Pics from our Christams tea!

I had the best time at our Christmas tea! I'm so glad each and every one of you came.

Yummy food.

Cute tea pots.

Super fun white elephant gift exchange!

Melanie modeling the poinsettia hair pins.

Hi Michelle! I bet you didn't know I was taking your picture! Wink, wink.

Heather G. pretending I'm not taking her picture.

Thank girls for such a fab time! I hope you had a very Merry Christmas. Don't forget the playdate for all MOPS moms on January 4th. See post below for details.

It's almost the New Year!

2011 is just a couple days away! We have several Steering positions that are open for the 2011-2012 year so start praying about how God might use your wonderful talents to serve our group! Contact Heather Westbrook for more details hewmail@yahoo.com.

ABQ Playroom Playdate Jan. 4th

When: Tuesday, Jan. 4th 10:00am to whenever
Where : ABQ Playroom -located at Paseo and Ventura, next to Jinja.
The cost is $5/child, under 18 months is FREE.
You will not need a membership to come play for that day.
You can bring any children, there is stuff for kids up to about 10yrs old.
You can bring a small snack for your kids if you wish, there is a room in the back where they allow food and drink.

This will be a fun time to reconnect with all the moms and kiddos after the busy holiday season. We hope to see you there!

Check out their website for more info!

Pumpkin muffin recipe

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving full of love and good food. This is my favorite pumpkin muffin recipe. It only has five ingredients, it's super easy, and super yummy.

Ingredients:

I pkg spice or carrot cake mix

1 can (15 oz) of pumpkin

2 eggs

1/3 cup of water

2/3 a cup of craisins, raisins or cranberries (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine cake mix, pumpkin, egg and water until moistened. Stir swiftly for 1 minute. Stir in craisins, raisins or cranberries. Bake for 18-22 minutes. Makes 18-24 muffins!

Upcoming!

Our last meeting of 2010 is on December 7th. Come join us for Christmas tea, caroling, eating, and sharing. Crumpets, finger foods and tea will be provided! Small groups don't have to bring food! We will have a white elephant gift exchange. A white elephant gift exchange is a gift that is not purchased but something you found at home. An ugly decoration you may have received last year and you are looking to gift it to someone else. A lost sock that doesn't have a mate. A Tupperware bowl from 1981. Make it fun and interesting! I can't wait to see what you bring and the laughs! A pastor from Grace Church will be sharing a Christmas devotion.

MOM'S NIGHT OUT!!!!!

December 14th 8:00 p.m.

@Flying Star on Paseo Del Norte

If you have never been to Flying Star they have coffee and yummy deserts. They have dinner as well. It will just be a fun night of coffee and dessert with friends. If you can't make it we will be having another Mom's night out in the New Year.

January 18th will be our first meeting in 2011!

We will not have a meeting on the first meeting of January as APS schools will have not returned.

Coming in January, we will be starting a MOPS book club. All of the details are not worked out yet, but they will be soon. We may just meet at a MOPS Moms' home and have a book club/playdate meeting. The book we will be reading and discussing will be So Long Insecurity by Beth Moore. The book is currently $15.78 on amazon.com. So ask your Mom or favorite Uncle to buy it for you for Christmas. Click here for a link to the Amazon.com listing for this book.

Everything you need to know about Craft Fair!

Our 14th Annual Holly Days Craft Fair is this Saturday! This is such a huge event and is our main fundraiser for the whole year. I know it seems like so much work, but it's really worth it. It's actually fun to be involved it and you get to know other MOPS mom's better. Here's what you can do to help:

1. Download the above picture and email it to everyone you know in Albuquerque. Invite your mother, brother, uncle or neighbor to shop at our craft fair. Post it on Facebook or your blog.

2. Bring baked goods for our bake sale. Breads, pie and cinnamon rolls do really good. If making cookies make sure to wrap them in bunches, 2-3 in a bunch. Wrap them in saran wrap and label them. (For example: Pumpkin cookies with pecans. Below is a picture from last year.)

3. Set up on Friday and Clean up on Saturday. See your small group leader for your groups assignment. If coming to set up, we need the most help from 7:00 a.m. to about 10:00. We have to move everything out of the gym so we can mark the floor for booth spaces. If early morning doesn't work for you, you can come throughout the day on Friday. Clean up time starts at 2:45, and the more help we can get the faster we can get out of there! We have to take table and chairs down, remove tape from the floor, put away Christmas decorations, and sweep the gym floor.

