Happy Halloween

from The Turner Five

Halloween at our house is becoming a flurry of activity.

This is especially true as the kids are getting older.

Our daughter is always making some kind of plans to go trick-or-treating with her friends.  Of course, those friends don't live right here in our neighborhood.

She also ALWAYS waits until the last-minute to figure out her costume.  Then she changes her mind 50 times.

Before we get to this years festivities, I thought it would be fun to take a little walk down memory lane.  Back when the kids were little and Halloween was so much easier.  It seemed difficult then, but when I look back, it was so much easier.

First we have 2000. I was pregnant with Zachary at the time.  Trent was Darth Maul and Victoria was Blue from Blue's Clue's.  Look how happy she was.

2001 -  Trent was Zorro, Victoria Magenta from Blue's Clue's and Zachary, who was having his first Halloween was Blue.  See, easy and happy.

2002

Trent and Victoria were Star Wars people, don't ask me who.  Zachary was a strawberry.  I actually made this costume and it was so cute.  I wish he could have worn it forever.

2003

Zachary was Bob The Builder.  He just loved Bob.

2004 I didn't have any pictures so we are moving on to 2005

Trent was some scary thing in a black robe, Victoria was the Scream character and Zachary was a fireman

2006

We had Spiderman and Darth Vader

2007

Zachary was a pirate, Victoria was a baseball man.  She actually won a "Best Costume" award at a party we attended that year.

2008

We had some friends come over and all the kids went trick-or-treating together.  The big boys even went.

2009

This was the year our daughter started getting weird.  Her and a friend were shopping at WalMart when they saw these Cookie Monster t-shirts.  They then decided they would be Kiss (the rock band) wearing the Cookie Monster shirts.  It was all very weird and I think they ended up wiping all the makeup off before they went out.

Our oldest son was off at Basic Training this year so Zachary wanted to be a soldier.

2010

Zachary was a hobo.

Victoria didn't dress up but dad got in on the action.

So that brings us to 2011.

Zachary knew early on that he wanted to be bloody.  He didn't know what kind of bloody, just bloody.  He finally decided on a zombie.

Victoria said she wanted to be Blue.  Nothing specific, just blue.

So, we got to work.

This is what she ended up with.

I think she looks like an Avatar.

She decided she didn't like the wig in her face, so then she just became this.

Now she kinda looks like a blue army man.

I'm not sure what she is, but she is definitely BLUE.

Zachary gets his makeup.

It's a good thing dad doubles as a handy man and a make-up artist.

The finished zombie face.

And the complete costume.

Don't forget the blood.

The zombie tries to attack the Blue person.

Oh, and I can't close without showing the pumpkin we did this year.  We spray painted it black this year.  It looks really cool with the candles.

So, that was our Halloween.  It was fun, but I'm always glad when it's over.  I hope that you have had a great evening and you had lots of trick-or-treaters.  We have had a few, but I still have lots of candy left over.  They better hurry up and come get all this.

A new kitchen light

A few years ago we replaced some of the lighting in our kitchen from the cheap builder's grade models to something we found at Lowe's.  We have the same fixture over the table in the breakfast area as we do in the kitchen itself.

Over our sink we still had the cheap light fixture that was put in when the house was built.

This is what it looks like.

For my birthday last week, my mom gave me a gift card to Lowe's.  At first I couldn't figure out what I was going to spend it on and then it hit me.  It would be a perfect time (and just enough money) to replace this light fixture.

So off I went to Lowe's and found this.

The shade is very similar to what we already have.  It's shaped different but is the same colors.  I like the shape of it and it makes it stand out since it is by itself.

See, same but slightly different.  I love it.

So we started by taking down the original light fixture.

The old light fixture left an ugly black mark when we took it down.  We tried to clean it off, but it just smeared.  Unfortunately, we don't have any ceiling paint left so we will have to get some and touch it up later.

The new light is adjustable and could hang down 53".  We measured it to be the same length as the light fixture in the kitchen.

Once we figured out how long we wanted it to be, it got all wired up right where the old one came down.

And, finished.  It was a pretty easy job to complete.  I think we were able to get it done between football games.  I love how it looks.

This is the view from the kitchen to the family room

And the view from the family room into the kitchen.

And now, how about a side-by-side.

 



 

 

 

 

I love the difference it makes to the kitchen.  Because the light hangs further down, it actually gives more light at the sink area.

So, that's what we did this weekend.

I hope your weekend was productive.

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