Halloween, Naruto!

We had such a fun Halloween! We celebrated at the ward's trunk or treat last night because Halloween is on a Sunday this year (boo, I love Halloween.) But really it's ok, I finished the costumes (with a little help from siblings and friends) and we looked AWESOME!! Kids and teens and even adults were like, "Hey look! Naruto! I read your manga!"

Remember how I told you to remember Naruto? In case you didn't...Naruto is a Japanese anime, one of the most popular! (Well, really the manga is popular). I won't even get into the details because the post is already going to bore you to pieces, so I'll include reference pictures to help you see the awesomeness. :) I know, I know, I'm completely lame, but I hope you'll put up my lameness for a little while. :)

 There was so much involved in these costumes (I made four of them!) There were so many accessories, so many clothing alterations, it seriously took up all my free time. But the reactions from the kids and other Naruto lovers at the mad house of a party we went to were well worth the effort. :)

David was Kakashi (top), Elisa was Sasuke (left), Carolyn was Sakura (middle) and I was Naruto (right). We had so much fun mimicking poses and pretending to be ninjas!

 

Sakura loves Sasuke, by the way. He doesn't love anything or anyone, especially not her. Maybe someday he'll come around.

 Elisa loves Sasuke and had a lot of fun playing him!

Carolyn was the only one of us girls luck enough to be a girl in costume. (Not that Elisa and I minded at all. But I'm the only one that didn't have to spray paint my hair another color!)

 (Uuuuuuuuuuum, just imagine cool photoshopped goodness.) I loved David as Kakashi the best. I think he made a perfect Kakashi and his costume took the least amount of effort! (Plus, I have a cartoon crush on Kakashi, and I kind of love David, so it just works out!)

(Ran out of hand on this one...)

(Man, I keep mixing up my rights and lefts! And please excuse my painfully orange pants.)

And we had fun doing random poses. :)

 (Pajama girl was an invited party crasher.)

It was a really odd time to be taking pictures, it was too light for flash and too dark without it. Ugh. Sorry about the inconsistency.

So many pictures! I wish we could have taken more, but life happens and costumes get uncomfortable. :) Happy Halloween!

Football games, carving pumpkins, and the most gorgeous state on earth

I've been neglecting this blog a bit. Between running my craft blog and tutoring 8 different kids a few times a week I've been really busy! But in a good way. :)

 I've discovered that I actually like going to high school football games! This one we're at one supporting Brandon in the marching band (like my Appa hat???)

 Typical Allie. :)

 He is a tremendous bass clarinet player!

That's him with the star around him. Isn't he so handsome?? He's first chair!!

 We went to another one where we supported my darling little sister in cheerleading? (Isn't she so cute?)

 She does cheerleading, drama, gymnastics and has a social life and still manages to get straight As!!

And Brandon drinks juice boxes. Manly huh? :)

Oh...did I mention WE WON??? We never win, NEVER!! I think we're the worst team in the whole district. But we won!!!!

This is my version of "Swan Lake" with magnets. We got these little bendy magnets at the art museum a while back and they are sooo fun to play with!


On Monday for FHE we carved pumpkins! It was so much fun, and I tried something new! Well...kind of.

 Elisa's was a secret.

 Mine wasn't! (can you tell from my template?)

 Carolyn's was very ambitious but it turned out well!

David's was secret too, what's with pumpkin secrecy??

 Isn't it soooo cute?? It's a singing kitty. :) I always seem to do a cat of some sort on my jack o lantern....I just have a think for cats!

I did the "poking" method this year. It make the carving WAY easier but it was a little more time consuming. But I really loved the result, this was the first time I've ever had a lot of negative space on my pumpkin.

 Can you guess whose is whose?? David did Jack Skelington (he knows I love Nightmare Before Christmas and he carved it for me, isn't he sweet?) I did the kitty, Carolyn did "Defying Gravity" and Elisa did Naruto!!

Wicked cook aren't they? I love carving pumpkins!

David also did a Jack fried tortilla (with cinnamon sugar...mmmm!!!)

I love being back in Maryland. It is SUCH a beautiful state, especially in the fall. The colors are mind blowing! I've had a lot of fun taking pictures of the stunning scenes! I'm by no means a photographer...but I had fun anyway. :) This first set I took right after a thunderstorm.

That last one just makes me happy because it's the same kind of tree that's in front of my house (the house I grew up in, that is.) You know the craziest part? All of these pictures were taken in the flower gardens around the house.

This set was taken on a trail ride with Elisa. Most were taken while on the horse so they're not the best quality, but hopefully they're good enough to make you jealous of the beauty of my world.

 This little mushroom was the star of the show!! It was by far the coolest mushroom I've ever seen!

 I loved that it was red at the top and then slowly turned yellow. And those little bumps!!

 Oh and the texture. I loved it.

 Oh the leaves. I love the leaves.

 And I love Jack. He's so cute. :)

Oh I love Maryland.

Tomorrow (hopefully) I'll post pictures of our Halloween costumes!!