Somethings not right.....

See if you can spot what is wrong in each of these pictures....

 Can you see it?

Maybe in this one. I'll give you a hint- it's white.

It's SNOW people. We've had snow on the ground up into the first week of June. We had some gorgeous weather at the end of May- enough that our girls and the neighborhood kids thought it was great fun to play in our wading pool (in swimsuits) and in the snow melt in a dinghy that my brother gave to us. Crazy Alaskan kids.... it gets into the high 50's and 60's and they get hot!

I wish I could say the snow was all gone, but it isn't quite yet. We still have patches here and there. BUT the trees are green and we have grass growing, that is progress.

A snowy day... in May!

It was a little snowy in our neck of the woods this morning. 

Just a reminder, its May 17th. Past the mid-May mark.

It's May 17th and it snowed last night and this morning and today. In case you didn't get that.

I'm not sure if we are going to get summer this year.

I might have to move to Texas.

Just hanging around....

Baby K likes to do what her big sisters do. This includes hanging from pull up bars.

It gives her great joy, and me a little heart attack. Every time.
But we can't seem to resist her wishes (she can't talk, but screaming and pointing seem to do the trick), especially when we see that tongue.

I was hoping for a chilled out baby.  I think my hopes have been crushed. Even in a blurry picture you can see the pure joy on her face as she drops.... just like big sister.

A day at the beach

Spring is still toying with us here in our neck of the woods. This morning I woke up to 20 degrees.... last Thursday we woke up to a raging snow storm (yes, "raging"- there is no other way to describe any amount of snow in MAY!). Despite all the snow and cold temps (it does warm up to the mid 40's most days) we are bound and determined to get out and enjoy the sunshine. We recently went to the beach and went for a stroll.

We even got to walk in the water a little bit.

Now before you have a heart attack and think we were letting the girls jump icebergs.... it was high tide. It looks like a lot of water, but it really wasn't. Honest.

Plus we were just a few feet away from them.  Well until first K decided to climb the bluff. She's a daredevil... always testing her limits. She will be the reason I have a full head of grey hair before I turn 40.

Last month the girls got to spend a week with my parents in Washington, I'll need to make some time to share pictures from their awesome trip. They got to go to the beach with Papa..... and they didn't need to wear snow pants, coats or hats!

Maybe they will get to do that here in about a month... or maybe not!

Spring Family Time

Baby looks cranky because she wants to go for a snowmachine ride!

We took advantage of some sun today and went for a walk. Some of us walked, some of us were carried.

Our first K broke out her snowmachine (hopefully for the last time!) and was ripping around the tundra and giving her sisters rides. Baby K can't seem to get enough!

First K got "hot" and stripped down.... too much riding and running around in the snow. Jon told her she was a real Alaskan girl.

I felt that someone else in our family didn't quite dress appropriately for the weather....no gloves or snowpants. I think she is feeling the effects here.

Or maybe that was me, too much snow.

It was a gorgeous day for an evening walk, and I tried to pull the girls together for a picture once we got home... and almost all of them cooperated.

"Spring" in the DLG

It's "spring" here in our neck of the woods, just like it is in yours, but.... In our neck of the woods we are still engulfed in snow. Seriously up to our necks in a lot of the white stuff.  Although we have been experiencing gorgeous weather with amazing sunny days- its still cold here!

This is Kalin outside our house today

Jon decided to take the lights off our house the other day, and I know he is tall and all, but really? This tall? Nope- that is how much snow we have! (still!)

Behind our house- this is our greenhouse and the view from our wood patch.

My poor little greenhouse is almost buried in the snow!

We still can't see out of our bedroom windows!

I know it can't last forever... but it sure feels like it will!

Bunnies

My two oldest bunnies flew the coop on Monday,  they are going to be in Washington for a week.

We are left with only one bunny at home. (She's kind of getting a lot of attention and candy, fyi.)

But it is a tad lonely and quiet in our neck of the woods. 

Jon and I aren't sure what to do with ourselves..... it's a flashback to 7 years ago when we were a family of three.

Yikes!
One kid! It's been too long.... but we are adjusting. Two movies down, friends over, laundry almost done and a semi clean house! It will take a few more days to fully adjust ;-)

March Madness

It has been quite the busy March for us! Our weather has been up and down and inside out; snow, rain, ice, epic shutting down the town blizzards.... you name it and we've had it. I can't believe the amount of snow that we have!

Since about last weekend we have had the most gorgeous spring weather- of course right after our spring break is over, but we won't talk about that. We've been getting out to slide, tow with our snowmachine, ski, walk and we even went on a family ride (in which one of our snowmachines blew up, but we won't talk about that either).

