Finally..Halloween pictures...

I've been wanting to post pictures of the kids in their Halloween costumes for...well...since Halloween.  Unfortunately, keeping up with things on the blog have been the least of my priorities.  Better late than never?  :)  I was pretty happy with how all their costumes turned out.  Especially because I did not have an actual pattern for a single one, I just made them up from pictures and ideas on the Internet!  I had never made armor before and that was super fun!  I kept getting a flood of ideas to make it just "that much more authentic" looking.  Craft foam...who knew?!?




The kiddos.  It seems I have a really hard time remembering to take pictures before the kids go out trick-or-treating.  So, here they are, after their run of the neighborhood. :)



Gus was a jester.  This was Lucas' idea since he was a knight and Laney was a type of princess.  He made the cutest dang jester I had ever seen. in. my. life.  This was before I had finished the costume by sewing bells to the end of each point on the hat.  He also wore blue striped jammies under the tunic for Halloween, and had little booties with bells.

Laney wanted to be Zelda.  I printed a picture of a cartoon Zelda from the Internet and drew up a pattern.  Craft foam is some seriously cool stuff.  When sealed with Mod Podge, you can spray paint it and it looks like metal.  Super cool.  Laney thought her costume was so awesome and now it's a fun dress up for her.  :)  Most adorable little Zelda in my book.

Here's my knight in shining armor.  This was by far the most extensive and time consuming costume I have ever made.  For starters, I really had no idea what I was doing.  I checked some Cosplay (had no idea this even existed before starting this costume) sites online that had some tutorials on some basic stuff.  So I first drew everything up on poster board to make sure the dimensions were a good fit for Luke.  After I got all the patterns right, I went nuts!!!  Hole punching craft foam to make the "rivets", adding the little details and aging the paint job to make it look like real metal.  It was super fun!  It took WAY more time than I anticipated, but the results astonished even myself!  I mean...gauntlets?!? Are you kidding me?  It was pretty awesome, and Luke that it was so cool.
Lucas: "You're the best maker, Mom!"
 I was glowing. :)

 Well, there ya have it.  Our Halloween 2013!



Ummm...they might be related.

Eli at 3 months.

Lucas at 3 months.

They are definitely related.  :)

Whoa! That's a belly!

I realized I had very few pictures of me during this pregnancy.  I'm not a radiant pregnant person so having my picture taken isn't my favorite, but I decided I need one to prove that being tall does NOT mean you don't get a GIGANTIC belly!  :)  Seriously...HUGE.  Anyway...just thought I would post this so all my friends and family that don't see me on a regular basis (lucky you) could share in my largeness. 

ALSO...Friday, February 15th (that's this Friday...3 days away) is the big day!  I am being induced a week early.  With Lance's travel schedule, we were worried he would be out of town and not make it home in time.  So, wish me luck!  I can't wait to meet the little fella!  :)

HaLloWeEn!!!

 

We had a fun Halloween this year.  I'm not sure who had more fun, the kids with all the trick or treating and dressing up, or myself making their costumes.  :)  Lucas had his heart set on being Link from the Legend of Zelda this year.  I wasn't sure I could pull off a costume like that, but after a few attempts on each piece (tunic, gloves, boots, sword and shield, ears, hat), things turned out pretty spiffy.  He is so funny because whenever he dresses up in something, he really goes into character. Funny kid.  Delaney wanted to be, at first, just a fairy.  Then she saw a tiara somewhere and decided she wanted to be a princess too, therefore...fairy princess.  :)  He costume was much easier.  I only made the tutu, wand and jewelry accessories.  I was going to go out and buy a tiara, but remembered I had a bunch of beads and stuff from Lance's "Michael's Days" so I busted out some wire and beads and went crazy.  Like I said...I don't know who had more fun...me or the kids. 

We all met at Mimi and Papa's for some soup, chili and homemade donuts, then it was off to trick or treating with cousins.

We were all so excited to have Lance home during the middle of the week so he wouldn't miss Halloween..

 

My little fairy princess and her protector, Link.

Don't you think she made the cutest fairy princess EVER?! 







I must say the most handsome Link I have ever seen!





This is Laney walking with her cousin Bella.  It was hilarious because Bella was walking around with her hands on her hips while trick or treating.  Such attitude and swag had to be captured on film!  :)

Catching up!

Delaney turned 3!  She, of course, wanted a Hello Kitty cake.  I noticed after the fact that I forgot one minor detail, her whiskers.  Oh well.  I can't believe she is 3!! She is such a joy in our lives.  So sweet and funny. The most adorable little girl I know...I am her mom, so I may be biased. :)

Luke started Kindergarten this year! He wasn't very excited to go until we went to the Back to School night and he got to see his classroom and meet his teacher.  Now he loves it!  He is doing so well and we are so proud of him!  He is such a bright kid and catches on to things so fast!  Taking him to his first day wasn't as difficult for me as I thought it would be.  He was ready and excited, which I think helped things be easier on me. :)  The hard thing was when he wanted me to stop walking him into the school and just drop him off like all the other kids.  :(  And....SURPRISE...He is the tallest in his class.
He sure is a handsome fella and still says some of the funniest things.  :)

Home Sweet Home

Finally I am getting around to posting some pictures of our home.  I know it has taken a while, and I apologize...it's just one of those things...
Anyway, here are a few pics. 



