First Pumpkin Carving

Today we carved our pumpkin. I found several free templates at Scissor Crafts for Children and let the girls decide on which design they wanted. I really wanted Jack Skellington but the girls wanted the silly face. At least I didn’t have to do a cat or ghost but a real pumpkin face.

I sliced off the top and let the girls scoop out the middle. They both refused to use their hands but wanted a spoon to do the dirty work. I know they are girls, but this not getting sullied issue gets exasperating. Sharing was tested in this activity. Teagan did not want to share and showed it. Vehemently. Happily we got through it with little complaining and no tears. Not even from me.

Since the bears are so young I did the actual carving of the pumpkin. Teagan coached me and Kaitlyn nibbled on the pieces I pulled out so they technically helped the entire time. As my hand started to cramp half way through I was appreciative they didn’t choose a more intricate face. Slowly but surely we finished it and I didn’t break any of the face. I have a tendency to compromise a smile or eye during the process. All in all I think it’s the best pumpkin I’ve ever carved.

We put a candle in it and lit it up. The girls loved it. When I blew out the candle Teagan told me to turn the pumpkin back on.

I took the seeds and roasted them with some red pepper and salt. Hubby hates pumpkin anything so this is always my personal treat. Unfortunately it seems Kaitlyn likes them as much as Mommy and I was forced to share.

The night was completed by watching It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown lounging on the floor with Daddy. This is certainly a tradition I could get use to.

Pumpkin Patch

With Halloween this coming weekend we needed to go get a pumpkin. The bears have never been to a pumpkin patch so I started looking for one nearby that we could visit. Through word of mouth I found one at a local church which we chose to go to, though it did not have a hayride or animals to pet and possibly get salmonella or fleas.

There was a school class already at the pumpkin patch being read a book about pumpkins from a young black man in a pumpkin costume with an orange Pippi Longstockings-like wig on. I guess we had arrived at the very start since he was greeting the children and one of them greeted him back with his real name. So much for his convincing disguise. It was a story about a pumpkin trying to escape the patch because he was afraid of Halloween. Once finally picked, carved and put out to “shine” he was happy to be a part of Halloween. I guess he was into that self-mutilation craze.

While the class had their story time the bears wandered around looking at all of the pumpkins. They tried to pick up a few smaller ones and push over the big ones. Kaitlyn was more amused with the straw and using it to dig in the dirt.

I was trying to catch the perfect shot and Teagan started to get annoyed with me asking her to look at me and say cheese. She started to avoid me or at least keep her back to me at all times. Even the flimsy bribe of chocolate was not enough to get a toothy grin.

We finally found our pumpkin and Daddy stood in a long line of first graders buying their little pumpkins from their field trip. I should have taken a picture as it was rather cute. This tall man holding a pumpkin squeezed between these little kids giggling and playing with their tiny pumpkins. However I didn’t want to freak out any hover mothers that showed up for the field trip.

I plan on carving the pumpkin tomorrow with the girls. I’m really concerned with how they are going to react when I cut off the pumpkins scull, scoop out the flesh and seeds and begin to cut out a face. Maybe I should go borrow the pumpkin book from Pippi.