Santa Ynez Valley Mothers of Preschoolers

MOPS Begins September 22nd

2010-06-17T15:49:00.000-07:00

MOPS stands for Mothers of Preschoolers and is an international organization that exists to encourage, equip, and help women become the best moms that they can be! Women who are pregnant or have young children (newborn through Kindergarten) are all invited to join MOPS!

At our MOPS group, you'll have the chance to enjoy breakfast and socialize with other moms, hear from some great speakers, discuss important topics in mothering, participate in creative activites...and even enjoy a cup of coffee while it is still hot!

This year we will be exploring the theme "MomSense: Bold * Loving * Sensible." Developing a mothering strategy is somewhat like playing a game. Playing games involves being bold and taking risks, loving those in the game with us and being sensible while figuring out what works and what doesn't. "MomSense" will encourage us to embrace our mothering instincts and develop our own parenting style while navigating through the myriad of daily mom decisions.

Our Fall Semester will begin in September at Santa Ynez Valley Presbyterian Church in the Family Center. We will meet on the following dates throughout the Fall:

September 22nd

October 6th & 20th

November 3rd & 17th

December 1st & 15th

Free childcare is provided by our wonderful team of volunteers. For your child's benefit, MOPPETS class sizes are limited. To reserve your child's spot in our MOPPETS program, please submit your paid registration as soon as possible. Once our MOPPETS program is full, mothers may still participate in MOPS but they will be required to find their own childcare.

There is a $50 registration fee for each session (Fall & Spring) if registration is received by the session deadline. This Fall's session deadline is September 15th. If registration is received after September 15th, the registration fee increases to $65. Checks should be made payable to MOPS. Registration brochures can be downloaded here.

The completed forms and registration fees may be dropped off or mailed to: Santa Ynez Valley Presbyterian Church, 1825 Alamo Pintado Road, Solvang, CA 93463.SYV MOPS wants to include any mother who wishes to join our group regardless of her financial situation. Some scholarships are available and are made on a case-by-case basis. The Scholarship Application is available here. All scholarship inquiries will remain confidential.

If you have any questions, please contact our coordinator -- Shellee Castillo (245-3875).

2011-2012 Theme Book

2010-05-15T12:14:00.000-07:00

Combining her mom intuition and her common sense helps a woman discover her own unique MomSense. (Mom Intuition + Common Sense = MomSense)

This year’s theme book, MomSense: A Common Sense Guide to Confident Mothering by Jean Blackmer, delves further into the topic of finesse, one of the elements introduced in last year’s theme book. Finesse involves being the mom God intended you to be while intentionally loving your children and nurturing their growth. Topics addressed in the book include decision making, mom’s intuition and working through specific parenting dilemmas (“Mama Dramas”). MomSense reminds moms that they are the best mom for their kids and that they can develop contentment and confidence in their roles.

The spiritual foundation of the theme is from 2 Timothy 1:7. As you read the whole chapter, you see that Timothy had a strong mother and grandmother who nurtured his faith. Paul exhorts Timothy to use the gifts God has given him in a bold, loving and sensible way. We have chosen to use The Message paraphrase to use words that are accessible to moms who may not be familiar with the Bible, but we encourage leaders to study the passage in their preferred translation as well.

2009-2010 Newsletter Archive

2010-05-15T08:35:00.000-07:00

PDF versions of our 2009-2010 monthly newsletter, The Mom-Me Journal, are available here:

Thanksgiving Ideas

2009-11-19T21:14:00.000-08:00

We at SYV MOPS hope that you and your families have a wonderful Thanksgiving! If you're looking for a kid-friendly Thanksgiving Day activity, check out this idea for Turkey Placeholders using apples and spice drops or this adorable fruit "Turkey" snack.

If you're looking for some pie recipes, we've got the perfect one for a make-ahead Crumb Top Apple Pie as well as a Pumpkin Pie. Yum!

Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving! We hope to see all our MOPS moms back at our next meeting on Thursday, December 3rd!

The Redesign Project

2009-10-17T17:28:00.001-07:00

Thank you to Phyllis Brooks for coming to speak to us on Thursday about creating a beautiful home with what you already have. If you would like more information about her business, The Redesign Project, or want to see some before and after photos that were displayed at MOPS, go to her website.

