December Open House

Don't miss our open house, just a couple of days from now on Thursday, December 11 from 9:30-11:30 am. Here are some of the stations you can choose from...

• make your own gift tags,
• hot chocolate mix station,
• cookie dough bar,
• origami gift box making,
• and more!

Leave us a comment if you're coming!

Mom of the Month, Shannon Morrison

I'm kind of cheating here doing myself, but I'm running behind and didn't want to ask anyone to answer all these questions on such short notice.


Josh, Shannon, Audrey (3 1/2), and Clark (19 mos.)

What does your husband do?
Josh is an optometrist at Scott & White Hospital.

What did you do before kids?
I served as the director of a parachurch ministry, Care Net Pregnancy Centers of Houston, now The Source for Women of Houston. I've also done that with Hope Pregnancy Centers, Inc. here in Temple.

What is the best piece of parenting advice you've received?
Two actually, both from my mom. "Look at every occurrence of misbehavior as a chance to point your child to their need for a Savior." and also, "You can never go wrong showing your child respect. The Golden Rule applies to your children too."

What is your favorite home cooked meal?
Beef stroganoff!

Where did your husband propose?
Battery Park in NYC.

If you were to name the three best books for your kids, which would they be?
Our favorites are Llama, Llama, Red Pajama, Love from My Heart (girls, boys), and Hi Pizza Man!

If you could smash one thing and one thing only, what would you smash?
This, no question about it.

What's the greatest compliment you ever received?
You are the best wife in the world.

What are your Favorite TV Shows?
The Soup, The Simpsons, Scrubs, and The Office.

Websites you visit every day...
www.google.com/ig
www.chron.com
www.baylorfans.com/forums

What is your favorite children's show?
Right now we love Yo Gabba Gabba.

Seven prayers a day

I loved this idea from Angie at Bring the Rain. I'm printing up index cards now, leave me a comment if you want a set too, and I'll bring it to the next meeting on Thursday, November 13!

Cute story...

This story about a kindergartener made me laugh out loud.

TEMPLE MALL TO ADD NEW CHILDREN’S PLAY AREA THIS HOLIDAY

Temple Mall partners with Scott & White Children’s Hospital and Temple Bottling Company

to open a children’s play area at center court

Temple, Texas –Temple Mall is excited to announce that they will open a 1,000 square foot Texas themed children’s soft play area and Temple Mall Kid’s Court at center court, where customer service is currently located. The Temple Mall Kid’s Court and soft play area is scheduled to open by early December for the busy holiday season. The play area will include large Texas themed foam elements, including a large climb-on bull, barrel slide and tunnel, hay bale climb and crawl thru, cactus bowl and barrels and rope climb and crawl thru.

The Temple Mall Kid’s Court will offer weekly and monthly children’s events, Boobaloo Kid’s Club activities, have register to win opportunities, games and much more. In addition, the Kid’s Court will be a free WiFi “hot spot” for those that need email capabilities.

Temple Mall partnered with Scott & White Children’s Hospital and Temple Bottling Company to help make this wonderful amenity available to the Temple Community. Scott & White will be hosting events regularly at the soft play area as well as brand and promote specific programs directly at the play area and throughout the mall.

Temple Bottling Company will have two Dr. Pepper vending units at the soft play area for thirsty parents and their children. In addition, they will host various tasting events and brand their Dr. Pepper products in and around the play area.

“We are so excited to be able to offer our customers this great amenity. We will be the only mall to offer a soft play area between Temple and Austin. The Temple Mall Kid’s Court will be a place parents can bring their children to play and have fun. Families can spend the entire day at Temple Mall and enjoy a day of shopping, eating, watching a movie and now playing in the new Kid’s Court,” stated Kymberley Scalia, Corporate Director of Marketing for Coyote Management, L.P., which owns Temple Mall.

Temple Mall, opened in 1976, is a single-level, 555,400 square foot enclosed regional mall located in Temple, Texas. Three traditional department stores, Dillard’s, Macy’s, and JCPenney, anchor the Temple Mall which also includes a 16-screen Premiere Cinema and 60 specialty shops and restaurants. Temple Mall occupies a highly visible site in southern Temple at the intersection of Loop 363 and South 31^st St. It serves a primary population of over 149,000. To learn more, visit www.templemall.com.

