Dover MOPS

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2011-03-21T14:33:00.009-04:00

This past Wednesday, the MOPS Moms met and had a themed celebration in honor of St. Patrick’s Day. We watched one of the MOPS curriculum videos and learned about the circles that influence our mothering.

Circle (noun): the people and networks who share in shaping your family environment

The acquaintances in our life include, but are not limited to, doctors, grocery clerk, pharmacist, neighbors, service providers, online forum members, and childcare providers at the gym. These people influence how we mother, and they help with the choices we must choose for our children and family, from what medicine to give our sick toddler to what groceries we put on the table.

We learned that it is very important to have friends in our middle circle, girlfriends we can call on when needed. They laugh with us, cry with us, and love us. Girlfriends help watch our children, clean your house when you are sick, and bring food when there is a sickness or surgery in the house. Girlfriends bless us and our families.
The most inner circle is our immediate family. This includes our children and husband (or parenting partner). Our husband (or parenting partner) helps with the day to day decisions that we make involving our children and their lives. They can help us spiritually as well, by praying for our children and modeling what a strong walk with the Lord looks like.

A circle that the MOPS curriculum forgot to add, but was brought to our attention by our Mentor Mom Leah, would be the core of our circles, our relationship with Jesus. Jesus is our best friend; He is always listening, always there. When we have a strong relationship with Jesus, our other relationships (circles) can be stronger than we ever imagined.

All of these relationships take time. We must invest in them. For some, we must force ourselves to step out of our comfort zone and take a risk on a friendship. For others, the task of making friends comes easy. Regardless of which group you are in, always remember that you must work on relationships, you must take the time and effort to make them work.

Our Momology book references 1 Corinthians 13, “This poetic description of love illustrates the actions and attitudes for not only a healthy marriage, but every relationship within our circle.”

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.
~1 Corinthians 13:4-8a (NIV)

I find it amazing that my devotional today from The Women of Faith Daily Devotional was on friendship (actually the whole month is!) but today’s was on building deep relationships with some friends. The reading was based on Proverbs 18:24 “A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.”

“The kitchen of our souls is that place where we store the memories of life experiences that have shaped us into who we are.” ~ Carol Kaykendall, Kitchen Stories, MomSense, March/April 2011

Some verses for you to explore deeper:

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10
Matthew 7:16
Psalm 68:6
Zecheriah 8:16
1 Thessalonians 5:11
Proverbs 17:7
Psalm 38:11 (NASB)
1 Samuel 20:42
Psalm 133:1 (NASB)
1 Corinthians 13:1
Colossians 3:14
Proverbs 17:7
Ecclesiastes 4:11
Proverbs 27:9
2 Timothy 2:19

Finances and Budgets

2011-03-03T11:54:00.005-05:00

We had a wonderful meeting this past Wednesday.

Our Mentor Mom, Leah, shared with us the importance of Praying for our children. Some verses she shared are John 16:23-24, James 4:3, and 1 John 5:14-15. There are important aspects of prayer and our children.

One~ we are to pray with them. You can never start to early when including your children in your prayer time. Some simple ways to include them are meal times. Give thanks for the meal and all God has given you, and include 1-2 short empathy prayers. (Leah reminded us never to pray long enough that your food gets cold :)!) Another great time to include your children is at bedtime. this is where you can spend more time praying over the concerns of yourself and others. Pray about bad dreams, fears your children have, those that may be sick or struggling. Also spend time reading the Bible with your kids. A great Bible to look into is The Taylor Bible (it is no longer in print, but you can search for a used copy). It is written in a way children will understand.

Two~ we are to pray for our children. You can start this before you even conceive, or after you do. Pray for their future spouses, their lives, their health, their salvation. Pray out loud so your children hear you praying for them. Prayer can sometimes be our only defense as a parent. A very scary prayer that we sometimes need to use as a parent is "whatever it takes".

When praying for or with our children always remember to pray in God's will.

