pumpkin carving

and then, the night before halloween, we carved ’em.

in past years, the bulk of the pumpkin cutting, cleaning, and carving fell to us parents as our kids would gag on the smell of pumpkin guts, refuse to stick their hands in the slimy goop, and eventually get bored and run off to play.  they’d only come back once all was done, cleaned up, and smiley jack-o-lanterns were ready for them to claim as their own.

well, it appears to be a new day, folks.

they were so eager to get started that they jumped in before i was ready for em.

and they did most of it by themselves this year.  even this girl.

they did most of it themselves, but it doesn’t mean they didn’t still gag at the smell and feel of the pumpkin guts.

he came up with his own face idea, daddy drew it on for him, and he proceeded to carve it out (with daddy’s assistance).

she wanted in on the carving too.  thank goodness for those special carving tool kits they sell now.  remember trying to do this with steak knives and random kitchen tools?  no wonder why my parents only let us carve pumpkins once.

the girls’ pumpkin (the lashes on the right eye got messed up and the chunk out of her head was supposed to be a bow.  drawing has never been my strong suit).  and that’s mikey’s mini pumpkin next to it.

more of the finished pumpkin family.  and that’s phil in the background pretending this is a candid shot.

apparently she sees someone doing this to her a lot.

and where was he during all of this family memory making?  he’d been super cranky all night (fighting a stomach bug) so we let him get a power nap (read: keep him out of the way) in his crib.  see?  seems to be just what he needed.

and the finished pumpkin family!  btw, that’s our laundry shoved into the back left corner there.  didn’t want you to miss it.  because laundry is never finished around here.

well guess who actually enjoyed playing with the pumpkin guts?

guess who else?

all lit up inside.

happy halloween, y’all.  hope yours was great!

as for us, we are still reveling in the fact that it is indeed a new day around here and maybe next year, we can park ourselves on the couch and watch the kids take care of the whole business themselves!  wouldn’t that be something?