4. Don't forget your donation for the raffle baskets. See your small group leader tomorrow for more details. The raffle baskets bring in hundreds of dollars on their own. Every year you ladies out-do yourselves on the creative basket ideas!

We appreciate your help! MOPS moms can move mountains!

Parenting with Love and Logic

You know what I love most about MOPS? The fact that every Mom in the room is different. She potty trains differently. Some Moms use cloth diapers and some Moms use disposable ones. Some Moms parent differently. I thoroughly enjoyed Elyssa from Love and Logic. As in anything, you take parts of what she said here and apply it there. Maybe some of the things don't work for your family, so you don't use them. I highlighted some key points that make sense no matter how you discipline your kids.

1. " I recognize this world. We practiced for it at home." My kids are 6, 5, 4, and 3. So this made so much sense to me. Sometimes I try and fail at getting them to do things my way and I really need to focus on letting them learn with my guidance. Mom drill sergeant is not working so far.

2. "Let them make mistakes at a young age, so they don't make them when they are older with harder consequences."

3. "The most powerful words are the unstated words." I find myself re-hashing the trouble my kids just caused. Telling them one time is enough and letting them learn from it.

4. Write a vision statement as a family. I have to admit that when my kids were really small, this vision statement was not a high priority on my list of to dos. I was barely keeping my head above water just providing the basic needs of my four little girls. I snapped my fingers and they grew up fast. I wish I would of thought of this when they were smaller but we can still do it now and they can be a part of writing it!

5. Schedule Mommy time where YOU come first!!!!! Having small children is wonderful and rewarding but sometimes taking care of them 24/7 can be overwhelming! If you don't have a hobby, ask some Mops Moms' what they do and ask if they can show you how. Keep trying until you find something that clicks. Reading, sewing, photography, or baking. We have Moms that sew that would love to show you how. We have Moms that scrapbook. Never underestimate the power of a hot bath at the end of a long day with kids!

If you liked Love and Logic here are a few links for you. To purchase the book on Amazon CLICK HERE! It's only $12.95.

Elyssa's phone number if you are interested in taking a parenting class. They do have childcare if needed. Her number is 710-0236. And she is on facebook HERE.

Mops goes to the pumpkin patch!

Look like you all had a great time at the pumpkin patch! Thank you Stephanie for organizing the pumpkin patch trip and for sending me these pictures!

Helpful hints for Moms!

I have lost my brain since giving birth to my four little wonders. I'm sure some of you can relate?! I'm forget full and disorganized. In an attempt to clean up the clutter in my head, I've been searching online for some organizational help. Here are few links or printables I found and thought I would share:

1. Martha Stewart printable freezer labels CLICK HERE FOR LINK

2. Birthday reminder list! CLICK HERE FOR LINK (I get my kids' birthdays mixed up, don't get me started on friends and family!)

3. Meal planning and shopping list PDFs from Moneysavingmom.com CLICK HERE FOR LINK

(We talked a little bit about coupons last year in MOPS and this was a site we gave you. She shares helpful tips on how to save money grocery shopping.

I feel a little more organized already? Five gold stars for the mom that can tell me where our brains go once we give birth.

Mom of the day!

Congrats Mom of the Day! Meet Maleri!

(She's the one in the middle wearing the Mom crown!)

Maleri's Stats:

Mom to one 9 month old baby girl.

Favorite book: 5 People you Meet in Heaven

Favorite treat: Chocolate

She sells pampered chef!

She loves Clorox wipes! (You know you are a mom when cleaning supplies and a new household appliances excite you.)

Maleri's advice for new Mom's: "Take a shower everyday (or as often as needed). Take care of yourself!"

Great advice Maleri!

This is Lauren and she celebrated a birthday! Happy Birthday Lauren!

(I'm sure this is Heather and Lauren's favorite picture ever!)

Fun Fall ideas for MOM's!

Fall is in the air! The most wonderful time of the year. Do you have your fall decorations out? Do you decorate for fall?

I found some super cute stuff on the Internet this week and thought I'd share. If you don't follow blogs you should! If you love to craft and want some cheap and fun ideas, there are blogs for that! If you like to sew there are so many easy pattern free ideas on blogs. Anyways: Here are my finds for the week:

kevin and amanda blog: She has free handwriting fonts you can download and great recipes. Click here to go to a fun glitter pumpkin tutorial on her site!

Living Locturo Blog: Click here for Free Fall and Halloween Printables!

