Mom’s Morning Retreat May 17th Meeting

A warm and belated Happy Mother’s Day to all our members! We hope everyone got pampered, spoiled and loved on for Mother’s Day. We know you deserve it!

In this week’s May 17th meeting, Bev will lead us in a discussion on Cultivating Calm and Faith: Letting Go of Anxiety and the Need for Certainty. With the responsibility and unpredictability of motherhood, we know the most stressful times are also the same moments we’d benefit most from being calm, but how do we move closer to that inner quiet spot? Come and we’ll discuss!

Photography Activity Follow-Up & Homework Task

For those who missed the Mindfulness in Photography activity at the last meeting and for those attendees wanting more information, Michelle has posted on her blog a huge assortment of information about how to take and use photographs in creative ways, including a list of her favorite supplies.

Also, here’s a heads up on a homework task for everyone. While we all worked on capturing our greatest self-portrait on our activity day, for the icebreaker on the June 7th meeting (our final meeting for the year), please bring an old photo of yourself, preferably a high school, college or early adult one. Make sure your name is on the back, and we’ll return the photo to you at the end of the meeting.

Grace Church Rummage Sale, June 1st & 2nd

We wanted to remind you that if you are spring cleaning and have gently used children’s toys, clothes or other household items, please consider bringing them to the meeting this week to donate them to Grace Church’s annual “New to You” Sale. In addition, drop-off is available each remaining Sunday in May (look for the donation truck in the church parking lot), and during the week of May 28th.

Then, plan to come back for the “New to You” sale and find some new treasures!
Here are the rummage sale dates and times:
Friday, June 1, 9am – 8pm
Saturday, June 2, 9am – 2pm

Please feel free to share this information with friends, too. Thank you for all your support!

Mom’s Morning Retreat May 3rd Meeting

Surprise! Spring has sprung and it’s almost May (That’s still sinking in for some of us…)!

This week’s activity meeting will focus around mindfulness through photography. As we begin to awake to our lives, everything starts to look different. Michelle will discuss how photography can be an excellent tool to see our surroundings as they actually are. To capture a great picture, you have to be fully present in this moment, let go of your expectations or stories, and fully immerse yourself in the experience of seeing. Please bring your camera or a phone with camera feature because we’ll play around with photography and mindfulness during the meeting.

Grace Rummage Sale, June 1st & 2nd

Mom’s Morning Retreat simply wouldn’t be possible without the support of Grace Church. Here’s one way we can all give back to the church AND simplify our lives. Please donate any used toys, clothes, housewares, furniture, strollers, etc. to Grace Church’s annual “New to You Sale.”

Smaller items may be dropped off at Grace before and immediately after our meetings this month, and on all Sundays in May (look for the donation truck in the church parking lot on Sundays). Items of any size may be dropped off in the building during the week of May 28.

Then, plan to come back for the “New to You” sale and find some new treasures!
Here are the rummage sale dates and times:
Friday, June 1, 9am – 8pm
Saturday, June 2, 9am – 2pm

Thank you in advance for all your support!

Special Announcement – and Opportunity to Get Involved!

We were so tickled to announce at this week’s meeting that Michelle Anderson will lead as next year’s Chair of the Steering Committee for Mom’s Morning Retreat.  Michelle brings a wonderful sense of insight, humor, and perspective to our meetings.  Starting this summer, she will work with Bev and the rest of the Steering Committee to help plan where we’re headed next.  Thank you, Michelle!

Would you like to volunteer to be part of next year’s Steering Committee? It’s a totally awesome group of women (if we don’t mind saying so ourselves!), and we’ll have two openings starting in June.  The specific positions are:

* Activities – this is great for someone who is creative and organized, and would like to help plan and lead about 4 meaningful activities during the year.

* Hospitality – this is ideal for someone who’d have fun facilitating the icebreakers and who can help us create a friendly, welcoming atmosphere at the meetings, including helping oversee the small hosting groups.

Steering committee members meet with Bev at Grace on the 2nd Thursday of the month during the school year (9:30-11am), with childcare provided. In addition, over the summer we will meet 5 – 6 times for theme selection and planning of the upcoming year, with childcare provided for those meetings, as well.

Please contact Jenny or Carrie to find out more.

Mom’s Morning Retreat April 19th Meeting

 

Cultivating Creativity: Letting Go of Comparison

Every child is born creative. Each and every child is blessed with a set of unique skills and talents which only require to be polished. ~ Rae Luskin

Thursday morning we will explore this interesting idea that each of us was born creative. Are we aware of our own creativity? What does being creative mean to you? What blocks keep us from experiencing this reality? How will acting creatively impact our life? Come and find out!

Gratitude

In case you missed her lovely note of thanks on our Facebook page (have you “liked” our page yet??), we wanted to express a big THANK YOU for everyone who brought meals to Katie and her family. They were very grateful for the effort, thoughtfulness and easier time the family was afforded by having dinners already made. Who wouldn’t love that?! Thank you, moms, once again for supporting other moms!

See you this Thursday! It’s been too long!

Mom’s Morning Retreat April News

Mom’s Night Out

Just a quick reminder that (although we don’t have a regularly scheduled morning meeting this week) our Spring Break-themed “Moms Need a Break!” Night Out is this Thursday, April 5, at 7:00 pm. Come on out and bring a friend! See you at Treehouse Café!

Outreach – Housing Needed

Please consider whether you can provide temporary housing for a local mom and her young infant (not crawling). Mold has been discovered in her apartment, and it is not safe for them to stay. This mom is looking for short-term housing until she finds a new lease. Do you have a mother-in-law apartment or guest house that could be used by a mom in a bind? Please contact Kendra Field if you know of something.

Thank you!

Corrected: Mom’s Morning Retreat News

[Please note this post contains a corrected contact email address for providing a dinner for the Johnson family. Sorry for any confusion!]

Happy Spring, everyone!

We just wanted to remind everyone that we will not be having a regular meeting on April 5th, due to the schools’ spring break schedule. Our next meeting will be on April 19th. We hope that you all have a fun break and that the Easter bunny is good to you.

BUT if April 19th is too far away and you need some relaxing time with our awesome members during spring break, we’re having a Moms’ Night Out on Thursday, April 5th at Treehouse Cafe at 7pm. So break out from the family and come join us if you’re around!

Lastly, we wanted to say a big “Congratulations” to Katie Johnson on her new baby, Henry! We’re organizing dinners for Katie and her family (you may have already received an email on this). Please contact Kendra Field to sign up for a date if you are able to do so. The families are always so appreciative to have one less thing to worry about with a new, little one in the house. Thanks to all who can help!

Have a great spring break!

Mom’s Morning Retreat Mar. 15th Meeting News

Greetings! We hope everyone sprung forward last weekend in a timely fashion, unlike some of us who brilliantly and accidentally missed a class…. Oh, well, another opportunity to let go of perfection, right?!

This week Bev has a fascinating subject for us to discuss–being an authentic parent. These days we have more and more scientific data about brain development, so how do we use that knowledge in the parenting arena while also matching our parenting style to our true selves? Quite the juggling act for the 21st century, isn’t it? It should be a good discussion!

Reminder: No Meeting April 5th!

The first week of April also happens to be spring break for BISD, so please remember Mom’s Morning Retreat will have no meeting that first week. After this week’s meeting, we’ll look forward to the next Mom’s Morning Retreat meeting on April 19th.

And in honor of spring approaching (fingers crossed, right?), we present Carrie’s bunnies, which are only one, cute and precious month old: