Family Traditions Old and New

Last night we did one of my favorite family traditions. We carved our pumpkins and toasted the seeds. The night before I took the kids to pick out their pumpkins. I love watching them look over each pumpkin closely trying to decide which one will make the perfect jack o lantern. Eric and Charles each found "the one" then helped me find a few more great ones for myself, dad and Katie. We loaded up our pumpkins and away we went. When Eric came home from school we started cleaning out the pulp and the seeds. The boys each cleaned out their own while I worked on the rest. Katie sat up on the kitchen table watching and playing in the seeds. I was surprised that she sat on the table for nearly an hour and a half watching us and keeping track of the carving tools. Eric carved the classic jack o lantern with triangle eyes, square nose and a toothy grin. Charles chose the shapes he knows best: circles. Circle eyes, circle nose and an oval mouth. Both of them carved by themselves and then Eric helped Charles with the last few cuts to get the pieces out. Katie's pumpkin has a scared look and mine looks scary. When Dean came home from work he started on his Headless Horseman design. It took him a long time and it looks great. I then put the candles in so the kids could see the final product. I added something new to our Halloween traditions this year. I printed out menus for our dinner of worms in a slimy sauce, frog legs, severed fingers, blood red punch and worms still in the dirt dessert. I decorated the kitchen with a few streamers and balloons. When dinner was ready Dean and I blind folded the boys and brought them to the table where they put their hands in cooked spaghetti (the worms), green beans (frog legs), and felt the severed fingers (bread sticks with a sliced almond as the fingernail). Charles was a little freaked out by the whole thing while Eric loved the grossness of it all. After they felt the food we served up a delicious spaghetti dinner complete with dirt pudding dessert. It was such a fun family night. I can't wait until next year!