MOPS

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Back to MOPS.....

Next meeting is Monday, February 7th- please join us for last year's favorite speaker- a law enforcement officer gives us a great intro to self-defense. You can't afford to miss this one, mommies!

Our food theme will be Everything Red in honor of Valentine's day.

Please join us!!

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Merry Christmas to you and your families, MOPS Mommies!

See you for our next meeting on January 3rd at 6pm. Please bring your favorite frozen food item (unfrozen of course) to munch on.

Have safe and happy holidays!!

Thursday, November 18, 2010

December 6th- Special Guest!!

Frank Zamora, a local child psychologist and parenting expert, will come to our meeting to give us a brief overview of "Raising an Emotionally Intelligent Child." Please join us at 6pm and bring a family holiday favorite food item to share!

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Your Mothering Style

Monday, November 15th, join us to discuss mothering finesse and make take and bake pizzas for our families to enjoy. Food theme: Traditional Thanksgiving Favorites

See you there!

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Psychology 101

Monday, November 1st at 6pm is our next meeting and we will have a very special speaker: our very own Kristy McPherson! Armed with years of counseling experience, she is going to give us an overview of the 5 Love Languages. Soup and Sides will be our food theme and we will assemble a dried soup mix for everyone to take home and enjoy with your family. Don't miss it!

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Next Meeting: October 18th- Technology and Your Kids

Please join us Monday, October 18th for a presentation on technology use in our homes. We will enjoy fall food and as always, each other. See you there!

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

October 4th- Hard CORE!

Our next meeting is Monday, October 4th at 6pm. We will take personality quizes and focus on our CORE! Please bring a food that fits your personality: spicy? creative? quick take-out?

SPECIAL THANK YOUS TO ALL WHO PARTICIPATED IN THE WEECYCLE!

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Monday, September 20th, 6pm....Momology; The Art and Science of Mothering

Please join us to kick off the MOPS year on Monday, September 20th at 6pm at Sierra Vista Community Church. Childcare will be provided, we will watch the MOPS Introduction DVD and get to know all of our new mommies! Please bring a breakfast item to share with the group in honor of our new beginning.

Friday, July 2, 2010

Looking ahead to the fall....

1) Our first meeting will be on Monday, September 20th at 6pm. Plenty of reminders will come your way between now and then. We will be finalizing our schedule for the year at St. Clair's Bistro on Monday, July 5th at 6pm. Please feel free to join us to add your input or just to hang out!

2) We are changing up our one and only fundraiser this year. Emily Bair (a mentor mom for our group) approached us with a fabulous idea and offered to take the lead on the project. On Friday and Saturday, September 17th and 18th, we will host an infant, children's and maternity sale at the church. Gently used and in excellent condition items will be sold and sellers will pay us a $5 registration fee that will benefit our MOPS group, while the seller keeps 100% of their profits. It will be a once-per-year second-hand kids store that this town so badly needs!

Volunteers who work a shift at the sale (and yes, we will need many!) get to shop early on Friday before the sale opens to the general public. We will still have some vendor tables which sell new items but they must be children/infant items. Karin has graciously agreed to handle that part of the sale!

For more information, see our website: www.weecycle-lascruces.blogspot.com or see our ad on Craig's list: http://lascruces.en.craigslist.org/bab/1817022305.html Emily is posting brochures in pediatric offices, preschools, and churches. We are hoping to have a radio ad as well. So, please mark the weekend on your calendar and start gathering items to sell that your kids have outgrown! We will need all of us to help spread the word. Thank you in advance for your ideas and support!

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

MOPS Summer Schedule

Saturday, June 5, 10am-1pm:
Family brunch at June's home (4970 Black Quartz Rd)

Monday, June 7, 6-8pm:
Moms-night-out at International Delights (no childcare available)

Monday, June 21, 6-8pm:
Peter Piper Pizza (N. Main)
Kids and families invited (everyone pays for their own meals/tokens)

Monday, July 5, 6-8pm:
Moms-night-out at St Clair's in Mesilla (no childcare available)

Monday, July 19, 6-8pm:
Local park (TBD)
Kids and families invited (everyone provides their own dinner picnic)

Monday, August 2, 6-8pm:
Moms-night-out at Zeffiro's (Water St location; no childcare available)

The MOPS Story

Eight women. The number was small, but the need was great. The first MOPS meeting took place in February 1973 in Wheat Ridge, Colorado. For two hours, while their children received care, these mothers talked, laughed, ate, passed a basket for childcare expenses, had a craft demonstration and ended with a short devotional. In this humble beginning, the seeds of the MOPS concept and format were planted. Through friendship, creative outlets, and instruction, the women began to understand that "mothering matters." Today, the same needs for significance are met in much the same way in MOPS groups across the United States and around the world.

Mommy Moment

The vacuum stopped working. Again. As I sit on the floor with it, I yell to my husband: "We are keeping that vacuum repair store in business! This is ridiculous! I will never buy this brand again!" On and on I go....

I begin to take it a part, trying to figure out what it is THIS time. I get to the handle, slowly pull out the screws and pry the plastic apart. After I remove the biggest, most disgusting ball of dog hair, I suddenly see the problem: 2 pink rubber bracelets and my daughter's pink "dog tags" with her name and birthday inscribed on them.

Thank God I didn't go to that vacuum repair store and chew them out. Can you imagine them pulling all of that out and looking at me like I am the biggest idiot on the planet? Major embarrassment successfully averted...today.

-Sheila Walton

Featured Recipe: Chicken Tamale Casserole

Ingredients
1 cup (4 ounces) preshredded 4-cheese Mexican blend cheese, divided
1/3 cup fat-free milk
1/4 cup egg substitute
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 (14 3/4-ounce) can cream-style corn
1 (8.5-ounce) box corn muffin mix (such as Martha White)
1 (4-ounce) can chopped green chiles, drained
Cooking spray
1 (10-ounce) can red enchilada sauce (such as Old El Paso)
2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast
1/2 cup fat-free sour cream

Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 400°.
2. Combine 1/4 cup cheese and next 7 ingredients (through chiles) in a large bowl, stirring just until moist. Pour mixture into a 13 x 9–inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.
3. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until set. Pierce entire surface liberally with a fork; pour enchilada sauce over top. Top with chicken; sprinkle with remaining 3/4 cup cheese. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until cheese melts. Remove from oven; let stand 5 minutes. Cut into 8 pieces; top each serving with 1 tablespoon sour cream.

Words to Live By:

Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
When in doubt, just take the next small step.
Life is too short to waste time hating anyone...
Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will.
Stay in touch.
Pay off your credit cards every month.
You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
Save for retirement starting with your first pay check.
When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.
Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
Over prepare, then go with the flow.
Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
The most important sex organ is the brain.
No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
Frame every so-called disaster with these words ’In five years, will this matter?'
Always choose life.
Forgive everyone everything.
What other people think of you is none of your business.
Time heals almost everything. Give time.
However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
Believe in miracles.
God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.
Your children get only one childhood.
All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else’s, we’d grab ours back.
Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
The best is yet to come.
No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
Yield.
Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.