Turkey Treats- Fun Thanksgiving Food Ideas

With Thanksgiving right around the corner,  we thought it would be fun to implement some "turkey treats" with our kiddos to gear up for the festivities.  There are SO many boards on Pinterest with these kinds of treat ideas, but this site offered so many cute treats in one post.  There are some creative ideas for kid-friendly turkey treats that even offer some healthier options, which seems refreshing since that is sometimes difficult during the holiday season.  

http://www.thedatingdivas.com/food/50-turkey-treats-fun-thanksgiving-food-ideas/

We hope everyone has a blessed Thanksgiving. We have so much to be thankful for!

Enjoying the "Stages"

No matter how old our children are, there are always those phases and stages that our children go through that we are slightly excited to be over.  I frequently catch myself saying, "this is just a phase" and I instantly remind myself that when this phase is over, another phase will start.  They really do grow up so fast and if we don't savor every stage and phase our babies won't be babies anymore, children won't be children anymore and before we know it, our kiddos will be out of the house.  I loved this blog that I came across this week because, let's be honest, some stages are hard. Really, really hard. But in the mess we can show our children grace and God's love.  I pray this fellow mom's post blesses you and encourages you on the days that aren't the easiest. 

"'I can't wait for him to sleep through the night. I can't wait for her to start walking. I can't wait for him to tie his own shoes. I can't wait for her to do her own hair. I can't wait for him to drive himself to practice. I can't wait for her to meet a godly man.'

Do we realize that by the time they can do all those things they will be gone? We won't get another chance to embrace those moments. 


"If you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail." (Isaiah 58:10-11)" Read the entire post from "Gospel-Centered Mom" here

The Pumpkin Prayer

Although many of our holidays are Christ centered and allow for us to teach our children more about Jesus, Halloween is just not one of those holidays.  Still, many families enjoy Halloween festivities and traditions such as decorating their house, carving pumpkins, passing out candy, dressing up, etc.  While we are carving our pumpkins this year with our kiddos, we can pray this prayer together:

Each time we see our Jack-o-lantern, we can be reminded of how much we are loved by our Heavenly Father!  Have a safe and happy Halloween!

You Are a Blessing

Good morning, Moms!

We hope that this encourages you today!  As mothers, we have one of the most important jobs in the world; nurturing and caring for the well being of another human.  I can't think of anything more worthwhile than that.  Although sometimes it may seem that we are unappreciated, remember today that we are doing big things!

"What you do doesn’t go unnoticed and while you may feel like the most blessed person in the world because of your baby, your baby is the blessed one because they have you. You are the only one who can nurture your baby the way you do. There will never be another person who will sacrifice sleep night after night just to make sure they are well fed. Only you will be the one who wipes their tears in the dead of night as they tell you about their nightmares. Only you can convince them that monsters will never get to them, not on your watch. Only you can really shape the person that they will become because of the love you have to give."

Read the rest of the post from the blog "The Happy Heart". https://missrheyna.wordpress.com/2013/10/08/a-letter-to-my-sisters/

Have a wonderful day! You are a blessing!

Making Wise Media Choices Together (a printable)

Hi Mamas!

We hope your week is off to a great start. It's Monday and I'm sure you all hit the ground running this morning!

With media everywhere around us (TV, movies, radio, social media), I know we often find ourselves scrambling for the remote as the pot of spaghetti over boils because our 4 year old changed the channel to something we wish he didn't see.  I even remember arguing with my mom when I was little about shows that she thought were appropriate vs. shows I wanted to watch.  Now that social media is so prevalent, as well, discussing some guidelines and family decisions might help us to all be on the same page about what we watch on TV, movies and decisions for social media.  Even if our kiddos are too young for Facebook and Instagram, this can be a great way for us to get on the same page as our husbands/the village that helps us raise our babies.

I came across this printable and thought it would be something to print off and use with our families.  It could invite a discussion with our older children about role models and why we want to strive to watch wholesome things.

