Merry Christmas from the House of Clouse!

From our house to yours, hoping you had a safe and fabulous day filled with fun, family and lots of laughter. Our house was filled with all of these, and more!

It was -15 at our house this morning and warmed up to about -5, and about 5 hours of daylight.. I am hoping that this time next year we wake up to 75+, lots of sun and warm sand.

The Christmas Party

Family picture #1

Family picture #2

and....Family picture #3

So after looking at our three attempts at a good picture- I am wondering what the heck were Blaker and Kalin LOOKING AT?

Our district office Christmas party was a big hit again this year. The girls were super, super excited to see Santa. Why over-the-top excitement you ask? We made a point to tell them that when Santa comes he will bring a present for them that they get to open early. I also had to make the point that if they didn't start getting along better that when Santa brought the presents they weren't going to get to open them. Just keepin' it real people. I am 8 months pregnant after all.

Kiley told after we told her Santa was watching her, "Santa never brings me what I want anyway."
Let's just say that Santa is going to rock her world this year. How do we know? We're the parents, we know everything. Anddon'tyouforgetit.

Blaker even got excited about his present from Santa....

Fun was had by all, even the parents.

No matter how good the pine smells, don't try to smell it! Ouch!

Cookie making and tasting

K-2 Christmas Program

I have never seen Kiley so excited for a program before. I hit a home run with her "Christmas Outfit"-- lots of sparkles, black pants and NO dress in sight. That might have been a part of it. I think a big part of it was the fact that Papa, Gram, Coleman, Kalin, Amma Bossy, and Mom and Dad were there to see her sing her little heart out.

We have been hearing her sing the assigned first grade songs since about the beginning of November- "All I Want For Christmas is My Two Front Teeth" as well as "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus." The latter she liked to sing directly to me, got a kick out of it, she actually told me, "Mom I know you wouldn't do that!" I didn't have the heart to tell her Santa was her Daddy.... we'll wait a year or two for that revelation. It was so cute to hear all the first graders singing together. Pretty soon Sis is going to be up on that stage!

The obligatory Sister picture, love it every year.

Speaking of.... Sis was pretty excited about the Christmas program too- she loves excuses to wear her pretty dresses. What? Tuesday isn't a good enough excuse anymore? But MOM it's ONLY -20 outside!

Wolverine Wrestling, 2011

Our wrestler finished up his last week of wrestling last weekend. He finished his first and last season of Wolverine Wrestling fifth in the region in the 182 pound class. It was a grueling weekend chocked full of wrestling match after wrestling match! Jon and I both took the day off to watch, and for Jon to volunteer. The girls and I didn't leave the gym Friday night until after 11:00 p.m.!
I wish my camera took better picture- but these are the best I could do.


Below is a picture of what I consider to be the best match of the night. Blake wrestled against a KNW Eagle- so I had to cheer against my old crowd. Whew, it was loud but I got my voice heard! Blake won by points and right at the end the kids parent he was wrestling yelled, "At least he didn't PIN YOU!" haha, it was awesome. Highlight of the weekend for me!

We are super proud of Blake for joining and finishing wrestling this year, it was a great learning experience for him.

Frosty Walk....

We have had the weirdest weather here in SW Alaska.... well I guess its only been atypical for the last week or so. Dillingham got a ton of snow and then some seriously cold temperatures fast this year. Over Thanksgiving break we had temps down to -20, this week we have had temps in the mid + 30's, and RAIN! That is weird, and I don't like it very much. Both extremes make it hard to get out and about... especially for this pregnant Mama. My winter clothes are getting awfully tight and the rain gear has been packed away, for a while now.

So anyway, even though it was freezing cold outside we got out to take a walk. It was hovering around -15, but we managed to dress in enough layers to stay warm for a little while. Jon's 'stache got a little frosty as did Sis's hair.


Kami and Oscar had a blast running around.... the cold doesn't seem to bother them much when they are with us! Jon rigged up the sled to Oscar's collar and he pulled the girls for a bit, as long as Jon was running with him. Winter fun... that's what we are about!

About 30 weeks....

Can you guess which one? :) We had to coerce Sis into posing with us... she wasn't in the best of moods. I love the picture of Kiley and I posing together when Sis was inside, priceless. Clouse Baby #3 will love this picture too.

I've been altering between this type of a mood (see above) and this....

We don't have much longer to wait.... so I hope everyone is patient with me, and my moods swings!