The Graphics Fairy: This is one of my favorite blogs! She has free vintage graphics. I'm kind of an old fashion girl and have used some of her stuff on digital stuff I've designed. You could print these out and use them at home for kids crafts. Click here for her blog.

MADE: My favorite sewing/inspiration blog! Click HERE to go to her blog!

Four blogs is enough, don't you think? It's not like our kids will let us stay very long on the computer anyways, right?

Love, ME

The weirdo person behind the blog

Our first meeting of the year!

I'm so excited! Join us for food, fun, fellowship, and awesome childcare for you kiddos! Our first meeting of the year is here. Don't forget we meet the first and third Tuesday's of the month.

Fair

Anyone interested in meeting up to go the State Fair. Possibly Thursday Morning?

If interested email me at staples underscore michele at yahoo dot com

Important update

Thank you to Jennifer for reminding me that we have a barbecue on the calendar for this Saturday! What would I do without you? :) The barbecue has been cancelled and we will reschedule at a later date. Once again NO family barbecue on this Saturday September 11th.

But we do have our first meeting in two weeks! TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 21! I'm so excited. And I just can't hide it!

Michele

Let me see inside your purse!

Here you go! Only I didn't picture the pink undies I keep in my purse "just in case" lol, and yes that is a sticky eyeball I have no idea why it is still in my purse ha ha!
-Sarah

(Sarah C's entry. I have seen those pringles in her purse with my own eyes. All the cool moms' have snacks and sticky eyeballs in their purse.)

Wipes

diapers

potty protectors

pacifier

baby's extra outfit

3 fast food toys

crayons

2 notebooks

Kleenex

make up case

peek device and cover

playing cards

wallet

checkbook

coupon for old navy

(Lisa B's entry. Cute purse! All the cool moms' have potty protectors in their purse.)

Huge pile of trash/receipts

sunscreen spf 100 (I'm really trying to be better about putting sunscreen on my kids and self.)

my kids' purse (Why can't anyone carry their own stuff?)

headphones that don't go to anything in my purse

wallet

lipstick case (it actually has gloss and lip balm 'cause I don't think I've worn lipstick in years)

sun glass case

keys

smashed plum (it may or may not have been in my purse for 4 days)

webkinz code

costco card

business cards

pile of random nothings!

(Michele S's entry. In case you were wondering, I threw the plum away and cleaned my purse. All the cool moms' DO NOT have rotting fruit in their purse.)

Okay…in no special order:

1. $12 Obnoxiously Yellow Emergency Purse from Target.

2. Flip Flop Ribbon (because I have daughters and one never knows when you need to ‘fancy them up’)

3. Fidget Toy (because I have a hard time keeping still in church and this enables me to listen)

4. Reading Glasses (because I am in my mid-forties and reading glasses are now a mandatory accessory)

5. Little Red Bag (that holds many of the odds and ends that are scattered around the photo)

6. ‘Popsicles’ (if you don’t know why, I can’t help you)

7. Lotion

8. Various Receipts…dinner out, gas, unmentionables…

9. 2-Year-Calendar

10. Checkbook

11. Bright Red Wallet (for easy location within obviously overstuffed purse)

12. Bottled Water (one never knows when you’re going to need to ration)

13. Baggie of Hair Stuff (again, I have daughters)

14. Hair Putter-Upper (I’ve no idea what that thing is called)

15. Fresh Wipes Packet (see reason for #6)

16. Keys

17. Seam Ripper (you’d be surprised how often this comes in handy

18. Tweezerman…the BOMB of tweezers!

19. Organic Ginger Chapstick

20. Sample Lip Glosses…thanks, mom

21. 81¢

22. Penny Stamped at Denver Aquarium (it is wrong to spend fifty cents to have a penny stamped. But it’s still cool)

23. Hair Clips

24. Fake Diamond Earrings

25. Ear Plugs

26. Ibuprofen

27. Assorted pencils, pens, eraser

28. Sharpies. A mother must NEVER travel w/out these

29. Gas Reliever (see explanation #4 and exchange Reading Glasses for Gas Reliever)

30. Skin Glue (a MUST for the winter…obviously I don’t frequently change out my purse – or at least the Little Red Bag)

31. Hairband

32. Pill Box (filled w/all sorts of goodies)

33. Newman’s Own Organic Ginger Mints

34. Trash

35. Blackberry (currently ringing…but I was too involved to answer it)

36. ***Sadly, my sunglasses were on my head when I took this…or they would’ve been in their usual spot amidst my junk.

(I knew I could count on Denise Y to have some awesome stuff in her purse! All the cool moms' have gas reliever. P.s. I can't believe your purse holds all that stuff!)

my purse's contents! wallet makeup case pencil case (taco) keys lotion jump drive lip gloss ponytail holder 3 receipts movie ticket old grocery list altoids tin(i put my ear buds in it) contact and glasses case usually my phone but i used it for the pic..

(Heather G's entry. Notice her lotion says grace. As in, her husband is the youth pastor at Grace! Why do I find that so funny? All the cool moms' have zippered tacos in their purse. What's in the taco, Heather?)

Consignment Sale free pass for MOPS at Grace Moms!

This is a free pass for MOPS moms to this consignment sale. Just right click on the picture above, save it to your computer and print it out! For more information go to their site jbfsale.com.

I want to see inside your purse.

I came across this blog today and had a great idea. CLICK HERE TO SEE WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT. I'm sure you'll agree its a wonderful idea. Nobody has nothin' on what MOPS moms have in their purses. Let's do our own MOPS version. Who wants to play?

Empty the contents of your purse and photograph them and send them to me. (Me being Michele, in case you have no idea who writes this blog.) My email address is staples underscore michele AT yahoo DOT com. (Have you ever wondered why people spell out their email address? Apparently if you write it like a normal email address spamers can get your address. Aren't you glad you have me around?) I will then post them here on our blog for all the MOPS moms to see. There may be a prize for the most outrageous contents.

On your marks, get set, GO TAKE A PICTURE OF YOUR PURSE NOW! If you don't I might loose my sanity. It's the last few weeks before school starts and my kids might be driving me crazy. My sanity is counting on you.

MOPS 2010-2011!!!!

The Mops 2010-2011 year is approaching! I don't know about you, but the summer has sure flown by. I'm so excited for this next MOPS year. MOPS is my sanity saver and I can't wait to start again.

Every year MOPS International chooses a theme. This years' theme is Momology, the art and science of Mothering. As we all know, mothering just kind of happens to us. There is no class, no manual. But there is MOPS. For those of you who have never been to a MOPS meeting before, we don't judge or condemn your parenting style, we are there for each other to lean on in this critical stage of motherhood. If that sounds like something you need in your life, we would love for you to join us this year!

Registration is August 24, 9:30-11:30 a.m. @Grace Church (located at 6901 San Antonio). For more information about registration or what MOPS is all about, please contact Mary Link @505-263-0239, monet@linkrox.net or Heather Westbrook @505-323-8231, hewmail@yahoo.com.

Our first meeting is September 21st at 9:00 a.m.!!!!

If you would like to invite your friends, you can click on the flyer below and then save it to your computer, email it to your friends or print it and hand them out.

P.S. WE STILL HAVE SOME SUMMER ACTIVITIES PLANNED AND WE WOULD LOVE FOR YOU TO JOIN US. SCROLL DOWN PAST THIS POST FOR A CALENDAR WITH OUR SUMMER ACTIVITIES.

Calendar update

July 20th- Manzano Mesa Multigenerational Center Spray Park 10:00a.m.

501 Elizabeth St. SE

Click Here to go to their website for more information.

(You have to have a family member pass that costs $13, but it lasts for a whole year, which means you can use it next year. You can buy the pass at the door and use it unlimited times.)

July 31st- Mom's Night Out. 6:30 p.m. Silva Lanes Bowling,

3010 Eubank Boulevard Northeast

Albuquerque, NM 87111-4853
(505) 298-5583

Cost is $4 a person to bowl and they have food for purchase

RSVP to staples_michele@yahoo.com, so we can look for you and

know how many lanes we need.

August 3rd-Park Play Date @Snow Heights Park, Constitution and Penn

10:30 a.m. (The Albuquerque free lunch in the park is there and starts at 12:00. This free lunch is provided by the city and is only for children, so Mom's plan accordingly. My kids usually don't eat all their lunch. :)

August 18- First day of School for APS

August 24th- REGISTRATION for the MOPS 2010-2011 year!!!!

9:30-11:30 @Grace Church

6901 San Antonio NE

Please invite your friends for a super Year!

September 11- Family B-B-Q (Time and Place TBD)

September 21st- Our First MOPS meeting of the Year!!!!

Our theme this year is "Momology, the art and science of mothering."

9:00 a.m.