I hope you all find some time to relax this week and maybe even sneak in a family show to watch together.

http://www.triciagoyer.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Making-Wise-Media-Choices-Together-Printable-TriciaGoyer.com_.pdf

Mom 2 Mom 2014-2015 Meeting Dates

Hello Ladies,

We are so excited to kick off another great year of Mom 2 Mom!  We hope everyone had a safe and relaxing summer with your kiddos and are ready to fellowship with other moms in our group. 

Our first meeting will be held this coming Thursday, September 18.  Breakfast will be provided by the committee.  We can't wait to see you there! 

Below are the meeting dates as well as Mom's Night Out and play dates.  We generally meet on the third Thursday of the month, but there are three dates in which we meet on the second Thursday of the month, which are noted below.  

 9/18/14 meeting

 9/26/14  Mom's Night Out@ RMCC Coffee Cafe 7pm

 10/16/14  meeting

 10/22/14 Play date @ Riverview Park 9:30am

 11/14/14 play date @ i.d.e.a museum 9:30am

 11/20/14 meeting

*12/11/14  meeting (2nd Thursday of the month)

 1/15/15 meeting

 2/19/15  meeting

*3/12/15 meeting (2nd Thursday of the month)

 4/16/15 meeting

*5/14/15  meeting (2nd Thursday of the month)

Make sure to mark your calendars for these opportunities to laugh, share, eat and learn with other moms.  Looking forward to seeing you!

Bible Reading Plans

Looking for a Bible reading plan? How about one that focuses on building your family's values? Check out Bible.com's reading plans. There are plans to choose from, click here for a plan that focuses on family. 

End of Year Meeting Recap

Wow! Another fun year of mom2mom has come to a close... but not to fret! mom2mom will be back in the fall with our once a month meetings. In the meantime, stay posted for mom2mom summer playdates.

At our last meeting we shared ideas for summer actives. From crafts to outings to community pools, some of the fun ideas also included buying 'snowballs' from Bahama Bucks for a snowball fight, Lowe's and Home Depot building projects, craft time at Michael's, and buying pool passes on Memorial day weekend at various Mesa Public Schools. What are some of your go-to Summer favorites?

Also, please contact us if you have any input or feedback for the coming year!

Thanks for a great mom2mom season!

Happy [Belated] Mother's Day & Meeting Reminder

We hope that each and everyone had a lovely mother's day!

This week marks our last meeting of this school year. We hope to see everyone on Thursday's, May 15th, meeting at 9:30 am. We are also looking for your feedback as we plan for next year. If you feel led, and would like to help, please let us know as well at Thursday's meeting.

Blog Repost: Your Greatest Legacy As A Parent

"You'll never be a perfect parent, but you can be a praying parent." Oh. SO. True! This quote is from a recent blog post on Proverbs 31Ministries titled 'Your Greatest Legacy.'

Click here to read the entire post.

Leftover Easter Egg Dye Crafts

Easter crafts are not over yet! Find yourself with leftover Easter egg dye and/or with kiddios that had so much fun dying eggs they want another like-minded craft? Here are three fun and easy crafts that utilize your leftovers:

Clothes pins!

Pasta!

Wooden Spoons

April Meeting Recap

We hope each of you had a wonderful Easter celebrating our Savior's resurrection!

Thursday's meeting marked our second to last meeting of this school year. How do these months zoom by so quickly?! Be sure to attend our last meeting on Thursday, May 15th. We will have sign ups for any of those interested in helping with mom2mom in the Fall. From event planning to blog posts, the mom2mom committee is made up of mom's just like you! If you have any feedback, comments, or ideas for next year, we would also love to hear from you.

On Thursday, we were blessed to hear from our men's panel, who each graciously shared insight and perspective from the husband's point of view. In relation to our last meeting, we wanted to share with you a link to a video from Priscialla Shirer. The video is entitled "What Men Wished Women Knew," be sure to watch both Part 1 and Part 2. It encompasses a panel of men sharing their insights.

Homemade Easter Egg Dyes

Ready to dye Easter eggs with your little ones? Some of the most colorful and fun dyes are already in your pantry! What natural dyes will you use this year?

Reader's Digest compiled a list of 11 different homemade Easter egg dyes. Check it out here.

