On this particular day, Drew was teaching Jackson a three-step drop and I'll be darned if the little dude didn't have it mastered. Since this video was taken he's perfected his passing skills and throws a perfect spiral nearly every time, but I still love this video of a typical day in the life of the boys in my house. And I especially love Jack's little "hut" as he snaps the ball.
Sunday, January 26, 2014
Running Routes
If the weather is even remotely tolerable, there's a good chance you'll find Drew & Jackson somewhere in the neighborhood tossing around a ball. This fall it was all about football. The boys were almost always in the front yard, across the street in the green belt or next door at the swimming pool playing football.
Saturday, January 25, 2014
Halloween 2013
2013 may go down in history as the year of the costumes. Jackson loves to dress up. If he's watching a spider man cartoon, he'll do so in full spider man costume. If he's tossing the football around with his Dad he'll be wearing head to toe football gear. If he's working in the yard he'll have on boots, gloves and a reflective construction vest. Multiple wardrobe changes is a daily occurrence around here.
When Halloween came around getting him to commit to a costume was nearly impossible. So, true to form, by the end of the festivities he had managed to wear three different costumes.
Costume #1 was the Power Ranger suit he and Nana picked out during a Costco trip. This is what he chose for the costume parade at school a few days before Halloween.
Costume #2 was actually a set of batman pajamas that when paired with a mask made a great costume. He wore this outfit to school on the day of Halloween.
Costume #3 was an oldie that he dug out from last Halloween and was an 11th hour choice for trick or treating through the neighborhood.
I guess you could say it was the super hero trifecta!
My favorite memory from Halloween 2013 was Jackson's reaction after ringing his first doorbell. It was certainly not his first trick-or-treat experience; however, in Lawrence we always elected to participate in the downtown trick or treating where the kids just walked the blocks of Massachusetts Street and business owners would stand outside passing out candy. We never went door-to-door for the more traditional trick-or-treating. In Fort Collins our neighborhood is filled with young kids and a perfect opportunity to hit several houses all within a few blocks of home. After explaining the process to him, Jack was a little reluctant to go up to a strangers house all by himself and ring their doorbell, but the promise of candy pushed his fears aside. After the very first house (and a bag of fun-sized M&M's) he came sprinting down the driveway and shouted, "Mom! This. Is. AWESOME!"
We walked up and down about 3 blocks before joining Drew back at the house where he was sitting on the front steps handing out candy and chatting with the neighbors as they came by with their kids. Needless to say, the glowing KU pumpkin, a tradition of ours for several years now, was a great conversation starter!
When Halloween came around getting him to commit to a costume was nearly impossible. So, true to form, by the end of the festivities he had managed to wear three different costumes.
Costume #1 was the Power Ranger suit he and Nana picked out during a Costco trip. This is what he chose for the costume parade at school a few days before Halloween.
Costume #2 was actually a set of batman pajamas that when paired with a mask made a great costume. He wore this outfit to school on the day of Halloween.
Costume #3 was an oldie that he dug out from last Halloween and was an 11th hour choice for trick or treating through the neighborhood.
I guess you could say it was the super hero trifecta!
My favorite memory from Halloween 2013 was Jackson's reaction after ringing his first doorbell. It was certainly not his first trick-or-treat experience; however, in Lawrence we always elected to participate in the downtown trick or treating where the kids just walked the blocks of Massachusetts Street and business owners would stand outside passing out candy. We never went door-to-door for the more traditional trick-or-treating. In Fort Collins our neighborhood is filled with young kids and a perfect opportunity to hit several houses all within a few blocks of home. After explaining the process to him, Jack was a little reluctant to go up to a strangers house all by himself and ring their doorbell, but the promise of candy pushed his fears aside. After the very first house (and a bag of fun-sized M&M's) he came sprinting down the driveway and shouted, "Mom! This. Is. AWESOME!"
We walked up and down about 3 blocks before joining Drew back at the house where he was sitting on the front steps handing out candy and chatting with the neighbors as they came by with their kids. Needless to say, the glowing KU pumpkin, a tradition of ours for several years now, was a great conversation starter!
Thursday, January 23, 2014
Jackson Rides a Bike
Sometime last summer, back when we were still living in Castle Rock, Jackson requested that we take the training wheels off Travis. Travis Michaelson that is. Because every child gives his bike a first and last name right? We obliged, took a few obligatory photos and a video or two and let him roll.
