Pumpkin Carving

We did a lot of fun Halloween activities when I was a little kid -- assembling popcorn "hands", making homemade caramel apples and decorating our bedroom windows with construction paper ghosts and goblins. I remember pumpkin carving being a VERY BIG DEAL and watching proudly as our jack-o-lanterns flickered brightly on our front porch. And, of course, trick-or-treating on Halloween night was a fun family night event as we dressed up in costume and treat-or-treated around the neighborhood before finally ending at Grandma's house for a Halloween evening get together with my cousins.

I'm not the biggest fan of Halloween as an adult (is it weird I'm still freaked out by all the scary costumes and gory decor?), but I do love passing along some of the more "friendly" traditions to Tory. We made Halloween crafts and cards earlier this week and I had visions of spending a Halloween-themed evening with Andi and Tory this weekend carving pumpkins and roasting pumpkin seeds. Unfortunately, Andi had to work Friday night so Tory and I were left to create our own fun. I ordered take-out pizza for dinner, cranked up the tunes and set up a pumpkin carving station on the kitchen floor.

This was Tory's first time actually carving pumpkins and she seemed a little confused by the whole process. She kept asking for paint as that's what I usually let her do with little mini pumpkins. I cut open the top of one pumpkin, gave Tory a spoon and encouraged her to scoop out the pumpkin's guts. Of course, she was having none of that business and kept saying "gooey! gooey!" As I was carving, I asked Tory if she wanted a "happy" pumpkin or a "surprised" pumpkin and she voted for a smily face, so we ended up with a regular ol' jack-o-lantern on our front porch.

After a while, Tory warmed up a bit more and played in the bowl of pumpkin seeds I'd collected. In fact, flinging wet seeds all over the kitchen floor using her little chipmunk toy was quite the highlight of her evening. (Why do I even lay out paper to contain the mess for these projects? I always end up scrubbing the floor anyway).

Apron mandatory.
Pants optional.

These photos give the allusion Tory was into carving after a while but in reality, she dropped her spoon  in the pumpkin and was trying to retrieve it without getting her hands dirty. Tricky Mommy photography skillz.

And finally, our finished jack-o-lantern! I set a few candles inside the pumpkin and turned out the front porch lights so Tory could see the jack-o-lantern in full effect. She was in awe and all the mess of carving pumpkins and seeds scattered on my kitchen floor was totally worth it.

P.S. I discovered Mr. Clean Magic Erasers remove leftover Sharpie markings on jack-o-lanterns. Is there anything those little erasers can't do?