MOPS of Idaho Falls

CHANGE OF LOCATION!

2011-09-30T20:54:00.000-07:00

The Fall 2011 and Spring 2012 Idaho Falls MOPS now meets:

1st and 3rd Thursdays, 9-11 am
New Life Church, 2170 12th Street, Idaho Falls

2010-12-19T20:33:00.000-08:00

This week we made photoblocks using photos we brought in -- it was a really fun craft and pretty easy too. These make great gifts. Our next meeting is January 6. January is our "mom as nurse" month...we will be hearing from an expert on how to keep our families in better health. The timing couldn't be more appropriate -- hope all of you and your kids are well to make the meeting!

2010-12-14T14:28:00.000-08:00

Last MOPS meeting we had an awesome speaker, Carol Mason, who spoke on Christmas traditions and how to shake them up a bit. A few of us heard Carol speak somewhere else last year and we loved her talk so much we asked her to come to MOPS this year. She gave practical ways to cut down on the busy-ness of the season. Also we made these adorable advent calendars on baking sheets.

Next meeting is this Thursday the 16th. We will be making a wooden block photo display...so bring a 4x6 photo you'd like to showcase.

October and November Meetings

2010-11-10T19:51:00.000-08:00

So we havent' updated the blog in awhile because we've been busy!! Our last few meetings have been really productive and informative. Let's see...for October, which was our "mom as chef" month, Natalie Roman spoke to use about couponing; she graciously shared some of her secrets and is helping us all save a little money. We made soup mixes in jars...talk about a quick, easy meal on a day when you just don't have time to cook. And Cindy Angle did a great saving-time-in-the-kitchen demo. To start off our "mom as memory-keeper" month (November), Amanda Henderson presented a few ideas on how to take better pictures of your kids.

Tomorrow (November 11th) we will meet at the Nazarene Church for a little extra get-together. At 11:30 we will be cooking lunch with our kiddos for a "Mommy & Me" cooking session. Come hungry and bring a snack to share! We'll be cooking several recipes and then eating them. Yum! We'll be taking some pictures of the experience for our cookbooks coming out in December.

The cookbooks will make a great Christmas gift -- we've complied all of our favorite "tried and true" recipes over the last three years. We're using it as a fundraiser for our group: 1 is $9, 2 are $16, and 3 are $21. Not only will it be handy, but pretty as well... especially with the color photographs inside.

Our next regular meeting on Nov. 21 is dedicated to a craft. We'll be eating and chatting as usual and then making advent calendars. Hope to see you there!

Successful Gleaning

2010-10-06T20:40:00.000-07:00

Gleaning was a success! Here's a shot of the group that came out.

It's that time of year again!

2010-09-27T09:57:00.000-07:00

Time for our annual potato gleaning outing! For those of you unfamiliar with this tradition, gleaning is the act of collecting leftover crops from farmers' fields after they have been commercially harvested. Some ancient cultures promoted gleaning as an early form of a welfare system. It's a biblical concept - the widows Ruth and Naomi gleaned from Boaz's fields in the Book of Ruth. In this case, we are picking up potatoes that have been overlooked, were too small to be picked up, or have fallen from the trucks back into the field.

This Wednesday, Sept. 29th, we'll meet at the Tosoro gas station on Sunnyside and Hitt at 9:45 and we will caravan over to the Wolfe farm. Bring some sturdy bags (grocery bags don't work all that well) and be ready to get a bit dirty. Kids usually have a blast trying to find the potatoes in the dirt. It's completely free so come join us! If you have any questions, call 208-220-2229.

New year beginning!

2010-08-19T20:27:00.000-07:00

Our first meeting of the new year will be Thursday, September 16 at 9am.

We have lots of exciting changes happening... for one, we are instituting groups for the year. Everyone will have a table leader and a consistent group (table) so that we can better help all of you to form closer relationships. You can sit where you want at the first meeting, but that'll be your table for at least the first semester.

And, we've got a really motivated steering team this year and know it'll manifest itself in MOPS being an even more inviting and relevant activity for everyone involved.

We welcome ALL moms of children birth through kindergarten, no matter your age, ethnic or religious background, education, or economic status. Come join us and find the support you're looking for!

