Recap of November 15th Meeting

Hello ladies!

November 15th was another fabulous meeting.  Thank you so much to the blue table for the amazing breakfast!

Renata Smith and Cintia Listenbee started the meeting with their top 10 recaps from MOMcon 2013.  If you missed it, here they are:

1. What keeps you feeling like a masterpiece?  Positive thinking and focusing on the positive, not the mess (beautiful as it may be!) http://www.handsfreemama.com/2013/11/17/cleaning-up-the-heart-break/
2. Get organized and never organize alone.
3. Kathi Lipp's (www.kathilipp.com) organizational tips-- "The only difference between a project and a crisis is time!"

1. Work backwards--care for your future self.
2. Apply pressure when needed-start with the place that makes you crazy.
3. Wait for a path to appear.
4. Never organize alone.
5. Treat your home like a grown-up kindergarten room-establish a routine of where things go.
6. 3 boxes, 2 bags: green-give away, purple-put back, orange-other rooms, paper bag-recycling, trash bag-trash.
7. Make a decision, even if it's wrong. Clutter is indecision.
8. It's your house, you make the rules.

4. Writing and sharing stories--telling stories is more effective than preaching.
5. Let jealousy be your teacher-make connections vs. comparisons.
6. Save on your grocery bill! http://www.simplycintia.com/2013/10/how-to-save-money-on-your-grocery-bill.html
7. Renata attended a hospitality workshop where she learned about a "Wrap & Relax" party where friends gather to wrap presents and visit.  We all LOVED this idea, so mark your calendars for Tuesday, December 10th at 7pm.  We will meet at Cori Atkins's house (4930 Moss Run Dr., Missouri City, TX 77459).  Bring your gifts, wrapping paper and paraphernalia, and beverage of choice!
8. Cintia attended a session on MOPS essentials.  Find out more about how MOPS started at www.mops.org.
9. How to eliminate your energy drainers (the 5 D's):

1. Do it--do only what you can do.
2. Delegate
3. Dump it
4. Detach
5. Discern-think about what God wants you to do. 

10. Who puts life into living for you? Finding things that feed your soul outside motherhood.
http://momastery.com/blog/2013/11/22/little-girls-get-get-eat/

Thanks to Cintia and Renata for the fantastic recap!  If MOMcon sounds like fun (and trust me, it IS), next year's is October 2-4 in Louisville, KY.  Registration opens in January! http://www.mops.org/momcon

 

 

Thank you to all who participated in Operation Christmas Child! Thank you to Amanda Gates for dropping off our boxes!

 

In January, we will have a paramedic come and speak with us about common issues first responders are faced with.  He will NOT be able to dispense specific medical advice.  Cori Atkins is organizing a group CPR/First Aid class at CUMC for us to take prior to his visit.  Stay tuned for more info!!!

 

If you are participating in Secret Sisters and have not received anything from your sister yet, please contact Heather Lovell (llovells@earthlink.net).

 

Send your family/kid pictures to Kathie Kelly for the Christmas meeting!  kathiekelly@hotmail.com

 

Thank you to all who came to the Couple's Social--it was TONS of fun!

 

Thank you to Amanda Gates and all who brought food and served at the Young Lives Thanksgiving dinner.  It was a great success!

 

The rest of our meeting was spent under the careful tutelage of Meg Ruffing as we made our Christmas wreaths!

 

 

At the end of our meeting, Kathleen Randall shared a recent find that she discovered about how to have a more simple and mindful holiday.  The book is Hundred Dollar Holiday: The Case for a More Joyful Christmas by Bill McKibben. 

 

http://www.amazon.com/Hundred-Dollar-Holiday-Joyful-Christmas-ebook/dp/B00AK9ISCS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1385138955&sr=8-1&keywords=hundred+dollar+holiday

 

 

Our next meeting is December 6th.  This is our Christmas by Candlelight meeting and it is very special.  We will be meeting upstairs in room 210/211.  Feel free to dress up since this is a special meeting.  The breakfast will be catered and we will have a very special guest.  You don't want to miss it!

 

 

Y'all, we have some SERIOUS talent!

 





 

 



Thoughts from Kim Garnett...

Hi girls!

Cori wanted the publicity members to start posting on the blog, so I've been thinking all week of a good topic to blog about. After talking with Missy at the meeting today, it appears that I was overthinking it :) So, for my first entry, I'm going to share a few things I learned recently.

To give you some background on myself, I've been clipping coupons, etc. as a hobby for the last two years. Don't get me wrong - my family certainly needs to stay on a budget if I want to continue being a stay at home mom. However, I've found that budgeting and seeing how much I can get for my money is a fun challenge for me, as well as helping my family save money. My family calls me the "crazy spreadsheet lady", and I'm proud of it, as my spreadsheet has told me how much I've saved in coupons this year ($400)! I will now stop the spreadsheet talk and step away from my control freak ESFP "Happy Together" mothering profile that I discovered today to tell you...

I've been subscribing to some recently discovered mom-blogs (frugal living and crafty ones) just for the tips other moms have shared. I've also been trying to make a lot of our foods/cleaning supplies, etc. at home which combines my two blog interests. As a result, I found out about a few things that you moms might like to know.

1. Clorox Anywhere Spray. It's almost $3.50 a bottle in some places, and here's the recipe: 1.5 teaspoons of bleach, 22 oz. of water. THAT'S IT!! Can you believe it? My parents have about 6 half used bottles around the house for various dog accidents, etc. I should make it for them, and sell it for half price!

2. Fruit Wash spray. Not sure how many brands there are, but the ingredients on the one I have state "surfactant, water, citric acid". According to the dictionary (and my chemical engineer husband), the definition of surfactant is 'a chemical agent capable of reducing the surface tension of a liquid in which it is dissolved'. Basically, this is soap. As for the citric acid, this acts as a rinsing agent. So, keep your fruit wash bottle, pump a few squirts into it, and dilute with water and a teaspoon or so of lemon juice. I do recommend using scent-free soap, the flowery palmolive I just tried makes the grapes smell weird :)

3. Along the same lines, Bath and Body Works (B&BW) is making a killing on their foaming hand wash. Foaming soap is WAY easier for the little ones to use, so I keep it in their bathrooms for easy, quick hand washing. We ran out of our B&BW brand soap the other night, so I added 10 pumps of Dial liquid hand soap into the bottle, carefully topped it off with water (so as not to foam it up too much), swirled lightly, and voila! Foaming hand wash! Can you imagine how many B&BW bottles I can refill with my liquid Dial?? I must say that I am quite fond of the B&BW pump. It seems to keep working for a long time. No sticking like the other pump bottles (including Dial's version). So, I will continue to buy an expensive bottle of B&BW soap at least once a year, just for the bottle.

There! I've saved you $15!!! :)

To wrap up, I had a great time visiting with some new ladies today, and I'm hoping to get to know more of you soon. So far, I'm really enjoying this great group of women! I just hope that my kids stop clinging to my leg when I leave them in Moppets so I can relax while I'm with you :) See you in a couple of weeks!