We hope you’ll make yourself at home on our Web site. Check out our calendar of events, and read up about some of our latest news. Most importantly, learn how you can join us for the next AAMOM meeting!

Have a question? Leave a comment or e-mail an AAMOM board member. We know that being a mom of multiples can be a big challenge, so we’re here to offer our support!

Hope to see you soon at a meeting. Until then, join us on Facebook and Twitter.

AAMOM recognizes a partnership of support with the National Organization of Mothers of Twins Clubs, Inc.

Have a Merry Christmas!

I cannot believe it is already time for Christmas.

Every year I plan to shop early so I can relax and enjoy the holiday season, but once again, I have not started shopping and have absolutely no idea what to buy. It seemed so much easier when the kids were younger and wanted toys that did not cost a small fortune.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with the twins home from college. They brought a friend from New York who had us searching for tumbleweeds, which was a bit weird and enjoyable. People always amaze me with the different notions of West Texas.

I hope everyone is planning to join us for our Christmas gift exchange. Bring a wrapped present from $15-$20 if you want to participate in the fun. We are pitching in to have a Mexican pile-on for dinner. If you missed the sign-up list at the last meeting, just bring a dessert to share. Also, do not forget your secret pal if you have one.

I found this sentiment somewhere recently and thought it summed up parenthood:

There comes a point in life when “FUN” no longer means clubbing, drinking, being out ‘til 4 a.m., or thinking about yourself first! Fun means Disney movies, family dinners, bedtime stories, long cuddles, a messy house, sleeping by 10 p.m. and hearing little voices say, “I love you.”

Becoming a parent doesn’t change you, it makes you realize that the little people that YOU created deserve the very best of your time!

I wish each of you a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!!

Kentra Pope
AAMOM President

Happy Thanksgiving!

I started this article commenting on the cooler weather, after the hot, dry summer, and now there are several inches of snow on the ground and it is still falling.

However, if the weatherman is right, it should be nice for all the little trick-ortreaters on Monday evening.

Everyone take a lot of pictures of your little goblins so we can see the cute costumes at the meeting. My daughters are just excited now as they were as little girls and even dress up to hand out the candy. I think it is a sickness inherited from their mother.

I found this quote, and it really spoke to me this week:

“Being happy doesn’t mean that everything is perfect. It means that you’ve decided to look beyond the imperfections.” ~ Unknown.

The last few weeks have been quite eventful for my family. My mother fell and broke her shoulder and requires around the clock care. I told my sister we needed more siblings to share the work. We laughed, but Mom didn’t quite understand our humor. We went to the orthopedic doctor (a dad of twins) yesterday and if things stay the same, they will not have to do surgery. It was a great present for her 76th birthday!

Our friend, Laura Geske, is moving this month. We are very excited for her and her husband, Jeff, as they embark on this new chapter in their lives. They will be moving closer to family and pastoring a much larger church. This is a great opportunity for them, but more importantly, the grandkids will be much closer to their grandparents for more spoiling! We wish you the best on your move, but we will miss you. We need to give Jeff a hard time. I think he is the first father to require an emergency room visit for the children while his wife was at a club meeting.

See you at the next meeting!

Kentra Pope
AAMOM President

Join us at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church this Saturday, October 8, for a huge, multi-family garage sale in the church’s indoor gym.

The garage sale will take place rain or shine, in the comfort of the climate-controlled environment.

If you’re interested in selling your items at the sale, contact Rachel McElwain at (806) 679-1673 to secure a booth for just $20.

At the AAMOM garage sale, you can expect:

• Baby clothes
• One-of-a-kind homemade craft items
• Toys
• Household goods
• Holiday decorations
• Furniture
• Men’s and women’s clothes
• Snacks and drinks

Mark your calendar for the AAMOM garage sale, Saturday, October 8 at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church! Map it out!

