{An Illini in a Desert State}

Happiest of Halloweens

to everyone!

The requisite matching pj picture:

and an outtake I love:

The rest were epic fails. LOL

Giang and I went to our first Halloween party. ADULTS ONLY. We hired a babysitter and everything. And the best part was that it was just down the street. (Still drove the babysitter home, so I didn't drink that much. And I still had to get up with Ethan in the morning, so it wasn't like I was going to get to sleep in...) It was a lot more fun than I thought, and I am glad we went. This is what we were:

Know what we were? It took people a minute. I think the nametag I had (that you can't really see) should have given the Price is Right away. :) I totally found this idea on the internet and copied it-I'm not that clever. It really served a few purposes. 1. Had a nametag for a party where we only knew a handful of people. 2. I didn't have to take off layers or completely disrobe in order to use the restroom. (good when you are drinking. LOL) Giang was also going to be a contestent, but about 2 hours before the party he decided to be Drew Carrey and printed out the mask, etc. Quite clever I thought.

 

We hope you get lots and lots of candy! :)

 

I posted too soon.

I should have waited.

Giang finished the costume today.

and had Christopher try on the entire outfit, right down to the shoe covers.

Awesome, no?

My husband is the best. :) Happy Halloween!

 

The best costume ever.

Once upon a time I had a child that didn't even care that Halloween existed. He was 4 before he kept a costume on for longer than 30 minutes. We've never trick-or-treated beyond a block (and he skips most of the houses, at that). I get all of his candy (except for some kit kats,  regular skittles or starburts (no sour or tropical, please) or suckers).

Until this year.

We have a slight Halo obsession in our house. It's a video game that is only on the xbox. good guys (spartans) vs evil alien monsters. Or something like that. We don't have the video game-CK just has the Mega Blok Halo sets and figures. I.HATE.THEM. Mega Bloks are really cheap legos, and they never stay together and the directions are crap. But, CK doesn't care about those things, he loves them. I have learned alot about my child's lastest obsessions (ie, NASCAR, monster trucks, legos) but Halo? It's, "I have no idea honey, go ask your dad."

Now do you think there is a Halo costume? No. There have been ones over the years, but the cheapest we could find was an adult one for $80. And it was really just a printed cloth suit and a plastic helmet. Would that do for CK? According to my husband, no.

This is what the outfit for the main guy (master chief) in the game looks like:

Giang spends his work days troubleshooting computers and technical stuff. He loves to work with his hands (hence the bed building and craft room cube creating and generally being very handy around the house). I don't even know how he stumbled upon it, but he figured out that he could make CK a halo costume. He found a site that had the exact 3d model that you could scale and print out on paper. And guess what he did?

For over a month he's printed out on sheets of paper the pieces of this costume, cut them out with an exacto knife, scored the bent edges, and glued it all together.

The first one was too big.

So he made a smaller one for CK.

Now what would you do with a helmet made out of cardstock? Did you know that they make products to cover them and make them hard like plastic? That there is an entire group of people that do this as a hobby? (I guess if you need a costume for Comic-con you need to make your own. LOL)

I honestly thought he was just going to do the helmet. But then he kept going. He even made a gun out of paper. NOT.KIDDING. Here are all the pieces after they'd been covered with smooth cast and some with fiberglass. (We take our projects VERY seriously. LOL)

Yep, even covers for the shoes.

Well, now it's been spray painted and detailed and lights got added. Oh, you mean you don't order LED lights online and go to radio shack for resistors and soder things together for your costume? LOL

We do. Well, Giang does. :)

Giang just got the helmet and chest piece done for the party we went to on Saturday. It's just missing the shield (but that will be added). Here is CK and his friend Aaron:

CK chose the silver and black scheme. Giang even found a GI Joe costume to wear underneath for the muscles. He even won 1st place at the party. :)

And Giang continued working on it Sunday and today. And CK tried it on (but just with the tshirt underneath.)

 

you can see the lights in the back of the suit better when the camera flash isn't on. LOL

He had to do a pose, of course. :)

Question is...how are we going to top this for next year? LOL And seriously...isn't Giang the best Dad ever? My husband is awesome. :)

 

 

Seven on Sunday

Huh. What do you know, I remembered I had a blog. I've wanted to post, honest, but there's still no app that just transfers what I am thinking right into the computer, so I've put it off.

1. Ethan's been LOVING Geotrax lately. And fortunately we have enough room upstairs to keep a track out all the time. And when he wants to go up there and play, he will come over, grab your hand, and pull on your finger until you come with him. If you say, "Do you want to go upstairs?" you'll get a "Shuuuuuuure!" (sure!) in response, with a giggle and grin.

2. We've gotten invited to 2 Halloween parties in the past 3 days. We've never been to a Halloween party, honestly. One is with kids, one without (WOOT!). But we have to dress up. (and pay a babysitter. ha) LOL So now I am searching for costume ideas on the internet. I have found some fun, easy, and clever ones, but they seem to involve covering the face or not being able to sit down. And I'd like to wear the same to both (different people), and since one is in the neighborhood and I'm meeting people for the first time, I'd like them to see my face. and have the ability to park myself on a seat in the corner if I start to feel uncomfortable. LOL And if I show up in a 'this is my costume' t-shirt, I'll be known as 'the one that doesn't like to participate' in the neighborhood. LOL (even though that is a perfectly respectable 'costume,' in my opinion. LOL)

3. My beloved Fighting Illini are 6-0 and have been ranked #16 in the country! They haven't had a streak like this since they went 7-0 in 1951! What fun football games those must be. Missing the cool weather and schnapps spiked hot chocolate. :) And they are even being televised on ABC this weekend against Ohio State!

4. Speaking of football, this year we opted for the 'sports tier' from our cable company so we could get the Big 10 Network, and watch the Illini. So we've managed to see every game they've played. And during exciting plays or touchdowns, we clap and holler. LOL and Christopher has becomed accustomed to us yelling, "Touchdown, Illini!" so he'll repeat that over and over. And Ethan? Just watches us, turns, looks at the tv, throws his hands in the air, and bouces up and down and cheers. and then we do it more because he imitates us and.it's.adorable. And while we were watching the Ohio State/Nebraska game Saturday night, he's gotten to the point where he cheers for any touchdown. LOVE.

5. I tried to get Ethan's cheering recorded with my phone, but whenever he sees it (or any camera) pointed at him, he yells, "CHEEZE!" and immediately rushes to the camera to see. Even before you've taken the picture. It's adorable and frustrating at the same time.

6. And speaking of Ethan talking, it's slowly coming together. This morning, while Ethan played on the floor with his blocks, I heard, "Mom. Mom. Look. Car there." while pointing to the TV. (we were watching NASCAR, of course.) He also says, "wee-vee" or "wee-wee" for TV. And as long as he's in a good mood, when you walk into his room in the morning, you are greeting with 'Hi Der.' (Hi there.)

7. I'm trying out a new phone. I LOVE my Blackberry, but I would be lying if I didn't say I was envious of the apps that everyone seems to have. So Giang got a Samsung Galaxy S2 for me, and it even has a 8.0 megapixel camera. And found an app called picplz that's like Instagram on the iphone. I LOVE it.

Before:

  

After:

It's just kind of cool and retro.  (and can lighten a poorly lit photo. HA) And important to only me. It doesn't actually help me take better pictures. LOL

8. Christopher. Ah, sweet CK. Wanting to be independent, yet gets clingy when ethan's had a bit too much Mommy time and CK wants in on that. LOL Fall break is this week so he's home with us. Planning on sending E to the sitter for a few days so we can have some one-on-one time, but we also have some cleaning and organizing toys/legos/hotwheels time. I'm also limiting his time on the tablet, or he'd be on it all day. He's super thrilled.

Hmm. Well, I had 8 instead of 7. oh well.

Enjoy the week!