For Family Home Evening on Monday, we made gum for our activity. It was really fun! Let me just tell you though...that gum was so sickeningly sweet that I almost died. I got a belly ache and boy did my teeth hurt! I think there must have been at least 5 tbsp of powdered sugar, per piece of gum.

 
Gross.

Still gross.

Cute. We didn't let Larkin make her own. She just chewed a piece of bubble gum from the pantry. She had fun pretending to make her own. She would dip it in powdered sugar and chew...then dip then chew.

Happy gum making party.

Naughty Little Girl For Sale...or Best Offer...or FREE!

Not really...but Lu sure is a a naughty handful lately. Last Friday I had to take Joshua to his doctor to make sure that his pneumonia was going away. He was fine so I asked the doc to take a look in Larkin's ears because she had been telling me they hurt. Guess what he found...an ear infection, but only after an hour of flushing little clear plastic beads out of her ears. She had four of them. In. Each. Ear. I was a little mortified...okay, a lot!

Okay fast forward to a week later...today in fact. I took the kids to Krispy Kreme for a donut treat after Joshua's speech class. Yummy. Then I gave the kids a piece of gum. We went to the library to check out some new books and movies. They were surprisingly good. On the way home, Larkin told me she had gum...in her nose. Really??? I thought. No Way! She insisted the whole way home. She even showed me which nostril. The only thing that made the situation okay was that a professional offered his services. He's pretty much a doctor...when he dons his one white latex glove. Noah said to me, " Mom, I can get it out. I'm a really good nose picker." And you know what? He is.

I made a yummy turkey dinner on Sunday for our meal. We had turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, corn, and of course gravy.

While we were eating it, Noah threw his fork down in disgust and said, "Mom? How could you? Why did you put fish guts in the gravy. It tastes dreadful. What were you thinking?"

"Noah," I said, "they're turkey drippings...to make the gravy delicious."

I guess not delicious...dreadful.

We are still camera-less..sigh. But here's a cute Noah story for you. You know the song, "You Belong With Me," by Taylor Swift? It's really cute and the video is even cuter.




Anyways, we were watching it the other day while making dinner. The kids' favorite part is when Taylor pretends her brush is a microphone...everyone grabs brushes and we dance around the kitchen and sing the song at the top of out lungs. Well, we were are Carl's Jr. last week and I was in line ordering. Noah climbed up onto one of the high tables near the front of the restaurant. He grabbed the salt shaker and pretended it was his microphone and proceeded to sing these lyrics: "I wear high heels, I wear short skirts." Loud. The emo teenager behind the counter did an excellent job of pretending not to hear it and stifle his laugh. It's moments like these that make a mother proud!

My good friend Jen came and took our family pictures back in November. I LOVE them. They turned out so cute! Who'd of thought anyone could make this goofy family look so darn cute?

Look at that...we're ALL looking at the camera...and no one is crying. Woo Hoo!

I love this one of the kidlets!

I love how pretty Oregon is...even in November!

This one is great...two parents completely oblivious to the naughtiness of the kids. Joshua is pulling a goofy face; Noah is sulking, Arwen is striking her fashion pose and Lu is not looking at the camera and pouting. That's about right!!

About a week before we had our pictures taken Arwen had a nasty rash all over her mouth because she wouldn't stop licking her lips. I warned her that she wouldn't be in the family pics if it wasn't gone in time. Mean mom...but the rash was gone.

She sure is a pretty, sweet little girl!

I LOVE her eyes in this one!

And this is my favorite. It pretty much sums up Arnie...Little Miss Sassy Pants. What am I gonna do with this girl?

Here's our little "comedian." Seriously, he thinks he's the funniest thing. Ever. And he's pretty right.

Look at that toothless grin. He's pretty proud of it!

I ADORE this picture. This is Noah. He totally looks mischievous, but knows darn well that it he flashes his grin, he'll get away with all his mayhem!

Gotta love this boy of mine!

"Which of these things is not like the others?" Oooh, ask me, I know! It's Joshua!

He's our little "brownie." And he LOVES that he's different.

He loves his "chocolate" eyes and hair and gets disgusted if one of his siblings tells him that blue eyes are prettier.

Doesn't he look so cute with his hands in his pocket? I love this beautiful boy SO much!

Oh Larkin, why are there only TWO pictures of you? Oh yeah...cause you're the naughtiest little pixie. Ever.

Little Miss Sunshine here really does smile. I promise. But these pictures are pretty true to form...she's stubborn and she won't do anything unless SHE wants to do it. And that's final!

These are my favorites. My plans are to frame them and put them on our bedroom wall. You did an amazing job, Jen!