Holiday Fun

I could write forever on how nice this Christmas was. My sister's family came home early in December so we could celebrate with them. We opened presents with Ken's mom early Christmas Eve. Then we headed to the Ellis Christmas at his Aunt Brenda and Uncle Tom's. We then ventured to my parents for Christmas Eve. We exchanged presents with our second Secret Santa and had my sister and Rick on the phone. The boys solved some of the world's problems. Christmas day was blessed with Granny's arrival at my parents so she could enjoy the laughter and chaos she has enjoyed for so many years. Ken's mom came to my parents-thank you so much!!! My uncle and his 2boys and their families came (Melissa we missed you) Angie's in-laws also came to join us. I love having everyone together--that is what makes holidays so special. We then ventured back home to see if Santa came to the Ellis house. Oh the surprise when they found presents under the tree. He must have come while we were up north!!!

Hope you enjoyed the holidays and had special time with your family and friends.

Oh...So Sweet and So Bitter

Here is the sweet part--yesterday was a day in the snow. Forts being built and tunnels being made. Last night took the cake. Ken spent about 1 1/2 hours blowing snow off the pond for an ice skating rink for the our kids as well as the rest of the neighborhood. He made the basic rink and then other "bypasses" so the kids could play tag. It was getting dark by the time he was finished and the kids were still in full skating mode. So he brought out spot lights from the garage to illuminate the rink, cranked Christmas music from the speakers on our deck and we watched the kids skate. I tried to take pictures but the lighting made it difficult. Unfortunately today they are not able to enjoy the wonderful little playland Ken created.

Here is the bitter part--Following our blast of snow, we are now getting a blast of cold. We are sitting at -3 degrees with a wind chill of -35 below. Our high tomorrow is 6 with wind chills still at -30 degrees. This makes playing outside basically impossible. So we are stuck inside with 3 kids so wanting to "do something" Cleaning isn't quite what they have in mind.

White Christmas is Now Guarenteed

Well, the first storm of the season has arrived. We were out blowing snow for about 4 hours this morning and know that we will be heading out later to clean it up again. The kids were a big help for a bit, then you will see that they found other ways to have fun in the snow. The funniest story of the day is--Jake wanted to go fishing on the pond so Ken went out to help him dig the first hole. We took out the auger, the sledgehammer and the big ice chisel for scraping the driveway. Well Ken was doing the final breakthrough of the ice and pounded the chisel. Finally they broke the last layer. Unfortunately Ken was not quite prepared for this and the chisel slipped out of his hand and went right down into the pond. We all just stood there for a minute. We could not hold it in anymore and busted out laughing. What could we do? Jake said he would try to find it in the spring--Knowing Jake, he probably will. All I could say was thank goodness it was Ken--anyone else and all hell would have broke loose. They continued to clean out the hole and proceeded to ice fish for the next 2 hours--I will never ever understand this sport!! In spite of the snow, it is beautiful out. We might as well enjoy it--or it will be a very long Wisconsin winter. We are anxiously awaiting for the second round to arrive tomorrow night.

So Much to Be Thankful For!!!

How do I even begin to count the blessings I have? As this Thanksgiving came and went, I was able to just sit back and look around. I watched as the kids ran to Ken's mom, my mom and dad, Uncle Craig and Gram to give great big hugs. Jake played polker for the first time with Ken and his mom. Jordyn played with Maddy and Alexa all day and we hardly heard a peep out of them. Jackson got even with Uncle Craig--after Craig smooshed a kneecap in Jackson's face, Jackson put whipped cream on Craig's glasses. My dad and Uncle Dick sat on each side of Granny at the table and we laughed as they said "Grams--you are the thorn between two roses" Yeah right but we all had a good laugh as Granny shook her fist at them--She knows better too!!!! As always, dinner was wonderful. Everyone pitching in makes this so much easier. Lee and Diane, Mark and Melissa--it is always fun hearing the laughter!!! Karen, thank you for coming and being a part of our family!!! Our family isn't that big so it is so nice when we are all together. We missed the Heck family but can't wait for them at Christmas!!!

Then we returned to our house and on Friday we went to slay our Christmas tree. Again, listening to the kids laugh as they are throwing snowballs at Ken and I. I had to sit and listen once again to Ken complain that I take too long to find a tree every year. The boys then decorated the house outside and the girls did the inside. Jackson pretty much went wherever he wanted and we went like crazy to get stuff done when he was sleeping. Light, ornaments and Jackson don't go real well quite yet.

