Kids will be kids...

Here are just some fun pictures of the kids. They do the best things!
As you can see, Rhyan is quite the character. Not only does she have her cool hat, but then she has to try to ride Ziggy while wearing it.

Rhyan loves shoes... even when they aren't her shoes. Hey, who says they have to fit? You leave your shoes out on the floor, they're free game! And below, we have Rhyan changing her dog's diaper. She's going to be such a good big sister when the baby comes!

Kaleb is entering the goofy stage of growing up. Doesn't he look great with his four front teeth out. This picture was actually taken a month or two ago, and now his bottom two are almost in! And below you can see the mind control the TV has over children. Turn it on and they are completely oblivious to the world around them!
And here are our cute girls with their freshly painted toe nails. This was Rhyan's first experience with toe nail polish. When I started to paint them she looked at me like I was tryiing to cut her toes off or something. She seemed extremely concerned. Once she realized she had pink toes though she would walk up to everyone and hold her foot up to show them off. The next morning in the bath she wouldn't let me wash her foot until I showed her that it wasn't going to take the pink polish off!

Everything you want to know about my husband...

Okay... so I've been tagged to tell you lots of great stuff about Larry. You will probably know more about him than you ever wanted to know, but then again... it's not like he's shy so you may already know all this anyway.

1. What's his name? Lawrence Edward Kalke; aka Larry. Sounds serious, doesn't it. Anyone who knows Larry knows better though.

2. How long have we been together? Twelve years. We celebrated our eleventh anniversary last November. makes us sound old, huh! But hey, that leads into the next question.

3. How old is he? 34, but who's counting. Get him around the guys and you'd never guess he's officially an adult. Do guys ever really grow out of being a kid?

4. Who eats more? Probably him, but lately I might be giving him a run for the title. I guess that's what happens when you're pregnant, you get hungry.

5. Who said I love you first? He did, and of all the times to do it it was in the midst of one of our first big arguments. It's kind of like that great line all of us parents use, the "I'm only doing this because I love you" and then the kid looks at you like yeah right. Just kidding, it wasn't quite like that. I was probably more to blame in the argument than him (maybe), and he was being his sweet self trying to explain why he was feeling the way he did... because he loved me & maybe I hadn't been as nice as I could have been (If you are reading this Larry, this is not an admission of guilt.)

6. Who is taller? Larry, thankfully. If I were taller than him, it probably would have been tough going to get me to go out with him to begin with. Then again, when his winning personality started to shine through, I may have not been able to resist!!

7. Who sings better? Probably me, but neither of us are real public singers. We sure can carry a tune in primary though, and our kids are probably our most appreciative audience. They love it when we sing them songs at bed time.

8. Who does the laundry? We normally split it pretty even. Just depends on who gets to it, and a lot of times we sit down and fold it all together at night. I will admit though, Larry is the one who irons. I don't like to, and he's so good at it I wouldn't want to deprive him of the opportunity to show off his talent!

9. Who pays the bills? I do. Larry's idea of balancing the check book when we got together was to call the bank and see if there was money in the account before he used his debit card. That didn't work for me so I have just done it since we've been together. I'm sure he would do just fine though if he ever had the great desire to help out.

10. Who sleeps on the right side? That depends on you vantage point. If we're in bed, Larry sleeps to my left. So, I guess if you are standing at the foot of the bed looking at it, Larry would be the one to sleep on the right.

11. Who mows the lawn? Normally Larry, unless I get to it first. I don't mind doing it, so if I have time I figure it saves him from having to do it. He is the one who edges though... I don't want to have all the fun!

12. Who cooks dinner? Normally I do because I'm the one home to do it, and I like to cook. Larry likes to cook too though and is a good cook, so a lot of times if he's here he helps or will cook for me. Most of the grilling is done by him in the summer, but I occasionally do. There are certain things he always cooks, just because he's is good at it, and other things that I always cook because I am. So really, it depends on the day.

