This is getting a little crazy!!

It certainly have been one of those weeks.  Kids have 3 days off of school for snow days.  That should almost be against the law.  It is certainly against any common sense that I know.  We made it through, but were certainly going stir crazy by the end.  I did not get my Wednesday morning alone.  That was very sad.  Kids returned to school today but that did not end the craziness.  To many activities in one day have left me exhausted.  It started out by taking Marcus to Sylvan Learning Center, then a photo shoot for a friend, then Macie speech at KSU, followed by Macie dance, then dinner, then Jill to a Valentine making outing, followed by me taking Miles to Big and Little gymnastics.  After that I came home and cleaned the toy room, put 3 kids to bed and have just finished my homework for the week.  WOW!!!  I'm tired just thinking about it.  Thankfully I have an equally busy day tomorrow and Saturday. 

This weeks assignment was to review 3 web tools you could use in class.  After doing this assignment, I am pretty excited about using some cool stuff when I do go back to teaching.  I reviewed 3 sites and found a ton of stuff I could have used while teaching.  Very cool were things are going.  Hopefully I can hope on board sometime and enjoy the ride. 

So right now it's me and the dogs downstairs hanging out while I finish up the night.  I finished reading the whole Girl with the dragon tatoo trilogy.  Great reading and would recommend them to anyone.  I am going to read the Hunger Games now.  Hoping they weill be a quicker read, but equally entertaining. 

That's all I got.  I'm tired and going to read to let my mind wander and then sleep!!

What a Week

Just finished my readings and project for this week.  It's been a great getting back to some quiet time at night. I'm actually enjoying reading the textbook we're using for the class.  It has a lot of info about Web Tools to use in when teaching.  I'm hoping to bring some of it into my everyday life as well.  I just finished reading 2 chapters on blogs and the author discusses this site and and gives a tutorial for how to start a blog.  There certainly seems like an endless amount of ways to use a blog.

Since my last post, life has been in full force here at the Ellner house.  It all started Wednesday with Miles going to his first CDO class.  I had all 3 kids in school in the morning.  It was a weird feeling dropping off Miles, but he was very excited and it's going to be great for him.  That gave me the entire morning to myself for the first time in a long time.  So I spent 3 hours running errands and never had to undo one carseat.  After staying at home with the kids for 3 years, it's small things like that that get me excited.  I picked Macie up from BEBE and we were able to go to lunch before picking up Miles.  It was an awesome time.  Macie and I rarely get to spend one on one time.  She was so much fun to be with.  It is amazing how different the kids are when you have them by themselves.  The day ended with the most exciting news.  While buying a TV for Doug to surprise him for his birthday, I somehow turned into my father and decided I should be a new TV as well.  And if you're going to buy a new TV, it should be big and awesome.  So I got a 55 in Samsung LED.  It's freaking unreal.  It's like the people on the TV are in my living room.  Even Jill was impressed.

Friday, I made my annual trip to Spring Valley Elementary to juggle for the school at there Personal Best program.  I have been doing this for 6 years.  It's always something that I dread because I need to find sitters for the kids and drive to Junction City.  But I have to admit, I love doing it once I'm there.  I really miss talking to students and trying to motivate them.  That is why I became a teacher.  The kids there are great and it was another terrific show. 

Friday night we headed out to Harry's to celebrate our good friend, Cathy's, birthday.  Great friends, great wine, and great food.  Doesn't get much better than that.

Saturday was an awesome day for the Ellners.  I took Marcus to soccer in the morning.  He played 2 games which he was definitely getting tired toward the end of.  I think he likes it, but he is not the most aggresive kid.  Which is fine with me because he has a huge heart.  2 kids ran into each other and got hurt.  All the other kids moved on, but Marcus stayed there and made sure they were both okay.  A parent next to me said "that's one good kid".  Very exciting.  After soccer we met Jill and the kids at Texas Star.  Crazy lunch, but the food was good.  From there we headed to the zoo.  Our kids favorite place.  We actually went and did not need a stroller.  As much as I liked that, it just shows how fast the kids are growing up. 

