November Update

Hello there MUGGS Moms,

Hope you are having a great week and are getting excited for the Thanksgiving weekend. Just a reminder that we will NOT be having MUGGS this Wednesday, but will be meeting next week - on the 5th Wednesday of the month - November 30th. Our December meeting will be our annual Christmas party - we'll share the details at our meeting on the 30th.

Please continue to keep Kelly Swartz, who recently had surgery; Amy Searle, who had her baby last week; and Chas Doran, who has a benign brain tumor all in your prayers. Chas will most likely be having surgery before the end of the year. We will let you know of ways we can help Chas and her family during this time. Freezer meals for Chas would be a great blessing to help provide healthy home-cooked meals during her recovery. We will have more information for you at our meeting next week!

God Bless & Happy Thanksgiving!
Jenn

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. Psalm 100:4

Upcoming Playdates & Moms' Night Out

Below are upcoming opportunites to connect further with other MUGGS moms. Thanks to Desiray for planning and hosting!!

Friday, October 28th:
Playdate at Library 10:15 (annual trick or treat at Library)

Friday, November 4th:
Playdate at Desiray Christen's
9:30-11:30
409 Nicholas Drive
*please bring a snack to share

Monday, November 7th:
Mom’s Night Out at Hickory Park in Ames
*Desiray is willing to drive and can fit 8 total in her car.
The group will leave at 6:00 and arrive home around 9:00.
Please let Desiray know if you would like to come and if you want to ride with her.
There may be a stop at Target after dinner if moms are interested:)

It's a MUGGS Week!

We're approaching another great MUGGS meeting this week! We will meet Wednesday, October 26th at 9:15am. We'll be looking at chapters 5 & 6 of Professionalizing Motherhood - "Is Your Family Marriage-Centered?" and "Where Are My Coworkers?" Should be another great morning. Hope you are able to join us. Have a great week!

Meeting Reminder!

We will be having our first October MUGGS meeting tomorrow morning. Hope you are able to come enjoy the morning. We will be looking at chapters 3 & 4 of Professionalizing Motherhood and will be encouraged in our role as mom!!

God Bless!

Last Call for Hearts at Home Group Rate

If you are interested in attending the Hearts at Home conference November 4th & 5th in Rochester, MN this is your last chance to go for the best price of $77 conference registration fees. The conference is a great getaway to recharge and equip you as a mom. I would highly recommend the conference to any mom. We leave Friday at noon and return late Saturday night so it's only 1 night away from your family and it will be well worth the investment. You will return refreshed and encouraged with some new tools to add to your mom toolbox.

Check out complete info about the conference on www.heart-at-home.org. If you would like to get the group rate print the registration sheet, fill it out and get it to Valerie Troutner - 753-7153. She needs to get them in the mail soon, soon, soon!!!

Looking Forward

We are looking forward to another great meeting tomorrow! We will be taking a look at chapters 1 & 2 of Professionalizing Motherhood. We will start with a time of food & fellowship and finish up with the study. Feel free to invite friends and neighbors who you feel would be blessed by MUGGS. Have a great day! Hope to see you tomorrow!

Opportunities to Connect

We are off and running for the year and have a couple social events planned to give you more opportunities to connect with MUGGS moms. We hope you will be able to join us for the following events.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS:

PLAYGROUP:

Our first playgroup will be Wednesday, September 21st at 10:15. We will meet at Timbercreek Park. If the weather is questionable, please watch your e-mail as I will send out an e-mail if I decide to cancel/reschedule.

MOM’S NIGHT OUT:

Our first Mom’s Night Out will be on Thurday, September 29th at Zeno’s. We will meet at Zeno’s around 6:00. (if you have a baby, you can bring her/him along).

Please email Desiray desiray.christen@chinaorphans.org if you are planning to attend either or both of these events!

A Great Start

We had a wonderful start to our 2011-2012 MUGGS session yesterday with 20 moms in attendance. It was great to welcome some new moms to our group and reconnect with those who have been involved in the past. Reports from the childcare volunteers were that all went well and the children enjoyed playing together as well.

I'd like to thank all the moms who are helping lead MUGGS this year. Christine Roberts is overseeing the childcare volunteers - a big thanks to her for taking on this big job! Amy Searle is heading up our brunch sign-up and sends reminders to those who signed up when their week arrives. Satomi Hoven is helping with set-up and clean-up and will be taking over brunch organization when Amy has her baby. Desiray Christen is planning our playgroups and moms' nights out and Valerie Troutner has already typed up a new directory with all our contact information. It takes a team to keep MUGGS going and I'm so thankful for all who help.

Hope you all have a wonderful couple weeks. I look forward to our next meeting on September 28th and the opportunity to get to know you all better and begin studying Professionalizing Motherhood together. May God bless you in the important profession you are laboring in!

New Year, New Site

Things are coming together for the start of another year of MUGGS. We are excited to welcome old and new mom friends to our group and encourage one another in the very important profession of motherhood. Our first meeting will be Wednesday, September 14th, from 9:15 to 11:15 am.

As I've been talking with other moms we thought it would be good to have an website for our group. As I looked around creating a blog was the easiest and cheapest (FREE!!!) way to create a web presence for our group. As we grow we can certainly explore other ways to get info about our group out there. I will post updates about our group throughout the year and annouce special events that we will be having as well. We also have a facebook page which I will share the same info on. To the right you will find a couple tools to help you follow the MUGGS blog. Enter your email if you want to receive an email each time an addition is made to the blog or become a follower if you have an account with blogger and regularly follow other blogs.

This fall we will be studying the book Professionalizing Motherhood by Jill Savage. This is a book we studied together the first session that our group met over 4 years ago. It is a wonderfully encouraging perspective on viewing motherhood as a worthy & important career option for moms. A free study guide will be available at our first meeting. If you would like to purchase a copy of the book we encourage you to do so individually. It is available through numerous online retailers including the Hearts at Home website - www.hearts-at-home.org/, http://www.christianbook.com/, and http://www.amazon.com/.

As always we will start our time together with a delicious brunch and time of fellowship and finish up with our book study. A calendar of the fall's meetings dates will also be available. We are praying for another wonderful season of MUGGS. We encourage you to invite your friends and ask that you please comment here or give Jenn a call (751-1464) to register your children for childcare. See you next week!!