Carving Pumpkins

We took advantage of a family night to carve pumpkins this year. This is an interesting event in our house. This year was no exception. Up until now, I've always been too nervous to let them carve themselves, but I was actually going to let them do their own pumpkins this year. We let them pick out the patterns that they wanted (mistake number 1) then we cut the tops off and they got busy picking out the guts! They all complained, but I secretly think they enjoyed getting all messy. They did a good job cleaning them out this year, and I only had to help a little at the end. Aren't they cute? And happy?
We only had one set of carving tools (mistake number 2). Stuart got busy helping the kids on the first pumpkin, while I melted the caramels for caramel apples. Notice the concentration going on, and notice who is doing all the carving!

Well, long story short, once the kids had patterns they wanted to do instead of just carving good ol' fashion jack-o-lanterns, the control freaks in us took over. We were too worried about them "messing" up the pattern. Instead of carving their pumpkins themselves, they carved some of the easy spots, and watched us carve the rest of it. What can I say, we have issues. The kids still had fun, and we now have a plan for the years ahead. For future reference, everyone gets their own pumpkin (to be bought early in the season so that we don't have to drive around town searching for a store that has any left) and the kids can do whatever they like with theirs, while the parents are crazy and particular with our very own pumpkins to control!

Here are the finished products. The kids are doing their best "Muahahahaha" evil laugh in the picture. It's times like this that I wish for a video camera.

This was our first adventure with caramel apples. It was fun, and the kids LOVED them! I love fun family nights!