March 22nd Meeting - Gardening with Children

Have you been thinking about growing a family garden but just aren't sure where to start? This was the meeting for you!

This week we heard from Wake County Master Gardeners Leah Dail and Robin about how to start gardening with our children. Gardening encourages children to eat healthy food, gets them physically active, and teaches a variety of different subjects like math and science! Below are some tips mentioned during the meeting and the spreadsheets they provided on when to plant certain items.

• Try planning a themed garden like pizza, salsa, or colors to get your child excited about gardening! Marbles Kids Museum has a few ideas, as well as the following website.

• When finding your garden location, sunlight is important! Aim for a location that receives at least 6 hours of direct sunlight a day. 8-10 hours is ideal. Southern exposure is recommended if possible.

• If you have a heavy clay soil add compost to balance the PH levels. You can make your own compost by bagging up your leaves in the fall and then using them in the spring on your garden!

• If you have a sandy soil add lime!

• Radishes are a great first food to plant since it only takes 29 days to fully mature! Instant gratification for the kids will get them excited!

• Wake county has free soil testing from April 1st to November 30th. You just need to pick up a box, add a sample of your soil, and send it in and they will get back with you by email. This report will include the type of fertilizer recommended for your space.

• Once your garden is planted you will need to make sure it receives at least 1 inch of water a week. Container gardens will need to be watered every day. Use a soaker hose to water at the root of the plant. Spraying all of the plant will lead to diseases and will cause more weeds to grow.

• Mulch will keep down the growth of weeds. Herbicides are not recommended. However, neem oil can be used for fungus and it is all organic.

• For fall/spring planting try carrots, kale, spinach, peas, collards, and lettuce.

• For summer planting try pole beans, cucumbers, corn, squash, tomatoes, peppers, and egg plant.

• Checkout the Home Vegetable Gardening Bulletin at http://content.ces.ncsu.edu/home-vegetable-gardening for more information!

You can contact Wake County Master gardeners by phone or email with any questions you may have! They will research the answer and get back with you as soon as possible.

This week our sponsor was Amenie Schweizer from DoTERRA!

Amenie's passion is healing work and supporting others on a journey of health and wellness. She is an AADP certified holistic health practitioner, BBC certified life coach, certified healing touch practitioner, and Reiki Master teacher. The use of essential oils was a perfect compliment to each of these healing modalities and she considers doTERRA as the best.

Checkout her website for more information!

 Our MOPS Whole Group playdate scheduled for next Tuesday, March 29th, at 10am at Abbott's Creek Park. You can RSVP to the facebook event HERE

 If you are interested in joining our MOPS leadership team next year, please join us at our monthly leadership meeting on April 5th from 9:30 - 11:30am at Crossroads. Childcare is provided.

 Contribute to our First Choice Pregnancy Center client spa gift bags by bringing your items to the next MOPS meeting on April 12th. You can see a list of needed items and sign up with what you will be bringing HERE

Join us on April 12th for our next MOPS meeting! We will be having a lovely discussion time together and having our annual MOPS SWAP! Bring in any items from your home you would like to get rid of, including home goods, baby care items, or clothes. You will be able to "shop" the items brought in and you may find some treasures! All items left behind will be donated to the Crossroads Thrift Store. We may also have some time for each small group to visit the thrift store during the meeting.

Danielle's small group will be responsible for bringing brunch. Please sign up HERE to specify what items you will be bringing!

March 8th Meeting - Legal Planning

Our theme for MOPS this year is "A Fierce Flourishing", which has three parts: embracing rest, noticing goodness, and celebrating lavishly. One way to fully embrace rest is to be prepared and rest assured that everything would be taken care of in the unfortunate event something happens to you or your spouse. 

