Saturday, October 16, 2010

The Great Pumpkin Carving


My sis came into town this weekend and first on our list was getting some pumpkins for a little carving showdown. We headed to the K-Rogers and picked up their finest along with a carving kit (that, by the way, we got for free thanks to my keen eyesight noting the wrong price on the ring-up. Two points for me!).

We headed home and started the cavity exploration.

My boys, who are normally not afraid of anything whatsoever, were a little creeped out by the pumpkin guts.
We were armed with large spoons and other equipment (and our serious de-gooping faces)....
But in the end it was our hands that did most of the work. We ain't skeerd.
Some folks, as you'll note, enjoyed the cavity exploration a little too much. I'll let you decide which one based on the picture below. One loves. One....well, not so much.
Some were just put out by the whole idea and could care less.

Finally the actual cutting started. We stepped it up a notch this year and were going for the gold with these carvings. No triangle eyes and notched out teeth on these babies.
It's really not fair to be in a carving competition with someone that wields a scalpel at least 100 hours a week. Can you say unfair advantage??
Bobby wasn't going down easy though. He brought serious concentration to the table. Just look at that determination:
Cade was having a great time being that he passed the hard part (the actual carving) on to Bobby.
I've lived with these boys long enough to know that letting them handle sharp knife-like objects in the company of others (or themselves for that matter) is NEVER a smart idea. Not if you like your appendages anyway.
Tracie's headless horseman turned out pretty good!
It's an understatement to say that the boys were excited to see the finished products. It was really cool to see them lit up on the porch. From left to right: Jared, Tracie, Me, Rhett, Grant, and Cade.
Impressed? You should be. We all experienced cramping pains in our hands from the carving pressure. You've got to be willing to get a little carpal tunnel to have the best carved out pumpkins in the neighborhood!

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Did you save the seeds to bake and eat? They're my favorite part now. Just wash them in a strainer to get the gunk off. Cover with salt or salt like product. Spread them out onto cookie / pizza sheets. Finally bake them at 350ish for an amount of time that I cannot remember, but until they dry out.

Danielle said...

Noooo. You have it all wrong. Poor Lanie was looking at you that way because she's thinking she has been ripped off with the exersaucer you have her in. I am pretty sure she is pointing out the LACK of toy in that spot. Yeahhhh. The singing/talking/light up part that is still in my living room!!! I can almost hear her saying "piece a junk" from here! I guess I should get that to you...

Tonya Lee said...

Wow- I'm very impressed. If I show this to Jon his competitive juices will get flowing and the children will probably lose all say in their pumpkins!