Pumpkin Carving

 Here is round one of pumpkin carving:

They all enjoyed carving and have decided to carve another day (probably later today).  Lydia carved the heart and the boys carved faces.  

The chickens got all of the seeds.  Gyunay wanted to roast them, but my kitchen was not available:

We're in the middle of a little kitchen make-over.  Nathaniel and Elijah did the very messy demo of the old backsplash, which had glass in it and was a disaster everywhere. Now Nathaniel has the tile in and grouted, and he and Elijah have been working on the switches.  We still have to seal the grout, and caulk, and then I'll paint the walls. It's getting there.... 

Pumpkins! Pumpkins! Pumpkins!

 

Lydia and Emry have been interested in carving pumpkins.  We've watched a few pumpkin carving shows, and it's fall, so this makes a lot of sense.  So I was thinking of trying to buy some pumpkins after Halloween if they were cheap, just to let them play.  My friend gave me a call on Halloween afternoon.  Near her house is a farm stand, which has a sizeable pumpkin display in the parking lot.  On Halloween, all of these pumpkins were free!

So Emry, Gyunay, and I headed to the pumpkins, in the rain.  The boys filled the back of the van with pumpkins while I paid for some apples.  

Emry carried those huge ones to the car himself!

They had the time of their lives, picking out all the cool pumpkins, mini pumpkins, gourds, etc.  I also snagged 5 pie pumpkins, 3 cushaws, and 2 Cinderella pumpkins for eating.  I don't have pictures of those.  And there are more on our porch, too.  So many pumpkins!  It was so fun.  All three of us were soaked and chilled, but it was well worth it.

Also, I never posted Halloween pictures.  Lydia put together her costume, Draculara from Monster High:

And I never got a picture of the boys.  They were all so busy running around!  We did go for a walk on the trail behind my in-laws' house to see a row of skeletons, so I took these as we walked:

Gyunay was Knuckles, a character from Sonic.  Emry was obviously Spiderman.  My mother-in-law was a hippie.  It was wet and chilly, but the boys had a blast.  Lydia didn't trick-or-treat, but she hung out at the house with me.  Nathaniel and his parents took turns giving out the candy.

October Harvest Totals

 Beans, blue lake - 5.3oz

Beans, crescent - 11.2 oz

Bok Choy - 1

Carrots - 1

Cucumbers, Edmondson - 5

Eggs - 132

Peppers, Bulgarian - 3

Peppers, sweet - 5

Tomatillos - 3.8 lbs

Tomatoes - 5

Tomatoes, paste - 5

Watermelon, sugar baby minis -2

and arugula, basil (tons!), mint, parsley, thyme, sage, rosemary, dill, cilantro, lemon balm

Several chickens are molting, and the days are getting shorter, so less eggs are being produced.  We still have plenty for us, but our friends are missing getting our extras.  In the middle of summer, I might have 3 dozen eggs to pass out a week, to the delight of our other homeschooling families.  Plus two other friends also have chickens, so between the three of us, we were keeping us all in eggs, but now one friend's hens got taken out by a fox, so the numbers are greatly diminished.  Don't worry; she's already bought new chicks.  Once you have chickens, it's hard not to keep having them.  :)