Pumpkin Carving

I'm trying my best to catch this up before the holidays and someone's first BIRTHDAY hits me.  I've added a few more things to my plate lately that take up more time, so I'm behind and I hate it.  We carved our pumpkin, which turned into pumpkinS, last Tuesday and Wednesday.  I know, not a moment too soon. I'd always intended to get more than one, but the week of Halloween, they were sold out at Walmart.  So Travis got another HUGE one on Wednesday from a local seller.  I wasn't there for that one, but I did get a few shots of the first night.  Travis says I never do anything anyways but take a few pics in the beginning and then walk away.  So...I made good on that this year.  lol...he's literally been gone so much that when he IS home, I'm scrambling to get some things done that I can't do alone.

Anyway, the kids were so excited.  Jaggar had been asking and counting down the days to Halloween since the beginning of October.

 The 2 big kids could not agree on a pumpkin.  Jaggar wanted a scary one; Sage wanted a happy one. So they agreed to do the scary one this night, and they'd do a happy one the next night.

 Getting ready to clean it out:  my favorite part.  I didn't bake the seeds this year like I normally do.  No one really seemed interested, so I didn't waste my time.  I did, however, take a huge whiff of fresh pumpkin.  I do love that smell and always have.

 They love it.

 Bleu's first time.  IT was so cute.  The moment he got a handful, he let the binky hit the table because he was going to give it a taste.  That's how I always know he's ready to eat something I have or that he sees:  the pacifier (if he has it) just falls.

 And Jaggar going for it.

Our pumpkins turned out really well, but being the winner I am, I didn't take a pic of the final product.  I do have them in our Halloween shots and with some pics of Bleu, so I'll post them there. 

Pumpkin Carving

Well, we finally got our pumpkins carved just 3 days before Halloween.  With it being in the high 80s consistently until Saturday, it's probably best that we waited.  Or just hadn't made the time to do it is more accurate.  I still remember being a child and looking forward to carving our pumpkin.  I think my kids enjoy it even more.  Jaggar is really old enough to enjoy everything now and remember it.  He is still talking about the polar bear at the zoo from fall break.  I couldn't wait to see his face when we opened the pumpkins.

Ready to see what's inside.  (Yes, my kitchen did get a major makeover...which I plan to cover in a post of its own...eventually.)

 Look at those faces.  That's a green light to make a pure mess.  They love it.

 I still love the smell of the inside of a pumpkin.

 We separated the seeds for baking as I always do.  Sage was particularly excited because this is a "free" snack for her.  But BOTH kids just loved them.  They did turn out really good this year, minus burning a good 2 inches of my thumb on the oven wrack. 

 Cute

 Sage was making a funny face, she said.  It is definitely pretend disgust for her because she practically bathes up to her shoulders in pumpkin guts.

 This is my white pumpkin!  Neither child had any interest in it when we picked them, but I loved it.  It's so different.

But it's still totally orange inside.

We clean; Travis carves.  We have a pumpkin carving "kit" that I bought at Hobby Lobby years ago.  I really just got it for the tools that it came with, but Travis thought that we had to do some of the stencils.  I told him that it didn't matter to me, and he could do a typical jack-o-lantern face on the white one.  We always do the silly one in the middle, which was Jaggar's.  He was happy with anything.  But Sage...she chose this crazy haunted house thing that was really difficult.  At the last minute, she decided she didn't want that.  So with some googling and studying, Travis decided on Hello Kitty for her.  I think he did a really good job on it.  Sage was very pleased.

Pumpkin Picking

My mom's friend Joan has a pumpkin patch that her husband planted in their back yard in June.  He wanted to have lots of kids over to pick them and have a bounce house and hayride to make a day of it.  Unfortunately, this was scheduled for Saturday, and we are unable to make it that day.  But they were nice enough to still let Sage and Jaggar come over on Thursday to pick pumpkins.  I really didn't know what to expect from someone that planted pumpkins in their back yard, but I was really impressed.  They were huge! 

 I liked the scarecrow in the center.

 Sage and Jaggar looking for the perfect one, or "the great pumpkin," as Jaggar called it.

 Standing by the scarecrow

 I loved the white pumpkins.  I thought they were so cool, but neither of my kids wanted one.  Carl was nice enough to let me have my own white pumpkin though.  :)  They said it was for the baby.

 Joan is also a type 1 diabetic, and she was so thoughtful in packing treat bags that Sage could have.  She put candy in there that was only 2 carbs.  Sage was thrilled.  It's so frustrating to hear, "Well, it's just a little piece of chocolate."  Sage had one "little piece of chocolate" from church one day, and her sugar was 378.  It's okay.  I don't get it either.  I think it just frustrates me because of how much it sucks, but it was nice to have someone that I didn't have to explain things to.  Here is Sage with the pumpkin she chose.  Jaggar was already off to the playground by that point.