Sisters

This past week, Polona has been battling a fever. Much to her disappointment, she has been home from school all week. On Monday, Anamarija was so excited that Polona would be home with her during the day. She had high hopes of playing house or Polly Pockets all day with her sister. In the morning, Polona was too sick to play, but around noon the Tylenol had kicked in and off they went. After about an hour of hearing their little voices talk out different scenarios with their babies, their room fell silent. When I went to check on them, this is what I found.....

Within 24-hours, Anamarija also had a fever....I am so thankful that my girls have each other to share literally everything!

Two out of Four!

Check out the pictures of Matevz in his new glasses! Soon after Janko got his glasses this fall, Matevz began to have headaches and tell us that words were blurry. Being the great parents we are, we at first dismissed them as a case of "I want what my brother has". In our defense though, one of the ways that we knew how much Janko needed glasses was because compared to Matevz's results on the highly accurate "flash cards across the room" eye exam, Janko couldn't see anything! So we thought Matevz had great eyes. We were wrong....after two exams, it was determined that he needed bifocals. He has had them five days now and has adjusted wonderfully! It's amazing how much much smoother things run in the house when the boys can see across the room AND see the book in front of them as they read!! Consequently, much to my sadness, it appears that at least two of the kids were blessed with their mother's eyes instead of either father's!! And just when I thought it was finally under control, Polona asked me yesterday, "Mommy, why do I put on Matevz's glasses and they are blurry, but Janko's glasses make everything clear?" . I can only hope she is having a case of "I want what my brothers have". Maybe I had better get that checked out!!

Polona lost her first tooth x 2!

On Sunday, November 13, 2011 lost her first and second tooth! The first one was really loose so one quick pull with the string tied around it sent it flying across the room. It was so easy and painless that she decided to give the one next to it a try. It was not nearly as loose, but after a little work and a little pain it came out too!! Here is an updated picture of our kindergartener!

Happy All Saints Day!

In honor of All Saints Day, Janko and the rest of the 3rd graders dressed-up like their favorite saint and stood in front of the church and told a little about their saint. Janko chose his patron saint, St. John Bosco. True to how Janko handles things, I was surprised to see Janko taking up the gifts during Mass. He had never mentioned this! He also had failed to tell us that he had to memorize his speech. I had helped him with his paragraph about the life of St. John Bosco, but I had no idea that he had to memorize it. He did a great job!! He spoke loudly and clearly and looked adorable as a his patron saint.

Matevz is already planning his St. Matthew costume for next year when it's his turn

Janko's fellow 3rd graders

My little saint

Janko Gets Glasses

For many years, Gregor and I always wondered which one of our kids would get my eyes, as apposed to Gregor's 20/20 vision. We now know that Janko inherited his eyes from his mom. It broke my heart to see his face light up when the new glasses were first placed on his face and left me thinking for the millionth time in the last month just how long he needed glasses before we realized it. He has adjusted wonderfully to his glasses. The doctor has been right...he needs them enough that we will not have to fight with him to keep them on because he sees so much better with them. His routine is just like his mom's; his glasses are the last thing he takes off before closing his eyes to go to sleep and the first thing that he does when he opens his eyes in the morning.

Polona and Anamarija playing dress-up on a cool, fall September day.

Sweet Anamarija

Since I am beyond terrible at keeping up on the kids' baby books, especially poor youngest child Anamarija, I thought I would at least take a few minutes to get one of the moments of the past week on "paper" before it becomes a memory that escapes me. Ana LOVES the Taylor Swift song entitled "Mean". Over and over she will sing, "Sooome day, I'll be livin' in a big ol' city and all you're ever gonna be is MEAN". After a particular long evening of studying dreaded microbiology, she came up to me and gave me a hug and sang "All you're ever gonna be is my momma". Thank you, Ana, for the reminder that that is all I ever want to be!!

