Pumpkins

I can't tell you how long it has been since I've carved a pumpkin. I mean, literally, I can't tell you. I'm not sure if I have done one since we've been married or not. I can't remember. We've painted a few and we used wire to make swirly decorations on one once. We've always at least bought some even if only to sit them by the doorstep au natural. This year I decided that Gabriella was old enough to help in the dreaded scooping and scraping and thus it was time that we do a couple good old fashioned carved pumpkins. Jonathan took on the large pumpkin and Gabriella and I took the smaller one. I took the top off and showed Gabriella the insides. "I am NOT sticking my hand in there," she immediately announced. So, I was left with the entire job of cleaning out the pumpkin while Gabriella watched with a look of disgust. Once that was done Gabriella was quite glad to use a washable marker to draw the face on our pumpkin. The only glitch in her design was that Gabriella likes to use a single tiny dot in the middle of her eyes so I helped her "attach" the smaller circle to the larger one to make the eyes carvable.

Her end design looks a lot like this pumpkin she drew earlier this week. (I love this drawing.):

Once Gabriella was finished with her artistry I was able to carve out the shapes she had drawn in about five minutes. Meanwhile, Jonathan was just starting to transfer the intricate "Happy Halloween"/Tree design he had chosen. He was so intent on his project that worked through supper. Gabriella and I heartlessly ate our delicious pizza right under his nose.

(The awesome pizza crust recipe I used is here. I'll have to play with making it with at least some whole wheat flour, but man it is tasty. Crunchy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. There was plenty dough to make Gabriella her own cheese-less pizza and a few bread sticks.)

Jonathan finally finished his pumpkin long after Gabriella was in bed. We lit them up and put them on the porch. Isn't the face Gabriella made super cute? It is hard to see in this picture, but Jonathan's says "Happy Halloween" across the top.

Here they are in the daylight. (Plus a "teaser" picture of Gabriella in her peacock costume! We did the "Monster March" parade today. I'll try to have those pictures up tomorrow.

This will be quite the week. We had the Monster March today and we still have three more costume events this week! Stay tuned for lots of pictures.