December Meeting : Beautifying Your Mess

We had a great meeting again this month! 

 

Marcy started us off with our craft.  We made Merry Mail wall hangings for our Christmas Cards! 

 

 

 

She then shared some easy decorating tips with us.  Here are a few of her tips :

 

1.  Use candlesticks, boxes, suitcases, or books to add height to objects

2.  Use jars or vases to display smaller objects

3.  Use words!  Banners, chalkboards, or framed printables

 

 

 

 

Lucia spoke to us about Holiday Stress and how to avoid it.  Here are a few of our discussion questions :

 

1.  How do you handle holiday stesses?

2.  How do you prioritize during the holidays?

3.  How do you handle stresses with family?  In-laws?

 

And a few tips to lessen holiday stress :

 

1.  Pare down the gift-giving

2.  Prioritize

3.  Plan ahead

 

 

 

 

We gave away lots of door prizes this month!  Congratulations to all the winners!  And a special thank you to our donors :

 

Marcy Franks - Bird wall hanging and Christmas banner

Stacy Fuller - Arbonne skin care package

Beth Taylor - It Works! skin care package

Abby Cornett - Thirty One bag

Brittney Crow - Britt's Bows gift basket

Lucia Griffin - Shepherd's Fold Ranch gift basket

Julie Phelps - Pampered Chef gift bag

Cheri's Daylight Donuts of Collinsville - gift cards

Charlie's Chicken of Skiatook - gift card

Tastee Freez of Skiatook - gift card

And Nick Noble of Noble's Meat Market for our smoked ham and turkey for our luncheon.
Skiatook MOPS donated the rest of the prizes.

 

(If you would like information about any of these products please use the contact form to the right and we'll get you in touch with the right person!)

 

 

 

 

We finished up our meeting with our annual luncheon.  The food was amazing!  Thanks to everyone that brought something.

 

 

 

 

 

We collected quite a few cans of soup for the community backpack program!  Next month we're collecting fruit cups.

 

 

 

 Here are a few more snap shots from our meeting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MOPS December Activity Calendar

We're snowed in!  And from the looks of the roads and forecast we might be snowed in again on Monday!  Here are some activities courtesy of mops.org that you can do with your kids this month!

December Mom's Night Out

Our Mom's Night Out this month is a special one.  We're having a Christmas Potluck on December 19th from 6:30-8:30 pm at FBC South Campus Gym.

Events include:
     Minute To Win It : Christmas Edition
     Ugly Sweater Contest
     Leaders Table Decorating Contest
     Gift Exchange

So, sign up to bring a finger food, appetizer, or dessert, start shopping for your ugly sweater and $10 gift, and prepare to have lots of fun!

December Events

Oh, December is a busy one!  We thought we'd try to keep things simple for you this month.

December 2 - Monthly MOPS meeting.  Our theme for December is Beautifying Your Mess.  More details here.

December 6 - Movie and Lunch in Owasso

December 14 - Babysitting Fundraiser

December 16 - Gym Play Date

December 19 - MNO Christmas Party

As always, more information can be found on our facebook page or you can request info via our contact form to the right.

December Meeting Preview

Our December meeting is just two weeks away!  This month our theme is Beautifying Your Mess.

Marcy will be teaching us some easy holiday decorating tips.  She's put together a cute way to display your holiday cards too!

Lucia is working on some great discussion topics for us.  We'll be talking about Holiday Stress and how to look past the mess and see the beauty in the holiday season.

We'll have a quick breakfast of donuts and muffins.  Then, we're having a Christmas Luncheon immediately following our meeting!  So, instead of bringing brunch items we're having you provide the sides and desserts.  Your MOPS leaders will take care of the turkey and ham.  Assignments follow.  Sign up with your table leader.
    
     The Cooking Cuties (Heidi) - Desserts
     The Sleepless Beauties (Jennifer) - Desserts
     The Chore Chicks (Brandi) - Drinks and Bread
     The Magnificent Multitaskers (Kim) - Sides
     The Garden Gals (Mary Ann) - Sides
     And the Diaper Divas (Lucia) - Donuts and Muffins

We'll also be recognizing and thanking our child care workers with a gift as well as sharing lunch with them.

