Due to EXCESSIVE SNOW...MOPS CANCELED

Hey Friends,

Yes, Unfortunately, MOPS is canceled tomorrow.  Knox County just called off school for the 157th day in a row, so no MOPS.  :(

Enjoy yet another day of snowball fights and cabin fever and hope to see you soon.

P.S. We will try to reschedule our marriage counselor speakers. 

Marriage S.O.S !!! This Thursday, Feb 26th

Have all of these days locked in the house with kids got you and your spouse and little...less than kind with each other?  (Oh, ok.  Maybe it's just me that has been getting stir crazy going on our SECOND WEEK of no school!)

Well, whether you have a marriage like this...

or like this...

join us at MOPS because we all want to be like this...

 Let's be honest: none of us has a perfect marriage. So, come on to MOPS this Thursday, Feb 26th at 9:30am.  Husband and wife marriage counselors, Mark and Doris Moreland will be giving suggestions about communication and addressing the unique challenges for a stay-at-home wife.

Bring some snacks or Pinterest attempts to share. We'll provide the coffee and laughs. Look forward to seeing you there!

Oh, and inspired by the chilly days, we'll be collecting new kid socks (any size, shape, or color) for Operation Christmas Child.

Stay Warm! Hope to see you Thursday!


Reminder of MOPS Winter Weather Policy: 
If Knox County Schools are on a 2-hr delay or closed due to weather, MOPS will NOT meet.
If Knox County is on a 1-hr delay, MOPS will meet an hour late at 10:30.
BUT FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! SNOW, MELT ALREADY!!!

Smart Shopping Opportunity! FREE!

You may remember Heather Cockrum who came to our group last year to talk about how to save BIG and get tons of free stuff. (Remember, she said that she DOESN'T PAY for razors, shampoo, toothbrushes, etc because she gets them all for FREE with coupons?) As you may recall, I call her the Coupon Queen, but she is not an over-the-top, TLC's Extreme Couponing weirdo.

Well, Heather forwarded me the following info and asked me to pass it along to anyone in our MOPS group ...

Interested in a quick, FREE session on how to be a smart shopper? I have been asked to share the tips I taught at UT recently but need to see if people will actually come! 

If you or anyone you know would be interested, please contact me at hcockrum@utk.edu or 865.660.0967 and let me know if 10:00-11:30 a.m. on Saturday, 2/28 and/or 3/7 would work. The location will be the YOKE Youth Ministries office (near St. Mary's Hospital).

You may be ready to jump in full force, or you may have no spare time (but no spare money either) and, in all honesty, want to save using the least amount of time and energy as possible. Either way, I can help you! This class would be a very general overview, touching on topics such as basic couponing, price matching, and saving on online purchases. If enough are interested, I would be happy to consider follow-up sessions on organizing coupons, saving at drug stores (where the REAL savings are!!!), etc.

Kelly, please tell your group that the session I am doing is nothing like what I did at MOPS.  Southern Savers is only one small part of this, and no meal planning talk. 

So, if you are interested, call/text or email Heather ASAP to get a spot in one of these sessions.  It will be really beneficial especially if you are looking for ways to save on essentials for your family. 

Stay warm!

Meal Train for Julie

I know not all of you are on Facebook and wanted to share with you Julie's meal train in case you're able to support them during this time.

TAKE THEM A MEAL

Valentine Scratch Offs

I got the craft done I had intended on leading on Thursday. Check it out!

VALENTINE SCRATCH-OFFS

Sweets for Your Sweet

If you need some sweet treats for Valentine's Day or Fat Tuesday or just because it is a Tuesday, following are three easy peasy recipes sure to fit the bill. Each of these were brought to our MOPS today....but I didn't get a single picture at the meeting. Kelly was kind enough to send pics for the two she brought and I took a pic once I got home. I was honestly too busy chatting fellowshipping to even think about it.

Marshmallow Creme Fluff (brought by Kelly)

1 7oz jar marshmallow creme
1 block softened cream cheese

Stir together and enjoy the deliciousness that is this stuff! Yup, that's all there is to this one! Kelly's family enjoys it with bagels; we had it with graham crackers at MOPS and I think it would be good with berries. Versatile and fantastic. (Kelly added red food coloring to boost your Valentine's enjoyment)


Cake Batter Cookie Bars (brought by Kelly)
1 box of yellow cake mix
5 Tablespoons melted butter
2 eggs (beaten, like the punks that they are!)
2 Cups of chocolate chips

Mix together and spread batter in a 9x13 pan. Cook at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Take out and let cool so you don't burn your tongue (patience is a virtue!). Enjoy!


