Ruthie?

Yup, Ruthie.

That's Ruthie riding a bike-with training wheels, mind you- but pushing those pedals around nonetheless.




I'm proud of my not-so-little girl. She worked hard to figure that one out. She is not going to be left behind by her big sisters. Her feet can barely reach all the way around the rotation of the pedals, I don't think she can do it barefoot, only with shoes that have a good thick sole on them. It took some determination and desire to keep getting back on that bike until she figured it out. Now we just have to work on teaching her how to brake on purpose.

P.S. I was finally able to upload this video today. I don't know why I haven't been able to upload any videos lately, but that definitely puts a damper on wanting to blog when half the stuff I want to show you has been in video form. Sorry about the technical difficulties, hopefully I have the issue resolved.

Easter Girls

Beautiful smiles.

Hugs

and kisses. Lots of love.
Playing the piano:

Thank you, Mema, for beautiful Easter dresses. It's so fun to watch little girls when they feel so loved, so fancy, so special on a special day in special clothes.

Easter Twirl:

Dance Recital II

Sorry to those of you grandparents and cousin who have been waiting all day for me to post this video:) I have been trying, but it was too big. I never could get it to upload to the blog, and I don't have any video editing software on my computer that I could find to make it smaller. Instead, you get a link to Anna's dance, Twilight Hush. I ended up posting it on YouTube. I'm definitely not a professional videographer, but it turned out all right for me. There's a bit of dark at the beginning before they turn the stage lights on and the dance starts, but I didn't want to miss the beginning so I had already started taping, and, like I said, I don't have any video editing capabilities, so you get to watch that, too. Anna is the first one out on stage, leading the class. She was so excited about the whole thing, not a bit nervous even in front of all those people. It was so fun to watch our little girl up there, self-confident and enjoying herself. We were very proud of you, Anna Clement!

I took this picture is in the dressing room right before the show. Standing with her classmates ready to go out on stage:

Snowshoeing

This was a first for Anna and Josie, snowshoeing! We rented snowshoes for them and hit the trail. They had a blast.Anna during our lunch break:

Cool Jo:

Silly Ruthie on Mama's back:

We had the sled with us for whoever might need a break, we had no idea how the girls would do. Ruthie was the only one who took a turn in it today, the other two just wanted to keep snowshoeing. Here we are trekking down the trail:

Ruthie along for the ride:

Me!

This next picture was actually the next day, when we headed out first thing in the morning to get one more snowshoeing expedition in before we had to return the girls' snowshoes. Our favorite thing about this trail was all the animal tracks we saw, rabbit, squirrel, coyote (sometimes chasing the other two), and some mystery tracks (Josie swears they were skunk). Winter in Rocky Mountain National Park means all the animals are hiding, hibernating, or have headed down to lower elevations, so it was fun to see evidence that a few of them were still around.

Josie wanted to show you a video of how she hopped on her snowshoes:

What wintertime expedition is complete without a little hot chocolate afterwards to warm you up? The girls loved the snowshoeing and are ready to buy their own snowshoes so we can head out more often. Watch out, Grandpa and Nona, they're already working on their birthday and Christmas lists! You've trained them well. We ended up snowshoeing three times and I think they never would have stopped.

Cabin Cooking

What do three little girls do in a cabin with no toys?

This is how they decided to entertain themselves yesterday afternoon after we got home from snowshoeing:

Yummy for me:) Except that anytime I want to eat some of what they are making they get all serious and remind me that it's just pretend, Mommy, just pretend. Sometimes their pretend food really disappears when Mommy eats it, and it worries them.

Grand Lake

Since this is Mitch's Spring break we are taking a little vacation to Grand Lake, CO. We rented a cabin for a couple of nights and are enjoying lots of family time and winter play up here in the mountains.

The girls brought their beads and string and settled into the cabin immediately stringing beads on their hide-a-bed.
But it wasn't long before we headed out to play!

The huge snow pile in front of our door was the first attraction.

Queen of the Mountain!

We made some stairs up it so even Ruthie could climb it (that's Josie in the picture).

Here are two little videos of the fun we had with that pile of snow!




There's a bench swing in the little courtyard outside our door.
Beautiful and relaxing for this mama.


More places these climbing girls found to play outside our cabin:

Three sisters sticking their tongues out at you swinging on the bench swing:

Dinner inside the cabin.

With a full kitchen stocked with pots and pans and utensils we are able to cook our own food while we're here. This kitchen is bigger than our kitchen at home! All right, that's not saying much, but it still is nice for us. We are enjoying our stay.


Today we took a little hike out to Adam's Falls at the eastern edge of Grand Lake.

Anna, leading the way, and Josie being pulled by her Daddy'O in the sled:

Josie was hiking until she fell through the snow up to her waist. The trail itself was packed, but you had to stay on it. If you stepped off onto the side, down you went. We have snowshoes, but didn't wear them, since the trail was packed enough.