Summer 2011

Wow!! It's been awhile since this got an up-date. I should be studying for my up-coming dreadful microbiology test. But since Melissa was kind enough to send me some pics, I thought it would be much more fun to post them! The last several months have been a whirlwind, as usual. The biggest event was moving into the house! There are still several small projects to go on it, but we are enjoying getting settled in. My husband is an amazing man and did such a wonderful job creating an adorable home for us. There are not many people in this world who work as hard as he does and we are blessed to be enjoying the fruits of his labors!

The kids and I finished school in May and I had a couple of weeks off before the summer semester started. I have my eyes set on being finished in December. It can't come soon enough. In the meantime, the kids are busy with sports camps, cooking class, drama camp (as if any of my kiddos need any drama practice :), church camp, and swimming lessons. As I have always said, there is never a dull moment in our life. Slowing down a little and being able to enjoy life a little more is a goal that we are working on....in the future!!

Stic Jurij and Teta Melissa gave us a night off last weekend! The kids had a blast eating smores and spending the night in Carthage!

Love Anamarija's expression in this one!

Gregor loving on Teja!!!

Playset Ads

The kids have done shoots with a playset manufacturer and we were really excited when Jurij spotted them in a Cabella's ad.
Matevz is swinging from the rings. Anamarija is on the slide. Polona is peeking out of the house part and Janko is on the monkey bars. Keep your eye out for them in any playset ads!

House Progress

Here is a look at how the house is coming along. The plan is to be in it sometime in May!

The girls' pink and yellow room. They both got their wish!

The living room from the kitchen. The half wall in the foreground is where the cabinets, bar, and counter will be.

Our room

The Celebration Begins!!

We kicked off Polona's 5th birthday with a gathering of friends and family this afternoon. She was happy to share the day with Matic who will soon celebrate his second birthday as well. It's so hard to believe that our tiny, tiny little girl has grown into such a sweet, caring, and loving five year-old who never knows a stranger.

Tinkerbell cake by the ever-talented Tadeja!!

13 kids from age 8 to 2 months attended!

Matic loves some salami!!

Kaja, Eva, and Tinkara

The Kalan Clan minus Janko and the Rakovec Kids

Visiting Emporia

Polona and Anamarija hanging out with their buddies, Amelia and Sara.

Here's what we have been up to the past couple of weeks.......

I can't believe Janko is now eight years old!!

The progress on the house.......They will be starting on the second floor this week........

Sisters :)

Anamarija je 3!!!

Anamarija and her girlies!!!

Ground Breaking

On September 15th, the builder broke ground on our new house in Chicopee! We are excited and hopeful that he will finish quickly so that we can fully unpack and really feel settled.

Polona Goes to School....

The months and months of waiting were finally over for Polona as she started school on Monday!! She loves her teacher, Mrs. Jill and enjoys playing with her new friends, Isabella and Jaden. Here is a glimpse of her first morning.....

Anamarija wouldn't let her out of her sight all morning until after one final hug when we had to leave her sister there for the morning!

The new morning routine is wearing Anamarija out!!! Naptime!!

Matevz Looses His First Tooth

Tonight, Matevz lost his first tooth. However, he did it in typical "Matevz" style. Earlier, Janko had lost a tooth and was excited to tuck it under his pillow. The excitement was contagious as Matevz felt his tooth to see if it would also be ready. Since we only discovered that it was even slightly loose a day or two ago, I felt it and again could barely feel it move. So I told him that it would probably be many days before it actually fell out. But.......if he wiggled it and wiggled it each night before he went to sleep, then maaaaybe it would be out before school started next week. He took my advice to heart and started wiggling. After 15 minutes, Gregor humored him by tying a string around it to assist in the wiggling. Two yanks on that little tooth and Matevz had it out! He never ceases to surprise us with his determination!! And like his big brother, he happily placed that tooth under his pillow!

Matevz and his Emporia buddies

Fun times with Ziga!!

Celebrating Stara Mama's birthday

Summertime Fun!!

Finally getting a chance to update the blog. Now that we have a new camera, hopefully updates will be a little more consistent. Here are some various pics of the kids to highlight what we have been up to lately!

Getting all dressed up and heading to a wedding!

Polona and Anamarija in bow heaven!

The girls hoping that we let them go into the fancy, girly store........

Janko and Matevz