Pumpkin Carving

This will be the third annual Halloween where Leia's pumpkin features a glowing kitty. ; ) Why choose anything else when you've found the perfect one? ; ) And this year Leia Rose truly helped with both the stenciling & the carving.

I have to admit that pumpkin carving as the lone adult with two children was REALLY difficult. This is because, . . . guess who does most of the carving? Uh huh. Me. You see, usually pumpkin carving is a daddy-performing-mamma-watching type of job. But this year Daddy had to stay late at work and, it being the day before Halloween, I got the job. Mamma got a bit frustrated at the carving part of it, while allowing the two kids to run wild in the yard while I stressed over cutting out kitty whiskers the thickness of a human hair. Leia Rose mostly watched, but you might be wondering what Annie was doing while this was going on. . . .

Yeah, she was playing in the dirt.

Even worse, when she finally came over to watch a bit, I gave her a hug, smelled poop and checked her diaper. When nothing was there, I smelled her hands. Yep, somehow she had gotten into some animal poop somewhere. Must have been in the dirt. Yikes! This did not help with Mamma's frustration as she had to wash and sanitize. ; ) But then Mamma decided to turn over a new leaf and make this a really fun project. And this positive thinking really worked!

Leia Rose really helped, too, with lots of humor. There was one point where she came over and said, "Mamma, look! I'm a country person!" And if you look closely, you'll see the piece of "wheat" protruding from her mouth. (She was trying to imitate that relaxing country pose when you see a farmer sitting under a tree with a piece of wheat in his mouth.) Ha!

Both girls helped in scooping out the muddly mush. ; ) And then it was time for painting!!!

I was amazed that Annie not only said she was painting a ghost, but actually DID. : ) (Of course, it wasn't long after when her little pumpkin, which was too small for carving anyway, rolled down our entire hill, blending her little creation into an interesting textured pattern.)

I just had to get a shot of the whole setup here, . . . complete with the muddly mush just sitting in a pile on the ground. ; ) (And if you're wondering where we get the term "muddly mush," it's from a really great book called "I Like Pumpkins," which is our favorite Halloween book from Oma, . . . and I'm sure Annie would say that "Meg and Mog" runs a close second.)

This is one of those shots that I LOVE, just because it is SOOOO Annie! : )

Leia Rose's painting featured a "bloody ghost" . . .

. . . and a "monster kitty"!

This is Leia Rose's best "monster kitty" face. : )

And what would the night before Halloween be without sharing a new tradition of watching "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!" together?!?

While snacking on homemade pumpkin seeds! Yum!