Yes, I know Benjamin is two years old and he is about to celebrate his third Halloween. However, this is the first year he had his own pumpkin to carve, for two reasons: 1) he is old enough to understand the concept, and 2) we grew a boatload of the giant orange gourds in our garden this summer. Since we had such a bountiful crop, we invited the cousins and grandparents over for some chili (I thought it was fitting that the secret ingredient was pumpkin), cornbread, and a little jack-o-lantern fun.
Did you know that you can't use just any ol' knife for pumpkin carving? Here I thought my Henkles knife set would work just fine, but apparently I was wrong. After a few moments of panic (I hate not being prepared, especially when three adorable little faces were staring at me, the pumpkins all lined up in front of them), Nathan came to the rescue by running to the store and buying a couple of kits, complete with utensils and patterns. While he did that, the boys commenced scooping out the seeds, which they were still doing when he returned.
It's been a long time since I've carved a pumpkin. I forgot how slippery the innards are of a pumpkin. I had to scrape the sides of the gourd before Benjamin could scoop it out. I encouraged him to use his hands, which he tried before claiming that it was "sticky." We both continued scooping out his pumpkin (him with a spoon, me with my hands) until I realized that he was actually putting the seeds back in the pumpkin while I was clearing them out. I wondered why it was taking so long!
Here are some pictures of our final products. Nathan helped Benjamin with his classic jack-o-lantern, but I proudly completed mine all by myself. Nathan made fun of it, but I was proud of my handiwork. Who cares if the letters aren't all the same size? Wyatt didn't finish his, so he took it home to work on it the next day.
It was a good night. I think I see an annual Halloween tradition in our future...
Did you know that you can't use just any ol' knife for pumpkin carving? Here I thought my Henkles knife set would work just fine, but apparently I was wrong. After a few moments of panic (I hate not being prepared, especially when three adorable little faces were staring at me, the pumpkins all lined up in front of them), Nathan came to the rescue by running to the store and buying a couple of kits, complete with utensils and patterns. While he did that, the boys commenced scooping out the seeds, which they were still doing when he returned.
It's been a long time since I've carved a pumpkin. I forgot how slippery the innards are of a pumpkin. I had to scrape the sides of the gourd before Benjamin could scoop it out. I encouraged him to use his hands, which he tried before claiming that it was "sticky." We both continued scooping out his pumpkin (him with a spoon, me with my hands) until I realized that he was actually putting the seeds back in the pumpkin while I was clearing them out. I wondered why it was taking so long!
Here are some pictures of our final products. Nathan helped Benjamin with his classic jack-o-lantern, but I proudly completed mine all by myself. Nathan made fun of it, but I was proud of my handiwork. Who cares if the letters aren't all the same size? Wyatt didn't finish his, so he took it home to work on it the next day.
Benjamin's
Weston's
Travis'
Mine
It was a good night. I think I see an annual Halloween tradition in our future...
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