making a mess can be so fun

Last night we decorated our pumpkins for Halloween. We opted for an amalgamation of traditional carving and a new-to-us method of painting. So I can't just say we carved pumpkins—even though decorate sounds odd to me. I didn't really think it would be a good idea to let G-tot wield a sharp knife and I thought painting would be a great alternative. It was awesome.

absolutely into it

I waited until the absolute last minute to get pumpkins. Which seems to be a trend in my life these days. On the way home from work yesterday I stopped at the farmer's market and picked up one pumpkin for us to carve as a family and 3 small pumpkins to decorate individually. The carving pumpkin was HUGE and topped out the scales at the market—which max out at 30 pounds. We normally carve at least one each—but we also tend to do that well before the eve of Halloween.

separating seeds from pulp

I love making roasted pumpkin seeds out of the innards. One pumpkin surely wouldn't yield enough seeds to satisfy us, but I was willing to make do with what we would get. It wasn't too bad for coming from just one pumpkin.

playing with play-doh after finishing his pumpkin

This year we opted for the super traditional carve as opposed to our normal—more elaborate—designs. JQ carved the eyes and nose while I kept an eye on G-tot painting and then we switched and I carved the mouth. Painting turned out be a real treat and was perfect for G-tot. It was an awesome family moment. Spontaneous & fun. The kind memories are made of.

jq's

mine

G-tot's

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

I'm hoping his blue eyes will distract you from my three chins.