Palm Sunday Crafts

Palm Sunday is this weekend. Here are a few fun and easy ideas to do with your little ones. Let us know which one you do! Click on the images below for directions.

Upcoming mom2mom events

Grab a pen and your trusty calendars or you Smartphone, we've got some important dates for you.

- Park Play Dates.

Join us at Falcon Field Park at 9:30am on April 3rd and again on May 1st.  Feel free to pack an early lunch.  Falcon Field Park is at 4800 E. Falcon Drive, Mesa, AZ 85215

- MNO. Pedicure Night is coming up on Friday, April 11th at 6pm at Happy Feet located at Power & McDowell.  Pedicures start at $25. Please email Julie Barrett if you would like to join us!

Our last two Mom2Mom meetings for this semester are scheduled for April 17th and May 15th.   

Blog Repost from Loving My Lot: Mom vs. Mom

"Mom vs. Mom: The War I Didn't See Coming" is a great blog post filled with humor, wisdom, and most importantly truth. It speaks on the way us moms can compare ourselves to one another.

What do you think of this post? 

March Meeting Recap

Happy Spring! At our March mom2mom meeting, we had a yummy green colored breakfast in honor of St Patrick's Day. 

Tonya McDermid shared about the Young Lives ministry. We learned about the ministry through pictures she shared and details about how the gospel is presented to the teen moms. We also learned about the Young Lives camp held each July. At the meeting we made crafty cards of encouragement to give to the volunteers at camp this summer.

Announcements

April 11th at 6pm is pedicure night at Happy Feet, we are getting a total count so please e-mail Julie at juliebarrett42@gmail.com if you can join us! Happy Feet is located Power and McDowell at 6727 E. McDowell Rd, Mesa AZ. 

April 17th - April mom2mom meeting

May 15th - May mom2mom meeting, last one of the semester!

Go Green with Yummy St.Patrick Day Treats

Julie Gransee has gathered three fun recipes for going green this St. Patrick's day fun.

Limeade Fruit Dip

Avocado Pesto Pasta

 Frozen Mint Brownie Dessert

Spring Playdate!

February 2014 Meeting Recap

A special thank you to Julie and Adam Hydzu for sharing their story, wisdom, and humor with the group! What a treat to hear from a married couple and their journey together. They reminded us of the fact that "marriage is designed for Holiness, not just happiness."

A few mom2mom announcements:

Thursday, March 6th, PLAYDATE!
Summitt Park (located next to church). Pack a lunch and come play with mom2mom at 9:30 am.

Thursday, March 13th, mom2mom March meeting
We are meeting a week early in March due to Spring Break. Same time, same room.

Friday, April 11th, mom2mom Pedicure Night
Enjoy a relaxing night among friends at Happy Feet.

Also, for our regular meetings, if you have any food preferences (gluten free, diary free, etc) please let your Table mom know.

Meeting Reminder and Hot Chocolate Recipe

Good morning ladies! A reminder that our next meeting is THIS THURSDAY. If you have any changes in childcare, please remember to let Sandy know.

At our meeting, we will be blessed with a wonderful set of guest speakers, our own mom2mom Table Mom, Julie Hydzu and her husband Adam will broach the topic of marriage and intimacy.

The mom2mom mom's dessert night was a great success.  Many of you have asked for the Hot Chocolate recipe from Cheryl's dessert bar... here it is... why not make a batch, put the kids to bed, and share a mug with your hubby tonight? (So with this warm weather you may need to crank up the air conditioner already to cool down the house, but hey it is worth it to enjoy a mini-date-night-in!)

Creamy Hot Cocoa Recipe
www.allrecipes.com

• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 pinch salt
• 1/3 cup boiling water

• 3 1/2 cups milk
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup half-and-half cream
  Combine the cocoa, sugar and pinch of salt in a saucepan. Blend in the boiling water. Bring this mixture to an easy boil while you stir. Simmer and stir for about 2 minutes. Watch that it doesn't scorch. Stir in 3 1/2 cups of milk and heat until very hot, but do not boil! Remove from heat and add vanilla. Divide between 4 mugs. Add the cream to the mugs of cocoa to cool it to drinking temperature.

