Carved

We have a small, itsy-bitsy tendency to go overboard with our Halloween pumpkins.

I thought about scaling back my pumpkin carving this year, but felt that it would be a cop out. There were expectations, dang it. With everything on his plate, Hubster also thought about keeping it simple. Then I reminded him that there are people counting on this, and we must give the people what they want.

And by people, I just mean us.

This is our Halloween tradition: pick pumpkins, decide on overly complicated design for said pumpkin and then stay up into the wee hours of the morning carving said design.  It's a little ridiculous, but wow, we love the outcome.

It's getting more fun, because the boys are actually able to do a little of the carving themselves. Monkey even transferred his own design onto his pumpkin by himself. He would have carved it himself as well, but watching him handle a knife made me nervous. Bug transferred and carved most of his design. Since Hubster was the one that usually finishes their pumpkins, he's grateful they are doing more (and that I'm more willing to let them handle sharp objects.)

Our pumpkins give a glimpse of current family interests. Video games, movies, books, and other pop culture make up the most of our designs. Each year, as the only girl, I feel that I must stake out some feminine territory. I was going to do a Little Mermaid pumpkin, but I was informed that this wasn't at all scary or Halloween related. But apparently Pokemon is fair game.

We let Duck choose between between Mater and Curious George - mostly he cried, because the black and white stencils scared him. Curious George looked a little easier, so he won.

Monkey knew he was going to do a Pokemon related pumpkin since July. I honestly thought Pokemon was a thing of the 90s, but apparently it's still a big deal.

Bug spent several hours debating on a good Doctor Who design, and then at the last minute switched to Calvin and Hobbes. 

I've done a Malificent pumpkin before, but after my Ariel idea was shot down by an 8 year old, I decided to do another one. At least it's still a Disney female.

Hubster had been debating between several different ideas, but once he saw this Breaking Bad stencil, it was settled. There aren't many things scarier than Walter White.

We know this won't last. We'll be lucky if they are recognizable by Halloween. But that just clears the way for even better ones next year.

(See previous year's pumpkins here: 2005-2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013)