Yup...it's been a while

Hey gals!
So, this here blog has been a wee neglected lately with all the hubbub of the fast approaching holidays in addition to the usually crazy day to day stuff. We've enjoyed a couple MOPS meetings since our last post so let's get you up to date, shall we?

The couponing meeting was AWESOME! Thanks Katrina for your time, experience, knowledge and willingness to share it all with us. Am I the only one whose head was spinning afterwards?? If you missed the meeting, be sure to ask for a copy of the handout with listed resources for ways to coupon and save money. I know Katrina has been flooded with phone calls, texts and questions since that meeting so we are considering doing a follow up to couponing in the spring.

Our lone October meeting was NUTTY, in a nutshell! Seriously! We had a fantastic speaker come to us to share her expertise on self image. If you would like more information we have extra handouts and Rhonda's business cards for you or feel free to link up here and contact her with your questions. It was so much more than ROYGBIVing your closet and using the color of your wrist veins to determine whether or not your a cool or warm. Those were interesting and prodded me to inspect my clothes hangars and forearm more closely, but it was much more than that. She spoke about where our image derives. Our focus and how the condition of our hearts will lead the way we see ourselves and ultimately one another. It reminded me of this scripture, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also", Matthew 6:21. It all starts there ladies.

MOPPETS experienced a few bumps that meeting, hence the "NUTTY" comment in the above paragraph. We thank you so very much for all the grace you extended and for those of you who volunteered for part of the meeting. It is what it is that sometimes things happen out of our control and you rose to the occasion in true mommy grit style. We hope the gift cards helped to further clarify our appreciation. Thankfully we have a wonderful God who has blessed us with additional resources in the MOPPETS worker department! We prayed and He delivered! YAY!

This most recent meeting had me thinking, "It's aboot time!" I thoroughly LURVED hanging out, sampling (and then gobbling) all the delicious foods you brought to our 2nd Annual MOPS Cook Off! YUM! A few changes to the way we voted and set up seemed to pay off as everyone mingled and really enjoyed getting to have free time to chat. This is exactly what we wanted more of this year and with the speakers at the beginning of the year needing to be booked on those particular days we were overjoyed at the opportunity to "break bread" (thank you Dawn-Marie!) with one another this week. Let's have some mow of that y'all!

Our next meeting will be our Christmas party on Tuesday, December 7th. We have a few fun things planned for you but rest assured we will be focusing on getting to socialize and better acquainted with each other. What a treat to have this meeting catered so no one is asked to bring food! YAY! We will be doing two really nice crafts. One of which you'll need to bring a shoe box or other lidded box/container comparable to shoe box size.

Another big plus here is that we are not doing a gift or ornament exchange at all. That probably sounds funny to some of you but we really have been hit hard this semester with the fundraiser being right here around the holidays as well as just the regular dues and childcare fees at the beginning. We NEVER want MOPS to be a financial burden on any mom or be a reason why someone cannot come. If you or another mom you know fits into that category PLEASE contact us (Tiffany & Jenny) so we can assign a scholarship. We want this to be a nurturing and supportive environment for equipping us moms with the resources (friends, information, a safe place to come and be YOU!) necessary to be a good mom. Remember, we don't know about a need or concern unless it is brought to us!

It's an absolute pleasure to be part of this MOPS group where we are growing and learning about this wild ride called MOTHERHOOD together.

Welcome to our newest moms, Christine G., Catie T., Dana J., Candi E., and my Wal*Mart friend Colleen H.! Y'all totally thought I was fibbing about talking to strangers at Wal*Mart about our awesome MOPS group, didn't you?

Until the next post, have a safe and blessed Thanksgiving holiday with your loved ones. Please say a prayer for those who are without this time of year be it homes, food or loved ones. We have so very much to be thankful for!

Feel free to email me for any reason tiffboren@yahoo.com or Jenny at bryancarliebowman@yahoo.com We're here for y'all!