Aaah, the bed

The comforter, the sheets, the size. The whole family has fallen in love with Kiley's "new" bed.

Gram and Papa got the new sheets. Kiley, "HOW did Gram know that this is my favoritest colors? (light blue and green)
Auntie Jen got the new comforter. Kiley, "It's so smoooothe!"

For a few days after Christmas even Kalin was sleeping in her sisters bed... but tonight? I'm afraid no one is. I had such high hopes. I guess you can't win every night, right?

Happy New Year!!

Sis thought the fireworks were "too loud!"

It is hard to believe that 2011 is already here! I must say that 2010 was a fabulous year, but I am not sad to see it go. I'm looking forward to all that 2011 has to offer- many adventures lay ahead of us!
We spent New Years Eve at our good friends' house, The Ito's. We had a fabulous time talking, eating, playing the Wii and did I mention eating? Holy cow did we eat! What great food-- it seemed like we grazed for hours!


We had quite the snow storm, as you can see by the pictures. Lighting the fire crackers was very interesting- Steve (our host) broke out the blow torch to light them up. Kiley thought that was the coolest!

Time flew by and before we knew it it was around 11:00 pm, the kids were doing great so we stayed and brought in the New Year at their house. I think this is the first time either Kiley or Kalin have stayed up so late! The whole family slept in until 10:00, and Kiley slept until almost 11:00!

Happy New Year to you and yours. We hope you have a wonderful 2011!

The Snow-Go Sleds.....

Sis has been telling people, "My Papa and Gram bought me a snow-go for Christmas!"

I have to correct that and tell them, "A snow-go sled."

She can only wish, and if she wasn't such a chicken she would see that her g0-go sled goes pretty fast, almost as fast as a real snow-go! (Not really, but when you are two it kind of seems like it!)

It took Jon about an hour apiece with each sled, and with the "help" of the 6 year old and the 2 year old. As soon as they were put together we got our gear on and headed to our favorite winter sledding spot.We were lucky enough that Uncle Max and Camryn came with us! The icing on the cake were two of Camryn's cousins came too--- it was sledding heaven!
You can't tell by this picture of Cam going down the hill... but it was about Zero degrees outside, yes 0- as in almost negative!
Let me tell you that just little butts belong on this Go-Go sled, Mommy butts are not allowed. I don't have a picture of me heading down the sled, and for that, I am thankful.

Merry Christmas!

A few days late but we have been enjoying our time at home so much it has been hard to get on the computer and post pictures! We have been sleeping late, eating our weight in holiday food (mostly junk food) and just enjoying all our new toys. Our girls are so lucky to be loved (spoiled rotten!) by so many people- we are so very thankful.

The temps have been really cold here during these last few weeks in December- I think the lowest was -5, but mostly hovering around 0. That hasn't stopped us from getting outside though! These two girls go bonkers if they don't get out at least once a day. We've been going for walks, snowmachine rides and we broke in the new "snow-go" sleds from Papa and Gram (I'll post about that tomorrow).

Winter Solstice

I'm a few days late on blogging about the Winter Solstice, but I didn't miss it this year! At this time of year we are getting about 5 hours of daylight- the sun rises about 10:30 and sets at about 4:30.

We had a great time celebrating the shortest day of the year- big bonfire, great friends, lots of good food and laughs. Jon asked what is with me and celebrating these pagan holidays? (I love the summer solstice too!) He said it must be the witch in me....

Despite the cold temperature (about 5 degrees) we managed to have a very fun night-- you really can't go wrong with a bonfire and friends. We are excited to say goodbye to losing light and start gaining! Come on sunshine!

La la la la.... Caroling in December

Last weekend we went caroling with all the Girl Scouts in Dillingham. It was about 12 degrees and WINDY-- so chances are the temp was about 0 to -5 temps. Brrrr.

We dressed for the temperature, meaning lots of layers and warm clothes. I've decided we aren't going to let the elements dictate what we do and don't do outside, unless of course the elements are really, really dangerous (like icing fog, blizzards with gusting wind up to 60 mph... etc)

We walked to all of our local stores and then our last stop was "Grandma's House" which is our local assisted living home. The girls did such a wonderful job, and many of the elders enjoyed having them and hearing their voices.

