Graduation Speaker

I was asked to be the Commencement Speaker in New Stuyahok this year.  Although I internally melt at the thought of public speaking, this time I couldn't say no.  The kids got me on the phone and said, "But you are our favorite teacher!" Haha, little buggers. Well I got them back by telling some great stories about their "elementary" behavior.

Did you notice our matching kespeq's? Made by Robyn Chaney Designs- in "Chief" Ivan Blunka colors no doubt.  We got a lot of complements and everyone asked me who made them.  I'm lucky to have such a talented seamstress in my family, as well as a sister who has an eye for gorgeous fabric.

I was excited at the chance to head back "home", if only for the day.  It was snowing on the day we left (! Yes, snow in May!) and I was nervous that we weren't going to get there at all, but it was just passing through and flying was no problem.  Jon and Kolbi came with me and we had a grand time catching up with friends and showing her off.  She got passed around and loved up- everyone commented on the fact that she looks a lot like her sisters.

I was a little nervous flying with Kolbi, this was, after all, her first small bush flight.  She did fine!  Fussed a bit and then as soon as the engines roared up she fell asleep (just like her Dad did) on my shoulder.

Since I have been in New Stuyahok I've been reflecting quite a bit about my career choices, and the fact that I am just not interacting with kiddos like I should be, or want to be  It's given me a lot to think about.

Three Months Old!

Kolbi Paige is now three months old. I'm guessing she is at least 12.5 lbs and 24 inches long.  She has a killer smile that just about melts you when she does it....she really is an adorable baby.

We hear these things from people when they see her, "Oh she looks like Kiley!" or "Oh she looks just like Kalin!" or "Wow, she is such a combination of her sisters!"  Most frequently people comment on how long she is.... and I tell them she is a Clouse after all.

Kolbi just discovered her tongue, she likes to suck on it.  Her sisters like to tell me that she sticks it out at them.... but I can't blame her, it's really her only weapon against them besides her voice.

Our baby girl is on her way to rolling over, she can get over to her side and can kind of rock back and forth.  I'll giver her a few more weeks to reach that milestone, it will happen soon I am guessing.  She's started to reach for things and has quite a good grasp for a 3 month old.  I'm happy she hasn't discovered my hair yet.

 

We are gearing up for a busy weekend.  New Stuyahok and then Anchorage! Traveling with a 3 month old is always interesting, wish us luck.

Three Deep

This seems to be a song we've been singing a lot at our house lately:

"There were three in the bed and the little one said, 'Roll over, roll over.' So they all rolled over and one fell out.... there were two in the bed and the little one said, 'Roll over, roll over.'  So they all rolled over and one fell out, there was one in the bed and the baaabeee said....... "Ahhhh, just right!"

Haha, Kolbi knows how!

I have woken up more times than I would like to admit squished with a girl-child on each side of me, sweating and with a kink in my neck or back.  We have tried so hard to start and keep them in their own individual beds.... but what do you do when you don't even hear them crawl into bed with you? When you just wake up and they are there?

Seriously.  I have to tell myself they won't want to sleep with me when they are ten. Right?

Daddy's Girls

Be still my heart..... :)

Spring in Dillingham

We saw our first seagulls this weekend on a little walk we took to the beach. Besides the obvious snow melting, birds coming back is our first indication that spring is here- or more appropriately, "break-up."  "Break up" = the time of year in Alaska when the ice & snow start to melt and break and finally disappear.  We go from white to brown and eventually to green.

The icebergs are still large and in charge, and I am ready for them to melt away.  Cam and Kiley had fun exploring for a little while.  Our walk started  through some pretty deep snow.... which was pretty hard on the 4 year old.  Snow over and in the boots make for some very cold feet, and a lot of snot & tears.

This is the time of year we can wake up to beautiful blue skies and 20 degrees - have the day warm up to 45 and then a snowstorm will hit that night. Very unpredictable.  We try to focus on the sunny days, and really enjoy every second.

Clouse Babies...

One little, two little three little Clouses..... People say all the time that our girls don't look anything alike. I beg to differ.

Check out our babies when they were all babies.

Kiley Jeanette... Clouse Baby #1

Clouse #2.... Kalin Dawn

and the freshest of the bunch. Clouse #3... Kolbi Paige

Happy Easter

We had a great day today. Lots of candy, a visit to church, egg hunting and a fabulous dinner with family. What more could you ask for with Kolbi's first Easter. Oh and a great picture of her screaming. See below....

Stationery card

Celebration Bash Graduation Invitation

Graduation announcements and invitations by Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Snow in April.....

For those of you in my family who keep texting me about 80 degree weather, flip flops and sunshine.....I needed to show you these pictures so you can see just how u.n.b.e.l.i.e.v.a.b.l.y cruel you are. See the little house behind Sis? That is my green house.

Here is a close up just in case you couldn't see it very well.

This is our greenhouse in the SUMMER. We have a TON of snow. A ton.of.snow. More snow than I think I have ever seen, really.

I don't think it is ever going to go away (the snow). We have woken up this week to 12 degrees, a snow storm and 3 degrees this morning. Winter has its cruel grasp on us and just isn't letting go.

So I am really hoping that we get some of that Global Warming that everyone is talking about. We just aren't seeing it around here..... so have some pity on me!

