Carving Pumpkins

We finally got to carve our pumpkins!! Ellen got left out on this activity, but she didn't seem to mind. We even bough candles to put in our pumpkins this year! The kids were really excited to see them glowing at night. It happened to be a windy night, so the candles didn't stay aglow for long, or maybe it was the cheap candles (I got them three for a dollar at the dollar store).

Samuel and his "vampire" pumpkin. If you look close you can see the two long teeth. Aaron has taught me something about cutting out the top of the pumpkins. If you are cutting a zigzag (or other design) top, make sure that you have one leg on the zigzag longer than all the others so you will know which way the lid fits back on! I remember having to turn the lids several times just trying to get it to sit down right. Also make sure your knife is at an angle when you are cutting so the lid doesn't fall straight down. Maybe you already knew these tips, but I didn't until a couple of years ago.

Jacque and her pumpkin. She is one who likes to pose for a picture. Each of the kids got to draw on their pumpkin exactly what they wanted cut out. Jacque must've gotten a little confused. Instead of drawing a face, she drew letters and numbers...thus the tattoo. Aaron took some alcohol to the writing and most of it came off.

Calista really enjoyed cleaning out the inside of her pumpkin. I think her pumpkin was my favorite. I don't know if it was just because it didn't have the triangle eyes, but it just looked really happy.