Saturday night was great as I headed to Doug's to watch the KU-KSU game with a bunch of KSU fans.  Nothing better than watching your team beat the crap out of the team everyone else is rooting for.  The night was capped with a showing of the A-Team.  I was surprised that is was actually a good movie. 

That leads me to back here on the couch.  I am looking forward to lots of things this week.  Most of all I can't wait to work on turning our guest bedroom into the kids playroom.  Lots of great ideas and it should be nice. 

Will probably take of tomorrow and then start working on my next project Tuesday.  Goodnight!!

Another Late Night

So now I'm really starting to enjoy these late night homework sessions.  It's pretty much the only time during the day that I can focus and think about what I need to do.  It also gives me time to reflect on myself.  I am not one for peace and quiet and my life certainly plays that out, but I do think I will benefit from these evening sessions alone. 

I just finished posting a paper about differences in teachers uses of technology.  I think it basically comes down to are you committed to it and do you want it.  Teachers are still shying away from it and that is okay, but I am amazed at how things are changing.  I can only imagine what a classroom will look like if and when I go back to teaching.  There is a time coming when we will no longer have that choice of whether to introduce technology into our lives.

Best part of these nights is when I am finished and can just hang out.  I turned in my assignment and have my plan to start working on my next one.  A little research tomorrow and writing begins tomorrow night and finish Thursday.  Need to be done by Thursday because it's our first group night out in a long time and we need to get a little crazy.  I don't want to be bothered worrying about homework.

Also have the KU-KSU game this weekend.  KU just finished playing and escaped Colorado with a win.  It was close, but actually feel pretty good about the win.  KU has a lot going against them right now and a road game usually exposes you.  With the death of TRs mom, they are certainly playing with some emotions.  I could not imagin being in his situation.  19 yrs old with a 9 year old sister and everyone that has ever taken care of you dies within a month.  Thankfully he has the support of lots of people, but that is unreal.

I'm starting to ramble so I'm off to do a little TV and reading before bed. 

Entering a new stage

As if I wasn't busy enough being a "Stay at Home Dad" to 3 kids and an amazing husband to an amazing wife, I have decided it time to go back to school.  So for the first time in over 15 years, I am actually studying and writing papers for a grade again.  I am beginning the process of getting a masters in Classroom Technology, which is a little wierd since I am a PE teacher.  I have always loved technology though and since I did most of the technology grunt work for my school when I was teaching, it seems to fit.  In fact, taking this class has motivated me to start up this blog for my second try at it.  My aim now is to keep a blog about what being a dad, husband, and student is all about.  Now I am far from original or special for being all 3 at once, but I am hoping to shed some light on what this all entails, especially when I have the crazy but fun familiy I do.

I started my class this week and it has been a great start.  I am doing most of my work after 10:00 at night  so I am getting to enjoy some peace and quiet around my house.  I wasn't so sure that happened here anymore.  As I am writing now, it is 11:30 pm and I have just read 2 chapters and watched 2 videos about technology and teachers.  I still have 3 chapters to read but that isn't due till Wednesday.  I am actually going to try to stay ahead of the game here since I never did that while I was in college the first time.  What I am finding about this first week is that while there is some interesting info out there, I believe the shock and awe of this technology wave is over.  They seem to want to show you a lot of stats that are supposed to blow you away, when actually if you haven't figured out technology is growning and coming fast you are blind.  It's a significant part of my life and I assume it will keep growing.  From me sitting here in my den writing this on my laptop, to my wife and I have 3 different conversations while texting at lunch, I'm not sure what I would do without technology at this point.  Anyways, I'm getting ahead of myself.  I have written 2 papers and responded to a bunch of my classmates work.  It's fun to see different opinions, but right now I just think we are all trying to figure out what the teacher wants. 

I have to get back to reading and Miles just started crying for me so I'm going to go.  Wish me luck on this new stage of my life and since I'm the only one probably reading this blog for the time being, "Good Luck Mark!"

