Parenting Different Personalities by Mary Magee

Happy Monday Mamas! We meet TONIGHT! Sorry for the late speaker bio. Our very own Mary Magee will be speaking to us about how to parent different personality types.

Mary is a native Austinite and has lived in Texas her entire life. She is married to Blake, her college sweetheart, who is the Family Pastor at Hill Country Bible Round Rock. She is a homeschooling mom of five children - one boy and four girls - and has her sixth, a baby boy, on the way. Mary loves to spend time with her family and friends, date her husband, serve in church ministry, go on road trips, cook, read, and listen to music. Mary is passionate about MOPS and has been involved off and on since 2004.

I cant wait to hear Mary speak on this topic. My kids have extremely different personalities and I'm sure with all her experience she will have some great advice to offer. Hope to see all of you there tonight.

Recap of Julie Manning's Talk on Community.

Happy Saturday Mamas. I am so glad it finally warmed up today. While I definitely appreciate the break from the 100 degree summers, I am so over the cold weather.

Julie Manning spoke to us on January 27 about community. Here are the notes from our great note taker, Shellie:

“Of all the baby must haves I added to my registry no one thought to recommend Mom Friends. An entire community of Mom Friends existed to support me I just didn’t know about Mops at the time.”  ~Liz

Julie began talking about how we need women to come along side us whether our house is messy or not. Women who share our victories and walk with us during the dark times.  She commented on how when she thinks of girls she reflects back to the time she was in college. She lived with 4 to 5 girls at a time in a house. They danced together, lip synced, made food together and played pranks on the boys next door. To this day she gets together with those friends because they shared their hearts with one another. They shared the word of God together. Today they share victories and struggles. they do life together! 

Each one of us needs to know that God created us for “community.”  Adam & Eve knew depths of one another. God walked with them. 

We need community to go deep and have others speak truth in our life. Yes, even calls out! 

Somewhere we have flipped the switch of not answering the truth. We answer “ I am doing fine.” We need to “be real!” That is my challenge! 

Deep relationships & community through all seasons of life. 

3 reason why we don’t:

1. Time-our schedules are busy. we need to be purposeful! 

2. Comparison-it steals our JOY & leaves us desiring something else. We are not believing what God says we are…..wonderfully made!

3. Fear-if someone knew me really knew me! We are concerned about what we have done or what has been….

Need to find community to love you with Grace b/c of what they have received which is Grace! Be vulnerable to be truly known!

How God is sanctifying her: (Julie had a video that night for us to watch. It explains her history with her heart condition & where she is spiritually! Plus, it is an AH-Mazing glimpse into her life! I do not have the video but here is an article about it….

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/julie-manning/heart-disease-_b_4705624.html?utm_hp_ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false

"The Lord has used my suffering to Glorify him! god knows how many days I have left here on earth.”

Life is too short to NOT GO DEEP:

1. Don’t have to suffer alone. Women to call us out, pray over us, challenge us and encourage us! Women who will rejoice along side of you. Women who will love you for who you are!

"Life is too short to live on the surface!”  (insert Shellie’s thoughts…can I get an AMEN?) 

Julie’s parting thoughts of wisdom….

Be brave, be vulnerable, be real, be true! 

Here are the questions:

1. what keeps you from going deep with other women?

2. what questions do you want others to ask you? Better yet, what do you NOT want them to ask….because what you don’t want to talk about IS what you NEED to talk about…..

3. Challenge: find a friend this week to go deep 

Here is a video of Julie's story. You may want to grab a tissue.

http://vimeo.com/47738825

Thank you, Julie, for sharing your story.

A few reminders...

-If you haven't paid you dues for this semester, please do so or get with your DGL to make arrangements.

-If you have a small business and would like to have it advertised under the MOPS Shop on the blog, send us and email to roundrockmops@yahoo.com.

-Our next meeting is this coming Monday, February 10. Hope to see you there.

Have a great rest of your weekend!

"Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling." 1 Peter 4:9

Come Hear Julie Manning Speak on Community!