13. Who drives? I drive much more than him simply because I am the taxi driver for three children while Larry is at school. If we are together though he typically is the one who drives.

14. What does he like to do? He loves to play and watch sports, likes to be outside and hike and camp. He likes TV and video games, though I know he tries to limit his time with that because I'm not a big fan of either one. He has recently taken up reading, and seems to be enjoying that. He likes to cook and he likes to eat – loves cheese, pretty big on ice cream too. He is a great dad and likes to wrestle around with the kids. He seems to really enjoy doing dentistry, which is good because he would have a long and dreary life to look forward to if he didn't. Larry is a people person, and he really likes to be around others.

15. Who is more stubborn? That probably depends on the day, on what it is, on how the stars are aligned in the heavens... We both have our own things that we are stubborn about. Probably overall I am the more stubborn of the two of us (okay, it's highly likely that I am), but I don't win the prize for being the most stubborn person in the family. That would be Mayson for sure?

16. Who kissed who first? That would definitely be Larry kissing me. I can't blame him though, I'm pretty irresistible! That's okay, it wasn't too bad for me either.

17. Who proposed to who? Larry proposed to me. When he first brought it up it wasn't necessarily a proposal, maybe more of "testing the waters." When he did propose he took me up to the Bountiful temple one night, and he'd just had knee surgery so he couldn't get down on one knee, but it was very sweet none the less.

18. Who has more friends? Probably Larry. As I said, he is a people person and loves to be around people. Besides, for he most part people just like him. I don't have a shortage of friends either, but I guess there's probably only a few I actually hang out with on a regular basis. I am a little more of an "I need my space" type person. And since I have three kids, that quiet, alone time is few and far between and I try to take advantage of it sometimes. But still, it's always fun to go hang out with the girls.

19. Who is more sensitive? Larry is... I tend to not be very sympathetic on a lot of things. When it comes to the kids I might be a little more sensitive with them than Larry, but I'm sure part of that is because I am around them so much I have learned to be a lot more sensitive with them than I tend to be toward other people.

20. Who has more siblings? That depends on which ones we are counting. I have two brothers and a sister from my parents, and three sibling from my parents' remarriages. Larry has one brother, a half sister from his dad, and four siblings from his mom's remarriage. So if you count everyone we are even. If it just full sibling, I have more.

21. Who wears the pants? Well lets see, how do we put this delicately? Just kidding... Larry and I are pretty good about sharing the pants in our house. There are days and things where one is more dominant than the other, but for the most part I think we do a pretty good job of working together and looking out for each others feelings. Larry is very good about making sure I am happy and liking how life is going, and hopefully he feels that I do the same for him.

Just for the record, Larry is awesome and I am really lucky to have him! He's a great husband, the kids think he's the best thing in the world, and I know I have friends who wish their husbands would do a lot of things for them that Larry does for me. So hey, that says a lot! And now... if you're reading this, Natalie and Emily – you've been tagged!

Mayson's beach night

Mayson's preschool does a beach night each year, with a potluck and lots of activities for the kids. Everyone had fun, and as you can see... Rhyan's arm didn't teach her anything!

And then there was snow...

We have been waiting all winter, as up to this point the only snow we have gotten has been as few inches at a time, and then it melts the next day. The kids were so excited about all the snow and loved going out to play. These pictures were taken on Sunday because they canceled church! Can't say that the kids were too disappointed. The only downside was that our dental formal was supposed to be Saturday night, and it got canceled. It's been rescheduled, but the problem comes that I actually had a dress I could still wear, and I can't imagine it will still fit next month. That means I have to go dress shopping, and though that sounds great, it's hard enough to find a "modest" formal on a good day, let alone one that fits you at 7 months pregnant. I can't wait!


You can see that Rhyan is ready for summer, she was convinced that it was good conditions for bike riding. She looks so cute in her little snow suit and would wear it all the time if we would let her. She requests her "no-tute" every time we go outside, and half the time when we're inside if she sees it.

