Take Those Pictures!

Today we were blessed to have professional photographer Mark Holm as our speaker.  He is a father of three grown children and worked many years as a newspaper photographer and photo editor.  Now he is a free-lance photographer.
While he showed us an amazing gallery of photos he took, primarily of his children, he shared some great tips for all of us:

• Just take the pictures!  They tell a story, even if they aren't "perfect."
• Don't "train" your kids to say "Cheese."  It is better to get the real-life stories and pictures most of the time.
• Flash often takes away the real life aspect of the photo.  So, if possible, don't use it.  Instead, hold the camera still and use the natural light.
• Don't be afraid to break the rules.  Some times you can get cool shots breaking rules like taking a photo into the sun.
• Look at the lighting around you.  Look for warm and cool tones, and use those to your benefit.  If you need to, use the + and = keys on your camera to change the exposure to fully play up the natural lighting.
• Once you have your pictures taken, keep them sorted in a method that makes sense to you. 

Thank you Mark for sharing your photography and advice with us!


The announcements for today were:

• Small group play dates next week (September 24)
• Craft Fair - We will need help setting up on Friday, November 1, tearing down Saturday, November 2, and with the bake sale.  Also, your small group will be working on a raffle basket, so see your discussion group leader for more information on that.
• Moms' Night Out - September 27 from 7-9pm at Flying Star
• Bible study Thursday mornings at Grace Church.

Our next meeting is October 1.  We will have a speaker on first aide and CPR!

First Meeting a Success!

We had our first meeting of the 2013-2014 year today, and I think it was a success!  Although things didn't go exactly as scheduled, we pray all of the new moms had a great time of fellowship and are ready for our next meeting in two weeks.  Here is a review of what we did during our first meeting:

We started off with prayer, food, and fellowship.  Then we did the devotion.  The theme verse for the year is Ephesians 2:10.  We are all God's workmanship - a masterpiece in His eyes.  Although things aren't always neat and clean looking, we are God's artwork, and we need to remember this.

After the devotion, we did mom of the day (a cute necklace and book) and then introduced the steering team, mentor moms, and discussion group leaders. Next up was craft and more fellowship!  the craft was making shrinky-dink name tags for this year.  Here is sample:

We will have everything again next week for those moms that couldn't make it today.  After the name tags were done, we announced the small groups and spent a little bit of time getting to know the moms in our groups.  This year, the groups are split as best as possible based off of where everyone lives, making play dates easier to coordinate.

As for announcements, here are the important ones:

1. The first play date will be Sept 24.  This will be a small group play date, so see your small group leader for more information.
2. Save the Date!  November 1 is our craft fair set-up, and November 2 is our actual craft fair.  More information about what we need help with will be announced at the next meeting.
3. We could use help with child care at our steering team meetings.  These are the second Tuesday of each month.  You can bring your own kids with you, and you will receive two free meeting for helping us!  And if you don't want to use those free meetings, you can donate them to another mom.
4. Next meeting is September 17!  We will have a photographer coming to share information about taking photos as well as preparing for professional photos.