Austin Museum Day

Austin Museums are having free admission and MANY special events on Sunday, September 19. Click on the link below to see if anything looks fun for your family and plan a great family outing!

http://www.austinmuseums.org/index/museumday/

Sept 17th Next MOPS Meeting

Hi Ladies,

This is just a reminder that this Friday is a MOPS Friday. I have been looking forward to the next meeting since our last meeting. Bonnie Sivertson will be our guest speaker and trust me, she is a speaker you will not want to miss. She is simply AWESOME!! We have another fun-filled Friday morning planned and I hope that you all can join us!!

Agenda

9:30-10:00 Opening Prayer

Eat & Fellowship

Recognitions & Sharing Time

10:00- Edith Duarte-Brown Bag(This is a fun little get to know ya/tell all) Edith will fill a brown bag full of items that describe her.

10:05-10:35 Guest Speaker-Bonnie Sivertson- Spiritual Sculpting-God Isn’t Finished With Us Yet

10:35-10:45 Small Group Time (15 minutes)

Discussion Questions

Joys & Concerns

10:45 Craft-Dry Erase Boards**These are so cute**

11:20 Announcements/Reminders

11:25 Closing Prayer/Blessing

11:30 Pick up Kids

Don’t Forget Dues Are Due At This Meeting

Dues- Please bring your checkbooks or cash to our next meeting on the 17^th. Edith will be ready to start collecting your membership dues.

Annual membership for GCN MOPS is $100, or $60 per semester or meetings without your children in tow, your fees are discounted to $80 per year or $50 per semester. This fee helps cover the costs of our MOPPETS program (curriculum, crafts, snacks, etc.), guest speakers, craft supplies, curriculum, publicity, door prizes and more. The fee also includes your MOPS International Membership. Scholarships and payment plans are available and will remain confidential. If you are in need of a scholarship or payment plan for membership dues, please contact me if you have not already applied on line or already spoken with me.

MOPPETS

· If you have not filled out a MOPPETS registration, please let me know and I will email you one. This allows Mrs. Brenda, our MOPPETS Coordinator, to register your child into the MOPPETS program, be aware of any allergies, or any special needs. Thanks!!

Mom Tip

Okay, I also have a Mom tip to share and I even attached pics!! After our last meeting, I was inspired by Dr. G to start by slowly changing our eating habits. My kids love fruit and we always have it on hand, but sometimes it ends up spoiling because (A) I either forget about it in the bottom of the fridge or ( B) it is easier to reach for something in the pantry than to prepare the fruit. So, I remedy my problem by buying these plastic reusable containers and as soon as I get home from the grocery store, I cut up individual serving sizes of fruit and veggies and put them on the shelf where the kids can reach them. The kids love them!! Since I have been doing this, I’ve noticed we are all consuming lots more fruits and veggies. Ken is taking them for lunch and I find myself snacking on more fruit and veggies throughout the day. As the containers get empty, I wash and refill them. I love this system!!! I also went to the bulk section at the grocery store and I made my own snack bag. WOW, by making your own, you get way more snack bags, you can control what goes into your snack bag, and it is cheaper than buying the prepackaged stuff. I also put these in the panty where the kids can reach them and because we made them together, they seem more interested in eating them. BTW, date pieces and walnuts are excellent together! Here’s what I am keeping in my containers if you are interested, I mainly try to buy fruit that is in season and on sale. Happy snacking!!

In The Fridge

Berry mix (blue berries, raspberries, black berries)

Strawberries & grapes mixed

Strawberries by themselves

Grapes by themselves

Cucumbers

Red bell pepper strips

Carrots

Mini salads

Black olives

Green olives

Watermelon

Celery sticks

In the Pantry

Shelled sunflower seeds

Walnut and date pieces

Cranberry nut mix

Almonds

Pumpkin seeds

Love & Blessings!

Cheri

1st Meeting Notes

I hope everyone is having a blessed week and enjoyed a nice long holiday weekend. I just wanted to send out a few notes from our last meeting since we shared so much information during our 1^st meeting. First, I just have to say that it was so great seeing so many new and returning faces. For those of you who could not attend, we MISSED seeing you and I hope that we see you at our next meeting!! We had a great 1^st meeting and I am so thrilled that our MOPS year is underway. We have a fantastic year planned!!

