Family Fun Nights Brought to Us by Jamie Ivey

Happy Monday Mamas!

Hope everyone had a great weekend. I know a bunch of us have been sick so prayers for healing for all the sickies in the group. There's just nothing fun about being sick and having to take care of little ones.

We had a great time at Parkwood Meadows on Saturday morning. All the kids looked so cute dressed up in their costumes. The residents and staff seemed to really enjoy our presence. Thank you to everyone who came and to Annabell Hill for coordinating it for us.

Jamie Ivey will be our guest speaker tonight. She will be talking to us about Family Fun Nights. I don't know about you but I am super excited about this. My family has Friday Family Fun Nights and we could sure use some new ideas of things to do together.

Jamie has been married to the man of her dreams, Aaron, for 12 years. She thinks Aaron is the coolest guy she's ever met. Aaron is the worship pastor at their church, The Austin Stone Community Church, and he does a lot of songwriting in his spare time. They love to go on dates, eat at nice restaurants, enjoy food that is very above average, a nice bottle of wine, watching TV after the kids are in bed, and going on vacation. Jamie and Aaron have four children, Cayden, Amos, Deacon, and Story. Jamie has a blog titled "Dreaming Big Dreams." There she blogs about adoptions, parenting, marriage, family life, her crazy kids, what God is teaching her, and lots of other crazy thing. To learn more about Jamie and her family, including the adoptions of three of their children, check out her blog at dreamingbigdreams.net.

A few last minute reminders:
-Tonight is the last night to get your t-shirt money in. Shirts are $12 for size S-XL and $14 for XXL and up.
-If you haven't paid your dues, please do so or talk to your DGL.
-HCBCRR will be hosting Parenthood on Sunday, November 3 from 6-7:30. The topic is "Discipling your Children." The cost is $10 per family and childcare is provided. Please RSVP if you plan on coming.

Have a great day Mamas. Looking forward to seeing you all tonight.

"The Talk" Recap and Resources

Hey Mamas,
 I hope everyone is having a great week and embracing their messes. I know I am. It just dawned on me that I don't have any costumes for my 3 kids for the Halloween festivities this weekend and frankly, I'm too tired to care. So I guess we will be getting creative with what we have at the house and whipping up some costumes. I'm sure it will be a great weekend and the kids won't even know the difference.

Speaking of Halloween festivities, don't forget we have our October Community Outreach event this Saturday. We will be visiting the elderly residents at Parkwood Meadows at 10 am. You are encouraged to bring the entire family and wear your costumes. It will last about 45 minutes and I know the residents will be delighted to see us. You should have received and evite about the event but if you didn't, send your DGL an email and we will get an evite sent out to you. Hope to see you and your families there.

Blake Magee was our speaker at our last MOPS meeting. He made a sarcastic comment about how comfortable he felt talking about sex in room full of women but he did great. He didn't stumble at all. He also had a bunch of really useful information. Blake started off by telling us these horrible yet funny stories the pastors at HCBCRR had shared about how their parents talked to them about sex. Most of them were "what not to do" stories but nonetheless, very humorous. Below are some guidelines Blake talked to us about to make the sex talk with your kids impactful.

-It should NOT be a one time conversation, but an ongoing conversation.
     -You're telling your child they can talk to you about it anytime.
     -Reduces awkwardness.
     -Be exhaustive about it.

-Begin the conversation when your children are younger.
     -Prime age is between 8-10.
     -They aren't thinking much about sex and haven't been exposed to much.
     -They are still emotionally detached so it sounds more scientific.
     -They still see you as the authority.
     -Lay the foundation before they learn if from school.
          -Play offense not defense.
          -If your kids are around a bunch of other kids, they may know more than you think.

-Mothers should primarily talk to daughters and fathers to sons.
     -Moms can help dads plan for the first talk to make it as easy as possible.
     -Give the dad the resources.
     -Encourage the dad to talk to someone else who has had the talk with their son.