Coyote Management, L.P. specializes in the acquisition, management and value enhancement activities of dominant regional shopping malls in secondary U.S. markets. Corporate offices are located at 16475 Dallas Parkway, Suite 250, Addison, Texas 75001. The principals of Coyote Management, L.P. are Michael E. Rulli, CEO and Robert D. Lee, President. Visit our website at www.coyotemanagement.com.

Not just another Monday...

Loved this post last month on Girl Talk, perfect for a manic Monday.

Expert Panel

What a great time we had yesterday with our expert panel. We are so glad to see all of you new ladies and hope you come back next month!

Here's a linked list of the favorite books from our panel members. The ones in italics are available at the Temple Public Library.

• The Bible, of course! If you don't have one, drop me a line and I have plenty I can give out!
• How To Really Love Your Child by Ross Campbell
• How To Talk So Kids Will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk and Siblings Without Rivalry by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish
• The Five Love Languages of Children by Gary Chapman and Ross Campbell
• Grace Based Parenting by Tim Kimmel
• The New Dare to Discipline, Bringing Up Boys, and Preparing for Adolescence by James Dobson
• Shepherding a Child's Heart and Instructing a Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp
  

The Best Thing You Can Give Your Kids

by Mitch Temple, reposted with permission from www.family.org

First let me say that, although I am a marriage and family therapist and have helped struggling parents for almost 20 years, and although we have three teens in the Temple household and my wife is an excellent mother, we do not have all the answers when it comes to raising kids! We thought we did, and then our kids turned into teenagers. I’m reminded of Mark Twain’s advice: when kids reach adolescence you should stick them in a barrel, nail the lid shut and cut them a breathing hole. When they turn 16, simply stop up the hole!

Though his recommendation is not to be taken seriously, many parents relate to Mr. Twain’s philosophy. When it comes to raising teenagers, we’re all in the same boat: we find ourselves questioning whether we are making the best decisions and doing the right things for our kids.

Of all the advice I’ve given to parents through the years about what is most important to provide for their kids, I think this is the best: The most important thing you can do for your kids (whether pre- or post-adolescence) is not giving them great advice, administering perfect discipline, being consistent 100 percent of the time, being their best friend, or even having the perfect “parade of homes” family. The best thing you can give your kids is the consistent, solid assurance that you love your spouse beyond a shadow of a doubt. Moms and Dads should consistently send the message that “although we’re not always perfect and we argue and hurt each other’s feelings from time to time, we are going to be here, together, for you.”

Today’s kids live in an ever-changing and insecure world. Sociologists tell us that kids’ fears are rapidly increasing, resulting in more behavior problems, depression and anxiety disorders. One of the major fears of school-aged children is that their parents will divorce. Many of these children are routinely exposed to negative news and unsettling change. They hear that their friends’ parents are splitting up or that their favorite celebrity is getting a divorce, and they wonder if their parents are next. Many children experience a “when, not if” type of anxiety on a daily basis, fearing their parents will be the next statistic.

Because of these uncertainties, your children need to know that you and your spouse love each other and are committed, permanently, to each other. Your kids need to know that you are going to stick it out even through the tough times. And that when you’re faced with problems you can’t overcome on you own, you will get the professional help you need to make it work. Kids need you to explain that love is more than feelings. You don’t need to tell them in these words, but your kids need to know that even if the magic is gone and you don’t feel great about your spouse, love means you’ll stick it out until you do.

If you’re not feeling great about your spouse, consider this: Many couples don’t feel “in love” anymore because they’ve stopped acting and thinking as if they’re in love. Think about it. You make friends by behaving in a friendly way. You feel close to a friend because you both act like friends. Your friendship grows because of this behavior and because of your commitment to the friendship. The same is true in marriage. If you don’t feel like you’re in love anymore, it may be because you’re not acting like you’re in love. Often, those feelings of in-loveness will return if you simply start behaving as if you’re in love. Behavior does affect feelings. Thinking affects feelings. Change your thinking and behavior, and you will change how you feel. Right thinking plus right behavior equals right feelings.

Think back to when you and your spouse first fell in love. Chances are you did things like expressing love regularly, focusing on the good in each other, putting the other first, overlooking mistakes, and saying “I’m sorry” even when you didn’t feel you were wrong. Marriages often deteriorate when partners forget to act and think the way they did when they were dating. If you find yourself in this situation, take heart: a better marriage can begin with you.