Also, we've teamed up with the Shelley MOPS group to become "EasternIdahoMOPS" together. Our new website is easternidahomops.org. We've done new coordinating flyers this year as well.

SUMMER CALENDAR

2010-05-27T14:14:00.000-07:00

We have many exciting events planned for the summer! We will not have regular meetings again until September, but we've packed our summer calendar pretty well. Hope to see you at some of these events!

Every Tuesday morning at 9am, all summer long: Walking @ Community Park. Community Park is located on the corner of 25th Street and Holmes (just north of Sunnyside). We usually park near the restroom and begin our walks there, ending at the playground where the kids can then play. We usually walk for about an hour. Call ahead to plan to meet up or just look for all the moms and strollers.

Every Wednesday morning at 9am, all summer long: Ladies Bible Study at Journey Church, 505 N Park Avenue in Shelley. Childcare provided. First Corinthians will be the topic through end of June, contact Carmen at 208-220-2229. July 7 kicks off a Beth Moore study. Call Carmen to give us a heads up so we can order enough books.

Thursday, June 10 at 10am – Trip to “Wolf to Woof” exhibit at Museum of Idaho, 200 N Eastern Ave. If we have 15 moms, tickets are only $6 for adult and $4 for ages 5-18. Children 4 and under are free. (map on web site at http://www.museumofidaho.org/Map.php)

Friday June 11, 9am to 11am -- Coffee at Carmen’s, 2899 Lianne St in Idaho Falls. Call Carmen at 208-220-2229 for more info.

Monday, June 14 at 10am – Summer farm visit at the Carlsons in Firth. We’ll meet at Journey church, 505 N Park Avenue in Shelley, and caravan to the farm. Afterward we plan to picnic at the park and do a Father’s Day craft. For more information contact Katie at 208-390-7263.

June 21-25, 6pm – 8:15pm, Camp Roundup at Saddle Ridge Ranch for ages 3-5th grade at Journey Church, 505 N Park Avenue, Shelley. For more information contact Jen at 208-680-6804.

Friday July 9, 9am to 11am -- Coffee at Carmen’s, 2899 Lianne St in Idaho Falls. Call Carmen at 208-220-2229 for more info.

Monday July 12, 9am to noon – Trip to Rexburg splash park. Sunscreen the kids and pack a picnic. For more information visit http://www.rexburg.org/play/localattractions/splashPark.aspx or call Carmen at 208-220-2229.

August 2–6 -- Vacation bible school at Idaho Falls First Church of the Nazarene, 1900 Grandview Drive. For more information call 208-522-8005.

Friday August 13, 9am to 11am -- Coffee at Carmen’s, 2899 Lianne St in Idaho Falls. Call Carmen at 208-220-2229 for more info.

Monday August 9, 9am to noon – Trip to Rexburg splash park. Sunscreen the kids and pack a picnic. For more information visit http://www.rexburg.org/play/localattractions/splashPark.aspx or call Carmen at 208-220-2229.

2010-05-07T19:31:00.000-07:00

Ever wondered how to plant an herb garden? Yesterday the lovely Cindy Angle demonstrated how to plant a "pizza garden," a small windowbox-type containter with tomatoes, basil, oregano, bell pepper, onion, and garlic plants. We also got MANY other good gardening tips! She also did a great short devotional on watering seeds relating to friendship, and gave us all some seed packets for our collection.

Next meeting (May 20) will be our last meeting for the summer. You don't want to miss this one, because we are raffling off EIGHT of our "favorite things"...gifts from our leadership team to you. We also have one last craft planned. Invite your friends!

2010-04-01T15:53:00.000-07:00

Our craft was really cute today! Fabric-covered easter eggs, with fun embellishments. (Thanks Rachel!) Today was spring break so we didn't have our usual turnout, but we hope too see everyone again on April 15th. It was good to get out though and have some adult conversation, and we DID get to use sharp scissors today too!

Also, come visit us at the Spring Fling baby fair April 10th at Sand Creek Middle School in Ammon from 10-5. We will have a booth to inform moms about MOPS and there will be many other vendors there with many cute baby goods and services!

