Caricatures for the kids!

Today I went and did something that I had always wanted to do. Even as a kid.

I spent about an hour at Ellie's school today drawing caricatures of her classmates. Ellie was so proud to have me come in. I enjoyed the entire experience so much. The kids were wonderful and they got such a kick out of being drawn. I goofed around with them and tried to draw a moving target.

It reminded me of the days when I was a kid in school and how my Mom was always an involved parents. She came to a lot (if not all) of my school field trips and was known among my classmates. I was always so proud of her and felt like a special kid since she was always there.

Thanks Mom. I don't know if you know it but that stuff rubs off and now I can only hope to effect Ellorie the same way you did me. I now know what those field trips must have meant to you.

Love ya.

Nana, Papa and Ellorie

We took this photo right before they headed out for the Polar Express.

The Polar Express

This weekend my Mom & Dad came and spent the weekend with us. They were away for Ellie's 4rth birthday party and today was the day they finished giving Elle her presents.

Nana & Papa took her on the Polar Express! She's been super excited for weeks and she was NOT disappointed! They had an absolute blast and Ellie could not stop (and I mean she physically could not!) talking about it the minute Johanna & I came home.

Ellie was dressed in her pajama's (Thanks Auntie Elaine!) as they headed off to catch a train headed for Santa's Village in the North Pole! The 3 of them got hot chocolate, candy canes and Elle even lead the train car in a song of "Holly Jolly Christmas". Oh, and how can I forget... Santa gave Ellie and ever little boy and girl on the train a silver bell.... ahhhh!

And Santa even autographed Ellie's personal copy of "The Polar Express". So Cool!

Thanks Nana & Papa! Love ya!

My Vote

It's taken a little time for me to get this post thought out. We've been busy at work and at home (as usual) and it's time to blog.

I voted last week.

Johanna, Ellorie and I were were up early that Tuesday and we were very excited about the day and it's outcome. We all had breakfast together and chatted before I had to leave. I'm the first one in the morning to leave the house and I set out on a gorgeous Tuesday morning. We are 2 blocks away from our polling station so I walked out of the house with my coffee and really took my time and took in the neighborhood's changing foliage. It was beautiful. So many natural varying vibrant colors. I took it in. I forced myself to walk slower, breathe deeper and to really look around. 

I got there just as they were letting folks in. I even beat the local politicians to their stations outside looking for last minute votes. It was a bit confusing but I wasn't going anywhere. I have one thing to do and that's all... I can wait.

I ran into out neighbor Steve in line. He and I killed time chatting a bit while we moved along in line. We began to see more familiar faces. It felt great to see someone I knew. We didn't talk politics once.

The act of voting was shear moments compared to the process. I had printed out the ballot the day prior so I could be as best prepared as possible.

I voted for Barack Obama. I voted for change. The word change isn't just for policy. It's for so much more. The only color I saw that day was the changing foliage... the seasons. The United States and the world is seeing our foliage change... 

I'm excited about our future. It will be hard. This vote doesn't make anything easier. Change is always hard. But change will bring more to us, our friends and others than we never knew existed. We just need to try. We can work hard and we can change.