So Broken

This is a post I would rather not be writing, but it is big news in the Ellis house. On Wednesday, Jake went to practice as planned and arrived home as planned. Except when he arrived back home, he was not quite the chipper Jake that we all know and love. Jake had gotten hit with a baseball. He was going to catch a fly ball and lost it in the sun. The ball came down directly on his collar bone. We decided to head to urgent care just to make sure all was ok. X-rays were completed and they did not see anything, but said that if it did not improve in a day or so, that we should see our doctor or return to their clinic. They said sometimes you don't see the break right away. We iced and took some Motrin and went to bed. Jake went to school on Thursday and was in quite a bit of pain, but the doctors said to expect that since bone bruises are painful. Jake made it through the day and headed to bed for some rest. I knew he was in a lot of pain, but continued to ice and tell him to hang in there, a bruised bone hurts!!

Well around 3:00 I heard "Mom," and I got up and went in by Jackson. He was uncovered so I figured he was cold, so I covered him up and went back to bed. Around 3:30, he is calling again so I got back up, but he is still covered and sound asleep. Then I hear it again, but it is not Jackson. It is Jake. I turned on his light, and my big brave Jake has tears streaming down his face and is in extreme pain. I tried to get him as comfortable as possible, gave him some more pain medicine and called in to work to get a sub. Jake would not be going to school in the morning. Ken was in KC or I would have taken him to emergency then.

So, off to the doctor we go and Dr. Bradley knows Jake and his typical smile and spunk. He took one look at him and knew something was extremely wrong. He felt around a little and then all of a sudden he said "Oh yeah--I am pretty sure it it broken. I felt a little click. Let's get some X-rays and see what is going on in there." As you can see--there was no doubt that there was a break. He decided to put Jake in a figure 8 brace. It basically keeps his shoulders back.
Dr. Bradley had to pull Jake's shoulders back to get them in position to put the brace on. We then proceded to lay Jake down because he almost passed out. Jake has an extremely high pain tolerance so I knew how much he had to be hurting. So for the rest of the day and most of Saturday, smiles and the sparkle in is eyes were gone. Basic daily movements hurt--we helped him sit up, sit down and almost everything he had to do, Everything was extremely painful. We were careful just sitting down by him because the movement of the cushions hurt. The brace was something he was not thrilled about. He continued to wear it and we kept it as tight as Jake could tolerate.

On Sunday morning, we seemed to turn the corner. He had a little smile and joked a little with his Uncle Craig. He could get up a little easier and wasn't quite as ginger about his movements as Friday and Saturday. This by no means meant he was ready to go out and play--that still was really the furthest thing from his mind. And we all know Jake, so this is still an indicator of how much pain he was in. Mid-day Sunday, he decided he would brave taking a shower so we took the brace off. It was then that he realized how much better the brace made it feel. So by the time he was out of the shower he was saying "Mom hurry up and put the brace back on." We have continued to tighten it ever since.

He will be out of commission for 4 to 6 weeks--so he was pretty sad today when is new uniform arrived. He went to school today and seems to be doing quite well. Luckily there is no "rehab" that will need to be done, it will just be a matter of getting his arm back in shape and head back in the game. He will continue to go to practice and be part of the team as much as possible. What a bummer since he has been practicing since January.

This is what it looks like for real--as you can see, the right collar bone(on the left side in the picture) does not look much like the left--I will keep you posted as he recovers. As you can also see, a little spunk has returned. He was going a bit stir crazy so we had a family poker game. Jake, you have been incredibly brave.

Day Trip To Chicago

It was Friday of our spring break and we had a day of fun planned. Ken and I decided to take the kids to Chicago. We also decided that neither of us wanted to drive or deal w/ parking so we chose to take the train. We headed out on our adventure with the 8:00 train. All 3 kids were pretty excited and so were we. Our gang arrived in Chicago around 9:30 and headed for the Shedd Aquarium. We had another first of riding in a taxi--that was an adventure. It was so much easier than trying to figure out where we had to go--so in 10 minutes we were at the Shedd and heading to see "big fishes" as Jackson said. We were slightly disappointed to find out that the main part of the Aquarium was being renovated, so we would not be able to see the the dolphins and the larger fish. Oh well--a great reason to head back. We went to a 4D experience movie and that was quite interesting. In this movie, we were able to feel--mice around our feet, water from a whale's blow hole, snakes polking us in the back, bubbles from schools of fish and countless other shoots of air and splashes. Jackson did not like this at all. This is a very neat aquarium and we look forward to seeing the completed version this summer.!!