Happy Saturday Mamas! I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend. Our next MOPS meeting will be this Monday, January 27. Julie Manning will be speaking to us about community. I know we all need community so I hope everyone can make it to hear what Julie has to say.

Julie Manning is the wife to her beloved husband, John, and the mother to Noah and Hunter. She graduated from Texas A&M University in 1999 with a degree in Finance. After working in the business world for several years, she found herself increasingly discontent with a longing to be passionate about the work she was doing. So in January of 2002, Julie took a risk and pursued Nursing school. She worked in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit as an RN at Children's Medical Center of Dallas and eventually received her Masters in Nursing from the University of Texas at Austin in 2009. Julie believes that it is not by accident that she fell in love with Cardiology. Though Julie did not foresee that she would one day live a life affected daily by heart disease, she now shares her story with her patients and patient families as a nurse practitioner at Children's Cardiology Associates of Austin.  Julie is also blessed to serve as a national spokesperson for the American Heart Association's Go Red for Women movement. Julie and her husband serve faithfully at their church, Austin Stone, and value every moment they spend together as a family. 

Reminders:

-If you haven't paid your dues this semester please do so or talk to your DGL.

-If you own a small business and want it featured in our MOPS Shop on our blog, send us an email to roundrockmops@yahoo.com.

Have a great weekend! See ya on Monday!

Favorite Things List

I hope everyone enjoyed our Favorite Things night. I sure did. Thanks, Camilla, for emceeing the evening. Shellie has compiled a list of all of the favorite things that were shared that night. If you have any questions about any of the products let us know in the comments and we will try to answer them or connect you with the person who shared the information. Enjoy!

Advice:

For you: get outside and take a breather

Cherish your husband, focus on marriage, make it a prioirty 

Applications/gadgets to make life easier:

KidLee (keep track of what kiddos do)

Awesome Note by BRID 

Good Budget (Dave Ramsey type envelope system to keep track)

Kazoo Headphones for kids (volume control)

Blogs:

http://www.handsfreemama.com

ww.themurphysix.blogspot.com

Baby & Child related:

Tummy Calm tummycalm.com 

Amber teething necklace

Gripe Water by Baby Bliss 

Piddle pads – inserts for carseats

Good Nites Mats (disposable mats for children still potty training at nite, place on top of sheet & remove if an accident) very easy 

*Walmart has them the cheapest 

Honest Company diapers, wipes, baby, and household products. http://honest.com

Cosmetics/Beauty: 

Olive Oil (use on face or body)

Coconut Oil (use everywhere) *Call Mary Magee if you have a yeast infection she has a tip)

Mary Kay Tinted Moisturizer 

                 mascara

                 eye gel (put in frig for a morning refresher) 

Rodan + Fields Micro Exfoliator (skin cell turn over, reduce scarring, stretch marks) 

                   skin care line for skin types https/randf.com/

Coffee Beans to reduce cellulite- make your coffee fresh first thing in the morning or at night, take coffee grounds rub on places that need improvement for about 10 mins and then rinse.   If you are buying a cellulite cream look for caffeine or copper as the ingredient to reduce the appearance. 

Baby Oil -rub on bottom at night & morning for soft feet then file away dead skin 

Essie Nail Polish

Health: 

Juice plus vitamins for you or kids

AdvoCare spark instead of coffee will not make you jittery & can have while pregnant advocare.com

Cleanse Cocktail 1/3 water heat in microwave 30 seconds, shot of tabasco & lemon then drink it! will clear kidneys & liver 

Home: 

Henri Bendel Vanilla Bean Candle (little pricey but last a long time)

Scentsy https://orders.scentsy.us/Scentsy/Home

Jewelry: 

Out Reach Uganda outreachuganda.org 

Noonday www.noondaycollection.com 

Kitchen: 

Dish Drying Mat by H-E-B less than $5.00 bucks

Pampered Chef- garlic roller 

Furi Ozitech Diamond Finger Knife Sharper -Amazon $12.00 bucks 

Houdini Bottle Wine Opener

Laundry:

Shout Color Catcher it really works!

Laundry baskets for each family member and wash that basket it by itself then they can fold and put away. makes separating a lot easier! 

