Adventures in Pumpkin Carving

Last night was our designated "pumpkin carving" night since Jaimie had school Wednesday. So after watching 'Pursuit of Happyness' (which is a great movie, by the way!), Jaimie, Miah, and I set to work on the pumpkins we got from Vala's on Tuesday.

Now, the last time I carved a pumpkin was in, like, 2001. And that was the first time I'd ever carved a pumpkin on my own. So I was completely rusty. Jaimie and Miah, however, were old pros. I swear, they had theirs done in about 45 minutes ...while I was still whittling away at Jaiden's tiny pumpkin. Jaimie taught me the finer points of pumpkin guts scooping and how best to scrape out the inner walls ... All things I was making harder on myself! lol

Since I'm a complete perfectionist when it comes to certain things, I had to make a pattern for mine and Jaiden's. Jaimie and Miah, however, just cut away at their pumpkins! I did Jaiden's first, then worked on mine.

All the pumpkins turned out fantastic! It's so cute to have them all lined up next to each other on the table ... a little pumpkin family! =D

We're going to run out and get some candles to put in them tonight for Halloween, so I'll be taking a few extra pictures of that, along with my pumpkin seed roasting adventures!

Also, before I leave you with the slideshow of our pumpkin carving adventures, I found the "Legend of the Jack-o-Lantern" while doing a search on how best to roast pumpkin seeds. I never remember hearing about this, so I thought I'd share!!

"There was a stingy drunkard of an Irishman named Jack; who tricked the Devil into climbing an apple tree. Then Jack quickly cut the sign of a cross into the trunk of the tree; thereby preventing the Devil from climbing down. Jack made the Devil swear that he wouldn't ever come after Jack's soul again or claim it in any way. However, this did not stop Jack from dying and when he did he was not allowed into Heaven, because of his life of drinking, being tightfisted and being deceitful. And because of the oath the Devil had taken Jack was not allowed into Hell either. "But where can I go?" asked Jack. "Back where you came from!" replied the Devil. The way back was windy and dark. The Devil, as a final gesture, threw a live coal at Jack straight from the fire of Hell. To light his way and to keep it from blowing out in the wind Jack put it in a turnip he was eating. Ever since Jack and his "lantern" has been traveling over the face of the earth looking for a place to rest."

For more history of Halloween, click here!

And finally, "Our Pumpkin Carving Adventures!"