I love Halloween. The temperatures have cooled down. The anticipation of the holidays to come is rising. And holiday season means great times with family. The Vaterlaus family pumpkin carving activity marks the beginning of this great season.
First we start with dinner - time to talk and catch up. Gaye always cooks a great meal and is thoughtful about the eating wishes of each family member is considered. Paul and Jess are trying to lose some weight as they get more fit so this meal was more calorie conscious.
I set up some tables on the back porch and covered them with butcher paper. I got out the halogen lights and put them on top of the porch roof and turned on the shed spot lights so that we would be able to see well after dark.
I was not into the artistic aspect of this activity this year. I think that the reason may be the short life span of a carved pumpkin. It seems that three or four days is about the maximum time allowed before they start to grow mold and get all mushy and then all of the work that I have put into a work of art is gone.
So I got out the jig saw. In about five minutes I had the lid, mouth, nose and crying eyes cut out. Another five minutes and it was all cleaned out and ready for the candle. Then I had plenty of time to take pictures of the kids playing, the carving going on and the finished product.
This Bat Signal pumpkin was done by Paul with some looking on by Hero.
Jennie and Quentin work on their project pumpkins at one of the covered tables on the porch.
Jess continues to work on her extremely detailed pumpkin project at one of the other tables.
This is the front of Jennie's pumpkin carving. She took a picture of her manager, changed it to black and white and separated to black and white - no grays. She then used this photo as the pattern for her pumpkin. She took it with her when she left so that she could take it into work with her in the morning. What a wonderfully ingenious idea for a carving subject matter.
This is the back side of Jennie's pumpkin.
Jess carved her Dia del Muerte pumpkin with daisies on the top, hearts for eyes, small butterflies and other swirls and details that make this one one of my favorites.
Dia del Muerte in all her lit up glory.
Jase's Bat pumpkin sits above. I think he got a little help from his dad.
Quentin does the Death Star. This one was also a lot of work and looks good when lit up.
The kids allowed all of the adults to carve by entertaining each other in the dirt pile making dirt drinks and other non-edible concoctions.
And delta the dog was kept from becoming way too curious by the offer of a rawhide bone to gnaw on through out the evening. Good trade!
I can't wait for Halloween to get here so that we can put these gems on display along the driveway as we sit out watching the show and giving away candy. This time Halloween is on Sunday so that will get to be a little odd. Do we sit out on Saturday, Sunday, both or neither?
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