Carter the Carver

There is no school today or tomorrow because of the state teacher convention, so I took both days off to spend them with Carter. Of course, you get a day off and you have to run the errands you can't do when you're working, so we had a lot of running around to do.

When I stopped to think about what day it was, though, I realized we hadn't carved a pumpkin (or bought one) yet. So we walked over to a neighboring farm where they do a little "Pumpkin Shed" business and picked up some goodies.


Say it with Sharpees: Since this pumpkin was too small to carve, Carter drew up a scary face with markers -- including a bloody knife drawn in the back of the head. Nice.


No guts, no glory: Always a kidder, Carter knows this photo will make the scrapbook every year. One of these times we have to do this when both Mommy and Daddy are home so the one not taking the picture can shove the spoon in Carter's mouth. OK, you're right, that's mean. It would be funny on a cartoon, though.


Connect the Dots: In order for Carter to have the pumpkin face he envisions, I have him draw it out on paper first, then we tape the paper to the "blank pumpkin" and punch little holes so he has a pattern to follow. (You'll notice he just about has that tongue out for concentration.) This helps us get away from Mommy's happy-faced pumpkins into the weirdness that is in the mind of a 10-year-old.


Speaking of Weird: Which is scarier anyway -- the pumpkin face or the "I wanna be a rock star" face? Yikes. I'm almost scared to go trick-or-treating! Good job on the pumpkin, though, Carter!