We are back! Rachel made it safely and just in time to help deliver a baby! For those of you who don’t know what I am talking about, you can follow Rachel’s weekend adventure on her blog. She just installed twitter, where she can write little tidbits of her day.

Rachel has time to make Canolli's before WVDSA Buddy Walk

The Willamette Valley Down Syndrome Buddy Walk in Salem, OR was a huge success. If I had to estimate, I would say there were about 1,200-1,300 people at the event. All the children were so excited to see Rachel and had a chance to meet her before she performed.

Rachel performing at WVDSA Buddy Walk

We even had enough time to make canolli’s that someone heard were Rachel’s favorite treat.  The Salem Journal had a great spread in the newspaper, from pictures taken by Nathaniel (Nacho) Cordova, also announcing the Buddy Walk in tandem with the Salem Heights Elementary School visit and presentation with Rachel.

After the Buddy Walk, Rachel flew home to Salt Lake City to help deliver a baby and I flew to Denver. Rachel was unable to find a flight from SLC to Denver …but she got in a rental car with her husband and drove 8 hours to Denver to appear at the Oh Baby! Baby and Family Expo.

Her performance was touching as she related the experience she was having and how she knew there were people in Denver that needed to hear her message. It turns out, she was able to stick around for a little while after her presentation in Denver enough to sign autographs and take pictures. Then she ran to catch the next flight to Salt Lake City to hopefully make it in enough time to help her friend deliver a baby! Well, everyone….she made it!

The presentations were amazing…and it was so cool to meet children, families and friends who have benefited from Signing Time. Thank you to all of our fans who have made this possible. We will continue to post pictures from the event on our website under the community/photo album category in the next couple days.

Again, if you are interested in scheduling an event, please feel free to send an email to me at lindsey@signingtime.com with the subject ‘Rachel appearance.’

Hi Everyone…we had a fantastic day visiting with Salem Heights Elementary School yesterday. Rachel was able to go to the kindergarten class and so a Signing Time Story hour. Then we went over to the Salem Heights Assembly Hall and did a performance for the whole school. It was amazing. All the children knew Signing Time and sang with Rachel at the top of their lungs. I can’t write too much more, but I just had to tell you about the newest news link on the front page of Statesman Journal. We had this wonderful photographer, Nacho Cardova, volunteer his time to come out and take pictures of the whole event. He sent them into the Statesman, and they did a wonderful job reporting on the whole event.

Keep checking back. I am sure there will be more to follow.

Rachel and I have a long weekend ahead of us, but we are so excited that we get to be a part of some pretty cool events!

Just wanted to let you know that Rachel will be the key performer on Sunday, September 28th at 10:00 a.m. on the State Farm Stage during the premier Oh Baby! Baby & Family Expo at the Colorado Convention Center, located at 700 14th Street in Denver. Erin Axson our sales/marketing/everything lady will have a Signing Time booth at the show for the duration of the event. Following the performance, Coleman will also meet and greet fans and sign autographs near Signing Time booth #413.

The Oh Baby! Baby & Family Expo is Colorado’s premier event for babies and will be held at the Colorado Convention Center on Saturday, September 27 and Sunday, September 28. The expo will be held 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. both days in the Four Seasons Ballroom.

Admission is $10. Children 12 years old and under are free. For more information, visit http://www.ohbabybabyexpo.com.

We are so excited to connect with current fans and can’t wait to meet new one’s. I wanted to share a fun letter written to Rachel from one of our fans in Denver.

Hi Rachel!

We are SO excited to see you this Sunday at the Denver Baby Expo!! It was almost like Christmas morning here when I received the email that you would be performing on the 28th! I went to my husband and son waving the email – Rachel’s coming! Rachel’s coming!! Our son may be only 18 months old but he has the biggest crush on you! He has been watching Signing Time since he was 5 months old and has been signing since he was 11 months old. At 15 months he pulled away from his toys between 7 and 8 p.m. at night, turning around to his Dad and signed ‘sleep,’giving a big smacking kiss with his hand, waved ‘bye’ and marched himself down the hall towards the stairs to go to bed. His Dad and I looked at each other and said – “Well…guess he’s going to bed,” and followed him to put him down! Everyone we tell is just amazed that he was doing this at 15 months! He uses his signing every day and it is so incredible to be able to communicate with him when he can’t yet verbalize. He has even been signing to brush his teeth at night for the past month before bed.

Vaughn-we are excited to meet you!

Each time you come onto the TV screen singing the ‘Signing Time’ song Vaughn’s arms and legs start going in such excitement! The whole family knows the Signing Time song and sings it to him all the time – sisters, brothers, grandparents, godparents – everyone! The tools you have given the kids, and the way Two Little Hands Productions has put together these DVDs is just the best! We’ve had parents come up to us asking about our sign language experience and they are amazed at what these DVDs can do.

We CAN NOT wait for Vaughn to see you perform in person this Sunday!!!

All of our love and thanks,

Kim, Jason and Vaughn (18 months)

Just wanted to let all of you know that Rachel will be performing during the Willamette Valley Down Syndrome Association (WVDSA) Buddy Walk from 10:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m. on Saturday, September 27th at the amphitheater located in Riverfront Park in Salem. Rachel will also be performing during a fund-raising concert to benefit the WVDSA. The concert will be held on Friday, September 26th at 6:30 p.m. at the Morningstar Community Church located at 4775 27th Ave SE.

Rachel and I will be there to meet you following each event. I also wanted to share a story of one little girl who learned sign language as a means to communicate, and is very excited to show off her signs for Rachel at the event.

Keep reading for more….

Continue Reading »

Rachel and I just got back from Oklahoma City where we had the opportunity to participate in the 13th annual Down Syndrome Association of Central Oklahoma Buddy Walk.

Rachel, Rebecca and Addison Klehm with Jennifer Pierce at the Channel 9 studio

Rachel and I started out early in the morning with morning show host, Jennifer Pierce at CBS: Channel 9. Rachel was joined by Rebecca Klehm – who was part of the planning committee for the Buddy Walk – and Rebecca’s daughter Addison Klehm.

With the help of all those involved in the Buddy Walk, we were mentioned in a fantastic interview about the Buddy Walk and Rachel in the Oklahoman. Read Child with Down syndrome to meet one of her heroes by Chris Jones.

Here is a snippet of the article:

“When Mike and Rebecca Klehm learned that their second child would be born with Down syndrome and cleft issues, they decided they would bring her into the world and do everything possible to help Addie live life to the fullest.

The Klehms realized their daughter would struggle with communication, so they enrolled in baby sign language classes.

“Her first sign was more, and we were thrilled,” Rebecca Klehm said. “This was just like her first word to us, and we built on that with milk, drink, please. Now she says milk, and signs at the same time. It’s very rewarding for her and us. The news was overwhelming at first, but she is doing great, and she surprises us every day with what she is learning.”

Children sign 'blue' as part of the Signing Time song: Colors of the Rainbow

On Saturday, 4-year-old Addison will meet one of her heroes, Rachel Coleman, the star and creator of Signing Time!, a DVD series designed to teach children to communicate using American Sign Language.”

You can continue reading the article on the Oklahoman website.

It was fantastic to be a part of such a wonderful event. Rachel delivered an incredible performance. Children and families from all over Oklahoma participated in the event, and even helped Rachel out with some of her songs!

Thank you to everyone who made this event a success!

If you are interested in having Rachel participate in your event, please contact Lindsey Blau at lindsey@signingtime.com with the subject line “Rachel appearance” for more information. We are scheduling her calendar for 2009 and would love to hear from you.