Footprints on our Hearts

Today's meeting was a mix of laughter, tears, silliness, and seriousness. We started off with a noisy game of Pictionary that got so loud and fun we're actually not sure if "Team Awesome" or "Team More Awesome" won.

Afterward, Michie blessed us with a devotion about encouraging our husbands. Let's all remember to thank our husbands for those paychecks, ladies!

Anna shared her heart with us about Footprints Ministry. Tears were shed at some of our own remembrances and experiences. I was especially blessed by Anna's testimony of grace and peace during her delivery. 

Time to give back! We all decorated bibs to place into Footprints care bags.

We actually made time to do small groups this meeting and even switched things up a bit. As always, thank you for the spiritual and emotional encouragement, MOPS girls! Special thanks to our steering team and amazing child care workers who make it all possible.

Crazy Coupon MOPS

Pictures from today's meeting are few and poor quality. Why? I was too busy laughing and learning to focus (pun intended.) Kristan from The MoneyWise Shopper was kind enough to school us on the finer points of couponing.

If she ever decides to give up being a crazy coupon mom, I'm pretty sure she could pay the bills as a stand up comic. Southern, sassy, and seven months pregnant, Kristan kept us entertained and educated about saving money at the grocery store.

Sorry about the quick snapshots, ladies. I'll make it up to you next meeting with full-on glamour shots. BYO lipstick and false eyelashes. ;)

Five copies of The Huntsville Times will be showing up on our doorstep next Sunday for the bargain price of $1 per copy. Are you excited to get your coupon on?

Next meeting we'll be learning about financial peace through Dave Ramsey's money management principles. What a way to start off 2013!

Join MOPS. We have Cookies.

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!