At the end of the trail, at the lookout by the falls, Josie is waving goodbye in the traditional Miller way:)

Goodbye for now! We'll post more pictures of our adventures at Grand Lake soon!

The Patience of a 3 Year Old

Josie wanted to look like her friend Wema today, from Kenya, who had a million little braids in her hair with beads on them. I don't know how my three year old held still without complaining for as long as it took me to braid all her hair, but she did. Oh the things a female will go through for beauty:) Now it is Anna's turn to be jealous. No, I don't have the patience to do two girls' hair in one day, or enough hair ties.

Fun and flippy, and quite Josie.

Hair like that just makes you want to dance!

Anna's Windy Leaf Dance

This was such a moment of joyful free expression for Anna that I couldn't pass up the opportunity to try to capture it and pass it on to you. It's never quite the same on video as it is in person, but this gives you a glimpse of how her spirit moves.

She is so alive, living in the moment, reveling in the wind and blowing leaves around her.

I love how she moves, how free she is to express what she is feeling with her whole body and embrace the world around her in all its raw glory and life with all of who she is. I can't tell you how long she stayed outside, dancing barefoot in the blowing leaves and the first drops of rain that were starting to come down. But she did eventually get cold and come inside for some warm Stone Soup that we'd made for lunch.

Our Days...

...have been oh so full around here. Here's a glimpse of a few of our highlights.

Another birthday, Mitch turned 1:We had neighbors over to celebrate with pumpkin pie.

Sweet Josie napping on the couch in her new dress made by Mema. I love how this little one falls asleep in the middle of whatever she is quietly doing during her rest time, never one to actually put down her book and decide to sleep.


Josie's leaf pile, leaves that she collected on our walk this evening. All three girls brought back so many colorful leaves. We are absolutely loving all the colors that are on the trees and carpeting the ground and filling the air. My favorite fall moment happened the other day when it was quite blustery out and colorful leaves were literally raining out of the trees in our courtyard, filling the air with color. All the kids started running through them as they fell, screaming and laughing, caught up in the excitement of running through a downpour of leaves. It was a moment I think I will remember my whole life and will always bring a smile to my face.



Puzzles. All three girls at different levels working on and succeeding in doing puzzles, and then doing them again, and then again, and then again. I love watching them learn the skills needed for doing a puzzle and I love their excitement when they succeed. The whole family joined in a rousing "hip-hip-hooray!" for Ruthie when she finished hers for the first time.

Anna is making such incredible strides in her reading skills these days. She's actually starting to blend together the sounds of the letters she sees and has randomly read words on signs as we drive or walk around. So exciting! Such a huge life skill unfolding before our eyes.

Here's one more video I took this morning before ballet class, because Anna asked me to "take a video of us and post it on the blog!" These kiddos always make me laugh, they are so silly in such an impromptu and unselfconscious way.

Ruthie's Game

I'm sure this game has been played in your own household if you have ever had young children or were a young child. Right now Ruthie is the master of this dinnertime game in our house. She loves it! It's a follow-the-leader sort of a game where Ruthie is the leader and the rest of us do whatever she does, all while sitting at the table. She's very good at getting the rest of us to play with her. As dinner is starting to wind down and Ruthie is pretty much finished eating she'll start banging on the table or clapping her hands or waving them in the air or whatever it is that she wants you to mimic. If you don't follow her she'll say your name very insistently until you do the requested action, demonstrating again what she's wanting you to do. Of course, since we all like to play because of the grins we get on her face, we're not hard to convince.

Here's a little video of the Clement family dinnertime fun.

Josie turns...

three!!!

Josie, my sweet three year old little girl. I hope you felt celebrated and loved on your birthday. I hope you know how special you are. One of a kind. Spunky and caring, feisty and independent, thoughtful and sincere, daring and adventurous, social and with a smile that lights up any room you are in.
Three years ago you entered into this world, into my arms, into my care. My world will never be the same again. What a responsibility, to nurture your spirit, guide you into what is right, encourage your individuality, show you each and every day that you are loved for exactly who you are. What a joy to be the recipient of your smiles and your hugs, your joy and your laughter, your trust, your serious dialogues, your thoughtful, caring actions.
Thank you for being you.


Here's a little video Grandma Jo took from Josie's birthday party of everybody singing 'Happy Birthday' and then Josie blowing out her candles.

We had a lot of fun celebrating you, Josie! Music and instuments, charades, a scavenger hunt to find the cupcakes, good times with good neighbors, lots of laughter and energy and fun had by all.

Anna Ballerina

Today was the last day of Anna's ballet class, which means the parents got to attend class for a 'show' to see what their little ballerina's have been learning. This little girl loves ballet. She puts on her leotard and teaches Josie the things she is learning in her class almost every day. She's been telling us she wants to keep going to ballet class so she can learn how to do 'real ballet', by which I think she means that some of the things she does in her class, although fun, don't qualify in her mind as 'real' ballet (but are good dance skills none the less).

