Halloween Preparations

With Halloween approaching, the kids' thoughts turned to Pumpkins:

So we bought some and they and a friend made some pumpkins.

With three pumpkins carved, we had a ton of pumpkin seeds that we're going to toast and have later.

Abby carved hers all by herself this year:

Here's the Pumpkin undergoing a full candle test once done:

Abby's friend, who is a couple years older made this one from a pattern and did a very impressive job:

While the kids did pumpkin preparations, we prepared libations:

Leelanau Cellars' Witches Brew - a nice spiced red wine, served warm is just the thing for Halloween. An excellent and very tasty Michigan product well worth a try.

It's gonna be a great Halloween.

Pre-Halloween Pumpkin Blogging

The kids have costumes selected.

Candy is stocked and ready to be handed out to the roving packs of trick-or-treaters that will infest our street Wednesday night.

Tonight was the night for pumpkin preparation.

Step 1. Perform a pumpkin lobotomy by slicing open the top of the skull and removing the brains (seeds and pumpkin guts):

The kids had fun with this stage, reaching in and pulling out the guts and separating the seeds for cleaning and later roasting.

Step 2. Carve the eyes and nose. This year the kids wanted scary but cute:

Step 3. Carve the mouth - all in one piece please:

Step 4. Proof of concept. Light 'er up, let 'er rip:

One Jack O' Lantern complete and ready for All Hallow's eve.