Getting to know us: Working Moms group leader- Rachel Mackley

My husband Drew and I were introduced by dear friends as young professionals and "tied the knot" 12 years ago.  We have been blessed with two hilarious and wonderful kids, Reagan (7) and Connor (4).  They are the light of my life!  I enjoy cooking, traveling, music, amateur photography, and just about anything outdoors.

I have worked for Knox Co Schools as a Behavior Specialist for the past 11 years.  It is quite a challenging job and I value the relationships and people I get to work with each day.  Balancing marriage, parenthood, a career, and managing our home can be quite crazy, and I rely on my faith to guide me every day.

This is only my 2nd year as a member of MOPs and it has been an awesome experience!  While the hustle and bustle of life sometimes takes over, it is refreshing to have a supportive group of ladies with whom you can fellowship, depend on, and pray with... for any ole reason!  I have the honor of leading the Working Moms' Small Group, and I look forward to the times we will get to share in the coming year. 

Getting to know us: Publicity- Elizabeth Smith

I have been married to my best friend, Daniel Smith, for 10 years. We have  4 daughters: Reagan (6), Bella (5), Lenlee (2), and Dahlia. We are originally from Knoxville and grew up at Central Baptist Bearden. After 12 years away, including college, dental school, and the Navy, we returned to Knoxville a year ago.

As a stay-at-home mommy and teacher to my new Kindergartener, my hobbies and interests primarily involve my children and planning for the next school day. In my free time I enjoy blogging, sewing, and crafting.

My first experience with MOPS was in VA after moving there with the Navy. MOPS is a wonderful place to meet other mommies of small children as well as a place to take a break. Back in Knoxville, I have enjoyed getting involved with MOPS at Central. The speakers are wonderful and the fellowship is refreshing.

Getting to know us: Finance- Kelly Wells

My name is Kelly Wells and I have been married to my husband David Wells for 10 years.  God has blessed us with 2 amazing children Matthew (3) and Reagan (7). I am originally from Florida however after  moving to Knoxville in high school and attending college at UT I can now say I am a Tennesseean! Go VOLS!

 

I am a full time mom, wife and career woman. I work full time as a branch manager with a bank where I have been the past 10 years. I enjoy my job however like most working moms I enjoy spending my evenings and weekends with my family.  I also enjoy baking, anything outdoors , home improvement projects and my addiction to anything Pinterest. 

This will be my third year with MOPS and I am really looking forward to a great new year!!

 

 

 

Getting to know us: Leader- Christa Margene

My name is Christa Margene and I have been married to my husband, Jere, for 11 years!  We have two boys, Eli (5 years) and Isaac (2 years) and one little girl coming soon.  I am originally from the Detroit, MI area but have loved calling Knoxville my home for the past 11 years.  I am a full time stay at home mom and have loved it!  However, there are days when I long to go to the bathroom all by myself and not have a cheering section:)

In my spare time...not that there is much of that...I love reading, watching movies, doing crafty projects and spending time with my family and friends.

This is my sixth year in MOPS and I can't wait to see what God has planned for our year!  I look forward to welcoming our new & returning moms and hearing some wonderful speakers!

What does my membership fee cover?

 Our annual membership fee is $35. Included in this

fee is an annual membership to MOPS

international, which includes the items pictured

here: MomSense Magazine, Weekly Mom-E-Mail,

MOPS Reusable Shopping Bag, and more.

Again this year we have an optional fee. To offset the burden of making an entrée before a meeting we are offering an optional $20 fee per semester to cover the cost of dinner at our evening meetings. If you choose not to pay the additional cost, then you will want to eat dinner before you come to the MOPS meeting.  We are excited to continue this 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, or to fill out a confidential scholarship form, please email us at centralbeardenmops@gmail.com

Leadership Positions still available

We still have some leadership positions that are needing to be filled before the start of this MOPS year.  Please let Christa know if you would like to be part of the leadership team this year!

Publicity-

The Publicity leader will need to exhibit writing skills and can organize information, meet deadlines, edit when necessary and put together material that reflects quality in both appearance and content. Creatively publicizes MOPS meetings and special events in the community through a variety of tools. Facilitates communication among MOPS moms through newsletters, maintaining the Blog and Facebook page* and other areas of communication. Serves on the Steering Team and attends meetings.
*The Blog and Facebook portion of this position has been filled. We still need someone to help with other aspects of publicity including the newsletter and publicizing meetings to our community.  

Hospitality-

The Hospitality leader organizes the refreshments at each MOPS meeting, including the ordering and picking up of the Thursday night dinner.  Helps set up and clean up the room for each meeting (any table decorations, eating utensils, etc.) which requires arriving early.  Sends birthday cards to all MOPS attendees. Two mothers can choose to do this position together to help ease set up and dinner.  Serves on the steering team and attends meetings.

Foster/Adoptive Group Leader- 

The group leader helps welcome moms during meeting time.  Leads the small group in uplifting, God honoring & appropriate conversation, takes prayer requests and is comfortable in a small group setting.  Sends birthday cards to the moms in her small group.  Plans socials and play dates for the group on a regular basis.

 

New babies for our MOPS moms!

We have some new additions to our MOPS family this summer!!

Jennifer Herchenrider had her little girl!  I don't have any of the details but can pass them on when I learn more.

Jessica Dove had Asher Jenson on June 18th!  

Miquela Hales had Rebecca Joy on June 27th at 3:01am. She was 7lbs. 7oz. 20 inches long.

CONGRATULATIONS to you all!  What a special time for you and your families:)

MOPS Playdates

I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer!  Here are some of our upcoming MOPS playdates.  I will be adding more once I have a change to sit down with my calendar!  Please let me know if you have any questions.

June 20th- McFee Park @ 9:30am (be sure to bring swim items for your kids- there is a great splash pad!)

917 McFee Road

Farragut, TN

July 10th- West Hills Park @ 9:30am

410 N. Winston Road

Knoxville, TN 

July 26th- Mom's Night Out!!  6:30pm Details TBA

August 1st- Anchor Park @ 9:30am

11798 Turkey Creek Road

Knoxville, TN 37934

One thing that our family is doing this year is kids movies!  Both Regal and Carmike are doing kids movies at 10am.  You can get the Regal show list on their website by searching for 'summer movie express'.  It only costs $1.  For Carmike they charge $2 but you also get popcorn and a drink with that.  You can get their list of movies also on their website by searching '2012 Summer Kid Series'.

Helpful link:

Parks in Knoxville: http://www.cityofknoxville.org/parks/default.asp

I look forward to seeing you at the playdates.  All of this information will be on our Facebook page and our blog: http://centralbeardenmops.blogspot.com/.  Also, if you have not registered for MOPS next year, you can find the registration link on our blog.  Please let me know if you have any questions.

Please feel free to pass this information along to other moms that might need a playdate!

Thanks,

Christa Margene

"Your Children Want You"

At last week's meeting Kara mentioned an article that was circulating on Facebook.  In case you haven't seen it and want to read the full article here is the link.

Early Registration

As mentioned at the meeting last night, early registration for next year's MOPS group is now open!  Please use the links found on the left side of this blog to register you and your little ones.  


Also, please be in consideration over joining our leadership team for next year.  It really is not much extra work outside of the regular meetings and we have fun together as a team!  See our newsletter for potential openings.