Christmas Craft Night

We had so much fun at our last MOPS event. . . Christmas craft night! I think that this night is one of the most anticipated nights of the year (at least for me). I loved all the fun things we made. . . tutorials coming soon! This year we made bean soup mix, cornbread mix, hot chocolate baggies, m&m cookie mixes, and some fun coasters.

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What was your favorite part of the night? (please leave a comment). :)

November 11, 2010

December 16, 2010

Mommy Spotlight: Meagan Blumberg

Take the opportunity to meet Meagan this week. She is one of our very awesome table leaders.

Name: Meagan Blumberg

Husband: Brandon Blumberg

Kid(s)/Ages: Jaxon (3 yrs.) & Lincoln (5 mos.)

How long have you been coming to MOPS? 2 1/2 yrs.

Favorite thing about being a mommy: Long hugs from little arms and sweet slobbery kisses. :)

Who is your real life hero? My mom...I'm slightly addicted to her!

What makes you most relaxed? Starbucks and bubble baths (not at the same time).

What makes you most stressed? Clutter

Favorite thing about being a mom? Long hugs from little arms and sweet slobbery kisses. :)

Hardest thing about being a mom? Days when they just won't nap! I love them, but we all need some alone time here and there!

If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Cerulean.

Favorite coffee beverage: Decaf, Nonfat, Raspberry Latte

Favorite candy: Almond Joy. I'm a sucker for anything with coconut in it.

Favorite food: Lobster. In all honesty, I get excited to eat just about anything. I love food!

Favorite movie: I love romantic comedies (which my husband absolutely hates!) because I want a predictable, happy ending. If it makes me cry, but ends happy, even better. Ridiculous, I know!

Favorite hobby: Cooking

Favorite recipe: I make a mean fajita. :) Am I supposed to actually type out a recipe here?! Haha! If so, my salsa chicken recipe is in the church cookbook and that's really good and healthy.

Quick reminder and some Christmas giggles

First of all, I just wanted to remind everyone that we are NOT meeting this week, but are meeting NEXT Thursday night (the 16th). . . same time. . . same place. . . It's Christmas craft time!!!! Stephanie Carter has come up with some amazing crafts for everyone. . . you are in for a nice relaxing night of fun!

But, until then. . . I thought that maybe you could use something to give you a bit of Christmas cheer. Please, enjoy this bit of laughter. . . sent just for you!

See you next week!

Coordinator's Corner: Christmas Traditions

First of all, can I just tell you that I am having so much fun posting things on our MOPS blog! But, I am wondering . . .

:: What has been your favorite part of our new and improved blog?

:: and, what would you like to see?

:: Please comment and let me know. . . please.

Second of all. . . my post for today.

Traditions. Whenever I here that word, Fiddler on the Roof starts singing in my head. . . Traditions, Traditions, Traditions. Traditions are something that I have struggled with since my wedding day. I come from a blended family with very flexible traditions and my husband comes from a family of family gatherings. We tried doing both, but that just became stressful and crazy. We tried doing the every other year, but even still someone always gets their feeling hurt. It can be a huge, overwhelming undertaking. However, once you throw in kids. . . things get even more complicated. EVERYONE wants to see them!

But, I would have to say, despite how frustrating that all the family logistics of holiday celebrations are, they are usually a VERY joyous time and we have a ton of fun! Now, we just struggle with finding time to develop our own family traditions with our own child (and one on the way). We really want to make those memories for our children of our small family celebrations. . . no matter what the holiday is. For example, my husband and I prepare our own Turkey dinner the Saturday following Thanksgiving. Afterwards, we decorate the tree and welcome the Christmas season. We have so much fun!

Christmas tends to me the most chaotic of all the holidays. But, we still manage to be able to claim Christmas morning as our own. The day before, I prepare some sort of bread-y breakfast treat to bake the next morning, and we take the morning and open presents and just hang out as a family before we have to go to the BIG family Christmas. We have so much fun and it will always be my favorite part.

Here are some of our other Christmas traditions:

:: Walk Christmas Tree Lane (this year it is tonight and Dec. 14th)

:: Gingerbread Christmas at the Bridge - Dec. 4th (tomorrow) 10am. . . kids get to decorate gingerbread houses. This is our first year, since Ethan is 2.

:: Small Group Christmas dinner and gift exchange. . . so much fun!

Oh my goodness, I can probably think of others, but I must be getting tired. What are some of your traditions?

Boutique Fun

Our annual Christmas boutique was a HUGE success this year! It was so awesome to see all the busy mammas out selling things and out shopping! We were very blessed to have Chris Hawley coordinate the whole thing this year. She did a fabulous job! Also, our very own Marcy Pusey did a great job getting the word out with publicity. We even had our very own facebook ad! Thanks to all of you who came out to support your fellow moms and our MOPS program! We couldn't do it with out you!

Maari and Claire showing their ornaments for Haiti.

The ladies of 147 Spare Minutes took time to pose for a picture.

Angela was even willing to give Chris a back rub!

Chris Hawley showing off one of her awesome cards.

Check out Marcy's scrapbooking with Creative Memories.

Dorina's hats and scarves were awesome!

Jill stopped by to do some shopping. . . toffee. . . yum!

Bergann and her cute sock monkey!

Allison and Marcy took a break from selling things to pose in front of Allison's hair bows.