Leah gave us 31 Biblical Virtues to Pray for Your Children by Bob Hostetler and suggested that we put this somewhere we would see it daily and then speak out loud these prayers for our children.

Where 2 or 3 are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them (Matthew 18:20)

We then had Julie Munyan from Eliot Baptist Church talk to us about budgeting and finances. Did you know that God talks about $ about 200 times in the Bible? Some verses that Julie shared with us were 1 Timothy 6:6-8, Mark 12:41-42, Proverbs 21:20, and Proverbs 22:7. We need to give with our whole hearts and do it willingly and happily. If we aren't giving this way, then we shouldn't give! We need to fully lean on God with our finances. Julie shared some wonderful tips about how to eliminate our debt and gave each of us a wonderful packet with a budget sheet, ideas on how to create a budget, and much more. If you missed our meeting let Jenny know and we can work on getting you a packet. A very good resource for finances is http://www.crown.org/ and http://www.daveramsey.com/eramsey.com/.

Our next meeting is March 16, 2010 at 9:30am. We are in desperate need of MOPPET workers. If you know someone who can volunteer every other Wednesday from 9:30- 11:45 or even once a month or as a substitute, please contact Becca Bannon or Carrie Terry. Without our MOPPET workers we are unable to have our MOPs meetings! Our workers are such a blessing to our MOPs Moms and we are so thankful for them!

Check out the MOPS website.

Pie Making

2011-02-24T14:39:00.004-05:00

After over a month of bad weather and storms, we were finally able to meet once again! With the need to reconnect with one another, it was decided that instead of the regular structured meeting, the moms would make and bake pies! There was lots of peeling, slicing, kneeding, crimping and mixing going on with apple, cherry and chocolate pies being made. It was a great time to see one another and relax to the yummy smell of pies cooking in the oven!

This coming meeting, March 2 @ 9:30 am, we will have a guest speaker talking to us about budgeting and frugality. So please join us, and if you are able to bring a food dish to share or a snack for the Moppets!

Mom-processing (noun): decision making based on information from multiple sources

(Momology by Shelly Radic)

MOPS is Cancelled Today

2011-01-19T07:12:00.002-05:00

Unfortunately, the ice means Dover schools are delayed 2 hours today, so we won't be meeting this morning. I will miss seeing everyone! Be careful on the ice if you have to go out, and we'll meet again on February 2.

Cozy Winter MOPS Meetings

2011-01-09T20:23:00.002-05:00

It's wonderful to be able to encourage and hold each other up through difficult situations and seasons. Last week we had a smaller group than usual, but we enjoyed some great conversation. We missed those who were sick, and we hope everyone is feeling 100% next week! If you have been thinking of joining us, go ahead and brave the cold, get the kids out of the house, and come join us on January 19th!

Join us for the first MOPS meeting of 2011!

2011-01-03T21:04:00.003-05:00

What better way to kick off the new year than with great friends? The Dover MOPS group will dive into 2011 together this Wednesday at 9:30. As always, child care is provided. We'll have some good food and conversation and maybe decompress a little after the busy Christmas season. Come meet some new friends who won't mind if your living room floor is still covered in pine needles!

Christmas Party!

2010-12-13T09:04:00.004-05:00

Wednesday is our Christmas Party! (and it's Jodi's birthday!) We'll be doing a cookie swap, so bring a batch of your favorite Christmas cookie to share, and take home an assortment of wonderful Christmas goodies. Our Mentor Mom, Leah, will be sharing some thoughts on this season. If you've been thinking of coming but haven't made it to a meeting yet, this is a great week to come and meet some new friends.

Come and join us, and enjoy some time to catch your breath during this busy Christmas season!

Pancake Breakfast

2010-10-29T16:40:00.002-04:00

We had a blast Saturday at the pancake Breakfast. We were able to tell a few moms about mops and think we might have encouraged a few to join us. We got to face paint the children and they got to decorate foam pumpkins. We are thinking of doing it again in the spring. Thank you to all who helped.

UPDATE!

2010-10-20T14:21:00.002-04:00

Hi all. Let me fill you in with what has been going on with MOPS so far this year.

We have had three meetings so far this year. We have been studying the core of who we are as women and how it effects the way we mother our children, how our emotions play out in our role as a mother and how they effect our children. Today we took personaility tests and split up into small groups to discuss with each other how our personalities play out of who we are. It was fun to see who you share same personalities with. :)

This Saturday our MOPS moms will be going to the Seymour Osman Community Center in Dover NH, to serve pancakes to the community. We will be face painting and the kids will be painting pumkins. I will keep you updated on how it goes.

2010-09-23T12:13:00.000-04:00

WOW what a great first meeting! It was so nice to get together and see everyone after a long, HOT summer. Everyone’s kids are getting so big. We meet the first and third Wednesdays of the month from 9:30-11:45. We want to give a big thanks to the MOPPETS workers. While we are having mommy time, our children are having a blast playing with other children their age and learning a Bible lesson. We are all so excited for this year.

There are 5 weeks in September, so we'll have our first Fifth Wednesday event next week. We will go find our way through the Coppal House Farm Corn Maze on September 29th at 10am. For more info about the farm, visit www.nhcornmaze.com Join us!!

Veggie Tale Super Sale

2010-08-19T20:36:00.000-04:00

All DVDs and CDs are marked down 40% for FIVE DAYS ONLY!
Sale ends 8/24/10 or while supplies last!
*Excludes Personalized CDs - but seriously, that's it.
All other CDs and DVDs are 40% off! Really!

Our 2010-2011 MOPS Theme!!

2010-07-13T22:51:00.000-04:00

MOMOLOGY "THE ART AND SCIENCE OF MOTHERING".

Mothering is both art and science. It combines all of who we are to shape healthy, resilient kids. Mothering is so complex it requires both sides of our brain – not to mention our hands and feet, eyes and ears, mouth and (sniff, sniff) unfortunately, sometimes even our noses!

Even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. (Psalm 139:10)

Anywhere we go, God sees, knows, and guides. So we can lead - and love - knowing God will get us through all the hard spots, all our decisions, all our roles, all our times we can't hold open our eyelids and the times we're bursting with joy. God's hand guides us as we guide our children. As we study Momology together to become better moms making a better world

Dover Baptist Summer VBS

2010-05-20T16:39:00.000-04:00

This years summer VBS is coming up!

The Dover Baptist Church VBS is at the Seymour Osman Community Center this year (40 Hampshire Cir., Dover. )! The VBS will take place from July 11th - July 16th with family night celebration and ice-cream social on Friday the 16th with Annabelle's Ice-cream!

Join us for a family dinner every night at 5:30 PM, VBS starts at 6 PM.

Sign up to volunteer or register your child(ren) online today!

Mops Easter Brunch

2010-03-31T22:45:00.000-04:00

The Mops Easter Brunch was great! It was relaxing time to enjoy friends and watch our children play together. We had a wonderful aray of yummy foods and lots of Jelly Beans. "Yeah the kids were a little hyper" but hey it is Easter! :) We got to hear a wonderful message from our mentor mom about why Jesus died for you and for me. Then we headed up the stairs for the egg hunt.. WOW! That was fun!

Easter MOPS Brunch

2010-03-25T22:24:00.007-04:00

Please come and join us for an Easter Party on Wednesday, March 31 at 11:30. We'll have brunch, an egg hunt with the kids, and we'll take some time to discuss and celebrate the beautiful victory of Easter. Bring a breakfast/lunch/brunch dish to share and egg-collecting baskets for your MOPPETS. If you have one, bring a Bible, too. Feel free to bring a friend!

Also mark your calendars for our next MOPS meeting which is on April 7, 2010 at 9:30. We will be having a garden day and planting some seeds. Virginia Claus will be sharing with us about gardening, farmer's markets, and organic stuff. Virginia is on our steering team and she also have an amazing blog with tons of information on it. Here is the link for her blog; http://livinglocalnh.blogspot.com/.

We look forward to seeing you all there.

Next MOPS Meeting

2010-03-06T08:25:00.002-05:00

Mark your calendars and join us on March 17, 2010 at 9:30 a.m. We will have a special speaker coming to talk with us about Navigating Unsafe Relationships. Bill Welte is the President and CEO of America's Keswick in Whiting, NJ. Keswick is a Christian Conference Retreat Center as well as the Colony Of Mercy which is an addiction recovery program for men. http://www.americaskeswick.org/. He is also the Dad to one of our steering team members, Laura Groen. Come and join us for a great time of food, fellowship, and enjoy other moms that share the same thing in life as you.

This past MOPS meeting (March 3,2010) we had Pastor Ken Monahan came and talked on discipline. He taught us what is the right and wrong way to discipline your child and gave us some very helpful tips. We had a great discussion time with him and enjoyed chatting with each other about things we deal with in our everyday lives. I know I walked away with lots of tools to help me in the discipline area of my life. Pastor Ken is the senior pastor at Dover Baptist Church. http://www.doverbaptistchurch.org/

We also have a 5th Wed this month so check back here to see if we will be doing something fun together.

We look forward to seeing you soon!!

Veggie Tale Combo Pack, $25 Shipped!

2010-02-12T16:20:00.001-05:00

Get the newest Veggie Tales, a second DVD plus two CDs for $25 shipped! A great deal for the kiddos and your sanity!

Get FOUR products plus FREE Shipping!** This includes Pistachio: The Little Boy That Woodn't, Silly LIttle Thing Called Love, Christian Hit Music CD and God Made You Special CD! Enter Coupon Code DEALS2BUY at checkout. Your order will ship to arrive by the Pistachio release date of 2/27/10. Offer valid while supplies last!

Goodwin Update 1/11

2010-01-11T18:32:00.000-05:00

I am closing down the ChipIn widget and getting ready to deposit funds for the Goodwins. If you're still looking to donate monetarily, they have accounts with Holy Rosary Credit Union or Northeast Credit Union. Please make your check payable to “The Goodwin Family Fire Fund”.

They are still in need of temporary housing, preferably in Strafford so their kids can continue to take the bus to school. A few more tall bureaus are also welcome donations as are gift cards and groceries.

Your generosity is greatly appreciated!

12/30 Goodwin Update

2009-12-30T10:25:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone! I hope the end of December finds you and yours in good health! Here's an update on the Goodwin's.

Needs:

Home to rent in Strafford while rebuilding
Still need a couple of bureaus
Non-perishable groceries
Prepared meals
Gift cards

Monetary donations are still greatly appreciated. They can be made securely online through the ChipIn widget on the right of this blog (utilizes Paypal). You can continue to send monetary donations to Holy Rosary Credit Union or Northeast Credit Union. Please make your check payable to “The Goodwin Family Fire Fund”.

Here's to a happy and healthy 2010!

Thank you!

2009-12-25T16:42:00.000-05:00

I wanted to pop on here and thank everyone for the amazing support and blessings that you all have sent the Goodwin's. In five short days we were able to raise over two thousand dollars. Collect enough gifts for the kids to have a great Christmas and clothing for everyone. GOD is so amazing. Thank you again and please remember to keep praying for them as they start to process of looking for a home to rent and rebuild the home. Jodi Decker Mops coordinator.

Goodwin Update 12/23

2009-12-23T17:48:00.005-05:00

I was able to spend some time today organizing shoes, clothes, winter apparel and Christmas gifts. I have an updated list of needs as well as more opportunities to help the family.

First off, Dover Baptist Church is having a Christmas Eve service "A Simple Gift" at 6:30 pm at 151 Washington Street Dover, NH 03820. There will be a "Giving Tree" with ornaments you can take and on each ornament will be a gift request for the Goodwins.

