But I thought we should commemorate the pumpkins and decorations anyway. Sebi talked Grandpa into buying a haunted gingerbread house while they were out on one of their 'adventures', so we decided to decorate it for FHE at Kiecoo's house while we were carving pumpkins. It turned out to be structurally unsound, but still plenty of fun to decorate. It got eaten about a week later and even Joss liked the gingerbread.
Carving in front of the great mural at Kiecoo's. The kids design the faces and Rob and I carve them, but I've been informed by Maddie that if we would just spring for the pumpkin carving knives, she can do it herself (she did this for activity days with the wife of an E.R. doctor, and if they do it at their house, I guess we can too). I'm all about outsourcing more and giving the kids
skills, so I guess we'll have less to do next year.
Checking to see whose smile is bigger.
Joss decided he liked the stem just fine and didn't need to change a thing.
Will was all about the teeth.
Love those tights! Now the pumpkins are big moldy heaps on the front porch with caved faces. Rob is hoping some teenagers will come along tonight and put them out of their misery. If not, they're off to the compost pile tomorrow.
But I thought we should commemorate the pumpkins and decorations anyway. Sebi talked Grandpa into buying a haunted gingerbread house while they were out on one of their 'adventures', so we decided to decorate it for FHE at Kiecoo's house while we were carving pumpkins. It turned out to be structurally unsound, but still plenty of fun to decorate. It got eaten about a week later and even Joss liked the gingerbread.
Carving in front of the great mural at Kiecoo's. The kids design the faces and Rob and I carve them, but I've been informed by Maddie that if we would just spring for the pumpkin carving knives, she can do it herself (she did this for activity days with the wife of an E.R. doctor, and if they do it at their house, I guess we can too). I'm all about outsourcing more and giving the kids skills, so I guess we'll have less to do next year.
Checking to see whose smile is bigger. 
Joss decided he liked the stem just fine and didn't need to change a thing.
Will was all about the teeth.
Love those tights! Now the pumpkins are big moldy heaps on the front porch with caved faces. Rob is hoping some teenagers will come along tonight and put them out of their misery. If not, they're off to the compost pile tomorrow.
Comments
Mary told us you can:
wipe bleach inside the pumpkins to reduce the chance of mold
spread vaseline on the cut surfaces to help them not to dehydrate
if that fails, she said last year they put their shriveled Jack O' Lanterns in a bathtub full of water and they plumped right back up
(And I looked at her and thought, "You think I'm going to bother to smear Vaseline all over SIX Jack O' Lanterns? So take it for what it's worth.)