Pumpkin carving 2009

So we decided that tonight was our night to carve pumpkins before Halloween. We already had the pumpkins and I had been thinking about the designs I wanted to do for the kids. Aidan had picked out a 'bumpy' pumpkin with little to no stem. It was what he wanted and he was really excited when he found it. Asher's pumpkin was from a couple of weeks ago that I think Aidan had picked out since Asher was enchanted by the little pumpkins.

Last night I was searching around the internet to find some pumpkin ideas. When I saw Aidans pumpkin I thought it looked like a large cucumber, and reminded me of Larry the Cucumber from Veggie Tales. I mentioned to Aidan that I could carve his pumpkin to look like Larry, since he has been into Veggie Tales lately. He was down. So back to last night, I found these Mickey and Minnie Mouse templates and thought that they could be a good idea. Aidan and Asher were going to be Mickey and Minnie for Halloween. Aidan and Asher were already in bed so I went in there to ask him if he wanted Mickey instead. I had put them to bed no more than 15 minutes earlier and when I went in there he was out like a light. I tried to wake him up to ask him and got him awake enough to say yes to Mickey. So I was all set to todays carving.

Well as this afternoon rolled around Aidan mentioned that he was excited about Larry the Cucumber for his pumpkin. I reminded him about our sleepy conversation the night before, but Tiff said that he has changed his mind back to Larry that day.

We sat down in the kitchen floor with a plastic drop 'cloth' to start our pumpkins. Asher was interested in helping scoop out the guts. Aidan tried once and didn't think about doing it again. Asher did end up eating some of the pumpkin off of the 'cap' of her pumpkin. One of those things that we never had to worry about Aidan doing.

After the pumpkins were emptied we taped the templates on them and starting poking holes to trace the lines. Yes that's the big secret. So now you can do this at home. My intention this year was to use my Craftsman Rotary Tool (dremel). I thought that it would make it easier to do better designs. It helped a little. I didn't even use it on Ashers. So I ended up in the garage tonight using the dremel on the pumpkins. As I am typing this I have a fine layer on pumpkin on my face. I did wear safety glasses though.
I finally finished Asher's after she had gone to bed so she didn't get a picture with her pumpkin, but did see it while it was in the process.

Aidan and his Larry the Cucumber pumpkin.

Asher's Minnie Mouse.

The littlest gardener

Aidan and Tiff went to see Toy Story 1 and 2 in 3D yesterday afternoon. Asher was napping when they left but was up before they got home. After she was up we were trying to figure out what to until Aidan and Tiff got home. With the recent rains (and my lack of desire to do yard work) the flower beds needed a little work, so I decided to use this time for that. The weather was great and Asher loves to help us out with chores. Asher and I went out side to trim some bushes and pull some flowers that had become a little overgrown. I started with clipping some branches off a bush and would either hand the branches to Asher. She would then place the branches in the trash can. I then thought she might be ready for her own project, maybe she could handle pulling the flowers. I dug up her gardening gloves and put them on her. I placed the lid of the trash can on the ground for her to throw the flowers in and showed her what she had to do (notice how she shakes the dirt off the flower that she pulls up - she listened well). After the instructions I went back to clipping the bushes about 12' from her. She didn't really do too much on her own and actually spent more time smelling the flowers then pulling them up. In the end I pulled all the flowers, with the exception of the one that she pulled in the video, but either way we had fun doing it.

While Asher was sleeping...

Often wonder what Tiff and Aidan are up too when Asher is napping? I caught them in a middle of a shadow puppet in the downstairs bathroom. Funny stuff.

MNF

As you well know last Monday night was a great football game between the Minnesota Vikings and the green bay packers. If you didn't, now you know. I was of course at home watching the game, but with a few added teammates. Joining me was the trio of terror (that is my new nickname for them). Caden (6 yrs), Jack Gabriel (3 yrs), and Zambia (1 yr) Tucker came to watch the game with me. Tiff had a meeting with some girls from church so I was on my own. My zone defense was put to the test. All in all the kids were good. Zambia went to sleep so she was the easiest of the 4 left (of course I had Aidan and Asher with me too). The 4 left all played well together and there was sharing as far as the eye could see. Having the 4 kids to watch while I was watching the game helped out. Instead of watching every play and stressing about whether or not Minnesota was doing good I just saw the big plays when they happened. I didn't actually sit down to watch the game until the end of the 3rd quarter or so. In the end the Vikings were victorious and I put the beat down on some babysitting.

Here is the crew.

Caden and Aidan working on a puzzle. With a couple pieces left to go Caden said "Aidan, we rock this puzzle."

Asher and Jack Gabriel baking some cookies. At least they weren't baking brownies.