One of our MOPS moms, Lisa L., has set up a charity:water campaign to raise money to build a well in honor of  ”Jay Day”.  Charity:water is an amazing organization that gives the most basic but necessary gift – clean drinking water.   Please read on for more info and the link to her page:

Dear, beloved, lovely, gorgeous (buttering you up once again) family and friends:

In exactly one month, Jason, Jay, and I will be celebrating one year together as a family.  March 3, 2009 was the first day we ever laid eyes on Jay, the day all of our dreams came true.

I’d like to celebrate the day by building a well in a poverty-stricken country.  My Charity:  Water is an awesome and trusted organization that allows you to follow your donations and track where your well will be made.  Go to the website, mycharitywater.org, to check it out for yourselves.

It’s a very important charity to me, for obvious reasons, and also because these are countries with NO resources.  In the United States, yes, we have needy people, but we also have a gov’t. that provides resources and programs for these people.  In poverty-stricken countries, there are NO resources.  There are no programs for the food and water necessities of the people.  If you visit the website, you’ll see the water they’re forced to drink, and it’s sickening and heartbreaking.

PLEASE consider donating, as much or as little as you can/want.  And if you don’t want to or you can’t afford it right now–I understand.  There are so many charities and people are torn in so many different directions that a person gets overwhelmed and sometimes just ignores them all.  Trust me–I know.  This is just something I felt deep in my heart that I wanted to do, and it’s my choice of charity.

If you want to donate and be able to track the progress of the “Jay Day” well, please go to http://mycharitywater.org/Jayday.  I named it that b/c Jay Day is March 3, and I’m SO hoping to have enough money to build a well that will provide clean drinking water for a community for years by then.  Thanks so much for your time!

Love all,

Lisa

If you’re looking for some  girl time before the Super Bowl starts, MOPS is meeting to go see Dear John TODAY at the Forum Theater in Rolla for the matinée  1pm showing.  Meet at 12:45pm in the lobby.  Hope you can make it!

Remember we talked about the SAFERolla Ordinance at the meeting today?  Well here is the info… And I apologize if the picture on the left makes you feel like I’m trying to sway your vote – there just aren’t many smoking and no smoking pics out there…

Please help with the RDN poll (http://tinyurl.com/ylhjwsj ) asking residents if they favor a smoke-free ordinance.

The ordinance actually is for Smoke-free WORKPLACES in the City of Rolla. If you think that all folks should have a smoke-free workplace, then please vote for the proposed ordinance. This issue is before the city council and we could use your support.

Please pass this on to your email & Facebook friends who are concerned about having a healthy community. Wouldn’t it be nice to lower the cancer and heart attack rates here in our community?!

We are back in the swing of things and as a result of having our first meeting snowed out, we’re going to have back to back creative activities.  Last time, we made the Make ‘N Take meal and this time…. drum roll please…. we’re making holiday cloth napkins! Here is a list of things you need to know for our meeting this Thursday (Feb 4th) from 9-11am:

• If you have a pair of pinking shears and wouldn’t mind bringing them for the craft, we’d really appreciate it
• I am told that the back door that we normally use is closed due to construction.  Please use the front door (circle drive).  I know that this makes things harder for a lot of the mothers with little ones –  we’ll all do our best to help you get your kids downstairs.
• Thursday will be your last chance to sign up for the Hearts-At-Home conference March 12-13th.  If you can’t make the meeting but would like to attend, please e-mail me asap
• We’ll have sign ups for the Luv Bug Dinner on Saturday, Feb 13th.  I am told that the caterer needs a count by the end of the week (go figure ) so Thursday will be the tail end of that sign up (cost $10).  Also, if you have white Christmas lights that you would be willing to let MOPS borrow for Luv Bug Dinner decorations, please bring them (with your name on them) this Thursday and we’ll give them back to you after the event.  This would be a huge help in trying to make that room more romantical…
• Don’t forget this is the first day to bring something for your secret sister
• Spring MOPS dues are $30.  If you haven’t had the chance to pay yet, we’ll have a table set up on Thursday.

For the middle of winter there sure is a lot going on, huh?  If you have any questions or won’t be able to make it there on Thursday but would like to sign up for the Luv Bug or Hearts-At-Home, please feel free to e-mail me (mopsgreentreerolla@gmail.com).  See you Thursday!

It is time for our 2nd Annual Luv Bug Dinner!!  Are you going to join us?

The Luv Bug Dinner started last year as a way to give our MOPS moms an affordable but fun Valentine’s Day date.  This year, it will be on Saturday, February13th from 5:30-8pm.  This is open to all of our MOPS mom members and their spouses.  The cost is $10 and that covers babysitting, dinner for your kids and a catered dinner for the adults.  And of course, we’ll have some sort of games/entertainment to keep the evening fun.  We are asking for a little bit of help this year to help spread the work load – please sign up to bring either salad, bread or dessert at our meeting this Thursday and sign up to be either on the decorating or clean up crew.

