Christmas Party!!

On Tuesday, December 13th we will be having a Christmas Party at one of our mentor's homes.  The address and time will be sent out to our members in an email this week.  To sign up to bring a dessert or an appetizer please use this sign up sheet.  Instead of doing an ornament exchange or white elephant we will just be playing games and enjoying fellowship together.  Childcare will not be provided.  We hope to see you there!

November Newsletter

The November newsletter has been posted to our newsletter page.  Here are the links to the websites that were mentioned on the front page of this month's newsletter:

Martha Stewart's Pumpkin Cheesecake

From experience in making this cheesecake I can tell you that it is vital to use very soft cream cheese and room temperature eggs.  If you use cold cream cheese it will not mix with the other ingredients very well and you will end up with chunks of unmixed cream cheese in your cheesecake.  Also, if the cheesecake batter is too cold when it goes in the oven it will not finish baking in the time allowed in the recipe and no one likes a raw cheesecake!  Another variation on this cheesecake is to use ginger snap cookie crumbs in the crust instead of graham crackers.  We like to serve this cheesecake with whipped cream!

Turkey Cupcakes

If you children are allergic to peanut butter and you can't use Nutter Butters you can find more turkey cupcake ideas here.  I bought a whole extra bag of candy corn after Halloween just so I could make these!

Question of the Month!

I know several of our moms have babies that have winter birthdays.  This question is for them:

If your child has a winter birthday, what are some birthday party ideas that are indoor and affordable?

 Please share your answer here below as a comment or on our facebook page.

Tips from Officer Goldsberry

Here are the notes from our last meeting:

Tips for Halloween:
- masks aren't a good idea. use face paint instead
- add something unique to your child's costume
- walk up to each house with your child
- use your instincts, if you are creeped out by a house/person avoid it!
- search the TBI website to see where the sex offenders are in your neighborhood, then avoid their house.
- have your child use flashlights or something reflective during the dark hours of trick or treating
- try to go trick or treating during the daylight hours if possible
- bring a cell phone and a flashlight of your own along with you.
- know where your kids are at all times
- look at all candy first before allowing your child to eat it
- if you won't be home- leave lights on with a bowl of candy out.  Then your house will be less of a target for any pranks.

General tips:
- teach your children YOUR first and last name, your address and phone number
- when shopping, carry your cell phone on your person, not in your purse.
- When shopping, be aware of your surroundings- walk with your head up and look around.
- have a code word for your family
- don't put names on shirts and backpacks
- teach your children to check with you before doing any activity that involves a stranger (ie- petting a dog, accepting candy, etc)
- talk to your kids about good/bad touches and good/bad kisses...it is no longer known as "stranger danger" because so many kids are hurt by those who are known to them and their parents.

Last night's meeting

I do have notes from the last Friday morning meeting, and I will post them, just not today!

Last night we had a Physician's Assistant who works at a local children's hospital come and talk to us.   She was excellent!  Here are her notes that she was so gracious to share with us: 

Things every mom should have at home:
• acetaminophen (Tylenol)
• ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil)
• diphenhydramine (Benadryl)
• simethicone (Mylicon, gas drops)
• rectal thermometer (if you are uncomfortable taking a rectal temp, get your doc/nurse
to show you how, rectal temp is the most accurate)
• saline drops
• suction bulb
• antibiotic ointment
• bandaids

Basic Child Development: CDC website
www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/actearly/milestones/index.html

Pediatric First Aid:
Every parent and babysitter should take a CPR and first aid class!
unconscious kid basics: call 911
most common cause for cardiac arrest in child is pulmonary arrest.
CAB: circulation, airway, breathing

Have a list of numbers right by the phone:

• poison control
• fire/police department
• your childʼs doctorʼs office
• local ER number
• neighbor/friend/relativeʼs number
• own cell phone numbers in case you have to leave a second child at home with someone.

Have a designated first aid box (can make your own or buy).
Put a a separate first aid kit in your car.