2010-01-21T20:37:00.000-08:00

Thanks to The Defining Line for coming MOPS today!! Amy and Mckinse were informative and fun. We learned a simple way to cut boys hair using clippers and finishing with scissors, and they showed us lots of helpful tips and educated us about some good tools to use. And, we had four pretty full tables again today -- we are so thankful for all the new faces that have come and the new friendships that are being formed.

Thursday, February 4th is the next meeting. Each month this year we are focusing on a different relationship in our lives (i.e. Jan. was our relationship(s) with our kid(s)), and February is our relationship with our -- you guessed it! -- husbands. So, for our next meeting, we have a really fun (and funny) couple coming to speak to us on the subject of marriage. They have spoken to us in some form or another the last 2 out of 3 years, but they are always a big hit and always have something new to offer. We think you'll get a lot out of it...come join us!

2010-01-14T19:45:00.000-08:00

Our first meeting of the new year was great. We had four full tables -- lots of familiar faces and some new ones too! Elsa Seidel came to speak to us about some kid-related things: tips on organizing all those toys and child gear, and ways to involve our kids in household activities, such as what they are ready to help with at what age. (I think she inspired many of us to trade in our toyboxes for shelving!)

January 21 will be our next meeting, and if you plan on making it to ONE meeting this year, let this be it. We've got multiple good things planned: first, we are doing a toy swap, so bring any unwanted toys your children are bored with and take home new treasures. Second, The Defining Line is coming to demonstrate boys' haircutting for us. Those of us that've tried to cut our own boys' hair will know more of what we're doing after January 21st! And third, this meeting is FRIEND DAY, so bring a friend, and BOTH of you will be eligible to enter our drawing for a free massage! There will be other giveaways as well. Come join us!

2009-11-12T14:27:00.000-08:00

Chef Tim of Alchemy Catering came to share some holiday cooking tips with us. We learned some great tips for making perfect deviled eggs, great and easy gravy, and stuffed chicken breasts. I think everybody learned a helpful thing or two and the food was awesome!

Next meeting, November 19, is a craft meeting; we will be making pumpkin centerpieces. See you then!

2009-11-03T12:10:00.000-08:00

2009-10-26T21:04:00.000-07:00

MOPS is hosting a booth at Boo at the Zoo this weekend! If you'd like to volunteer for a two hour shift to hand out candy and flyers, you get a free ticket to the event. For more info, or to volunteer, please contact Kathleen at 552-2640 or loughrka@hotmail.com.

Also, our next meeting will be November 5th. We have a local chef coming to speak to us! He will be discussing meal planning and holiday meal tips. Should be very informative! Hope to see you all there.

2009-10-01T22:33:00.000-07:00

Our second meeting was great! Since October is "Breast Cancer Awareness" month, we are all about those wonderful organs this month. Today we had a professional bra fitter, the owner of Le V in Idaho Falls, come and talk to us about finding the right fitting bra. She did individual, private measures for everyone. That was informative! We also made a pair of scented sachets for our underwear drawers.

Next meeting, October 15th, we will have two speakers come and talk to us. One is a breast cancer survivor, and the other is a mammogram tech. They will be explaining the American Cancer Society's latest self-breast-exam technique (nope, it's no longer in the shower) and giving us take-home cards showing the steps. Should be great! Hope to see you all there.

2009-08-27T10:52:00.001-07:00

Here's a sneak peak at our coming year — just a few of the exciting things we have planned:

Oct. craft: sachets! sweet scents for dresser drawers
Nov. speaker: quick & easy holiday meal planning, by a local chef
Dec. craft: cookie making/decorating: tips for magazine-quality treats
Jan. craft/demo: do-it-yourself kids haircutting, by a local pro hairstylist

Each month, we reserve one of the two meetings for a take-home craft or demonstration of a skill, and the other is dedicated to a presentation/Q&A session by an expert in a certain field (ie. photographer, child physchologist, nutritionist, etc). We also do recipe swaps, toy exchanges, and group outings — during our regularly scheduled meetings as well as extra times during the month.

We're looking forward to seeing lots of familiar faces as well as new faces on September 17th!

2009-08-25T09:04:00.000-07:00

We are gearing up for our first meeting of the new school year! Join us on Thursday, September 17th at 9am.