Christmas Card Photos!

I'm sure most of my friends/family who would check this blog have already seen the Christmas card photos.  However, I decided to upload them here anyway just in case.  :) 

Merry Christmas everybody!

Comikaze Expo

On Saturday we went to the Comikaze Expo in Los Angeles.  For those that don't know (and to quote their website), Comikaze is "Los Angeles' first and only large-scale, multi-media pop culture convention. We are the Comic Con of LA ."  Click HERE to go to their website if you'd like to know more.  Kylie dressed up in her Halloween costume and went as Ramona Flowers.  Collin decided his costume (Predator) was too uncomfortable and bulky to wear all day long at a convention.  Kylie got stopped by strangers all day who wanted to take their picture with her, which we all thought was pretty fun.  We knew she'd get WAY more people who knew who she was there of course.  I jokingly told her she was getting to hang with her peeps (aka fellow nerds).  LOL!  :)

The main draw of this convention for the kids was Stan Lee.  If you don't know who that is, click HERE to read some more info about him.  If you just want the short version here, I'll quote his wikipedia, "he co-created Spider-Man, the Hulk, X-Men, Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Thor and many others."  He's also the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics.  This photo below was the highlight and made their day:

We also got a picture of Stan as he was walking in to the photo area:

Of course, they saw many other attendees who had cool costumes.  We stopped some of them for photos so I'll include those below:

Ok, now for something *I* thought was exciting.  We got to see Dana Barron (aka the original Audrey from the movie Vacation)!!!!!  My only regret is that I didn't stop to get an autograph and talk to her.   (You had to pay for her autograph though, and what would I do with it?  LOL!)  I DID get a photo of her as we walked by though.  She looks GREAT!

She's making a weird face in this next one, but you can see her better:

I also saw and got quick photos of Angie Everhart (who looked great also and was super nice!), Butch Patrick (aka Eddie Munster), Pat Kilbane (an actor from Mad TV) and a blurry Erica Eleniak (known for being in Baywatch, but she wasn't looking so great so it's good she was blurry I guess...haha!)  I'll include those photos below:

Angie Everhart

Butch Patrick (aka Eddie Munster)

Pat Kilbane

Erika Eleniak (known for Baywatch)

All in all it was a great day.  Our only regret was not seeing Mark Hamill.  He was there, but he'd been added in at the last minute so we didn't have a schedule for him or know where to find him until it was too late.  Tim was VERY bummed.  That's the one picture he'd have wanted to be in for sure.  We'll find Mark again...at another convention someday.  We're hooked!  :)

Halloween 2011

Even though it's hard to be new in a town a few months before Halloween (no big friend groups to hang out with and/or trick or treat with either), this one turned out to be rather fun. Kylie picked out a cool costume that only the truly nerdy will get (and she loves that!), and Tim spent hours making "the most beast Halloween costume ever" for Collin. (I quoted Kylie in part of that last sentence....hahaha.) I'm going to try my best to organize the photos we have so that they make sense, and I'll include some links for those of you who have no clue who Kylie is (or Collin). :) Enjoy!

KYLIE  (First, info on her costume, then....pictures!) 

Kylie decided to be Ramona Flowers, from the Scott Pilgrim comic books (and the movie...but she's more of a fan of the books). For those of you with no clue about what I just mentioned, here are a couple of links (Just click the words):

Scott Pilgrim Wikipedia

Ramona Flowers Photo from the Movie (with hair like Kylie's, Ramona has several styles and colors throughout the series though)

Ramona Flowers Photo from the Comic Books

Scott Pilgrim Movie Trailer


Ok...now for the photos!

We got Kylie a long blue wig online so that she could cut it into the Ramona style.  At first the wig looked like this:

After spending FOUR hours cutting the wig by herself, she ended up with this:

   


















We ordered the goggles she has on above online, and Meemaw purchased the "Sub Space Bag" you'll see in other photos.  The sweater is from Old Navy and the shorts are from Forever 21.  Blue tights were finally tracked down at Target, and the boots were ordered online.  So...costume complete!  Here she is in full gear:

COLLIN

Collin decided to go as Predator from the movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger (plus many sequels without Arnold).  Tim made his costume pretty much from scratch.  It's VERY impressive.  The mask part was made from PAPER...yes, paper!  He pieced it together then used a shellac so he could paint it!  He used football shoulder pads and shin guards as a base then covered them in foam to look like armor.  All of it was painted a bronze color.  The hair was made from long pieces of flexible foam-type stuff that he shaped and painted black, then attached to a ski cap.  He even hand painted a fake muscle top from the Halloween store to look like Predator skin.  Everywhere Collin went on Halloween people would stop and say, "Whoa!!  The Predator!!!!  That is amazing!!!"  It looked even cooler in person. 

