Pumpkin Carving!

To me, one of the best parts of fall is pumpkin carving.  I loooove carving pumpkins!  Jarrod will not put his hand inside the pumpkin, so it's my job to gut them.  Why I love sticking my hand in all that nasty junk I have no idea, but I do.  So I was super excited to carve our pumpkins yesterday and look forward to when Gavin is old enough to help us even more.

First, Daddy cut off the tops for me.  I was a bit disappointed in our pumpkins this year.  One was rotting before we even got around to carving them, so we were down to two.  Then, he cut the top off the first one, and it was so gross inside.  Brown, gooey, slimy...  Not the normal pumpkin guts.  Even I wouldn't put my hand in that one.  So, we were now left with just one pumpkin.  Fingers crossed it turned out ok for carving....

 And this is what was inside!  A little strange with the vines, but still perfect for gutting!

 Gavin, though interested, didn't want to put his hand inside.  But, this is the same kid that makes me wash his hands as soon as he's done eating because he doesn't like being sticky or messy, so I didn't really expect him to.  

 My Bug and pumpkin guts....I couldn't be happier!

 I wanted Gavin involved a bit, so I was putting the seeds on the table and asked him to scoop them into the bowl for me.

 Once the pumpkin was gutted, I got paint set up for Gavin to paint a little pumpkin, and Jarrod started poking holes for my template.  While at Hobby Lobby a month or so ago, Gavin saw Cars templates and wanted them.  I let him pick out the one he wanted me to carve, and of course, he picked the hardest one.  But, I won't lie, I secretly wanted to do the Mater one anyway.  :)

 Soon, both boys lost interest and went off to do their own thing while I finished carving the pumpkin!  Here's the finished project!

There he is, Mater!  You know, like Tow Mater, without the Tow!