At least they play fair.....

I should really discourage things like this, but really they were playing so nice. I wasn't paying attention to what they were doing...they were playing nicely and that was all I cared about. Eli and Isaac are playing "Marley and Me"....it is currently Isaac's favorite movie!

Christmas Break

The kids were able to enjoy the snow the other day. We were able to round up enough snow pants and boots and hats and gloves and scarves for Sarah and Jacob too....apparently you don't need those things in California!



Enjoying some hot chocolate afterwards

Christmas is officially over....

After two solid days of cleaning and organizing, the gifts have finally all been put away. The toys have been thinned out and organized. We cleaned the toy room out and packed up some toys for our summer garage sale (much to the boys' dismay).

Tonight after supper, Eli was being a pest and kept tearing stuff off the tree. He did great with the tree until the last few days. He has been ripping ornaments off of it and bothering it a lot, so it came down after supper. I am always sad to take the down because the house looks so bare. When we lived in our other house, I couldn't wait to get it down because we had a small living room. In our new house, it isn't in the way at all and I liked how it looked. BUT, I am so tired of telling Eli to get out of it, so it came down.

Christmas is officially over.  It was a great couple of days and we got to see all of our families. The weather messed with our plans on Christmas Eve and we were not able to make it down to Grundy Center. It was the first time in 31 years I have not been with my parents on Christmas Eve. I was sad to not see my parents and brothers until Sunday, but really, I realized it doesn't matter what day we celebrate, it is just great to celebrate together.

It has been nice the last couple days to let the kids play at home with all their toys and get things cleaned up and organized. I actually had enough stuff put away today that I got to do a load of laundry and try out my new steam mop. I never thought I would be excited to say that! It seemed like for two solid days I just walked in circles, picking things up, but the house never really got cleaned.

Great Grandkids

And because 7 kids was such a breeze....we decided to try 12 Great Grandchildren (10 and under) on Saturday at Nanny's Christmas!

Kalainoff Kids

Here are the Kalainoff Cousins. Isn't this picture nice....getting a picture of 7 kids ages 7, 7, 5, 5, 3, 2, and 1 is not as easy as it looks!

And I'm pretty sure there aren't three more handsome boys on this Earth!

Christmas Morning

Twas the Night Before Christmas

The stockings are filled and the presents are ready for three excited boys! I love this part. I remember getting so excited as a child about Christmas. The excitement is still there...I can't wait to watch them in the morning!

Snow....finally

Eli couldn't have been more excited about playing in the snow today. Everyday since the first snow fall, he has asked me "I walk in no?" I always have to tell him no. Today he got to test out his snowpants and boots. He was thrilled! He has so much fun out in the snow and would have stayed out there all day if I would have let him. He just screamed and squealed the whole time! Then the snow plow went by...he calls it a snow cow. We have been trying to correct him, but have given up. Snow cow sounds much cuter anyway!

Trouble with a capital T

Eli has figured out how to push the bar stools over to the counter and get the things he "needs". Here he just really "needed" to eat Isaac's gingerbread house.

My 3 Sons

Here are the boys before their Christmas concert last night. It is hard to believe that next year there will be one more handsome boy in these pictures!

Basketball Player???

The older boys have wrestling practice on Tuesday and Thursday nights. Ben is usually at high school practice so I drop the older ones off to him and then take Eli home. This Tuesday, Ben had a meet and there happened to be a varsity basketball home game. Eli and I went to the game while we waited for the boys to get done.

In the gym there are the side bleachers, and then there is a stage with bleachers. I usually sit up there so the kids have room to move around and play on the floor and we don't distract too many people. The boys got done with practice and wanted to watch the game for a bit. We got some popcorn and enjoyed the game.

At halftime, Eli was playing on the stairs from the stage that lead down to the main floor. I was letting him because I would like him to be more independent. He is rather clingy and shy when we are in public, so I thought it was good for him to be so brave. I need him to start walking more as I get bigger and bigger. I stood up to check on him since there was a curtain in my way....didn't see him, but just then, I saw a streak across the gym floor. He was running to center court to get the basketballs. I took off down the stairs after him. Evan is quite in tune with Eli and right when he saw him, he jumped the stage and ran after him (luckily not spilling his Gatorade that was in his hand). Eli saw Evan coming and took off running faster. They made it to center court before Evan scooped him up. Needless to say, Evan and I were quite embarrassed! The crowd was entertained at least....I was hoping no one saw, but I have had many people nicely comment on the "show". At least it was halftime and I was very thankful Evan didn't tackle him like he usually does at home! It could have been a lot worse I guess.

All I Want for Christmas....Part 2

Baby Brother...

Here are some pictures from our 20 week ultrasound today. We found out that we have another baby boy! We are excited and not too shocked. Of course, we would have loved to have a baby girl, but we have been blessed with four wonderful boys. He weighed 15 oz. today.