Cafe Mom

What's Coming Up...

February 23 - Coffee Talk with the Couples Mentor Panel

March 1 - Swap 
    *You're welcome to bring 1-2 tubs of maternity clothes, women's clothes, children's clothing, toys, books, etc. 

March 8 - Coffee Talk

March 15 - No MOPS - Spring Break

March 22 - Cafe Mom "The Calm & Peaceful Home"

March 29 - Mom's Morning Out!

April 5 - Coffee Talk

April 12 - Cafe Mom "Patience"

April 19 - Messy Morning
    *We will be having a morning of making fun items to lead you into the summer.

April 26 - Last MOPS/Celebration Morning

This summer we will be hosting playdates at the Prairie Lakes Church park every-other Thursday morning.  Bring your kids, a sack lunch, and sit and chat in the fenced-in play area at PLC.  We will be announcing more of the details as the summer draws closer.

Happy Valentines Day!

To all you lovely mommies,

We are all so different. Some of us are raising old kids, others young. Some of us grew a baby in our bellies, others grew your babies in your heart. Some of us work outside the home while others stay home. We are all different. But we are all mommies. And we all love.

Valentine's Day can be a little overrated, yes. Hallmark loves it while the singles hate it. But I encourage you to take the special day designed for love to celebrate with your littles and adore your man. Also, take time to know that you are loved more than you can imagine by the very One who created you.

Practically speaking, we are celebrator of the home! It is our job to make certain days set apart from the other ones. Special heart napkins, pink milk, and construction paper heart décor can go a long way! You can make everything pink! You can use the heart cookie cutter to cut out their peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Make dessert; heart sugar cookies, a pink cake with pink frosting, or strawberry ice cream! Get out the special glasses and have pink punch! These all seem minor to us, but in the eyes of a little one this is a big deal. More than any food or napkin, give an extra amount of hugs and kisses. Love, love, love.

Give some extra attention to your husband. If you aren't able to go out on a date, no problem! Put the kids to bed early and focus on your love. It's easy to think, and know, that our children need our attention, help, and adoration. But our husbands need it too! I know (oh, do I know!) how it feels at the end of the night. You know, when you have been touched all day long and feel that if anyone or anything else touches you, you might just scream. But how do you think our husbands feel watching us kiss and hold our babies all day, with no kisses leftover at the end of the night for him? He wants, more than anything, to be desired. Please, stay connected with your husband, even in the busyness of life. Life will always be busy. If your children aren't young and demanding, they will be older and in sporting and musical events. It would be a shame for the children to leave the house at age 18, only to look at your husband and wonder, “who are you?” because we've been so wrapped up in our kids' lives, we've forgotten how those loves even came to be; because of the first love you felt with him. Love, love, love.

Lastly, relish in the love of our Father. Husbands are great; children are great; but even they don't compare to the love of your Maker. He loved you so much that He sent his one and only son to die for you. Can you even imagine; giving your very own child?

This is true love:

John 15:13, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”

I pray you know the love of Jesus Christ today. His love offers us peace in the chaos, grace when we daily make mistakes, patience when we are at the end of our rope, and the ability to love others beyond what we feel capable of. His sacrifice and willingness to die on the cross for our sins allows us not only this life full of love, but eternal life with the all loving One. It's love, love, love.

Hallmark doesn't get the benefit this Valentine's Day!

You do!

Your families do!

Celebrate with your precious cherubs, love your hunks of burning love, and know that you are a treasured daughter of the King. 

That, my friends, is love.

(Written by Marissa Wessels)

The Art of Marriage Conference

Just a reminder of the upcoming Family Life marriage conference in Osage, Iowa, on February 17 and 18.  Please go to Prairie Lakes website to register or check out The Art of Marriage website to preview a video of what The Art of Marriage is all about!  

Date Night Ideas at Home

Here are date night ideas that you can do at home after the little ones are tucked into bed and SOUND ASLEEP.

Have dinner in the backyard, patio, or your front lawn.

Re-watch the first movie you watched together.

Don’t cook and get your favorite take out.

Have a theme night. You must dress, eat dinner, and watch a movie with the same theme. Think ‘Western’ and dress like a cowgirl, eat bar-b-que, and watch "Tombstone". Think ‘French’ and put on a black and white top, make French onion soup, and watch "Amelie". It could be anything!

Put a blanket down and picnic in front of the TV.

Make a special dessert to indulge in. Bake chocolate chip cookies and right when you get them out of the oven put vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce on top. Even making brownies from a box can warm up any night.

Take a shower and get dressed up to go out, but stay in. One night I even put on my dress from my prom. I would never wear it out now, but I still love it and wore it on a night in.