Marriage Related: 

The FIve love Languages 

The Husband Project by Kathi Lipp you read & do simple things for him & he is not aware you are reading the  book)

Love Dare 40 day challenge 

Marriage Retreat www.austinme.org 

Journals to write personal letters to one another then read to each other

Meals: 

Emeals subscribe to website and receive weekly menus and shopping lists ($58 a year best deal) having specials right now at their website

Pioneer Woman 

Once a Month Cooking Books: Dinners in the Freezer by Martinez, Howell & Garcia & Once a Month Cooking Revised Edition by Mimi Wilson & Mary Beth Lagerborg 

onceamonthmeals.com

  

Moms:

Lily Pads (silicon gel pads for nursing)  

Pathways Magazine pathwaystofamilywellness.org  (4 times a year)

For moms & baby

Ergo Baby Carrier (best to carry baby & protects your back!) ergo baby.com 

*can find on craigslist cheaper

My breast friend nursing pillow 

Books:

A Mother’s Guide to Self-Renewal” (book/workbook) by Renee Trudea

One Thousand Gifts” (book) by Ann Voskamp

Simplicity Parenting Book Kim John Payne

Office/Organization: 

Papermate Flair (multi color)  pens will not bleed

Family Christian Organizer (yearly) by Ann Knapp (Amazon.com to buy)

Sewing/quilting:

http://www.mominizer.com provides a way for you to take all your favorite t-shirts and turn it into a quilt/blanket 

Spiritual/devotional:

Jesus Story Book Bible 

Little Visits at BedTime by Mary Manz Simon

Sticky Situations by Betsy Schmidt

Sweets/Treats:

Keurig Raspberry Chocolate Truffle

Tips: 

cuticle clippers for cutting nails for kids

drink half and half coffee even while nursing and it is just enough! 

cloth diaper covers to be used for regular everyday disposable diapers and it manages blow outs & accidents 

Books for Children:

ages 0-1

What do you say?

How do you feel?

Who do you love?

What do you do?

Mandy Stanley

No No Yes Yes

Big Little

Leslie Patricelli

Dear Zoo

Rod Campbell

I like it when...

Mary Murphy

ages 1-3

Pajama Time

Blue Hat, Green Hat

But not the Hippopotamus

Sandra Boynton

One Hungry Monster

Susan Heyboer O'Keefe

I love you, stinky face

Lisa McCourt

Imagination Song

Joe Raposo

I don't want to live on the moon

Jeff Moss

Good Night, Gorilla

Peggy Rathmann

Big Red Barn

Goodnight Moon

Margaret Wise Brown

Squirrel is Hungry

Duck is dirty

Dog is thirsty

Cat is sleepy

Satoshi Kitamura

We're going on a bear hunt

Michael Rosen

The best mouse cookie  

The series related to If you give a mouse a cookie

Laura Numeroff 

Miss Mary Mack

Mary Ann Hoberman

Chicka Chicka ABC

Bill Martin Jr & John Archambault

Dr. Seuss books

Hop on Pop

Go Dog Go

There's a Wocket in my pocket

The shape of me and other stuff

ages 3 1/2 and up

Richard Scarry's What do people do all day?

Richard Scarry's Cars and trucks and things that go

the series of books from Pete the Cat I love my white shoes

James Dean & Eric Litwin

The Doghouse

Is Everybody ready for fun?

lots by this author  Jan Thomas

The Gruffalo

Julia Donaldson

Safety Notes from Donna Looper

Happy Thursday Mamas! I hope everyone is staying warm. Crazy we were playing at the park in shorts and t-shirts on Monday and are freezing today. Guess that's Texas for ya!

Donna Looper spoke to us about safety on December 9. She addressed car seat safety but ran out of time before she made it to toy safety. She has so kindly sent us her presentation. So for those of you who were trying to take notes but your hand started cramping, no worries, it's all here. She also answered a couple of questions that she was asked but did not have time to answer.