Happy Birthday Sis!

Happy 4th birthday to Miss Kalin Dawn! She brought in her birthday with a bang and kept rockin' all day, until I forced her to take a short rest. We geared up and went to Story Time at the library then lunched with special friends at our house. Our gourmet meal consisted of chicken nuggets with macaroni & cheese followed by a delicious cupcake.

Our evening was the favorite dinner chosen by the birthday girl (spaghetti) followed by cake and homemade M&M ice cream (thanks for the M&M's GB!).

By this time the Birthday Girl was over the top excited about presents and sugared up beyond containment. The cat and her baby cousin Coleman got the end of that stick.

So as the evening wore on and it became jammie time, we ended the night on this note:

Sassy! I think her day was happy and memorable.

On the Snowy Tundra

Kiley has this thing about doing headstands.....

She's really good at it, and as you can see, does them just about anywhere!

(FYI- it was 12 degrees Fahrenheit when this was taken on the snowy tundra behind our house.)

iPhone.....

Jon and I surprised each other this year at Christmas with some new Smart phones- the new iPhone 4S. I finally know what all the hoopla is about this phone- it is really amazing with all it can do, and you can even call & talk to people on it! The kids think our phones are pretty cool too and I've made the mistake of letting them play games on it-- so now it is hard to get the point across that my phone IS.NOT.A.TOY!

The camera on the iPhone is top notch and takes amazing pictures and videos. It is so handy to just whip out, and snap a picture or take a little movie. It is always with me- well most of the time anyway- which makes easy access.

My sweet, darling, little three year old also loves the iPhone and suckers me into letting her "take pictures." Mostly she will ask to take pictures of Kolbi and Coleman.... because she knows I can't say no. I recently found about 35-40 pictures like the ones above and below on my iPhone. She's three, I would like to remind you. She can text, take pictures, find the games she likes and oh, of course call people...... Three year olds these days! So techie!

EEEEEE!

Kolbi Paige~ 6 Weeks Old!

It is hard to believe that Miss Kolbi Paige is already 6 weeks old- but she is! What can she do now you ask? How has she changed? Well her sisters have taught her to say a few words, her ABC's and 1-2-3's..... no not really. She is, however, smiling. Kolbi has smiled quite a few times for Mom and let's see... once for Daddy :). Haha, not that I am keeping track or anything.

I am back to work this week, which is a big adjustment for everyone~ but we seem to be making it work. Kolbi gets to come to work with me and I think it is going to take a few days to really get into a routine, but so far so good. Kiley is back to First grade and Kalin gets to go and play with her friend Aimee every day (hog heaven).

Some moments are better than others. Sometimes Kolbi gets a little impatient with me and tired of being at work and does this....

But most days she looks a lot like this:

No matter her state, I am just happy that we can be together. Even if it has to be at work.... :)

Happy Beaver Round Up 2012

She used to be scared of all the horns and whistles, not anymore!

Every year Dillingham hoots it up with a local festival called "Beaver Round-Up"- which is the traditional time for trappers from the region to come to Dillingham to sell their (beaver) furs. The 44th annual Beaver Round-Up officially started on Wednesday with a local parade.

Kiley got enough candy from the parade so that it rivaled her loot from Halloween!

In more modern times (now) we celebrate Beaver Round Up by viewing dog mushing races (just 16 miles, not nearly at the level of the Iditarod!), going to the "Little Miss Beaver Round Up" pageant, chili cook off contests, local craft bazaars, Family Olympics, and because Dillingham is so rural we don't have any fast food restaurants, so food from Subway and KFC has been flown in from Anchorage! So much is happening this week, its hard to keep it all straight, but those are some of our family faves.

The fastest musher today ran the 16 mile course in 58 minutes and 50 seconds.

The weather has been fantastic- gorgeous with blue skies and lots of snow. A perfect, perfect spring break! Tonight we are supposed to have the best views of the Northern Lights- so the Clouses will be out observing the night sky. So this is what we are doing for spring break this year- what about you?

Skiing

It seems like I have been wanting to get skis for Kiley and Kalin forever! Well, we all finally have a pair. Yeah!

The few times we have been out have been fun... but the girls need more practice. We went out with some friends yesterday and Kiley convinced herself that skiing was "too hard", which broke my heart. Her friends have been skiing since they were 3 or 4, so I should have waited to take her out until she had more practice under her belt. Whether she likes it or not, she shall try and try again!
I finally got out and went for a ski, my first this winter! It was cold- hovering around 5 degrees- but I stayed toasty and got to take in the gorgeous sunset. I was grumpy so it was just what the Dr. ordered- a nice little break for everyone! Little bouts of exercise sure help cure the winter blues, especially when it looks like this outside.

Kiley Started it!

It started with this....
and then "MOM, it isn't working! Can you take our picture?"


"Why is she looking the wrong way?" To this....

and then there were three~

Be still my heart......

Three Weeks Old!

Time keep flying by and Miss Kolbi is already 3 weeks old! Not much has changed since she was born- she is still eating every two to three hours and sleeping a lot. Whenever I think we have a good pattern going, she changes it!

Such is life with a newborn.

My Three K Girls

It took a birthday celebration for me to get a great picture with my three girls. The best three presents a Mom (or anyone) could ask for.

Even if we are a bunch of goofballs....