If you have no clue what the Predator is, here are some links below (photos follow the links):

Predator Wikipedia

Predator Bio Helmet Photo (There are some slight variations on the helmet in some of the movies, I tried to find one most like Collin's here.)

Predator Full Body Photo

Predator Movie Trailer (original movie, from 1987)


Note:  We found one flaw with the costume, it was a bit uncomfortable for Collin...LOL!   ;)
 
Here you'll see Tim with the shoulder pads propped up on a chair so he could work on adding more foam detail.

Here is a close up of the helmet made out of paper, after it was painted.

Now for Collin in the costume

Now the the final pictures:  Ramona and Predator together.  :)

Music, TV Show & A Movie

I'm still slacking in the picture department, so hopefully some of you aren't disappointed.  Hopefully this weekend I can get organized and take some house photos and video.  (Some of you have asked several times....sorry I'm not on the ball.) 

First I wanted to share some songs I'm loving this month:

Next I wanted to share a TV show.....The Big Bang Theory.  I've only seen a couple of episodes and it's been on a while, but the few I saw were hilarious.  I definitely plan to watch a few more. Click the link below to go to the show's website:

The Big Bang Theory


I recently went on a date with Collin and we went to see Contagion.  It was good, but it'll make you want to bathe in Clorox.  LOL!!!  If you haven't heard of it, here's the movie trailer:

Quickie Update

Hi again!  I wanted to give a quick update, even though nothing majorly exciting has happened recently.  ;)

We're settling in to life in California, and so far the kids are getting great grades in their classes.  (Grades are posted online, so I check now and then.)  I'm so proud of both of their hard work at school. 

As for us, Tim is taking on some projects at work that he's excited about so that's good, but he'll definitely be busy.  It's awesome to me that we moved for a job he's enjoying though.  I'm trying to get into a routine and unpack the little stuff that got stacked in a closet.  I also am attempteing yet another diet while deciding if I want to go back to college in the spring or next fall.  It will depend on if I can pay in-state tuition even though I haven't lived here a year yet.  We'll see.  I'm also filling out my school volunteer forms.  Let the craziness begin!!

Other than that, I only have a couple photos (no kids or house photos though...yet...sorry.)  Yes, I'm still a slacker. 

Our new patio set I'm excited about:

Also, this below made us laugh so I had to take a picture.  Looks like somebody in the Wal-Mart parking lot is moving!!

I wish I'd taken a picture of the other side.  It was full of a LOT of chairs and tables!!  That thing was piled HIGH and looked dangerous!!!!

Anyway, hope you're all having a great week!!!

Catching Up & Collin's 12th Birthday

I have not quit or disappeared, I just couldn't get the iPhone app for blogging to work properly.  So, now that my computer is unpacked.....BEWARE!!!  :)  I haven't taken many photos over the past month though, so hopefully some of you aren't disappointed.  LOL!

First off, over this past month we packed up the house in Arizona and moved to California.

It's weird seeing everything boxed up and ready to be loaded!

Packing is hard work, right?

After some nights on uncomfortable airbeds, we had arrived!!! (Finally!)

Lilly loves her new yard in California

In case you're wondering, there are no inside photos because we are just now photo-ready.  Those are coming soon so be ready.  :)

For Collin's 12th Birthday, we decided to go to Universal Studios Hollywood.  Unfortunately both kids did NOT want to let me take pictures so there are only a few.  (I had to beg.)

The guys at the beginning of the day

The kids only agreed to these next photos because it's their favorite movie.  They had just gone on a water ride and were very wet, so only their love of Scott Pilgrim could've enticed them to let me take a photo.  LOL!

Kylie's 15th Birthday (Only over a month late)

Kylie decided to have a small get together rather than a big party, so here are a few pictures of them hanging out, playing Rock Band and eating all kinds of stuff.  :)

NOTE:  Click on each photo to see it larger.  

From L to R:
Celeste, Peyton, Collin, Justin, Kylie & Sammi

L to R:  Peyton, Collin, Justin & Kylie....some are being silly, wonder who?

L to R:  Sammi, Collin, Justin, Kylie & Peyton














PS:  I want it duly noted that not only did I update as promised, I included birthday pictures as well!!  I'm doubly awesome this week!  ;)