· We have an opening on Steering. If anyone is interested in taking on the Hospitality position, please let me know. We would love for you to join us on steering and I will be more than happy to discuss the responsibilities with you.

· We are also in need of DGL’s(Discussion Group Leaders) for each table. If you are interested in becoming the DGL for your table, please email me. I will go over the job description and responsibilities. In a nut shell, you would be the facilitator for your table during the table discussion question time and you would have various responsibilities such as reminding table members of food rotation, planned activities and etc. I will be more than happy to discuss this position with you in detail if you are interested in becoming a DGL. I am praying for volunteers, so if you are feeling the need to sever in this capacity, please come see meJ

· Meal Sign ups- I will be setting up 2 care calendars for food delivery. One will be for our very own Maria who is expecting a baby boy this month. There are some food allergies so once I have all of the details I will get this organized and ready to send as soon as I get word that their newest addition has arrived.

The other care calendar will be for a young mother named Michelle that has been battling cancer. We have been praying for Michelle for sometime through our Women’s Minstery at church. I got an update about a week or so ago and I was just crushed when I read it. Michelle so badly wanted to be able to see her son, Reid off on his 1^st day of school, but was unable to do so due to a suppressed immune system from chemo and also the fact that she was hospitalized due to some complications. Also in that same email, we were informed that her husband would be losing his job come Sept 1^st. I just wanted to be able to help this family out during their time of need and I offered to set up a meal calendar through the GCN MOPS GROUP and they graciously accepted. Michelle’s Mom told me that Michelle was very involved in her MOPS group before her diagnosis years ago. I would love for us to pull together and help this former MOPS Mom and her family out. More detail to come on this…

**Also, just wanted to say that participation in the care meal calendar is not mandatory, so only sign up if you can volunteer in this area**

· I have also gotten a couple of emails concerning contact information on our guest speaker, Dr Gerad. He provided a wealth of information to our group last week. Here is a link to their website http://focusedonyouchiropractic.com/ I will also post a copy of his presentation in our MOPS forum on our website as soon as we have it.

· Sept 12^th, MOPS Sunday at GCN. We will have a MOPS table set up in the foyer, will give a small MOPS presentation during the 1^st & 2^nd service and there will be a love offering collected that will benefit the GCN MOPS Group.

· Next MOPS Meeting is Sept 17^th

· MNO’s will be hosted at my house on Sept 23^rd. An evite with more info will be sent out to all of you

· Bethlehem Village-Cheri Alderman, our Mentor Mom will be discussing Bethlehem Village in more detail with our group on November 5th, but planning is already underway and they are looking for volunteers. If you are interested in getting a jump start on volunteering, please click on the attached link, www.mysignup.com/gcnazbv to review volunteer opportunities.

· Dues- Please bring your checkbooks or cash to our next meeting on the 17^th. Edith will be ready to start collecting your membership dues.

o Annual membership for GCN MOPS is $100, or $60 per semester or if you are attending the meetings without your children in tow, your fees are discounted to $80 per year or $50 per semester. This fee helps cover the costs of our MOPPETS program (curriculum, crafts, snacks, etc.), guest speakers, craft supplies, curriculum, publicity, door prizes and more. The fee also includes your MOPS International Membership, which consists of the following:

• MomSense magazine
• Mom-E-Mail
• MOPS logo “Friends don’t let friends mother alone!” reusable shopping bag
• MOPS bumper sticker
• No Mom Alone 2-in-1 frame magnet
• MOPS bag tag that can be used on luggage, diaper bags or even your gym bag!

Scholarships and payment plans are available and will remain confidential. If you are in need of a scholarship or payment plan for membership dues, please contact me if you have not already applied on line or already spoken with me.

· Also keep Susan Malone, The PJ Program lady in your prayers. I recently found out that her Father, who battled a brain tumor earlier this year, passed away on Sunday. Please lift this dear family up in your prayers.

Thanks ladies for an awesome 1^st meeting. I look forward to seeing you all soon!!!

