MOPS

I started attending MOPS in September 2006 and have enjoyed it ever since. Last year I was a Discussion Group Leader and this past year I have had the privilege to serve on the Steering Team as the Hospitality Coordinator. It's a good fit for me since I enjoy entertaining and come by planning events naturally. My Mom has always been involved with the "behind the scenes" work in church kitchens and such for as long as I can remember. I've helped her throw countless church functions, weddings, and other large events so I have her to thank for my experience in this arena. In fact my Mom was even involved with MOPS when she was raising preschoolers so it was kind of a no brainer for me to follow in her footsteps.

As Hospitality Coordinator I mostly get the glamorous job of setting up for an hour or so Monday mornings and then getting to MOPS an hour early to brew up 5-6 carafes of coffee, 4 carafes of hot water, and 11 pitchers of ice water. After all the beverages are taken care of I monitor the food situation and try to have everything uncovered with serving spoons at the ready by 9:05 for the prayer before we eat. I also get to buy the coffee, cups, napkins, plates, forks, etc.

The fun and creative part of the job is making the functional centerpieces for each table as well as the name tags. This year's theme is Adventures in Motherhood, kind of a carnival type theme so the name tags are supposed to be tickets and the centerpieces are supposed to be reminiscent of popcorn containers. All eight tables have a color assigned to them and it was fun to see it all come together at the beginning of the school year.

Since I forgot to take photos of it all last August when it was brand spanking new I thought I'd share some pictures of the set up now, mostly because I remembered to bring my camera with me today when Grace helped me set up (another future Hospitality Coordinator in training!). If you're a Mom of a Preschooler in the Dallas area come on by tomorrow morning at 8:45 because we'd love to meet you! It's a wonderful supportive environment where I find great encouragement in addition to a great breakfast twice a month.

Here's the view of the room before Grace and I set it up:

Grace helped me put out the tablecloths and chose which color each table would be. If you don't like where your table is you can talk to her!

Here's what the centerpieces look like this year. I used plain wooden boxes from Michaels and painted them white with each table's color for accents. I splatter painted them after they were done so I didn't have to go crazy making them perfect. The pinwheels were our first craft of the year and have been very cheerful, it not annoying for me because they constantly come undone and I have to redo them every meeting! Note to self: Next year no pinwheels!

Here's a pile of nametags on the Orange Table. Didn't they turn out cute?