Pumpkin Carving 2008--Part 1

We are carving pumpkins in stages this year. With all of the obligations we have, we haven't had a few hours straight to dedicate to pumpkins. So, to make pumpkin carving possible, we have split it up over 3 days. On Sunday, we went as a family to pick out pumpkins. This would have been a great photo opportunity if we had gone to a traditional pumpkin patch as opposed to Wal-Mart....But because of our time constraints, we took the easy way out this year. That is the reason I am starting our photo diary of pictures with cleaning out the pumpkins.

Today I decided that the kids and I could clean out the pumpkins so that it will be easier to carve them in the time we have available. We did this while Dave was at class because, really, who cares if they miss cleaning out the pumpkin "guts".

The kids did great! The dog even watched!

Alaina was not at all afraid to get her hands dirty!
She showed Leo how to do it...
Leo ignored her and ate it....no surprise....
Then, the neighbor kids came over to help!
We got out a bunch of spoons and they all dug in. I even put out bowls for them to put the pumpkin seeds and strings into. I was optimistic! I had one bowl for the strings and one bowl for the seeds so we could cook them! We all know that toddlers like to organize and separate things, so I thought this was a grand idea!
Unfortunately, they liked making a mess more than organizing....
I was a little too optimistic. It's OK! Nothing a broom and mop couldn't quickly fix. They did have a blast though!

I'm almost done scraping out all of the pumpkins. I have very little left to do before we carve them. I'm putting them back outside for now and we will be carving them tomorrow night after Dave finishes work. I made a pattern for Alaina's pumpkin. She is going to have a Tinkerbell pumpkin. Dave wants a Vikings pumpkin, but will settle for a traditional Jack-O-Lantern with the triangle eyes if time doesn't permit tomorrow. I haven't figured out what we are going to do for Leo or me. I have found a lot of cool things online, but nothing has stood out. I think it will depend on how much energy I have left after cutting out Alaina's Tinkerbell and cutting out whatever we decide for Leo. If you have any cool ideas let me know! I'm drawing a blank.

After we carve the pumpkins, I will post pictures of them! Hopefully that will be tomorrow night!