I had a sign up sheet at the last meeting but I will have a more detailed one at our meeting this Thursday.  If you are not able to make it to the meeting this week but are interested in joining us for this fun night, please e-mail me (mopsgreentreerolla@gmail.com) and I’ll make sure we get you signed up.   Thursday is the last time we’ll get together before the Luv Bug Dinner so make sure I get your info if you’d like to come so we are sure to have enough food and sitters.

If you are a single mom or your husband will not be around to join you, you can either come on your own, or take advantage of the free babysitting.  Contact me for more details.

One more thing, to keep things interesting and help with mingling, we’re asking that you and your spouse dress up as a couple.  Now, please don’t let this scare you off!  This can be as simple or as detailed as you make it.  You can be a famous couple, from a TV show/movie, opposites (ex hot/cold) – just whatever you can come up with.  There will be prizes awarded for this game (yes, there is more I’m not telling you) so please join in the fun.

If you have any questions please e-mail me or sign up at our meeting on Thursday.   I’m looking forward to a fun night!

The Hearts at Home national conference is quickly approaching – want to join us?  What is the Hearts at Home conference, you ask?  It is a weekend to get refreshed, encouraged and maybe even learn some things too  Featured speakers this year include Nicole Johnson, Jill Savage and Christy Nockels.  The conference runs with main sessions that everyone attends and then you are able to pick three or four mini workshops tailored to your interests.  Examples of the workshops are: Measuring up as a Mom, Navigating Friendships, Sibling Rivalry:The Strife of Life, Living With Less  So Your Family Can Have More and many more… Here the details:

• It is March 12-13th (we’ll drive up on Friday, the 12th, attend the conference all day Saturday and drive back Saturday night).
• It is located at Illinois State University in Normal, IL
• Cost is discounted (it’s normally $85) for our MOPS mom members to $50.  This includes a tote bag and lunch on Saturday.  Payment and registration information must be turned in by February 10th.
• Other cost for the weekend include three meals (dinner Friday, breakfast & dinner on Saturday), shared hotel room and gas (unless you decide you’d like to carpool in the church van… good times!)
• There is also a Mom’s Night out even on Friday night for an additional $10.  If this is not something you’re interested in going to, we’ll be doing some relaxing, shopping, movie watching on our own.

If you are at all interested in going, please e-mail me (mopsgreentreerolla@gmail.com) so I can add you to the e-mail info list.  If you’d like more information,  chick out this link http://www.hearts-at-home.org/National2010.pdf to see the conference brochure.

The Mom’s Night Out for this month is tomorrow (Thursday, 28th)  and it’s a game night!!!  Please bring your favorite game (if you have one) and a snack to share to my house (e-mail mopsgreentreerolla@gmail.com if you need directions).  We’ll start around 8pm and go until around 11pm-ish.  Dress comfy – we’ve made it a PJ night (which is what I’ll be wearing)  and I know some of you aren’t into that but at least wear something with an elastic waist band?  If you can’t make it right at 8pm, feel free to come late – you can always jump in on the next round of whatever it is we’re playing

Hi Ladies – it’s finally time to meet again!  Since we were snowed out for our last meeting, we’ll just be pushing everything back to this meeting.  That means we’ll be doing our Make ‘N Take meal so please bring a 9×13 inch baking dish so you have something to carry the food home in.  Here are a few other things to know about our meeting this Thursday @ 9am:

• We’ll be collecting MOPS dues and registration info for the spring semester.  The spring dues are $30.
• We will be doing the rest of our “Fill the Patton’s Pantry” food drive.  If you would like to participate, please bring a non-perishable pantry item, paper plates, fruits or veggies and we’ll be sure to deliver it out to the Patton Family
• We will be scrambling to get our Secret Sisters started for this semester.  If you’d like to participate, we’ll have the survey’s to fill out at this meeting, shuffle ‘em up and hand them out so we can start at our next meeting

Finally, I know there are a lot of germ bugs going around right now.  If your child is sick or has been in the past 24-48 hours, please be considerate of the other mothers and stay at home.  I hate to say that, but there is a stomach bug  (along with the regular winter crud) going around that is just nasty.

Hope to see you Thursday!

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. -“Whatever your life’s work is, do it well. A man should do his job so well that the living, the dead, and the unborn could do it no better.” -“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” -“The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people.

John and Stasi Eldredge (authors of Wild at Heart, Captivating, and many other books) have released a new book on marriage called Love & War.  They are currently doing a book tour and will be at Grace Church (2695 Creve Couer Mill Rd. Maryland Heights, MO) on Friday, February 12th, @ 7pm.  Tickets are $15 each.  They will speak for 90 minutes about their heart behind the book and highlight some portions of it, followed by a 30 minute Q & A session.  This would be a great date night with your spouse.  I know, it is hard to get to St. Louis but if you can, I think this evening will be well worth it.  If you have any questions, feel free to ask.  Click HERE to see a promo video of the book.   Or for more info check out www.loveandwar.net

Hope to see you there!