Head injury:

• passed out? threw up? confused or lethargic? = concern for concussion
• IT IS NORMAL FOR A KID TO WANT TO GO TO SLEEP AFTER AN INJURY:adrenaline rush, crying and freaking out, and then dissipates = sleep. It is a PROBLEM when they are sleepy immediately (ie: lethargic).
• the dreaded “pump knot”: apply a cold pack and give them some Tylenol. Unless they fall from a height, are propelled (ie: pushed really hard, car wreck, etc) or are hit really hard with a blunt object, it is almost impossible for a kid to crack their own skull or give themselves a concussion through everyday accidents.
• kids will hit their heads a lot. use your best judgement as to whether or not you think there is an injury that requires medical attention.
• When to go to the ER for sure: dropped newborn, child passed out/threw up/lethargic, or you think something is “just not right” beyond their usual being upset.

Cuts:

• When to get stitches: “deep and wide”, bleeding cannot be controlled at all after an hour of firm pressure
• PLAIN SOAP AND WATER are the best thing to clean a cut. yes, alcohol and peroxide reduce germs, but they also interfere with healing and can actually delay healing. Plus they burn.
• Irrigation is the key!
• Antibiotic ointment: NEOSPORIN can cause allergic reaction (only diff is neomycin component). Get double antibiotic ointment (usually a mix of bacitracin and polymyxin) or plain bacitracin.

Ingestion:

• BEFORE YOU DO ANYTHING, CALL POISON CONTROL:1-800-222-1222!!! They are wonderful and can talk you through everything you need to do at home and they can also give you advice about whether or not you need to seek medical attention. They even call the ER where you will be going to make sure you got there and to get an update on the child. We use them in the ER all the time. 
• What you do about it (ie: make them throw up, make them drink, etc) depends on the type of ingestion. you can accidentally make things worse, so just call poison control.

Burns:

• NO ICE, use cool water.
• minor burns that do not blister: antibiotic ointment and a bandaid.
• DONʼT POP THE BLISTERS (bodyʼs sterile protection). If they pop by accident, apply antibiotic ointment and keep covered until scabbed over and healing.
• large burns or severe burns go to the ER, especially if they involve the hands, feet, or genitals.

Dehydration:
Kids can go without eating for days, but they MUST DRINK.

• mild dehydration: not peeing as much as usual but still peeing, not drinking as much as usual but still drinking. This can be managed at home until things perk up.
• things to look for: sunken eyes, cap refill > 2 sec, stick or dry mucus membranes (tongue), major drop in activity level.
• When you need to seek medical attention: putting out more than they are taking in (profuse vomiting and/or diarrhea with little intake), no urine output in 8 hours, lethargic, refusing to drink at all.
• Check capillary refill time.  It should be under 3 seconds. This is easiest to do in a child's foot.
• If you have poor turgor, you are way behind the eight ball and your kid needs immediate medical attention.

Miscellaneous:

Puncture wound: soak the area and wash with soap and water, antibiotic ointment,
bandage. When to seek medical attention: foreign body, deep puncture (esp into hands, feet, or joint).
Tetanus: must have been within the last 5 years for an open wound of any kind.
Tooth trauma: control pain and see the dentist.
Tooth knocked out: baby tooth, leave out and control pain. permanent tooth: rinse with
milk and take to the dentist immediately. There is little we can do at the ER for tooth trauma other than antibiotics and pain control, unless there is an associated laceration.
Ripped off fingernail: unless there is a large cut associated or you cannot control the bleeding with firm pressure after one hour, it will be ok. Nails almost always grow back.

Teething:

• TEETHING DOES NOT CAUSE FEVER, DIARRHEA, OR UPPER RESPIRATORY SYMPTOMS. If your child has these symptoms, they are sick AND teething.
• most common symptoms of teething are drooling, mild fussiness, and sleep disturbance. Teething is not really painful, but it is uncomfortable.
• best things for teething: chewies (toys, teething rings, cold wash cloth)
• Orajel: in small amounts per the packaging
• Tylenol only if other options have failed.
• do not recommend teething tablets: cause diarrhea, gas, and in some cases true illness. Plus the contents untested and unknown in lots of cases. “All Natural” or“homeopathic” label DOES NOT EQUAL SAFE!!! In all cases of medication, whether traditional or alternative, talk to your pediatrician first.

