October 15 rolled around again, so we dug out our pumpkin carving tools (and bought new ones to replace the ones broken while playing with playdoe throughout the year). Each year on this day, we carve our pumpkins in memory of the day Paul proposed to me. 13 years ago to the day, we bought pumpkins and went to his house to carve them, but before we did, Paul got on his knees and sang his proposal to me. We didn't get to carve pumpkins that night because I had to get right home and tell everyone... so in honor of that night, we make October 15th our Pumpkin Carving Night.
We all look forward to carving the pumpkins, although some of the kids still take some coaxing to get their hands into the stringy, gooey pumpkin insides. This year we bought the pumpkins from a local farm, but next year, I think we'll designate an area to the viney squash (for the life of me, I can't figure out if it's a fruit or a veggie). It gets expensive at $4.00 per family member (and that's for the cheaper ones we've found), only to chop them up and have them rot on the front steps.
Ellie surprised me this year. All of the boys still had me carve their faces out when they were five, but she cleaned out her pumpkin and started carving away. She actually did a good job. I was impressed. She likes to draw, so maybe it's her artistic side coming out.
I have to admit, all of our pumpkin carving abilities have improved over the last 13 years. With the help of some free tracing patterns that we printed off the computer, we were able to make some nice renditions of Snow White, Blues Clues, Thomas the Train and Mickey Mouse. I believe I can see our pumpkin "works of art" becoming quite competitive as the kids get older...
Grace with Snow White...
...and Caleb's nice job on Blues Clues
... And here you have the Whole Pumpkin Family
NICE!! They all look great and I love the picture with all of them lit up.
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