MOPS of Granbury

Favorite Recipe Contest

2011-10-05T20:54:00.000-07:00

Enter your favorite recipe to appear in next month's newsletter. November's theme is what to do with Thanksgiving leftovers. To enter, enter your dish in the comments of this post. I will email the winner to get the full recipe. Can't wait to see what new recipes you have!

September Newsletter

2011-10-05T20:51:00.000-07:00

2011-09-06T12:23:00.000-07:00

The first MOPS meeting is next week! Join us Monday at 9:30am at the Ministry Center off 144 (down the hill from Lakeside Baptist Church). You can pre-register to hold you a spot (and a spot for your little ones at Moppets) by visiting www.lakesidebc.org. Click on the Growing in Discipleship Link on the left and choose MOPs from the menu. Can't wait to see everyone there!

MOPs First Meeting!

2011-08-28T18:59:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again ... summer vacation ends, kids go back to school and life settles back into routine. It's also the time of year when MOPs kicks into gear with our first meeting September 12 at 9:30am. We invite you to come join in fellowship with other mothers of children ages 0-kindergarten.

This year's calendar is full of excellent speakers, fun playdates and much needed moms' nights out. We will meet the second Monday of each month (except March due to spring break). We encourage MOPs members to find alternative child care but if you do not have this option we offer childcare through Moppets.

The membership fee for the 2011-2012 year is $40 if you register before October 1st.

March Newsletter

2011-03-06T18:35:00.001-08:00

February newsletter... sort of

2011-02-21T19:30:00.000-08:00

Can you believe that the Texas weather snowed (or should I say iced) us out of our MOPS meeting?!? Well, we weren't able to get together this month, but we did have our newsletter ready. So here are the parts of the newsletter that aren't going to be in next months when we actually have a meeting!

January's Newsletter

2011-02-01T19:33:00.001-08:00

December 2010 Newsletter

2010-12-27T20:57:00.001-08:00

October 2010 Meeting Pictures & Newsletter

2010-10-09T21:01:00.001-07:00

September 2010 Newsletter

2010-09-02T13:20:00.000-07:00

Here's the September 2010 Newsletter to download and print (jpg format)

Upcoming events:
*Sept. 9th: Granbury Fire Dept. Tour @ 1701 W. Pearl St. @ 10:30am with the Granbury Playgroup.
*Sept. 23rd: Mom’s Night Out @ Braums @ 7:00pm.
*Oct. 7th: Next MOPS meeting @ 9:30am.

First MOPS Meeting of the Year

2010-08-22T18:18:00.000-07:00

Hello, wonderful moms!

We want to remind you that our new season of MOPS is right around the corner! Our first MOPS meeting for 2010/2011 will be Thursday, September 2nd from 9:30am - 11:30am at Lakeside Baptist Church (500 W. Bluebonnet, Granbury, TX 76049). This year we will be meeting on the first Thursday of every month, and our theme for the year will be Momology: the Art & Science of Mothering: "Mothering is both art and science. It combines all of who we are to shape healthy, resilient kids. Mothering is so complex it requires both sides of our brain..." (from MOPS.org)

In addition, at each MOPS meeting this year we'll be focusing on one of four essential elements for successful outcomes with our kids: Core - knowing and growing ourselves. Finesse - honing practical mothering skills. Circle - building relationships to help us in our mothering. Grandscape - engaging with God and his unique purpose for our lives.

We have some great speakers lined up this year to help us in developing each of these essential elements. We'll enjoy talks on Parenting with Love & Logic, Boundaries, and Mommy & Me Music, for example.

We are so excited about this new year of MOPS, and we hope to see you Thursday, September 2nd!

May's Newsletters & Summer Happenings

2010-06-02T19:25:00.000-07:00

MOPS Easter Egg Hunt 2010

2010-04-12T11:24:00.000-07:00

This free greeting card made with Smilebox

Easter....goodies and craft

2010-03-24T12:17:00.000-07:00

Precious Easter Goodies:
(from http://familyfun.go.com/)

Ingredients:
1 dozen cupcakes
1 bag jelly beans
2 cups white icing
Sweetened coconut, colored with green food coloring

Instructions:
* First, frost the cupcakes with white icing. Bend a pipe cleaner or a piece of red licorice into an arch and push the ends into the sides of each cupcake.
* Shake the shredded coconut in a stainless steel bowl. Sprinkle on food coloring bit by bit, mixing vigorously to distribute the color
* Place a pinch of shredded coconut on each iced cupcake. Now place three jelly beans on the "nest" of coconut.
* Tie a small ribbon bow on the pipe cleaner or licorice handle at a jaunty angle.
* Put one cupcake basket by each place setting at Easter brunch or give them as gifts.

