Elle the smunchkin; or my Ellie Pie

Elle-

This is my letter to you on your 7th birthday. I LOVE you so much. I can not imagine a green-eyed little girl who I love more. You are my favorite Elle in the whole world. There is so much to love about you I can barely write them all in one post.

We waited four years after Olivia to have you, so when you came into our lives we were ready and excited. A better baby there has never been on the Earth. You have been so sweet and kind since the day you were born. Your eyes were always deep pools, that your mom and I would look into for hours wondering what was going on in there, and the interesting thing is that nothing has changed. You have such a deep thoughtful spirit in that little body of yours, you understand so much more than we give you credit for. Your one dead give away is your tender heart and soul. Whenever you feel something, you feel it so deep that your green eyes let loose a waterfall of emotion. You can never hide it, and I'm glad. It gives me a glimpse into your soul.

I love how completely unique you are in our family. You don't seek after the spotlight, in fact you shun it and happily pass it on to your sisters. We love you for this. You watch everyone and everything and think about what is going on around you and then you will always talk about it later giving me your thoughts and feelings. It is worth the wait every time. I am always amazed at your thoughtful expressions and the way you word things. You have taken me by surprise so many times, as it has been said, "out of the mouths of babes!"

I love your laugh and contagious personality. You bring such joy into our family. Your laugh and sense of humor is so funny. I often can't stop laughing when you start. It is like an happy infection that you start. I can tell the kids at school like it also.

You have the most beautiful insides of anyone I know. You are kind, sweet, thoughtful, caring and you can clean your room. (please teach your sisters). You know just when to give me back scratches and you always do just the right thing for your sisters. You bring such peace into our home. I wonder what great things you will do with this talent. It is such a gift from God. How lucky we are to have it in our home.

You are also so beautiful on the outside. You often take my breath away with your green eyes and smile. You get your beauty from your mother.

Elle-I love you and I am so glad you are in my family. I can't wait to watch you grow up. Just promise that I will always be able to lay next to you every night and tell you Sugar Love stories!

Love Dad...

Back to School for Me!

I have decided tonight that I need a new blog look, so Gale the master blogger is going to help me with some changes in the next few days.

Tonight I taught class. It is on Contemporary Issues in Supervision. It is made up of mostly adults over the age of 25 who are returning to school. We started the class talking about the different levels of management, and the stress found within each level, the different pay structures, different types of compensation etc. One of my students asked me about suggested ways of reaching higher levels of management. We reviewed some of the basics of "how to get promoted" Having Emotional Intelligence, being great at your job (your skill sets, knowledge etc.) and the social aspect of any job (getting along with people, being a team player). But then I ventured off into reasons why individuals don't get promoted and even reasons why people are in the wrong jobs. We discussed it as a class and came up with some different ideas, but the main focus of the evening was about FEAR. How fear holds everyone back. I was amazed at what was discussed and how open the students were. I have never realized until last night the role that fear plays in people's lives. We ended up talking about it for close to an hour and a half. At the end I gave an assignment. Take one day and write down a fear when it comes to you. At that moment just write it down and move on and see how much fear you bring upon yourself in one day. Today I was receiving emails and text messages like crazy. FEAR was rampant! I can't wait until our next class that we can talk about it more. Here was one email I received:

"It's 11:18AM and I have recorded at least 6 instances of paranoid fear.
Write the book. Appreciate the class last night."

After class I spent the rest of the night thinking about all of the things I fear and how those fears keep me from becoming more of the person that I want to be. I decided I'm not going to fear anymore.

Tonight Chloe asked me to lay with her a minute while she fell asleep. I had to make one phone call and when I came back up she was asleep. So tomorrow I am going to take her up on her offer. It is not often that my 13 yr old asks me to lay down and talk with them as they go to sleep. Not letting that opportunity pass!

What?

Let's just say I'm completely and utterly dumfounded. It is amazing when something happens in your life that is so unexpected and so out of the blue that you can't even begin to fathom what is going on. Give me two weeks and I will post on it....by then I will hopefully have my head wrapped around the whole thing.

Back to School

I hate it when the girls have to go back to school. I miss having them around and the noise and complete chaos and mess that they bring. I miss hearing them laugh. I also love it when school starts because they get new clothes, new teachers, all the new school supplies and the feeling that is in the air the first week of school.
It is a big year this year because Olivia starts sixth grade which is Middle School. Watch out Sequoya here she comes! Ava is starting Pre-K for a full whopping 2 1/2 hrs a day. But she seems to be more excited than anyone else. She goes in the afternoon, but insists on wearing her backpack all day.

Soon enough all the homework and projects will hit and it won't be as exciting--so I will enjoy the great feeling that comes from the first two weeks. Check out pictures of the first day of school.

Back in the Saddle w/Kenny Loggins!!

Okay--so this summer has come and gone, between Colorado, moving, living in a friends basement, dissertation work, and the occasional pool trip I lost the summer of '08. Where did it go and what was I doing? I don't remember, but let's just say I will never move again. This wasn't the most "fun" summer I remember, just a summer of let's get things done and make it through the day.

So I am back in the saddle again. I am back keeping my journal (blog) and I am recommitting to myself that I will update it at least twice a week. We will see how it goes.

So I found myself working in Little Rock Arkansas yesterday. I was staying overnight and decided to go eat some dinner. It was sprinkling outside so I couldn't ride my bike. (The dilemma was to fly to Little Rock or not, and if I flew I couldn't take my bike to ride and since I never get a free night with nothing to do I decided to drive which is about 5 1/2 hours so when it was raining I was mad that I had hauled my bike drove 5 1/2 hours and then couldn't ride, because I never get a free evening to go for a 2 hour bike ride and Little Rock has the greatest bike path along a river that goes for at least 40-50 miles. ADD statement of the day). So I was walking to dinner and as I am walking I notice that Kenny Loggins is walking towards me. Yes, footloose Kenny Loggins so I say "hi" and he says "hi" back. Since Kenny is in town I realize that there must be a concert so I find out that he is preforming an outdoor concert at the local ampitheater. I get some "free" tickets and proceed to party with Kenny. What a great concert. He may be old as dirt, but the guy can still sing. Now three things hit me as I'm at the concert.

1. Everyone there is over 35 and old. I then realize I am old too.

2. About 10:00 I start yawning and hope that he sings "footloose" so I can go to bed. I then realize #1 again....I am old.

3. I learn that once you pass the age of 35 don't dance at concerts.

I wished Gale could have been with me. We would have rocked out!