Safety Presentation

1. Where is the best location for a car seat...especially for a newborn?  

Rear seat in the center is best because it puts your baby furthest from the crash.  However, rear facing seats take up a lot of room which can make the center position difficult in a smaller car.  Put the seat behind the passenger seat...which means you will likely have to pull it all the way forward.  If you put the seat behind you (the driver), then you might have to pull your seat forward too far, making it unsafe for you.

2. Is it ok for the harness to be twisted?

No.  The straps should all be flat.  Sometimes you have to re-thread the harness to get everything straight.  Sometimes it is just the "buckle" that gets twisted - fold the harness above or below the buckle and pull the buckle over the fold...this will typically put the buckle back in the right direction.  

Hope this helps keep your precious babies safe!

Favorite Things

Hey Mamas! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas break with their families. Our next meeting is tomorrow, January 13. Since we met last we have a few MOPS babies born. Congrats to all the new mamas. Can't wait to see all the babies.

I'm so excited about our meeting tomorrow. It sounds super fun. Camilla Garrett is going to be running our first "Favorite Things" night and we are ALL going to be involved! As Camilla describes it, "The night is a little like Oprah's Favorite Things meets show-and-tell." Here is how it will work. Think of one of your own favorite things. It can be a book, a beauty product, a baby or child item, a website, a food item, a place, a kitchen gadget...the options are endless. Basically, it can be anything you have found that makes your life as a mom easier, more productive, happier, etc. If it is a tangible item, bring it along and show it to the group during your turn. If it is something like a website or a place, just be ready to share the name. We will have someone taking notes and, after our meeting, we will put the list into categories and share it on the blog for all of us to see. This is meant to be a fun, casual night of sharing; no pressure!

The Scattered Sisters (aka the green table) will be providing us with a baked potato bar so come hungry! I'm looking forward to seeing everyone for fun and fellowship, and learning all about your favorite things.

Recap of 11/11 and Polar Express Night

Hey Mamas, Hope everyone is staying warm today. My apologies for not posting the recap of our last meeting yet. It's been a little crazier than normal around here. Bear with me as this post will be a little longer than normal but will include info about our Polar Express Night coming up this Monday.

Thank you Shellie Carriker, AGAIN, for taking notes and compiling a summary of last week's topic. Here is the summary from Susie Roger's talk last week:

Susie Rogers spoke on Monsters-in-law or Mentors-in-law. She started with: Begin with the End. She challenged us to begin again if the relationship is not we had hoped it to be God has a plan and HE knows the beginning and the end Change Your Perspective: God calls us to choose a different perspective what us our focus on or what is it lacking?  Our perspective can affect us during this time Love is an ACTION your attitude leads to behavior which leads to change for yourself & perspective choose to LOVE even when you don’t feel like it. Susie asked us some hard questions but ones we should all consider. 

How many of us have perfect husbands? friends? mothers? fathers? brothers? sisters? We need realize the answer is no & stop thinking our mother-in-laws need to be as well. We need to acknowledge God is LOVE! He is powerful enough to change life’s so why not a relationship?

1. Do you want to change your perspective?
2. Do you want to LOVE her?
3. Am I thinking about the end game?
4. If things go well do we assume all the credit?
 5. Do we long for a do over?

We need realize we can not change our husbands, friends, sisters, brothers etc…so we can not change her! However, there are things we can do!
*We can pray over her & the relationship
* We can live a life that leads by LOVE(the verb which requires action)
* Words have power(never underestimate the power of words so choose them carefully)
*Build Blessings by the way we treat her
*God has brought her to us & we need to have a grateful heart
*Give her lots of grace
*Encourage her If you are in a tough situation just remember “hurt people, hurt people.”