-Teach the emotional and psychological impact of sex.

-Speak with authority and confidence.


Here is a list of resources Blake provided for us to help talk to our kid about sex.

Books for Parents to Read Themselves: 

How and When to Tell to Your Kids about Sex: Shaping Their Sexual Character – Brenna Jones and Stan Jones

 The Parent Connection: A Health Education Resource for Parents of Teens – Susan Boe

 Angry Birds and Killer Bees: Talking to Your Kids about Sex – Todd Bowman

 How to Talk to Your Child about Sex – Josh McDowell

http://www.focusonthefamily.com/parenting/sexuality/teaching_children_healthy_sexuality/how_to_start_early.aspx

Books for Parents to Read to Children:

God’s Design for Sex Series: 

The Story of Me – Brenna Jones, Stan Jones, and Joel Spector

Before I was Born – Carol Nystrom

What’s the Big Deal? Why God Care about Sex – Brenna Jones and Stan Jones

Facing the Facts: The Truth about Sex and You – Brenna Jones and Stan Jones

Passport2Purity – Dennis and Barbara Rainey  

Thank you, Blake, for taking the time to come speak to us about this subject. Thank you, Mary, for sharing your husband with us mamas for a night and for your great insight to the topic as well.

A few reminders and announcements:
-Like I mentioned above, the our October Community Outreach is this Saturday.
-If you are wanting a MOPS shirt, please get your money to your DGL. Shirts are $12 for sizes S-XL and $14 for XXL and up.
-If you haven't paid your dues for the semester, please do so. If you are unable to do so, talk to your DGL.
-Please RSVP for childcare on Monday nights if you need it. We would rather you RSVP and not end up bringing the kids than the other way around. We need to make sure we have enough workers for all the kids in attendance. \
-HCBCRR will be hosting a parent equipping class called Parenthood in the YMCA small gym on November 3 from 6-7:30 PM. The topic is "Discipling Your Children." The goal is to help equip and encourage parents in the exciting yet chalenging task of making disciples of the next generation. Parents of children from birth to 18 are invited. There will be two breakout sessions. The first for birth to 4th grade and the second for 5th-12th grade. In each session they will discuss age-appropriate ways you can lead family devotional time, help your child study the bible, and develop a plan for your family's spiritual formation. Childcare will be provided. The cost is $10 per family. Please RSVP as soon as possible. You can send us an email at roundrockmops@yahoo.com or let your DGL know.

Have a great week mamas!

"The Talk"

Our next MOPS meeting is Monday, October 14. We had so many new mamas join us that we had to create a new table. We now have a black table. I'm so excited for the growth and getting to know all the mamas who have recently joined us.

This week our guest speaker will be Blake Magee. Many of you may know Blake's wife Mary who is a DGL at the purple table. Blake and Mary have been married for almost 13 years. They have 5 children, who are 9, 8, 6, 4, and 2. He currently works on the staff of Hill Country Bible Church Round Rock as family pastor. His previous work experience was in technology - working for Dell for almost 5 years and a small Austin-based company. He doesn't have a lot of hobbies but is an avid reader and spends his spare time with the family, dates with the kids, watching his favorite TV shows with Mary, and helping with kids activities. He is a native of Austin and graduated from Texas State and Dallas Theological Seminary.

Blake will be talking to us about how to talk to our kids about sex. I don't know about you but I'm a little surprised at the questions my kids ask at such a young age. I struggle answering some of them so I'm looking forward to hearing what Blake has to say and getting some ideas on how to address some of these questions.

Just a few reminders...If you haven't done so already, please get your dues paid or talk to your DGL for other arrangements. If you are interested in ordering a MOPS t-shirt you can turn your money into your DGL. Sizes S-XL are $12 and XXL and above are $14. The shirts are ladies fit and will have our MOPS logo and Beautiful Mess theme on them. I hope everyone has a great weekend. See all you mamas on Monday!