Merry Christmas to you and your families, MOPS Mommies!

See you for our next meeting on January 3rd at 6pm. Please bring your favorite frozen food item (unfrozen of course) to munch on.

Have safe and happy holidays!!

December 6th- Special Guest!!

Frank Zamora, a local child psychologist and parenting expert, will come to our meeting to give us a brief overview of "Raising an Emotionally Intelligent Child." Please join us at 6pm and bring a family holiday favorite food item to share!

Your Mothering Style

Monday, November 15th, join us to discuss mothering finesse and make take and bake pizzas for our families to enjoy. Food theme: Traditional Thanksgiving Favorites

See you there!

Psychology 101

Monday, November 1st at 6pm is our next meeting and we will have a very special speaker: our very own Kristy McPherson! Armed with years of counseling experience, she is going to give us an overview of the 5 Love Languages. Soup and Sides will be our food theme and we will assemble a dried soup mix for everyone to take home and enjoy with your family. Don't miss it!

Next Meeting: October 18th- Technology and Your Kids

Please join us Monday, October 18th for a presentation on technology use in our homes. We will enjoy fall food and as always, each other. See you there!

October 4th- Hard CORE!

Our next meeting is Monday, October 4th at 6pm. We will take personality quizes and focus on our CORE! Please bring a food that fits your personality: spicy? creative? quick take-out?

SPECIAL THANK YOUS TO ALL WHO PARTICIPATED IN THE WEECYCLE!

Monday, September 20th, 6pm....Momology; The Art and Science of Mothering

Please join us to kick off the MOPS year on Monday, September 20th at 6pm at Sierra Vista Community Church. Childcare will be provided, we will watch the MOPS Introduction DVD and get to know all of our new mommies! Please bring a breakfast item to share with the group in honor of our new beginning.

Looking ahead to the fall....

1) Our first meeting will be on Monday, September 20th at 6pm. Plenty of reminders will come your way between now and then. We will be finalizing our schedule for the year at St. Clair's Bistro on Monday, July 5th at 6pm. Please feel free to join us to add your input or just to hang out!

2) We are changing up our one and only fundraiser this year. Emily Bair (a mentor mom for our group) approached us with a fabulous idea and offered to take the lead on the project. On Friday and Saturday, September 17th and 18th, we will host an infant, children's and maternity sale at the church. Gently used and in excellent condition items will be sold and sellers will pay us a $5 registration fee that will benefit our MOPS group, while the seller keeps 100% of their profits. It will be a once-per-year second-hand kids store that this town so badly needs!

Volunteers who work a shift at the sale (and yes, we will need many!) get to shop early on Friday before the sale opens to the general public. We will still have some vendor tables which sell new items but they must be children/infant items. Karin has graciously agreed to handle that part of the sale!

For more information, see our website: www.weecycle-lascruces.blogspot.com or see our ad on Craig's list: http://lascruces.en.craigslist.org/bab/1817022305.html Emily is posting brochures in pediatric offices, preschools, and churches. We are hoping to have a radio ad as well. So, please mark the weekend on your calendar and start gathering items to sell that your kids have outgrown! We will need all of us to help spread the word. Thank you in advance for your ideas and support!

MOPS Summer Schedule

Saturday, June 5, 10am-1pm:
Family brunch at June's home (4970 Black Quartz Rd)

Monday, June 7, 6-8pm:
Moms-night-out at International Delights (no childcare available)

Monday, June 21, 6-8pm:
Peter Piper Pizza (N. Main)
Kids and families invited (everyone pays for their own meals/tokens)

Monday, July 5, 6-8pm:
Moms-night-out at St Clair's in Mesilla (no childcare available)

Monday, July 19, 6-8pm:
Local park (TBD)
Kids and families invited (everyone provides their own dinner picnic)

Monday, August 2, 6-8pm:
Moms-night-out at Zeffiro's (Water St location; no childcare available)

Available Weekly This Summer...

www.library.las-cruces.org
click 'online events' for a full summer calendar (babies-older children)

Mondays
Free summer movies at Video 4 (1005 El Paseo)
Showtimes: 9, 11, 1, 4 (check online for details)

Tuesdays
Free summer movies at various theatre locations (www.allentheatresinc.com)

Thursdays at 9:30am
Join the other 2 MOPS groups in town (pack a lunch if you plan to stay into the lunch hour)
in June - Veteran's Park (2651 Roadrunner Pkwy)
in July - Apodaca Park (801 E Madrid)
in August - Pioneer Park (W Court/N Miranda)

Fridays at 10am
Barnes & Noble storytime
Then head to the museum, Chuck-E-Cheese or food court

Next Meeting: May 3rd- Travel Planet

Our next meeting is Monday, May 3rd at 6pm. We will get tips on kid-friendly New Mexico travel and see crafts that keep kids busy on trips. We will nibble on New Mexico foods and reminisce about our wonderful tea party; great job tea party team!

PLAY DATES....

Wednesday, April 7th, noon, Sagecrest Park- bring a picnic lunch!

