Operation Christmas Child

We are excited to announce that Two Rivers MOPS will once again be partnering with Children's Ministries and all of Two Rivers Church to participate in collecting shoe box gifts for Operation Christmas Child.

Operation Christmas Child is a ministry of Samaritan's Purse, an international Christian relief and aid organization, that shares the love of Jesus with underprivileged children around the world through simple Christmas gifts. This is a great, easy, way for you and your family to give back at Christmas time and teach your little ones about giving to others.

Here's how you can participate:

• Fill a shoe box... or several! Have your children help. Create a family assembly line one night around the dining room table, or have each child fill a box for a child their own age and gender. You can find more information on what to include in your boxes here. Be sure to label what age and gender your box is packed for!
• Fill out the form. You can fill out a paper form and include it with your box along with the $7 recommended donation for shipping costs, or you can register your box online to get a tracking number and follow your box around the world to its final destination!
• Drop your box off at Two Rivers Church between November 3 & 18. There will be tables in the lobby and the children's ministry wing during those weeks. If you can't make it on a Sunday morning, you can drop your boxes off during office hours throughout the week (9-5 Monday-Thursday and 9-3 Friday), or you can bring it to our next MOPS meeting on November 13. 

It's that easy! Have you participated in Operation Christmas Child in the past? What has been your experience? How have you used it to teach your children about giving during the Christmas season?

Fall Leaf Garland

While scrolling through fun fall art projects recently, I came across this idea for a fall leaf garland craft. It was easy, cheap, and required supplies that I would bet a lot of you already have on hand - definitely a must for family crafting in my book! I knew I wanted to share it with you. But to make it a little more fun, I thought I would try this one myself first and show you the process!

I started by drawing leaves onto coffee filters. Mine were the brown, unbleached kind. They worked just fine, but white filters probably would have produced brighter leaves in the end. 

And just to show you that yes, you can craft with little bitties, here's Gavrel with his watercolors - he's 18 months old.

In all fairness, he was far more interested in dipping the paintbrush in the water cup than actually painting the leaves. He did manage to make it through all 12 leaves - 6 coffee filters - before signing "all done."

This step wasn't in the original directions, but I thought it would be fun to add the letters for "happy fall" to our garland. 

I just free-handed our letters, but it would be just as east to type them up, print them off onto card stock, and cut them out from there. I cut all these out while Gav was painting our leaves.

Once the leaves were dried, I cut them out and punched holes through them and each of my letters. Then I strung them all on a piece of yarn. The original directions say to knot off each leaf, but I just double-threaded each piece and it worked out fine.

Since it's so light-weight, I just used Scotch tape to hang it from our mantle. Isn't that fun?

With older kids, you could let them do the stringing. It's great for hand-eye coordination, my little-bit just isn't quite there yet!

My favorite part is that I can tell guests that Gavrel made it himself! :-) Happy Fall everyone!

Recipe: Bringing Starbucks Home

Are you trying to get your fill of Pumpkin Spice lattes while they last? Here's a great, easy way to get your fix without leaving home or busting your wallet. You'll probably even have enough to share!

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Try out this crock pot pumpkin spice latte recipe next time you have a girlfriend or a group over. 

And while you're at it...

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Why not throw in some pumpkin maple coffee cake, too?

Enjoy your homemade coffee shop experience!

A Moment for Your Monday

Choices seem to be a daily obstacle as moms: we have to make choices about how to spend our time, what to get done (or not get done), how to feed our little ones, what toys to give them, how to handle meltdowns and tantrums, and even just what color socks to put on them. That's not even to mention bigger decisions like working, schooling, spiritual training, safety or health concerns. We are bombarded every day.

Add to that the pressure we feel from reading blogs, scrolling through Facebook or Pinterest, talking to our pediatricians, or just watching other mom friends. And then it creeps in.

Fear. 

