Pumpkin Carving 2020

With Halloween on the horizon, we thought this weekend was the perfect time to carve our pumpkins and show a little holiday spirit. 

Sadly, due to the pandemic, the family-run pumpkin patch we have gone to for years and year and years isn't open this year. (Oh COVID, you just keep giving and giving, don't you??) Instead, we picked up pumpkins at a local grocery store and called it good.

In years past, we've had squirrels see our pumpkins as a buffet. My plan to thwart them was to keep the pumpkins in the basement until we were ready to carve them. A few days ago, Finn was nowhere to be seen... after a few moments of hunting, I found him gnawing on one of the pumpkins.
Animals = 1, Me = 0

Eric was the first to figure out his pumpkin design, and what a clever design he came up with! He went into our back yard, came back inside with some sticks, and went to work making arms for his pumpkin creations. How clever is he?!?! I didn't get any shots of him mid-creation, but do have a photo of his final results. 

Eric's pumpkin creation

I was a bit stumped on what I wanted my pumpkin's look and feel to be. I figured EVERYONE would have a mask-themed pumpkin, so didn't want to do that. I almost made a "VOTE" pumpkin, but then started to think that's what I did before the last election. Instead, I turned to my good ol' buddy Pinterest and swiped an idea from a post I saw there. When I saw the photo, I knew it was what I wanted to do ... carving and sewing all in one. How me! 

My creepy, yet crafty pumpkin

As the kids have grown up, they've taken on more and more ownership of their pumpkin designs and the actual creation. We still worry about potentially lost fingers, so closely watch them, but they are now old enough to do most/all of the work on their own. Spread you wings, little ones!! (PSA: Just keep the sharp knives pointed away from them. Please... for the love of all that's holy! We really don't want any pumpkin carving-related ER trips. Now or ever. But I digress....)

After much contemplation, Conor decided on a mad scientist design for his pumpkin. (Note: his pumpkin scientist's forehead "scar" is courtesy of Finn... please see the gnawing reference above.) Conor cleverly incorporated our Harry Potter glasses and mad scientist wig in his final design. 

Sketching out the design

Gooey!

Keep the sharp parts pointed away from you, bud!

The proud artist

The wig completes the creation

Annika's pumpkin was partially inspired by the Illuminati coupled with a cartoon character named Bob (I think). She incorporated a bit of herself in the design by including outlines of her hands right in the pumpkin. She worked incredibly hard on her pumpkin and completed the entire process on her own. Her creative process was "let's see how it goes", with very little preparatory sketching. She had a vision in her head and went for it. 

Scoop, scoop, scoop

The artist hard at work

Adding details

Ta da!!

Seeing everyone's final pumpkins was a lot of fun, but what really made the day special was hearing the kids reminisce about Halloweens gone by. The giggled about some of their earliest pumpkin-carving memories and the silly things they remember doing. There were countless "OH YEAH! I remember that" moments. 2020 has been a pretty odd year, to say the least, but having days like Sunday so full of family fun, tradition, and smiles made things feel much more normal.  

Thanksgiving 2015 Recap

This year, we continued our tradition of heading up to Whidbey to spend Thanksgiving at Eric's parents' house.

They are so kind to open their doors to us each year ... and we don't say that just because Eric's dad smokes a turkey AND roasts a turkey. (SO AMAZINGLY GOOD!) Not only do they open their doors to the four of us, but also to my side of the family (who couldn't make it due to other family obligations and illness this go-around) and  the practically-family friends who we bring along.

We have a great system for dividing up the work (aka meal prep) and the holiday tends to go quite smoothly. Sure, there's chaos, but it is the good kind of "we're all here and having fun together" kind of chaos. This year, I decided to make some Thanksgiving cookies to (a) eat and (b) use as place markers at the table. I used my turkey cookie cutter for the little cookies. For the place marker (bigger) cookies, I opted to trace Annika and Conor's hands and use them to create handprint turkey cookies. Fun, right??? Each person got a handprint turkey with his or her name printed on it. I had such fun making them and using the kids' handprints made them that much more special. (Unfortunately, my in-laws' puppy got to the cookies before we unloaded them from the car. Lucky for him, he's a mighty cute dog ... it's hard to hold a grudge when the other end of the grudge is a sweet, fuzzy puppy face.)

Little turkey cookies

Handprint cookies
 

"The carnage following the Cookie Massacre of 2015"

Eric's best friend and his daughter joined us on the island this year, much to our happiness. Dave and Anne really are part of the family and having them with us to celebrate turkey day added to the whole day. Our kids played together until they practically collapsed due to exhaustion.... then played some more.  They even ventured out into the cold to decorate the driveway with a variety of sidewalk chalk creations. (After the kids returned to the warm indoors, the puppy turned almost all of the unused chalk into a snack .... whoops! Note to self: replenish the sidewalk chalk supply when we go to the island next time. Tee hee hee!!) The rest of the time, the kids kept themselves busy playing with Legos, balloons, and stuffed animals. The imaginary play they create really is remarkable!

Anne and Annika watching a movie together

Conor nibbling on a snack while watching a movie

While the turkey did its thing in the oven, we grownups pulled out the cards and played Euchre and Fool... two games that were new to us and so much fun to play. (Thanks, Dave, for taking on the role of card game instructor!) We are a competitive bunch, but even so, we have so much fun playing games together. We turn into silly creatures and are often struck with fits of giggles during times like these... it warms my heart to think of days like these. As we played cards, we were surrounded by the smells of Thanksgiving dinner in the oven and the sounds of our kids happily playing together.

