4 Months!

Our little Ella Bean is 4 whole months old. This darling pic was taken by our friend Caity at the State Fair (more to come on that). The day of Ella's 4 month "birthday" she reached an exciting milestone - see for yourself! (And ignore the screams of glee from her proud mama!) I was just so shocked that she did it while I was video-taping. What are the chances??

I LOVE DENVER!

This statement may surprise some of you given my hideous past with the city of Denver. I am shocked at myself as I type those words. But I really do love Denver!

This last week my friend Caity and I fled reality and headed East for a fun girls' trip. She invited me to go to a Killers concert at Red Rocks Amphitheater and (again, shocking) I was able to go! Thanks to my sweet mom who watched Ella, and my sweet husband who let me run wild for a bit, these couple of days were so rejuvenating and exciting!

We took off Wednesday morning and drove through Utah and Colorado and some of the most breathtaking vistas I've ever seen on a road trip. Vail and Georgetown were our favorite towns. SO worth the drive. Then we rolled up to Morrison (Red Rocks Amphitheater) around 7:30 and everyone was having tailgate parties and rockin' out to their car radios right outside the concert! That was something I'd never seen before - so fun!

The concert was amazing. I wouldn't have ever considered myself a huge Killers fan, but the show was so much fun. We danced and sang 'til our voices couldn't cut it, and just enjoyed the beautiful atmosphere. The pictures above are not ours, they're from the web, but they show how gorgeous it is there.

Then Caity and I hung out and shopped a bit in downtown Denver, and hit the road again. (Thanks Caity, for letting me drag you to the antique shop - I love my finds!) There's nothing like road trippin' and girl talking with one of my best friends. When I woke up the next morning I didn't know if my voice was gone because of singing at the concert or because we talked non-stop for nine hours!

This was a wonderful opportunity to take some time for myself, see some sights, and appreciate my husband and daughter even more. Thanks so much Caity!
(Below are a few shots of our trip. Check out Caity's blog for probably a TON more pics and fun stuff about the trip!)Honkin' in the tunnels.
Singing Heart while waiting to leave the parking lot. The best hour of waiting ever!

President Obama's Speech to Students

Tomorrow afternoon (Tuesday) President Obama is going to be giving a speech to the school children of our country. He is taking time from his packed schedule to address an issue he obviously holds in high priority - the future of our children and their education.

Being a teacher, I admire him and his approach toward the "root" of many problems in our country - our school system. And I love that he is speaking straight to the children to motivate and inspire them to make a difference.

But apparently I'm a radical, left-wing crazy person. Several schools (actually MOST schools) in our area are refusing to show this speech or giving parents the option to not allow their children to watch. I could understand this stance if it were regarding a sex-education video or a controversial campaign by PETA or some other "special-interest group". But this man is the PRESIDENT of our COUNTRY. Not a radical. Our President. I don't care who you voted for or what your political views are. He is OUR President and as such deserves our respect.

What message does that give our students, OUR CHILDREN, the future leaders of our country if our schools are refusing to show a speech by our President? How do we expect to teach children to make a difference or work hard for something we believe in if we refuse to show them someone who is doing so? Just because someone or something is different, does not mean it is bad.

Further, what do the directors of these schools think President Obama is going to say? Is he going to rally the children of our country to rebel against all morality and values of their "forefathers"? Will he spread some bizarre culture that could in some way hinder the progress of our nation? Hardly. He wants to help children broaden their horizons and work harder to make a positive change in their lives, a change that obviously needs to happen since their leaders are too closed-minded to embrace it.

If you have school-aged children, or know some, and they didn't get to see the speech, click here to find it. Or if you're interested in becoming inspired yourself, feel free to do so. I don't remember a President addressing ME as a school child, so I think these kids are pretty lucky that he cares so much to speak to them directly. Here's an excerpt of the transcript that I found amusing and inspiring all at once:

...Today, I’m calling on each of you to set your own goals for your education – and to do everything you can to meet them. Your goal can be something as simple as doing all your homework, paying attention in class, or spending time each day reading a book. Maybe you’ll decide to get involved in an extracurricular activity, or volunteer in your community. Maybe you’ll decide to stand up for kids who are being teased or bullied because of who they are or how they look, because you believe, like I do, that all kids deserve a safe environment to study and learn. Maybe you’ll decide to take better care of yourself so you can be more ready to learn. And along those lines, I hope you’ll all wash your hands a lot, and stay home from school when you don’t feel well, so we can keep people from getting the flu this fall and winter.

Whatever you resolve to do, I want you to commit to it. I want you to really work at it.

Good advice for us ALL. (For a full transcript, click here.)

Hallelujah!

Today was a happy beautiful day because Ella slept from 10 p.m. to 8:30 a.m. Wow. I now remember what sleep feels like! Yay!

Alien Baby

I've been taking footprints of Ella every month, and up until now she was pretty calm so I could use acrylic paints and wipe them off before a disaster happened. But now she's more stubborn and active, so I decided to use purple ink. Turns out it was a bigger disaster than paint because the ink WILL NOT come off! I've tried soap, hydrogen peroxide, and rubbing alcohol. As you can see, she's thrilled. Hopefully she won't have some foot disease later in life and blame it all on me!

3 Months!

We had a fun photo shoot on Ella's 3 month "birthday". I am amazed at her facial expressions, her giggles, and her darling personality. My world is a happier, sillier, crazier, BETTER place because of her. What a wonderful 3 months it has been!