Illness:
Fever: any temp at any age that is 100.4 or higher. It doesnʼt matter if they “normally run low”. It just doesnʼt work that way.
**Any baby 2 months or younger with fever, do not give meds and go straight to the ER.
**Any kid with a temp above 104, have them seen by their doctor.
**Any kid with a temp 105 or higher, give meds and go straight to the ER.
Things you can do at home for fever: lightly dressed, lukewarm bath acetaminophen (Tylenol): for ages 2 mo and up ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil): for ages 6 mo and up
*generic is just as effective.

Vomiting and Diarrhea:

• worrisome colors of vomit: bright Ninja Turtle green, bloody
• worrisome colors of diarrhea: bloody
• what to do about vomiting: fluids (little bit at at time more often --> tablespoon every 5 min and go up from there as tolerated)
• what to do about diarrhea: NO IMMODIUM! may use over-the-counter Culturelle for Kids (1/2 - 1 packet 2-3 times a day), fluids
• bottom line: push fluids and keep a close eye for signs of dehydration.

Cough//Congestion:
Suction, cool mist humidifier
For severe congestion at night: suction their nose and then put one drop of Little Noses Phenylephrine in each side of their nose every six hours as needed.

Miscellaneous:
Listeria causes a febrile gastroenteritis (vomiting and diarrhea with fever) within 24 hours of consumption. The infection is most troublesome for pregnant women, elderly, babies, and immunosuppressed. Usually self-limited. If worried about it, take your child to his/her doctor and have them run a stool culture.
Rice cereal: first food because it is tolerated easily with little risk of allergic reaction, but also because of the iron it supplies. Itʼs not a good idea to initiate it before 4 months of age because 1) babies donʼt need it, and 2) their GI systems arenʼt ready for it and they can become constipated, gassy, etc.

Foods that are choking hazards are any food or piece of food too small, too hard, or too slippery to eat easily for the age of the child. If you think it might be a problem, cut it really small or donʼt give it at all. For an idea of how small to cut it, look at Gerber Graduates in baby food section.

website for vaccine safety and general info: http://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/index.html

Question(s) of the Month!!

Please tell us your answers to these questions:

What is your favorite restaurant for date night?

What is your favorite restaurant to bring small children and why?

Blog Roll!

Do you have a blog?  I would like to compose a list of our members' blogs and have links to them here on our site.  If you have a blog that you think other moms would like to read please leave it below in the comments or email it to us at centralbeardenmops at gmail dot com.

I look forward to reading your posts!

Question of the Month!

Here is our second question of the month!  This is one I thought of while trying to make lunch for my son yesterday.  I sometimes get in a rut when it comes to food, so:

What is your favorite baby/toddler/preschooler friendly breakfast, lunch and dinner?  Is there something that is your "go-to" meal? 

Please tell us your favorite meals below in the comments section, or on our Facebook page!  I am so looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow!

What is a meeting like?

If you've never been to a MOPS meeting I wanted to share with you what you could expect at your first meeting.  (For an estimated time table you can see our Meeting Schedules page.)

When you get to Central Bearden Church (6300 Deane Hill Drive in Knoxville) feel free to park in the visitor lot and come through the double glass doors.  If you are dropping off your MOPPETS, turn right as you walk through the entryway.  Continue walking down the hall until you get to the childcare welcome desk.  There someone will tell you which rooms your children will be in while you enjoy the meeting.

After your kids are settled, head up stairs to the third floor where we meet for both our morning and evening meetings.  Dinner is provided for members who choose to sign up and for all first time visitors.   After we gather our food, eat, and fellowship for a while there are generally announcements.  Then we typically have a speaker who shares with us for about 45 minutes or so. We have speakers that range from police officers, legal experts, kindergarten teachers, doctors and just regular mommas sharing what they know.

