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December is here which means cookies, merriment, and other holiday cheer. Unfortunately it also means stomach bugs and colds. When the scheduled speaker's children come down with a bug, you call in a replacement. When the replacement's children also become ill, you panic I guess. But you'd never know there was a snafu thanks to our wonderful steering team and their quick thinking.

We played a variety of Christmas-themed games, the most memorable (and photo-worthy) being Holiday charades.

Danielle smiling the smile of a winner. Go team Santa Babies!

What's a Christmas celebration without cookies? The whole family is enjoying the sampling we received. Since we also exchanged recipes, I'll be able to recreate their favorites.

Rhett and Gus decided to crash the end of the party so they could have some milk with their cookies. ;)

Let's not forget our amazing child care workers who make it possible for us to enjoy a break, worry-free! Trudy gets excited each morning that I tell her we're going to MOPS thanks to the care and enthusiasm of these ladies. She's proud of the ornament they helped her make today.

A Merry MOPS Christmas to everyone! Looking forward to what 2013 has in store for our group. It sounds like the steering team has some amazing speakers, crafts, playdates, and mom's nights planned for us. We'll kick off the new year on January 11th at FBC.

Happy Chrithankmas!

Today's meeting was a celebration of the season. Being greeting by a vegetarian turkey on the treat table put a smile on my face.

Paula introduced use to a fun icebreaker game using M&Ms. We were told to choose 1-5 M&Ms in our choice of color combinations. Each color represented a personal fun fact we were to share with our table. Somehow our table just wound up discussing trips to Hawaii since that was the consensus on "favorite place on earth." Now I want to hop on a plane!

Michie shared an encouraging devotion from Proverbs 3:5-6 about paths. Up for a hike, Michie?
The key for the icebreaker game is pictured below also in case you'd like to use it at a party or other gathering.

On to craft time! We split in to two groups: one to make the turkey pictured below and one to create an initial Christmas ornament.

Crystal did a brilliant job getting together supplies and explaining the process. 

Lisa, Mandi, and Jess were listening intently. Good thing since I was busy snapping photos instead of paying attention to directions. *grin*

What are you thankful for? 

Ashley and Elena had wobbly turkeys which they solved in a creative way

Legs! 

We spent the majority of our time with our first craft project so some of us brought turkey materials home and some brought ornament materials home to finish up.

There were some beautiful creations in the ornament group!

A big shout out to our nursery workers who made sure our kids were having fun while we were.

Mom's Night Out: Casa Santiago

It was Mexican night for Mom's Night Out tonight. Olé! The ten of us enjoyed a nice break from the kiddos and shared a lot of laughs. Christy, we hope your little one feels better soon!

There was a little rooster in the hen house tonight. ;)

Moms Night Out at Francesco's

Can't we all use a night out now and then? I'm glad our MOPS group has been organizing Mom's Nights Out between meetings. I need more than just two Fridays a month to help keep my sanity. How about you? ;) Tonight we enjoyed the food, fare, and fellowship at Francesco's in Decatur.

♪ Hey mambo mambo Italiano ♪

Tonight was just what I needed, ladies! And thanks for letting Gus crash the party since he can't go longer than an hour without nursing. Happy mama = happy baby, right?

Plunge In!

We kicked off our first meeting of the school year today. Since this year's theme is "Plunge In," the ladies came up with a beach party theme that was put together so well. While I was excited to reconnect with friends and see some new faces, my camera was mostly pointed at the food! *blush* I couldn't resist snapping pictures before everything was gobbled up.

These had to be my favorite for the cute factor. Tinted cream cheese is spread on Ritz cracker with broccoli and chives mimicking sea vegetation while Goldfish swim around.

The peanut butter pudding in the sand bucket was delicious, but I had more fun scooping it out with the shovel than anything. Even went back for seconds.

These cheese cubes on drink umbrellas prove it doesn't have to be complicated to be cute.

Nutter Butter Flip-Flips. Who thinks of these things?

Mandarin orange boats floating in gelatin made me want to set sail.

Don't forget the life preservers while you're out on the boats.

Simple touches like serving fruit and snack mix with beach toys instead of bowls and spoons added and extra touch.

Hurricane glasses filled with beachy goodness adorned the tables

Thank you Steering Team and Mentors for creating an oasis for us with your beach party ideas!

Last Meeting of the Season

Friday was a bittersweet day. It was sweet because we enjoyed a mini-spa day and ice cream, but a little bitter since this was our last MOPS meeting of the season. At least we have a few playdates scheduled this summer to keep us from having total withdrawals until fall.

Our indulgences today ranged from the sweet treats to chair massages to pedicures! I was just the time-out this busy mama needed.

The first time I attempted to take a picture of this group I was almost assaulted. They were better sports later after Mary Kay worked her magic.

Getting our faces prepped for makeup.  

They weren't quite as self-conscious as group #1, but did insist that I be subjected to the same. Fair's fair! Here's my lip exfoliating treatment. We decided it would be a good idea to kiss our hubbies while wearing it then explain that's exactly how it feels to kiss them unshaved! ;)  

It's hard to reach your toes when you're pregnant, right mamas? We get by with a little help from our friends though.