Valentine's Menu by Julie Gransee

Do you ever feel like even the "little" holidays are just one more thing added to your already heavy mom to-do list?  Or maybe you are torn because you really want to make these special days memorable for your loved ones but just don't have that much time?  What about the dilemma of going out and facing the crowds, or just staying home and eating in?  Here are a couple of simple recipe ideas to make your Valentine's Day fun for you, your sweetie, and your littles.  

Valentine's Day Snack Mix from MamaMiss - This would be so fun to mix up together with the kiddos.  You could take it to the park for a special snack, or send it in a lunchbox to school.  

Prosciutto Wrapped Chicken and Asparagus  from The Food Charlatan - If you do decide to avoid the crowds and stay home on Valentine's Day, this is a really good but simple recipe that feels a little bit fancy.  

Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake Bars from Lovely Little Kitchen - Make these little cheesecakes the day before so that you don't have to worry about making dessert on Valentine's Day.  Raspberries are always romantic!

Valentine's S'mores

Sweet and simple. A winning combo, especially for a fun family activity for Valentine's Day. This post on making Valentine's Day S'mores from the blog, Busy Kids Happy Mom, is a keeper. Plus, it even has innovative ideas for indoor fire-sources for your s'mores. Read on. Who's going to make this???

Curious?

What tools/conversations do you have with your children to spark's their curiosity? On the heels of our January meeting, the following blog post from Focus on the Family fits right in!

Titled 'Boost Curiosity and Thinking Skills: Curiosity is key to your child's desire to learn.' The post starts out with the statement "as long as kids stay curious, they are motivated to learn." Read on for some practical tips as well as gentle reminders to stay tuned into what our kid's are asking us.

January 2014 Meeting Recap

Back for the new year! We were graced with the wisdom and humor of Anita Ramsey, a reading specialist for Mesa Public Schools at our January meeting. She reminded us to:

- Talk with your child as you are walking or driving
- Engage your child in "looking" and "listening"
- Become aware of "reading" opportunities
- Point to the words as you are reading them
- Keep books in the car
- Label items on and off the page
- Put the phone down

Anita also left us with the great resource and reminder to use the public library resource page: www.mpsaz.org/library
user name: mps4
password: search

If you missed, get ready, mom2mom has some great activities planned for 2014! We hope to see you at the next gathering!

Upcoming Events
MNO - Dessert Night @ Cheryl Washburn's February 6th @ 7 PM.

February Meeting - February 20th @ 9:30 am

Playdate @ Summit Park - March 6th @ 9:30 am

March Meeting - March 13th @ 9:30 am

MNO - Happy Feet Pedicures @ 6:00 pm

April Meeting - April 17th @ 9:30 am

May Meeting - May 15th @ 9:30 am

Questions, comments, concerns? Leave us a comment and we will get back to you!

Who Wants a More Organized Home?!

Ahhh, Organization. For some, we may thrive on the word, for the other half of us, we may dread the process. However, we know we all benefit from a more organized life and home. Therein, enters the 52 Week Challenge To An Organized Home. 

On the web site, you will find a break down of each week, a PDF document you can print out, and also a place to enter your email to subscribe. It can be hard to remember to check back to a web site each week, the site breaks it down easily by emailing you each week's challenge.

Who is game? Leave us a comment if you are participating!

Hope Women's Center

At our next mom2mom meeting, January 16th 2014, we will be collecting toilet paper for Hope Women's Center.

Hope Women's Center offers mentoring, Biblical counseling, education, pregnancy testing, and girls nights out for the community. With locations in Apache Junction, Coolidge, and Phoenix, all services are free. It is a "community of people who are committed to loving and serving our neighbors by providing resources and referrals for the vulnerable women and teen girls and their families living in the East Valley, Phoenix, and Coolidge." Their website lists three ways to become a part of this dynamic ministry: Volunteer, Pray, and Invest.

For more information please visit http://hopewomenscenter.org and don't forget to grab a few extra rolls of TP to help donate! :-)