Pumpkins

 I've managed to get away with not carving pumpkins the last few years, but last year Annalee was adamant that NEXT year we would carve them.  And boy, was her memory good!  She kept reminding me until I finally took the kids to Walmart to pick some out.  I had waited so long that they were only $2 each--score!  The kids wanted pumpkins small enough that they could lift them themselves.  I got big, warty pumpkins for Nathan and I.  Did you know that warty pumpkins are harder-shelled than regular ones?  I bent 3 knives trying to carve the bottom out!  I didn't get much further than what this picture shows.

Not that I minded.  After helping Vander and Annalee, I was pretty sick of pumpkins.  Because the pumpkins were a little too hard for the kids to carve, I asked them how they wanted things to look and then I carved it.  Annalee's and Vander's started out with teeth, but later they got a hold of the carving knives and started making more alterations.  Then they got the marker and played around even more.  At least they had fun!  I carved the bottom out of Bellana's and cleaned it out but then I was too tired to carve a face.  I don't think she noticed.  (Bellana's isn't in the picture because it was hiding behind the column.)