Mall-O-Ween 2011

We went to the mall to celebrate Halloween. Sophia was a ladybug, I was a bumblebee, Evan was the pest control guy and John was Indiana Jones. We had a real good time, and Sophia got herself a bunch of treats! She loves lollipops! LOL.

Sophia, getting herself some candy.

"Trick or Treat!"

"What did she give me?!"

Yay! A Lollipop!

ANGRY BIRDS!! We thought this was cool.

 

Sophia and I. 

 
Other little Trick or Treaters at the mall!

My Bumble Bee makeup.

Get the look!

Some people have asked what I used and how I did it. So I will share my makeup artistry techniques. 

After applying my face primer, foundation, blush, bronzer and filled my eyebrows. I primed my eyes with Urban Decay's Eye Potion Primer. It is one of the best primers in the market for eyes--it costs $18. It really helps bring out the pigments of the eyeshadow and makes the eyeshadow last for hours! No creasing. So it is worth the money if you wear eyeshadow often. 

After that, I used NYX's bright mellow yellow eyeshadow and heavily deposited it with a sponge brush on my lid, the inner corners of my eyes and a little above my lid, creating an "arc." Then I deposited some shadow along the bottom of my eyes as well. 

 NYX's Mellow Yellow

Then with a regular eyeshadow brush, I used Too Faced's "Smoky Hot" black MATTE eyeshadow that comes in their "Smokey Eye Kit" along the crease and the outer corners of my eyes to create a "wing" look. I kept putting more color and blended the black into the yellow with a blending eyeshadow brush. Then I added some creme black eye liner to it to intensify it and blended it in also.
The key is to BLEND, BLEND, BLEND! 

Then I used the white eyeshadow in the kit along my brows for a highlight effect.

 Then, I lined my eyes with L'Oreal's HIP Creme Black Eyeliner. Put on a couple of coats of mascara, and then put some lip gloss on. And DONE. 

FINAL RESULT:

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Trunk or Treat?

Our church was having their 4th annual "Trunk or Treat." It was nice, poorly organized, but nice for the community to gather together. But it is just not the same. 

What happened to Halloween? It really saddens me that nut jobs and uptight parents have taken the fun out of Halloween. You know what I'm talking about. Walking from door to door, or even going on a hay ride to door to door in your neighborhood. Shaving cream, silly string wars.Eggs being thrown at you. Toilet papering someones house. Decorating your house instead of the trunk of your car. Candy instead of toothbrushes. What happened to SCARY costumes? The guy with the chain saw?! The only people I see trick or treating today are small children dressed up in cuddly cartoon characters throughout the daytime only. Isn't Halloween supposed to be a night of horror, mayhem, mischief, fright and FUN?!Everyone goes "trick or treating" at these local gatherings or at the mall now. I bought tons of candy last year thinking I would have a lot of trick or treaters because I lived in an apartment complex, but NOT ONE trick or treater came to my door. I wanted to cry! And what happened to trick or treating ON THE DAY OF  Halloween? October 31st is losing its luster.

Anyway, Sophia was dressed up as a lady bug!

And then on Halloween, we are going to the mall from 5-7 to get ONE piece of candy from each store. Sigh...I miss my handfuls from neighbors. And I miss filling pillowcases with sugary, yummy tooth decay. All while I was covered in shaving cream...

Maybe one day we will celebrate Halloween RIGHT and go to Salem, MA. :) 

Feelin' Crafty!

Sophia's Princess Bow Holder

Real easy to make and the overall cost was less than $10. I found the "Princess" plaque at a Goodwill. It was originally part of three piece hanging picture frame. The picture below is a general idea of what I am talking about:

 The hanging frame was held together by chains, so I was able to take the chains off with a pair of pliers and have three separate things. A princess crown picture frame, and a wooden plaque that says "Princess."

Here is the Princess Crown frame that was part of the three piece set:

 Easily supported by a little plate easel. 

So not only did I get a crown picture frame out of the deal, but I also was able to make her bow holder. 

So  I went to Wal-Mart and bought corresponding ribbon to hot glue on and there ya go! Real quick, cheap and easy. And cute! 

Sophia's Polka Dot Picture Frame:

       

I went to Wal-Mart and bought a wood picture frame in the crafts section. I had paint and brushes on hand. I just cut out some stencils from paper and attached them to the picture frame after I painted the entire frame black. Then I painted within the stencils-- especially for the big circles. The little ones I painted free hand. A real nice touch to her room. 