After our speaker (or other activity) we break up into small groups.  This year we will have three small groups: Moms with children who have special needs, Working moms and Stay-at-home moms.  Our small groups are really where you get to know the other moms in the group.  Here we discuss life, the speaker, or whatever needs to be discussed.  Our small groups are also responsible for planning play dates and mom-night-outs.  We already have a couple of "whole group" mom-night-outs on the calendar, but it is nice to meet in smaller groups so you can really get to know other moms.

Each of our small groups also contains mentor moms.  These can be moms that have school aged children or moms who are now grandmothers.  They are here to impart their wisdom to us and to support us in our roles as mothers with little ones!  These mentors are such blessings to us, I can't imagine our group with out them.

During the meeting your little ones (if you brought them) have been busy with our loving childcare workers and will be ready to be picked up at 8pm or 11:30am depending on which meeting you are attending.

Well, I hope this has given you a good picture of what a MOPS meeting is like and I truly hope to see you this Thursday at 6pm!

Co-director: Lora Langlois

My name is Lora Langlois.  I married my husband, Jeremy, ten years ago, and God has since blessed us with three beautiful daughters:  Elizabeth (6), Catherine (almost 3), and Anna (8 months).  After living in Atlanta, Nashville, and Johnson City, we moved back to Knoxville in 2005 to be closer to family.  Having grown up at Central, I was eager to get my children involved in the church that discipled me for so many years.  

Four years ago, I had the privilege to participate in Central's first year of MOPS and have a been a part ever since.  I have been a Moppets coordinator and a small group leader, and this year, I am excited about co-leading with Christa Margene.  MOPS has been such a blessing in my life, and I am excited about what God has planned for this year.  With a first grader and a preschooler, I find myself quite busy shuttling the kids to and from their schools and activities, so I look forward to spending some quality time each month with people who don't require me to cut up their food or wipe their noses.  I am looking forward to participating in the stay-at-home mom's group, which is a relatively new title for me.  For the past ten years, I have been teaching high school English but have decided to put that on hold so I can spend more time as a wife and mommy.  When I'm not "mommying," I enjoy spending time with friends, eating Mexican food, going to movies, reading, and traveling.  

Please contact me at loraliz@gmail.com if you have any questions regarding MOPS.  I would love to hear from you!  See you September 8!

Small Group Leader: Meg Brown

My name is Meg Brown, and I am the Working Moms Small Group Co-Leader for MOPS this year.  It is my second year in this role, and I feel privileged to do it!  My husband's name is George Brown, and I have two children, Thomas (3.5) and George (1.5).  "Big" George and I have been married for almost 8.5 years, and we attend Fellowship Church.

I am a lawyer at a firm here in Knoxville, and, while my family is my top priority, I really enjoy my job.  My life can be crazy at times, but with a great family, support network of friends, and a wonderful working mom community in MOPS, I somehow seem to manage it!  I really do believe that one of the best ways to deal with the difficulties of life is to have a support group, and MOPS is a great place to find that.

In my spare time, I love to cook, bake, take pictures, read, run/exercise and hang out with my friends and family.  I also love to travel, which doesn't happen that often these days! 

Finances: Janet Morgan

 

I am very excited about this year of MOPS!  This is my 5th year in MOPS.  I have been married to my husband, Jarett for 10 years.  We have 2 wonderful little girls, Kate who is 6 years old and a rising 1st grader, and Macy Jane, who is 15 months and keeps me on my toes!  We have been members of Central Baptist Bearden for 10 years.

I worked up until Kate was 4 years old in sales for Hanesbrands, Inc.  I have stayed home for the past 2 years and feel very lucky to have this opportunity.  MOPS has given me the chance to meet many different moms and make strong friendships & bonds.  

I enjoy spending time with my girls & husband, spending time with my friends, shopping, watching movies, volunteering at my daughter's school, and cooking.  Also, I am a graduate of the University of Kentucky and love to cheer for them in all sports!  I always look forward to meeting new moms and getting to know you all better at MOPS.  I love being able to help other moms through any experiences I have already encountered.  As a mom with an older child and then starting all over again, I have some experience with both spectrums....at the same time.  I look forward to a very exciting year as we grow and welcome new & old faces!  A great year lies ahead!  Come join us!

