Jack-O-Lanterns!!!

A Jack-O-Lantern...such a simple concept. So easy to do and it provides so much joy for the kids. You get pumpkins and(this is where I went wrong) you bring them in the house so critters do not decide to burrow into them and take the seeds for a mid-winter snack. My kids and I went to get pumpkins to carve into Jack-O-Lanterns. I left them on our deck overnight only to come home from school the next day and find that an animal had chewed a hole in Travis's pumpkin. When I tell you that this kid was fit to be tied over this, it will be an understatement. He had hand selected this particular pumpkin and I guess he was super-attached to it. It was obnoxiously huge and perfectly round. There was enough eaten out of the top to make in unsalvageable. We came up with a culprit... a squirrel. In his fit of rage my son condemned all of the squirrels as BAD and STEALERS. If the kid had his way he would have gone out the next day with me in the pouring rain to pick out another pumpkin. I held him off, telling him that if he waited until Daddy could take him on a sunny day, he would get to pick a bigger pumpkin because Daddy is so much stronger than me. This made him happy and I came home from work to be greated by a pumpkin that was even bigger than the first one (now sitting under a tree to help the little critters prepare for winter).

Travis helped Daddy by drawing a face on his pumpkin. He was very excited and wanted it to get done as soon as possible. I think he was a little surprised to see how long carving a pumpkin actually takes.
Midstream Travis changed his mind about what kind of nose he wanted to give his Jack-O-Lantern. Daddy dutifully obliged and changed the octagon into a triangle. Then it was time to plan the mouth. It would have been fine but Travis kept adding more teeth to the plan.
Chelsea was a lot more laid back (read: absolutely not interested) in her Jack-O-Lantern. She walked away before the planning started and came back for a glance until it was picture time. Then she hammed it up just like always.
Travis and Chelsea pose with the finished Jack-O-Lanterns. Or we thought they were finished until Travis decided his needed ears!
Finally... the lighting of the Jack-O-Lanterns. Chelsea was a little freaked out by this. Not because of the pumpkins, but because Travis insisted on shutting off every light in the house. He probably would have gone over to shut off the neighbors lights, if we let him. He decided the only way to experience the lights was in the pitch-dark. The thing that matters most is that everyone was happy with the outcome. Now if only they can stay in one piece for 4 days until Halloween! One can dream!!!!

Here Chelsea shows off the lollipop ghost she made at the library. This will probably be the only proof I have that this existed... She is anxious to tear off the tissue and eat the pop. Halloween should be interesting now that she is so into "nandy".