Sophia's Coat Rack:

I found the coat rack at TJMaxx on clearance for $10. It was originally white with floral design. It was pretty, but I thought an animal print design would look more cute in her room. So I painted it pink/magenta, covering the original design. It took at least 5 coats of paint! And then free handed the zebra marks with black paint.

The perks of being a stay at home mom: the craft bugs bites you, suddenly you have an infatuation with plants and household appliances are the greatest gifts! LOL. I hope I inspired you to make some of your own stuff! It's fun and definitely keeps the time flowing when you are not busy handling the little one! :)

Back to school!

Good news! 

Evan and I are going to go back to school in January at UAH. It'll be hard to try and balance work, school and parenting, but in the end it's all for a good cause.

Evan has filled out his application and is just waiting on his high school transcript. It sucks that he has to start all over because none of his tech school credits will transfer. Back to the basics and...his favorite thing to do...homework! HA.

     Regardless, I am VERY proud of Evan that he really wants to go back to school for Aerospace Engineering after he already completed Aviation Maintenance tech school with a 3.95 GPA and got his Airframe and Power-plant license and has a full time job at PPG Aerospace. Good for you, baby! I love you! And I know he greatly appreciates everyone who has helped him get to that point. :)

As of today, I have been accepted to UAH, so I am definitely happy and excited to hit the books again. What can I say? I'm a dork. I just dread the financial aid, registration process. I plan to finish up my degree in Marketing, take my LSAT and get into law school to become a lawyer.

Six Flags With The Hubby and Friends!

In honor of our friends; Ryan Savage and Luis Zuares, we celebrated their birthdays at Six Flags. And although our company with one another kept our spirits up, the Six Flags experience was a disappointment. All of the rides were tearing up and had "minor technical difficulties." We arrived at the park at 10:30am and didn't leave till 8:30pm and we only went on six rollercoasters; The Goliath, Ninja, Dare Devil Dive, Cyclone, Scorcher and the Mine Train.

The new Dare Devil Dive.

Even though the ride broke down like 5 times, it was a real fun ride.

Goliath



Frightfest was a total disappointment as well. Not what I expected. People have told us that it was awesome. Sorry to say, we were not impressed. We went to the Haunted House. That was funny. There were only like 12 people dressed up in costume around the ENTIRE park. It sucked. LOL. Also, the haunted mansion was closed as well. WTF? For the halloween experience, I would go to Netherworld instead.

Just when we were about to go on the Mindbender, the ride broke down. That was when we decided to call it quits and go to Guest Relations and tell Six Flags about the horrible experience. They gave us six tickets for $10 for 2012. Which was a nice gesture and we will go back next year.  After Six Flags, we went to the Varsity to eat and the night ended really well. All and all, we had a great time together.

Sophia had a great time with her grandma! IHOP, Shopping, and Grandma bought her a xylophone and Ryan won her a Tasmanian Devil. She is spoiled rotten! And that's totally okay.  :)

Nightmare before Christmas and Pumpkin Carvings.

 

 Enjoying the fresh air as mommy and daddy carve pumpkins! :)

 We got our Halloween decorations, our Jack-O-Laterns 

and we watched the Pumpkin King take over Christmas.

  We looked online for designs for our pumpkins, and once we decided what we could draw free hand, we drew our Jack-O-Latern designs. We rid of the pumpkin guts with these tools:

But we kept the seeds because we are gonna roast them tomorrow! :) 

Roasting Pumpkin Seeds:

Rinse seeds well. Soak seeds for a day in salt water. Drain water and put seeds in single layer on cookie sheet. Bake 20-30 minutes at 350 degrees F, stirring once or twice.

 

 

 

....And the finish product:

Family Fun at Tate's Farm in Hazel Green, Alabama.

The air is cool, the leaves are crisp, Halloween is creeping up...so to start off the season right, we went to Tate's Farm and picked our pumpkins. Look how excited Sophia is!

 We got three pumpkins: One for Daddy, one for Mommy and one for Sophia.

Sophia got to pet a little piggy! 

Our little pumpkin having a blast on the swing. She LOVED it!

We had a fun family day! This is what it's all about!