Christmas Party M2M Style!!

Merry Christmas to all you beautiful ladies!! What a great morning we had yesterday celebrating together with gifts, games, food, craft, testimony & laughter!! A big, big, BIG thank you to Dayna & Christina for being our amazing leaders! M2M would not be what it is without you both! And another round of gratitude to everyone who was part of making our Christmas party possible! Congrats Jaclyn on winning our first ever "Ugly Sweater/Sweatshirt/Tree-skirt Contest"! Your idea was very original and so much fun! Emily, your testimony & song was the icing on the cake and such a perfect reminder of God's great love for all of us and His faithfulness in every part of our lives. Enjoy the fun pictures, yummy muffin recipe and we look forward to seeing all of you back in 2013!! Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins- from Dayna

1 box yellow cake mix (just the mix)
1 can pumpkin puree
1 cup (or more!) choclate chips

Mix all ingrediants- DO NOT add oil, eggs, water, etc. Use only the cake mix. 
Bake as instructed on the cake mix box (350 degrees, 18-21 min)

Two Meetings....One Blog Post :)

TGIF friends! I hope this post finds you all excited for the weekend and full of information from our last 2 back to back meetings! I'll do a quick recap of each incase you missed anything!

Derek Carroll spoke on Erickson's Psyco-Social Development.....

There was a TON of information and a 3 page fill in! If you missed this meeting let Dayna know and we can get you a copy of all the notes. It's just too much to post! But at the end of each stage of development (besides the first) there was a question asked....

Birth - 2 years: Children learn to trust or mistrust

Age 2 - 4 years: Is it ok to be me?

Age 4 - 5 years: Is it ok for me to move, do & act?

Age 5 - 12 years: Can I succeed in a world of people & things?

Age 13 - 19 years: Who am I & what can I be?

Age 20 - 24 years: Can I love?

Age 25 - 64 years: Can I make my life count?

Age 65- Death: Is it ok to have been me?

Derek also touched a little on the topic of whining and how to try and get a handle on it. He said to ignore the sound. Focus on what you are feeling, not on the sounds your child is making. Then use a "when then" sentence such as, "When you use your big kid voice, then I'll be happy to talk to you." And actually stick to your guns. Even if that means moving to another room to be away from your child (as long as your child is safe), walking the whole house, going into the garage, etc. Then once the whining has stopped, come in with positive reinforcement. (hugs/kisses) And do not mention the whining again.

If you'd like to talk to Derek about anything that was covered or maybe an issue you are currently going through with your kiddos here's his information:

Derek Carroll, M.A.

949-338-5891

DerekCarroll@TheParentEssentials.com

TheParentEssentials.com

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Now onto this Wednesday's meeting: Making the Most of Your Marriage with speaker Janet Hertogh.

I loved how she started her talk with the cat drawing game. Who knew a simple drawing of a cat could tell you so much about yourself! Especially the tail!

The 3 topics she covered were: 

1. Going to a deeper level of communication with your spouse

2. Seeing what the Bible says about marriage

3. How to spice up your marriage

The 4 C's 

Commitment- being emotionally tied to someone or something, Hebrews 13:4

Compromise- the settlement of differences, Romans 12:10

Communication- transmitting information (verbal or written), James 3:8-10, tone is 60% of what is communicated when we are speaking. Are we raising our husband's up or tearing them down? 

Communion- act of sharing, 1 Corinthians 7:4

Two other points she made were hugging your husband everyday and always welcoming him home. Literally stop everything you are doing and greet him with hugs and kisses. No matter what your day was like. Get the kids to do this too!

Lastly there was the spicy stuff! Getting out of your comfort zone and spice things up!

*Some ideas were going commando on your next date night! Of course don't tell him this until dessert :)

*Get in bed before him and surprise him by being naked! 

*Ask him what you can do to spice up your love life...and be ok when he   answers :) 

There were many more so if you missed this meeting, again ask Dayna and we can get you the list!

Janet would love to hear if you had any results from her ideas and you can contact her at:

Janjan65@hotmail.com or janethertogh@gmail.com

She also has a blog: www.blessed2Bmomof3.blogspot.com

And is on Facebook: Janet Kawamoto Hertogh

Adopt A Family was a HUGE Success!!!

A quick shout out to all of you amazing women!!!! Because of you and your amazing generosity M2M was able to bless THREE families with everything they need to celebrate Thanksgiving! Thank you, thank you, thank you! 

I pray as we all get ready for Thanksgiving & the busy holiday season that we can take a moment to thank our Lord and Savior for all He has blessed each of us with this year. Enjoy your time with family and we look forward to seeing all of you back on Nov. 28th!

"Let your lives overflow with joy and thanksgiving for all He has done." Col 2:7

God is bigger than ANY giant of the land

Sheri Rose Shepherd moves me. She inspires me. She gives me hope. Not only is she relatable, she is authentic and willing to use her struggles & trials to bring women like us closer to Him. Some of the things I wrote down during her talk are still sinking in.

I had a very personal experience with Sheri Rose a few years ago & wanted to share it with you all.