Ingredients:
1 dozen cupcake (baked from your favorite recipe)
White icing
Shredded coconut
Pink decorators' sugar
Jelly bean nose
Chewable Sweet Tart eyes
Large marshmallow
Mini marshmallows

Instructions:
* Frost a cupcake (baked from your favorite recipe) with white icing and sprinkle on shredded coconut fur.
* Cut a large marshmallow in half widthwise. Squeeze each half slightly to give it an oval shape, then decorate the sticky side of each one with pink decorators' sugar and set them in place for ears.
* Add a jelly bean nose and either jelly bean or snipped Sweet Tart eyes, and mini marshmallows for cheeks. For a finishing touch, draw on decorators' gel pupils or whiskers if you'd like.

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Resurrection Eggs are a great way to share the story of the Resurrection with your child. This is a step-by-step video on how to make your own and also shows how to share it with you little one(s)....Enjoy!!

Happy Easter!!

March Newsletter

2010-03-24T12:00:00.001-07:00

Mar. 25th: VFD Memorial Park at 10:30 (N. Travis St.)

Mar. 26th: Easter Egg Hunt at Hewlett Park. Bring eggs.

April 8th: City park- corner of Pearl St. and Park St. 10:30. MNO at Ginny's (more info to come)

April 15th: MOPS and McDonald’s.

February Meeting & Newsletter

2010-03-03T18:42:00.001-08:00

Pastor Mark Forrest, the pastor at Lakeside Baptist Church, spoke at our February MOPS meeting on the topic of biblical parenting. Pastor Mark is such an awesome speaker and has a God-given ability to inspire one to dig deeper in our walk as Christians and as mothers. Thank you, Pastor Mark! We also chatted at our tables about the personal struggles and strengths we have as mothers.

It was so fun to be able to get to know many moms a little better with our group ICE BREAKER. We all shared some interesting factoids with our group. It was awesome to realize we have such talented and gifted moms in our MOPS group! God has made each one of us so perfectly and also so unique! We have moms who....
* love to cook
* hate to cook
* love to speak up in groups
* hide at the possibility that they might have to speak up
* were missonaries around the globe
* have amazing testimonies about God's goodness
* were Pine Cove counselors
* love the Dallas Cowboys
* are Aggies
* are Okies
* love little babies
* went and worked in Washington D.C.
* take clogging classes
* are pastor's wives
* were teachers, event planners, counselors, physical therapists, in public relations......the list goes on

After this 'ice breaker' I thought about Romans 12:4-8, where God tells us each one of us is a member of one body and we all have a unique function and have different gifts! How true is this and what an excellent display of His body at our meeting!
vs. 5: " so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us...."
Sometimes we forget how perfect God made each one of us and how He created us to be unique and desires us to be ourselves. If you ever doubt what makes you special, remember God's word and He will remind you how He designed you and how perfectly you were knitted in the womb!

If you would like to help with next year's MOPS group as part of the STEERING COMMITTEE, contact Shelly Atwood. Shelly will be the director of MOPS next year and is looking for moms who would like to serve in any way through MOPS.

Our next meeting will be on Thursday, March 11, due to the Spring Break holiday.
Hope to see you there!

January Newsletter & Important Dates!

2010-01-29T10:15:00.000-08:00

Fun dates:

Feb. 4th playdate with the Granbury Playgroup @ the Firefighter Park on Travis Street, 10am.
Feb. 5th playdate @ Jumping Party, 10am. Bring socks (and pack lunch).
Feb. 9th MNO at Lori B's house. Don't miss out on a Chocolate Fondue night! Email granburymops@hotmail.com for address.

December newsletter

2009-12-14T21:50:00.000-08:00

November Newsletter and Speaker Handout

2009-12-02T21:27:00.000-08:00

Did you miss our November MOPS meeting? Want to see our play dates or see if your table is in charge of snacks for next month? We're trying to keep everyone up to date and make our MOPS information more accessible. Each month we are going to have our newsletter here so you can download at your convenience! Here is our newsletter for November with all the current information:

At our Nov. meeting, Denise shared with us a lot of great information about freezing meals with some recipes and websites. Some people missed out on her handout so we wanted to add it here for everyone to download:
Click here to download (.doc format)

Cheers!!