Needs:

*Updated (12/24): If anyone knows of a house for rent in Strafford that would fit a family with 6 kids please contact Bambi at 742-8182. Adam and Kelly really need to stay in Strafford because 5 of the kiddos are in the Strafford school system. Adam needs work pants (Carhartt, Dickies etc.) and outdoor working clothes, he is a 36/32 pant and a Med/Lg shirt.

***
Meals are still needed and appreciated. There are no food allergies. Meals and groceries can be delivered to Bambi's house at 223 Clement Rd. in Rollinsford, NH.

Immediate needs are as follows: bureaus, church clothing (dressy clothes), new underwear and socks, towels, and the littlest child needs size 3T clothing. The family is all set with winter jackets and accessories. Click here for clothing sizes.

Other ways to give are by the secure ChipIn widget on the right column of this blog. Donations can also be deposited in the "Adam and Kelly Goodwin" account at either Holy Rosary Credit Union or Northeast Credit Union.

Gift cards are still warmly welcomed. Something they would love is gift cards for take-out and drive-thru restaurants. Think McDonald's, Dunkin Donuts, Pizza Hut and any delivery services in the Rochester/Somersworth/Rollinsford area.

After the holidays there is going to be a need for storage space as well as loading and transporting goods.

A quick thanks (with many more to come) go out the the Children's Museum of NH for providing admission tickets for the family and to the NH Seacoast Project Linus for providing blankets for the family.

Goodwin Update

2009-12-22T13:08:00.002-05:00

First, let's all look over at the donations ticker and praise God for His wonderful faithfulness! Over $1400 raised!

I've talked to the family and right now their biggest need is air mattresses for the kids. Something that can be easily inflated for the night and deflated for the daytime. If you can provide these, please contact Bambi at the phone number below.

Donations of clothing, gift cards, groceries and pre-cooked meals can be dropped off at Bambi's house at 223 Clement Rd. in Rollinsford and can be reached by phone at 742-8182.

There are accounts opened for the Goodwin family at Holy Rosary Credit Union and Northeast Credit Union ("Adam and Kelly Goodwin account"). You can also donate via Paypal by using the secure ChipIn widget in the right hand column of this blog. Every cent will be passed on to the Goodwin family.

More Goodwin updates, clothing sizes, news links etc, can be found on these posts at this blog.

Update on Goodwin Family

2009-12-21T11:44:00.002-05:00

The Goodwin family has lost their home to a chimney fire. WMUR is carrying the story right now:
http://www.wmur.com/news/22023104/detail.html
As is Foster's:
http://fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091221/GJNEWS_01/912219983

The immediate needs are money, clothes, and gift cards so they can begin to rebuild their lives and provide the basic necessities to their family. Here's an updated clothing size list:

Adam- 34/32 pant, M shirt, 10 shoe.
Kelly- 5-7 pant, S shirt, 7-7 1/2 shoe.
Kendell- 0-1 pant, xs J shirt, 8 womens shoe- 13 year old girl
Taylor- 12 pant, 12/14 shirt, 3 1/2 shoe-11 year old girl
Logan- 8/10 pant, 3 1/2 shoe- 8 year old boy
Tucker- 7/8 pant, 7/8 shirt, 1 1/2 shoe- 6 year old boy
Griffin- 5/6 pant, 5/6 shirt, 13 1/2 shoe- 5 year old boy
Sawyer- 2T pant, 3T shirt, 8 shoe- 3 years on Monday boy

Donations can be dropped off at Bambi's house at 223 Clement Rd. in Rollinsford and she can be reached by phone at 742-8182.

There are accounts opened for the Goodwin family at Holy Rosary Credit Union and Northeast Credit Union ("Adam and Kelly Goodwin account"). You can also donate via Paypal by using the secure ChipIn widget in the right hand column of this blog. Every cent will be passed on to the Goodwin family.

The family thanks you for your prayers and your overwhelming generosity.

MOPS Mom In Need

2009-12-20T20:28:00.001-05:00

I was just alerted that one of our fellow MOPS moms, Kelly Goodwin, was involved in a house fire at her home. As far as I know, the house is a total lost. There is now a family of 8, 6 children, displaced right before the Christmas season.

