Again--a little at a time. I always hate the first day of school--not because I don't like my job, but because I do not get to see our own kids off on their first days. This year was even a little more painful because our baby started 4K. He was so excited to go on the bus, until he realized that Jake and Jordyn would not be getting on with him. Jackson takes the bus from the sitter's in the morning and then goes back to her house when school is over for lunch and a nap. He is loving school--I am still struggling with my baby moving into the next phase. It makes me sad!!! Jake is in 6th grade and Jordyn is in 4th. Both are also doing well. Jake and Jordyn get to school about the same time as Jackson so Jordyn goes and sees him before walking over to her school. Every morning Jackson whispers to Jordyn--"Come see me, OK." Ken and I are very proud of all of them.
I have continued my pattern--one day on, 30 off. Not a good pattern and it certainly does not keep anyone up to date on the Ellis gang. And as you know, the further behind you get, the harder it is to get started. So...I decided to catch up a little at a time. This may mean, just a few lines, or a few pictures or a combination of the two. The results remain to be seen. Here is the first attempt. For any of you that know me really well, you know that I LOVE black olives. When I was young, I would put them on my fingers and act like a witch. Now, when I am in silly mood, I still may put them on my fingers (and yes sometimes I am a witch) I am happy to say that our children are carrying on the tradition. Well, Jackson created a new twist to this tradition by using raspberries.
So this morning I am driving to work and needed to drop off Jackson. He starts telling me that they went on a hike yesterday and they saw bees. So it goes like this---Mom we saw a whole bunch of bees. Ms. Dawn said they were making honey. They were up in the tree. We saw um fly into the oven. ????? So I asked him, "What were they doing?" He responded as serious as could be, "You know mom, the oven up in the tree--that is were they have to go to cook the honey. Kids are too cute!! "
Surprise--here I am again and it is only a few days. So we were coming home from running some errands and are almost home. Jordyn busts out laughing and says "There is something you don't see all the time!" I had no idea what she was talking about. So I turn to the left and see this balloon in our neighbors back yard. So we watch for a while to figure out what was happening. We find out that they basically skimmed the tops of the trees and for some reason couldn't get enough energy to get back up and had to land. So they walked it out to the road which is quite funny to watch. They then deflated it and took it home. Like Jordyn said--you don't see this all the time.
Well I finally am posting--This one will be fairly brief since the pictures will speak for themselves. Our trip to Cabo San Lucas was absolutely fabulous. We met up with Jeff and Vickie in Phoenix and then caught up with Dwight and Phyllis in Cabo. From the minute we got there until it was time to leave, I had a smile on my face--except when we did a shot of tequila. We all were basically together the entire trip and very few "moments" were needed. It was great to have my husband to myself and just have fun without the stresses of everyday life. Thank you Jeff and Vickie and Dwight and Phyllis for making this such a fabulous trip. Friends--priceless!!!!
That being said--it was great to get back home to our kids and family. They truly are our treasures. A special thank you to Ken's mom, my parents and the Clementi family--without them Ken and I would not have been able to go on this trip and relax. We knew our treasures were in good hands on "their vacation."
Well here I am again--with a month since my last post. I thought it was going to be easier to keep up once school was out-- Hell No !! So...I am again going to bring you up to speed on the Ellis's Exciting Events. In early June--right before school was out my wonderful friend Christine Stigall came with her 2 boys to visit for the night. Her parents live in Chicago so she blessed us with a night of wonderful chatting and Jackson got to see two of his friends from Kansas City (they have been at daycare together since they were born) It was a great 24 hours--Thanks for coming up Christine !!!
***Then we added hardware to the house--Jake's baseball team took 3rd in a tournament. Keep in mind when you look at these pictures that they are from June--UGH !!!
***Then we got a very cool email--Jordyn has been asked to try out for the Performance Team at her dance studio. This what she loves to do and we are very excited for her. She will take special classes this summer and her audition will be in August. We are so proud of her!!!
***Schools gets out on Friday and we head to Kansas City on Tuesday the 16th until the following Monday. We spent Tuesday-Friday in our old neighborhood. The kids loved seeing their friends while we there--our kids and the Parker kids were pretty much inseperable--I am not sure how we didn't get pictures of Dwight and Phyllis but their absence in our pictures is not representative of how much we love them--we love them all dearly!!! We got to see Jake's old baseball team play, so we could see how the boys have grown and chat with many of the parents. Jordyn and I were blessed to have breakfast with her dance partner Sydney and her mom Shelly--my dance buddy. We miss them so much. Dance just isn't the same for me-I loved spending my Saturday mornings with Shelly. We spent lots of time at the pool and got to go to the The Big Red Barn farm in Weston. My wonderful friend Donna Grame came with us and then was so gracious to make us cookies and lemonade.
***Then off we went to the Lake of the Ozarks with Jeff and Vickie. The weather was hot so it was perfect for floating, laughing, relaxing and enjoying a few beverages. We are always so grateful to Vickie's mom Linda for having us to her wonderful and relaxing home on the lake--and of course to Jeff and Vickie for welcoming us. We love them dearly.
***We came home on Monday and tried to catch back up. We had baseball games on Wednesday and Thursday and then I left on Friday back to Kansas City for a great girls' weekend. The weather was still hot and once again perfect for floating, chatting and having a few beverages. What a great weekend it was with wonderful girlfriends!!! Ken was home with the kids and his mom running to a baseball tournament and covering for me--it was Jackson's birthday and I wasn't even there--I did feel bad--but if none of you tell him--he will never remember!!!
*** I got back late Sunday. Ken was traveling Monday to Wednesday. My mom came for a visit on Monday and hung out with us til Tuesday. Then my brother came down from Wednesday til Sunday--Craig, Ken and I went to Summerfest to see Huey Lewis and the News on Saturday night--What a blast we had!! Good music, good fun, great family fun. When we arrived back at home at 12:45 am--my parents were there to celebrate Jackson's birthday and go to a polo match. So my brother sang us a few songs on Jackson's new guitar and we all called it a night.
Well considering the last post I did was when Jake broke his collar bone on April 30th and it is May 31st--I guess I can give you a brief synopsis of our May. I feel like it is a repeating theme in my life lately. I have such good intensions to do this more often--an all of a sudden weeks or a month have gone by.
***This month I distributed all of the baseball and softball equipment for the 38 teams in the Merton Rec program. I gave out pants to over 210 boys and girls--and of course they all didn't fit so about 20-25 switches needed to be made. Needless to say--lots of running. I also helped on the next project as much as I could--which wasn't nearly enough!!
***We decided to buy a duplex that needed a little TLC. Ken put hours and hours of work in. I helped when I could. Ken's mom and my parents were also a huge help.
Then Jordyn had her dance recital this month so extra dance practices for her were required. Ken and Jordyn also danced in the Father Daughter dance so that demanded some time. I am so proud of Jordyn--she did great. It is so fun to see her smile and do what she loves--sing and dance. I am also so proud of Ken--the dance they did was not easy--he actually had to learn the Charleston, the bell hop along with jumps, twist and turns and on top of that--had to have the timing down. He worked hard too!!
Then we have other May fun--
What a crazy month--Hopefully things will settle down a little--but most likely not. We are looking forward to our Summer Fun!!!