Kaleb's Winter Concert

Kaleb had his winter concert at school a few weeks ago. They sang some fun songs, and Kaleb had his first solo speaking part. He did really well and we had fun watching him. As you can see, our baby girl Rhyan has finally figured out how to smile for pictures, with the patent Kalke cheesey smile! Her dad is so proud.

Wicked

We got to go see the musical Wicked last month with our friends Becky & JJ. It was SO fun!! I would recommend it to everyone. It was very entertaining and even the guys loved it. It's fun to get to go out sometimes as adults and not have to do kid stuff. Especially when that going out gets to be going to see a broadway show!

Monster Jam

Kaleb got tickets to the monster jam for Christmas, so of course, him and dad had to go and be boys. They had a lot of fun, and as you might assume from the ear plugs, Kaleb told me a few times that it was really loud! If you notice the jagged line that is Kaleb's hair on his forehead, that would be because he is practicing to be a beautician when he grows up. I tried to explain to him that it normally works better when you're not trying to practice on yourself, but hey... what do I know?

Valentines Day

Here are our two cute girls all dresses up in their valentine colors. You can see Larry doesn't have a shortage of women who love him!! Mayson got a cute pink unicorn for her valentines surprise, which she won't let out of her sight! Rhyan got this big pink ball that she is convinced she should be able to sit on. She doesn't seem to get that when the ball is as big as you, it's going to roll over every time. Kaleb got a star wars lego set and The Adventures of Captain Underpants book. Not very romantic, but hey, he liked them.

Matchbox Twenty

Larry is such a sweetheart, and for Christmas he got me tickets to go to the Matchbox Twenty concert. They are one of my favorite bands, and it was a blast. We had so much fun, it made me remember why I like going to concerts so much.

Rhyan's Arm

As most of you know, our little Rhyan broke her arm about a week and a half ago. She was laying on her stomach rocking back and forth on a bathroom step stool, about a foot off the ground, and somehow she rolled the stool forward and fell on her arm. We knew it was sore but she was using it, so we thought it was okay. Either way, two days later it was still bugging her so we took her in and the x-rays showed a buckle fracture on both bones right above the wrist in her right arm. According to the pediatrician and the orthopedic doc we saw, they don't cast these kind of fractures because they heal fine on their own. It's just sore and she's in a splint for a few weeks. As little as she is, they say within about ten days it's not healed completely, but it's solid again. I wish us old folks healed that fast. She favors it a little but she is doing fine, and you can already tell its not bugging her as much as it was.

Baby Update

We went in for our big ultrasound on Monday right after we got back in town. I am currently 19 weeks along, and as you can see in the picture, the baby had a nice tan and looked nice and rested. The doctor said everything looks great! We counted ten toes and ten fingers so we know we're good there. There was more than one time where we caught the little stinker with its hand in its mouth though! Hmm...do we think there's another thumb sucker on the way. I think there will be an immediate stop to that if that's the case. We figure it was either that or this one is already hungry and will be a non stop eater when it gets here. It kept opening and closing its mouth. It's pretty cool how much detail you can really see in these ultrasounds. We didn't find out what we're having, we're just happy everything looks good. Besides, Larry & I both still think its a boy, so who needs to find out...

Dominican Republic Trip

Larry said he had a great time doing dental work in the DR. He says it is nice to be able to provide a service for these people that they really need, and to truly be able to make a difference in their lives. I think especially since most of the people they were working on this time were kids. They spent the first day in a tent...how would you like to get your dental work done there!! The others days they were in schools working on the kids there.
You can see Larry must have felt real safe...he was hanging out with their guards. You know your safe when men with a machine guns are standing at the door to protect you!

You can also see that there is a great need. There are just crowds of people who show up to try and get work done. Apparently they are in the middle of their presidential elections there, so they went out to dinner with the head of the senate there, and were kind of used as a political propaganda to say look what we are doing for the people. Larry said it was fun but that it also made it more hectic because they were dealing with media and things like that.

