Pumpkins

Last Saturday we made a quick trip to Lohr's Pumpkin Farm. Each child got to pick out a pumpkin. They were allowed to pick any size, with the caveat that they had to be able to carry it back by themselves. Pretty quickly Jake found his BIG pumpkin and with great dedication carried it the whole time. Grant, as usual, was full of indecision and changed his mind about 20 times, finally choosing one that looked the same as 5 others before it! Caitlin settled on a medium sized perfect for carving. Surprisingly, Quinn was the most difficult. He had in his mind exactly what he wanted, but had a difficult time expressing what it was! He kept squatting down and saying he wanted one "this big". We thought we were understanding, but each one we suggested was "no, not that one- this big, mom!" Finally, as we were nearing the end of the pumpkin patch, we decided to choose for him since we thought it might be just a battle of wills issue. But, once we decided for him, he says" yes, that's just the one I wanted" LOL! Oh, well.

We've never carved pumpkins into jack-o-lanterns- being against all things Halloweeny. However, in a Family Fun magazine I saw a very pretty variation that was more Autumn decor looking. They carved fall leaf shapes into the pumpkin and tied raffia string on the stem. Very pretty and harvesty looking.
So, one night this past week, Brent sharpened the knives and we all set to work carving. Grant was allowed to use his real pocketknife which enthralled him immensely! Unfortunately, we realized that carving leaves on them were going to be VERY difficult, so we settled on crosses and hearts! LOL! Much easier.
We put little tea lights inside and set them on the front porch. Oooo. How pretty on a dark night like it was. The kids were so excited! I'm glad we did it.

Later we soaked the pumpkin seeds in salt water and then baked them in the oven. Mmmm. They were very yummy.