Bunco!!

We recently had a BUNCO fundrasier / Mom Night Out! 

There are always plenty of laughs and cheers when our group gets together to play.

What's BUNCO without snack food?? :)

A HUGE congrat's to our 3 beautiful winners! 

Keep your eye open for our next BUNCO night.  It's so much fun!

September Craft

In September our group painted wooden picture frames for our craft.  The frames were purchased from Michaels craft store for only $1 each!  They turned out great! 

Take a look at a few:

MOPS ladies are very creative! :)

And we sure did have fun making them!

We are looking forward to two crafts in November!!

Review: Dodge City Distillery

The coordinators have decided to start a new blog series.  We will be reviewing
products, restaurants, books, movies, or anything else that strikes our fancy.


This time we will be reviewing the restaurant The Dodge City Distillery.  They have one location in Olathe.

Jenni's Humble Opinion:

Dodge City Distillery has been in town probably for at least 6 months and we have not tried it yet. Maybe part of me was in denial as the restaurant took the place of a favorite Mexican restaurant.

Service: Let me just begin by saying as soon as we stepped into the building we were not sure whether we were supposed to seat ourselves or wait to be seated. There was no sign and no one around. We waited for a few minutes then were greeted by a younger man in which I assumed was the manager. We were seated and the waiter approached us quickly. We ordered our beers (which should be noted that later on the waiter rushed over and asked if we wanted another beer before the $1 bottle special was over...he never mentioned this to us when we sat down we just happened to order bottled beer.) I don't know if it was the waiter's first night, but he was really quiet; it was hard to hear him. Several times 'S' and I would just look at each other hoping the other understood what he was saying. He was attentive though and did take great care of us.

Atmosphere: The building is really cool. It has comfortable, high back booths that create an intimate atmosphere. Or, if you are 'S' and me a place in which we can talk and not worry about people around us hearing. lol Our conversations can get scary sometimes, and our giggles can get out of control...

Cleanliness: Really clean. I did not visit the ladies room so I cannot comment on that. But the restaurant was clean; nothing on the floor, dirty dishes disappeared quickly...


Food: The food was tasty. I had the Whiskey Burger and fries. Let me say the hamburger was HUGE. After cutting it in half, and trying to 'squoosh' it down it still was way too big! I debated on eating it with a fork and knife, but decided I didn't want to embarrass my friend. ha. Fries were very good. I ended up taking half the meal home to hubby and when I asked him what he thought of it he replied, 'It was good'. There is your in depth review.
 

Drink: I had bottled beer and it came to the table extremely cold. Yum.

Price: I would say everything on the menu was reasonably priced. I haven't seen any coupons from this restaurant, but with the prices you wouldn't need them.

Overall: The Dodge City Distillery is a nice place for date night, girls night out, or family dinner. From where we were sitting we could see a private room in the back near the kitchen. I would eat here again, but probably not so much as to ever order take out.

Sarah’s humble opinion:

Even though this restaurant is literally within walking distance of my house I have never tried it.  Luckily, my fellow coordinator is always up for trying something new.

Service: My first impression of the restaurant wasn’t great because we walked in and there was no one at the host station.  I think the host called in sick because what seemed to be the manager rushed over to seat us as soon as he noticed us.  He was not very personable.  Our waiter was polite and checked on us in a timely manner but was a bit quiet.  The food was brought out quickly after we ordered and he checked on us several times to make sure we did not need drink refills.  My only complaint is that the waiter did not tell us about their daily drink specials before we ordered.

Atmosphere:  The restaurant was decorated with brick and barrels in a distillery theme.  There was a strange layout to the restaurant but overall it made for a more private and intimate feeling as we were in a booth and were not seated next to any other patrons.

Cleanliness:  The tables and floor were all clean. I visited the bathroom and it seemed like it had been recently cleaned.  The waiter made sure to pick up our dirty dishes in a prompt manner.  Overall the cleanliness of the restaurant met my standards.

Food:  I ordered a French Dip Sandwich with a side of mashed potatoes.  My food was tasty and I enjoyed it.  I didn’t think it was the best I have ever had but I liked that the sandwich came with horseradish and they even asked if I would prefer it on the side.  There were several choices for sides, giving patrons a choice outside of the typical fries.  The menu is rather small but has the basic bar food as well as steaks and ribs.  

Drink:  They had a large selection of beer on tap and in bottles.  Luckily for us it was “dollar hollar” night so we got bottles of beer for only $1 a piece.  We did not find this out, however, until after we had ordered our drinks.

Price:  While the drinks were a great deal, my sandwich was $12.00 which is not outrageous but also not cheap either.  The sandwiches were priced between $9-12, ribs were $17 and a prime rib dinner was $24.  They do have daily specials and finding out what they are and taking advantage of them would probably be the most affordable option.

Overall:  The food was good and the service was decent.  I am not sure I am going to be “craving” this place any time soon but it was not a bad place to go.  I think if you were able to take advantage of the appetizer and drink specials it would be a fun place to go and hang out with a group of friends without spending too much money. They seem to have some great weeknight deals so you may want to check the website or ask the waiter before you order. I will most likely visit this restaurant again.

If you have an idea for a review please email us at indiancreekmops@gmail.com.
We would love your input!

Music With Mar Play Date

For the October play date we had a special treat!

A Music With Mar class hosted by Mrs. B. one of our former MOPS moms.

This is a fun class that is geared towards preschool children and includes singing, dancing, sign language, instruments, and more.

This is always a very popular play date for our group.

We so appreciate Mrs. B. offering this class for our group.

