Pumpkin Carving

In my opinion, you cannot have a proper Halloween season without carving pumpkins. It has been a tradition since, well, I'm not sure but I am guessing 12 years now. I carved pumpkins as a child, but it all changed when I got married and brilliant people invented the coolest part of my Halloween parities- Pumpkin Masters carving patterns. They are AWESOME and totally revolutionized carving and deepened my love for it.

I hosted my first party in our little condo in Provo when we were first married. We invited our siblings and had a great time frosting cookies and creating pumpkin masterpieces. This year was no exception, even though it was our first official party since coming to Lexington. The past two years were a little wild with two babies and Rich's crazy schedule, so we kept it simple (meaning just us), but still pulled out my massive stack of pattern books and created amazing works of art. This year we invited our dear friends the Rosenhans and Millars over on Friday night and had such a great time together. Though the festivities started at dinner time, I happily spent the day preparing. I LOVE hosting anything Halloween. The girls loved helping unwrap 150 caramels so we could make caramel apples that night.We made the house look extra special with even more decorations than are already crammed into my home.Banners, ghost and bats on the fan.The girls loved their black an orange ensembles, though the cute headbands lasted only a few seconds. All this hard work made Brynn and Kaitlyn tired. They fell asleep on my floor watching Dora while I got dressed. I loved how they were so close to each other even though they could have been anywhere they wanted.When the boys got home we ran to Wal-mart for a few last minute items. This was my favorite find and there is a story too. So I have never paid close to $5 for a balloon before, but this thing was too fun to pass up. We grabbed a couple smaller Mylar balloons too, filled our cart to the top, checked out and headed out into windy, cold and rainy parking lot. Just as we walked outside, the wind wrestled the big bat balloon from Matt's grip and it started to float away. Matt started to chase, but even with the small weight on the end of the string, the wind lifted it up, up and just out of reach. A man walking toward the store entrance saw our dilemma of me with a loaded cart, two girls stuffed into the child seat, balancing two umbrellas in a dangerous parking lot and rain pouring down upon us. He chased down the balloon which had quickly moved far away and when it finally was low enough to reach he grabbed it and ran it back to us. I was touched by his kindness and Matt was beyond relieved to get this awesome balloon back. We had a nice chat about serving others on the way home. Matt felt bad the balloon blew away, so it was nice for him to know sometimes we are the ones that need help, allowing others to serve us in our time of need. I am sure getting the balloon back to us made that man happy all day. I think knowing that made all the difference to Matt.Time for the party! Drew, Ashlee, Mac and Gray MillarTiffany, Savannah and baby Eliza (Ellie). Too bad I didn't snap a photo of Branden before he had to dash out the door to the hospital. Being on call stinks!We were delighted that Tiffany's twin sister Danielle was in town and could join us. I hope my girls can be as close as they are!It was the first time I met baby Ellie who is almost a month old.Danielle and her baby Stephen. Her husband Barrett was back working in Utah. The girlsThe boys (at least the bigger boys)Rich and my girlie girls. Brynn was being a stinker and refused to look at the camera.We ate so much good food- White Bean Chicken Chili, pumpkin bread and cookies, salad, chips, pumpkin souffle and witch finger bread sticks with almond fingernails. Yum!And don't forget those delicious caramel apples. Okay, so I did nearly burn the caramel, but I was distracted. Savannah and Mac didn't seem to mind....Let the carving begin!

Matt insisted I take a photo of the cool insides. I love the way pumpkins smell.Brynn loved getting involved. You would think after her recent knife mishap she might have been hesitant, but nope. She was ready to get cutting. (With a VERY small and not sharp blade!) TreyPattern time. The key factors are: 1. Don't cut apart your books. Pick out the pattern and then scan and print. That way you will always have the design. 2. Cut out pattern and tape on pumpkin 3. Be careful where you mark your holes on the small, tight spaces 4. Once punched, keep the paper pattern as a reference when you cut. 5. Have a wide assortment of Pumpkin Master knives. You need the big and small ones to be able to cut out different parts of the pattern. 6. Cut out the smallest most fragile pieces first. 7. Cut and remove the large sections last. 8. Light and ENJOY!I assisted Josh.Brynn assisted Drew.Danielle kept the little ones entertained.While I marked the holes and cut out the small teeth, Josh did the rest. Great job Josh. It was perfect! I am already counting down until we can do it again next year!!!