Eleventh Meeting

We had a late start today, due to the school system's 2-hour delay. After a short time of chatting and eating, we had announcements, then moved into our speaker room for Leslie's devotion. Leslie showed the first video in the NOOMA series, called Rain. It's a powerful message about trusting God the Father through the storms in our life.
She introduced Dr. Ott, from the Children's Clinic. He spoke of his education and home life, then opened up the forum for questions. We covered topics like eczema, medicines, sun screens, ant bites, allergies vs. colds, and broken bones. He did a great job of answering our questions and putting some minds at ease.

Tenth Meeting - New Beginnings

Today was our first meeting of the new year. It was nice to be back and see everyone after the holidays.
We have a new coordinator, Lori, who did an outstanding job! After announcements, we set out on a spiritual journey. Each mom visited one of 4 rooms, labeled Mountaintops, Valleys, Doubts and Deserts. There were candles illuminating each room and soft music playing. We journaled a thank you letter to God, prayed, chose a scripture bookmark and chose a clay pot to remember that God is the potter and we are the clay. Afterwards, there was a nice time to chat and eat.
Next week is a Mom's Night Out. The girls are going bowling!!

Christmas Brunch

Our last meeting of the year was a brunch with lots of food and fun! Everyone brought a dish to share and there was lots of good food to eat! Casseroles, cheesecakes, chips, crackers and chocolate...YUM! Lori and Mrs. Sue did a marvelous job of decorating the tables. Mrs. Sue played the piano while we ate, and the Harbor staff joined us.
The Secret Sisters revealed themselves with some great presents. A few had their suspicions about who their secret sister had been all along and some were surprised.
We all pulled a number out of a basket and played "Dirty Santa" with $1 Christmas ornaments. There were a few that were hot items and passed through a few hands until they were retired.
Hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and a very terrific new year!

Christmas Cookie Exchange

Tonight was our cookie exchange at Leslie's house. We were expecting around 12 moms and ended up with a total of 14! There were cookies galore!!!
Leslie, Mrs. Debbie and Lori made some goodies for us to eat, including meatballs, spinach dip, celery with pimento cheese and there was wine, egg nog, punch and sodas. After filling up and chatting, we got to go around and fill up our cookie tins! Yum!! There was fudge, chocolate chip cookies, macaroons, and some with raspberry jam, m&m's, Hershey kisses, and cute snowmen!

Seventh Meeting

I regret that I didn't get any pictures at this meeting. :( We made some great organizational cards to put on the kids' drawers (pants, shirts, underwear, etc.), toy boxes/bins (legos, barbies, cars, etc.) and menu cards (mac & cheese, pb & j, sides, etc.) to give the kids their own choice to eat. Here are the cards I made for my son's drawers. They are already working!
We did an icebreaker next to introduce the newer members and then share adventures we've had as mothers. There were some very funny stories!

MNO at La Costa

Tonight was a lot of fun! Six of us (plus one sleeping baby) ate out at La Costa Mexican Restaurant. Leslie had a great recommendation for Amy and Melissa to try: Pollo Fundito. It definitely looked good.
It was Melissa's birthday, so we HAD to inform our waiter about it! They brought out a sombrero and sang to her!
Don't miss the next one, Ladies!

Making Pillowcase Dresses

Tonight, Kelly hosted several moms to come over with supplies and sewing machines (very graciously, as it was her birthday!!). Dee helped us all to make a pillowcase dress for our daughters. After a lot of time and mishaps, almost everyone completed a dress. We are hoping to do it again soon!