Don't forget to pay your membership fee.  At this point in the year the fee has been reduced to $60 for new members or $5 per meeting.

Also, don't forget we're collecting Single Serving Soups for the community's Backpack Program.

As always, we'll have a fabulous door prize to give away!

Moppets : December with BOZ Preview

It's a special time of year for our Moppets!

Your kids are invited to a birthday party for Jesus!  We'll be singing Christmas Carols, snacking on cupcakes, cookies, and popcorn, making ornaments, and watching a movie!  We're also putting together care packages for people in our community needing a little extra help with the basics this year.  Your child will need to bring travel sized personal hygiene items to put in their care package.  We'll then deliver them to SEAC to be handed out to the community.  Kids are encouraged to wear PJs (one less thing you have to do before you leave the house, right?).  Then, join us afterward for our Christmas dinner in the gym where we'll be thanking all of our wonderful child care workers.

Personal hygiene items still needed :
    

     20 travel toothpaste

     20 toothbrushes     

     20 handsanitizers
     20 chapsticks

     20 travel shaving creams

 

Let us know what you'll be bringing on our facebook page or use the contact form to the right.

Memory Verse : Jesus was born for me.  Luke 2:11
Biblical Concept : God's son, Jesus, was born on Christmas.
Concept in Action : I can celebrate that Jesus was born on Christmas.

Print off the color sheet and use it as a starting point to talk about Christmas and Jesus's birth with your child.

www.Bozthebear.com

MOPS November Activity Calendar

Have you visited mops.org yet?  Every month they put together a fun activity calendar and share it with us moms.  Most of the activities can be done as a family.  A few are for mom only.  Go check it out!

November Activity Calendar!

MOPS Christmas Babysitting Fundraiser

We are super excited about our next fundraiser!  Your awesome MOPS leaders have volunteered to watch all your kids so you can enjoy some last minute (or get started?) Christmas shopping!

We'll play games, make a Christmas craft, have snacks, and watch a Christmas movie (babies and toddlers will watch Veggie Tales and school age kids will watch Polar Express!).  The cost will be $10 per child ages birth through 5th grade.  If you have kids older than 5th grade we'd love a few helpers!

The fundraiser will be Saturday December 14th from 1:00 to 5:00 pm and will be in the preschool building.

All proceeds will go to our MOPS program!

This fundraiser is only open to members of MOPS and FBCSkiatook.  We wish we could open it to everyone but we just don't have the capacity!

To RSVP or request more information, contact Heidi or use the contact form to the right.

November Meeting : Feeding Your Mess

We had another awesome MOPS meeting this month!

Our theme this month was Feeding Your Mess : Menu Planning.  We invited Kristy Still from Mommy Hates Cooking to speak to us about Menu Planning.  Kristy left us all feeling inspired to try new things in the kitchen!

Our craft this month was a Menu Planning Binder.  Marcy pulled together several tools to help us orgainze our meals, including Kristy's eBook Menu Planning 101.  They turned out so cute!

Lucia put together our discussion questions about Meal Planning and Family Dinner Time.  Below is a sampling of those.
     What did dinners look like in your family growing up?
     What is your family's dinner experience?
     Where do you get your recipe inspiration?

Again this month we had an amazing turnout of over 30 moms!  One of those moms won our big door prize and went home with a Thirty One Home Organizer!  Between that and her Menu Planning Binder her kitchen will be well organized!

Our next meeting will be December 2.  We'll be sharing a Christmas meal and thanking our child care workers.  Hope to see everyone back in December!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Moppets : November with BOZ Preview

B Nice 2 Each Other!

The Golden Rule, or being kind to others, is the next theme for BOZ Treehouse Time! at MOPPETS. To Introduce this topic, please look for opportunities to model kindness and catch your child showing kindness. This concept is most easily understood when the word “kind” is associated with a good deed. For example, you might say, “You were kind to Skippy when you filled his water dish”.