This time of year is quite an adjustment, whether your little ones are going off to pre-K or your older kids are going away to college or even first jobs. Some of you new MOMs with newborns think this day will never come, but it will be here long before you are ready.

Remember, AAMOM is full of built-in support if you need advice from someone who has been there and done that, or if you just want to talk to someone who understands different stages of growing up.

I hope everyone had success with the reusable bag fundraiser. Please enter your orders on the computer by the September meeting. If you have any questions, please call Rachel or me. Also, the AAMOM garage sale is a month away and we have a lot of work to get accomplished. I will have a list of jobs at the meeting for you to volunteer for.

I found this quote and I think it describes why we love our job as mothers:

“Most of all the other beautiful things in life come by twos and threes by dozens and hundreds. Plenty of roses, stars, sunsets, rainbows, brothers, and sisters, aunts and cousins, but only one mother in the whole world.”

~ Kate Douglas Wiggin

I can’t wait to see everyone at the next meeting for a great night of friendship. Meet us at 7 p.m. sharp on Thursday, September 1, at St. Stephen for a memorable adventure as we follow the clues to our new meeting place!

Twincerely,

Kentra Pope
AAMOM President

We are moving Kallison and Kellan into a house next weekend for their senior year of college. This is an exciting adventure for them and they are very excited. However, I am dreading moving a complete household of stuff to Sherman, Texas. It seems like only yesterday they were starting kindergarten and I was wondering what to do with those three hours of alone time each day. Time really flies when you are having fun!!!

The membership voted to approve the budget at the July meeting and we are jumping in the fund-raising part with both feet. AAMOM will sell reusable bags, cell phone covers, etc. during the month of August. They are reasonably priced, very cute, and have great fund-raising potential. We will have catalogs available at the August meeting, and we will wrap up the sale at the September meeting.

The Garage Sale at the Prince of Peace Lutheran Church has been re-scheduled for Saturday, October 1, 2011. We need volunteers to solicit people to rent booths, collect donations, set-up and tear down, advertise, and many other jobs. Please let me know what you would like to help with.

The Wacky Shack has offered us a chance to raise additional funds for AAMOM. Twenty-five cents of the purchase of every snow cone Sundays in August goes to AAMOM.Please visit the Wacky Shack each Sunday for the rest of August!

Also, remember Scrips cards for your school shopping. AAMOM keeps a selection of gift cards and can place a special order if you need cards for stores we
don’t have. Wal-Mart gives you a 10-cent discount when you use their gift cards to buy gasoline.

Thanks for all your hard work.

Twincerely,
Kentra Pope

I hope everyone is keeping cool the best they can in this heat.

It seems like summer has already been going on for several months. Everyone keep praying for rain!

We had a successful fundraiser with Angie taking great pictures as usual. A big thanks to Shelli and Terri for all their hard work before and during the photos.

We have planned our first family outing for the summer. The board picked Sunday, July 10, at 6:05 p.m., to enjoy a night at the ballpark with the Amarillo SOX baseball club. The tickets will be $8 for box seats with a hot dog and drink. We must have a minimum of 20 people and pay in advance to get this discount. Please send me an email telling me if you can attend and how many. We will collect the money at the July meeting.

The Garage Sale has been tentatively scheduled. I will have more details at the next meeting. AAMOM is planning to rent spaces to the community as a fundraiser. They will pay a fee and keep all the remainder of their profits. Keep saving those treasures and start asking friends and family if they would like to participate. We will also take any and all donations to sell for the club.

Twincerely,

Kentra Pope

Kentra and her daughters at one of the many Lunch Bunch outings we had last summer. Stay tuned for this summer's Lunch Bunch schedule.

I received this little ditty from a friend and thought it fit all of us as mothers, especially the last sentence:

I have been to a lot of places, but I’ve never been in Ca-hoots. Apparently you can’t go alone. You have to be in Cahoots with someone. I’ve also never been in Cognito, either. I hear no one recognizes you there. I have, however, been in Sane. They don’t have an airport, you have to be driven there. I’ve made several trips.