What if my child is forever afraid of being outside because I worry about her touching things and getting sick? What if my child doesn't learn to read in time because I just don't have the energy when I get home from work to play all those cool educational games with him? What if my children develop some horrible disease in adulthood because I didn't buy all organic groceries or I let them play with plastic toys? What if I am just a horrible mother because I wasn't able to breastfeed?

Do any of those sound familiar? What do you fear? What keeps you up at night? What thoughts creep in when you least expect them?

Today, during a moment of your Monday, consider this truth from your Father:

For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. 

-2 Timothy 1:7 (NLT)

Fear is not from God! Let me say that again, because I want you to hear it - fear is NOT from God! It is the result of a sinful, broken world and an enemy who wants to destroy anything good in us. Because the truth is: mothering is good. That intense love you have for your children, that desire to give them the best all the time - it's part of God's Fatherly heart reflected in you, and it is very good.

The fear? That's not part of God's heart at all. 

So trust in this: you are doing your best for your children. I know it, because I know it's God's heart in you for them. By all means - learn, grow, be inspired, and try new things. But when you can't do everything your neighbor does or you're too tired some days to do any more than survive, fear not! Trust yourself, and trust the God who loves and looks out for you and your children.

Today I commit to not mothering out of fear. Will you join me?

Special Offer: 20% Off Truth in the Tinsel

Earlier this week I let you know about fun, Jesus-centered ways to talk about Halloween with your kiddos. If you haven't looked at it yet, check it out here.

But we all know how quickly time flies, and pretty soon Halloween will already be a distant memory. That's right - I have a Christmas deal for you already! Right now, readers of the blog Free Homeschool Deals can get 20% off of the ebook Truth in the Tinsel by Amanda White.

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This ebook is an advent plan to point little ones to Jesus during the Christmas season. For each day of December, there are Bible verses, crafts, and ways to talk to your preschoolers (and older kids, too!) about the Christmas story and the true meaning of the holiday we celebrate. One of the best parts is that the author, a children's ministry expert, started developing these activities when her daughter was only one year old! So the activities can be used in some form from a very early age. 

There is also have a Facebook page and Pinterest board for further ideas. The author is also updating the blog on the book's website during December to give you further extensions if you have already used the activities with your kids. 

So if you like to think ahead, be sure to grab this one while it's discounted!

Ideas for Your Christian Home on Halloween

If you haven't already met her, let me introduce you to one of my favorite mom bloggers out there - the Happy Home Fairy. She loves to create memories and traditions for families, all with a Biblical approach. I love the way she looks for and finds Jesus in everything she does!

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As we approach Halloween, we all have a variety of ways we deal with this holiday in our own families. If you are looking for ways to celebrate and honor God together, she has some great options for you. First, check out her explanation of how she approaches her celebration.

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A great way to teach your children about anything - including holidays - is through Scripture! She's compiled lists of relevant verses, ready to print, for you to use with your own little ones. And they're FREE to print!

For trick-or-treating, you can print these FREE stickers to put on your candy before you pass it out. And if you want a fun costume ideas that your kids - and you - won't totally roll their eyes at but can still learn a lesson from, she has some really cute and practical ideas.

And for a fun, Halloween-inspired craft that still turns back to and draws from Scripture, here's something fun for all you crafty moms!

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Recipe: Winter Soup

I don't know about you, but when it's cold and rainy, I crave soup! Ok, it might also have something to do with being three months pregnant, but I know I can't be the only one wanting to curl up in a blanket with a big, warm mug of soup right now!

Here's a great recipe for Winter Soup that's basic, simple, and extremely flexible if you have other favorite ingredients you like. 

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What would you add to or change about your own Winter Soup?

*Have an awesome recipe you would like to share with our MOPS group? You can send it, or a link to it, to Katie Addington.*

A Moment for Your Monday: Recreation or Diversion?

