November Meeting Re-Cap and Cookie Exchange!

Our November MOPS meeting topic was "Making MOMSENSE out of Advent-Keeping God Numero Uno in our Lives".  Dawson McQuaig, Associate Pastor at Bradfordville First Baptist Church spoke to us about family traditions for Advent, and preparing for Jesus' arrival with our families.  One of his great suggestions was "The Three Trees: Storybook Advent Singles", which is the perfect Easter or Christmas story.  Three Trees is inspired and adapted from a folktale. The Three Trees teaches us the wisdom of letting God determine our destiny and how what can at first appear to be a defeat can quickly become the ultimate achievement when God works through you. It's about the gifts we receive and how often we don't realize blessings in disguise. 

We will be having a MOPS Cookie Exchange on Friday, December 2nd at 7:00 p.m. at Bradfordville First Baptist Church (in the MacMillan Center where we have our MOPS meetings).  Everyone should bring enough cookies to share at the meeting, and exchange.  We will hopefully all go home with some cookies to share with our families!  Please eat dinner first, but save room for dessert so you can try lots of yummy cookies!

Pumpkin Patch!

This past Thursday, we had a MOPS play date at the Faith Presbyterian Pumpkin Patch for a "Pumpkin Patch Tour".  The kids got to get their faces painted (or their hands) with different Halloween patterns, such as a black cat and a pumpkin.  After that, we went to the back of the Pumpkin Patch, where there was a little space set up for story time.  A very nice lady read three stories, one of which required some "help" from the audience with different movements.  The children really seemed to enjoy the stories.  Then, we got to see a real pumpkin vine, where a pretty yellow flower was growing that will eventually grow into a pumpkin! Each child who was there received a Halloween coloring page; a small pumpkin; and a pumpkin sticker.  

Spaghetti Dinner-November 2nd

Just a reminder that we are having a Spaghetti Dinner in the MacMillan Center of Bradfordville First Baptist Church this Wednesday, November 2nd to benefit our MOPS group.  If you are serving and/or bringing food, please get there at 4:00.  Please bring your food in a disposable dish for easier clean up.

Baby Shower for A Women's Pregnancy Center and Fall Craft!

Gifts for the Center!

 Our latest meeting on Tuesday, October 25th was a baby shower to benefit A Women's Pregnancy Center, which is a non-profit organization that provides free and confidential services to women and men facing possible unplanned pregnancy.  The Director (Jamie Brown) and Director of Client Services (Diane Donahue) came to speak to us about the Center, and showed us a short video of how the Center impacted the life of a woman who now works for them.  They were extremely grateful for all of the baby shower gifts, and told us ways that we could help the Center by volunteering.

Stacie did a great job with the Fall Craft-photo wreaths!  She had a table set up with all of the supplies, and was a huge help to everyone making them.  Everyone had a lot of fun making them, and I think they will be a great Christmas gift!

Selecting materials for the photo wreaths

Directors from A Women's Pregnancy Center

A Completed Photo Wreath!

Baby Talk!

Presentation by Cindy Strickland (A Moment Captured) and Preview of October 25th Meeting!

At today's MOPS meeting, we had a great presentation about photography by local photographer, Cindy Strickland.  Cindy Strickland has been photographing families, babies, children, brides, etc. for thirteen years.  She has two boys, and she used to be in MOPS when her boys were young, so she is familiar with the MOPS ministry.

She did a fabulous session on photography, complete with a beautiful slide show, and taught us the twelve elements of a successful art piece or image, as she presented examples of all of the elements.  She also gave us another handout of some general photography tips that I have been reading over, and am finding extremely helpful!

If you would like to see more of her work, you can find A Moment Captured on Facebook at:
https://www.facebook.com/AMCbyCS

or her website at:
http://www.amomentcaptured.com/

At our next MOPS meeting on Tuesday, October 25th we will be having a Baby Shower to benefit A Woman's Pregnancy Center.  We will have food, games, and a craft as we collect items to help out local families in need of support and encouragement as they welcome new lives into the world.  A Woman's Pregnancy Center is a non-profit organization that provides free and confidential services to women and men facing possible unplanned pregnancy, right here in Tallahassee!  You can find out more about it online here:
http://www.awpc.cc/

Remember to check your invitation for the Layette Gift List.  Everything on the list must be new, but the Center also welcomes gently used maternity clothing, baby clothes, baby furniture, and items that are appropriate for babies up to six months. Donation receipts are available to claim a charity tax deduction.