At our meeting this week we discussed legal and will planning with NC Planning, a legal service that specializes in estate planning for the future. We split into two teams, one who had a plan for the future and one who did not. On the way through our game of Life we learned about all of the different documents that are needed, which include the following:

• Last Will and Testament - distributes assets to your beneficiaries and states who will inherit these assets and when
• Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care - allows you to appoint a specific individual to make medical decisions for you if needed
• Living Will - gives you control over whether your life will be prolonged by certain procedures should you be unable to voice your decisions
• Health Care Consent for a child - allows you to appoint an individual to make medical decisions for your child if you are unable to do so
• Financial Power of Attorney - allpws you to appoint an individual to make your financial decisions and dictates those decisions
• Revocable Trust - separate legal entity created to own or receive property

Most parents out there know the importance of having a guardian decided for your children when they are young, but did you know you may also need to decide on a short term guardian if your decided guardian is from out of state? Choosing the perfect guardian for your child can be very difficult, so below are some important factors to consider:

• Does your child feel comfortable around this person?
• Where do they live?
• Would your child have to move schools?
• Would the guardian move to your child's location?
• Do you agree with their parenting style and lifestyle?
• How old are they and do they already have children?
• Do you agree with their religious beliefs?
• Do they have a secure financial situation?

If estate planning is not something you have considered in the past, now may be the time to do it! It certainly brought up quite a few questions and concerns for our moms at the meeting! NC planning is offering a complimentary consultation for Crossroads MOPS members and a 25% discount for a basic planning package. You can contact them at http://www.ncplanning.com/ to schedule an appointment.

Also at today's meeting, Christen from Pump It Up near Brier Creek let us know about their new offering for children ages 2 and 3! Toddler Time is a fun, parent involved, one hour session filled with activities to strengthen fine and gross motor skills. It includes circle time with a story, a related craft, and a snack - PLUS, unlimited play time after class!

Toddler time is on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 10am and is $8 per child OR you can purchase a 5 class pass for $25, which makes it only $5 a class! You can drop in but class is limited to 10 so they recommend registering in advance online.

Our MOPS group is planning a way to give back to our local community! First Choice Pregnancy Solutions is a local clinic that provides support for mothers with unplanned pregnancies. They offer consultations to provide up-to-date, accurate information so mothers can make well informed decisions about their pregnancies. We will be preparing small spa gift bags to be handed out to these mothers during their first intake appointment to help relieve some of the stress they may be feeling. The clinic hands out around 100 of these bags per month, so these will be a great benefit to them!

Please sign up at  http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0d48aaad2ca13-first with the items you plan to bring based on the list provided below. We will use all items to create as many gift bags as possible. Please bring your items to the April 12th meeting, but if you are unable to attend you can drop them off at our next March meeting.

Although you can join at any time, the next cycle of Crossroads' GriefShare ministry is beginning this Thursday, March 10th.  It is a 13-week Biblically-based and Christ-centered support group program for anyone who has lost a loved one due to death.

Available support groups are:

• Miscarriage, Stillborn and loss of children under the age of 5

• Those who have lost a sibling, parent, grandchild or friend

• Widow's group

• Men's group

• Parent who has lost a child

• Survivor of suicide

• Multiple Loss group

• Post Abortion Care Group

• Bait of Satan (Anger, Hurt, & Forgiveness) - Cost is $25

• New Directions Bible Study(Widow/Widower seeking God's plan for their lives) - Cost is $20

For more info, visit http://crossroads.org/grief.  You can also email Kristen Cook at kristen.b.cook@gmail.com or call 919.981.0222 x418 for confidential voicemail.

 Mark your calendars for our group-wide play date on March 29th! Time and location will be announced soon!

Have you loved attending MOPS this year? Consider serving on our leadership team which includes everything it takes to keep our group running smoothly! More info will be coming soon about ways to get involved!

Join us on March 22nd for our next MOPS meeting!

Bethany's small group is responsible for bringing brunch, so make sure you signup with what you will be bringing HERE!

We will also be hearing from Leah Dail, Master Gardener, about gardening with kids! With Spring time arriving this should give you lots of ideas on how to get your kids outdoors and involved in planting some yummy treats or beautiful flowers!