Carving Pumpkins - 2022

It has been another unseasonably warm Fall this year, so we took advantage of the mild weather and carved our pumpkins out on the deck.  I am pretty sure that the kids chose the BIGGEST pumpkins that they could find in the patch forgetting that that means that they are often thicker to cut ... and take even longer to scrape out.

Jimmy's was about as big as him:

The anticipation of pulling off the stem and looking inside is almost as fun as waiting to see the finished, carved masterpiece.

Another tall one.  The backside wasn't great-looking but the front was perfect for what Jack had in mind.

More guts.

I eventually moved Jimmy's pumpkin down onto the deck (and off the table), making it much easier for him to do his own cleaning.

Sophia's was so tall that she still had to hike up her (short) sleeve in order to prevent getting any of the sliminess on her shirt.

A smart move -- laying it on its side to make it simpler to clean.

Still going at it.

Sam had just as much fun as her siblings designing and carving her pumpkin.  I am thinking that this will end up being yet another tradition (like Christmas cookies) that I ask all of the kids to come home from college for ... ha.

Jimmy told me what he wanted and I helped with the carving.  Jack approved.

Sophia looks a little intense and is not holding her knife properly, but I assure you that she was well-supervised.

Jimmy's finished design:

Steve surprised us with a masterpiece of his own:

I helped a little with Jack's, cutting out hands at both sides of the mouth:

The girls spent a lot longer on their designs than the boys:

Small, intricate cuts.

Sam made Eeyore!

And Sophia made a witch!

All lined up and ready to move to the front of the house for the neighborhood to see ...

I am still chuckling about this this one!

And This Is Fall ...

With the woods behind us, you would think that we would have an overabundance of leaves falling into our backyard each Fall season.  But that is not the case.  We have leaves that drift down from the pear tree and a few from some random maple trees but it doesn't involve any intense raking.  Jack is able to make a few passes around with the lawnmower and grind them up and by the time the winter winds blow, our yard is ready for the winter season.

The neighbors next door have TONS of leaves through.

One afternoon, the kids headed over there to rake and "jump in the leaves" and I quickly grabbed my camera to capture the moment.  And I'm so glad that I did.  It was impromptu but the colors were gorgeous and some fun memories were made.

Just two boys and a rake -- ready to make the biggest pile of leaves that they could.

Jack doesn't mind doing any form of work and especially if it means that there is a reward afterwards, like jumping into a bunch of leaves.  

Nothing says "Fall in Michigan" like throwing leaves up in the air and watching them fall.

Jimmy added a big jump in there for extra effect.

Just stunning.

Almost 14 years old and she still loves to partake in leaf throwing!

So happy.

(I'm pretty sure that some of Sam's leaves were thrown perfectly so that they would land on her sister).

My crew.  I couldn't love them more.

And, of course, Ainsley joined in on the fun.  After all, it was HER backyard that provided the perfect setting for this.