Kiley is quite popular with all the kids in our neighborhood & family because she can drive her little snowmachine and tow them around the yard.

Don't worry she doesn't go very fast, and these two are her favorite passengers.

We went to the sledding hill the other day and had it all to ourselves!

We are looking forward to the rest of this week being sunny and gorgeous, perfect spring weather in Alaska.  Once April hits we will be ready for it to all melt and disappear!

Happy birthday to me!

Actually it was my birthday a few weeks ago now.... but what an amazing day! My mom and sister SURPRISED me and came home to help me celebrate! I was completely, and utterly shocked, the dirty dogs!

  

My sister had to leave on Sunday to head back to work but got in as much fun as we could while she was here. What a fabulous weekend.

We enjoyed my mom's company for about a week and a half, and she even stayed with us! I can't stop the clock,  but with birthdays like this I just can't complain about getting older!

Busy

It's been pretty busy around the House of Clouse. There seems to be not enough time to do all the extra things we like or need to do these days. 

But there is always time for some sister love.

Happy Valentines Day!

As I was about to take a bite out of this crunchy, delicious tortilla chip I noticed a little hole in it.  As I examined it I came to realize that the hole is shaped like a heart, and its Valentines Day. What a happy little coincidence!

We are going to enjoy this day as a family with most likely too  much candy, some laughter and lots of love. We hope your day is the same.

Three Birthday Princesses....

The first birthday princess, 8 years ago.

The second birthday princess almost 5 years ago.

Finally, the third and last birthday princess just a few days ago.

Time flies and they grow so fast. It might not seem like it at the time, but looking back on the pictures of our girls in this dress screams out to me just how fast.

Happy First Birthday!

Baby K turned one last week. ONE!

How time flies! And isn't she CUTE! She walks, runs, has five teeth, says "Dada", "Mama", "hop" (for hot) and has a scream that can break glass. Its been a very busy year. Her favorite foods are yogurt, yogurt melts, spaghetti, peanut butter, pears and mandarin oranges. 

She is also quite the dare devil; if you can't tell she is standing on a rocking chair, making it rock back and forth (not caring if she cracks her head in).  Baby K is also a proud survivor of Whooping Cough at 6 months. 

We can't imagine life without her.

We had such a great birthday extravaganza. February 1st and Baby K turned one, which made it her "Golden" birthday. I had to go big, so we did. We had a nice family dinner and then invited many friends over for cake and ice cream and an assortment of desserts. 

 

Once Baby K figured out this chocolate gooey goodness was all for her, that was all she cared about. 

Life was pretty perfect.

Happy 1st birthday Baby K!

Skiing!

I don't know what is up with our weather here in this part of the world but it is wreaking havoc on my plans for my girls to become skiing aficionados. We've barely gotten out this year- the rain, snow, ice combination is notsogood for skiing.

We had a few gorgeous days last week that were perfect skiing conditions, so I grabbed the girls &  their skis and we headed out to the tundra.

They can really move this year!

Baby K isn't quite old enough to ski so she gets a ride from her Mama.

We were not without a few falls and a tangle of skiis.

But we are not crying and screaming like we did last year- so this is progress.

With a view like this I hope the weather starts cooperating and we can kick our skiing into high gear!

Clouse Projects

The Clouses were busy over our holiday break~ not just the Alaska Clouses but the La Junta Clouses too. Papa Paul and GB came up to visit and to help Jon get our entryway completed.  Jon and Paul busted their you-know-whats every day for a week straight to get our entryway wired, insulated, sheet rocked, taped, painted and the flooring in. What a very, very busy 10 days.

GB helped (did most of it) me paint my kitchen (again) a beautiful butter yellow (for the last time, I promise). She did the high and I tried to do most of the low spots. Matthew was home and he helped a bit too.

It is amazing how this color really brightens up the entire kitchen. I'm in love with the light and space it gives us.

The entryway was quite the project and it won't soon be forgotten. But it was so worth it!

The space we now have in our kitchen is so wonderful- with room for all our gear in this new space! Now the girls all have their own special spots to hang up their hats, coats, boots, sweatshirts....etc.  GB had the vision, and Papa Paul the talent to build it all.

Looking into our entryway from the house, there is a shoe rack and hooks for Jon's clothes on the right.

Thank you so much to both of you for coming up here and working so hard to get all of this done. We are so lucky to have you to help us get these projects done, which otherwise would probably just not happen.