Love & Blessings,

Cheri

1st MOPS MEETING-Topic Chemical Enginerring-Raising A Healthier Child

Good Evening Ladies,
Not only is tomorrow Friday, but tomorrow is our 1st MOPS meeting for the 2010/2011 MOPS year. I am so excited!! I cannot wait to see everyone! We have a fun filled meeting planned for you tomorrow. For this particular meeting, our schedule is going to be a tad bit different. Our quest speaker, Dr. Libiron will be addressing our group towards the end of our meeting instead of the beginning. I was also contacted this week by Linda Sandefur, who organizes a local children’s consignment sale, Just Between Friends(This particular company had a booth at MOPS National Convention this year), that benefits the Georgetown Community. She is going to briefly address our group during breakfast. This event is coming up at the end of September and I thought some of you may want to participate as a consignor or just shop the event to take advantage of some of the awesome deals you will find there. Here is their website for more info www.jbfsale.com

Meeting Schedule:
9:30-9:50 Opening Prayer lead by Cheri T./Breakfast provided by steering team
9:50-9:55 Linda Sandefur- Just Between Friends Consignment Event-Benefiting Pregnancy Help Center & WBCO Head Start Program in G-Town
10:00-10:05 Steering Team Introduction& Brenda will talk about MOPPETS
10:05-10:15 Mentor Moment –Cheri Alderman
10:15-10:30 Discussion Questions
10:30-11:00 Activity/Mixer & door prize drawings
11:00-11:20 Quest Speaker Dr. Libiron- Raising a Healthy Child
11:20-11:30 Closing Prayer & Announcements

Looking forward to seeing you all tomorrow!!
Love & Blessings,
Cheri

MOPPETS REGISTRATION

Just a reminder that MOPPETS registration is going on this week. In preparation for our 1^st meeting, I am asking that you please take the time to fill out a MOPPETS registration form for each child that will be attending MOPS with you.. Please email me if you need a form. I would like to have these turned back into me no later than Thurs evening so Mrs. Brenda will have a chance to review and make note of any allergies before the start of class on Friday. If you have any question or concerns please let me know. Thank you in advance for completing this form.

Join Us!!!

GCN MOPS 2010-Informational Playdate

Want to know more about GCN MOPS? We will be hosting an Informational Playdate at the GCN playground on Friday, August 13, from 10am to noon. Bring the kids and come have some fun as we expand our community of moms. We are looking forward to meeting you!





In 2010, MOPS invites you to join in the learning process as together we explore Momology: The Art and Science of Mothering.

Mothering is both art and science. It combines all of who we are to shape healthy, resilient kids. Mothering is so complex it requires both sides of our brain – not to mention our hands and feet, eyes and ears, mouth and (sniff, sniff) unfortunately, sometimes even our noses!

There's the scientific side of mothering where we develop a hypothesis based on certain principles, test that hypothesis in real-time, consider the results and decide what parts worked and what parts didn't. We keep refining our hypotheses until we find what works for us.

Intertwined with the scientific, mothering requires an artistry that shades with our personality, colors with our unique gifts, and blends past and current experiences.

MOPS International has identified four essential elements for successful outcomes with our kids.

Core is about knowing and growing ourselves. Understanding and working with our unique temperament, experiences, and emotions in a way that develops resilience. Research clearly shows that a mom with a strong, resilient core is more likely to raise a child with a strong, resilient core.

Finesse is about honing practical mothering skills—intentionally carrying out our daily responsibilities in ways that encourage growth and resilience in our kids.

Circle is about building relationships with neighbors, care-givers, extended family and, most importantly, with our husbands or for single moms, with a parenting partner.

Grandscape is about engaging with God and his unique purpose for our lives. Both secular and Christian research identifies faith in God as an essential element for successful mothering.

Through Momology, as we explore together, we'll be guided by an all-knowing, all-powerful, always-present God. Our theme verse for the year is:

Even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. (Psalm 139:10)

Anywhere we go, God sees, knows, and guides. So we can lead - and love - knowing God will get us through all the hard spots, all our decisions, all our roles, all our times we can't hold open our eyelids and the times we're bursting with joy. God's hand guides us as we guide our children. As we study Momology together to become better moms making a better world.