If you have any ideas for get togethers this summer, let Candace or Sheila know so we can get the word out.

April 2010 Schedule...

Saturday, April 3rd, 10am: EASTER EGG HUNT
Pioneer Park for kids up to 5th grade- bring your basket and a picnic lunch for a MOPS group picnic after the hunt.

Satruday, April 3, Noon: UNDERWATER EASTER EGG HUNT at White Sands Aquatic Center

Monday, April 5th at 6pm: Spiritual Balance
We'll watch the MOPS DVD "Living with God" and listen to a speaker on relaxation and stress relief. We'll craft microwave heating pads for those super tight spots and we'll snack on comfort food.

Friday, April 9th 6-8pm: Mesilla Park MOPS presents their annual Murder Mystery Dinner. Cost is $20/couple and $12/single- please RSVP to 640-5132.

Monday, April 19th at 6pm: Annual MOPS Tea Party- bring your mom, grandmother or other special woman in your life.

IT'S A GREAT MONTH TO BE A MEMBER OF MOPS!!

Time Crunch Planet

We had an excellent meeting and self-defense demonstration at our last meeting. Let's all use our greatest weapons, mommies: our brains!!

Our next MOPS meeting is scheduled for Monday, March 15th at 6pm. We'll chow down on our favorite time saving recipes and meet Jenny from Time Flies Planners.

Mommy Spotlight: Kristy McPherson

• How old are you? 37
• Family: Married to David for 7 years, he’s a keeper! 3 kids, Jared (3), and Autumn & Luke (14 mo)
• Where did you grow up? Silver City, NM
• Do you play a musical instrument? Used to play piano and xylophone, most percussion instruments in band
• Do you know how to swim? I can dog paddle…does that count? I audited water aquatics class one summer thinking it was a water aerobics class for senior adults. Apparently that’s lingo for lap swimming. It was bloody awful! I was so embarrassed. I dropped out and never went back.
• Do you download and listen to podcasts? Yes, love sermons by Rob Bell (mars hill bible church), John & Stasi Eldredge (ransomed heart ministries), & John Ortberg (Menlo Park Presbyterian church)
• How much of the Life on Planet Mom book have you read so far? Zippo
• What is your favorite outdoor winter sport? Hiking in our land of enchantment
• Did you keep any of last year's resolutions? don’t make any…haha
• Do you have your own blog? no, what’s a blog? J/K
• How many gifts will you make instead of buy this year? Oh now that is hilarious…you girls know me…i don’t make stuff…wait a minute, does baking count?
• What is the best way MOPS can support a new mom? Check in with her a lot. See a need, then meet the need. Don’t wait for her to ask you. I was going thru an extremely difficult time last February. I had just joined MOPS and told Sheila I wasn’t going to make our next meeting in Feb. I told her I was feeling depressed and overwhelmed, was heading to my folks’ home in Silver, and could she ask the group to pray for me. They did. And they also did a whole lot more than that. Several of the gals came over the next week with meals or to just let me take a nap. Cheryl took time off work to help Beth keep my kids. They treated me to a pedicure. I cried thru most of it. I needed some pampering time and the girls knew that before I did. Candace & Sean brought a meal and let me take a nap. Sean even changed a dirty diaper! Sarah, Nicole, Sheila & Emily brought meals and Sheila stayed overnight when I wasn’t doing well at all. Others prayed and checked in with me. It still makes me weep when I think about all the ways love was shown to me. God used them to keep me afloat and to hold on to hope. I will be forever grateful for their friendship!
• What's the best gift you got as a new mom at the hospital? Chocolate bars
• Best pampering gift? massage or pedicure
• What do you do when you’re not with your kids? Starbucks drivethru and then read for an hour in my van…ALONE! Also like to walk for exercise. Finally checking facebook a little more often, my 20th HS reunion is coming up this summer so lotsa people are trying to find each other, what a hoot!

Next Meeting: Healing Planet

Our next meeting is Monday, March 1st. Join us for for MOPS cirriculum and discussion on "Navigating Unsafe Relationships" and a special presentation from a self-defense expert!

Chick Flick!

Next meeting is Monday, February 15th at 6pm.

We will watch a girly movie, munch on our favorite movie fare and have 2 UNinterrupted hours of relaxation!

Bring a bean bag, wear your favorite comfy slippers and pull your hair up; NO STYLE NECESSARY!

Loving and Giving in Service

Our next MOPS meeting is Monday, February 1st at 6pm. Please join us as we "study" and discuss our MOPS cirriculum which will be focused on looking beyond our homes to contribute as moms. We'll share some sneaky kids food and as always, enjoy and cherish our mommy friendships.

Everybody Zumba!

Our last meeting- Planet Fit Mama-was a lot of fun with a visit from a local personal trainer and a Zumba demonstration. Way to shake it, mommies! For our next meeting, Monday, January 18th, the Universe Expands. We will watch and discuss the MOPS DVD "Growing with Extended Family." See you there!