Publicity: Bridgette Boudreaux

My husband and I moved to Knoxville nine years ago from Lafayette, Louisiana so that he could get his Masters at the University of Tennessee.  I taught for many years at South-Doyle before becoming a mom.  Then I continued to work for the school system for the first two years of Ethan's life.  I now have two sons Ethan (4) and Asher (1) and I call myself a home manager.  Not because I don't like the term "stay-at-home" but I just don't think it describes me; I'm hardly ever home! 

When I got pregnant with my first son my friend Lora said, "Bridgette, you just have to come to my church's MOPS group!"  I had no idea what MOPS was at the time and I never could have imagined the role it would play in my life for years to come.  

The first year after becoming a mom was one of the loneliest of my life.  I went from being a full time teacher in a high school (seeing my friends everyday) to working by myself from home.  MOPS became a great place for me to meet other new moms as well as make lifelong friends.  I have been attending MOPS since then and I have served as a small group leader and Moppetts craft coordinator.  I'm looking forward to serving this year as the publicity director and running this blog and our FB page are part of that job.

Our family blog is: rueboudreaux.blogspot.com but I also write on my review blog: bbsfavoritethings.blogspot.com and my favorite cook book blog: fansofbittman.blogspot.com

Walker Springs Playdate

Our last scheduled playdate of the summer is next Tuesday at Walker Springs Park which is a nice shaded park located behind Walker Springs Apartments.  There are nice restrooms and a gazebo with a picnic table at this park. We will start our playdate around 9:30 in the morning.  Please come out and see us for our last summer playdate! 

If you didn't make it to the last playdate you can see all the pictures here!

Hospitality: Janet Lawlor

This is my 6th and final year as a MOPS mom, and I am very excited to be filling the role of hospitality leader.  I have loved being in MOPS as my children have grown, and it has been a blessing to know some wonderful ladies who are walking this same road.  My daughter, Evie, is now a 2nd grader, and my son, Andrew, is starting kindergarten this year.  Instead of rocking babies and changing diapers, I am now volunteering in school classrooms and shuttling kids to activities.  Both kids have food allergies that we have dealt with since our daughter was 2 months old, so I'm always happy to help other moms navigate through the diagnosis and change in diet.  My husband, Phil, and I have been married for 9 years.  He works at ORNL as an electrical engineer and I have been a stay at home mom since our daughter was born 7 years ago.  We have been members at CBCB since 2005.  I hope as a mom of older kids I can be there for you as you work through any issues with your little ones, remind you to treasure this time, and at the very least be proof that you will get through the preschool years in one piece!

Follow Janet and her family at: http://philjanetevieandrew.blogspot.com/

Small Group Leader: Hedy Collins

My name is Hedy Collins. I grew up in Northern NY and have lived in Knoxville for almost six years. Before having my boys, I taught elementary school for eight years. 

My husband, Terry, and I have been married for nine years. We have a seven year old son named Michael and a five year old son named Maxwell. 

I have been participating in MOPS for five years. I credit MOPS for surrounding me by wonderful friends, for bringing me to Christ and for leading me to my church home at Central Baptist Church of Bearden. 

This year I will be the leader for the Special Needs Moms small group. My son, Michael, was born with craniosynostosis. He has benign congenital hypotonia, global developmental delays and epilepsy. He is a very happy, high functioning bugger who is very social. 

Our small group for Special Needs Moms provides a safe place for moms to share concerns and find loving, Christian support for this challenge called mothering. 

Please feel free to contact me at mom2m2ed@gmail.com

Small Group Leader: Jennifer Withrow

Mom to Davis (5yrs), and Grant (21mths).
I enjoy spending time with my two sweet boys watching them learn and grow, spending time with family and friends and reading.
I have been a part of MOPS for several years and have really enjoyed building new relationships.
I look forward to this year of MOPS !

This year Jennifer will be leading our "Stay-At-Home Moms" small group.

Question of the Month!