We then headed out to walk on the lake front and grab a taxi so we could head to Sear's Tower. Up we went to the 99th floor--what an amazing view!! It was a bit pricey to ride an elevator, but as Ken and I talked about it--God forbid this building ever be the center of attack--it will be something they remember.

We then headed outside to play in the park across the street. We saw double decker busses, lots of taxies and people everywhere. The weather was absolutely beautiful so lots of people were out and about. We hung out there and then walked across the bridge back to Union Station for our train ride home. What a beautiful old building!! Ken and I expected Jackson to be out cold on the way home, but that was not quite the case. He was playing and chatting away the entire way home. Each of the kids enjoyed something different--Jake liked walking along the lake shore, Jordyn liked seeing all the animals and Jackson liked riding on the train the best. Ken and I enjoyed spending the day with our kids and each other--an all and all fun day

How Do I Do It???

This post is directly related to the comments that people have recently left. Many of the comments were directed toward me and were focused on the idea of "how do you do it?" So, on Saturday morning Ken had taken the kids so I could get ready and run some errands that I needed to do. As I was getting ready my mind began to wander--and it got stuck on the "how do you do it" comments. I could do it all for only 1 big reason and 3 little reasons.

Ken--he is my rock. What a wonderful husband he is and what a great dad. He is truly a wonderful husband and my very best friend--I cannot imagine my life without him. He tries to make sure I take time for me, usually has the house cleaner than I left it and loves me for me. He is involved in every portion of the kids lives from changing Jackson's wet undies because he laughed to hard, to experiencing a pedicure with Jordyn because that is what she wanted to do, to working on projects with Jake that many dads just do themselves because it is quicker than answering the zillions of questions that are asked. I can do it because I have Ken doing it with me.

Jake--what a wonderful kid. He loves to help--whether it be outside with the yard, in the kitchen or with Jackson. He has a heart of gold. At conferences a mom, who I do not know, stopped me and said "Don't you have a son a the intermediate school" and I said slowly "Yessss" and then slowly asked why. She then proceeded to tell me she was working at the book fair and helped him check out. He had picked a book out for himself and then found a book for Jackson and then saw that his teacher only had one more book on his wish list. So he added them up and figured he had enough. When he went to check out, he was one dollar short. He wanted Jackson to get the booked he picked and his teacher to have his wish list filled, so he went and put his back so the others could get the books he picked for them. I can honestly say I had tears in my eyes--it is nice to hear the good things our kids do when we are not watching!! (He did end up getting his book because when he was checking out, his teacher overheard him and gave him the extra dollar so he could get his book as well.)

Jordyn--my girlly girl to the bone. She is so kind and helpful to everyone. At home she is always willing to help with Jackson and at the sporting events, she is always willing to let Jackson tag along to the park or to watch her play a game. She even volunteered to take him to the bathroom so I could keep watching Jake play during the All-Star game. As I was at a school function, her principal stopped me in the hallway and said to me, "I am going to miss your daughter next year. She will be an asset to every building she is in." What a compliment considering she has only been there for a little over a year!! She works with one of the boys in her classroom that had a stroke when he was young. I was able to meet him at this same school function, and it was heartwarming to see how she could look past the disability and see her classmate. Again, that is how I can do it.

Jackson--how can I not do it? The smile on his face and the way he adores Jake and Jordyn are amazing. He is the most laid back of the three and I think the most personable at his age. I think Ken and I are enjoying his littleness more than we did with the other two. Whether that be because we are a little older, because we know he is our last or because Jake and Jordyn were so close in age that we missed the little things. I am not sure what it is, but I do know that he is a blessing (just like the other two) and that his how I can do it.

