A Mommy's Day Out

I was so blessed to spend the day with these lovely ladies and some awesome mommies from my church.  This is the fourth year I attended the Hearts at Home convention in Bloomington, Illinois with some great friends.  The first two years, I met Kristina, Sarah, Lindsey, Jennifer and/or Stephanie in Bloomington for a fun night hanging out on Friday and the conference on Saturday.  Last year, I added to the fun by riding up and back with some ladies from church and then meeting my college friends there.  I was able to do the same this year.  It is the best of both worlds because I get to spend some quality time with both old friends and new.  The ride up and back was fun and I was able to meet some new people and get to talk to some I didn't know very well.  Friday night included dinner (with no kids!) and lots of chatting at Lindsey's sister-in-law's house.  Saturday was full of learning and growing along with chatting and laughing!  While I didn't get a picture of the ladies from church, Kristina posted this one on Facebook and I stole it. :-)  Here are some takeaways from the day (great idea Stephanie!).

Main Session 1:  No More Perfect Moms ~ Jill Savage
     * Stop the Mommy Wars!
     * Turn your mess into your message.

Breakout 1:  Wise Women Raising Wiser Daughters
     * We need to teach our daughters that only Jesus can fill our Love Gap
     * We do this by teaching them how to interact with Guys, Girls & God
     * She had some great illustrations and a website to find them and more.  I think this will come in handy as Hannah gets a little bit older.

Breakout 2:  Dressing Your Mom Body, 35 and Under
     * Watch what I say about my own body image in front of Hannah -- little ears pick up what they hear.

Breakout 3:  The Passionate Mom
     * This author/speaker is the founder of iMom.com and has her first book out soon.  I want to explore her website and see what resources are on there.  She had a ton of awesome ideas that will be more applicable when Hannah reaches the preteen/teen years.
     * She uses the story of Nehemiah and his job to rebuild and protect the gates as a way to teach our children about boundaries/privileges.  I will definitely want to read her book in the years to come.

Breakout 4:  Seven Habits of Highly Effective Moms
     * I will admit that by this time of the day, my brain is a little fried.
     * She talked about how important our relationship with God is and how it needs to be more than just relating it to motherhood.  We need to be growing deeper as Christians as well.

They day ended with hearing Candace Cameron's (can you say DJ Tanner?!?!) personal testimony.  It was great to hear and be able to relate to part of it.

I'm thankful Tim gives me a night/day away to spend time with friends, grow deeper in my relationship with God and learn some tips and tricks of being the best wife and mother I can be!