The following excerpt originally appeared in an article entitled "Recreation Energizes" by author Jan Johnson in the Winter 2012 edition of MOPS MomSense magazine, page 29:

Some people... see recreation as a consumer commodity to be used up without reflection, done to gain admiration or grind other people into the ground. It becomes tied up with equipment (a bigger boat, better skis or newer golf clubs) or toys ("He who dies with the most toys wins"). Franciscan priest Richard Rohr notes, "Much recreation does not re-create us, but is only diversionary. I think that's why Americans need so much recreation and entertainment. If it doesn't really entertain or refresh, we will need more very soon. But for open persons, those who know how to receive and let events teach them, a little bit goes a long way."

Is your family's recreation actively re-creating you and refreshing your relationship with God? Or is it draining the life from you? How could family recreation potentially refresh your soul?

If you have some great ideas or experiences with this, share in the comments!

Coming Up (and A FREE Resource!)

Don't forget that this Tuesday, October 9, at 9:30 is our next MOPS meeting at Two Rivers Church! We are so excited to see all of you. Our speaker will be Lisa Scott, a speech pathologist with lots of experience with children and a mother herself. She'll be addressing various issues involving behavior, learning, and development in young children. We are so excited to learn from her!

Lisa and her family.

I also wanted to share a FREE resource with you: Thriving Family is a marriage and parenting magazine put out by Focus on the Family and is free to anyone who requests it! You can visit their website, give them a call, or download the free iPhone/iPad app. The magazine includes parenting tips for any age and stage, fun family activities, easy devotional ideas, encouraging stories, and marriage pointers - and there's even more available for FREE on their website. Take some time and go check it out!

Fall in the Mountains

Maybe your family is new to Knoxville and you're still getting to know the area, or maybe you've lived here your whole life but have recently gotten too caught up in your busy days to get out and about. Either way, here's a great resource for you!

The Great Smoky Mountain National Park, an easy drive south of the city, is one of the most diverse and well-known national parks in the country. And park admission is free! Who doesn't love free? This fall, they have a great line-up of activities: guided hikes, craft fairs, historic exhibitions, and traditional Appalachian music. There are some great fun - and educational! - opportunities for your whole family:

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Check out their calendar of events or the special events pages for more information. 

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Do you love fall colors? Did you know that, every fall, the National Park Service posts reports about colors in the mountains? They will tell you what elevations have the best colors each week, and when they expect peak colors to show. Take your whole family for a drive to see the beauty of God's creation!

And if you are a plan-your-own-adventure type momma, then the park's home page has some great resources for any kind of trip. Our family's personal favorites are the waterfall trails located throughout the park. 

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Happy Fall to you and your family!

A Moment for Your Monday: Sounds of Family

The following is an excerpt of an article entitled "A Listening Ear" by author Julie Barnhill that originally appeared in the January/February 2011 edition of MOPS MomSense magazine, page 9:

   I know you're going to find this hard to believe, as you only dream of a quiet car ride to anywhere and attempt to finish reading this column in one, two, maybe three or four sittings, but hear me out - I miss hearing those sweet sounds of family. Granted, I thought my head was going to blow up a time or two back in the day, but I wouldn't trade anything now for the memories of then. Nor would I trade the gift of having listened, really listened, to their innumerable questions, conversations, jokes, and "Mommas" during those hectic months and years of raising little ones.
   My initial "slant" for this issue's column was to be more about fundamental listening skills for you as a mom and for those of your children. However, overhearing the voices of my 22-year-old daughter and 20- and 16-year-old sons in our well-worn Yukon set my thoughts on a slightly different course. I want to encourage you to be an active listener over the next several days, weeks and months. 

• Listen - really listen to those rambling conversations your preschoolers pulls you into. 

• Grab a Flip video camera or cell phone and record their voices.

• Document what you hear ("Will my wife have a belly button?" ~Ricky, age 3)

   And at the end of "One of Those Day," play back what you've heard and listen to  the sweet refrain of family.