It was a valiant effort, but not particularly successful. It was only a few days before he wanted the wheels back, but we insisted that they were off for good and he needed to learn to ride without them. As a result, the bike sat untouched for nearly three months.
On occasion Drew or I would suggest that he give the bike another try but Jack was completely uninterested.
One day in late October while taking Ruby for a quick walk after school Jackson asked if he could ride Travis. He was worried that Travis was getting a little lonely hanging in the garage all by himself. (And I imagine the twin 6-year-old girls next door who rode their bikes - without training wheels - had a little to do with it as well.) It was the first time Jack had expressed an unprompted interest in his bike since the training wheels came off so I seized the moment. I spent the rest of our walk explaining to him how easy it was going to be for him to ride on two wheels. I told him it was all about keeping your balance and looking straight ahead while your legs did all the work. I reminded him what a good athlete he is and that he is very strong so it was going to be a piece of cake for him. By the time we got back to the house he was pumped up and ready to go.
Drew was still at work, but I decided to keep going while we had this momentum. We walked across the street where there is a nice wide sidewalk through a green belt area. I held on to the back of his seat while Jack got his balance. Then I gave him a little push and let go.
I'm not sure which of us was more surprised when he pedaled away as though he'd been riding forever.
No running behind and holding the seat. No crashes and skinned knees. No lesson from Dad, a former cyclist himself. I like to think my pep talk had a little to do with his instant success, but more than anything I think he was just ready. We were both pretty proud to show off his new skills when Drew pulled down the street and witnessed the little cyclist in action.
Since then Travis has been replaced with Travis 2 thanks to Grump, the avid cyclist who always seems to have the next size bike ready and waiting for the grandchildren. Jackson has been on countless bike rides, including a 6 mile trek on the river trails when Gram & Grump visited over Thanksgiving. There were also a couple of helmets under the Christmas tree this year so now the whole family is ready to hit the trails once the weather warms up.
And just like that, Jackson Rides a Bike!
It was a valiant effort, but not particularly successful. It was only a few days before he wanted the wheels back, but we insisted that they were off for good and he needed to learn to ride without them. As a result, the bike sat untouched for nearly three months.
On occasion Drew or I would suggest that he give the bike another try but Jack was completely uninterested.
One day in late October while taking Ruby for a quick walk after school Jackson asked if he could ride Travis. He was worried that Travis was getting a little lonely hanging in the garage all by himself. (And I imagine the twin 6-year-old girls next door who rode their bikes - without training wheels - had a little to do with it as well.) It was the first time Jack had expressed an unprompted interest in his bike since the training wheels came off so I seized the moment. I spent the rest of our walk explaining to him how easy it was going to be for him to ride on two wheels. I told him it was all about keeping your balance and looking straight ahead while your legs did all the work. I reminded him what a good athlete he is and that he is very strong so it was going to be a piece of cake for him. By the time we got back to the house he was pumped up and ready to go.
Drew was still at work, but I decided to keep going while we had this momentum. We walked across the street where there is a nice wide sidewalk through a green belt area. I held on to the back of his seat while Jack got his balance. Then I gave him a little push and let go.
I'm not sure which of us was more surprised when he pedaled away as though he'd been riding forever.
No running behind and holding the seat. No crashes and skinned knees. No lesson from Dad, a former cyclist himself. I like to think my pep talk had a little to do with his instant success, but more than anything I think he was just ready. We were both pretty proud to show off his new skills when Drew pulled down the street and witnessed the little cyclist in action.
Since then Travis has been replaced with Travis 2 thanks to Grump, the avid cyclist who always seems to have the next size bike ready and waiting for the grandchildren. Jackson has been on countless bike rides, including a 6 mile trek on the river trails when Gram & Grump visited over Thanksgiving. There were also a couple of helmets under the Christmas tree this year so now the whole family is ready to hit the trails once the weather warms up.
And just like that, Jackson Rides a Bike!
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
A New Job
I spent most of August and September getting us settled into the new house, Jack settled at school and taking care of all the busy work that establishing residency in a new state requires.
Before I knew it, it was October. My promise to myself to start the job hunt immediately upon arrival in Fort Collins was already 2 months behind. There were lots of advantages to working from home, an opportunity that I will forever be grateful for, but with each passing week it was becoming more clear (from both parties) that come March GCSAA and I would be parting ways as planned. I was down to 5 months and started to panic.
I kept an eye out for any posted openings. I scoured the Internet every day for leads and of course I polished off my resume, reached out to references, updated my profile on linked in and became active on job search engines. But that didn't seem like enough. I also did tons of research and came up with a list of 15-20 local businesses with ties to the event planning industry that I wanted to reach out to in order to start developing a network. After all, I knew absolutely no one. That list included event production companies, private event planners, hotels, golf courses, event centers, city offices, and the like. I prepared a cover letter and planned to start at the top of list and essentially cold call them all and see if it went anywhere.
On Tuesday, October 13 the Fort Collins Coloradoan published an article about a planned 5 million dollar expansion at the Fort Collins Country Club. It seemed like a perfect opening, so the next morning I sent an email to the General Manager and introduced myself. Scott called me back within the hour.
As it turned out their Event Coordinator was retiring and they were in the process of searching for a replacement. In fact, while the position had been advertised, they were so far along in the process the job posting had been taken down. Having just started my search, I never saw the posting and had no idea they were hiring. When the GM called me on Wednesday he said they had 3 final interviews scheduled for that Friday. If I could be there, he wanted to talk.
I figured if nothing else it was going to be a great opportunity to polish off my interview skills and really get into the swing of the job hunt. I didn't have much time to prepare and was at a bit of a disadvantage because I didn't even know what it was I was "applying" for. I went to the meeting with as many questions for them as they had for me. I felt good about our time together, but wasn't convinced it was a perfect fit. The things that were holding me back were the hours (nights and weekends - particularly during the wedding season - would be a must) and the sales component of the job, which I wasn't sure was a good fit for me personally or my skill set. After much discussion Drew & I both agreed that despite some of my concerns, it was an excellent opportunity to get my foot in the door in the community, make some contacts, and have the security of a local job. Not to mention the fact that it is barely a half mile from our house. By the end of the weekend I was trying to stay relatively cool about the whole thing, but had convinced myself I really wanted the job.
Scott called again Monday morning. The club is managed by a management company out of Atlanta. One of their executives was going to be in town Wednesday and he wanted me to come back. I had a second interview.
This time, I had a much better idea what the club was looking for. I also knew that the candidate list was shrinking and that I had a real chance at getting this job. I came to the second interview much more prepared. Our meeting lasted over 2 hours.
I couldn't wait to tell Drew about the interview so he stopped by the house late that afternoon to check in. I was in the middle of telling him everything that had happened when my phone rang. Scott was calling to ask me to check my e-mail as a formal job offer had just been sent. 6 days after cold calling the Country Club.
It's been pretty much a whirl wind since. I accepted the position the next day (after running some numbers and sleeping on the decision). Then I submitted my resignation (for the second time in a year) to GCSAA. I had 2 business trips coming up that I had to see through and did my very best to leave things in the best shape for my replacement in Kansas as I could. I was also dropping by the club whenever I had a free minute to spend some training time with my predecessor before she left. Two weeks later I started full time at the club - right in the midst of the holiday season and the single busiest revenue month for banquet sales of the year. Talk about trial by fire!
The dust has settled now and I'm approaching 2 months since I joined the Fort Collins Country Club as Event Sales Director. The verdict: I love it. There are growing pains and there are challenges of course, but after operating on autopilot for so long, it's been a really welcomed change for me to have to operate outside my comfort zone a bit. We are a small staff and each of us has a lot of freedom to get the job done, but also a lot of accountability. I've been doing a ton of networking (both with our club members and within the community) and am more and more comfortable every day. Most importantly, the people I work with are fabulous. Of course, there are also some perks to working at the Country Club, especially when you are a family of avid golfers (like the chef prepared free lunch every day and full access to the golf course, to name a few!)
I don't know if this experience was simply a stroke of luck, all about the timing, or if some sort of higher power was guiding me through. In any case, I think we'll keep riding this wave as long as it will hold us!
Before I knew it, it was October. My promise to myself to start the job hunt immediately upon arrival in Fort Collins was already 2 months behind. There were lots of advantages to working from home, an opportunity that I will forever be grateful for, but with each passing week it was becoming more clear (from both parties) that come March GCSAA and I would be parting ways as planned. I was down to 5 months and started to panic.
I kept an eye out for any posted openings. I scoured the Internet every day for leads and of course I polished off my resume, reached out to references, updated my profile on linked in and became active on job search engines. But that didn't seem like enough. I also did tons of research and came up with a list of 15-20 local businesses with ties to the event planning industry that I wanted to reach out to in order to start developing a network. After all, I knew absolutely no one. That list included event production companies, private event planners, hotels, golf courses, event centers, city offices, and the like. I prepared a cover letter and planned to start at the top of list and essentially cold call them all and see if it went anywhere.
On Tuesday, October 13 the Fort Collins Coloradoan published an article about a planned 5 million dollar expansion at the Fort Collins Country Club. It seemed like a perfect opening, so the next morning I sent an email to the General Manager and introduced myself. Scott called me back within the hour.
As it turned out their Event Coordinator was retiring and they were in the process of searching for a replacement. In fact, while the position had been advertised, they were so far along in the process the job posting had been taken down. Having just started my search, I never saw the posting and had no idea they were hiring. When the GM called me on Wednesday he said they had 3 final interviews scheduled for that Friday. If I could be there, he wanted to talk.
I figured if nothing else it was going to be a great opportunity to polish off my interview skills and really get into the swing of the job hunt. I didn't have much time to prepare and was at a bit of a disadvantage because I didn't even know what it was I was "applying" for. I went to the meeting with as many questions for them as they had for me. I felt good about our time together, but wasn't convinced it was a perfect fit. The things that were holding me back were the hours (nights and weekends - particularly during the wedding season - would be a must) and the sales component of the job, which I wasn't sure was a good fit for me personally or my skill set. After much discussion Drew & I both agreed that despite some of my concerns, it was an excellent opportunity to get my foot in the door in the community, make some contacts, and have the security of a local job. Not to mention the fact that it is barely a half mile from our house. By the end of the weekend I was trying to stay relatively cool about the whole thing, but had convinced myself I really wanted the job.
Scott called again Monday morning. The club is managed by a management company out of Atlanta. One of their executives was going to be in town Wednesday and he wanted me to come back. I had a second interview.
This time, I had a much better idea what the club was looking for. I also knew that the candidate list was shrinking and that I had a real chance at getting this job. I came to the second interview much more prepared. Our meeting lasted over 2 hours.
I couldn't wait to tell Drew about the interview so he stopped by the house late that afternoon to check in. I was in the middle of telling him everything that had happened when my phone rang. Scott was calling to ask me to check my e-mail as a formal job offer had just been sent. 6 days after cold calling the Country Club.
It's been pretty much a whirl wind since. I accepted the position the next day (after running some numbers and sleeping on the decision). Then I submitted my resignation (for the second time in a year) to GCSAA. I had 2 business trips coming up that I had to see through and did my very best to leave things in the best shape for my replacement in Kansas as I could. I was also dropping by the club whenever I had a free minute to spend some training time with my predecessor before she left. Two weeks later I started full time at the club - right in the midst of the holiday season and the single busiest revenue month for banquet sales of the year. Talk about trial by fire!
The dust has settled now and I'm approaching 2 months since I joined the Fort Collins Country Club as Event Sales Director. The verdict: I love it. There are growing pains and there are challenges of course, but after operating on autopilot for so long, it's been a really welcomed change for me to have to operate outside my comfort zone a bit. We are a small staff and each of us has a lot of freedom to get the job done, but also a lot of accountability. I've been doing a ton of networking (both with our club members and within the community) and am more and more comfortable every day. Most importantly, the people I work with are fabulous. Of course, there are also some perks to working at the Country Club, especially when you are a family of avid golfers (like the chef prepared free lunch every day and full access to the golf course, to name a few!)
I don't know if this experience was simply a stroke of luck, all about the timing, or if some sort of higher power was guiding me through. In any case, I think we'll keep riding this wave as long as it will hold us!
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
Lacrosse
Sports are kind of a big deal around here. Since he was tiny, Jackson has always preferred sticks, balls, throwing and catching to most any toy we could purchase. As it turns out, he's pretty darn athletic too (so far anyway). So when the fall soccer season ended we turned to Edge, a local indoor sports complex that offers a preschool program for most any sport you can think of, as a winter activity for Jack. We let him choose what he wanted to try next and the winner was...Lacrosse.
At first I wasn't sure how he even knew about Lacrosse. It was certainly not a sport that we ever encountered in Kansas. Then I remembered some elementary aged kids that would have Lacrosse practice after school in the neighborhood park at Mom & Dad's house while we were living in Castle Rock. Apparently it stuck with him.
I can't help but note the first two sports Jackson chose to play are nearly the only two sports his Dad has absolutely no experience in. Although, Lacrosse was certainly a choice Drew was excited about. Unlike soccer.
So off to Lacrosse class he went. And oh my gosh was it adorable.
The timing of his class fit better with Drew's schedule, so more times than not it was a weekly activity just for the boys. I absolutely love Drew's story from the first day where one of the other kids was praised for "checking" Jack. (Or, using your stick to knock the ball out of another player's stick.) Drew said he could practically see the wheels in Jack's head turning as he came to the realization that not only were you allowed to chase people and knock their ball away with your stick, but you were praised for it! From that moment on Jack was a fan.
He loved it so much that we signed him up for a second session when the first six weeks were over. I realize that I'm his mother talking, but the kid really is good. From our perspective anyway, the concept of team sports just comes pretty naturally to him. It is so much fun to watch.
We've decided to encourage him to try some other sports next (I think we'll do basketball and football at Edge before the summer baseball season starts) rather than just stick with one at this young of an age. But I wouldn't be at all surprised if we are back to Lacrosse before too long.
Closing out 2013
I can hardly believe it, but here we are at the start of another year.
As I was thinking about all of things I wanted to do to wrap up 2013 (upload photos, organize and back-up the computer, file papers, print another years worth of blog posts) I realized the last quarter of 2013 went practically undocumented on The Elser 411.
I have to admit, it wasn't hard to step away the last few months. Whether it's true or not, life has sure seemed busier of late. But I also know how much I love looking back at our blog books from the past 5 years. And some pretty big things happened at the end of 2013 that deserve a spot in our annual record book.
As a result, I'm making the commitment and will spend the next week or so getting all caught up before hitting the print button and closing out 2013 for good.
So if anyone is still out there...stay tuned!
Thursday, December 12, 2013
Five
Dear Jackson,
I can't believe we are celebrating your FIFTH birthday! You've been waiting for this day for a long time, but for me it came way too fast.
We've thrown all kinds of challenges your way the past year. First, Daddy moved to Colorado while you and I stayed behind in Kansas. Then we all moved in to Nana & Papa's house for a while and you started a new school. A few months later we moved again - this time to our brand new house in Fort Collins and once again you started over at a new school. Three schools in one year! You have been so brave on all of these adventures and I couldn't be more proud of you.
You have also done some really cool things since we moved to Colorado. Like play soccer and lacrosse and learn to ride a bike. You throw a football better than kids much older than you and are such a good athlete. I just love going to your games and watching you play. You've also learned so many things in school the past year - like how to read and write all of the letters and numbers.
You are a good friend, a good helper and always make people laugh. You remember everything you hear and surprise me every day with your vocabulary and all of the things you know. You are tough, but you are also sensitive and kind to others. You are by far my greatest joy.
Five is going to be a great year. You get to start Kindergarten! And you are officially a big kid. I can hardly even pick you up any more! Even though sometimes I wish you were still just a little boy, I sure am proud of the big boy you've grown in to. And I can't wait to see what the next year brings.
Happy, Happy Birthday Jackson.
I love you all the way to the stars...and back again!
Love,
Mommy
I can't believe we are celebrating your FIFTH birthday! You've been waiting for this day for a long time, but for me it came way too fast.
We've thrown all kinds of challenges your way the past year. First, Daddy moved to Colorado while you and I stayed behind in Kansas. Then we all moved in to Nana & Papa's house for a while and you started a new school. A few months later we moved again - this time to our brand new house in Fort Collins and once again you started over at a new school. Three schools in one year! You have been so brave on all of these adventures and I couldn't be more proud of you.
You have also done some really cool things since we moved to Colorado. Like play soccer and lacrosse and learn to ride a bike. You throw a football better than kids much older than you and are such a good athlete. I just love going to your games and watching you play. You've also learned so many things in school the past year - like how to read and write all of the letters and numbers.
You are a good friend, a good helper and always make people laugh. You remember everything you hear and surprise me every day with your vocabulary and all of the things you know. You are tough, but you are also sensitive and kind to others. You are by far my greatest joy.
Five is going to be a great year. You get to start Kindergarten! And you are officially a big kid. I can hardly even pick you up any more! Even though sometimes I wish you were still just a little boy, I sure am proud of the big boy you've grown in to. And I can't wait to see what the next year brings.
Happy, Happy Birthday Jackson.
I love you all the way to the stars...and back again!
Love,
Mommy
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