Be Strong!

Strength is part of this year's theme in MOPS. This is a good one, especially during these crazy times. This was the theme we chose for the month, too. Our first meeting in October was a yoga meeting. Our very own, Danielle led us in a spiritual flow focusing on core strength. She spoke to us about diastasis recti (the separation of your "six pack" muscles after pregnancy) and gave some tips on fixing that with yoga moves.

MOPS International sends us a bunch of meeting material. We used this (for the first time) for our second meeting of the month. We worked in groups to build a tower out of spaghetti and marshmallows then listened to Toni Greco talk about building mental stamina. Afterwards we had a really authentic conversation about how we are using these tools during this COVID pandemic.

Kate put together a BINGO night at Lillians one night this month. We did not come home as big winners but it was still nice to have a night out and lucky to snag a table!

We are still welcoming new members and looking for nursery workers. Come hang out with us! "Better Moms Make a Better World"!

Decide to Rise!

You guys! Let's Decide to Rise! Check out this year's theme video here. It's going to be good! We've had some fun play dates- the beach, Reddie Point Preserve and the zoo. 

We've had some fun girls nights- in the pool and watching Mulan. 

Our first meeting was successful. We are in need of nursery workers, so if anyone knows of anyone who would like to come and help with babies for a few hours, please reach out! We talked about what kinds of meetings topics we'd like to hear.

For our second meeting we did meal prep. We made 5 different freezer meals. 

    

Be sure to take advantage of MOPS International. The perks of that membership are really great right now during a pandemic. They started doing Facebook Live meetings every Tuesday. Take a look here. I love the Tuesday texts.

We have lots of fun coming up this fall. Come have fun with us!

Crazy Times this Summer

We sure are in some odd times. The Corona Virus numbers keep going up, at some point Jacksonville was even a national hot spot! How are you? Are you okay? Are you taking care of yourself? "If Mama 'ain't happy, a'int nobody happy." It's been a struggle to find things to do with kids. Most camps are canceled. We had a water park play date scheduled but then canceled it when local numbers started spiking. People are scared. There is a lot of unknown. The good news is we have MOPS! We are good to go for year number TWO! We are officially registered with MOPS International and got the packet of goodies. The space is reserved for our meetings starting September 3rd at 9:30am. We are working on childcare details and hoping to have lots of outdoor time for the MOPPETS to help with social distancing. Stay tuned for more information. Get signed up with our group officially. Dues are only $30 to be paid to St. Matthews. You can pay by cash or check to the front office of St. Matthews during business hours. Or you can pay with Faith Direct online. Then, you can go online to MOPS to register with the International group and start getting emails, magazines and lots of mom support! Use the code X3N8 to join our group. That's another $31.95. Click here to register for our group so we can get your info. It's going to be good! Decide to Rise!

Sign up to Take over a Tuesday on Instagram so we can follow you through out the day. We want to see all the messy parts, too! We did do a park play date one afternoon. We tried to stay distant and it was hot.

The library did an online summer reading program, there were a few online VBSs, neighborhood pools with the chlorine at 7!, lots of walks, way too much screen time! We are trying to make it work. We did a back yard pool party at Kate's in June. We did a back porch girls night at Lucy's in July. It's so fun getting to meet new moms. I think we all needed the night out! We did a beach play date today. It was a great turn out and a good way to hang out, but still stay apart to your comfort level. MOPS is here for you! Come hang out with us!

Spring with COVID-19

We were able to get in the first meeting of March. We had a Mother-in-Law Wisdom Panel. We had 3 amazing mother-in-laws come to give us their words of wisdom on how to be a good daughter in law and a glimpse into the world from their perspective. It was so nice to gain some insight and have them take their time with us. I have been calling my MIL a lot more since the meeting!

And then COVID-19 took over and we've had to stay at home. No meetings, play dates or girls nights. We've had to get creative on how to stay sane and in touch. Our next meeting in March was supposed to be on Cheap and Healthy Eating. The speaker canceled, but Kate taught us how to Zoom and we traded tips on how to eat healthy and inexpensively. She also told us about the Facebook Group, Families Surviving Corona Virus Together for tips on things to do at home with kids.

