Mad Deal Mondays - Ever After Resale

Introducing Mad Deal Mondays!!!

One of our great moms is helping us with some amazing deals and sales. Check back every week for a new way to save...we can all use that!

Here is this week's "Mad Deal" -

Portland's Premiere Baby Sale...

April 3rd and 4th
www.everafterresale.com

Only high end items at this re-sale...SALE!
Plus, if you consign and volunteer at the event for only one eight hour shift, you get 80% of your total sales... Not just 40% like everyone else. Enjoy!

Fruitful Friday - Baked Omelet

Sorry Ladies for not getting my post up for you on Friday. I have company in town, coupled with Spring Break...Friday came and went.

In honor of having guests in the house, I want to share my favorite "Make the Night Before" breakfast dish:

Baked Omelet

Mix the following ingredients in a large bowl (this is the "base" mixture):

10 Eggs, beaten
1 small container Cottage Cheese
2 (or more) cups grated Cheddar Cheese
1 (or more) cups grated Monterey Jack Cheese

Add any of the following ingredients to Base mixture:

Sauted Mushrooms and/or Spinach
Green Onions
Bell Peppers
Green Chilis
Cubed Ham
Crumbled Bacon
Crumbled, Cooked Sausage
(or any leftovers you want to use up)

Place mixture in a 9x13 pan and bake at 375 for 15 minutes. Then turn oven down to 325 and bake for 25 minutes longer. Recipe can be cooked right away or refrigerated overnight.

Ladies, please remember though, when taking glass pans from the refrigerator, don't place them directly into a hot oven. Let them it sit on top of the oven while you are preheating it to warm it a little bit.

Hope you enjoy this one. Be sure to check back this Friday for the FUNNEST recipe for kids on Easter morning!!!!

Kids Learning Activities

Sorry girls, I really did intend to post something every day this week, but, I have a really good excuse as to why I flaked out. My daughter gave birth to her daughter this week, so I have been a little distracted. :) One of the most amazing things about being a mother is watching your daughter become a mother. It truly is the most incredible miracle.

I hope you have all had a wonderful Spring Break here in Portland. I'd love to hear about all of your adventures.

And, here's something I wanted to pass on to you from Dyane:

If you are looking for creative, hands-on ways to teach your child about shapes, numbers, colors, etc. you should check out this website - no time for flashcards. She has a lot of great ideas to keep kids busy with learning activities.

Have a great weekend and we'll see you Tuesday, when mom2mom cafe resumes.

Pottery Barn Kids Book Club Event

If you are looking for a spring break activity on the west side of town, join Pottery Barn Kids for a story time featuring Beatrix Potter classics and celebrating the wonderful world of Peter Rabbit™.

This special Book Club event will be held at all Pottery Barn Kids stores on March 24 and March 31 from 10 a.m - 10:30 a.m.

You can also receive a free Peter Rabbit growth chart while supplies last.

Pottery Barn Kids, Washington Square
9345 SW Washington Square Road
Tigard, OR 97223
503-598-1858

Spring Break Fun For Kids

Hey Moms, it's Spring Break in Portland. Woohoo!! I know a lot of families try to get away but even if you are sticking close to home, it's a great time to have a break from routines and spend time having fun with the kids. The Portland metro area offers many fun outings and activities that are great for family bonding.

This week we will be posting some of those ideas. Since the forecast has mostly rain for the week (no surprise there), we'll skip posting any of the great family hikes the Northwest has to offer ;).

Craft Warehouse in Gresham is having a craft time from 11 am to 1 pm Monday through Friday this week. Click here for more information about the crafts they will be doing.

East Portland Community Center - new pool is open - so fun!
Also East Portland Community Center - Indoor play park - M,W,F $1 (but only up through age 5)

Hope you all have a wonderful week enjoying your precious gifts from God. And, if you any fun ideas you'd like to pass on to the other moms, just leave them in the comments.

Fruitful Friday - Kids' Lunch Menus

How about starting a conversation about:

Kids' Lunches

Below is a quick reference chart I keep handy. The top section is all the main dishes. The shaded area is a list of sides or snacks. I try to keep my fridge and pantry stocked with all these items, so that I can have lunches ready in a snap.

		Sandwiches or Pitas: - Lunchmeat - Cheese - Peanut Butter - Tuna - Avocado - Egg - Cucumber & Cheese	Hot Thermos Containers: - Oatmeal - Chicken Nuggets - Hot Dog Slices Tortilla Wraps: - Cheese - Lunchmeat - PB & J - Pickles & Cream Cheese	Antipasto: - Lunchmeat - Cheese - Crackers - Black Olives Eggs: - HardBoilded - On English Muffins w/ Meat &/or Cheese	Bagels: - Cream Cheese - PB & J - Lunchmeat Ethnic: - Noodles - Steamed Rice w/ Hoisin Sauce or Soy Sauce - Taquitos
		Kids’ Lunch has ONE main dish choice, ONE juice, water or milk, napkin, spoon & TWO of the following: yogurt fruit slices cheese stick or slices chips or crackers graham crackers toss salad applesauce bag of granola fruit snack/leather pretzels celery & peanut butter carrots & dressing (sugar treat on Fridays)

These meals are great for lunchboxes with school age children. And for preschoolers, my favorite thing to do is to get 4 or 5 items and put them in small bowls and set them out on the table. They love to "mix and match munch".

Here's a link with a ton of recipes for Quick and Easy Kids' Lunch Recipes at www.kaboose.com.

Will you take a second to make a comment and share some of your favorite lunch ideas for kids?

I'll compile them in a few weeks and create a link to a printable version of our list. Thanks for your input!

Embracing Motherhood

Each mom reading this has a different story. Some of you are just beginning the journey, while others have been at it a while. Some are working moms, others are stay at home moms, and some of you serve in different areas of ministry. But no matter where we are at in our personal lives, we all have this in common: we share the gift of Motherhood.

Today I want to encourage each of you to embrace motherhood. It is the most amazing gift you will ever receive.

Sometimes we can get so caught up in believing the lie that our children are distracting us from more important things. When in fact, raising them is the most important thing we will ever do.

Maybe it's different for you, but when my children were young, I would occasionally get caught up in a pity party when I was stuck home changing diapers or folding what seemed like the millionth load of laundry, while my husband got to be out doing important ministry stuff. Don’t get me wrong, I have always loved being a mom. It’s what I always wanted to be when I grew up. And still, I would find myself wishing I had the freedom to be more involved in other things.

During one of those pity parties, while I was complaining to the Lord, He spoke the following truth to my heart:

He showed me that I had right there at my feet, my own little mission field, so to speak. These children were my harvest. I had these precious little lives to shape and mold. They were looking to me, not just for their physical needs to be met, but also to teach them how to love Jesus and grow up to be who they were created to be. It doesn’t mean all those other things aren’t important, it just means that being a mom is the most important calling we have.

God gave me this scripture to hang on to as a reminder through the years:

Deuteronomy 6:5-7 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your might. 6 "These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart.  7 "You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.

The Message Bible says it like this:

Deuteronomy 6:5-9 Love God, your God, with your whole heart: love him with all that's in you, love him with all you've got! Write these commandments that I've given you today on your hearts. Get them inside of you and then get them inside your children. Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street; talk about them from the time you get up in the morning to when you fall into bed at night.

What this tells us is that first a mother should fill her own heart with God’s word and then deliberately and diligently teach her children every minute of every day. How do we do this? We teach them through our words and our actions.

First and foremost, we should live our lives in such a way that we are a reflection of the love and character of Jesus. We should recognize and take advantage of every opportunity to teach our children what God’s word says.

I took this mandate from God seriously and looked for teaching opportunities. If one of my children had been unkind, I would teach them that the bible tells us in Ephesians 4:32 that we are to be kind to one another and that we are to forgive one another. When they disobeyed we would go to the bible and talk about Ephesians 6:1 that tells children to obey their parents…because it’s the right thing to do, etc. I also started looking for opportunities to pray with them all throughout the day, not just at bedtime. When someone got hurt we would stop and pray; every time we heard sirens, we took a minute to pray for the emergency workers and whomever it was they were going to help. I wanted them to learn that they could pray anytime. I spent time teaching them by my example to love the church and show respect to their leaders (church, school, sports, etc.). I taught them by my example that it was not okay to badmouth teachers, coaches, youth pastors or anyone else when something didn’t go their way. 

Moms, the more time we spend talking with our children about the things of God, the more likely they are to get it into their hearts. After a while, it becomes a way of life.

I encourage you to make sure you are embracing this season and not wishing it to be past, because moms, you only have such a short time to parent these little ones and before you know it you’re 47 years old and you have 3 grandsons and a granddaughter on the way. Believe me, I know ;). Like the commercial says: “Life comes at you fast.” Make sure to embrace every moment.

There is no greater place of ministry, position, or power than that of a mother.