MOPS Brunch Reminders

2009-09-23T16:02:00.000-07:00

Basic Reminders:

All tables will take turns providing brunch foods throughout the year. One to two sessions before your turn, your Table Leader will have you sign up for one of five types of food:

Breads - such as bagels, muffins, banana bread, crackers/cheese
Fruit/Veggie - such as grapes, fruit salad, veggie platter
Egg Dish - such as quiche breakfast burritos, egg dish, deviled eggs
Potato - such as potato bakes, tater tots, potatoes O'Brien
Sweets - such as cookies, cake, chocolates

On your assigned day, please bring a large portion of food since your table and one other table will be feeding the rest of the women. Make sure to arrive with your food by 9:20am so that brunch will be ready for everyone at 9:30am. If you are unable to attend MOPS on your assigned day, you are still responsible for your portion -- contact a table member or your Table Leader to make other arrangements. The Food Schedule can be found in the sidebar of this website.

Recipe Ideas:

Stumped as to what you can make when it is your turn to bring brunch to one of our MOPS meetings? Well, because we are better together, we will be sharing our recipes to help make bringing brunch just a bit easier. In our monthly newsletter, we have a column called "Mom Food" that features different recipes that are perfect for our MOPS Food Table. Different recipes of various types (egg, potato, fruit/veggie, sweets, breads) will be featured. If you have a recipe that is easy and delicious, submit it to be included in our newsletter. If you sample something that you love at our Food Table, let us know at that meeting so that we can track down the recipe and hopefully have it featured in a future newsletter. Whenever possible, we will post the recipes here on our website so that you can have online access to them. Just click the category "Brunch Recipes" in the sidebar to access them if you don't see what you're looking for on the main page.

Recipe: Bacon Cheddar Egg Bake

2009-09-23T16:01:00.000-07:00

Thank you to Jessica Fisher of Good(&Cheap)Eats, a food blog that focuses on inexpensive but tasty recipes, for sharing her Bacon Cheddar Egg Bake with us in our September newsletter. To view Jessica's original recipe for the Bacon Cheddar Egg Bake, go here. Because her recipe is based on individual-sized portions, here are some alternate directions if you wish to bake for a larger crowd in a 9 x 13 pan.

Multiply the ingredients by 5.
In a greased 9 x 13 pan, layer the ingredients as instructed and refrigerate overnight.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 50 minutes, or until puffy, and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean.

To make the preparation easier and faster, use pre-shredded cheddar cheese and pre-cooked bacon. This is perfect for MOPS mornings -- just prep it the night before, refrigerate it and then pop it in the oven in the morning!

2008-2009 Newsletter Archive

2009-06-05T08:50:00.000-07:00

The "In The Loop" Newsletters from our 2008-2009 MOPS year have been archived. To view these newsletters in PDF form, click on the following links:

Babysitting Co-op Resources

2009-05-14T11:45:00.000-07:00

Need a date night or just some time to yourself? If you're a mother of young children, chances are you do. Sometimes finding childcare can be a challenge. In our May Newsletter, we've included an informative article about one way to solve that challenge -- starting a babysitting co-op! The article outlines just some simple guidelines for one way to structure a co-op, but there are other ways to do it. If you'd like to research the topic further on your own, here are a couple of links to get you started:

A Guide to Babysitting C0-Ops - it includes different ways to structure a group
Sample Bylaws that have served one co-op for over 20 years

Direct Relief International

2009-03-12T14:34:00.000-07:00

Thank you to Sue Fowler who came to speak to us about Direct Relief International. Based in Goleta, this non-profit organization provides medical assistance to improve the quality of life for people affected by poverty, disaster and civil unrest at home and throughout the world. They work to strengthen the in-country health efforts of their partners by providing essential material resources -- medicines, supplies and equipment. For more information about Direct Relief, visit their website at directrelief.org.

Sue also mentioned how we as a MOPS group can help out in a very specific way. Direct Relief works with a children's hospital in Nepal. At this hospital, child patients receive a stuffed animal that they get to keep during their hospital stay AND take home with them when they leave. Each year, Sue sends a box full of new or gently-used stuffed animals to the hospital for this purpose. If you have a stuffed animal or animals that you'd like to donate for this purpose, please bring it to our MOPS meeting on March 26th. Thank you!

Landscaping

2009-02-26T12:59:00.001-08:00

Thank you to Dana Di Croce, owner of Inner Nature, for coming to speak to us about landscaping. If you are looking for help with your exterior flower gardens and interior foliage, you can contact Dana and Inner Nature at 805-688-4897.

A couple of tips that Dana passed on to us...

Sunset's Western Garden Book is a great resource for landscaping and a great way to teach yourself. For more information about this book, go here.
We live in Zone 14. This information is essential for deciding which plants will survive in our area. We are in a different zone from Santa Barbara because we do have a frost.

If you're interested in planting a vegetable garden this year, a raised bed is a great way to do it if you have the space. If you want to learn how to build a raised bed, Sunset has an article here and blogger Ree Drummond (aka The Pioneer Woman) has instructions with photos here.

The Five Love Languages

2009-02-18T12:20:00.001-08:00

We'd love to thank Vonda Schaefer for coming to speak to us last week about the Five Love Languages! If you're interested in purchasing one of the books by Gary Chapman, Vonda has some available at her store Valley Books in Solvang (1582 Mission Drive, 805-688-7160). If you haven't heard of Valley Books before, it is a great used bookstore in downtown Solvang. Parking is available in the public lot next to the Petersen Village Inn.

Mom Resources at MOPS.org

2009-02-07T15:05:00.001-08:00

Did you know that the MOPS International website frequently features articles written just for moms? Here are just a few that are available online now:

New articles appear throughout the month and can be linked to from the main homepage.

Financial Planning

2009-02-07T13:40:00.000-08:00

A big thanks goes out to Julia Tipolt, a State Farm Insurance Agent and former MOPS mom, for coming to speak to us about Finanaces at our last meeting. If you have further questions about finances or insurance, you can contact Julia at 805-692-5544 or julia@juliatipolt.com.

Also, if you're interested, the church just began a 13-week finance seminar by Dave Ramsey -- "Financial Peace University". You can read the details here.

Foster a Baby, Foster a Future

2009-01-21T08:28:00.000-08:00

At our meeting on January 15th, Meichelle Arntz came to speak to us about Angels Foster Care of Santa Barbara. Beautiful Santa Barbara County babies aged two and under need loving foster families to care for them. Families who participate can chose from short-term placements (average of one year) or become a foster-to-adopt family.

The need for foster homes is urgent. If you or anyone you know is interested in fostering a child in Santa Barbara county, please let them know about Angels! Visit their website or call (805-898-0901) fo complete details about their program.

Thanksgiving Turkey Place Holder Craft

2008-11-07T09:56:00.000-08:00

Last year Carol Bridgeman submitted this craft to our MOPS newsletter and we wanted to share it online this year as well. Carol explains, "Our family has done this craft every Thanksgiving. They serve as place holders for our dinner table, one for each person. Everyone's turkey looks different, some are sparsely feathered, some feather heavy! Each person chooses which flavor of spice drops they want to eat, and it is a fun activity early in the day for the whole family. I suppose you could have prizes for the best turkey, but for us, it has always just been enough to do the activity. My favorite memories of Thanksgiving are of Jeff's dad making his turkey alongside all the grandchildren."

Supplies Needed:

Red Delicious Apples

Toothpicks

Spice Drop (or Gum Drop) Candies

Brown Construction Paper or Cardstock

Markers

Make a turkey neck/head out of brown paper or cardstock. Draw an eye on both sides and a red wattle. (You can also use red paper for the wattle if you wish.)

Lay the apple on its side and cut a slit on the stem end of the apple. Stick in the paper head.

At the other end of the apple, use two toothpicks for legs to stablize the turkey on the bottom.

On the top, make as many "feathers" as you like by skewering the spice drops on toothpicks and sticking them into the apple.

Use your finished turkeys as place holders at your Thankgsiving meal!

Recipes to Celebrate Apple Season

2008-10-02T12:00:00.001-07:00

Here are two great apple recipes to help you celebrate apple season with your families!

Crumb Top Apple Pie

Pie Ingredients:
1 prepared pie shell
2 pounds baking apples (Granny Smiths), about 5 cups peeled and sliced
2/3 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Crumb Topping Ingredients:
2/3 cup flour
1/3 cup brown sugar, packed firm
1/4 cup butter

Directions: Mix sugar, 2 Tbsp. flour, and cinnamon. Peel, core, and slice apples, then layer into pie shell. Sprinkle with the sugar/flour/cinnamon mixture, alternating it with apple layers. Prepare the crumb topping by mixing the 2/3 cup flour and brown sugar, then mixing the butter into it with a pastry blender, until the butter is in pea-sized pieces or smaller. Sprinkle the topping onto the pie.

