Pumpkin "Scooping!"

I couldn't wait to see how Holden would react to pumpkin carving this year. I got one of those little kits from the grocery store, and he was just thrilled with the little plastic "scooper." He referred to the whole event as "pumpkin scooping." :) At first he was very excited and couldn't wait to begin! As opposed to last year, when he was LIVID after we cut his pumpkin open and "broke it," this year he couldn't wait to peek inside! I think it helped that he has watched "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" a million times. He stuck his scooper right in and got some seeds out...

...then he started to realize there it was pretty messy! Not quite his forte. He scooped a bit more, gingerly avoiding anything coming into contact with his hand, and then announced, "Mommy, this is GROSS! YOU do it!!" Crack me up. Again, improvement from last year as a toddler when he cried and pulled cleaner out from under the sink! Ha!

Jay is normally our official pumpkin cleaner (gutter?) but he was still under the weather so I dragged him off the couch to take a few shots of Holden and me. I discovered a new appreciation for him as I tried to get all of the guts out of the pumpkin! Whew! It's hard work! I swear this pumpkin had more seeds and goo than any we've ever had.

Tiggy climbed up to take a better look. You know it's disgusting when this cat then walks away without trying to eat anything. I swear she is part dog.

Holden chose a ghost pattern with "boo" in it for me to carve. I was trying to get him to pick a cute monster that was only rated 1 pumpkin in difficulty. Of course he wanted this one, which was rated 3 and was pretty hard. I think it turned out okay. I got done and he said, "Mmm..I think I want the monster instead!" Really, little boy???

I realized in retrospect that it is quite lovely to have the toilet in the background of this picture. But he wanted to see the pumpkin in the dark, so we were in the bathroom with the lights out. :) He's still my little pumpkin even though he seems to look older every day.

A little video of him scooping out the pumpkin and sharing his sentiments. :)