Then as you can see--yes we had our 1st snow storm--snowball fights, shoveling and sledding--here we go!!

We have such special people in our lives and I am so thankful for all of you.

Out of the mouth of babes

So this morning Jackson was quite intrigued by the white stuff on the ground. He thought it was snow and I proceded to tell him that we called that frost. He asked (imagine this) "Why?" I told him that the grass had water on it and it got really cold during the night. So he sat on that for a while. We again started talking and I told him that Daddy would be coming home in a few days. He said, "Mommy, he's not daddy, he's Ken for you." How they learn this is amazing. As we pulled into our sitter he said, "Mamma, look Mrs. Dawn has frosting on her house too." And sure enough, her roof was as white as the frosting on a cake. I didn't even correct him. I just had to giggle and tell him he was right and wasn't it pretty. It actually was a beautiful fall morning with frost on the ground and the sun shining. It sure didn't end up that way, as it is 34 and rainy now. Ugh

Fun Fall Day

Well we had a crazy start to November. Ken left for another 2 weeks in South Carolina so we were off to the airport at 5:20 am. He was thinking of reasons not to go and we really didn't want him to leave. So after not really being able to enjoy my favorite morning of the year (the end of daylight savings time and an extra hour of sleep) I decided to enjoy the day outside with the kids. They had been wanting to go to the zoo to see Zero. Zero is our polar bear that fell into the moat. She was there for 9 days before finally crawling onto a lift and being brought back up to where she is supposed to be. She is fine and doing well, but the kids wanted to see her. So off to the zoo we went. I drove the kids nuts taking pictures, but they seemed to handle it pretty well. We had a blast at the zoo, not too many people so the kids ran everywhere, jumped in leaves, walked on the rocks, had front row views to everything and enjoyed the fall day. Jackson also figured out how to ride his "big boy bike" with his training wheels--and of course he had to have Jake's baseball helmet on. The view of the pond in our backyard was absolutely beautiful. A day with laughing and smiling kids doesn't get much better....It would have been a perfect day if Ken had been with us.

Happy Halloween

Well as some of you know, October is full of birthdays for us. We start with our nephew Ethan who turned 4 on the 15th, then Craig who turned 3X on the 18th, Jordyn turned 9 on the 19th, and Jake turned 11 on the 27th. My uncle had a big birthday this month as well. So we had birthday weeks, birthday weekends, and several parties to celebrate everyone's big day. This little blurb will focus on our Halloween experience and then I will add the birthday blurb later this week.

We headed up to Green Bay to celebrate Jordyn and Craig's birthday on the 19th. It was a great day because Granny was able to come to Mom and Dad's for a few hours and celebrate with us. It was great to see Granny smile and enjoy the day. Since she wouldn't be coming down to Hartland for Halloween, the kids wanted to try on their costumes for her. As you can imagine, Jake's costume made us all laugh to the point of tears in our eyes. He was going to get some bloody costume that I did not like. Both of us were getting frustrated because that was all that was out there--bloody, violent and ugly. So my mom happened to go into the adult costume and found the blow up trainer. Well he was all excited and I wasn't sure but it was better than the other crap out there. Well once he put it on, we laughed and knew he would have a blast.

Jordyn looks cute in just about anything and wanted her High School Musical costume. I again wasn't too excited because it would not be very warm. I think she forgot we were in Wisconsin and most likly would have to wear long underwear to go Trick or Treating. But I bought it anyway. Well I was right and it was freezing--we actually had flurries--Which is absolutely ridiculous!!! She ended up being a KC Chief fan and wore Jake's Larry Johnson jersey over her turtleneck, Chief sweatshirt, Chief pull over and a Chief hat. And for an extra, she wore her blinking pumkin earrings--we had to have a little of the girlie girl there.

While shopping Jackson saw a Tigger costume. We tried showing him other costumes such as Elmo and Bob the Builder, but nothing would take his mind off of his orange Tigger. It killed me to pay that much for a costume but he loves orange and the minute he saw it, it was clear he wanted to be Tigger. Eventually he found out he had a tail. Well he would swing it and pull it to the front and it was adorable. Then accidentally he found out it came off. I thought he was going to cry but we showed him it stuck right back on. So, of course, that became fun. Then he gave us all another giggle when he pulled it off and stuck it right in the front. Ken quickly said, "Jackson, we don't want to put your tail there." He did look absolutely adorable and it was warm which proved to be an advantage as well.

