My First Carved Pumpkin!

I know that some of you are thinking that I’m about to upload and show a picture from the early 80’s showing off my first juvenile attempt at carving a pumpkin…but you would be wrong! I mean, I am going to show off the first pumpkin that I carved…but it won’t be from the 80’s. Not even from the 90’s. Nope, my first pumpkin that I can remember carving happened just 3 short years ago.

Now, I should put a disclaimer in here for my Mom…we probably carved pumpkins ALL the time as kids and I just can’t remember. Like the experience was SO traumatic using those sharp utensils that I’ve blocked it all out of my memories so that I just think that the pumpkin that I carved back in 2007 was my first-ever attempt. Just kidding. I do remember my step-dad being outside and scooping out the insides of the pumpkins…it was REALLY gross, didn’t you know? But he must have been the one wielding the knives because I surely don’t remember the actual carving part. Of course, that could have been blamed on my slightly hyper-active, super bouncy personality that didn’t let me stay still long enough to actually help with any pumpkin carving that was actually going on.

So, I call the year of 2007 my first, because it’s the first time that I remember doing it all on my own. Like going to get my pumpkin from an actual pumpkin patch, making up a design, scooping out the guts (that part’s STILL gross!) and doing the actual carving all by myself. Or at least with minor help from my then-boyfriend-now-husband on the finer points of pumpkin carving. It was our first Halloween together, and apparently I had grown two heads when I mentioned that I couldn’t remember ever carving my own pumpkin. That statement was made in reference to my asking why we needed to buy FOUR pumpkins…wouldn’t just one work? Um, NO, I was told. Apparently everyone needs their own pumpkin to carve – Brent, Tanner, Jenna and myself would all get our OWN pumpkins to carve…oh, I see…so in reality I get to do TWO pumpkins since Jenna was only 5 at the time!

So we loaded up the kiddos into the car, drove to our local pumpkin patch and picked out pumpkins. I wasn’t really sure what to look for – what made a pumpkin a good carving pumpkin, so I had to rely on Brent to give my choices nods of approval. Jenna and Tanner picked out their pumpkins, and then they all tolerated my need to take some pictures to document the event.

And you know that the boys were going to “rough house!”

The next day, we got busy working on our pumpkins. As expected, I did the bulk of the "gross" work on both my pumpkin and Jenna’s.  Although she did scoop out some of the "guts."

This is what she thought about the process of scooping out the insides...

Or maybe that face was because Mom kept taking pictures?!?!?

Tanner attacked his pumpkin with LOTS of enthusiasm...which made me a little bit nervous since he was wielding a sharp knife...

While Jenna worked on the artistic side of her pumpkin…

The only true worker? You guessed it – Brent! He sat down and got to business like a pro…before long his was scooped out and ready for carving.

When we got finished (some of us having had to do double the work) we lined them all up to document the occasion with a photograph.

Want to guess which one was done by who? Here they are, up close and in no particular order…

Brent’s

Tanner’s

Jenna’s

And MINE!!!

And yes, like good little pumpkin carving people, Jenna and I set ours up back at our apartment on our balcony and put some candles in there.

Then we promptly forgot about them until like a month later…when I had to carry them out to the dumpster in double bagged trash bags since they were OOZING liquids and things…

Mental note – pumpkins should be thrown out while they’re dehydrated…not allowed to sit on the porch for another extra couple of weeks so that they start the decomposition process. Just in case YOU didn’t know! LOL!