 

Young children are concrete thinkers, yet kindness is an abstract concept. Young children can’t touch, smell, or taste kindness, but they can learn that kindness means doing something good for someone else. God is kind to us. Our thanks to God overflows in the form of being kind to others.

Verse: Be Kind to everyone. 2Tim 2:24

Biblical Concept: God is kind to us. We can be kind to others.

Concept in Action: I can be kind.

Note: 3’s -5’s will be sent home with a note about an additional activity that they will complete at the December meeting.  They will collect the following items and bring them to the December meeting to make care packets that I will take to SEAC and put in the church office to be distributed to people within our community that are in need. Items needed: lg ziplock bags, bars of soap, travel shampoo, deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrush, disposable cleaning wipes, washcloths, combs, etc. We will put a label on each bag that will have our church name on it along with a “Come worship with us” note.  Start collecting now!


Be sure to visit BOZ at BOZthebear.com for more activities to share with your children this month!

November Events

We have lots of fun things planned for November!  All these events are on the MOPS Google Calendar to the right.  More information can be found on our facebook page or you can request more information using the contact form to the right.

November 4 - November Meeting - Feeding Your Mess.  We've invited Kristy Still from Mommy Hates Cooking to speak with us about Menu Planning!  More details here...

November 8 - $55 due for the first annual MOPS Retreat at Shepherd's Fold Ranch. 

November 11 - Leaders Meeting

November 15 & 16 - MOPS Retreat at Shepherd's Fold Ranch.   More details here...

November 18 - Gym Playdate.  Every month we meet for an indoor gym playdate.  Bring your bikes and ride-on toys and let the kids burn some energy while us moms get to chat.

November 21 - Zoo Field Trip.  We're meeting at the Tulsa Zoo one last time before it gets too cold!  Bring a picnic lunch.

November Meeting Preview

We are SO excited about our November meeting!  Our theme this month will be "Feeding Your Mess".

We've invited Kristy Still from Mommy Hates Cooking to teach us all about Menu Planning!  Kristy started her cooking blog after her husband (the cook in the family) changed shifts at work.  She was suddenly in charge of dinner, however, she hated cooking!  Her blog was an attempt to learn to love to cook and to add new recipes to her dull dinner rotation.  Visit Mommy Hates Cooking and tell her how excited we are to have her this month!

In addition to Kristy's presentation, we'll also be discussing the importance of family dinners and how to conquer that dreaded dinner time hour.

Our craft this month will be a meal planning notebook.  Kristy has provided us with her menu planning tools and we'll be putting together a binder to organize it all!

Food will be provided by Rebecca and Heidi's tables : The Cooking Cuties and The Chore Chicks.  Sign up on our facebook event!

After the meeting we'll be meeting at Scoozies for some yummy coneys!

As always, we'll have an awesome door prize to give away!

You will NOT want to miss this one!

MOPS Retreat : We are all a Beautiful Mess

*UPDATE!  Our retreat is being postponed until Spring.  We'll keep you posted on the details.


We're having our first annual MOPS Retreat!  Our retreat will be held at Shepherd's Fold Ranch in Avant on November 15-16.  The cost is $55 and must be paid in full by November 8.

 

 

MOPS Retreat: We Are All A Beautiful Mess

 

 

November 15 Friday

6pm – Arrive, check into cabin(s)

Activities include: dinner and games, evening talks, bonfire and s’mores!

 

November 16 Saturday

AM activities include: breakfast, nature walk, personal time, morning talks,

SFR ropes course staff leading zip-line 

Lunch and free time (kayak, canoe, paddleboat, hike a variety of trails, use of basketball court, sand volleyball court, disc golf course, and archery range) 

PM activities include: afternoon talks, messy beautiful craft,

SFR staff leading low-ropes course and teambuilding activities 

5pm – Closing and depart

 

Talk topics include:

Beautiful Messy Me – presented by Heidi

Beautiful Messy Marriage – presented by Lucia

Beautiful Messy Kids – presented by Kim

 

This is a Tentative Schedule.