This picture shows the area they were working in. You can see it wasn't a well to do area and that the people need all the help they can get.

After Larry had been there about a week, I flew down with Becky and Sabrina to join them at the resort. It was so much fun!! The beach was beautiful, the water was warm, and it felt so good to be sitting in the sunshine in January.
The resort had a couple of restaurants and a big buffet that was open almost all the time...kind of like a cruise ship. For the most part, it was all inclusive, which is good because then you really don't spend much while you're there. Here we are with Becky and JJ after dinner at one of the restaurants. Some of the food is a little odd (mountain goat) but for the most part the fish was really good.





















We had the resident flamingos at the resort that I had to get a picture for Mayson. She loves the flamingos at the zoo, and would have loved to see them out like this.
As you can see, we had a very competitive game of mini golf while we were there. It was played by DR rules, which pretty much equates to "jungle golf"! It was a lot of fun for everyone, though I am pretty sure there was no method behind the madness when it came to the design on this course. We swam, sat on the beach and relaxed, ate lots of food, watched some very interesting shows at night, played beach volleyball, and did some snorkeling. We wanted to go scuba diving, but unfortunately I can't do that right now. Maybe next time. I have to say, beaches outside the USA give you the opportunity to see a lot more skin than you really want to. It was really quite comical, and it made for a lot of jokes and laughs between friends. All in all it was a really good time and I am glad that I went down to meet Larry. The trip was short, but I am grateful to our saint neighbors, who though they have no children of their own, got a good break in taking care of our three while we we gone. As much as we love them, it's nice to have a few days of couple time every now and then!

Mayson's Night Out

This year for Christmas Mayson got tickets to go see the Very Hungry Caterpillar play down at playhouse square. She had a lot of fun and asked if we could go again next year, so she must have enjoyed it. They did the Very Hungry Caterpillar, The Little Cloud, and the Mixed Up Chameleon. It was all done with painted sets that are exactly like the Eric Carle illustrations in his books, and the people were dressed in all black so with the black lights on all you could see were the puppets and sets in motion. After the show they showed the kids how they did everything. We went to Applebee's for dinner when we got done, and I think all in all we both had a great evening!!

Merry Christmas!!

Christmas is so much fun when you have kids! They get so excited about everything. We had the Elders over for Christmas Eve and had a nice dinner with them.







The kids got to open their annual Christmas pajamas from Grandma Ursi and all of them were matching!














Christmas morning always starts a little earlier than I would like, but the kids were good and in their room for the most part until Larry and I were conscious!! They were so excited to see what santa brought, and opening presents is fun for all. Kaleb and Mayson were pretty excited about everything they got, but Rhyan is still figuring it all out. Kaleb and Mayson are more than willing to help if she needs it. After the first present she seemd to get the idea though. Kaleb and dad got matching remote control cars that they can race around with.















Mayson was pretty excited about all her stuff, but especially her singing and dancing Pinkie Pie (a really big my little pony) that santa left for her!


























Rhyan's getting to where she likes to open presents, but she doesn't understand why when she opens the present she can't immediately get the toy out of the box. She doesn't understand that toy manufacturers make toy packaging intentionally into torture devices for parents!! She like her new baby, but I think the thing she got the most excited about was the fruit snacks and candy she found in her stocking at the end!!

And last but not least.....

And just to let everyone know, the newest (and presumably last) member of the Kalke family will be arriving this June. I am currently 14 weeks along, and though we have moments where we wonder what we were thinking, we are very excited. We told the kids today and they are excited too. Kaleb of course wants a little brother but Mayson is insisting that we need another little girl. I keep telling them that we will get what Heavenly Father sends us, but Larry and I both think it is a boy. I guess we'll find out in June! I suppose we will find out rather quickly who actually goes on and looks at our blog....