For the 2011-2012 year I hope to post at least one "Question of the Month".  This will allow our moms to interact with one another.  You can answer the question here in the comments section, or on Facebook (take your pick).  During the normal meeting schedule these questions will also appear in our newsletter.  Our first question is:

What types of speakers or topics would you like

to see this year at MOPS?  

In the past we have had a whole spectrum of speakers and topics.  Everything from photographers, pediatricians, to a panel of grandmothers.  After our leadership meeting we still had a few dates open with only one or two ideas left.  You can help us fill those spots!  Is there a certain speaker you would like to hear from? Or, maybe there is a certain topic you want to learn more about.  Please tell us!

Getting to Know Our Leaders

First up is one of our co-directors Christa Margene.  Here is her bio:

Name: Christa Margene

Mom to: Eli (almost 3 years) and Isaac (5 months)

Interests: spending time with friends, playing with our boys, spending time with my husband, reading, watching movies, playing board games and home improvement projects.

Mom Experience: I have been a mom for almost 3 years and have been a member of MOPS since I was pregnant with our first son.  I am excited to start another year of MOPS!

Before Motherhood: Before I became a mom I worked in television production at Scripps Productions here in Knoxville, TN. I grew up in the Detroit Michigan area and also did television production there as well.  I moved to Knoxville after I got married and love calling Knoxville home!

What comes with my membership dues?

Yesterday all of our members should have received an email from our Co-director Christa Margene explaining that registration is now open for our 2011-2012 MOPS year!  To register please follow the links under "Pages" (found on the left of this page).  You might be wondering what we do with the money we collect so here is a quick explanation:

First, MOPS International charges us $21.95 for each MOPS member.  With these dues MOPS international sends you all of the following goodies:

• MomSense Magazine                        
• Weekly Mom-E-Mail
• MOPS Reusable Shopping Bag
• MOPS Iron On Appliqués*
• MOPS Stickers featuring VeggieTales

The rest of the annual $35 fee goes to covering the costs of our meetings, craft projects, welcome packets, etc.  We are also supported financially by our host church, Central Baptist Church of Bearden.  They are gracious enough to cover the cost of childcare for all of our meetings!  Not all MOPS groups have this support from their host church and we are so grateful that they bless our moms in this way.

This year we have a new optional fee.  We have noticed that bringing a main dish to Thursday night meetings is a burden to many of our MOPS moms.  To offset that burden we are offering and optional $15 fee per semester to cover the cost of a main dish at these night meetings.  We will still have a limited sign-up sheet for side dishes and dessert, but moms might only have to volunteer once a semester (or year) instead of once every two or three months.  We are excited about this new part of our meetings and we hope it makes it easier for our moms to attend.

Scholarships are available for those moms who are enduring a financial hardship. For more information please email us at centralbeardenmops@gmail.com

Who We Are!

In the next few weeks we will be posting bios of all of our current leadership members.  Until then, here is our steering team for the 2011-2012 year:

Co-Coordinator: Christa Margene
Co-Coordinator: Lora Langlois
Finance: Janet Morgan
Hospitality: Janet Lawlor
Publicity: Bridgette Boudreaux
Small Group Leaders:
 - Working Moms: Meg Brown and Jeannie Goodman
 - Stay-at-Home Moms: Jennifer Withrow
 - Special Need Moms: Hedy Collins

I wanted to take this opportunity to also talk a little bit about our group.  There are several MOPS groups in the Knoxville area, but Central Bearden MOPS is the only group that has both daytime and night time meetings.  We began as a combination of two MOPS groups (one that met in the day and one that met at night) and instead of eliminating a set of meetings we just kept both!  This makes our group unique to our area and we hope that the convenience of having two meetings during each month allows easy access for all moms who want to attend.

You do not have to attend Central to attend our MOPS group.  As a matter of fact, at least three of our steering team leaders are not Central members.  If you are a mom of a pre-schooler (pregnancy-Kindergarten) then you are welcome to attend!

New Schedule

Our dates for the new 2011-2012 MOPS year are now posted.  We don't have many speakers in place yet, but the Moms Night Outs have been planned so please add those to your calendar now!  We are looking forward to this next year of MOPS and we hope you are too.

Also, this Friday we will be at McFee splash pad in Farragut at 9:30.  Please join us if you can.

This Wednesday's playdate

Hey ladies!  We had a great time a few weeks ago at West Hills Park.  You can see photos of our playdate on our Facebook page.

This Wednesday we are headed to Tataru's Gym off of Lovell at 9:30.  The cost is $5/hour per child.

We hope to see you then!

Central Bearden is on Facebook

Did you know that we are on Facebook?  We are trying to post all of our summer activities on our Facebook page, so if you are on Facebook too, be sure to "like" us.  That way all of our updates will show up in your news feed.

Our next activity is a play date on Saturday at Anchor park.  We hope to see you there!

Several MOPS announcements

Hey MOPS moms,

Here are a few summer announcements:

1. VBS- you can sign your child up for VBS at Central Baptist Bearden.  It is June 6-10.  Sign up forms and additional information is available at www.cbcbearden.org.  It is for children age 4-6th grade. There are details about age limits on the registration forms.

2. Survey- For anyone who has not completed the end of year survey, please do so.  I have only had 4 people give their responses.  I would love to hear from as many of you as possible about what you thought about MOPS this year.  Please click the link and take a few minutes to give us your thoughts.
https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dGFtVDlFek1tdnFITDlaVGdlLS1CSFE6MQ

3. Summer Playdates!  Below are some dates to add to your calendar to come out and play together.  I have made them starting at 9:30 because it gets so hot during the summer:)

June 14th- West Hills Park- 9:30am

June 25th- Anchor Park- 9:30am

June 29th- Possibly Tataru's gym- 9:30am (I will need to confirm this location- a small fee will apply, usually $5 per child)

July 11th- Hedy's Neighborhood Pool- 9:30am

July 23rd- Carl Cowan Park- 9:30am

July 29th- TBD

August 9th- TBD

4. Leadership Positions.  The following leadership positions for next year are still unfilled.  Please let me know if you would like to become a MOPS leader.

Publicity

Moppets (snack and activity)- two people can share the Moppets together if desired

Service Project (Formally known as craft)

Stay-at-Home small group leader

Special Needs small group leader 

Please let me know if you have any questions!

Thanks,

Christa

"How to Pray for Your Kids" with Julie Sanders

Even though today's title was "How to Pray for Your kids" I think the take home message was really how to teach your children to pray.

We had a great time today listening to fellow mom Julie Sanders.  Here are just some of the many points she made it today's talk: (I know Julie could write these much better than I can, but here were my notes)

• We are not always going to be with our children.
• Fears (for our kids) can motivate us to pray, but they shouldn't consume our prayers
• When we are afraid it is okay to share that with our children, as long as we then react in the proper way by going to our heavenly Father
• Prayer can be one of our biggest ministries to our children
• We need to pass on prayer to our kids, but we can not impart what we do not possess
• The verse Psalms 56:3 is a great one for our children to memorize, "When I am afraid, I will trust in Him."
• Any situation can be inserted into the above verse, "When I am ______, I will trust in Him" For example, "When I am in the dark....", or "When I am at a new school...."
• Other good verses: Psalms 86:6-8, Psalms 145:17-19 and Jeremiah 29:11-12
• An acronym to remind us how to pray with our children is CHIMP:
• Comfortable - use words children can understand
• Hallowed - teach your children to pray to God with respect
• Impulsive - pray anytime, anywhere
• Meaningful - pray about things that matter to your children
• Personal - use names in your prayers
• When we face our fears, we can pass our prayers

Thanks to Julie for coming out today!  A great resource she shared was her "Not Afraid" book.  You can download a copy as a guide to make your own or email me at boudreauxb at gmail dot com and I can help you make one with your childrens' pictures in it.  Julie had three different sizes of the book; one for at home, one for in the car, and a small one for a diaper bag or school bag.  I love the visual nature and personal quality of the book.

More food for thought...

The speaker at our last meeting was great and in addition to the things she mentioned in her talk on "Raising Children in a Futuristic World" I wanted to share this blog post about how we create a legacy our children will remember.