The family will be in need of practically every item you'd typically have in your home, clothes, food, pots/pans, furniture, mattresses etc.

The immediate needs will be clothing (don't forget winter apparel) for the family as well as shoes and food. The kids are girls 11+13 and boys 3,5,6 and 8. Amy is probably a size medium shirt and Adam, the husband, is a size medium top, pants are 36/32 and shoe size is 10. Kendall (13 yr old girl) is a size 1 or 2, Taylor (11 yr old girl) is a 10/12, Logan (8 yr old boy) is a 10/12, Tucker (6yr old boy) is a 7/8, Griffin (5 yr old boy) is a 6/7, Sawyer (3 yr old boy) is a 3T.

Donations can be dropped off at Bambi's house at 223 Clement Rd. in Rollinsford and she can be reached by phone at 742-8182.

I am also putting up a ChipIn widget so you can donate monetarily to the Goodwin family. Every single cent will go directly to them. I am collecting funds through my Paypal account and will regularly withdraw the donations and give them directly to the family.

May God bless you and keep you safe this Christmas season. Let us not forget the true meaning of Christmas and give with a cheerful heart.

2009-11-08T15:02:00.002-05:00

We had another new mom join us, this past mops meeting. This marks our 9th new mom to come to one of our meetings. God is really doing something amazing here. It was a small meeting, but we had a nice time. We enjoyed a longer than usually fellowship time with each other. We got the hear all about Bambi's adventure to Guatemala. I believe we were all touched by the stories she shared. Then at 11am we had a time of prayer for a little baby named Micah Kellsal who was having open heart surgery that morning. It was an emotion few minutes for most of us, thinking back about Lindsay and the fight that little girl fought. He is doing well. After that we all ventured down to the kitchen were we made cinnamon pumpkin potpourri candle holders.
We will be meeting again on November 18th. We will be sharing a Thanksgiving meal together (yes for Breakfast) and a time to fellowship, grow, and learn together as moms.

November Meetings

2009-11-02T20:09:00.004-05:00

Come and join us this Wednesday November 4th at 9:30 a.m. Our topic this week will be Living at Light Speed. Leah Roth will be our guest speaker. Come and have some coffee, yummy treats, make a craft with us. Sit back and relax and enjoy some time away from your kids and chat with other Moms. We look forward to seeing you there.

Our next meeting will be on November 18th and our topic will be Growing With Extended Family.

Coppal House TODAY!!

2009-09-29T20:54:00.002-04:00

Our MOPS group will be heading over to the Coppal House Corn Maze in Lee, NH, WEDNESDAY September 30th at 10 am. Feel free to bring a picnic lunch for afterward. All are welcome, the fee is $4 for adults and free for kids over age 6. We need 15+ participants in order to secure the group rate, so be sure to meet us there! :)

Every year the Coppal House has a professional company come in a cut out a design in their corn field. This year the design will be a skunk and flower. Througout the maze are mailboxes that have questions regarding skunks and flowers and if you choose the correct answers, you'll get the correct directions through the maze. There is usually a "hay bale maze" too for the little tykes to explore.

The maze is jogger stroller friendly. Afterward we can pick a pumpkin or other fall decorations at the farm store.

Hope to see you there!

MOPS Meeting #1

2009-09-02T21:44:00.003-04:00

Today was the first MOPS meeting of the year, can we say, YAHOO!! :)

We had four new moms attend today! We all enjoyed a yummy breakfast spread of food and all the kids had a blast in their MOPPETS program. All of the moms made space themed name tags for themselves as well as name tags for the kids to wear in their classrooms.

Our next meeting will be September 16th at 9:30 am. We hope to see you there. If you've been considering coming, don't hesitate! You can jump in any time during the year, you are always welcomed. We hope to see you there! As a reminder, if you planning on becoming a MOPS member, member dues are due on the 16th.