I also can do it because of the wonderful family and friends I have both near and far. Without their help, I couldn't do it either. Everyone around me makes me who I am, and I am so blessed--THAT IS WHY I DO IT!!!

Thank you to those who leave a comment--it is nice to know who reads our blog. For those of you that don't leave any--that is fine--thank you for reading anyway!! For those of you who don't know how--click on "comment" at the bottom of the post and follow the directions :)

Our Wine and Chat Room

I told many of you that I would share our new room--we finally figured out how we wanted to decorate the room--Actually I will take credit for this one. I often find the kids cuddled up in the chairs reading a book. It has this warm feeling and is great for sitting with another couple or just by ourselves. This is the room that Ken and I enjoy just sitting and chatting in--sometimes with wine, cheese and a little music--it is probably our favorite room in the house. We'd love to share it with you--you are reminded--friends and family are always welcome!!

The Boys Must Play

Well I couldn't let this one go to long because it is just too funny. So Ken and Jake got up this morning with a mission in mind. They were going to get the 2 little John Deere tractors running. If they accomplished their mission, there was going to be tractor races around the yard.

So looking at their project, they had one that wouldn't start at all and one that didn't go into reverse. They had to take the transmission apart on one and I honestly don't know what they had to do with the other one. I do know that at about 10 this morning things were not looking good because Jake came in upset and said dad was throwing tractor pieces on the floor. Things settled and back to work they went.

Around 11 or so one was running so they had hope. Low and behold, around 3:30 I was told I had better come with my camera because the racers would be "starting their engines" shortly. Sure enough--I went out and cones were set up, the track was set. They had their plan and at the starting line the were ready...
Jordyn was the starter with her brand new kite--it was a perfect day...
So off they went and Jake obviously had the quicker of the two tractors and took and early lead--from the road, along the driveway and down to the rock pile... Jake wanted to make it fair so he stopped, posed for my picture and let Ken catch up for just a minute. Then Jake took off and again had nothing to worry about...
This ended up to be a no contest. But as Ken was putting along, he started his next plan of attack. He finished w/ pride and then told Jake to line up again. Jake knew exactly what his plan was The BIG Tractor...

All I heard Jake say was, "You can only go half throttle Dad." So race 2 was underway and it was neck and neck--they followed the same path but this time going around the trees was a little more challenging--who would take the inside lane...Who would take the outside lane...rounding turn 1, you could see the stress in the drivers eyes (despite the grins that went from ear to ear) Leaning into the turn (around the tree) was key to both their strategies
I promised Ken I wouldn't say who won the second race--but as we all know, if it was Ken and the Big Tractor--he surely would want you all to know. So, who do you think won....

Time is Flying

Well, I just wanted to do a quick, and I mean quick entry to let you know that we are all fairly healthy and just crazy busy lately. We have gone from the sad start of February and having my sister and her boys here for an extra week to April in the blink of an eye. But, here are a list of things that have happened in the recent weeks:
Jake had 23 basketball games, 22 baseball practices, 5 days of vision therapy
Jordyn had 25 hours of dance practice, 1 day of pictures (which is like 4 hours between hair and makeup, and a birthday party


Jackson had lots of tagging along and 6 days straight of a fever over 102--yes he was the only one struck w/ the nasty flu going around--poor thing

Ken had 9 games of basketball to coach, + helping on the 18 games for Jake's tournament team, multiple boondoggles for work, got off crutches at the beginning of March, started working on lockers for the mud room, and all the other things dad's do.

If you wonder what I have been doing--see the above list and add to it--I signed an official contract with the Hamilton School District so I now have a permanent position (and that is a relief considering recent cuts in education, went furniture hunting for our sitting room and whatever else mom's do.

So, I am sorry for the large delay in my posts and will do my best to get back on track. I am going to include just a few pictures so you can see how the kids have grown. (the little guy on my right is Ethan--my sister's oldest)

Hope you enjoyed my 2 months in review--Hugs from Wisconsin