Summer has officially started with the end of school. I know the kids and teachers are all ecstatic. Marcia and Mark Bentle are especially happy this year, because Andrew and Tanner are 2011 graduates from Amarillo High School. Congratulations! Way to go boys!!

I know this time of year is especially busy with ball games, family vacations, etc… Things at the Pope house have gotten a lot louder with two college students moving home for the summer. We have been rearranging and cleaning out closets to make room for everything.

We are accumulating a lot of garage sale goodies, and you need to start saving yours, too. AAMOM is planning a community garage sale fund-raiser for this summer. The plan is to rent space for people to sell their treasures and keep their own profits. We are ironing out the details, but tell your friends to start collecting stuff to sell or donate. Also, start finding those adorable matching family outfits for pictures. We are firming up the details for outdoor pictures with Angie. It will probably be at the end of June if you want to pencil it in on your calendars. More details will be available at the June meeting.

Looking forward to seeing you at the June meeting.

Twincerely,

Kentra Pope
AAMOM President

Kentra Pope and Shelli Jones represented AAMOM during TMOM Convention in Austin.

AAMOM is happy to report that AAMOM President Kentra Pope and Third Vice President Shelli Jones represented us well in Austin April 28-May 1 during the Texas Mothers of Multiples annual convention. The theme this year was “A Walk on the Wild Side.”

“We are enjoying seeing old friends and getting reacquainted,” said Shelli during the event. “I strongly encourage each of you to start making plans for next year. I know planning that far in advance is hard, because even with the best intentions, life sometimes gets in our way of being able to pamper ourselves. I know for many of you just getting to our monthly club meeting is difficult, but let’s make Convention 2012 a priority!”

Kentra and Shelli offer their top-10 reasons for attending a TMOM Convention:

10. You get to see different parts of Texas
9. Meeting other MOMs, just like yourself, from around the state
8. Great workshops, competitions and tours
7. Four days of NO cooking or cleaning
6. Mini vacation from your duties at home and work
5. Opportunity to see how you really do “Robert’s Rules of Order”
4. Lots of late nights of fun and laughter
3. The chance to go to a grown up movie
2. Bonding with your club members. (You will probably learn more than you ever wanted to know!)
…and the number ONE reason you should attend a TMOM convention: It gives your children and your husband the opportunity to miss and appreciate YOU!!

News of Note from the 2011 TMOM Convention:

• Congratulations to Shelli for being elected to serve as the nominating committee chairman.
• Congratulations to Kentra for being selected as one of four moms, out of 12 applicants, to receive the “MOMS Wildest Dreams Come True” award.
• AAMOM received first place in the small-club newsletter category.
• AAMOM received first place in the small-club website category.

Kentra and Shelli will tell us more about their adventures at the next club meeting, May 5, 2011. Let’s welcome Kentra and Shelli home!

Kentra Pope and Shelli Jones during the 2011 TMOM Convention.

I am so very excited to start another year with Amarillo Area Mothers of Multiples. I came to my first meeting when Kallison and Kellan were 10 weeks old and they just celebrated their 21st birthday on March 28th.

As you can see, I have been lucky enough to be a member of AAMOM for a very long time. This group allows us the opportunity to bond with ladies from all walks of life and make friends with people of all different ages. Some of these women have been a part of my life for over 20 years, and some of my newest friendships were just babies 20 years ago.

This year, I would like us to focus on getting to know one another a little bit better. I have a few different ideas we will be trying at the meetings. We are also working on two family outings for the summer. They will be scheduled on the weekend so working moms and dads get a chance to participate.

I wrote these words on a plaque many years ago for the ladies who served on the board during my first presidency: “God blessed me once, He gave me twins. He blessed me twice, with you my friend.” These words still ring true after all this time.

I look forward to spending many more years making new friends and cherishing the old ones.

Twincerely,

Kentra Pope
AAMOM President