First position:

Demi-plie:

Dancing:

One thing they learned in their class was the difference between leaping, jumping and hopping.

Here's a video of hopping:

Jumping:

And leaping:

A video of the dance that they made up to show the parents. Some of the time they were supposed to dance all over the place with their whole body and then they change it up and are supposed to just dance on a spot and keep their whole body dancing.

Flips

Parents of young children beware! This post contains content that might inspire other young adventurers to try things in your home that might not be considered safe by all!

Consider yourself forewarned.

The new setup in our house, the girls' kitchen is now out in the main living area:

I put the coffee table close to their kitchen, a surface for them to play and cook on.

Or a surface for them to climb on, as the case may be:

And climb higher from:



And do flips:

Victorious!

Anna in action:

Yes, inspired by little Ruthie, that coffee table ladder has meant hours (literally) of play for three little girls as they climb, flip, run around to the back of the couch, and climb and flip again.

No injuries yet.

Here's a little video of Ruthie in action. You might want to turn the sound off, it doesn't add anything to the video. Anna had a sore throat and ear ache for a while this afternoon and you can hear her crying in the background. She feels fine now, but she had a rough afternoon. Thankfully for me, Ruthie and Josie were completely self-entertained (by a coffee table and a couch) and I was able to focus on Anna. Anyways, enjoy the video of a cute Ruthie doing her flip:

"Girls Just Want To Have Fun"

I thought you all might enjoy a little music video that we made with some friends to the song "Girls Just Want To Have Fun". I think some of it is just hilarious. Very fitting to who my girls are. Along with all 4 Clement girls, the video also features Lily and Isobel Testardi, Anna and Elenore Needy, CJ and Miriam Hess, and editing by Jenna Hess. We made the video for a Film Festival at our church, part of a yearly talent show tradition that we have.

Some of our video will make more sense if you've seen the original music video by Cyndi Lauper. If you've never seen it, check it out at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIb6AZdTr-A

When the snow is falling outside and the long, dark winter days are upon us, what better girl fun can be had than a dance party complete with tons of costume changes?

You Little Stinker!

Ruthie, you are a little stinker! Watch this video for a good laugh:

I love how she crawls so fast to get where she's going, then stops and looks back at her Dad and giggles.

What is making you smile today?

Ruthie's Favorite Game

The video is a little dark but I thought I'd share it anyways. Ruthie's newest favorite past time is putting objects into containers, any objects into any containers. It keeps her entertained for hours on end if I keep emptying the containers. She really concentrates and keeps trying until she gets the object all the way in. Enjoy the video!

New Tricks

The girls had a few new tricks they have been wanting to show you.

This first video is of Anna and Josie jumping off the picnic table. That's not new for Anna, but it is for Josie!

Anna had her first ballet class this week. (She loved it! Thank you Mema and Papa!) While she was in her class Josie, Ruthie and I watched gymnastics next door, since they had a big viewing window and the ballet classroom didn't. What Josie liked the most was watching the kids do the tumbling, or backwards somersaults off of an elevated mat. We had to come home and try it ourselves. Anna and Josie are both experts now (they're doing it off our bed onto the twin bed below, but 1 or 2 couch cushions stacked up on the floor does just as well):

The last video of the day is of a trick that Anna has been wanting to show you all for a while now. She found some new 'super high!' jumping off places at the playground. Here she is climbing and jumping:

What post would be complete without Ruthie's new tricks? Here's a picture of her standing on her own. She has pretty good balance now. No steps yet, though.

Always smiling:

Swinging

Anna has been wanting to show you all how she pumps on the swings now. It seems to me that pumping is something kids have to feel the rhythm of in their bodies before they can really master it. I'm not sure how you could teach it before then. I guess it's that way with most things a kid learns: all in their own good time when they are developmentally ready to learn the skill, each kid at their own pace. Here's a little video I took of Anna pumping right before my camera batteries died. It cuts off pretty quick because there wasn't enough juice in the batteries for any more, but you can see her doing it. She has some other playground tricks to show you too, but those will have to wait until we get new batteries.

And not to leave out little Ruthie, here she is swinging too. She loves it as long as you don't push her too high:

Tent Fun

We set up the girls' tent on top of our bed yesterday and the girls had a blast jumping and rolling around. Here's two videos of the fun they had:

Last Potluck of the Summer

We've had a wonderful summer here and are finally feeling rejuvenated and enjoying the rhythm of our life after a hectic last year. It's good to be able to say that! Mitch starts classes again on Monday and we'll see how we weather this next transition in our lives. At least we feel like we're starting out from a good place.

We have had a potluck in our courtyard every Thursday this summer which was a fun time of connecting with our neighbors and eating good food together. Once school starts we all hunker down and start to live a different pace of life, but we have enjoyed our undemanding summer together. In honor of it being our last potluck of the summer Mitch and I made homemade ice cream. It's the best ice cream I've ever had.