When Sheri Rose spoke to M2M a few years ago, I bought her 2 children's books at the meeting. When I got home and did my checkbook I realized I shouldn't have spent that extra money on the books, even though I knew they would be a blessing to my children. So with much embarrassment I emailed Sheri directly and explained my situation and asked where I could return the books & get a refund. She responded within a couple hours and said she tore my check up so it would not be cashed and told me to keep the books. She was so kind in her words & I was floored by her generosity. I thanked her as best as I knew how through email & thought that was the end of it. Then 3 days later I received a letter in the mail that had a return address on it of Sheri Rose Shepherd. When I opened the envelope there was a note. It was simple and stated, "I pray this money will bless you and your family."Then I saw it, a personal check to me from Sheri Rose Shepherd. The amount of the check was within $2.00 of our electric bill that month. A bill that was going to have to go unpaid that month because we just didn't have the $$. I immediately broke down in tears and thanked God for this woman and for His mercy. I kept asking myself how someone who didn't know me or my family, could be so generous. And of course the answer was because of Him. Because of the Lord, Sheri Rose knows what it means to give freely. She lives her life on His path and how my family and I ended up on that path still amazes me. 

Since that time 3 years ago, I have been waiting for the opportunity to personally thank her. To give her the biggest hug my arms could muster and pour out my heart in thankfulness. So if any of you saw me balling like a baby after the meeting that was the reason why. I was finally able to tell Sheri Rose thank you.
So when I say she moves me, she inspires me and gives me hope...I hope you understand why.

I hope all of the great things she talked about on Wednesday spoke to your heart.

Here's a recap of some of her points:

*Do not allow your children's reactions to determine your choices. Do not put their happiness above holiness.

*God is bigger than any giant of the land. Make sure you are speaking faith into your children and not fear.

*Teach your kids the power of a promise. Let your yes be yes and your no be no. 

*Pray for your children's future spouse. Keep in mind that you are raising someone's wife or someone's husband. 

*Prayer: Give me more of an eternal perspective on why I am this child's mother. 

*Question to ask ourselves: "How would those that live with me say they feel after they've spent time with me?"
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                                                                http://hisprincess.com

Halloween M2M Style

I'm a little late on posting about last week's Halloween get together, but posting super cute pics of our kiddos makes up for that right! Thank you Christina for opening up your home and having us over for some delicious goodies & wonderful conversations! The mummy cupcakes were awesome!! See everyone Wednesday!!

The word of the day is Play, play, play, play!!!

What a wonderful morning it was today! A huge thank you to Gail Quickle for sharing her passion with us and reminding us how important it is for our kids to just PLAY! It's so easy to get caught up in the busyness of life that we forget what our kids want most, is for us to just play with them. Be with them while they do "their work" and not worry about the mess or final product. I loved the poem she ended with and wrote it down to share with you all again:

I tried to teach my child with books. He game me only puzzled looks. I tried to teach my child with words. They passed him by, often unheard. Despairingly I turned aside. How shall I teach this child I cried. Into my hand he put the key. Come, he said, play with me. 

My prayer for all of us this week is to play. Play when we don't feel like it. Play when it's inconvenient. And most of all, play when our kids ask us to. I want that wonder in my children's eyes to never leave.

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AND.......

Starting this week I thought it would be neat to share all the pinboards on the blog so everyone can get to know a little about the people at other tables. Thank you ladies!

Jaclyn Cummings- Fashion Table

Lena Kubota- Decor Table

Amanda Ward- Parties Table

Maureen Enoch- Travel Table

Have a blessed week and hope to see you at Christina's Halloween Party next Wednesday!!!

If you'd like to contact Gail with any questions

 or inquire about Mission Hills CC Jr. Kindergarten program click on the link below: 

http://www.missionhillschristianschool.org/component/option,com_qcontacts/catid,38/id,1/view,contact/

Raising Generous Kids

Happy Monday Ladies! I am still thinking about last week's meeting and what Barb had to say about raising generous kids. Her 3 tips were simple & practical. 

Here's a quick recap of the tips:

1. Study my child to see where he/she is naturally generous

2. Be intentional

3. Be a good example

I also liked her "Game Plan" on  how to implement teaching them to be generous. 

** Invite kids into the process (let them have a say)

** Give kids the freedom to be as involved as they want to be. Don't pressure them.

** Encourage & applaud them every time they are generous. 
     It shows them that what they are doing is important. 

I hope all of you were able to pull a couple good ideas from your tables on things you can do to be generous. Here are a few I wrote down from Barb and my table.

1. Bake cookies for retirement homes
2. Pay for person's meal behind me in drive-thru, or the person behind me at Starbuck's
3. Make up some "Blessing bags" for the homeless. If you see someone on the corner, pull over & hand    them a bag. 
4. Volunteer at a food pantry
5. Adopt a family for the holidays (Bread of Life Ministry)
6. Get items for shoeboxes over Xmas (Operation Christmas Child)
7. Sponsor a child through World Vision

The list could go on & on, but the main idea is to find something or somethings that you can involve your kids in. 

Our goal as a group is to put 2 baskets together for Bread of Life Ministry this Thanksgiving. There will be more information on this from Dayna, but as you do your grocery shopping these next couple weeks, if you could maybe pick up some extra canned food items or things you think would be a good fit for the baskets that would be awesome!

Barb Christing's contact information is: 

barbchristing@yahoo.com

And her website is: SlingshotKids.com