For some reason we had trick or treating last Sunday night. So we got to experience Halloween in a small town. There were more ATV's and riding lawn mowers pulling trailors of kids than I have ever seen. It made me feel like we were out in the country--oh yeah, I guess we kind of far out aren't we? It was pretty chilly so several neighbors ended up here warming up with hot chocolate, pizza and buffalo chicken soup. Not quite the 80 degree weather we had in KC a few years ago, but the kids had a blast!!! Since the adults were not too big on the Sunday nite thing, and Halloween is actually on Friday--about 30 houses in the hood have decided to do it again on Halloween night and add the adult version so we all can enjoy the spooky night.

A Favor

Hi Gang,

I am writing this with, as my sister put it, a heavy heart. Last week we got a call from my mom and dad telling us that my grandma, otherwise known as Granny, was taken to the hospital. She has been having some issues with her upper leg. She said all along that she was in pain, but I am not sure any of us realized how much. We knew it was getting worse so she was scheduled to head back in. Well on Wednesday, she called my mom and said she could not move and was in incredible pain. She was taken to the hospital, non emergency. They got her there and discovered she had a crack in her upper femur--Can you imagine the pain she was having? She is one tough lady. Unfortunately we also found out that she has cancer. That is going to be the bigger battle. We are waiting for some test results that will give us more information on the cancer. So, I am asking for a favor, if you have an extra few moments, please say a little prayer for her.

As far as the femur goes, she had surgery on Friday and was getting up to go to the bathroom on Saturday. Yesterday she walked down the hall with a nurse hanging on to a belt and has been in good spirits. After having that much pain, it has to be such a relief. The tough little cookie wants to walk again on her own and she is on her way to that. Go Granny!!!

Sooo Elementary

Well it has been a while and this will be short and sweet. Look later this week for another post, but I wanted to put something in so you didn't think that I forgot about my new adventure.

So, as I told you, I started a new position at an elementary school. This is different than the middle school level in many ways. Some good, some could be better and some are just oh so very cute.

So I have this little boy, I will call him Adam. Adam is this little blond cute as a button little boy. He is in 2nd grade and on the smaller side. He walks in my first day and just looks up at me (I had heels on besides). He then says, "How old are you?" So instead of just giving him an answer I ask, "How old do you think I am?" And he responds, "80" If I had false teeth I probably would have dropped them but I don't--since I am not 80. I then had to ask, "Why do you think I am 80?" His response is what I love about elementary--"cuz you must have been growing a really long time."

You have to love what comes out of the mouth of babes.

Talk about everything at once!!

Well were do I even begin? For those of you just tuning in, Ken has been in South Carolina for a training in "Global Management." Harley chose him to go to this which was quite exciting. Unfortately, that takes him away from us for 2 weeks and he is basically by himself for 2 weeks. That makes it hard on everyone. Now I have talked him daily but will give you a real picture of what his 2 weeks looked like when he returns and can help me put that together accurately. He is putting in long days, eating quite well, has had opportunity to exercise and stay in
a great hotel. But as we all know--that gets old too when you are away from home.

So, I am going to give you an idea what has been going on here at home. It has been absolutely crazy to say the least. I will start this off by saying, I am now back in the working world. Last Thursday I had 3 interviews with districts that had unforseen circumstances and ended up needing a special education teacher. It has been frustrating over the summer because there just has not been the number of openings that I had anticipated. I was getting ready to sub and these 3 popped up. So, I was the top candidate in 2 districts and eventually chose the elementary job in the Hamilton School District which is based in Sussex, Wisconsin (pretty close to where we are at) That decision was made on Monday morning, I signed the contact Monday afternoon and then did the business paperwork on Tuesday. Wednesday thru Friday I am attending a training in a specific reading program that is needed by one of the students I will be servicing. I will then go to the classroom on Monday and Tuesday, training will continue on Wednesday and Thursday and then back to the classroom on Friday. I am extremely excited to get back into the classroom. I loved my time w/ Jackson but I know he misses the interaction with other kids too.

To top off it off, Yesterday I had Jordyn and Jackson not feeling up to par but toughed it out so I could go to my first day of work--talk about feeling like a terrible parent. Jackson has a sore throat but tested negative for strep (good that he doesn't have it, bad that there really is no medicine to help a sore throat for a 3 year old) Jordyn ended up going back to school today so that was good. Jackson had a rough night--every time he swallowed, he would wake up. I eventually pulled him into bed with me. He is ok during the day, but when he sleeps, it seems to act up and bother him--I am guessing the drainage from his cold is doing it. It looks like tonight is going to be a long one as well so I am going to cut this short and go get some sleep before Jackson gets up.