Finally Playing in the Snow

After a month of snow on the ground the Ellner kids finally got out to play in the snow.  They had to wait for a 50 degree day, but luckily there was more than enough snow to play with.  We built a fort, made snowballs, and climbed around in the snow.  It was great to play with the kids, especially since I was wearing shorts and didn't have to get the kids all dressed up in their snow suits.

Marcus' Adoption Story

From the time Jill and I met and talked about getting married, we have both always wanted to adopt chidren.  I have many adopted cousins in my family and have always felt sort of a calling towards it.  We began the process to adopt our first son Marcus in January of 2003.  We had no clue the amount of work it would take to adopt a child internationally.  After about 5 months of working on paperwork daily we had our file complete.  It was about this time that Guatemala had decided to shut down adoptions for a undetermined amount of time.  After some soul searching Jill and I decided to stick with Guatemala even though it may take longer than we wanted. 

Sometime in the fall we got the great news that Guatemala had opened up adoptions.  We were put on a list and on December 15, 2003 I received a call at my school that there was a baby boy for us to adopt.  Marcus was born on November 29.  His birth name was Joan Andre Lucas Morales.  We held the news from our family so we could surprise them at Christmas.  The excitement and joy was overwhelming.  We finally had a son and we couldn't wait for him to come home.  We traveled over Spring Break to visit Marcus in Guatemala.  We figured he would come home in the summer so this was a good chance to spend some time with him.  We met Marcus the morning after we arrived in Guatemala.  It was an instant bond that will never be broken.  I was already dreading having to go home.  Luckily the next few hours quickly sped up our lives.  As our Guatemalan connections were leaving the hotel after dropping Marcus off, they turned around and told us that instead of him coming home in the summer, all the paperwork was done and would be finalized while we were there.  It turns out we would not be bringing him home with us that week, but we would be back shortly to bring him home forever.  After a week of getting to know Marcus and meeting many other adopting families and children I did the hardest thing I have ever done in my life.  I left Marcus with his fother mother and went home to get ready for his arrival.  I can still remember crying like a baby when he left.

We traveled home and spent the next 3 weeks preparing for his arrival.  A one day trip to Kansas City that started at 6:30 am and ended around 4:00 am, produced an entire baby room for Marcus.  We were finally called back to Guatemala to bring him home.  What an amazing feeling knowing that he was ours forever.  We all traveled to the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala to finalize the adoption.  I traveled later that day to pick up his Visa.  When I got back to the hotel to show Jill the Visa, we got a big surprise.  The had listed Marcus as a female on the Visa.  Of course I went into complete panic.  We were able to get a hold of our contacts in Guatemala and get the problem fixed the next morning.  Unfortunately I missed a complete night's sleep over it. 

We came home to a great family welcome both at the airport in Kansas City and our home in Manhattan.  Marcus was a great baby to travel with on the planes.  The car was another story.  He cried the entire 2 hour drive home.

And so our lives as parents began.  I was able to take the rest of the school year off to stay home with Marcus through the summer.  We took lots of walks and my afternoon trips to Target or Wal-Mart became famous.  Marcus is now 6 years old and I cannot believe it.  As I look back at everything we went through to get him, it all seems so small now.  At the time I wondered if it would ever come.  Now I just wish it would all slow down.

My Intro to Blogging

Ever since deciding to be a stay at home dad after teaching elementary PE and coaching for over 10 years, I have wanted to do something to document my time with my kids and my life in a very non-traditional family.  We are non-traditional in every sense of the word.  Not only do I stay at home while my wife brings home the bacon as a dentist, but we have also adopted all three of our children.  Our first two children, Marcus and Macie, are from Guatemala.  Our youngest son, Miles, was born in Emporia, KS.  Each experience was very different from the one before, and each special in it's own way. 

My hope is to tell our story and my thoughts on what it's like to be a stay at home dad to 3 adopted children who are from very different backgrounds.  So here it goes.