Listening...

I love it! As I am sitting here, I can listen to Ava talk to herself in bed. John and I often get a lot of amusement from these Ava speeches. Tonight, she just keeps repeating "I did it" over and over. So cute to listen too!! Shortly before bed, she put a binder clip on a piece of paper and proudly danced around saying "I did it" - guess she was still proud of her accomplishments after she went to bed:) We hear all kinds of things from her bed - often she sings about Elmo or lists off any names that she can think of. We usually go through those names while rocking before bed too as I assure her that all those people are going night-night. Tonight I heard about Cody, Samantha, Aubrey, Doug, Amy, Curt, Lauren, Julie, AJ, Sondra, Lilly, Elmo, Duckie, Daddy - you get the point...

I also got some pictures from grandma to showcase Ava's vacation to Mawmaw and Papa's house while we went to Miami. Obviously they had a good time too:

Of course, you have to make cookies at Grandma's house:)

Grandpa has a lap full of grandbabies with Ava and Cody

Ava loves to play with "doh-doh" and doesn't everyone need a pair of Play-Doh glasses!?

Tea party for four? Ava enjoyed cookies and "tea" with Aubrey, Samantha and Cody.

Advocates For Ag Blog

During my trip to Miami, I had a chance to listen to Troy & Stacy Hadrick, who are SD cattle ranchers that travel the country telling their story and encouraging the rest of us to tell our story about animal agriculture. They were extremely encouraging and motivated me to try even harder to make my voice heard in support of animal agricuture. Today's consumer hears the voice of animal welfare activists and those opposed to agriculture loud and clear but we often to not speak up for ag loud enough. Groups such as PETA and HSUS work hard to spread rumors about the untruths of animal agriculture. We need to work just as hard to tell the real story!

And remember that HSUS (Humane Society of the United States) is not at all related to your local humane shelter! I actually just read today that the Center for Consumer Freedom investigated the 2008 expenditures of HSUS and found that less than 0.5% of their $86 million in support went to helping dogs and cats in any way! And 28% of the donations went to campaigning for more money from the public! HSUS President Wayne Pacelle drew a salary of over $250,000! Obviously, this is not an organization aimed at actually "helping" animals!

Enough of my soapbox for now - if you want to hear more of my passionate thoughts about the American livestock industry, let me know! This is a topic that I am always willing to discuss and educate about. But also check out Troy and Stacy's blog to keep up to date on current happenings - I added their link to my blog list.