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.