Family Photo Session

Here's a brief taste of our family photo session with Moxishots Photography:

We made it very simple: we chose coordinating colors and went outside to the front yard. Carla did a GREAT job and we are thrilled to have used her again!!! (She did Austin's newborn photos too.) The day was a bit chilly, but the colors were great (the green of the grass and the red/brown of Georgia's hair contrasted wonderfully with the blues we were wearing), Austin was in a good mood, and Georgia even let herself be photographed! Overall, everything was a huge success. We even got to be the first to use the gorgeous teal couch I'd been drooling over!

(I didn't include our Most Favorite-ist Picture in the above selection. You'll have to wait to get your Christmas card to see that one! ;-)

Introducing: The Childress/Lopez/Spofford Small Group

This past fall, our church launched a Small Groups Initiative, and asked people to sign up to either lead a small group or simply participate in one. As Seth and I had been active in the creation/direction of our previous small group, we had already gone through the training that the church facilitates, and so we were asked to lead one. After much praying and discussing, we agreed to lead/host a small group via the church-wide initiative. 

We were nervous. We were anxious. We were excited.

God has totally blessed us through that "Yes," though, because we LOVE our new small group! I can now not imagine my life without these wonderful people in it!

the whole group on "Circus Night"

The way the initiative worked was this: people who wanted to be in a small group submitted a form online and were subsequently added to a database of want-to-participate folks. Those of us leading groups were then given the database to look through and select people that seemed like they might fit into the group as we imagined it. We selected people in a relatively similar stage/area of life meaning: engaged/married, couples, young children/no children, 25-35ish, around north Dallas. This gave us a much smaller slice of the database than we expected: "What's wrong with living east of the church!?" I often wondered. 

After selecting people we imagined a good fit for the group, we extended an offer to them to participate in our group. We explained our vision and then it was left up to them whether or not they would join the group. We had a rejection ratio of 3:1. It was horrible and I was a wreck. Even though I knew that they weren't rejecting me personally, but that they had simply found something more suitable for them, it was still loads of work to reach out to so many people via email, phone call, prayer, etc, just to have them turn us down. But, God was behind everything as always, because I know that the group we have is 100% perfect.

We began meeting on Tuesday nights and started by going through the Community Series that our church had just finished. It was a great way to get started--knowing things to look for, watch out for, why groups are important, etc. I am really glad we did that as a starting point. Now, however, we have transitioned into a rotation: Women, Adults, Men, Families. So, one week the women get together while the next week all the adults get together, and so on. This rotation just began, but I love it so far! It's a little crazy for this Type A Person's calendar, but it's a great mix of subgroups within the group!

Since we're still a relatively small Small Group, we will be open again this winter when the church offers what they're calling On-ramps/Off-ramps. This means that people can roll out of groups that didn't quite work and into groups that might work better. It also means that people who didn't get plugged in during the last round might get plugged into our group. I'm already praying for God to lead with a clear, firm hand during that process because this group is so precious to me (and to Him, I'm sure) that I don't want to get in the way of His plans and mess stuff up!

Austin's Birthday

We celebrated Austin's actual birthday with his favorite meal (sweet potatoes), a slice of cake (with a candle!), singing Happy Birthday, and opening presents. It was a nice, quiet, relaxing night as a family. Love you baby, Happy Birthday!!

The Growth Chart Tree

Last fall, when we were ready-ing Austin's room for his arrival, one of the things we did was replace the closet doors. Well, when I say 'we', I really mean 'Seth.' This left us with several usable closet doors which were too good to just throw away. I had to find a project for them. 

After much brainstorming, we came up with the idea to make a Growth Chart out of them. We like the idea of measuring kids every year to track their height changes, but as we can't be sure we'll be in this house for the next 18+ years, we also like the idea of taking the growth chart with us. The marks won't be lost, forever-gone, in a house where someone else can come along and simply paint over them. If we mark the heights on something moveable, it will move with us.

So, once the plan was established, I spent time thinking of creative ways to display the chart. I didn't want to just nail a closet door to a wall, I wanted it to be decorative. I came up with the idea for a tree, and after about 11 1/2 months of stewing on the idea, I finally got around to making it a reality! (There's nothing like a deadline --Austin's 1st birthday-- to kick me into gear!!) 

I first painted the closet door to look like a tree (my interpretation of a tree, anyways), and then applied vinyl dashes and numbers to the length of it, which will serve as our growth guide--we'll know how tall the person was when the mark was made by noting where it falls on the ruler. I then got a Bible verse to put at the top, reminding us that God is our #1. (It is 2 Peter 3:18.) I then sprayed it with acrylic coating, and finally, Seth hung it on the wall. And, come Thursday, we'll be measuring Austin on it!

The following pictures document the process--turning a 60-year old closet door into a growth chart for our family. :-)

After sitting in the garage for nearly a year, I had quite a bit of cleaning to do first.

My first step was to paint it really dark brown.

Once I had gotten a good base, I went over with a slightly lighter color, painting in streaks.

Using two other, lighter shades of brown, I painted my interpretation of tree bark along the sides.

I bought these vinyl numbers and dashes off Etsy.

My fingers had indents after all the rubbing I had to do.

starting to peel off the paper...

what it looked like after the numbers were on...

after it was sprayed...

the top

My men hanging the growth chart tree. (Austin is actually trying to hand Seth the level!)

The finished project!

He's been measured! :-)

Austin's 1st Birthday Party!!!

Austin has had his 1st Birthday Party!  I cannot believe how much has changed in our family in the past year. Thinking about it makes me cry. (We went to lunch with friends on the day of Austin's party, and I started crying in the middle of our meal!) I am so blessed by having Austin in my life. We are so blessed by having Austin in our life. Sure, things are a little more hectic and a lot more complicated, but it's been fun, and we can't wait to see how he continues to grow!

the balloons out front...

Our celebration of Austin's birth was more like a Thank You Party for those that are closest to us. We sent a total of 10 invitations. Only people who have had a significant, regular impact on him (and us as a family) were invited. We had a great turnout, where most everyone already knew each other, and the weather was great. The kids were able to run around and play while the adults sat and chatted. 

All the yummies!

Austin with Nonnie and Gramps.

Austin and his pal, Luke.

The whole gang!

A very happy Birthday Boy!

Daddy and Momma helped Austin blow out the candle.

He LOVED his cupcake cake! (Thanks TC for lending me the pan!)

The dessert was regular-sized cupcakes. (Thanks KK for lending me the stand!)

We don't want birthday parties to turn into Gimme Parties, so we asked that people bring an unused book for our local elementary school instead of a gift for Austin. We want him to know that parties aren't about getting a bunch of stuff, but having fun with friends and family. People weren't required to bring a book, but if they felt like they wanted to contribute in some way, that's what we suggested. (We also did this because Austin has plenty of stuff already.) The Monday after his party, we took the books to the school. They were thrilled to get them!