She (MIL) also did not plan for the relationship to go this direction nor did she dream it this way. No mother-in-law wants this transition to go bad. When the wedding & honeymoon is over the in-laws have a hard time handing that relationship over. Regardless of age of parents they still want respect & honor. Deut 5:16 “Honor your father and mother, as the Lord your God commanded you. Then you will live a long, full life in the land the Lord your God is giving you. Eph 6:2 Children, obey your parents because you belong to the Lord, for this is the right thing to do. “Honor your father and mother.” This is the first commandment with a promise: Analyze your guilt, True Guilt will convict you through prayer. Maybe you are in an unhealthy relationship. Ask God for forgiveness if any is needed. False guilt plays in your head “I have not been all they want me to be.” You are are about pleasing them instead of God. Susie had a wise counselor give us 3 important standards to live by when dealing with in-laws

1. be sure to keep lines of communication open with your husband
2. allow him to talk to mother in law(or father)
3. have zero ultimatums

 The best part of the night was when Susie shared these wise words: Someday we too will be mother-in-laws Our children area watching us You can choose Godly responses We are young! There is time! Remember SHE raised our husbands so have a grateful heart, she did so something right or you would not be where you are today!

 Book to consider: The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman Thank you, again, Shellie for the summary.

 Our next MOPS meeting is this Monday, November 25. Our theme is "Polar Express Night." WEAR YOUR PAJAMAS!!! Seriously, come dressed in your pj's. How exciting is that?!? Our speaker for the evening will be Jennifer Unnasch. Here talk is titled "A Christmas in Focus." Her is a little about Jennifer:

 Jennifer is wife to Aaron for 13 years, a stay at home, homeschool mom to 3 amazing boys (if she must say so herself) who are 12, 9, and 4. She loves to be outside, and if it were possible, she would go on a daytrip every day of the year. She has a passion for "intentional parenting" and believes we need to make the most of teachable moments with our kids. She has worked or volunteered in ministry with preschoolers for 11 years now. Most importantly, she loves Christ and gratefully accepts His grace daily!

 I'm excited to hear what Jennifer has to say and super excited I get to listen in my pj's. Hope to see everyone there! Have a great weekend.

(Sorry about all the typos. When the post was originally published the format messed up causing several mess ups in spacing and punctuation. I tried to fix it but I'm sure I missed some.)

"Monsters-in-Law" or "Mentors-to-Love"

Wow, it's already Friday! Hope everyone had a great week. Our next meeting is this coming Monday. Susie Rogers will be our guest speaker. She is going to talk to us about our relationships with our Mother-in-Laws. I personally do not have a good relationship with my Mother-in-Law so there's a part of me that wants to bail on this one so I don't have to hear something I don't want to hear but I trust God has something great planned through Susie and I vow to come with an open mind. Below is a little about Susie.

Since 1987, Susie Rogers has enjoyed being involved in ministry at Hill Country Bible Church. Part of Hill Country Austin’s early pastoral staff, over five years, she was the first, full-time Director over their Children’s, Women’s and Communications Ministries. More recently, she’s resourced in roles as Creative Communications Consultant launching ministries, events & initiatives in Austin & Pflugerville. She is wife to Keith, mom and mother-in-law to Kendall & Adam Brunson, grandmother to Ainsley, Cori & Addie – also mom and mother-in-law to Rachel & Andrew Erwin, grandmother to Emery. A Realtor, too, she has loved helping families transition between homes since 2006. As a daughter-in-law for over 3 ½ decades, Susie will share, challenge and encourage us in an evening of candid conversation. 

I'm looking forward to having Susie join us on Monday night.

Every year Hill Country Bible Church MOPS participates in Operation Christmas Child. I've been doing this since I was a child and now my children love doing it. Operation Christmas Child is a ministry of Samaritan's Purse. This is a ministry that provides Christmas gifts, school supplies and other practical necessities for children around the world who normally would not receive anything during the holidays. All you and your family will need to do is pack a shoebox full of gifts and supplies for a child in need. We should have some boxes available Monday night or you can use your own box. We will be collecting the shoe boxes at our meeting Monday if you have them ready. If you want to participate but need more time, you can drop it off at the church office (where we meet) by November 15. For more info about Operation Christmas Child visit their website at http://www.samaritanspurse.org/operation-christmas-child/pack-a-shoe-box/. On the website, you will also find detailed instructions and tags you can print off for your box. After you print a tag you can register it and you will receive an email letting you know where your box was delivered. My kids love knowing where their boxes went. This is a great way to make a difference this holiday season and teach your kids about giving.

I hope everyone enjoys their weekend. See all you mamas on Monday for some great fellowship.