We've had two fun girls nights, put together by the amazing, Kate. We watched a movie together in a Netflix Party. It was neat; we could watch and then chat on the side. It reminded me of AOL IM. Ha! We also played a game using an app called Psych! We had to try to "psych" each other out by making up movie descriptions and words. It was neat. We will have another Netflix Party soon!

For our first April meeting, Meghan did a fabulous Facebook Live on home organization. We are lucky to have this professional speaker right here in our group! Since we are all home and staring at our messy houses- this was an especially useful meeting for me. I started going through kids clothes right after the meeting! We are trying to stay connected as much as possible. Sometimes, all the technology can be too much! Let us know if we can do anything for you. 

Remember, "If Mama 'Aint Happy, 'Aint Nobody Happy!"

Congratulations to Christina, on baby Jaeger! We will set up a meal schedule hopefully this summer when COVID-19 is not as intense. We hope everyone is staying healthy and sane!

Together with Friends

Our first meeting in February, we took over the St. Matt's kitchen and did meal prep. We each went home with freezer meal bags of chicken fajitas, meatloaf, sweet and sour meatballs, honey Dijon chicken and sausage and peppers. We chatted, traded tips and made a weeks worth of dinners for our families. We did extras for working moms and moms with sick kids. MOPS International even reposted our Instagram post! Becky has been making that happen a lot for us, lately!

We did a Relationship Challenge on social media to celebrate Valentine's Day. 

For our second meeting of the month, we had Barbara Handzel, a marriage building leader from Resurrection talk about marriage and gave some words of wisdom. She also passed out some neat bookmarks and hand outs.

We had a few fun girls nights this month. We went to ladies night at Fired Up (Kate's awesome photography skills!) and a few of us did a One Vibe dance class. It's neat getting to know everyone without kids climbing on us!

We've also stepped it up with the play dates, I think. We started making Valentine's for the nursing home and then went to deliver them on Valentine's Day. That rolled into a weekly Monday afternoon play date- rotating houses: Anne, Kate, Meghan and Lucy. A group went on the St. John's Riverkeeper tour. We started a Best Lent Ever weekly walk & talk. Then there's lots of last minute park meet ups or other fun things people post about as they decide to do them and invite friends. The Facebook group is action packed. Take Over Tuesdays are happening on Instagram, too. Come join in all the fun!

A New Year

It's a new year, mamas! We've got this! Sometimes it's hard to tell what day it is, let alone which year. But here we are, standing together! Our first meeting of the year was on school choice. This is a family decision, of course. We're just here to help with the discernment process. We had Carol Yazdiya talk about private school. Beth Rasch talked about public school. Anna McCormick talked about home schooling. I think it was an awesome wisdom panel. These three women are amazing mothers, wives and people! They had so much helpful information to share!

School Choice Wisdom Panel

We're having lots of play date fun! Walking, story time and parks! The girls night with Rethreaded was postponed. We have one coming up early next month. Come hang out with us! Be thinking of what leadership role you'd like to do for the fall!

Christmas Time

We only had one official meeting in December. Vanessa Holland gave some great photography tips. See the handouts below:

We went caroling at the Cross Care nursing home twice. We had lots of play dates at parks, the indoor playground, zoo, MOSH and riding the skyway to the library. Throw ideas out on Facebook and Instagram if you aren't seeing something you like. 

Caroling at Cross Care

Round II of caroling with the big kids out of school

Train exhibit at MOSH

Stopping for a pic at Hemming Plaza after riding the skyway. Headed to the library!

The Creative Grain girls night was canceled because we couldn't get enough people. Instead, a group went to La Nap for dinner. Do you have any girls night ideas? Let us know!

On the 4th day of Christmas we had the MOPS & POPS Christmas party. My husband was excited to meet some of the other guys. We stayed up late laughing and chatting!

Christmas Party