The New Pit

Fire pit that is. We broke ground in September and broke it in in October. A little late, but it was better late than never. Uncle Max came over and we roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. What fun! Kiley actually ate a marshmallow she roasted, she didn't like it but at least she tried it!

We knew it was just a hole unless we prettied it up a bit. So we went to the beach and found some great rocks to make our pit into a fancy fire pit. Jon and Kiley stacked and styled the rocks so now our fire pit looks rreeeeeaaaaaallllllll fancy.

Check it out, makes you want to come over and cook some dogs, doesn't it?

What happens at the Clouse House......

of course goes on the blog!

The Clouses like to dance, we like to get down and boogie, bust a few moves here and there! Um, some of us like to do the "robot", some better than others.

Some of us like to record family members while they are doing the above stated without their knowledge.

Some of us get a very big kick out of doing things like this, the results are below.

Costume Party!

The girls and I got dressed up to go to a Costume Party on Saturday. We had so much fun, and the girls looked so cute! We went with a cat theme... even though I think my costume makes me look a little more like a mouse than a cat. I swear Kalin will not sit still long enough to take a picture- I must have snapped more than a dozen of her and this was as good as it got.

Kalin loves Pringles... can you tell? :)

Post 2-2-2 dedicated to Miss Kalin

This is my 222 blog post! Wow!!! That means I have blogged a total of two hundred and twenty-two times! Dang, that is good work on my part. I really enjoy blogging, it has been fun to look back on our archives and to remember what we have done. Blogging is great digital journal.

So this blog post is dedicated to Miss Kalin Clouse, aka Sis. She has been feeling a little neglected since the last few posts have been all about her big sister and Whiskers.

You ask what has Kalin been up to these days? Well, let's see here, our 18 month old has been a busy girl!

• Kalin can jump- she jumps on the trampoline, on the floor, the table, mom, dad, Kiley.....
  
• Kalin can poop in the potty! She has done her business about half a dozen times in the appropriate place. Now she has also pooped on the living room floor, in my hand (not on purpose), on Kiley's floor, in the tub, in the steam and most recently on the kitchen chair.
• Kalin can dance, and sing (we think she will be the next Kareokee Queen)
  
• Kalin can follow directions; "Sis throw this away" "Sis Mommy said get OFF the table!" "Sis go get a blanket for your baby" etc, etc.
• Kalin can say, "Dada", "Mama" ,"Ditder", "Conk-Conk" (big truck), "More", "Papa" and she screams like no ones business!
• Kalin thinks Kami, Oscar and Whisker's food is yummy.......
  
• Miss Kalin is so cute she just about melts your heart!

We marvel every day at how different our two girls are. Kiley has always been the Drama Queen- everything 120% and at full speed. Kalin is laid back, but not afraid to tell you NO, MINE, a watcher but still quite charming and energetic. We can't wait until she really starts talking, but then again we are a little nervous to find out what she will say!

Whiskers, Up Close and Personal

She just wouldn't sit still....

She doesn't seem to like to pose for pictures. I tried to command her to "sit", it didn't work. I also tried calling her name and doing what I do to the dogs to get their picture..... um, she isn't a dog. So finally Kiley grabbed her so we could get a close up.

The newest member of our family....

We were missing Matthew so much we had to do SOMETHING. Not that a cat can replace him or anything..... hmmm Anyway, :0 Glad he doesn't read this.

So for about two months all Kiley wanted to do was pretend to be our kitty- a kitty named Whiskers. That's it, every night. It would go something like this, "Mom, let's pretend I'm a kitty. I'm your kitty. My name is Whiskers. Ok Mom?"

And we heard at least 4 times a week, "I want a kitty for my birthday, a REAL LIVE kitty." (just so we wouldn't try to trick her with a fake one of course) So we came to the conclusion it was her heart's desire to have a cat.

We caved. I fortunately found a kitten waiting to be adopted. I am not a cat person, neither is Jon. So this is a big step for the family. Jon and I surprised Kiley on her birthday with a kitten. She named her Whiskers (in case you didn't catch the name) We told Kiley that she is responsible for scooping poop, and making sure that Whiskers has food and water. So far she has been doing a great job.

We are so impressed with this cat too- Sis carries her around by the neck and also by the butt and she hasn't been scratched once! Kiley, on the other hand has been scratched quite a bit. She tries to love her like a baby and Whiskers just doesn't go for that.