Welcome to MOPS, Emmy Joy!

Mamas:

Since Heather isn't on Facebook, you may not have heard the wonderful news that her third baby girl was born last Saturday, February 15. Emmy Joy weighed 6 pounds 4 ounces; she is healthy and beautiful and her big sisters are in love!

Unfortunately, Heather is back in the hospital, likely due to complications from her C-section. Please pray for a speedy recovery so that she can get home to her girls!

Tuesday, February 25: Cultivating Compassion

In our last meeting, we discussed ways to bring new and old traditions into the routine of our little families. For me, I have always wondered how to incorporate charity into our family's daily habits. This goes beyond encouraging my children to treat each other with kindness. How can I extend that to those less fortunate around us? Should we participate in Operation Christmas Child? Should we give money to every homeless person we meet? Should we volunteer at a local shelter or food bank? 

Young children are naturally egocentric, so when is the right time to start? If I start "now," when they are young, will they even understand the concepts, or will it be better to wait until they are "ready?" When will that be?

My fellow mamas, the time is now. It is always now. Please join us to learn the many ways how. 

MEETING TOPIC: Cultivating Compassion

WHEN: Tuesday, 2/25 from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

WHERE: Fellowship Hall at Calvary Bible Church (3245 Kalmia Ave., Boulder, CO 80301)

FOOD will be provided by Joanna's table (thank you!)

As always, we will start with a prayer and welcome message before we settle in to play "High/Low" at our tables while enjoying our meal.

After watching a short video honoring the hard work of stay-at-home moms (all moms, really), we will get to work on a compassion/craft project for the single moms served by Real Choices. 

Then, Kirsty Sarris will give a talk called, "Cultivating Compassion in Young Kids." Kirsty attends Calvary Bible Church's Erie campus and is the homeschooling mom of two young boys (ages 7 and 4). She will share the story of how she has executed "Missions from our Couch," in which her family explores ways to help the poor of the earth without leaving home. One of the biggest impacts on her family has been the ministry of Compassion International in terms of engaging her kids with other children that live in poverty. This is blog post explains a little part of her journey with this ministry. Kirsty is excited to share how this small change has blessed and changed her family in ways that she never expected.

We will finish our day with discussion time and brief announcements for our next meeting. 

See you on Tuesday!
Sheryl

Loving on our Kids: Sue Palmer

If your toddler tries to run away from MOPS, this Boulder native will have no trouble finding him/her...

NAME: Sue Palmer

MOPPETS Title: Helper for the 2's and 3's

BIRTHDAY: July 7th

HOMETOWN: Sue was born and raised right here in Boulder, CO 

CHILDCARE EXPERIENCE: Sue's parents operated a 60-child-capacity preschool for 45 years (Jack & Jill Preschool), and her home was attached to the preschool. Needless to say, Sue grew up surrounded by small children. She also handled all of her grown son's childcare needs when he was young.

FAVORITE THINGS: Sue loves playing volleyball, hiking, healing/toning with sound, biographical movies and books, and art.

FUN FACT: In her 30's and 40's, Sue continually attempted to move away from Boulder, only to return after one year (firmly under Niwot's curse!). She did, however, manage to move to Kauai for 6 years, but returned again in the Fall of 2012. We're glad to have you home!

Thank you for your service, Sue!

Photography Information!

Photographer Contact List:

Kim Jones Photography
www.kimjonesphotography.com
www.facebook.com/kimjonesphotography
971-218-5101

Jennifer Bishop Photography
www.jennifer-bishop.com
info@jennifer-bishop.com
402-671-8427

Jessica Lee Photography
www.jessica-lee-photography.com
Jessica@jessica-lee-photography.com OR jsilver1234@gmail.com
502-396-2833

As we mentioned at MOPS, we are all more than happy to answer any specific questions that you may have about your camera or how to take great photos of your children. So just send us an email if there is anything else we can do for you!