For the craft that we will be doing at the October 25th meeting, Stacie asks that we each bring seven 4x6 pictures.

Please remember that we need to be brainstorming about Fundraising ideas for our MOPS group.  We have scheduled a Spaghetti Dinner at Bradfordville First Baptist Church on Wednesday, November 2nd from 4-6, and a sign-up sheet was passed out for people to volunteer to bring spaghetti, sauce, brownies, and/or help serve the food.  If you weren't at the meeting, but would like to sign up to help, please send an email to mopsbfbc@gmail.com  Also, if you have a fundraising idea, please send an email to the same address just mentioned.

Fire Safety/Fire Engine!

We had a super fun MOPS meeting yesterday! The Bradfordville Fire Department firemen came to speak to us about Fire Safety, and brought a fire engine for the MOPPETS!  After some really yummy food provided by the Candyland Cuties table; and a very relevant devotional by our Prayer and Care mom, Sharon, the firemen answered all our questions about fire safety and gave us some really useful tips such as:

• A fire alarm is only good if it actually works-change your batteries at DST so you won't forget.
• Fire alarms should always be near the kitchen and bedrooms.
• Never leave bathroom exhaust fans on for long periods of time, because lint gathers in them, and they can lock up, causing a fire.
• NEVER leave your house with a washer/dryer or dishwasher running.
• It is best to unplug computers, power strips,  and other appliances before leaving the house in case of an electrical short.
• Always call 911 in the event of a fire-NEVER call the actual fire station, as the firemen may be out speaking to a school or a MOPS group :-).
• Have a home fire safety plan.  Designate a place to meet outside of the house, preferably one that can be seen from a window or the front door so you can just visually check to make sure everyone's out before you head out yourself.
• In the event of an electrical fire, DO NOT put water on it-you could be electrocuted.  Turn off the main breaker to the electricity.
• Make sure your house is properly marked, and give the 911 operator a cross street so that your house can be easily located in the event of a fire.

The MOPPETS workers then brought all of the MOPPETS upstairs so that we could all go see the Fire Engine!!!  The kids got to climb into the truck if they wanted, and learn about the different equipment on the fire truck.  They got to see one of the fireman put on his full fire-fighting uniform, and then they lined up to give him a high five.  Each child received a Tallahassee Fire Department coloring book, and a sticker. The smiles on the kids' faces were priceless (except for one little one who was a little frightened-the fireman DID look a little scary in his full uniform and mask)!  We managed to herd all of the kids to the front of the fire engine to get a group picture.  How adorable are they!?

Our next meeting will be Tuesday, October 11th and a really fabulous photographer with YEARS of experience in photographing infants, children, families, weddings, and any special occasion/event you can think of is coming to speak to our MOPS group about how to spot, look, and take a great picture!  Please bring 1-2 pictures to share.  I have known Cindy for over four years, and she has become not just our family photographer, but a dear friend.  She is a strong Christian woman; has two fabulous boys; and used to be in a MOPS group when her boys were babies.  We are so blessed to have her as a speaker!  

Re-Cap of First Meeting and New Room

We started off the MOPS year with a great breakfast provided by the Steering Committee Team, and getting to know each other.  MOMSENSE, the theme for MOPS this year, was introduced.  Basically, everyone has different parenting strategies, but you just take your mom intuition and combine it with common sense to get MOMSENSE.  We made personalized coffee mugs that can be used as name tags, and so we don't have to waste plastic or styrofoam coffee cups each meeting.

We are looking forward to our next MOPS meeting on September 27th.  There will be a speaker from the fire department for the moms on fire safety, and a fire truck for the kids!  However, to make this meeting happen, we need your support-please come out this Sunday, September 25th at 2:00 to help give the second MOPPETS room a make-over. It needs a fresh coat of paint, and some rugs.  Erin and Melinda worked very hard last Sunday to scrub the walls, cabinets, bathroom, and floor clean.  We need more helpers this Sunday.  Bring your paint brushes/rollers/primer (we'll have a "paint party").  Also, if anyone has any rugs/wall art they are willing to donate to the room it would be greatly appreciated!!!  If we don't get this room ready, we may not be able to have a second MOPS meeting, and I know that the fire engine will be a HUGE hit with the kids!