Pumpkin Carving -- Pinterest for the Win!

Reid has been wanting to make a Jack-O-Lantern for weeks. Weeks and weeks. We've had two different people from our ward (congregation) give us pumpkins from their gardens and they've been adorning our front flower bed all month. The kids loved to play with them, but Reid wanted more. He was anxious to decorate them!

Naturally, Ben and I both dreaded the idea of pumpkin carving with a preschooler and a toddler. But one fateful day I stumbled across the most brilliant idea ever (thank you pinterest!); rubber mallet + Halloween cookie cutters = perfect Jack-O-Lantern carving for young children.

I timed our P is for Pumpkin lesson near the end of the week, knowing we'd make our own Jack-O-Lanterns over the weekend. Before cutting the gourds open we asked Reid to guess what was inside. His guess was on the mark, and he suspected (but we didn't confirm) seeds were in the middle. He had no idea just how many seeds we'd find though, and the amount amazed him.

Overall though, he was not a fan of the pumpkin innards. He immediately asked to wash his hands. Silly kid. 

Here's a zillion photos of our mallet whacking in action. 

Pushing the first design (a ghost) through. 

She giggled like crazy when daddy helped her whack her pumpkin (shape) into her pumpkin. "So fast daddy!"

Their pumpkins were big enough for three designs each , Nell chose the pumpkin every time.

Every attempt for a group photo was a failure.

That's one trusting daddy!

But Reid was on the mark each time and there were no hurt fingers. 

So much whacking!

What a great skill to practice.

So much pride in the final result, and in his goofy idea to show his eye through the ghost and the witch.

The rest of our Saturday is outlined below, for record keeping sake.

First thing this morning Ben and I went and swam laps together while the kids played at the Y's drop in center. I then headed to a Stake (diocese) training with wet hair. Ben took the kids to goodwill to find some costume accessories. I came home to a toddler screaming "I naked!" which was odd since I knew it was "nap" time. Sure enough, Ben was fast asleep and so was Reid. But when I walked in the kid's room I was greeted with a cute little toddler butt waving itself in the air. "Look mommy, my diaper," as she pointed to the ground. "I take it off. I naked!" That woke Reid right up and the three of us headed to the grocery store so daddy could have some peaceful shut eye.

Back at home we all did some yard work. I'm always amazed by how much they love to help outside. Our work ended with plenty of time for the two of them to play with the leaves (which are only 10% fallen). At one point Ben and I were both in the garage and all we could hear was sweet, sweet giggles coming from the leaf pile in our front yard. Those two kids of ours sure do play well together (most the time). Their unsupervised laughter is the best sound.

Ben ran a couple quick errands while the kids and I skyped with my parents. Reid was beaming with pride while he showed my mom and dad his new sword and shield (he wants to be a knight for Halloween). Nell was just her goofy self. Once Ben got home I started dinner and he played with the kids. After dinner we had a little holiday popcorn treat and then began our pumpkin carving.

I love family days like this one. I suppose we spend all Saturday's together, but something about today just felt mellow yet accomplished. Also, I don't remember the kids fighting even once. Their happiness through out the day was magical.