Most of the battles in marriage take place on the battlefields of our minds. When one person decides that a marriage is worth saving and transforming, real change can occur. You can focus all day long on the faults of your spouse. However, your marriage will begin to transform and become strong only when you commit to making it better — even if your spouse isn’t on the same page yet. Part of the marriage journey is honoring your commitment to each other for life — for better or worse, richer or poorer, in sickness and health, “till death do we part” — and your kids need to know you’re going to do just that.

So, instead of giving your children costly material trinkets — which marketers tout as “must haves” — give them what every child really needs: the assurance that Mom and Dad are in this for the long haul. Do whatever it takes to make your marriage thrive: swallow your pride, go to counseling or a marriage retreat, give up a hobby, throw the TV in the dumpster. . . whatever! Just do it. Your kids will thank you.

October meeting preview

Hi girls...

Can't wait for our next meeting, Thursday October 9 from 9:30-11:30 am. We'll be hosting an expert panel to answer all of your questions about parenting preschoolers.

The panel will feature:

-Bethany Black, MD, on your child's health
-Norma Mareš, on your child's spiritual formation
-Elaine Fish, PhD on your child's psychological development
-Susie Marek from ECI on your child's physiological development
-our mentor mom, Marianna White on her experiences as a mom.

We'll also have a full breakfast and another take-home goody!

Please come! We have lots of first-time moms coming this time, so in some ways it will be like a kick-off all over again. Also, be thinking of some questions for our panel of experts and leave them in the comments section if you like.

See you then!

Mom of the Month, Betsie Allen

Here is a new feature where we will profile a different mom each month. This month we interviewed our coordinator, Betsie Allen.

Jon Mark, Betsie, Isaac and Charisse Allen

What does your husband do?

Jon Mark is a security geek aka Network Security Engineer at Proactive Communications in Killeen. One of his favorite funny sayings is, "Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you."

What did you do before kids?

• Slept 9 hours a night : )
• Cardio kick-boxed on a regular basis...
  
• I programmed web applications at Scott & White. I still miss the brain exercise it gave me so I'm trying to make time to do some projects on my own.

What do you enjoy most about being a mom?
I enjoy seeing my kids develop and change into people with real personalities and real thoughts. To be a positive part of that change is miraculous.

If you were to describe how your relationship with your husband changed after the birth of your first child, what would you say?
We value time with each other more. I realized how much I need quality time with Jon Mark. We work hard to get that time.

If you had to pick which baby-chore you will most miss, what would it be?
Breastfeeding. Once I get over that newborn hump, I enjoy the time connecting with the baby and the time-out it gives me. It forces me to take time to breathe.

What is your favorite children's show?
Fetch with Ruff Ruffman on PBS - We don't have cable so when we (Isaac and I) watch TV it is either PBS or DVD :D .

What are your favorite tv shows?
Numb3rs, Chuck

Pictures from Fall 2008 kick-off!

We had so much fun at our first meeting--we had a welcome from Pastor Tom, played a fun get-to-know you game, and then made these adorable birthday banners!

Candace's beautiful example banner

Here's me with my butterfly birthday banner.

(l to r) Kerri, Sandra, and me assembling the banners. Sandra wins the MVP award for coming (on time, no less) 2 weeks after delivering her third baby in 2 1/2 years!

September Steering Committee meeting

Marianna treated us to a fantastic dinner al fresco the night we assembled the goody bags. We had a blast, felt really pampered and want to make it a weekly occurrence! We missed you, Ericka!

l to r, Marianna White, Charisse Allen (honorary member), Stephanie Myron, Betsie Allen, Shannon Morrison, Candace Cartwright

Voters' Guides

Here's a link to the voting guides Natalie referenced.

Happy Valentine's Day Mommies!

Don't miss this Thursday's meeting where we'll have a lesson on tablescapes from Brooke Morrow, a consultant with Southern Living at Home. Also a fun hot chocolate bar with all the fixin's!

Our collection item for the month of February is something to send to Josh Garcia, a soldier stationed in Iraq. So if you have hard candy, tolietries, books, games, and non-perishable food items, bring them!

Welcome back!

Hi girls...

Hope your Christmas and New Year's were wonderful! We're so excited to see you again this Thursday morning, January 10, for MOPS. The theme will be "Getting Your House in Order" and our featured speaker will be Nikki Mundkowsky, a local attorney, who will advise us on estate planning and guardianship and other things young families need to know!

Hope to see you there!