Oreo Truffles (brought by Dawn, inspired by Kelly & Julie at cookie swap)
1 block cream cheese (softened)
31 Oreos, finely crumbled (there are 36 in a bag, eat 2 for quality assurance purposes, save 4 for husband/kids)
1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
1-2 Tablespoons vegetable shortening or coconut oil** (optional)

I put the Oreos in a gallon bag and smashed them with a rolling pin. I was informed you could also use a food processor (derh). Mix Oreo crumbs with the cream cheese (I still had some cookie chunks, so I smooshed them up some more while mixing). Roll into 1" balls and place on wax lined cookie sheet. Put in freezer for 10 minutes. Melt chocolate chips (**you don't have to, but using a thinning agent/oil  such as coconut oil or vegetable shortening will help you out immensely. Trust me on this. I learned the hard way) and dip the balls of yumminess in the melted chocolate. Place on wax lined cookie sheet and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
Take out and enjoy with kith and kin.



We would love to have you join us at MOPS (next meeting Thursday, February 26 starting at 9:30 am). We have great food, great fellowship and of course, great fun! Please feel free to bring a friend or some food. If you have a recipe you'd like to share, please forward it to dawn (dot) contreras (at) gmail (dot) com.

New Up and Coming Internet Sensation!

Just kidding. No need to toot my own horn, plenty enough other people doing it for me. Again, kidding.

All jokes aside, I'm getting my write on over at my new blog. Feel free to check it out and give me some cold, hard feedback.

Don't worry, there's no talk of vaccination schedules, 50 Shades of Grey, politics or how to raise your kids my way....yet!

So, click on over to www.fromonemamatoanother.wordpress.com

Peace!

LOVE at MOPS- Thurs, Feb. 12th

Hey all you lovely ladies!

Love is in the air...hopefully there is still a little sizzle and warm fuzzy feelings for our hubbies and kiddos!  (Sizzle for the husbands and warm fuzzy feelings for kids.)

Come join us at MOPS this Thursday while we spread the love with a craft, devotional, discussion questions, and obviously, some sweet treats.

Oh, and by the way, share some love with our fearless leader JANNETTE SMITH, whose birthday is TODAY!!!!!  Happy Birthday, Jannette!

Speaking of birthdays, this Friday is Jodi Yau's Happy Birthday-day!

In honor of these two wonderful ladies (and the rest of you!), I'll be bringing two special dessert treats.  If you enjoy them at the meeting, I'll pass the recipes to Dawn to put on the blog.  Bring a snack or sweet to share, and we'll provide the coffee.

Hope to see you and your kiddos this Thursday, February 12th at 9:30am at Erin Presbyterian!

Oh, we'll also be collecting conversation topics/questions/concerns for our next speakers- a husband and wife duo who do couples counseling and will address anything and everything we want.  Come prepared with topics where you want advice.

***Please bring your dues if you haven't already.  Also, there is scholarship money available- just sneak a note to Jannette or Alicia.

Quick and Dirty 3 Ingredient Meatballs

Have you had (or at least heard of) 3 ingredient meatballs? They are all over Pinterest and I have had them at several get togethers. I rather like them BUT my husband hates them. With a passion. I'm not sure if there was a meatball incident in his past or he just has very exacting taste. Either way, I wanted meatballs for Super Bowl; him, not so much. So I had to come up with something he would at least try. Instead of the grape jelly/sweet barbeque sauce combo, I went with apricot preserves and spicy barbeque sauce. I know, super original. The husband liked them. He actually went back for seconds. My mission was a success!

Quick and Dirty Meatballs

-Frozen Meatballs (I prefer all beef, but Kroger didn't carry them so I used the small bag of Armour Homestyle)
-1/3 jar of apricot preserves
-1/2 bottle of thick & spicy barbeque sauce

I mixed the preserves and barbeque sauce then added the entire bag of meatballs.I cooked them on high for 4 hours in my little crockpot. They were piping hot and delicious. You can use a larger bag of meatballs, if you are serving a crew. Just use a larger crockpot, increase the preserves to 2/3 of the jar and use the entire bottle of sauce.

(Meatballs not shown as they were already eaten. At least I got a picture of something!)

Do you have a great recipe from the Super Bowl? Send it on to dawn (dot) contreras (at) gmail (dot) com. Or even better, whip it up and bring it to share at our next MOPS meeting on Thursday, February 12, 2015 at 9:30 a.m.