Family Pictures

Ben's brother, Jason, returned from Iraq and we decided it would be a good opportunity to do family pictures. The last family pictures do not include Eli and Keegan. Here are the final products. It is very hard to get 17 people to look and smile at the same time...at the tripod and camera on auto-timer! We had to jump across a huge puddle to get to the destination and it was starting to storm as we were out there...
The Kalainoff Family
Brian, Jason, Jessi, Josh, Ben
Cousins - Dylan (3) Sarah (6) Eli (18 months) Isaac (4) Evan (6) Keegan (4 months) Jacob (4)
At first I thought the cousin session was a flop...but after I looked at this again, I just love this picture! It really shows some personality.
And the kids wanted to do a goofy one...

MUD

Ben studied the weather all week and learned that the rain was not supposed to hit until after midnight on Friday. With that, he decided that he would rent a trencher to bury the eaves and run them to the street. He picked up the $200 machine on Friday night, and by 6:30 p.m. the first storm was rolling in. He did not get as much done on Friday night because of this rain that was supposed to come later. He worked in between rain storms all night Friday and all day Saturday. Surprisingly, Saturday it really only sprinkled throughout the day. As you can see from the pictures, we have mud and that is the main reason he has been working so hard on the yard. We need to get it ready to see. The next step is to bring in dumptruck loads of dirt, level it off and plant grass seed. The machine also dug holes for the 26 trees we are planting as a wind break.





On the inside....
Eli figured out he could stand on his toys and watch the boys. He was pounding on the windows and laughing when they responded to him. While the boys were outside, Eli and I hung curtains in his room. He was just dying to go "out". He kept saying "coat" "out" "walk" "go"...he was desperate for me to take him out there. Not this weekend, buddy.

Brown boy

Isaac has already started his summer tan. He already has tan lines from playing outside last week. He has such nice complexion and it makes me so jealous!

Rain, Rain, Go Away...

Big problem

The other night at the supper table, Evan shared with us that he had a "big problem".  When we asked what it was, he told us "two girls are in love with me." I asked him how he knew. He told us that they tell him at recess and they "aren't even lying." When asked what he does when they tell him....."I run away." good plan!

Ma-ga and Pa-ga

Eli calls both grandmas and grandpas Ma-ga and Pa-ga. It is almost like he is just saying them backwards. It is so cute! The other night he thought he saw Ma-ga in Wal-Mart. He was shouting across the store "MA-GA!" 

On the hunt...

The boys enjoyed this morning's Easter egg hunt at the park. The weather was perfect. Eli particularly liked to pick up the eggs, then throw them, yell "eggs" and pick them up again. I think he only had about 4 total eggs, but picked up about 20...

Easter Eggs

We colored Easter eggs tonight after Eli went to bed. The big boys had a great time!

Chuck E Cheese

18 months old

On the mend

The boys have been playing and fighting all morning. I think they are finally on the mend! The last pictures I put on here were pretty pathetic so I thought I better add some from today. All are looking happy and healthy again!

Not much better

Here are the boys a few minutes ago...they still are not feeling much better. I hope they start improving soon...Poor guys

And now Isaac

The only thing worse than one child with the flu is two children with the flu. Isaac woke up in the middle of the night with a fever and complaining that his tummy hurt. He ended up throwing up this morning and is still running a fever. He is misrible and Eli is not feeling much better. Eli did try to play for a bit this morning, which is a step in the right direction. He has taken a couple of naps already today and hopefully he will start feeling better soon.

We are just hoping that Evan doesn't get it. He has his first overnight birthday party tonight.

Our Day

We had a rough start to the day today. I was scheduled to take middle school TAG students to Cedar Falls for a competition. The principal is the TAG teacher, but he is out of state so I was in charge. I didn't have to be to school until 8:00 so I thought I would let the kids sleep a little longer. I went into Eli's room at 7:15, which is what time we normally leave. Much to my surprise, he is laying there covered in vomit and diarrea. GREAT....Ben was at school lifting weights so there was no way to get a hold of him. I can't call in sick because I have to take students to Cedar Falls. Luckily, our babysitter was able to run up to the school to get a hold of Ben. He got a sub and had to throw together his sub plans. In the meantime, I have to give Eli a bath and throw in a load of laundry so we are running really late. I now have to get the kids breakfast, which usually they eat at daycare. Evan says a pop tart is fine, while Isaac is throwing the biggest fit for oatmeal. I am freaking out, wondering how Ben is going to get his sub plans done in 20 minutes for me to take the older kids to daycare and get to the school to pick up the kids that are waiting for me. In the middle of all of this, Evan loses a tooth! We are so lucky to have the friends that we have....our daycare provider's husband came and sat with Eli while I could go to school and Ben could get things wrapped up. I am really not quite sure what we would have done.

Eli is still misrible and has been throwing up off and on today. He has a fever and hasn't really moved off the couch. The boys hate to see him sick. Isaac has been by him since we have been home. He just hates to see Eli so sad. I am sure Isaac will be the next one sick....



Poor baby:


and the missing tooth: