Friday, November 6, 2009

Pumpkins, Fairies and Skeletons - Oh My!

Some of you may recall our pumpkin mischief and mayhem from last year. I am pleased to report that everyone participated this year in the carving, including Trent - I have photographic evidence.

Nathan actually put his hands inside a pumpkin this year and pulled out one handful of seeds and pulp, said "Yucky!" and was happy to let Jessi take care of the rest.

Adam preferred to just inspect again this year.


Sadie is my get-to-it girl - she just dives right in.





In the excitement of Halloween and Trick or Treating - I didn't get pictures taken of the kids. (I forgot!) The night of our church Trunk or Treat, Garrett got "lost" for almost an hour and so we were rushed trying to get out the door once he did show up after we scoured the neighborhood for him and I didn't have to call the police. Frayed nerves - not conducive to remembering to grab the camera. THEN, I forgot again the second night when they went door to door! Shame on me! Bad mama! So, when the kids asked what we were doing for FHE on Monday, I told them dressing up in our costumes again and taking pictures - YAY! They were slightly less enthused about this than I thought they would be. In fact, Trent was so excited to get dressed up in his Indiana Jones get up again, he decided to take a nap and slept through it all. His costume was awesomely cool too - I got all the stuff from Goodwill including the leather jacket! (great deal on leather at Goodwill I might add.) Took me a week to find "the hat" which would have been easy had I had enough time just to order one online. Ah well, c'est la vie I suppose. At least I know what he wants to be next year already (Charlie Chaplin) and so I have plenty of time to get the Bowler hat he wants for that. The bull whip was the best part though - Trent made it out of duct tape following this tutorial I found on line. Walmart had duct tape in every color of the rainbow, except the dark brown I wanted. We opted for black. Very cool! Eventually there may be a picture.

Adam aka Mr. Bones. Both Adam and Nathan were skeletons this year. They looked cute together. Unfortunately, Nathan fell asleep after being very crabby about being put into his skeleton costume again.


Sadie is a flower fairy. That bit of pink skirt is all that is left of my prom dress from junior year. It didn't fit anymore anyway and I haven't had need for a prom dress in quite some time now.


Jessica was a black and white ballerina and made her costume herself! That excited me to no end let me tell you - one less costume to make!

Close up of the mask she made. I think she did an awesome job!

Garrett was a wizard and was also seriously not enthused about getting dressed up until I gave him a pencil (he lost the wand I made him) and said cast a spell on your sisters. He is only wearing half of his costume and it was painful enough just to get him to put this half on.


One wee skeleton tucked in his bed - too tired from Trick or Treating.

We had a ton of candy. Now all that's left is the Whoppers and the Tootsie Rolls. I will gladly hand it out to any late "Trick or Treaters" who might happen by - costumes optional.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

The Kitchen Faucet Leaks

I suppose I can fit under the sink much easier than I did under the dashboard of my car.

**sigh**

Monday, November 2, 2009

We Have Air and it Blows!!!




This is the blower motor I took out of my van. I had air/heat - it just didn't blow out into the vehicle and the windows being fogged up didn't help safe driving. Now it blows but good. For the record - changing a blower motor out is not really difficult, just a pain in the neck. (I would also add pain in the back, pain in the hip and I am pretty sure I threw my left shoulder out as well) Why you might ask? Because the blower motor is situated behind the glove box and underneath the dash. There is not a lot of room behind the glove box and underneath the dash. There is however, a lot of bolts you have to undo. Lots of bolts that require tools and tools that barely fit. The person operating the tools must also be able to fit up under the dash. That person must fight with the passenger seat, the dash and the passenger side door. This person is not a leprechaun. A leprechaun might fit, my two year old might have fit - me, not so much. I had to kneel on the ground beside the car and then twist/climb in backwards and headfirst. I'm sure the neighbors felt this a great treat to see me half hanging out of the car in our driveway. I'm sure they would have also enjoyed the few choice words I had to say about the accessibility (read: INaccessibility) of said blower motor. Once you have all the bolts out and the motor unplugged - the blower comes out quite easily, in fact, it falls out - which doesn't bode well if your face is directly underneath.




This is the mess that Nathan made while I was changing the blower motor. Jessi is relieved we are not having spaghetti for dinner tonight - she doesn't like spaghetti. Jessi likes Nathan. I like air that blows.

(And if I never, ever, ever have to do that job again - I will like it even better.)