Snuggle on the couch and watch a movie. I (heart) my Netflix queue!

Try to beat your all time record. (This was my husband’s suggestion for the list.)

Break out the board games. Play it so that the loser has to do the dishes.

Sit outside and read together.

Have a candlelit dinner in the dining room you rarely use.

Make a mix CD or playlist to enjoy throughout the evening.

Dance! Make room for our own private dance floor and have fun. Don’t worry, no one is watching you dance like Elaine Benes.

Splurge on delicious cheeses and add fruit, crackers, and wine.

Give each other a back rub.

Share your favorite dating memory with each other over dinner.

Set out candles around the room. (I know this is an old idea, but it is really nice to do once in a while.)

Work out together. Set up a circuit in the garage or in the back yard with a jump rope, dumbbells, push-up, and sit-up stations.

Cook together and try a new recipe for dinner or for a cocktail.

Play video games together.

Watch a sports game and eat stadium food like nachos and hot dogs.

Set up a pair of chairs and stick your feet in the kiddie pool.

Make breakfast in bed for dinner and watch TV.

(from www.themomcrowd.com)

Need a Date Night idea???

Having it "all together"

News Flash: I DON'T HAVE IT ALL TOGETHER!!! (And neither do you)

Let me preface the following story by saying this is not a complaint or a pity party (I already had one of those yesterday)...this is just me being honest about what my day looked like yesterday.

It all started when I woke up to find that school was delayed due to weather. That was no real surprise but it meant that Lane's morning nap would be cut short so I could bring Ava to school. Then the girls woke up - both on the wrong side of the bed, so I played more referee than mom for the fist few hours of the morning. Oh, and did I mention that everyone woke up about thirty minutes earlier than usual? That means no shower for mom. All kids have a cold and were extra whiny which is my least favorite thing! I got Ava to school and thought it would be a little more relaxed with only the two younger kiddos at home. Wrong! Elise was beside herself and cried for most of the two hours that Ava was gone. I was longing for nap time. We picked Ava up and headed home for a quick snack and then REST TIME! Lane and Elise went down fine but Ava thought rest time was too boring and got out of bed ten times in 30 minutes. No rest for mom. After nap time I got changed for exercise class, got the diaper bag packed, and got all coats, boots, hats, and mittens ready for everyone to head out. While doing this I'm thinking "is exercising really worth all this effort?! Seriously!!" YES it is! I needed to get out of the house and have a break from my darling cherubs. I loaded us into the truck and headed for the gym. We found a not-so-close parking spot and after turning off the truck I got kids out of seats and put coats back on - because we can't wear them in our carseats, of course. Ava was opening the door and I began barking at her about waiting for me to come open the door because she could hit the car next to us, she can't be outside alone, I wasn't ready, etc. Once I was ready for us to get out I slowly opened my door only to have a huge gust of wind fling it open and smash it into the car next to me. Ugh! Not only did I feel like a jerk because I just did what I told my daughter not to do, but now I was thinking about how much this is going to cost us. We have insurance but there's bound to be out of pocket expenses which is just what we don't need, as we're just digging out of the hole after last month - two birthdays, Christmas, replacing vehicle headlights, broken clothes washer...the list goes on. It was convenient that the driver of the car next to me was still in her car when I hit her and she was going to the same exercise class as I was - would have been nice to meet under better circumstances. We agreed to share insurance information once I got everyone inside. As the kids and I trekked through the parking lot I'm thinking about telling Eric and about insurance, Elise is crying because its cold, Ava is asking a million questions about what just happened and what insurance is, and to top it all of Lane dropped his blankey in the nasty road slush. A kind man behind us picked up the blanket and I thanked him after grumbling something about this not really being worth me leaving the house - Ever! I realized the man goes to the same church as we do, and then all I could think of was what a jerk I must have sounded and looked like to him and anyone else observing me. Did I mention that I'm the wife of a church elder? Awesome! We got inside and I told my hubby what happened and he was totally ok about it. I still felt terrible and just wanted to crawl into bed and hide - pretend it never happened. But it did happen....and I messed up a lot of times throughout the craziness of the day.