This is a view from the front room. To the right is the front door.  Around the corner to the left is the dining area/kitchen.
Some of the work done to this area: new flooring (carpet and laminate), sanded, stained and polyurethaned all the woodwork.  The bank had the entire interior of the house painted so we didn't have to do any of that...thank goodness! Eventually we'll probably add some color, but for now...it is good.

Looking into the front room from the location of the front door. I was holding the camera up pretty high to get a better angle.



This is looking down from the dining room/kitchen into the family room.  There are four stairs down into this area on the right of the picture...which you can't see.  :)  Work done in this area: sanded, stained and polyurethaned fireplace as well as took out the 90's green tile that was surrounding the fireplace and put in the more neutral tan tile, also, new carpet.  Suffice to say, we redid all the flooring in the entire house.  :) 
Don't mind the AWESOME antenna eyesore...we haven't made all the necessary holes in the wall to run the cable for it elsewhere. 
Right under the banister you can see is where we have our computer set up in the family room.
To the left, sliding glass door that leads to the backyard. To the right is the door that leads to the basement, the door that leads to the garage, the laundry room, and a half bathroom.

This is my kitchen that I love, love, LOVE!!! It looks totally different than when we purchased the house.  Before it was natural oak finish on the cabinets, regular laminate countertops, crummy tile, broken appliances, ceramic sink, and gold light fixtures.  Work done: sanded, stained and polyurethaned all the cabinets, new laminate flooring, all new stainless steel appliances, granite countertops, stainless sink, new faucet, new brushed nickle light fixture, and someday soon...we'll put up the backsplash and put some color on the walls.  :)  The door you can see is a nice walk-in corner pantry.  To the right by the table where you can't see there is a bay window.  There's also a little broom closet you can't see on the wall to the left, and next to the fridge where you can see the bottle of handsanitizer is a little desk area.



Luke's room! The Lego table is set up all the time.  That boy will spend HOURS playing with his Legos.  Someday, we'll paint his room and make it more fun for him.

Delaney's room.  Someday we'll paint her room and cute it up a bit as well.  Usually her room isn't this clean...she has lots of Little People toys that are usually strewn about.  She loves her Little People!  :)



Kid's bathroom.  Work done in this bathroom: new tile, sanded stained and polyurethaned cabinets, new cultured marbled vanity, and new toilet.  Behind the door is a nice sized linen closet.  We still need to put up the baseboards, and eventually put some color on the walls as well.



These are four stairs that lead up to the master bedroom.  To the right is the kids' bathroom and behind where I was standing would be the three bedrooms: Luke's, Delaney's and the craft room (that is an absolute mess which is why there is no picture of it.)



Master Bedroom/Lance's office space for now.  :)  To the right of the picture where you can't see would be the walk-in closet and master bath.



Master Bathroom. Work done: new tile, new toilet...sanded, stained and polyurethaned cabinets (same dark kona brown as all other wood work in house)...new brushed nickle shower enclosure, new shower head, new faucet, new towel bars, and new cultured marble vanity top.  We still have a brushed nickle light fixture to install and change out the tub faucet from gold to brushed nickle as well.  I think I'd also like to eventually put color on the walls.

I didn't take any pictures of the basement, but down there we have about 700 square feet that is unfinished.  It is framed for another bedroom, another family room, a little storage closet, and a 3/4 bathroom.  There is also a GINORMOUS cold storage room (which Luke has dubbed, "The Bat Cave").  YAY!!!  It will be fun once the basement is finished and we have that space to use as well.  :)
So, there ya have it! Home Sweet Home!

The kiddos!

 It's been a while.  I still haven't gotten around to taking decent pictures of our new place yet, but I did manage to snap a couple shots of the kiddos and thought I would post for family and friends that haven't seen them in a while.  They sure are getting big. 

Here's the handsome fella!

I can't believe Luke starts Kindergarten in three months!!! CRAZY!!! Time flies!  He is so excited and so ready though.  He's like a little sponge.  We have to be really careful around here to make sure he's "sponging" age appropriate information.  Good thing we aren't ones to curse.  :)


Here's our gorgeous gal!

Delaney is a talkative little lady.  Her vocabulary is growing and growing and she is also a little sponge.  She does and says most everything her big brother does.  She's so funny!  She loves to play dress ups, baseball and RUN!  Cut her loose outside and she's like the energizer bunny, constantly going. :)

We are loving Utah.  I forgot how much I missed warm days and cool nights.  The kids get a lot more time outside to play than I remember there being in Texas due to it being so hot there.  I also realized how much I missed Utah grass.  It's so soft and inviting.  Delaney runs around barefoot without a care in the world.  Oh yeah, and no FIREANTS!!  YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!  I do miss having a pool at my convenience as we did in Texas.  There is a water park near us, but it's not cheap and ALWAYS busy.  Oh well...ya win some and ya lose some.  Most of all I miss my family and friends.  I got a little parting gift from a good friend that is a rustic Texas flag wall hanging.  I hung it on my wall and it reminds me of the four WONDERFUL years our little family had being Texans.  :)