Pumpkin Fun!

We went to the pumpkin farm a week before Halloween and the kids were super excited to pick out their pumpkins! As I mentioned in another post, Daniel and I had gone, back at the beginning of October, for a field trip with his preschool class, and the 2 little pumpkins we received as we left were the source of many tears with Annabel! We couldn't say the word "pumpkin" for days for fear of starting another round of huge rolling tears! She was incredibly jealous that we got pumpkins and would NOT take the second pumpkin for herself (even though we told her it was hers- Daniel said he got one for him and one for Annabel), because she wasn't there to get it. So, Annabel was very excited to be able to get her own little pumpkin that day. It was the first thing she wheeled her wagon up to- the little pumpkin bins! Daniel wanted to find a really big pumpkin, much to Ben's dismay (all that scooping and carving!) and we managed to find a pretty good sized one for him- 25 lbs! We got a big one for Annabel, too, even though she mostly insisted on a little one, but I knew well enough that she'd want a big one once we started scooping and carving back at home, so we found a good sized one for her, too- 20 lbs. And of course we got her a little one, too- she weighed that one at check out and it was 5 lbs. The kids had a lot of fun pulling their wagons! I was surprised Annabel could get her 25 lbs. of pumpkins rolling, but as long as she kept the wagon moving she could do it; she actually wheeled it the whole way out of the place! I have this adorable mental video (because I was too slow to get the camera, but I've said this before, I actually like having these mental images sometimes, not everything needs to be captured!) in my head of her bopping along next to Daddy as we headed back out of the entrance- it was the cutest thing ever to see her pulling her wagon and literally bopping along, white capped head, pink coat on- loved it! I did get a video when I caught up with her on our way to the car, and it's cute, but not as cute as the my little mental video! Daniel wore out before we even got to the car, but he did pretty well considering he was hauling a heavy load.

We carved their pumpkins a few days later (it was hard for the kids to wait, but Daddy had already taken time out of his work day to come with us to the pumpkin farm as it was), on the Sunday before Halloween. Before we even began, the kids drew on paper what they wanted their pumpkin faces to look like. Daniel wanted a scary face (it turned out not to be scary enough for him once Ben carved it- next year maybe!) and Annabel simply wanted a "happy face!"- so cute! I loved that they had specific ideas and images in mind of how they wanted their jack-o-lanterns to look! (Annabel's pumpkin face drawing turned into quite a drawing episode of over 15 pages of pictures...more on that later!)

Then we moved onto scooping out the pumpkins with Daddy. The kids were very ready to help! They both had their own spoons and took turns very nicely. They both scooped out Daniel's pumpkin, and then Daniel started on Annabel's but left to go play, while Annabel stayed and worked the whole time. Sometimes her stick-with-it-ness and attention span surprise me! She was so proud to be able to help! This is a girl who doesn't want to miss anything! Daniel wanted nothing to do with putting his hands in. Annabel didn't at first, but we got her to try when we were about half way done with her pumpkin and then there was no turning back to the spoon for her- she was all hands on deck and loving it...as long as she got a napkin to wipe her hands off every couple scoops! Daniel came over to watch her, looking rather grossed out, and we asked him again if he wanted to try with his hands and well, there was no way that was gonna happen! We thought it was cute when Annabel would get a really big messy scoop with her hands she would say "you stand back" to Daddy, then dump the goop, and then say "go front now"- I loved the way she said "front," it was too cute!

Daniel had fun watching Daddy start to carve his pumpkin, but again his attention wandered eventually. Annabel's pumpkin got carved finally on Halloween (life- and a broken water heater that Ben will never live down, let's just say I was right!- got in the way all the other days) and she was quite happy to direct Daddy with all the parts of the pumpkin face, which shapes she wanted, how happy to make it, and she even told Daddy it needed ears, just like hers! I finally remembered to take pictures of the kids next to their pumpkin...the day after Halloween!

Fun times with our pumpkins! It all goes so fast! And oh are we going to have so much fun at Christmas time!! (Can't believe it's already November now!!) Enjoy our pumpkin pictures!

 Ready to head in and find the perfect pumpkins!

Now, where is that perfect pumpkin?!

 Maybe this is a good one...let's try picking it up!

Cutie-pie!

Unnhhh...Annabel works hard to pull her wagon full o' pumpkins!

Daniel found his big pumpkin!

Heading out to buy our pumpkins!

Annabel's 20ish lb pumpkin! I always crack up thinking about how their pumpkins weigh more than they do!

Annabel weighed her little one, too- 5 lbs!

Daniel sure got a big one- 25 lbs!

Ready to load up her pumpkin in the car!

Skull heads!

 The kids were quite inspired to have popcorn when we came home from the pumpkin farm. The shop there had popcorn, but none that Daniel could have- and he came up with the solution to just make some of our own at home! The two of them had the most fun eating their popcorn on the floor right there in the middle of the kitchen. It was so cute. And they polished off 90% of that bowl, too!

Getting ready to scoop and carve pumpkins- first we need to plan our faces out!

Annabel actually made her first face ever! It was so awesome!

 What a scary face!

Time to scoop out that pumpkin goop! 

Mommy does not go near the stuff!!

 Annabel tries out her hands for scooping...

And goes back for more- now it's all hands in!

 Daniel wanted nothing to do with getting his hands messy!

Annabel "traded" hands! She thought it was cool that she could switch the goop from hand to hand.

One more spoonful for Daniel!

Annabel explains that she wants a happy face- I love her explaining expressions!

 Daniel supervises Daddy while he carves his pumpkin.

 Daniel, and if you look closely Annabel too, models a scary face!

Lookin' good so far, Daddy!

Annabel is right there helping Daddy carve her happy face pumpkin!

 Annabel shows Daddy where the ears should go.

Annabel was so cute checking out her pumpkin up close!

"Ears like mine, Daddy!"- Annabel shows Daddy her ears!

 At least I remembered...the day after Halloween...to get their pictures next to their pumpkins.

And now, if you're still here, you get to watch videos!!

First up, a video (not the one that I described, but this is cute, too!) of Annabel pulling her wagon of pumpkins to the car!

And now here are several videos from our pumpkin scooping! They're all so similar, I know, but Annabel's little words are just too cute. I just love watching her. I love that you can hear Daniel in the background of some of the videos playing- this is exactly how he sounds most of the time...no idea what he's saying, to me it's just that play chatter that I love, makes my home feel like home, reminds me how much I love staying home. You'll hear Annabel tell Daddy to stand back and "go front" like I mentioned above- so cute!

And because I forgot in our Halloween post, here are some cute ones from Halloween. First is Annabel supervising Daddy while he carves her pumpkin.

Here's a cute one of the kids while they are trick-or-treating. Annabel tells Daddy to "stay there" and takes off. Daniel exlaims how much candy he has! It's a cute little video! They sure were busy little trick-or-treaters and quite independent, too!