As I laid my head on my pillow last night, I couldn't help but think about how much pressure we moms put on ourselves and others to have life all together - or to at least look like we do. Here's a newsflash for us all: NOBODY HAS IT TOGETHER! Nobody! The Bible says that Jesus is the only perfect One to ever walk the earth. We can strive all we want but that will always end in failure. I am as guilty as anyone as I try to carry on this facade that life is easy, that I have no struggles, that I love being a mom every second of every day. I am publicly admitting that I really don't have anything figured out and that I absolutely do not have it all together. I don't want to pretend that I do anymore - its exhausting! Life is hard and we do struggle. Jesus is the One who gives us peace and rest in the midst of the craziness of life. He doesn't expect perfection from us but wants us to bring our messed-up selves to the foot of the Cross and ask Him to clean us up as only He can. Ladies I can look at my story from yesterday and laugh now, but I know that some days are so tough that it's challenging to find a bright spot or to see the humor in it all. I encourage you to turn to Jesus. He is our only hope. He is the only perfect One. We do not have to strive to have some sort of "perfect life". He will take you as you are. There is nothing you can do or say that will make Him turn His face from you. And He doesn't expect us to have anything together. Amen!

God's grace to you all,
Dani

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you & learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." - Matthew 11:28-29

New Year - New Rhythms

Contribution by: Dana Moersfelder

Moms, what a great kick-off to a new year and a new semester at Cafe Mom.  Lynnette and Alisa have such a heart for wanting to refresh us with new ideas on getting organized and living clutter-free this year.  So with that, and a reminder that this is definitely not an original idea of mine but some of you may remember from last semester that Alisa has a "prayer list" in her dining room that she made with her crafty skills.   Marissa also has two similar lists hanging in her dining room (Prayer & Praise). This is so helpful in getting your kids involved in praying for each other and for others.

I have a prayer journal that I purchased at Hearts At Home in November.  I always tell people that I will pray for them and even with the best intentions, let's be honest, if I don't write it down, I often forget.  My journal helps to remind me who and what to pray for.  Having a visible prayer list close by will also help your children to remember.  For this one, I took a mirror and spray painted it with chalk board paint so it's easy to erase and add new prayers each day/week.  But, it can also be as simple as a store bought dry erase board.

Another great idea is the one that Alisa did with a large picture frame and a dry erase marker.  Add some pretty paper/wrapping paper or pretty fabric and write your prayers directly on the glass.  

Don't you love it?

You can do this for "To Do" lists, "Thankful For", "Praise", "Menus" and more.

 

Dear God,

The morning promises a new day

filled with new beginnings.

Help me not to waste opportunities to start fresh.

Open my eyes to see

open doors today and to

prayer for others in need.

Guide me to use my time

for those things and people

that are most important to me.

Amen.

Cafe Mom Notes

What a delightful time with all of you at our first Winter/Spring Cafe Mom!  Reality struck: we are in Iowa in January!  Thank you for braving the weather with your little ones in tow to join us.  

A couple things:
*  Lynnette mentioned the site Free Printables Behaviour Sheets.  Check this site out!  What a great resource for printables for your young ones.
*  Many of you asked the name of the comedian we showed this morning.  For a great indoor date night with your husband, look up Tim Hawkins on You Tube after your kids have gone to bed, and laugh like there's no tomorrow with your love.  (Doesn't laughter feel so good?) 
*  Our next meeting will be a Coffee Talk on January 19.  We do not have a big breakfast on these mornings, but we'd love for you to feel free to bring a snack to share if you want!
*  Don't forget to bring a family photo for the centerpieces if you haven't already!

See you all again soon! 

Living Clutter-Free

 

Contribution by: Dana Moersfelder

This month we'll be talking about routine, schedules, organization and "Making Order Out of Chaos".  I came across this devotional from Proverbs 31 Ministries this morning and thought it appropriate to share.  Living Clutter Free

Maybe some of you can relate.  Do you have laundry that gets folded but never put away; leaving you to recycle through a pile of clean folded clothes in a basket or maybe even a pile of clean wrinkled clothes that never made it to be folded?  Do you have piles of papers like me that you just can't figure out what to do with or Christmas cards that never made it to the mail because you never got around to buying those last few stamps you needed?  Do you have 200 matchbox cars that are immediately dumped out of their bucket at 7 am and you're horrified that neighbors will stop by and trip on the way in the door?  Have you had to take the door off of you coat closet because the amount of coats, shoes and scarves don't fit so they have now spilled out into the garage entryway?

 

God wants us to live an un-cluttered life and to examine what it is that is holding us back from freedom.   Let us stop running in circles and follow His directions.  Let us lead the life that He has planned for us!

Walk in all the way that the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess. ~ Deuteronomy 5:33

 

Blessings friends! See you on Thursday for the new semester kick-off!

Dana

See you Thursday!

We're excited!

After a wonderful morning of praying and planning, we're looking forward to a semester full of wisdom, laughter, friendship, and prizes!  Please join us Thursday, January 12 at 9:15 a.m. for the start of the winter/spring semester.  See you all soon!