Family Fun Night Recap

Happy Monday Mamas!

Hope everyone had a great weekend. Dare I ask if anyone actually got an extra hour of sleep on Sunday? Hopefully if your kids got up at the crack of dawn they at least went to bed early.

I totally forgot to post Bobbie Davis' Mentor Moment last week. Bobbie talked to us about being high on a mountain and deep in a valley. She mentioned when David cried out in Psalms 22, "My God, My God why have you abandoned me?" When David was in a valley, he ran to God and he was very real with God. Bobbie encouraged us to come to God and let him help us deal with our messes when we have come to the end of ourselves. God said, "I will go before you." Run to God, humble yourself and stand on His promises. Thanks Bobbie for that reminder that God will never leave us alone. He is alway with us.

This past Monday our Mentor Moment was brought to us by Dawn Burleson. She talked about joy bonds and fear bonds. She encouraged us to let our kids know we enjoy being with then, get excited to see them, listen to them and ask questions such as how their day at school was, care about how they are hurting, offer comfort for their pain, and when playing games let them win sometimes. We should do everything for their benefit. They are not there to meet our needs. Communicate clearly to them how blessed you are to be their mom and have them as your little boy or girl. She advised us to avoid building fear bonds with our children. Don't fall into the trap of confronting them with criticism. Don't shame them. Dawn shared some lyrics with us from Hawk Nelson's "Words." It's a great song and an excellent reminder to honor God and build our children up with our words. Thank you, Dawn, for bringing us the Mentor Moment.

Jamie Ivey was our speaker Monday night. She talked to us about Family Fun Nights. This recap is brought to you by Shellie Carriker. Thanks Shellie for letting me use your write up.

Family Nights equals fostering togetherness & creating space for the family

Jamie challenged herself in her blog for one year to do something different each month. One of them Family Fun Nights. Her themes, Camping night, Luau, Nacho Night and Movie Night. She discovered through her own mess these nights sounded fun but were a lot of work for her. She loved being together but what it took was not working for her.  So she scaled it down and realized that simple was best for her.  She discovered a regular night out at their favorite restaurant but rename it Family Night made all the difference in the way the family team looked at it. Her focused shifted towards the togetherness aspect of the night instead of the actual activity. She made it work within her family routine or dynamics that were already in place. 

Her suggestions for ideas on family Fun Nights:

*Cook 

*Regular Day=special, it becomes Family Day (pack a picnic go to a park)

*Pizza Night with Movie

*Family Date Night 

Jamie suggested on Family Fun Nights to make it no phone/technology zone & to make the moments count! Just because you are in the same room does not mean you are connecting. Develop those moments.  

She also commented on marriage being very important and it is the foundation to the team. So if your foundation is struggling then it will show up in the family members. MAKE your marriage a priority. 

Mom’s are the backbone of the family.  God thought YOU to be the best choice for YOUR family & your family the best for YOU. 

"you can not measure your parenting only by the best or even the worst days!” (best line of the night)

Jamie made it clear if you are someone who loves to do theme nights (Pinterest style or such) then do it by all means! The whole goal is to create togetherness. She is just offering up what works for her Family Team!

Below are the questions from last night.

Questions:

1. How has your idea of quality family time been warped by the society that we live in?

2. What do you need to do to get back that healthy view of quality time with your kids?
3. What is your big picture for your family? How will that effect how you foster time with your family/kids?
4. What's a fun family night that you've experienced that you can share with your group?
5. What fun family night activity do you want to incorporate into your family?
6. How can you take steps to improve your marriage before you work on your family?
7. When you have days of bad parenting and want to crawl in bed, how do you deal with that? How can you still create family unity in spite of this?

Praying that this topic touched you in a way to take a minute to see what your Family Calendar looks like & create those together times! I know I walked away with new ideas & a better perspective! 

Thanks again, Shellie, for the recap!

We have a great speaker and topic planned for next week. Details coming soon but you won't want to miss this one. I think it will be great as the holidays are approaching! ;) I hope everyone has a great week. Remember to create a joy bond with your kids and build them up with your words. See ya next Monday!!!

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.