Pumpkin Carving!!!

We weren't able to carve the pumpkins the same day we bought them, but the very next day after the Seahawks game was over...blah...we were able to start hacking away at them. I think the best thing I figured out this time around with carving pumpkins is to use pizza boxes under them. Some friends of ours had brought over Costco pizzas for the game and those boxes were the perfect size. We were able to scrape out all the guts onto the box and it didn't leak through on the carpet and when we were all finished Michael just took them out to the food/yard waste bin!

Both the boys have these perfect knives I bought them years ago from Pampered Chef. They are so kids can help in the kitchen, but they don't really do really well on normal food. Whenever I had them cut their own hot dogs they would just end up looking digusting by the time they were finished. 

They are great for sawing into a gourd though!

Ella was quite pleased with her pumpkin even before it was carved! 

The boys worked so hard at cutting around the top. I used their knife and made a score line so they would know where to cut and they just got after it. 

Of course it turned into a race to see who could do it first. I ended up having to help with get it completely cut and then they pulled the tops up. 

I was busy scraping out the guts of Owen's pumpkin....heaven forbid this kid touch anything slimy...while Ella was cutting around the top of pumpkin. She was so determined she did it all by herself...no help from any adults! 

Take that you two older brothers!!! 

Michael looked up ideas on his phones and had the kids pick which ones they wanted. Then he used a pencil and traced the design onto the pumpkin. Owen cut out his eyes all by himself. 

Jack starting his eyes! It was really fun that they were able to help out so much. Before we know it they will be doing it all by themselves. Well....except Owen...I'll probably have to scrape out the guts for him when he's 18! 

Here's Ella's pumpkin shinning bright!!! It's so cute! She is sitting next to it on the right, but you can barely tell!

Jack's vampire pumpkin is on the left and Owen's super scary pumpkin is on the right! So much fun! We left the pumpkins lit for a while and then I had the kids go out and say goodnight to their pumpkin and blow out the lights. Such fun memories!