Both of my girls enjoyed the experience- and it was wonderful to get out and soak up some sun (hah) and get a little red into our cheeks.

Ho! Ho! Ho!

It's been a busy week... wait, a busy month! Bazaars, meetings, Christmas Programs, caroling.... it is just busy busy with so many things to do!

This week we had Kiley's first Christmas program to attend. I asked her what her class was singing and she said, "Um, I don't know... something about a rooftop." I bet you can figure out what song it is, we'll have a clip and pictures for the program later.

I got this picture by telling them I would let them have more candy canes... bribery always works with these two!

We went to our district staff party earlier this week and the girls got to see Santa, and Kiley sat on his lap. Not Sis..... she loves Santa until she actually sees him, then it is another story. As soon as she knows he's at least 10 miles away from her she starts screaming, "I want to sit on SANTA's LAP!!" She's a smart one, that Sis. Kiley doesn't think so though- "Kalin how is Santa going to know what to BRING you? You have to TELL him!"

She's got it all figured out, that Kiley.

Travelin'

Ekwok Sunset

I've been doing some traveling this Fall/Winter.... and seen some very pretty sites in SW Alaska.

Flying.....

Beautiful Aleknagik

Just a few of the many reasons we live in this beautiful state, in this neck of the woods.

Pull-Up Head

Remember Pull Up head?


I miss her. We haven't seen Miss Pull Up Head in months and months.

Now we pretty much just see hungry bears and little puppies.... they are cute and all, but they just can't compare to Pull Up Head.

It's Winter

We've been having some strange weather lately here in SW Alaska- rain, icey rain, snow and rain.... well I guess it isn't that strange. Maybe just "yucky" is a better way to put it. We went to bed one night and had a temperature of around 20 degrees, when we woke up it was about 40 degrees. Four days of rain and all of our snow melted away, and now it is cold again. Regardless of the temperature outside- we do our best to get out there and at least get our cheeks rosy.

When we still had snow we took the snowmachine to one of our local stores to go grocery shopping- yes we did.Here's a picture from me in the sled to prove it.

We also took one of our weekly excursion to our local "waterfall" which is just a hop, jump and a skip from our house...... and not really a waterfall at all. More like water backed up in a creek, frozen on top- but the girls call it a waterfall and who are we to correct them?


I mean look how much fun they have when we go!


Our time outdoors is getting shorter and shorter- with less and less daylight out side. The sun rises at about 10:00 a.m. and sets about 5:00 p.m.

Feeding the Chickens

In honor of Thanksgiving, I shall blog about one of our favorite past times of late- feeding the chickens. I'm not sure why I am thinking it is in "honor" of Thanksgiving, but it has something to do with the fact that we eat a bird on turkey day and chickens are in fact, a bird.

Sis loves chickens, just like her Momma. So on a regular basis she asks to "go feed the chickens." Luckily one of my friends' daughters has chickens... so we save our food scraps and once the bucket is full off we go. They are enclosed in a fence and housed in a really nice coop.

These chickens are very well taken care of-- their owner, Alethia, is quite the chicken keeper. Her parents call her the "Chicken Whisperer." She's got a knack, a special way with them. Sis got her to pick them up a few times, so she could "pet" the chickens.
I know Bonnie will just get a kick out of watching her, and most likely the chickens strutting around in the snow.

Winter Walk

Winter is here-- we've got the snow and ice to prove it.

Kiley and Kalin were bouncing off each other and the walls this afternoon so we set off outside for a little walk down to the creek. It was a little colder than we thought it was, due to the wind, so we didn't stay as long as we had originally planned.

A nice walk that got the yah-yahs out, just what a winter walk needs to do.

Warming up....

Sis really seems to be warming up to Blake.

"Blake I wanna sit on your lap."

"Blake you know what? I saw a moose indawoods."

"BLAKE!!! It's time to waaaaake uppp!"

I didn't take the picture, but it looks like Sis got Blake to read her a beloved Clifford book. Yup, it's official. She's warmed up to him and he is definitely starting to fit into the House of Clouse.

It's a Tea Party

Kiley received a late present last weekend for her birthday, it was all she could think and play with for the entire weekend. A beautiful tea set, perfect for little hands and delicious tea.

On Sunday morning she wouldn't stop bugging me for Amma Bossy's phone number. I had to ask what she was calling for and she said, "Mom, Amma Bossy loves tea, so we need to have a tea party with my tea set!"