 

 

 

 

Print this Registration From and give to Lucia with your $55.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pumpkin Patch

For our October Field trip day we went to Pleasant Valley Farm just outside of Sand Springs. It was only about a 45min drive from Skiatook and it was completely worth it. They have barn animals (horses, pigs, goats, and a cow), a mini corn maze that the kids loved, rubber duck water races, pumpkin chunkin cannon, and a hay ride. The kids and mommies had a blast and we can't wait to go back!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pleasant Valley Farm is located just outside of Sand Springs, OK at 22350 W 71st St S.  Their phone number is 918-248-5647.

Meet Your Leaders!

We have an amazing group of ladies serving on our leadership team this year!  Couldn't have asked for a better team!

My Name is Heidi Gerard. I am the Coordinator for MOPS this year. I married my wonderful husband Blake in 2006 and we have two beautiful children, Mathew is 6 and Samantha is 5. This is my 4th year in MOPS now and I can honestly say it has been such a blessing to me as well as my children. My prayer for this year is for God to use us to reach as many moms as possible and show them that they are not alone.
 

"So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you! Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God's will. Then you will receive all that he has promised". Hebrews 10:35-36 NLT

 

 
Meet the rest of the girls!

Rebecca is our Finance Leader and Moppets Leader.  She does an awesome job coordinating our program for your children in addition to keeping up with all our expenses.  Rebecca has been married to her husband, Brian, for 15 years.  They have two boys, ages 1 and 4.  They've lived in Skiatook for 4 1/2 years where they attend First Baptist Church.  She has six siblings and was homeschooled for grades 3rd-12th in her hometown of Moore, OK.  She has a Bachelor's in Accounting from OSU.

Lucia is our Discussion Leader...  "I am very excited to be in MOPS again this year. I am originally from Indiana but have lived in 7 different states over the last 15 years. I have been married to the love of my life Ron for 13 years. We moved to Avant in 2011 and live at Shepherd’s Fold Ranch where Ron is the Executive Director. We enjoy living in the country…and the Oklahoma sunsets over the hill are the best I’ve ever seen! We have 4 beautiful children: Katie is 7, Patrick is 6, Emmitt is 3, and JJ was born January 2013! Our kids attend Hope Christian Academy in Skiatook and we attend two churches: Sacred Heart Catholic Church and Courtyard Church, both in Skiatook.  I love being in MOPS! It has been a great way to meet new women, have friends for my kids, and make great friends!"

 



Marcy is our Crafts Leader.  She has 15 years experience in scrapbooking, including teaching it for 5+ years.  She was also a floral designer for 3 years.  Marcy has been married for 12 years.  She has two kids.  Milly is 4 and Wiley is 2.  She is a military wife and survived her husband's 2 year long deployments.  Due to her family's food sensitivities and allergies, she cooks gluten free, dairy free, soy free, and mammal meat free.  This is Marcy's 3rd year in MOPS.  Marcy does an awesome job coming up with exciting and inexpensive crafts for all our meetings!

Kim is our Publicity and Outreach Leader...  "I'm from Skiatook...born and raised...and I've been a MOPS member for over 4 years.  My husband, Melvin, and I have 3 girls.  Ashlyn is 8 and Lauren and Kaelyn are 5.  I work part time as a PT assistant for a local school system as well as a clinic in Owasso.  MOPS provided the twins and I a fun place to go when older sister was in school.  We've met more than a few life-long friends through MOPS."

Brandi and MaryAnn are our Hospitality Leaders.  These girls do an amazing job setting up our welcome and food tables each month.  They also take the time to coordinate meals for our new moms and make sure each mom feels welcome in our group.  Brandi is married and has one son.  She is an active member of First Baptist Church in Skiatook. 

We also have a MilitaryMOPS Leader.  Contact Heidi for more information.

If you'd like more information about MOPS or need to speak to any of our leaders, please use the contact form to the right.