Our next MOPS meeting

2009-12-01T18:55:00.000-08:00

We hope everyone had an wonderful Thanksgiving with your loved ones and are ready for Decemeber to begin!

Remember, the next MOPS meeting will be held on Thursday, December 10.
We will have an ornament exchange, so be sure to bring a wrapped ornament with you to swap with another mom! The price limit for the ornament is $5.00.

Don't forget to check out the sidebar to see the December activities and playdates for Granbury moms and kiddos!

Let's also say a Happy Birthday to the sweet moms who have a birthday in December:

December 8 - Stacey Mitchell
December 16 - Jari Dennis
December 19 - Whitney Williams
December 31 - Sandra Tate
December 25 - Ginny Thomas

We hope your birthday is special ~ we love you!!

Life on Planet Mom

2009-11-04T05:35:00.000-08:00

Just wondering if anyone has started reading the MOPS book:
Life on Planet Mom....
After reading the first few chapters, one can sure relate to the way our relationships change once when we became a mom. It is crazy how the moment a sweet, little bundle of joy arrives, our relationships can be enhanced, strengthened, questioned, strained, and so forth. The author explores the relationships in our lives that change and also offers great reminders on how to keep a healthy balance in our lives. The theme of the book - thus far - is the need for all moms to understand and tweek our relationships in order for us to be the women God desires us to be.

If you are reading this book right now, post a comment on the MOPS blog to share your thoughts about the contents......

Clothing & Toy Swap Coming Soon

2009-10-27T20:05:00.001-07:00

MOPS is going GREEN!!
Every mom has toys or clothes your kiddos have outgrown or aren't using anymore...sooooo, we're planning to have a clothes & toy swap soon!
Start getting your new or gently used toys ready so we can swap!

We have a tentitive plan to do a TOY SWAP in December
and a CLOTHING SWAP in March! Details to come....

Happy Harvest!

2009-10-27T19:28:00.000-07:00

Hope your October is going well and you are enjoying the rain and much cooler weather here in Granbury!

At our October MOPS meeting, we had Trooper Dub Gillium back again to speak to us about car seat saftey and all the things moms need to know about keeping our little ones safe in the car. We were able to get to know our table members a little bit better too by sharing some answers to some fun questions and also our prayer requests.

One great way our MOPS group shares in the precious time of a new birth is by showering new moms-to-be with diapers and wipees. Then after the little one (or ones) arrive, we sign up to bring meals to their families. What an awesome way to celebrate a new arrival and show our MOPS family we care during such a wonderful and transitional time in a mom's life! This month, we were able to celebrate Whitney and the birth of her new baby boys. Whitney just had twins and their new family additions are doing really well and mom is too! This year, we have several pregnant moms in our group and we look forward to showering them with dinners, necessities, and prayers in the upcoming months. :0)

Don't forget to check the blog sidebar to see the activities we have planned until we meet again at Lakeside on Thursday, November 19! We are teaming up with Pecan Playgroup and joining in on playgroups, and having a mom's movie night out too......

Many blessings to each and every mom!
Hope to see you soon!

September Meeting...

2009-09-22T10:17:00.001-07:00

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September 17 was the first MOPS meeting of the new year. Our guest speaker was the entertaining, but always informative, Trooper Gillium. He spoke to us about Keeping Kids Safe and also shared some helpful tips for moms on how to be alert and aware of our surroundings.

After our great speaker, we had a fun ice breaker to get to know everyone a little better. Also, this year each table has a mentor mom sitting with us to shepard us on our motherhood journey.

A few pictures from our meeting....

A few MOPS moms with new little ones.....

The MOPPETS (the MOPS childcare) went really smoothly....with many, many volunteers to help with our little ones! The children all seemed to be having a blast!

A big thank you goes out to all of the volunteers!!

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Take a look in the margin of the blog to see the upcoming activities for playdates, an October mom's night out, and other fun events for your family in Granbury!

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Don't forget our next MOPS meeting will be held on Thursday, October 8! Trooper Gillum will be there to do a car seat saftey check....

A new MOPS year....

2009-08-20T21:06:00.000-07:00

It is hard to believe another summer is coming to an end and autumn is just around the corner! For some MOPS moms, this means older children heading back to school, while other moms may have a child venturing off to school for the first time. Some MOPS moms are readily preparing a new year of homeschooling for their little ones, or perhaps feel led to start homeschooling this year. Many MOPS moms are looking forward to new "firsts" with newborns, toddlers, or preschoolers bringing life to their homes. Whichever boat you find yourself in, it is safe to say summer is coming to a close, and new autumn adventure is ahead.......

Here is some information about the MOPS new year:

First MOPS meeting? Thursday, September 17

Time? 9:30 - 11:30

Dues? MOPS Membership is $25 fall $20 spring

Childcare? Childcare is available for your little ones while moms get to fellowship together through our Moppets volunteers (thank you volunteers!!)

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The 2009-10 MOPS Steering Committee:

Coordinator: Debra Jennings

Co-coordinator: Shelly Atwood

PR: Sandy Arnett

Hospitality: Jari Dennis & Faith Hurt

Finance: Stacy Mitchell

Creative Activities: Echo Gregory

Discussion Group Leader: Julie Lutzky

Outreach: Amy Tate

Mentor Moms: Ginny Thomas, Mary Roberson, Lou Dawson, Rosalie

Moppets: Tricia Durand

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We hope to see you in a few weeks at the first MOPS meeting of an exciting year!

Summertime....

2009-07-30T11:06:00.001-07:00

We hope you are all having a wonderful summer!
There have been many fun activities planned for us all to get

together in the summertime.

We have been alternating between the Granbury City Beach and

Pecan Clubhouse Pool each Friday this summer.

Here is a schedule for the rest of the summer:

July 31- Swimming at Pecan Pool @ 10:00

August 3 - MOM'S night out @ Braum's @ 7:00 pm

August 7- Swimming at Pecan Pool @ 10:00

August 14 - Swimming at Granbury Beach @ 10:00

August 21- Swimming at Pecan Pool @ 10:00

August 28- Swimming at Granbury Beach @ 10:00

We sure hope to see you at Mom's Night Out or with your little ones on Fridays!

Easter Egg Hunt

2009-04-23T11:53:00.000-07:00

It was a cold Easter Egg hunt but the kids did not seem to mind. I think they all had a great time finding eggs. We mom's were quick to help find the eggs then get in the warm car to go home and thaw out. Thankfully it was not as cold as the first day we planned the hunt:)

Everyone is checking out what all they have in their eggs.

Play Date at the Park

2009-03-06T13:49:00.001-08:00

Today was our play date at the Pecan Activity Center. We had a chance to hang out and relax while the kids played nearby. Thanks to Julie Landon who brought her camera and took great pics... we now have some to put on the blog. We missed all those not able to come. See ya at our next meeting on March 26th.

Play Date at the Ranch

2009-01-30T12:02:00.001-08:00

We started off our gathering making valentines cupcakes. The kids as well as the mom's got to enjoy these treats. (fyi if you click on the picture you can see them much better) Next came the bouncy house. I am not sure how many it holds but there were lots of toddlers and preschoolers with no problems. This was a great way to work off some of those cupcakes.

The next best way is to have horse races... which of course we have to do if we are going to be real ranchers. The kids and their horses are all lined up and ready to run.

Does anybody know where we are running to?

Girl's only!

The time at the ranch is not complete until the pony ride. Every one did a great job standing in line waiting for their turn and the line was long:)

Thank you Candyce for letting us come out to your ranch to play. We all had a great time.

Meeting Thursday!

2008-10-13T18:04:00.000-07:00

Don't forget our monthly MOPS meeting this Thursday. We'll start on time at 9:30 in the fellowship hall at Lakeside Baptist. We'll have State Trooper Dub Gilliam with us talking about Women's Safety. Julie's Jugglers will be providing brunch for the meeting. See you Thursday!!!

MOPS...Where Friends are Made

2008-09-18T10:54:00.000-07:00

Welcome to our brand new Granbury MOPS blog. I just came home from our first meeting of the year and I'm just blown away by how wonderful it went. There was A LOT of fun crammed into two short hours...an abundant spread of food, a wonderful speaker, a fun craft, a special devotional, and plenty of chit-chatting! There were plenty of returning moms from last year but I was amazed by how many first time guests we had! It's great to see that MOPS is expanding beyond our familiar group and reaching out to new moms. I'm sure if we keep it up, our MOPS group will be overflowing before the year is up. I love it!

I'll post pictures from MOPS events on this blog. We'll also use it to make announcements and to introduce new MOPPETS as they arrive ---did anyone else notice how many expecting moms were attending today? LOVE IT!!! Here are some pictures from today's meeting:

Some of the decorations.

Our lovely new coordinator, Debra, making some announcements to the group.

Some of our MOPPETS playing while we cleaned up from the meeting.