Hunter's First Pumpkin

I do not like pumpkins. There is nothing at all appealing to me about cutting a hole in the top of one, digging out its innards, and carving a face into it. I don't like the mess mostly...I can't stand the way the inside stuff feels. I told Donny that my favorite time as a kid doing pumpkins for Halloween was the year my mom got us kits to paint faces on the pumpkins rather than carving faces (which, of course, Donny scoffed at). But Donny...he loves carving a pumpkin. He has talked all month about getting a pumpkin. He knew he would have to do it himself if it were to happen. This week came, and no pumpkin had made it into our home yet for the Halloween season. I thought I was going to get away this year without one. Then I took the kids to Wal-Mart on Monday. Their $4.88 pumpkins were on sale for $1. Here's where who I am and who Donny is work hand in hand. You see, I LOVE a deal...and for these huge, beautiful pumpkins, $1 was a DEAL...so I picked one out, put it in my buggy, and brought my husband home a pumpkin. When I brought it home, I actually apologized, because I didn't realize in the store just how flat one side of it was. Donny's response was: "Oh, they're all special." Are you kidding me?

Hunter and Donny carved the pumpkin this evening. Donny asked Hunter what kind of face he wanted to carve. Hunter first said he wanted a "bad guy face." Great. Then he and Donny compromised on a silly face that Hunter made and Donny carved. Millie helped too...kinda...she stuck her hand inside the pumpkin more eagerly than Hunter...much to her mommy's dismay. Hunter, like me, did not want anything to do with the insides, but Millie...give her a mess, and she wants right in the middle. Donny had to work to keep her from eating the pumpkin seeds.

So, here's to the Friederichsen Family Pumpkin 2008. I do like the finished product, and I am thankful the only roles I played in the process were purchasing the pumpkin and wiping Millie's arm once. Other than that, it was Donny and Hunter's creation.

Later tonight, as we were getting ready for bed, Hunter brought a marker to me and said: "This can be the knife. You can use it to cut open the top of my head and put a candle in." Another reason I don't like pumpkins. BUT...it's always funny (and sometimes weird) to see how Hunter processes things. I guess, in the mind of a 4 year old, it might be fun to have your head light up from the inside-out...but we'll leave that up to our pumpkin.

Happy Halloween Donny and Hunter...I love our pumpkin.