I was just running upstairs for something...I can't remember what right now.  Larkin and Josh were in the family room giggling and playing nicely.  I overheard Larkin say to Josh, "I have a tail in my nose."  I stopped on the stairs and said, "What??"  Joshua said, "She has a stretchy rat tail in her nose."  I immediately knew what she had done.  I made a super cute advent Halloween calendar for the kids and the treat on Saturday was cute little stretchy mice for them to play with.   Apparently Larkin tore her "rat tail" off and shoved it up her nose.  She had the funniest look on her face.  I told her to follow me so I could take a picture of her funny face...before taking the mouse tail out.  The huge lens was on the camera so I told her to wait a minute.  Right as I got them switched out and was ready to take picture of the silliest face ever, she sneezed!  Out came the "rat tail" with lots of snot.  So, no picture, but it was pretty funny!  Now if I can somehow get her to stop putting garbage in her ears and nose! 

Soccer

Arwen had a great game today in the rain.  I caught her pouring her water over her head when she was subbed out.  Rain or no, it's just a fun thing to do I guess.

Noah's Project

Noah got into the building mood the other day and decided to build a giant wooden sponge bob.

Mostly him and Joshua just bent a bunch of nails, but did get some pounded through the boards into the grass.

After a day or so with Joshua's help they converted the sponge bob project into a train track project.

When we got around to taking it down they were OK with it because they could still follow the train tracks now made out of dead grass instead of wood. 

Larkin 

Asleep at the table

Wings...in space?

So the kids have been Lego maniacs for the last little while, and admittedly so have I.  

We started out with space ships with cool wings and lasers and what not.  The same sort of post Star Wars stuff I'd build as a kid.  But somehow the kids decided that aerodynamics don't make any sense in space.  Noah started the box design and all the kids had to have one.  It's hard to tell from the picture but the big one is BIG.  We did some major scrapping of the bottom of the Lego bin to finish it...even had to cannibalize one of Arwen's space ships.

Backyard Campout

Noah and Joshua are wizards with their smoke rings.

Yes, the tree house is still unfinished.

First (And Third) Day of School

Noah loves school...

...he never know's what he learned...

...but he loves school.

Arni-B 2nd Grader

She loves teaching Noah all about school.

Noah's video with his current favorite song.

Aaron's birthday fell on Labor day this year so we went up to the Mount Hood area to play.  We decided to go to Little Crater Lake.  So we packed up snacks, water, dropped by the store to get 3 pairs of new tennis shoes and then set off!

The kids really liked this fallen tree and played on it for a long time on the way to the lake.

Larkin pretending to be so awfully sweet!

We told the kids to sit down and be quiet so we could all listen to the sounds of nature.  They weren't very good at it :)

Larkin and Josh went off by themselves and were pointing out all the shapes they saw in the sky.  Larkin saw lots of babies and Josh saw little animals.  It was funny though, because when I looked up, I didn't even see any clouds.  Silly kids.

The water was an amazing color!  There was nothing living in it...it just had a bunch of trees that had fallen down.

The kids (mostly Joshua) told me that this hike to the this lake with a whale in it (huh??) was totally lame. 

 Smiles all around, despite the lameness of it all!

The water was so beautiful!  The kids just wanted to throw rocks in.  Larkin even put part of herself in it.

Overall, it was a really fun time.  It wasn't much of a hike, so much as a drive to a pretty lake.  We went to Timberline lodge after that and then out for dinner...which was like out of the Twilight Zone...but more on that later.

 What do you do when your husband is away on a business trip?  Prepare and eat fine dinners?  No way!  Not around here.  We made blackberry pie, brownies, no-bake cookies...and donuts.  Donuts were a first for me.  The kids were a big help...and no one ended up a burn victim with hot oil around.   Always a plus!

Arwen was a goofball for all her pictures.  But she sure enjoyed her sprinkled donut.

I like this picture because it really shows off the half-bangs Noah cut for her a few weeks ago.  Whew, Noah!  Thanks.  I was really looking for ways to save a few bucks. 

Joshua eats his toast like this too...upside down.  And really, think about it.  This way, the good sugary sweet stuff is the first thing that touches his tongue. 

Noah always enjoys himself a yummy treat or ten! 

While driving home from the airport, the kids told Dad we got him some donuts from Krispy Kreme.  He came in and saw the plate and totally believed us!  Ha Ha!  And...lest you be worried about all those empty calories we ate while Aaron was gone, these donuts were made from a secret ingredient from the garden...that makes them healthy!  Can you guess the ingredient??