Oh where did the summer go???

Where did the summer go?? The pictures in the slide show will give you a glimpse of how our summer was--not too many sad faces. I cannot believe how fast the summer went. Between moving and baseball and our travels and visitors, the summer was gone before we knew it. The summer started out with a wonderful day in June where my parents celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary. What a proud day for them and for us. They both looked wonderful and we wish them many more. We then went on a whirlwind few weeks of painting rooms in our house and moving. Fourth of July weekend was the big move and it was great to be in our new home. We couldn't have done it without all of our family and some of our friends here--We thank you again!!!

Then, when we were sick of looking at boxes, we set off for a week in Kansas City. Ken had to be there a few days for work so it was a perfect time for us to tag along and go back to our wondeful friends. We got to see almost everyone we wanted to see. We missed a few, but we will be back--promise!! What a week of fun that was!! We made the most of our week there--we swam every day, drank way too much and best of all enjoyed just sitting and hanging out with the Childress' and the Parkers. The kids were inseperable and the adults pretty much were as well. It was hard to leave, but it was nice to be coming to our new home too--(except for the mesquitos!!)

As we continue, we came back home and Jake picked back up with baseball and we continued digging through boxes. Then on July 31st my sister and her youngest--Trevor arrived. She came home for a high school friend's wedding and a quick visit. She stayed with us Thursday -Sunday morning and then headed to Green Bay. The best part of the visit was on Saturday when I was her date to the wedding--Ken (bless his heart) kept all 4 kids and her and I were able to spend the entire day together--it has been a very long time since that happened. She headed back to Utah on Tuesday--good-byes never get any easier!!

Also on that Saturday, the Parker family came to experience Wisconsin for the following week. It was wonderful to have them here--we took them to some of the Milwaukee area hot spots and were able to enjoy a week of kids laughing, the boys golfing, sitting on the deck for a few cocktails and a night on the town in the big metropolis of Merton. It was a long walk home--but oh so much fun. Again it was hard to say good-bye. Jeff and Vickie--we missed you!!!

So that brings us to the middle of August and that seemed to fly by. Jake started football August 5th with practice 5 days a week until school started. The kids started school on September 2nd and whalla--here we are. Lots of fishing was done this summer, getting to know our neighbors and trying to get settled. Despite the quickness of it--it was an enjoyable summer. It was nice to be able to hop in the car and head to Green Bay and Oshkosh to see family--it is amazing how fast a 2 hour drive goes after driving 11 hours for 8 years. My brother Craig had an end of summer party and we just drove up Friday night and came back Sunday morning. This is the best part of being back in Wisconsin. Now we begin preparing for football season, dance and snow--ugh.

Joining the Times

Well, I never saw myself doing this, but I have joined the world of "blogging" --at least for a little while. I love reading my sister's blog watching her boys grow from afar and I enjoy keeping up on a friend in Texas. So, I will give it a try and see how it goes.

I will have a bit of time on my hands in the evenings since Ken is gone for the next 13 days. No one is too excited about that. Harley asked him to participate in this program and so he headed out to North Carolina to attend the program at Duke University. When he asked me if I would be ok with him going, I was sad he would be gone so long but how could I say no. We miss him already!!

Unfortunatly on his first day gone, he missed Jake's first tackle football game. It was very fun and I wasn't even worried about him getting hurt--for some reason the spirit of the game took over. His team won 39-0. For those of you who do not know, we have a constant reminder of our Kansas City life--Jake is playing for the Hartland CHIEFS and they play at ARROWHEAD Stadium. The pro team in KC is the Chiefs and they play at Arrowhead stadium--how ironic is that!!

The kids started school this past week and did well. Everyone is a bit tired but they will gradually catch up. I am still job hunting. I never imagined that SPED jobs would be pretty limited. I have a few in the works right now and hope that something comes through this week. I really love to teach and am excited to get back to work. If I need to sub, I will do that but hopefully I will be heading to a class of my own soon. Jackson is ready to play with some friends as well. He loved the kids being home this summer and is now asking where his friends are (Mason and Jackson live across the street and they are both 5 and off to Kindergarten) Jordyn is loving 3rd grade and comes home smiling and shares her day. Dance will be starting again soon for her as well.

I am not making any promises, but maybe this will be an easier way for me to keep everyone up to date on the Ellis happenings.