We are excited to announce that we have started up a MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group at Community Reformed Church!

You are welcome to join our 2010-2011 program at anytime of the year. We meet every 1st and 3rd Friday from 9:30-11:00 a.m. (schedule above). You can register right on site at the meeting.

If you are not familiar with MOPS please click on any of the links above or visit http://www.mops.org/ for more information. We are excited to begin this adventure with you and other moms of the community as we learn and share our adventures of motherhood!

Monday, December 6, 2010

Photo Coasters How To

Last Friday we made these ADORABLE PHOTO COASTERS. They were super easy and they are so fun. The gals at my table were going to go buy the supplies and make some more for Christmas gifts. If you missed last week I found a blog with GREAT instructions on how to make them. Just click here if you want to make some!

Monday, November 29, 2010

Photo Coasters --- Friday!!

We will be making a really neat craft this Friday...photo coasters! Please bring in 4 pictures to use to make these. We will also have scrapbook paper available in case you forget. :) You can make these for yourself or they also will make a great Christmas gift for someone!

Reminder that the 'sister' table will be providing breakfast.

Looking forward to another great week!

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Halloween Fun!

If you will be out and about this weekend with your kiddos we would love to see your pictures of your litte lady bugs, lions, etc.! Please email your picture to communitymops@gmail.com and we will post your pictures of your little ones (no names will be posted). Here's my little guy from last year. He was sick so we didn't get the greatest ones but still a cute monster!
So go ahead, brag about your kids and show them off!

Friday, October 15, 2010

Importance of Prayer & Devotions

Just wanted to share some take-away advice that our speaker Dawn shared with us this morning regarding prayer and devotions with your kids in case you wanted a review or missed the meeting.

You can use the 'PAST' idea for remembering things to pray for:

Praise

Ask

Sorry

Thanks

Try to set aside a time to pray as a family; whether it be in the mornings before school, before or after dinner or before bed. Choose what works best for you. Some kids need pictures of things to help them with knowing what to pray for; some kids need to sing their prayers; or some may need to toss a ball during prayer like a popcorn prayer...every kid is different; decide what works best for you and your family.

Dawn also talked about devotions and shared some props from her "Bag of Success" for family devotions:

INVOLVE your kids with doing devotions.
CALENDAR>Write down when you are going to have devotions or take turns.
FORGIVE yourself if you forget a day.
SIMPLE>Keep them simple and easy.
TIMER>Set a timer on how long you want to spend doing devotions.
FUN>Have fun with it and make sure your kids have fun too so they want to do devotions together.

If you have any advice on what works for you please share it in the comments so we can all benefit from it!

Next meeting is November 5 (Oct. has an extra week so we have an extra week off). See you all then!

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Door Prize!

We are excited for our 2nd meeting tomorrow. We have a great speaker coming and also will be giving away this door prize! Each meeting when you check in you will get a ticket to win a door prize....there will be different giveaways each time! The picture above is what will be given away tomorrow....lots of great stuff! Just a reminder that you may begin dropping your kiddos off at 9:15. You can either check in with us first or you may drop off your kids first...whatever is easiest for you. We look forward to seeing you all again tomorrow! Oh and remember if you are at the 'Aunt' table you are assigned to bring breakfast! :)

Friday, October 1, 2010

Moms meet moms at MOPS!

Wow, what a great first meeting together! We hope you all enjoyed the fellowship today as much as we did. It was a great time just to get to know each other and know what to expect for the next meeting. There were a couple moms that asked about the upcoming schedule...just click on the schedule above to see what is planned for our next meeting on October 15. Looked like the 2-5 year olds had a great time in MOPPETS and we are going to look for a few more helpers for the 0-1 year olds in nursery....what a crew we had! :) If you missed today you are always welcome at anytime so no worries! Just a reminder that the 'Aunt' table is on deck to provide breakfast for the next meeting. As we get playdates and 'moms night out' dates set we will post them here.

If you had any questions after today feel free to leave us a comment or email us at communitymops@gmail.com.

Thanks!

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

First Meeting...FRIDAY!!!

Wow...what a great turnout we had at our Open House! Thank you to everyone that came! Just a reminder that our first meeting is this Friday, Oct. 1 from 9:30-11:00 (drop off kids at 9:15). We will share breakfast and fellowship together, go over what you should expect for the year, play a get to know each other game and make our name tags. So it will be a great, laid back first meeting so everyone can get to know one another and you will know what to expect for the upcoming year. As always, your kiddos are welcome to attend and be a part of the MOPPETS. If you were unable to make it to the open house you may still pick up a packet and register for the 2010-2011 year. As always, if you have any questions you may email us at communitymops@gmail.com. Can't wait to get this year started!

Monday, August 30, 2010

GARAGE SALE!!!

Our MOPS group is having a garage sale on Saturday, September 11 from 9a to 3p in the Community Room at Community Reformed Church. Please join us to shop or sell! If you are interested in selling, please email communitymops@gmail.com to rent a table for $10 each (you can pay $20 for 2 tables, etc.). We will do your advertising for you!! You just show up and sell your items, then keep all your profits. Proceeds will benefit our upcoming MOPS program. Thanks!

Sunday, August 15, 2010

LOVE KIDS???

Then we need YOU!!! As we are preparing, planning, and trying to make everything perfect for your MOPS experience at Community we are still looking for some help with the MOPPETS (kids) program. As much as MOPS is for moms it also is so important for us to create a fun experience for your kids as well! If you are a member of Community Reformed and would be willing to help out with this program, even if it's just once a month, could you please email communitymops@gmail.com? You could be a young mom, a mom with all your kids in school, or even a grandma, we would love to have you help us out! Thank you!

We are SO EXCITED to begin this program and look forward to seeing you at our open house on September 17!!!

Saturday, July 31, 2010

Spilling Joy

"We are cups, constantly and quietly being filled. The trick is knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out." -Writer Ray Bradbury

Recently I was fed up with sippy cups. They leak, their stoppers fall down the disposal. They disappear under furniture for a few days and emerge when whatever's inside turns good and chunky. The latter happened again. I began wishing all my kids were coordinated enough not to need one.

The same day, my youngest, grinning ear to ear, decided to don my bra on his head. Another son decided his big brother's athletic cup was better suited as a mask. And my oldest, yes, the oldest, drank from an overly full cup so quickly that the ice started up his nose, and he laughed so hard he sprayed everyone at the table. Hysterics ensued.

If I could have traded every spill of my mothering years for the laughter in my house that day, I wouldn't have. How dare I want that comedic trio to grow up any faster than they already are.

My cup -- all our cups -- runneth over.

-Adapted from MomSense, March/April 2010, written by Susan Besze Wallace

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Suggestions Welcome!

Thanks for checking out our MOPS blog! As we look forward to starting up MOPS at Community tell us what you would most expect to get out of each MOPS meeting. Is it time spent sharing stories with other moms? Meeting new friends for you or your kids? Something to take away from a speaker? A new craft for you or for your kids? Leave us a comment about what is most important for you to leave with after each meeting and this will help us with planning our first year! We already have some great things planned...just click on the 2010-2011 schedule to check them out. Thanks in advance!