If you are going to bake your pie immediately, place it on a cookie sheet, and bake at 400 degrees for 40-45 minutes, until juice is thick and bubbly.

If you want to freeze your pie to bake later, place it in a large ziploc bag and freeze. To bake a frozen pie, do not thaw before baking. Place on cookie sheet and bake at 400 until juice is thick and bubbly, about 1 hour, 15 minutes. Cover edges with foil after 45 minutes baking to prevent burned edges.

Johnny Appleseed Cake

Ingredients:

1/2 cup melted butter or oil

1 3/4 cup applesauce

2 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon*

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg*

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves*

1 cup raisins

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottom only of 9-inch square pan. In large bowl, combine all ingredients and stir until well combined. Pour into prepared pan. Bake 30 - 35 minutes or until top springs back lightly when touched in center.

* You can substitute 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice for the cinnamon, nutmeg & cloves if you wish.

MOPS Family-Friendly Recipe Contest Winners

2007-11-19T11:05:00.000-08:00

MOPS International received over 300 entries in the 2007 MOPS Family-Friendly Recipe Contest. To see the winning recipes, go here. All winners will be receiving an autographed copy of Once-a-Month Cooking.

Planning for the Holidays

2007-11-14T09:03:00.000-08:00

In case you weren't aware of it, MOPS International has a website and regularly publishes articles written especially for moms like us. As the holiday season is rapidly approaching, you too may have started thinking about your family's holiday plans. This week, the MOPS website has posted an article Family Meetings Make the Season Bright by Mary Beth Lagerborg that may be helpful as you and your family make decisions about how to celebrate and spend your time this holiday season. It's worth a few minutes of your time.

Apple Pie & Pumpkin Pie Recipes

2007-11-13T21:15:00.000-08:00

Didn't make it to Pie Night last week? We thought we'd post the Apple Pie recipe for those who want to make some Thanksgiving pies ahead of time at home. Gina Tesdahl has also provided an Easy Pumpkin Pie recipe for us too! Thanks Gina for pulling Pie Night together and for the recipes!

Crumb Top Apple Pie

Pie Ingredients:
1 prepared pie shell
2 pounds baking apples (Granny Smiths), about 5 cups peeled and sliced
2/3 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Crumb Topping Ingredients:
2/3 cup flour
1/3 cup brown sugar, packed firm
1/4 cup butter

Directions: Mix sugar, 2 Tbsp. flour, and cinnamon. Peel, core, and slice apples, then layer into pie shell. Sprinkle with the sugar/flour/cinnamon mixture, alternating it with apple layers. Prepare the crumb topping by mixing the 2/3 cup flour and brown sugar, then mixing the butter into it with a pastry blender, until the butter is in pea-sized pieces or smaller. Sprinkle the topping onto the pie.

If you are going to bake your pie immediately, place it on a cookie sheet, and bake at 400 degrees for 40-45 minutes, until juice is thick and bubbly.

If you want to freeze your pie to bake later, place it in a large ziploc bag and freeze. To bake a frozen pie, do not thaw before baking. Place on cookie sheet and bake at 400 until juice is thick and bubbly, about 1 hour, 15 minutes. Cover edges with foil after 45 minutes baking to prevent burned edges.

Easy Pumpkin Pie

1 prepared pie shell
1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin or butternut squash
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar or ¾ cup white sugar
3 eggs or 3/4 cup fat-free egg substitute
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1 ¼ teaspoon milk, fat free, low fat, or whole

Directions: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place pumpkin, sugar, eggs, cinnamon, ginger, salt, and cloves in mixer bowl or blender and mix. Slowly add milk and mix until all well blended. Pour into prepared pie shell and bake for 40 to 50 minutes, or until knife inserted near center comes out clean.

Leonardo Curti's Homemade Pasta Recipe

2007-11-08T13:40:00.000-08:00

A big thanks to Chef Leonardo Curti of Trattoria Grappolo for his demonstration on how to make homemade pasta AND for providing the recipe below! Trattoria Grappolo is located at 3687 Sagunto Street in Santa Ynez. For more information, visit their website or call the restaurant at 805-688-6899.

Pasta Fatta in Casa (Homemade Pasta)

Ingredients:
3 cups flour
5 eggs
1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Directions: In a bowl, beat eggs and olive oil together. With the flour already running in the food processor, add egg/oil mixture to flour. Stop processing when the dough forms a ball.