The Best Pumpkins on the Block!

A few weeks ago we went to the pumpkin patch and picked out one for each of us. Last weekend we finally carved them. I had forgotten how much fun (and hard work) it is! We bought a pumpkin carving kit which included picture stencils. We gave Madison a few choices of what she could carve and she settled on the Vampire Cat (or kitty as she would say; makes it a little less scary). We cut the top off and she had a lot of fun pulling out the gunk and seeds. (Of course I had to do most of the scraping.) We taped the stencil on and she actually poked quite a few of the holes need to create the outline.

Her little hand was getting tired so I finished up the stencil and Dad did the actually carving. Here are some pictures of the pumpkins lit up. I did the ghost in the graveyard and Tony did the headless horseman. We got Steven a small pumpkin, which I think he thought was a ball, and Tony wanted his to be carved as well. I don't think those small ones are meant to be carved because they have a very tough rind. Tony's hand was deffinitely cramped by the end of that one. Good times were had by all!

"Spilled Milk"

Hello All,
We all have those moments in our lives that aren't so funny when they happen, but we are able to laugh at them later. A little more rare than that are the times we can laugh while it's happening. This happened to me earlier this week. Steven had pulled his bottle of milk out of the fridge while I had it open so I decided to put him in his swing/highchair to feed him. There wasn't much left in the bottle so I took it, filled it up and gave it back to him. Not more than a minute later I heard a pop and looked over to find milk all down the front of him and in the swing and tray. "Oh crap! Steven!" He started crying I think mostly because he did quite know what happened. I took him out as fast as I could before it could soak all the way through, undressed him down to his onesie and wiped up the swing. While he was still whining, I filled the bottle back up, screwed the lid back on and just to make sure it was secure, pushed the bottom of the bag to let some of the air out. This caused the top to pop off again, this time only spilling about a third of the contents. At this point I decided to give up the bottle idea (after all he is quickly approaching 18 months) and switch the the sippy cup. I filled up the cup with yet more milk and while attempting to screw on the lid, it slipped out of my semi-wet hands, hit the edge of the counter and spilled all over the floor. "Dang it!" This was a little more than Steven could take. Not being properly comforted after the first mishap, he instantly burst into tears. It was at this point, that the phrase "Don't cry over spilled milk" came to my mind. At these times in our lives we have the choice to either laugh or cry and I decided to find the humor in this frustrating situation. Afterall, it was just milk. My only regret is that I didn't take a picture.