So by golly that is just what they did!

Mom my head's hurtin'

The picture says it all... its one of those kinds of days.

It's a Daisy

Kiley is the one with the mask on, see her? In the middle?

Our big girl is now an official Daisy Girl Scout.

What ask you does it mean to be a Daisy Girl Scout? Well let me tell you. She must live by the Girl Scout Law... which includes helping others. She must also learn songs, create (as in crafts), eat snacks and play nicely with her friends. Girl Scouts is a wonderful opportunity for her to interact with her peers in a kindly manner--which I love and encourage.

We have our first Girl Scout gathering this Saturday, which is Juliet Lowe's birthday. If you don't know who Juliet Lowe is, she is the founder of Girl Scouts- you learn something new every day. I bet you didn't know that when Juliet was a young girl her name was Daisy? Hence the youngest group of Girl Scouts being "Daisies."

Kalin is loving Girl Scouts too, but more because she gets to go to the "big school" than anything else. She is not loving, however, having to wake up from her nap in a timely manner so we can go and do our C0-Leader duties at the big school. She is in fact, quite the cranky pants. But I know how she feels, I don't like waking up from naps either. Such is life.

Horns!

Kalin has been wanting me to fix her "horns" lately. This has something to do with her being 2...

I jump at the chance to fix her hair. Horns or not. End of story.

Welcome to the Family

If you haven't heard we have acquired another teenager. The word is out- The Clouses take teenagers. We're on our third, people think we are crazy. Little do they know that when our girls are teenagers these boys are going to be our eyes and ears, keeping our teenage girls in LINE!

This teenager was actually referred to us from another teenager, who happens to be his older brother, who also happened to have lived with us for a few years.

His name is Blake.

As you can see he has made himself quite comfortable in the last few weeks. He prefers a different piece of furniture when compared to his brother. Matthew preferred to crash out on the chair, but you know who am I to judge? Whatever floats your boat. I can never figure out boys.

He has fit in quite nicely at the Clouse House. Jon has spent quite a lot of time with him- driving lessons, hunting, yard work, Algebra II homework, etc. He is quiet, and likes his computer time- quite the opposite of his older brother.

Matthew- loud, lots of friends ALL the time, in and out of the house, didn't eat much while he was at home, etc.

Blake- very quiet, some friends sometimes, at home, eats like a typical teenage boy (which is a LOT).


We think we are going to keep him. He fits right in.

Note to Blake: if you fall asleep in the living room and Shannon is around, she will take pictures, lot's of pictures. She will post them on the blog.

Almost.... but not quite

Winter has been knocking at our door here in SW Alaska. Not too loud yet, but she's getting more and more persistent.

We've had a few really cold nights and woken up to some serious frost (enough so that I had to scrape off the car, gasp!). Last night it got down to 21 degrees, and it has warmed up to about 36.

It even tried to snow for a few days. My crazy kids sure had fun making prints in the "snow".... I think they might be ready for winter. At least someone in our house is!

Low Bush Cranberries

We went and found some low bush cranberries on the tundra a few days ago, right before the first snow storm of the year hit Dillingham.

Kiley kicked up a fuss about wearing warm clothes, and I had to practically hold Sis down to even get clothes on her- so it was like herding cats to get both of the girls dressed appropriately, the dogs in the truck and down the road on time.

It was worth the hassle, it was a day you really look forward to out on the tundra- sunshine, wind and no bugs! We were pleasantly surprised with a nice afternoon looking for berries.

We met my friend Nicole and her two boys Logan and Lane and we must have picked for over an hour-we definitely could have picked for a lot longer than that!
I've always been told that low bush cranberries are at their best after the first frost, and we had definitely had at least one that left ice in our puddles. So I figured the berries were at their best- and I must say they were juicy and so gorgeous! What pretty berries, whish is a little weird to say unless you really like them, but these berries were such a very pretty dark red that I couldn't pick enough.

I ended up picking about a quart, not a lot, but enough for me to make a batch of muffins that the kids loved. Kiley helped some and Kalin helped too... but she was more intererested in finding blueberries and then "just trying" the berries in my bucket. Nicole got the rest of what we picked for a special liqueur she was planning on making... maybe she'll share.