Carving Pumpkins and Time

We finally carved our pumpkins this afternoon.

When did our lives become so busy that I actually had to "carve" out time on the calendar for this staple Halloween activity?  Between soccer practice, tennis, homework, school projects {for both bigs!}, and everything else that seems to consume our days, I actually had to schedule this in.  Geez.  Time to reevaluate.  Nothing like a Jack-O-Lantern to make you realize that.

But, I can proudly say our front porch is Halloween ready.

This year we took a different approach. While at CVS this week, picking up a humidifier for our still sick Lucy {yes, bummer, I know}, Maggie and I spotted a pumpkin carving kit book.  I was up for something new and Mags was really up for the cat design.

So on this beautifully sunny afternoon, we hit the lawn with our nifty CVS book, two pumpkins, and a few other needed supplies.

As always, the kids promise they are going to help me out with all of the pumpkin gunk.  And in their own ways they did.  Maggie did one scoop before declaring that she didn't, "want to get dirty".  From then on she suggested I scoop it out, transfer it to her spoon and she would sling it in the trash.  So we did.

Lucy tried her hardest to get right in the middle of it all, utensils and all.  Unfortunately, she had a lot of effort, but little success.  It sure was cute to watch though.

And Jack did his fair share of scooping and...get ready for this...taste testing.  Yes, that is raw pumpkin pulp on his chin. And wouldn't you think that after trying it once and realizing you didn't care for it, you would stop.  No, instead he tried the wall of the pumpkin, then the seeds, and then part of the stem.  {I promise he's not as odd as I'm making him sound...I like to call it curious}

After pulp scooping, it was time to carve.  Our book came with these crafty stencils, a wax crayon, and a kid friendly carving tool {that actually worked}.  Maggie chose the cat, as we all knew she would.

And Jack, of course, chose the most complex creepy looking creature of all, just as I knew he would.  It took fooooreevvver and it was impossible to cut, chop and carve all those details.  But, I let him try...and that he intently did.

While Jack sorted out the details of his pumpkin, Maggie branded hers.  My Magpie is very obsessed with writing her name at this stage in her precious 3 year old life.  You can bank on finding it written on every piece of paper in our home.  And now happily, it's on our pumpkins too.

With a bit of carved out time and pumpkins, I had a very special afternoon with my kiddos and I know they did too {they even told me so}.  So, with that being said,  this is what we have to show for it {the smiles are my favorite part}...

{I'm not so sure if that is exactly what that thing is supposed to look like, but it's close. And more importantly, Jack is happy.}

Happy Halloween Eve!