Carving Pumpkins

Auntie Dot, Grandma Kathy, Cousin Alex and Baby Katherine visited for the weekend, which meant that they got to participate in the carving chaos!  It was suggested by The Banana’s kindergarten teacher to spend some time counting pumpkin seeds over the weekend, so I decided we’d have a pumpkin seed guessing contest.  Each participant guessed the number of pumpkin seeds in their pumpkin before we cut them open, and then we sorted through all the slime to count the seeds.  It took a LOT of time, and it meant that Auntie Dot had to count the seeds for not one but three pumpkins and then she helped The Banana count her seeds.  I think Auntie Dot may never come to our house near Halloween again.

The seeds were hilariously unpredictable.  Some of the big pumpkins had hardly any seeds.  Some of the small pumpkins had tons of seeds.  Just when a person would guess a small number of seeds for a big pumpkin, there would be 650 seeds in that one!  YaYa ended up the closest, only eleven seeds away from her total, which earned her a prize.  She could choose between $2.50 or one hour of computer time.  Because she’s just as indecisive as I am, she hasn’t chosen yet.

Dr. Peds was away at the hospital while we were carving.  I called him up and asked him which power tools I could use.  Could I just go to the basement and choose some?  He said he’d be home speedy quick.

Because we were not in the mood for waiting, most of the pumpkins were carved without power tools this year.  The Banana wanted a cat.  Mr. SP drew a picture of a pumpkin with slanty eyes and sharp teeth, and I tried my best to replicate it.  YaYa drew a tree, and I put Auntie Dot in charge of carving out that one.  Dot made a train for Alex and a really awesome aquatic scene for Katherine.  I made a monster with three eyes for Mr. Trouble on Feet, and a polka dot pumpkin for myself.  I know that I’ve made a polka dot pumpkin before, but polka dots on pumpkins make me happy.  Plus, it’s so therapeutic to drill through pumpkins.

Stay tuned for a picture of the pumpkins when they are lit up at night.  Dr. Peds is thinking about carving one still.

After we cleaned up the crazy mess, we tried roasting pumpkin seeds again this year.  They were much less disastrous than usual.  Still, I have not mastered the art of toasting pumpkin seeds.