Also, be sure to mark September 30 on your calender. We'll be meeting at the Coppal House in Lee, NH at 10 am for a stroll through their corn maze. Admission is $4 for adults and children 6 years and older.

Add Yours...

2009-08-29T09:25:00.003-04:00

Do you have a favorite recipe or something you're made to bring to functions because it's that good? Then Dover MOPS wants your recipes for their cookbook!

You can go online and enter your recipes with this information:

www.typensave.com

Contributors name is you

Group login: dbccookbook

Password: angel3

We appreciate any and all recipes you contribute! Even if you can only manage to input one recipe, it's greatly appreciated!

Be on the lookout for this cookbook in print by years end! (Think Christmas presents...)

RSVP for the First Meeting!

2009-08-19T21:22:00.002-04:00

First off, this is definitely not required! If you decide last minute to join us, we'd LOVE to have you!!

If you do want to let us know you'll be swinging by for our first meeting of the year on September, be sure to let us know on our Evite.

We hope to see you at 9:30 am at Dover Baptist Church in Dover, NH on September 2nd!

Sneak Peak!

2009-08-12T21:35:00.002-04:00

The Steering Team had an awesome retreat planning the upcoming MOPS year. We have some awesome meetings in store.

Another exciting part of MOPS is "5th Wednesdays." You think we could come up with a cooler name than that, but well, it's what it is, the 5th Wednesday activities! This year we have three 5th Wednesdays with the first one coming right up on September 30th.

I'm excited to announce our MOPS group will be heading over to the Coppal House Corn Maze in Lee, NH. Every year the Coppal House has a professional company come in a cut out a design in their corn field. This year the design will be a skunk and flower. Througout the maze are mailboxes that have questions regarding skunks and flowers and if you choose the correct answers, you'll get the correct directions through the maze. There is usually a "hay bale maze" too for the little tykes to explore.

The maze is jogger stroller friendly. Afterwards we can pick a pumpkin or other fall decorations.

Hope to see you there! And don't forget, the first MOPS meeting of the year is September 2nd at 9:30 am. Be there!

MOPS Steering Team Retreat

2009-08-03T20:31:00.000-04:00

This weekend the Dover MOPS steering team will be traveling to Rochester, NH for our annual retreat to plan our up coming year. This is a time for us to grow as a team and pray for guidance from God to do what he wills with our MOPS group.

Laura and I have a lot of fun stuff planned! Friday night we will spend most of the evening planning and we'll end the evening with a movie or what ever tickles our fancy. Saturday we will continue planning for the day and make our MOPS t-shirts. That evening we will head out to the Olive Garden for dinner (yum!).

We have a ton of new ideas to bring to MOPS this year. Please pray for us that we will do what God wants us to do.

Don't forget to mark the first MOPS meeting of the 09-10 year on your calendar! See you September 2nd at 9:30 am!

Steering Team Update

2009-07-23T21:09:00.000-04:00

Here's some great news! Becca Bannon has agreed to be apart of our Steering Team as the Creative Activity's Coordinator. She is not only is a wife of our Assistant Pastor, but also is a first time mom this year. We are so excited to have her apart of the team and look forward to getting to know her more. Half the team, including myself, are new to there positions or to steering. I am so excited to see what God has planned for us, I know that it is going to be good.

We are welcoming Virginia as our publicity coordinator. One of her duties will be to help keep this blog updated.

Tracey is joining steering and will be working in the hospitality department.

And lastly, Laura and myself will be the MOPS Steering coordinators.

and.. time is a~ticking.. waiting for the 2009-2010 MOPS year to begin. We are so excited for it to start, but we need to plan our year first. Our Steering Team and I are really excited because good friends of ours have invited us to there beautiful home to have our retreat this year. They have even offered to do all the cooking for us. Praise God for wonderful people!! Friday night we are going to start the evening by getting dressed up and going out to dinner. We will return to watch movies and have some girly fun. Saturday we will get a bulk of our planning done.. We will keep you posted on how it goes!

