Ziga Comes to Emporia!!

We were happy to have Ziga come down from Overland Park to spend a couple of days with us. Polona got to boss him around while the boys were at school. She had him playing house and dress-up and barbies. But as soon as the boys got home it was all monsters and cops and robbers and soccer. I quickly realized that he is definitely his father's son when after exactly one mile from picking him up he reminds me to watch out for the "policija"! I had many laughs as I heard Polona correcting him using his middle name -"Ziga Milan", as he asked me in all innocence why I had been soooooo mean to Janko and Matevz while I look over to make sure they are staying in their respective time outs, and every time I heard him say "Teta Nashna" and especially after Polona corrected him EVERY time he said it!! Thanks for coming to play, Ziga!

Snuggles with Ziga!

Fall 2009

As usual, it's been a fun filled autumn in the Kalan house. Janko turned seven years old, while Anamarija turned two. As the years pass, I can already see that October will be always a month when I reflect on how fast time flies since Janko, the oldest, and Anamarija, the youngest, both have birthdays. Take a look at what we have been up to........

Pumpkin Carving with Ziga and Star Ata

Anamarija picking out her earrings

The end result!!

Thanksgiving Cuddles with Teta Ali

Anamarija turns TWO!!!

Matevz showing his monkey bar skills at the school

The birthday girl

Attacking stric Jurij

Yummy cake!!

Our Anamarija showing her dimples!!

Fall Soccer

Hard to see, but Janko is on the right side on the very end

The Jayhawks-Matevz's team

Their biggest fan--Anamarija!!

Here are a few pics from the boys' first soccer season. Janko was very serious about improving his game and Matevz was basically interested in snack time :) But all in all, they had a lot of fun!!

Basement Project Update

The kitchenette area

The boys helping out

Action shot of tiling

The office or playroom

The Bedroom

Here are some updated pics of the basement. The carpet will be installed this week and then it's the trim, the counters/cabinets for the kitchenette, the bathroom toilet and vanity, and the doors!! We are getting there!!

First Day Success!!

The 2009-2010 school year started out on a great note in the Kalan house! When I got up this morning at 6:50, I found Matevz at the kitchen table with his uniform on and eating his breakfast. I hadn't heard a thing, which is highly unusual. After telling him "Dobro Jutro" and asking him if he wanted to try any of oci's zucchinni bread, he replied, "thanks mommy, but I already had some." For everyone who knows how Matevz usually wakes up (with his demand for s certain cereal that we are inevitably out of and it just goes downhill from there-fast), this was quite the nice shock for me! He finished his breakfast and was grabbing for his backpack by 7:05am. He was ready for kindergarten!! Janko was a little slower to get going, but he was ready for first grade too. His highlight of the day was getting to have lunch with Fr. Rich and of course, playing soccer again at recess with his buddies. We celebrated the day with slushies from Sonic on the way home. If only the next two hundred mornings of school will be as smooth as today!! I can hope, at least!

Janko and Matevz's First Sleepover

Last Friday night, July 24, 2009, the boys were invited to the Thomas' house to spend the night with their son Nicholas and 3-4 other boys. Here is a quick picture that I took as they were getting loaded into the car. Obviously, I chose the worst possible location for a pic because to the sun, but I was in a hurry and had to capture something to remember the day by. It was reported that after pizza, a water balloon fight, swimming, and a movie that they made it until 12:30. Needless to say, when I picked them up at 11:00am they were exhausted!

Canada/Cleveland Trip-July 2009

Polona & Janko cheezin' for the camera!

Niagara Falls

Taking care of his little sister

Watching the wedding in the park next to Lake Erie

Throwing rocks in the lake

We had a great time on our trip to Canada and Cleveland. We left on Tuesday, June 30 and drove all night, arriving at Windsor, Canada (just across the border in Detroit) and met up with Silvija and Gorazd. Silvija and the rest of the band were in a parade celebrating Canada Day. After the parade, we went to the local Slovene lodge for lunch, dancing, and listening to the band. In the early evening, we headed to Toronto. On Thursday, we walked around Toronto and ended the day with a swim in the hotel pool. On Friday around noon, we said good-bye to Silvija and Gorazd and headed to Niagara Falls. We stopped at a great little town close to the falls, named Niagara on the Lake. There were adorable, little shops and gallaries. We even watched a wedding in the park next to the lake. Friday evening, we headed to Cleveland. On Saturday morning, we met up with Tadeja, Luka, and Matej. We enjoyed the afternoon at the Slovene Pristava, then had dinner with them before hitting the road that evening back to Kansas. All in all, it was a great, great trip. The kids were real troopers in the car and we were so happy that Star Ata joined us for our travels. Additionally, we were blessed to see dear friends from Slovenia and make some new ones along the way!

Where did June 2009 go?

Blood and all!

Anamarija enjoying her snow cone.

Shirtless Matevz!

Ziga and Polona

Polona and her Cabbage Patch doll that goes everywhere with us!

This month flew by and July is not looking to slow down any!! We spent time camping in the backyard, even though it was 100+ degrees. Well, I should clarify and say that Gregor was a good sport and he camped with the boys in the backyard. The girls and I slept in the comfort of the AC! This past weekend, we attended the Habjan family reunion at Teta and Jimmy's house. The kids had such a good time playing with their cousins that they rarely get a chance to see. And today was marked by Janko finally loosing his top tooth. He has been wiggling it for months. He has now lost a total of three. Matevz seems convinced that some of his teeth are also loose and will be falling out any day. I am sure it will happen faster than I think, but for now, all of his baby teeth are safe!

Memorial Weekend 2009

Jurij and Janko playing with the boys' cool new helicopters that he and Melissa brought them straight from Hong Kong-Thanks you guys!

Janko with his catch!

Helping with the flowers for the cemetery

Bare bellied Anamarija

The kids and I spent the weekend in Chicopee. Gregor stayed in Emporia to work on the basement without distractions. Polona's fever and Matevz not feeling up to par put a bit of a damper on our activities. But Janko got to do a lot with Stric Jurij and Teta Melissa and Matevz tried hard to keep up too.

Dancin' Machine!!

Anamarija showed her true colors at Jim and Karen Simone's wedding! The entire evening she was in the middle of the dance floor showing off her moves. Her favorite songs were "Y-M-C-A" and "The Hokey Pokey"!! She had a blast and we had the best time watching her!

The center of attention!

The best family pic we could get-Anamarija was not happy about having to sit still for 2 minutes!

"It's fun to stay at the YMCA!"

Carnival Fun

Last weekend, we were in Pittsburg for a wedding and on Sunday we went with Teta and Jimmy and Paris to the school carnival.  The kids had a great time playing game after game.  Matevz's favorite was the cake walk, of course.  Polona loved going down the giant blow-up slide with Paris and Janko was most into the sport games.  The boys ended up with their entire faces painted and Polona ended up with a panther paw and a flower on her cheeks.  As soon as I get pics from the wedding downloaded, I will post them also.

Pictures from the past 5 weeks!

I haven't done such a good job of keeping the blog updated over the past month and a half. So I thought I would just post a collection of various pictures that took place since the last time I posted. Here they are.........

The boys on Easter

Matevz after his kindergarten round-up.

We were so glad to have our dear friends, Silvija and Gorazd, visit us from Slovenia. This is Polona pretending to sleep.

Storytime with Gorazd and Silvija

Crazy Kalan Cousins-our clan with Kaja, Ziga and Matic

Party Time with Ziga!!!