A Time for Fellowship and Favorite Holiday Goodies...

We ended our final MOPS meeting of 2011 with some fabulous fellowship and delicious holiday food!  No one left this meeting hungry...  We had a friendly competition for "best" holiday appetizers and desserts. Lori received the "2011 Best Appetizer Chef" for her Pesto, Sundried Tomato Pizza and Brittney was awarded  "2011 Best Dessert Chef" for her Rum Cake.  For those of you who were unable to attend, we have recipes from all of the yummy dishes if you would like a copy.  Jennifer led us in making adorable gift tags for loved one's Christmas gifts.  We also celebrated our amazing mentors and table leaders who have guided each table this fall.  We look forward to a wonderful Spring with each of you!  Sherry and I feel so blessed to be a part of this amazing group of women in Marvin MOPS.  Merry Christmas dear friends!    

It's Our Last MOPS Meeting in 2011 (12/8/11)!

Ladies,
 
I can’t believe this Thursday, December 8^th at 10 a.m., we will have our LAST meeting in 2011.  We have had a wonderful semester filled with great speakers, meaningful fellowship and special friendships cultivated and strengthened.  So as we end the first part of our MOPS year, we look forward to sharing our Favorite Christmas desserts or appetizers and recipes, followed by a fun craft led by Jennifer Davis. 
 
Thank you all for participating in our St. Paul’s Secret Santa Workshop toy drive!  Our collection receptacles were filled to the brim at every meeting.  We look forward to Ann Weismann’s update.
 
DON’T FORGET!  The Cupcake Piggy Bank is a great place for you to empty your purse/wallet of loose/spare change!  The collection will go to St. Paul’s at the end of the year. Look for it on Thursday!

THURSDAY MEETING REMINDERS:

-       Please bring in your Favorite Christmas Dessert or Appetizer, along with its written recipe.  Please write your recipe on one side of a note card or paper.  We will make copies of all recipes for the group.

-       Don’t forget to bring an empty box to take home these special treats!

Other meeting reminders:

- Dues if you have not already paid ($25 MOPS International and/or Semester ($40 with childcare and $24 without childcare)

- Please DO NOT bring your child(ren) if he/she shows ANY signs of illness.  Drop off time is 9:50-10:00 a.m.  Please pick up your children promptly by 12 noon.

Upcoming MOPS Events:

- December 13 (TUESDAY)- MOPS Play Date:  “Cookies and Books” at Sherry Trump’s home.  We will be doing a book exchange, so please bring a book (wrapped) for every child that comes to the play date. Should be lots of fun for the kids and moms!

 
If you are UNABLE to attend this Thursday’s MOPS meeting, please notify your Table Leader.  If your children are not coming, and are signed up for childcare, please also notify Stephanie Lamb (MOPPETS Coordinator) at steph.lamb@sbcglobal.net or 903-363-7447.
 

I hope to see you all on Thursday!  

Have a wonderful week,

 
Debra Bochow
Discussion Group Coordinator

It's Marvin MOPS Week (12/1/11)!

Ladies,

What a wonderful long Thanksgiving weekend!  I hope you and your families had a blessed and restful time together.  What a fortuitous time for us to meet again this Thursday, December 1^st at 10 a.m. as we are scheduled to talk about “Family Traditions.”  Our highly recommended speaker, Lynelle Zandstra from Pine Cove, will impart great ideas and suggestions for our new and growing families!

Our fall holiday BAKE SALE was a fantastic success!  Suzanne, Sarah and Sherry will give us the final update this Thursday.

This REALLY will be our last meeting where we will be collecting new and unwrapped toys for the St. Paul’s Secret Santa Workshop.  There is a need for older children’s gifts (soccer balls, sports equipment, bath products).  Let’s provide these precious children with a special Christmas experience!  All donations need to be made to St. Paul’s by December 5^th.

The Cupcake Piggy Bank is a great place for you to empty your purse/wallet of loose/spare change!  The collection will go to St. Paul’s at the end of the year. Look for it on Thursday!

Other meeting reminders:

- Dues if you have not already paid ($25 MOPS International and/or Semester ($40 with childcare and $24 without childcare)

- Please DO NOT bring your child(ren) if he/she shows ANY signs of illness.  Drop off time is 9:50-10:00 a.m.  Please pick up your children promptly by 12 noon.

- Food will be provided by the YELLOW table

Upcoming MOPS Events:

- December 13 (TUESDAY)- MOPS Play Date:  “Cookies and Books” at Sherry Trump’s home

If you are UNABLE to attend this Thursday’s MOPS meeting, please notify your Table Leader.  If your children are not coming, and are signed up for childcare, please also notify Stephanie Lamb (MOPPETS Coordinator) at steph.lamb@sbcglobal.net or 903-363-7447.

Only 2 more meetings left in 2011!  I hope to see you all on Thursday!

Debra Bochow

Discussion Group Coordinator

It's Time for Pumpkin Rolls

Marvin UMC was so generous to help us prepare for our annual Fall Bake Sale this year.  Mary Lynn said "YES" without hesitation when I called to ask for kitchen assistance... Mary Lynn, Juanita and Anna were so kind and helped us prepare 75 pumpkin rolls in just 5 hours.  They graciously offered to store all of the pumpkin rolls in the deep freeze until the day of our sale.  The generosity overflowed from Marvin Children's Ministry as they provided childcare so our moms could participate in the bake day.  The generosity continued with Marvin membership supporting MOPS at the Bake Sale.  We sold every casserole, cake and pumpkin roll prepared by our amazing MOPS membership!  Suzanne, our Fundraising Coordinator, did an incredible job organizing and leading us  - THANK YOU SUZANNE!  THANK YOU MOPS ladies for all of your support this fall with our fundraiser - baking casseroles, preparing pumpkin rolls, making goodies for the sale and helping at the Bake Sale.  THANK YOU to Marvin UMC staff and congregation for your generous support to Marvin MOPS. 

Our 2011 Pumpkin Roll Bake Day

November MOPS Tots Play Date

We had a great morning of play time for the little ones and time for moms to visit with one another.  It was the perfect day to bounce away some energy and play on the swingset before afternoon naps.  Thanks for coming to "play" at our house today!

It's Marvin MOPS Week (11/17/11)!

Ladies,

What could be better than another great MOPS meeting this Thursday, November 17^th at 10 a.m.?  As Sarah and Sherry mentioned earlier, a representative from Poison Control will be with us to share “Health and Safety Tips for Our Families.”  How relevant especially for us with small, mobile and often curious children?  This should be an extremely informative and interesting presentation!

As we head into Thanksgiving, this is our LAST REMINDER about our upcoming MOPS Fall Bake Sale. It will be held on Sunday, November 20. 

Please bring in your frozen dishes (pot pies/casseroles/other baked goods) to this meeting.  Please contact Suzanne Lambert at 903-33-5560 if you are unable to bring your dish to Thursday’s meeting. She will assist in making arrangements to have it picked up.

Stephanie Lamb, our MOPPETS coordinator, is planning a holiday craft for Thanksgiving.  She needs LARGE pinecones.  Please bring any you may have.  .

This will be our last meeting where we will be collecting new and unwrapped toys for the St. Paul’s Secret Santa Workshop.  There is a need for older children’s gifts (soccer balls, sports equipment, bath products).  Let’s provide these precious children with a special Christmas experience!

The Cupcake Piggy Bank is a great place for you to empty your purse/wallet of loose/spare change!  The collection will go to St. Paul’s at the end of the year. Look for it on Thursday!

Other meeting reminders:

- Dues if you have not already paid ($25 MOPS International and/or Semester ($40 with childcare and $24 without childcare)

- Please DO NOT bring your child(ren) if he/she shows ANY signs of illness.  Drop off time is 9:50-10:00 a.m.  Please pick up your children promptly by 12 noon.

- Food will be provided by the TURQUOISE table

Upcoming MOPS Events:

- November 14 (Monday) - MOPS Tots Play Date at Sarah Burkett’s home

AND LASTLY—A QUICK REMINDER to please park in the lot across the street this Thursday!

If you are UNABLE to attend this Thursday’s MOPS meeting, please notify your Table Leader.  If your children are not coming, and are signed up for childcare, please also notify Stephanie Lamb (MOPPETS Coordinator) at steph.lamb@sbcglobal.net or 903-363-7447.

Have a great week, and see you all on Thursday!

Debra Bochow

Discussion Group Coordinator

It's Marvin MOPS Week (11/10/11)!

Hello Ladies,

Having missed only the last meeting, I feel it has been many weeks since I have last seen or communicated with all of you!  I am so looking forward to seeing you and experiencing the wise and insightful words of Julie Brown this Thursday.  Mrs. Brown will be our featured speaker at our next meeting, this Thursday, November 10^th at 10 a.m.   

Mrs. Julie Brown has come back to MOPS with a tremendous fan base;  our group!  We asked her back so that she may continue to bless us with her creativity, thoughtfulness and life experiences.  Her discussion topic will be “How to keep the HOLY in the HOLIdays.”   So with the temperatures starting to dip into the seasonal appropriate climate, this will be a perfect entrée into the holidays.

Congratulations to our fantastic group of moms and mentors who participated (directly and indirectly) in our Pumpkin Casserole BAKE DAY!  What a tremendous accomplishment and thanks again to Suzanne Lambert for spearheading this endeavor! 

Upcoming Meeting Reminders:

- Our Fall Bake Sale is fast approaching (November 20^th), so please consider baking any one (or more) of our breakfast or dinner casseroles.   Let’s make this fundraiser our most successful to date!  We continue to meet our goals set forth, so let’s keep it going!  You may bring your frozen dish to any of the next two MOPS meetings for the sale.  Please see Suzanne Lambert for details.

- Stephanie Lamb, our MOPPETS coordinator, is planning a holiday craft for Thanksgiving.  She needs LARGE pinecones.  Please bring any you may have or come across to the next meeting.  The deadline is November 17.

- We will continue to be collecting new and unwrapped toys during the November meetings for the St. Paul’s Secret Santa Workshop.  There is a need for older children’s gifts (soccer balls, sports equipment, bath products)

- The Cupcake Piggy Bank will collect spare change each meeting and given to St. Paul’s at the end of year.  What a great way to clean out your purses of your loose change!

Other meeting reminders:

- Dues if you have not already paid ($25 MOPS International and/or Semester ($40 with childcare and $24 without childcare)

- Please DO NOT bring your child(ren) if he/she shows ANY signs of illness.  Drop off time is 9:50-10:00 a.m.  Please pick up your children promptly by 12 noon.

- Bring your calendars and start planning (if you haven’t already) your table outing together!

- Food will be provided by the PURPLE table

Upcoming MOPS Events:

- November 14 (Monday) - MOPS Tots Play Date at Sarah Burkett’s home

If you are UNABLE to attend this Thursday’s MOPS meeting, please notify your Table Leader.  If your children are not coming, and are signed up for childcare, please also notify Stephanie Lamb (MOPPETS Coordinator) at steph.lamb@sbcglobal.net or 903-363-7447.

Have a great week, and see you all on Thursday!

Debra Bochow

Discussion Group Coordinator