Suggested consumer photo lab: www.mpix.com
Labs to avoid if you want quality prints for your portraits: Walgreens, Walmart, Shutterfly (these labs print from your uploaded thumbnail and not from the digital file's encoded information)

February Playdate with Your Table

Mamas:

The play date for this month is yours to plan with your tables. Your DGLs will take the lead on organizing. You can do it any time that works for your group and anywhere you like. It can be a playdate or Mom's Night Out, whatever your group feels is needed. The purpose is to meet together outside of MOPS to better get to know the ladies in your group.

Enjoy!

Welcome to MOPS, Jeannette Autumn!

There is no doubt that the lovely moms from our MOPS group are keeping the local Obstetricians gainfully employed! Ladies, we have another beautiful baby to welcome to our group! Amy Greenip gave birth to Jeannette Autumn on February 1st, weighing in at 7 pounds 6 ounces.

Amy, we hope that you, Noel, Aletheia and Jeannette are resting well and spending lots of time snuggling together as a family of FOUR! We look forward to seeing you at MOPS again soon.

Tuesday, February 11: Preserving Your Family's Story

What do you hope you’ll remember about your life now 10 or 20 years from now? What do you want your kids to remember? What are you doing to make that happen?

Do you want to learn how to tell great stories to your kids? Do you love to take pictures, but yearn to learn how to better capture life's little moments? Do you want to get over that feeling of intimidation when considering online scrap booking? What family traditions (aside from the holidays) did you bring to your new family from your childhood, and where do your husband's traditions fit into the mix?

Please join us to discuss all of this, and more, this Tuesday. 

MEETING TOPIC: Preserving Your Family's Story

WHEN: Tuesday, 2/11 from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

WHERE: Fellowship Hall at Calvary Bible Church (3245 Kalmia Ave., Boulder, CO 80301)

FOOD will be provided by Jessica's table (thank you!)

As always, we will start with a prayer and welcome message before we settle in to play "High/Low" at our tables while enjoying our meal.

We will have a Real Mom Moment about the importance of preserving your family's story. As an FYI, these RMM's are not just for members of the Steering Team. If you have a story to share, please let us know!

kelly.nishi@gmail.com
jacqui.reddick@gmail.com

Then, we will break away from our tables in order to mingle around different "memory stations" in the Fellowship Hall. There will be plenty of time to mingle and talk to our in-house experts about story telling, photography, scrapbooking, family traditions, and more. 

Finally, we will regroup for discussion time. 

See you on Tuesday!
Sheryl

Welcome to MOPS, Addison Grace!

We have another baby to celebrate! Stephanie Sullivan gave birth to her second daughter, Addison Grace, on January 24 at 8:48 a.m. Addison measured 6 pounds 12 ounces and 19-3/4" long. Stephanie own birthday is just two days prior, and she calls Addison her best birthday gift ever! Everyone is adjusting well, and Stephanie looks forward to joining us at MOPS again soon.

Congratulations, Stephanie and family!

Loving on our Kids: Cathi McGeehon

No toddler tantrum is too tough for this gal!

NAME: Cathi McGeehon

MOPPETS Title: 2 year old helper

BIRTHDAY: November 23, 1953 (looks like Cathi just celebrated a big birthday!)

HOMETOWN: Tulsa, Oklahoma

CHILDCARE EXPERIENCE: Cathi has years of experience working and teaching in the nursery or Sunday School at church

FAVORITE THINGS: Reading, reading, READING!

FUN FACT: Cathi lived in Africa for 24 years. She got married there, and three of her children were born there. 

Thank you for your service, Cathi!

Saturday, March 8: MOPS & Pops at Madcap Theater

A night of laughing with your hubby is just what every tired mommy of young kiddos needs! Schedule your babysitter now and please join us for a fun evening together.

WHAT: Madcap is a clean, unscripted, always different, interactive improv show. 

WHERE: Mapcap Theater in Westminster

WHEN: Saturday, March 8th (show starts at 7:30pm)

COST: $15/person (cost is usually $20/person- what a deal!!!)

HOW: Send Kelly Nishi money through Paypal at kelly.nishi@gmail.com or write a check to Kelly. Money needs to be in by February 25th.