If you are interested in attending her class on a regular basis you can contact her at BethW@musicwithmar.com

Class times are:

Wednesdays 9:30 & 10:30 a.m.

Thursdays 9:30 & 10:30 a.m.

Indian Creek Community Church

$7 per family or 5 classes for $30

Please join us for our next play date

Friday, November 9th

9 a.m. to Noon

Debbie Howard's Gym

Open Gym for ages 1-6

$5 per child (cash or check only)

Featured Article: Love Others, Love Yourself

Featured Article: Love Others, Love Yourself by Jenni B.

“...Use your freedom to serve one another in love; that's how freedom grows. For everything we know about God's Word is summed up in a single sentence: Love others as you love yourself. That's an act of true freedom. If you bite and ravage each other, watch out—in no time at all you will be annihilating each other, and where will your precious freedom be then?  My counsel is this: Live freely, animated and motivated by God's Spirit. Then you won't feed the compulsions of selfishness. For there is a root of sinful self-interest in us that is at odds with a free spirit, just as the free spirit is incompatible with selfishness.”  Galatians 5:13-18 (The Message)

How many times in your life have you heard the phrase, “love one another as you love yourself”? Have you ever really thought about what that means? 

God wants us to be at peace with each other and to help when someone needs help.  To not think our ideas / actions / material things are better than our neighbors.   God didn’t design us to compete with one another but to work in harmony, encouraging and supporting one another towards the ultimate goal which is to live eternally in Heaven. 

Ever receive a compliment from someone unexpectedly? Perhaps from a friend, your husband or even a complete stranger.  Do you remember how that made you feel?  It probably changed your whole outlook for the day, possibly your whole week!  Do you consider giving a compliment a form of loving someone as yourself?  I don’t know about you, but if I gave myself a compliment, it wouldn’t have the same effect as if I received one from someone else.  (Plus, my kids would think I’m going crazy talking to myself!)  In my opinion, giving a sincere compliment is a true form of loving others as we wouldn’t sit around talking ourselves up!   

Another way we can love someone is to open our ears and listen intently without passing judgment. Do you think as God listens to your prayers He’s thinking that if you would have listened to Him in the first place you wouldn’t have been in this predicament?  Of course not, and we shouldn’t either.  Possibly another form is valuing our neighbor’s children.  God thinks so highly of our kids, all kids, and we  should strive to do the same regardless of the child’s behavior.  

You can begin today focusing on raising others up.  To love them as you love yourself. Sometimes all it takes is a simple smile or a pat on the back.  Maybe even a simple compliment.  Other times it takes much more time and attention.  But always in the end, if our hearts are in it for the right reason, we are the one’s who will feel the most loved. 

Frontier Park Play Date

In September we met at a local park for a play date.  It was a nice cool day and because of the rain the evening before, we had the place almost to ourselves.

The kids had fun drying off the playground equipment and then playing together for a few hours.

Don't miss our next play date

Friday, November 9th, 2012

9 am-noon

Debbie Howard's Gym

Open Gym for ages 1-6

$5 per child (cash or check only)

Hope you can join us!

MOPS Baby Gender Predictor

When a MOPS mom announces she is expecting we have a very scientific way to predict the sex of the baby.

Just reach right in and....

See what color you get!

I told you it was scientific!

The Fourth Fisherman Book Review

The Fourth Fisherman

The Fourth Fisherman is an enjoyable read with two stories intertwined.  I found myself getting involved in one of the stories and after turning the page to read on, I found the next exciting update on the other story, making it quite a page turner.

The first story is about the author, Joe Kissack, who has a successful career as a Hollywood executive.  This success brings all the things money can buy, a mansion, sports cars, and expensive clothes.  For Kissack, this success does not come without a cost.  He finds himself in a cycle of depression, alcoholism and stress, while his relationship with his wife and daughters suffer.

The second story follows a group of Mexican fishermen as they get lost at sea for months.  Their story of survival as they find themselves 5,500 miles from home in the middle of the Pacific Ocean is truly amazing.  They are forced to battle hunger, extreme heat, loss, and severe storms as their situation continues to look hopeless.  The only thing keeping them going is their blind faith.

I really enjoyed how the two stories took turns in The Fourth Fisherman and I felt myself turning the pages to find out what would happen next.  Throughout the book I wondered how the author would tie the two extremely different stories together but he pulled it off well.  I did find myself wanting more of a “happy ending” but as this is a true story it was real and believable.  

Joe Kissack manages to inspire readers by the faith of the fishermen and the lessons he learned about how to be a good father, husband, and a better man.  Most of all, both stories inspire readers to follow God on nothing but faith.

To find out more about The Fourth Fisherman and Joe Kissack please visit www.thefourthfisherman.com or click here to read the first chapter of the book.

I was provided with a free copy of The Fourth Fisherman by Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing Group in exchange for my honest review of this book.

This book will now be available to check out from the the Indian Creek MOPS library. Check out the October newsletter for details.

Sarah

MOPS New Baby Gift

We welcomed quite a few new baby's to our group this fall.

We came up with this cute candy filled bottle for the moms with new additions to their families.

The bottle reads:

At the first sign of anger eat a RED one.

Eat a BLUE one to minimize depression.

To relieve stress eat a GREEN one.

If you feel a headache coming on eat an ORANGE one.

Eat a YELLOW one to cheer you up.

You can eat the BROWN ones at any time.

If all symptoms occur at the same time

EAT THE WHOLE BOTTLE!

Congrats on your new baby!

Indian Creek MOPS