Saturday, September 21, 2013

Sept 20th Recap

Hello all!  Friday was another fabulous MOPS meeting. Many thanks to the Red Table for the wonderful breakfast spread!

The bulk of our meeting was devoted to learning more about our Missions ministry, Young Lives.  Cheslee Escobedo gave us a wonderful talk about this amazing ministry.  The purpose of Young Lives is to offer Christ-centered support for teen mothers.  Cheslee really stressed how the goal of Young Lives is to create relationships with these girl and to walk beside them as they come to know Christ.  If you have been looking for an organization with which to volunteer, this group is truly wonderful and offers many different opportunities to serve.  They are in need of volunteers to bring food to the meetings, provide childcare during the meetings, drive girls to and from the meetings, and mentors who are paired with the girls and offer support.  Mentoring does require extra training as it is a sensitive situation and many of these girls come from difficult backgrounds.  Young Lives offers "Club" typically on the third Thursday of every month at 6:30 at Parkway United Methodist Church on New Territory Blvd.  Their first meeting of the year is next Thursday.   One additional way to help is to bring donations to our meetings and Amanda Gates will make sure they get to Young Lives.  Currently, their top three needs are diapers, wipes, and formula. As the year goes on, they will happily take gently used baby clothes, toys and baby equipment/paraphernalia.  This year, MOPS has committed to providing the Thanksgiving Feast in November and another meal in February.  A sign-up was passed around and everyone was asked to volunteer for one of these dates.  If you missed the meeting, please see Amanda Gates.  If you are feeling called to volunteer further with Young Lives, contact Cheslee Escobedo (chesleek@yahoo.com).

Next, we all got to know each other better with an M&M ice breaker.  Good times!

Meredith Canny reminded us about our upcoming Halloween auction on October 9th.  Meredith will accept any and all donations through our next meeting on October 4th.  At our October 4th meeting, we will have a live auction of 2 items to get us revved up for the festivities on the 9th.  This is shaping up to be a really fun evening, so you won't want to miss it!  Everyone is invited and you are welcome to bring a friend.  You do not have to donate or purchase anything at the auction to attend. Just come, eat, shop, socialize and have a fabulous time!  The auction will be held at former MOPS member Shelli LeBret's house in Riverstone: 6427 Crystal Point, Missouri City, TX 77459 and begins at 6:30pm.  This event will hopefully serve as our only fundraiser if we reach our $600 goal. Let Daddy put the kids to bed and come and shop!

Leah Hammonds and Julia Steinhaus introduced us to all our new members.  It is so great to see so many new smiling faces!

Kathleen Randall reminded us that our stylish black MOPS t-shirts are for sale for $10.  All sizes are available.  You know you want one!  Kathleen talked about some of the wonderful things that we as a group have been able to do with our Outreach Fund, such as sending two Young Lives girls to camp and supporting Becky Neese's niece's family who just tragically lost their young mother shortly after she gave birth to their second child.  We were able to give this family a $250 gift card to Babies 'r Us and we will have a formula drive for them at an upcoming meeting.

Kathleen also reminded us about the costume swap that we will have on October 4th.  If you have a gently used costume that your kiddos have outgrown, bring it to the swap.  Those who bring a costume will have first dibs on any of the costumes that are brought for the swap.  After that all the costumes are fair game to the group! 

Heather Lovell distributed the "Secret Sister" forms.  Remember, each secret sister is supposed to "treat" their sister twice during the semester.  The fall semester runs through February 14th.

Cori Atkins is working on a trip to Dewberry Farm for October.  The tentative date is October 21st.  If you have never been, Dewberry Farm is tons of fun for your kiddos and well worth the drive to Brookshire.  You really will want to take advantage of being able to go with our group during the week as it is MUCH less crowded than the weekends!  www.dewberryfarm.com Stay tuned for more info!

As usual, Cintia Listenbee inspired us with a fantastic devotional about "Sailing with Gentleness".  The biggest takeaway?  "If you can choose it, you can change it." --Chris Judd.  If you missed it, you will really want to check out her slide presentation on our group Facebook page.
 
Meet your amazing Discussion Group Leaders (DGLs):
Top row: Tina Koenig, Melanie Hausmann, Andrea Cashiola
Bottom row: Aleini Lacombe, Caitlin McNamee, Breanne Ward
 
 
And Finally, Friday was also our PJ party!  A million thanks to our fearless leader, Liz Brown for hosting!  As you can see, much fun was had by all!
 
Seriously, can we be any cuter?!?!

Our next meeting is October 4th.  Orange Table is up for breakfast.  See you then!
 





Monday, September 9, 2013

Recap of September 6th Meeting

Hello lovely ladies!  It is so good to be back!  Thank you Steering for the wonderful breakfast (especially Liz who was going to get us those casseroles come hell or high water!)



 
 
 
Our Coordinator, Liz Brown, got the ball rolling by introducing us to this year's theme: A Beautiful Mess.  I think most of us can relate!
 
The fabulous Cintia Listenbee then led us in prayer and devotion.  She reminded us that God wants to be involved in motherhood, even in the mundane tasks, minor annoyances, and small victories.  For those of you new to MOPS, Cintia has a wonderful blog that deserves a shout-out here:

 
 
Liz Brown then walked us through what it means to be a part of MOPS at CUMC.  We constantly strive to fulfill the MOPS purpose, "The purpose of MOPS International is to encourage, equip and develop every Mother of a Preschooler to realize her potential as a woman, mother and leader in the name of Jesus Christ."  Amen to that!
 
Instead of everyone being assigned to a committee this year, we are asking everyone to volunteer where they feel called.  This includes not volunteering if you feel you are not up to the task.  If you did not get a chance to sign up for a committee at the meeting and you would like to, please see Liz.
 
Announcements from Steering:
 
Publicity: Be sure to join our Facebook page so that you can stay connected with everything we have going on throughout the year.  Search for "Christ United Methodist Church - Sugar Land MOPS" and any Steering member can add you.  The calendar, blog updates, play date info, mommy advice and much more awaits you!
 
Care Team: Congrats to Anne Leder and the entire Leder family on their newest addition!  Be on the lookout from Leah Hammonds for the Sign-Up Genius for Anne's meals.
 
Social: Our first MOPS social is the PJ party on September 20th at 6:30pm at Liz Brown's house (4410 Balboa Dr., Sugar Land, TX 77479).  This is such a great evening, you do not want to miss it!  Pizza and soft drinks will be provided, if you would like to bring a dessert that would be most welcome!  Definitely get into your pjs and come ready for some fun girl time!
Park play dates will begin next month!  On Tuesday, October 1st and Wednesday, October 2nd, we will meet at Castle Park from 9:30am-11:30am.  Castle Park is located at 4909 Commonwealth Blvd., Sugar Land, TX 77479.  Rain contingency plan is to meet at the Sugar Creek Playscape located at 1333 SW Frwy, Sugar Land, TX 77478.  Check FB on those days for confirmation. 
 
Fundraising: On Wednesday, October 9th at 6:30pm, we will host our second annual auction at Shelli LeBret's house.  Meredith Canny is currently collecting items for the auction through October 4th.  Dig through those closets, ladies.  We are looking for gently used or new purses, clothing, jewelry, kitchen gadgets, etc.  Then, on October 9th, bring your checkbooks and come shopping!  If we can raise $600 from this event, we will not need to do another fundraiser all year!  Shelli LeBret lives at 6427 Crystal Point, Missouri City, TX 77459.
 
Missions: Amanda Gates gave us a brief intro into Young Lives.  Next week we will hear much more about this so stay tuned!
 
September 22nd the MOPS hubbies (or the FOPS, if you will) are going to meet at Stadia in Town Center to watch the Texans game at noon.  Daddies need a support group too, encourage your hubby to come out and make some friends!
 
The Fall Couples Social has been moved from November 8th to November 15th.  The calendars in the folders have the incorrect date!
 
The rest of the meeting was spent decorating our journals that our wonderful Mentor Moms are going to use to communicate with and support us throughout the year.  We are so lucky to have these wonderful women as a part of our group!
 
Finally, meet your 2013-2014 Steering Team:
 
Top Row: Meg Ruffing (Crafts), Kathie Kelly (Publicity)
Heather Lovell (Coo-Chair), Julia Steinhaus (Membership), Liz Brown (Coordinator), Cori Atkins (Social) Leah Hammonds (Care Team)
Amanda Gates (Missions), Kathleen Randall (Finance), Catherine Kubala (MOPPETS Crafts), Meredith Canny (Fundraising)
Bottom Row: Cintia Listenbee (Prayer), Renata Smith (Hospitality)


Who are we kidding?  We all know it's more like this:
 
That's better....

 
 
Next meeting is September 20th.  Red Table is bringing breakfast!  See you there!