herself she says she will clean, watch TV, or nap.  She cheers for UT (“of course!”) and University of Michigan.  Some places Kristin would like to travel to in her lifetime are Costa Rica and the Galapagos Islands.

We are planning to go on Tues. Hope to see lots of you there!

Emily Olivas

Emily is serving as our Galaxy Gals/Pink Table Leader. She has 3 children: two boys and one girl. Baily is 12, Madelyn is 9, and Austin is 2.5 years old.  Something you may like to know about Emily is she is a pediatric physical therapist.  Her favorite place to go in Austin with her kids is Central Market.  Without, children, she enjoys Target, Barnes and Noble or any adult restaurant.  When Emily has two hours all to herself, she takes a bubble bath and reads a book.  She attended Texas State.  Emily shared a dumb “Mom Moment,” she said, “I put my 9-year-old daughter’s underwear in my drawer.”  One activity on Emily’s Bucket List is to visit New York.

Marlina Morris

Marlina is our MOPS Hospitality Director.  She has two sons: Aidan Samuel 7, attends 2nd grade, and William Everett 4, attends preschool at All His Children.  Asked about something we may not know about her, she said, “I played basketball in junior high and high school. I’m in the record books for scoring the first 3 point shot in girls’ basketball. Unfortunately, I quit basketball to be a Cherokee Charmer-(high kick drill team) and will always wonder what would have been if I kept playing basketball. Hmmm…”   With or without kids, Marlina says her favorite places in Austin are Town Lake and Zilker Park.  When she has free time, she loves to  read a magazine, maybe catnap, and then clean out a closet or organize something.  Marlina attended and roots for UT at Austin.  Marlina’s silly or dumb recent “Mom Moment” was when she stepped into the water meter in her front yard at her new house. She shares, “Of course, the boys just stared at me while I was dying in pain!!”  Marlina plans to fulfill her Bucket List by climbing a beautiful mountain.