Jack-o-lanterns

On Thursday after school, we finally got around to making our jack-o-lanterns out of the pumpkins the girls picked out at the pumpkin patch. I moved the pumpkins onto the grass in the front yard and grabbed our bread knife, which is the best knife for cutting out pumpkin, as well as a steak knife that I thought would work well for the girls. It took a little work to get to the tops of the pumpkins off since they are so big and thick. Personally, I'm not a fan of cleaning out the pumpkins but both girls love it. Olivia had so much fun and told about how her class took turns pulling out the insides of the pumpkin when they made their jack-o-lantern at school. she did a good job of getting the the innards out. Sofia's pumpkin was even harder to get the top off and she dug out the innards really well. I asked Olivia what design she would like as the face and she picked out triangle eyes, a round nose and a toothy smile. I drew it on with permanent marker and got busy cutting. Sofia helped by pushing out the pieces once I'd finished cutting them and we worked well as a team, while Olivia scootered around the front entrance. She'd had fun and was ready to scooter. I was able to get a few photos of her with her pumpkin and finished jack-o-lantern.

Next it was Sofia's pumpkin. She drew on the pumpkin's face herself and then started cutting. She did a great job and did the face all by herself, except for the mouth, which needed my help. She'd cut a few spots too close, so we needed to add a little section of pumpkin to hold up it's mouth. She was really into it and decided to make her jack-o-lantern into Percy Jackson! She wrote "Percy Jackson" in permanent marker and then cut out hair and a "P J" on the side. It really looked cute! Olivia decided her jack-o-lantern also needed hair so she drew some on with the permanent marker and signed her name at the back. She loves writing her name lately. Meanwhile, Buddy ate pieces of the pumpkin. At first, I thought he was eating the pumpkin seats but he actually loved eating the smaller pumpkin chunks.

Soon the girls were done and the pumpkins looked really cute! We moved them into place under the awning, since we were expecting rain the next two days and waited until it got dark so we could light them up! Then the girls grabbed their scooters and played with Brandon while I made dinner.

Olivia scooping out the insides

Sofia making her jack-o-lantern face

Olivia and her finished pumpkin!

Sofia is ready to cut.

Pumpkin carving

Sofia and her finished pumpkin!

The girls and their cute jack-o-lanterns!

Olivia watching Sofia cut hair into her "Percy Jackson" pumpkin.

Pumpkins, girls and Buddy

Percy Jackson's hair

Sofia cutting the nose

Olivia's name - she loves writing it now

"P J" for Percy Jackson, just in case anyone doesn't know who her pumpkin is supposed to be!

Olivia and her pumpkin

Jack-o-lanterns in place and ready for it to be dark

How they look at night!