Pumpkin Carving

Tuesday was our traditional pumpkin carving FHE.  We were a little rushed since it took so long to finalize the reflections entries, but we still got it all done!  We just went to Dick's this year to pick out our pumpkins.  Nate and I were happy with how cheap it was, especially compared to last year when we went to the pumpkin patch.  But of course that has it's pros as well. 

We just did it on the kitchen floor on top of a sheet as always, but looking back at the pictures, it seems like we had more room last year, must have been where the table was or something.... oh well, it worked.

We had a lot of kids wanting to try out the knives!!!!  Gets a little hectic at times, but I like the system we have.  The kids choose what they want it to look like (this year we had some stencils that came in our carving kit), Mom cuts it open and helps clean out the guts, Dad helps with the drawing and this year, the taping of the stencil (that was the trickiest part apparently it's hard to put a flat square on a round bumping sphere, go figure) and also the poking of the dots, which I think was VERY helpful with the carving.... we will definitely be saving these tools and using them in years to come.

Grandpa came down and helped with the photos and uninterested/bored/loss of interest children :)

I liked this one of Erika and Noah better, but Kelly was inside being cold, so this picture will be useless.  Isn't it cool how you can see the snow coming down!!  I love that!

Erika's.  She didn't have a whole lot to do with the carving of her pumpkin.  She seemed to like it when we stuck it next to her in the cart (it was the most expensive since there weren't any smaller ones outside we resorted to the SUgar ones inside the store).  I decided to carve the bottom instead of the top and I think that is how I want to do it every time!!  It was SO convenient for lighting the candle and carrying it by the handle.  I made hers to look like her :)  The teeth especially :)

Noah's.  Noah did a LOT of his by himself.  He chose the lid shape and then cleaned out a lot of it before asking for help from me.  Then little Miss Kelly helped him with the carving of the face.  She was so sweet to help him and OH so talented!!  Look how well she did!  I like the little kid knives the kit came with!

Luke's.  Luke picked the Haunted House stencil, Nate traced it and I carved it.  He had very little to do with most of the cleaning and carving.  He lost interest and was up and down the stairs, checking on his pumpkin and eating the rest of Grandpa's pizza.  It was funny.  I think it turned out REALLY good though!!  (if I do say so myself)

Kelly's masterpiece!  Kelly worked SO hard!!  And she was SO creative.  She only had a little help cleaning it out, other than that she did the whole thing!!  I was so impressed with her work!  She even had a scar!!  I wish you could see it better in this picture, she did such a nice job.

Bradley's.  Brad did the carving of his lid, and then had me clean it out.  He and Nate worked on his design FOREVER!  And he actually did a lot of it himself, but I think Nate was into it as well, and had a few turns with the knife :)  It sure turned out cool!

Charity's.  Charity was the only one to do the WHOLE thing herself!  Gutted it and everything!!  This is her first year doing that!  She also picked out a stencil, it's an owl on a tree branch.  She did souch a great job!!!  It's really fun for me to keep this tradition up.  I love seeing what each kid does with it.  Even Luke with his disinterest.... it's just proof that these kids are all unique little individuals and I like that.

Nate and I didn't do pumpkins this year.  Someday we'll be able to do our own :)  It was a good time though!!  Wouldn't trade these moments for a million dollars.