Enjoy the rest of your summer!

Play Date Friday

2009-07-07T21:17:00.000-04:00

I am really getting sick of all this rain. I am starting to think that I am never going to enjoy my back yard again.

Since we have already canceled all the play dates that I have had planned, I am going to plan a play date here at my house this Friday, July 11th. Rain or shine. Keep an eye on the weather cause if the sun is going to be out we will be swimming and enjoying the mud puddles that mother nature seems to want to keep full.

Bring lunch for you and your kids.. We usually have a sign up sheet, but I think that it will be easier to just bring your own lunches. I can supply us with lots of ice coffee and juice for the kids. Looking forward to seeing you all this Friday. I miss our FUN play dates.

So a fun play date Friday at Jodi's house! See you there!

Free Veggie Tales DVD

2009-07-02T11:57:00.000-04:00

Sign up for the Big Idea newsletter HERE, and you'll get a free Veggie Tales DVD. All you need to pay is the shipping fee which is around $2.99.

Enjoy!

Vacation Bible School at Dover Baptist!

2009-07-01T23:07:00.000-04:00

Get ready for Son Rock Kids Camp at Dover Baptist Church!

Vacation Bible School runs from July 13 through July 17th from 5:30- 8:30 at the Dover Baptist Church. DBC will be serving dinner promptly at 5:30 pm. Son Rock Kids Camp is for preschoolers through 5/6th grade. Adult class will be available while kids are at participating in Son Rock Kids Camp.

Child care is also available. Contact DBC for more information 742-5452.

Hope to see you there, it's sure to be a BLAST!

Laura Groen's Baby Shower

2009-06-27T21:05:00.000-04:00

Today we had a baby shower for Laura, our MOPS Assistant Coordinator.

Laura and her family welcomed the newest member of their family on Saturday June 13th, Case William, weighing in at 10lbs 2oz and 21" long. We like to have baby showers for our new moms after the babies are born. This way it gives us a chance to meet the baby and give mom time to recover.

We had a good turn out and served a salad bar for dinner (which was a big hit).

Laura was able to stock up on lots of diapers, wipes, and some really cute new clothes. Thank you to all who came! Bambi, of course, made an amazing cake that copied the napkin that we used. Thank you to all who came early to help with food set up and who stayed after to help clean up and thank you to Phylis for the fun time putting it all together.

2009 MOPS International Photo Contest

2009-06-22T23:30:00.000-04:00

2009 MOPS International Photo Contest

It's that time again - time to pull out your camera to take pictures for the 2009 MOPS International Photo Contest. This year we’re looking for photos in four categories: mom and child, child only, family fun and mom-friends photos. Enter a picture that shows your child's unique and adorable qualities. Or send us one that reflects the bond between you and your child. Send a funny, unusual, touching or goofy family photo. You could even send us a picture that depicts the special friendship you share with other moms. We encourage photos from all seasons and holidays.

This contest is open through 07/15/2009.

What Dover Mops is up to..

2009-06-20T20:42:00.000-04:00

We finished up our last meeting with a bang. We had our pastors wife in to speak to us about going back to school when your children are all grown up and moved out. It was amazing to hear her speak about how she went back to school and fulfilled her dreams. She is an amazing lady that we all look up to very much. We also had a little ceremony for the children that will be no longer apart of our Moppets program. They are now off to school.. We gave gifts to our Moppets workers in appreciation for all they do for our kids.

Laura and I are also very excited about our new coordinating positions. We are planning a retreat for August to take our steering team away for the weekend to bond and plan the coming years' curriculum.

We want to Congratulate Laura, Jon, and Tanner Groen and her family as they welcome the newest addition to there family Case William, weighing in at 10lb 2oz 21in. He and mom are doing great. We are planning a baby shower for her and Case on June 27th at 5pm. I will keep you posted on how that goes.

On Monday we will be going strawberry picking (if the weather allows us) at Butternut Farm. We will be meeting at 1:30pm. I will post pictures.