NEW RULES

Ben called the three older boys to the kitchen to explain a new rule he was making. I had to intervene.....

Dad:  "Alright boys. New rule. If you attack someone and they retaliate, there is no crying if you attacked them first."

Mom: "Uh, boys, update to the new rule....how about we don't attack each other in the first place."

Sometimes it's just better if Mom makes all the rules.

Isaac/Zeke 3 months

Just recently, we have beginning to see more of Isaac in Zeke. When I was looking through the pictures we had taken, this one reminded me of one of Isaac at 3 months. Sure enough, the resemblance is most definitely there! Wow.

Zeke's 3 month pictures

I took Zeke to get his 3 month pictures taken today. He was quite the ham.....when you get them done at Portrait Innovations, you get the CD with all the images. Here are a few of the "unedited" photos that turned out cute.....

Things overheard in our house this morning....

"Eli, get the sword out of your underwear. That's gross."

"Isaac, stop. He doesn't want to be arrested right now"

"You're a beautiful girl...with a penis" (shouted by Eli to the boys. Apparently that is a big insult in a house with all boys :)

Ahh....just another day at the Kalainoff house.

We have had a busy couple of days....

We hosted two groups for RAGBRAI (more on that later) on Wednesday night.

Today, we met my college roommate in Mason City. Shala and I were paired up as freshmen to live together. Everyone has stories of their "first" roommate that the college picks for them. I lucked out. We balanced each other out great and lived together for the next four years. She was the maid of honor in my wedding and we have done a fairly good job keeping in contact the past ten years. She lives in Colorado and was home in Algona for the week. We met at a park and got to see her husband Nick and their baby Quynn who just turned one. The boys enjoyed playing with a baby girl!




Shala, Zeke, Jenn and Quynn

Funny how all the pictures I have either have Quynn sitting in the grass playing with the balls or walking around minding her own business...very girly. This picture cracks me up. It was a cute picture of Quynn and her dad. Notice my two rowdy boys wrestling in the background. Eli is trying to put Evan in a headlock. He still hasn't figured out to pick on people his own size!

Mini Vacation.....

For me anyway.

The two older boys are with Grandma and Grandpa Kalainoff and Cousin Dylan. Yesterday they went on a small vacation to Dubuque to the Mississippi River Museum and then spent the night. They will be back later today.

Eli is in Grundy Center with Grandma and Grandpa Lennard for a few days. I have some things around the house that are hard to accomplish with him around. My folks offered to take him for a few days since he was feeling left out, not quite old enough for the big boys vacation. It was very apparent that I needed a break, too!

We just have Zeke at home. Things are QUIET! And it must be noted that I fed him last night at 11 and he is STILL SLEEPING at 8:30 a.m! I think he is noticing that the house is a bit too quiet as well!

Little Boy

Dirt and Band-Aides
Loud
Rough
Wild

Eli fits the mold....

Biggest and Littlest

We have had a VERY challenging summer. It has been rough. There have been some bad days. The bigger boys need a routine and school is good for them. I have decided that things would go just perfect if I let them watch t.v., play the computer and play the Wii all summer for as long as they wanted. We wouldn't have the arguements and power struggles. I have chosen to take the hard road. They have time limits on each of those things....and naturally it is not enough time. Evan is to the age where laying around being lazy is much more appealing that going outside and playing. Isaac follows in Evan's footsteps. Whatever Evan does, Isaac is right behind him. They are also to the ages where they tend to show a bit more attitude. They aren't always the sweet little boys that listen to Mom all the time like they used to be (I think they used to listen to me). Eli is HIGH maintence. He is the most difficult child yet. He is so persistent and stubborn. There is no reasoning with him what so ever. He is hard. He has lots of energy and lots of ideas (not all of them good or safe). Ben has been busy all summer. He went from roofing a house, to building a deck and now finishing up grad school this month. He has a major project due in a few weeks and he has been STRESSED. I am tired. We haven't gotten a full night's sleep in a long time. Zeke is sleeping through the night, but Eli is up more nights that what he sleeps. I am nursing Zeke, which is very demanding on a person's body and time. I am not too fun to live with.

All of these things add up to a rough summer. We have had some really great moments and some really fun days. Don't get me wrong...but things have not been perfect in the least. Ben and I are so lucky to be able to spend the whole summer at home with the kids. It is so refreshing to have a break from school. It is also challenging to be under the same roof for three months when we are all used to being on the go.

But there are reminders of how blessed we are....this is one of them. Evan has been a life saver this summer. He is SO good with the little boys. He has been so much help doing the little things that make the days go so much better. Sometimes when I am feeding Zeke, Eli has to go potty. When he has to go, he has to go right now...Evan jumps right up and takes him. Whenever Zeke is fussing, Evan picks him up and consoles him. This afternoon he asked if he could hold Zeke. I walked into the living room and this is what I saw. There is nothing sweeter than this.....

even on the worse days...........

Does this diaper make me look fat?

Dennis the Menace

Eli is going to have a hard time explaining why his real name is Eli but he goes by Dennis....

This kid has so many of the same qualities as Dennis the Menace. The blonde hair, the loud voice (he only has one volume and it LOUD!), he is always up to something and he talks all the time! He is something else.....

12 Weeks Old

Zeke is 12 weeks old today. I can't believe it.

Zeke is sleeping about 8-9 hours a night. He is happy, content, and if he does fuss, he is very easy to fix. He is either hungry or tired which means I feed him or we cuddle him. He loves watching his big brothers and I know he is taking notes.....I think I would rather he stay this age forever! 12 weeks is old enough, Zeke....stop getting so big! We just can't get enough of him and his smiles and giggles.

A Day at the Beach

So, it's not the ocean...just the dirty lake, but with a hot day like to day, it didn't really matter. I took the boys to the beach at the lake in Nashua. Tucker loved it! I didn't get too many pictures because Eli made me nervous out there. He is much too brave! Between watching him and untangling the dog leash, it was an exhausting afternoon to say the least!

Ben is making progress on the deck. We are now to the point where we can use it....it just doesn't have stairs or railings. These pictures are from the other day when they had a picnic out there. Not today!!! It is 93 degrees with a heat index of 112....it is horrible outside!

Today was an inside day. The boys and I were busy rearranging beds. We got a new double bed for the older two. They have shared a bed nearly every night....We had a set of bunk beds in their room, and they shared the top one. Eli has gotten out of his toddler bed nearly every night he has been in it. We just moved Zeke to the crib and I noticed that every night I went in there, Eli was either on the floor or his legs and feet were hanging off. Our theory is that he is falling out of bed and that is why he isn't sleeping. We took down the bunk beds in the older boys' room and moved one of the beds to Eli and Zeke's room. We'll see if our theory is right. He should have a bit more room to move around this way. I didn't get a picture of Eli in his room, but here are the boys with their new bed. They picked out camo bedding for it.

Stamp of Approval

At first Zeke didn't know what to think about the high chair. He was a bit concerned, but it didn't take him long to figure out it was kind of fun! He is so funny....Most every smile includes a big squeal too! He has figured out that if he smiles and laughs at the older boys, they pay more attention to him. He always has big smiles for them...and they always stick around to get one more smile! It's a win win situation for both!