Our Little Pumpkins

Our kids love autumn as much as we do. The cold air, and even a day of snowflakes, has already made its way into Minnesota, so we know it's not here for much longer. Today, we got a surprise visit from my parents who brought pumpkins from my aunt and uncle's farm. So we spent some special time together, carving pumpkins for the family carving contest! This is a great way to stay in the autumn mood.

The carvings are inspirations from many websites. I personally enjoyed the Saint-O-Lantern's shared at Shower of Roses' blog, a great place for Catholic carving ideas. I took the templates my kids liked the best and hand drew them to fit each pumpkin before carving. It was so nice in the evening sunlight, which shown through our pumpkins like candlelight.

We're amazed how something like this

Turns into this, when the lights go out!

Would you believe we had a hard time getting THE BOYS to touch the pumpkin guts. But Papa was very eager to dig in, and helped bake 3 trays full of pumpkin seeds! (Thanks Dad, grandma would be proud.) He grabbed his galaxy tablet and looked up the recipe, and Grandma used it to admire other pumpkins online with the kids. I'm sure she has a handful of great pictures from our time together too. It made for such a fun day, and we hope it becomes a new family tradition as our kids and their cousins grow!

 

God Bless the USA by Tom & Melissa

 

Hero up Iron Man by Jonathan who considers himself a super hero.

 

Snow White by Mikayla who's new fav TV show is "Once Upon A Time."

 

Pinky Pie - My Little Pony by Sabrina who's as perky as Pinky

 

Wall-E by Stanley who's trying to master the Wall-E Wii game

 

THANKS Tom & Vickie for the pumpkins!

 

Also - the other half of our front steps hosts another family of pumpkins we bought from the Knights of Columbus. We used foam face stickers, which was just as fun to create!