After our hearty meal, we lounged in front of the TV and watched some good ol' football. In all honesty, I can't even remember who played in the game, but I do remember cheering my heart out at the time. The kids weren't overly interested in the game, so they sought shelter from the crazy grownups downstairs in the great room, where they happily played/relaxed in a world that was all their own.

We have so much to be thankful for... a roof over our heads, food in our tummies, jobs that we enjoy, our health (speaking of which, Annika's broken wrist is getting better each day!), and loved ones to celebrate the holidays with. A special thank you to Eric's parents for opening their doors and hearts to us... you are true gems!

Annual Pumpkin Patch Pilgrimage, Circa 2015

When you live in Western WA, like we do, planning outdoor events and excursions often comes with the tag "weather permitting." When the weather window opens, we've learned to run at it full steam ahead because you never know when Mother Nature is going to slam it down on you.

Such was the case with our annual trip to Fairbank Farm for our family's Halloween pumpkins. As Conor and I were driving home from church, I realized my windshield was staying dry... the weather window was open!! The gray clouds above meant Mother Nature's hand was on that window, but we are brave (foolish?) folks and decided to risk it. As soon as we got home, I rallied the troops and soon we were in the car headed to the pumpkin patch.

We got to the pumpkin patch about an hour after it opened, which left us parking a couple of blocks away instead of in the farm's parking lot. (Obviously many others decided to pop in while the weather window was open like we did!) Soon, we were feeding the farm's various species of birds (ducks, geese, peacocks, chickens ... all of which smelled like wet bird), watching the pigs, oohing and ahhing over the baby ducks and newly-hatched (and hatching) chicks (note: better smelling than the wet adult birds out in the rain!), and wandering through the mini hay maze.

Because we're regulars at the farm, we were able to make pretty good time as we wove our way through the various sections of the farm. I think I'm the only one who even stopped to look at the pony this go-around! Plus, a number of years ago, the farm changed insurance companies and the new company wouldn't allow people into the pens with the calf and juvenile sheep, so there are a fewer spots to encourage us to lollygag in the barn.

One of our kids with one of the farm's kids

Conor and his new goat buddy

The gray goat kept head-butting the brown one... not hard, just often

Conor decided to referee the goats and restore peace in the goat pen

Once the kids (and their parents) got their fill of taking in the sights and sounds of the barn animals, we grabbed a wheelbarrow and made our way to the pumpkin patch. From our years of experience, we know to bypass the first patch and head to the back one ... novices stop at the first patch, which is more picked over. We seasoned veterans know to hike the extra 40-50 feet and enjoy the bounty of the slightly-less-visited back patch.

It's pumpkin season!

Each family member can pick out one pumpkin. Conor found many of "THE" one for him. His approach was to find a pumpkin that spoke to him (metaphorically, of course!) until another one had a louder voice. Then, the original pumpkin was put down and the next one was picked up. (This happened over and over until he felt comfortable with his final choice ... and it was basically time to leave.)

Conor with one of his chosen pumpkins

And with one of the many others that he deemed adoptable

Annika, on the other hand, was much more discerning in her pumpkin picking. She went in with one goal: to find the biggest pumpkin. No mediocre pumpkin was going to catch our girl's eye. (We can only hope she's this discerning when it comes to choosing people to date in the future!) As we tried to help her along (Mother Nature's hand was getting ever closer to the window, ya know!), all we did was annoy her by pointing out sub-par pumpkins. (Gosh, we are jerks!) Fortunately, she eventually did spot a pumpkin that she deemed worthy and gave us the green light to load it into the wheelbarrow with the rest of our orange loot.

Annika: Pumpkin Huntress

THE ONE

 Most years, I get a picture of the kids sitting in the wheelbarrow with our pumpkins. Only when it was too late did I realized we grabbed one of the smaller wheelbarrows and the kids wouldn't fit in... whoops! I did manage, however, to get one of my other go-to shots: the one of Eric and the kids wheeling our pumpkins away from the patch.

While Eric paid for the pumpkins, the kids played around in the farm's photo op area and put their faces through the holes painted in various scenes so I could take their pictures. They still think this is silly fun and are willing to participate. One day, they'll be too big (or cool) to do this, so I'm taking advantage of it while I can!

Our kids 

The cutest scarecrow and pumpkin on Earth!

After the pumpkins were paid for and loaded in the car, we headed home celebrating our pumpkin finds and outwitting Mother Nature ... we stayed dry the entire time. Yippee!!

Annual Pumpkin Patch Adventure

Each year (even before the kids were born), we make the trek to a local-ish pumpkin farm in Edmonds. This year, Eric and I greatly took the weather forecast into account when picking the day (and time) to go, and are so grateful that we did. It didn't rain until we were loaded into the car, with our farm animal fix taken care of and our pumpkins rolling around in the back of the car.

Fairbank Farm is a wonderful family-run farm that is only open to the public during October and we love going there. It has escaped the commercial feel many other pumpkin patches seems to have adopted, which I highly appreciate. It isn't  a "now that you've paid your entry fee, now pay to ride our train, pay to give feed to our animals, pay to have a picture taken here" place. It is a "pay your $4, here's a cup of food for the birds, have a lovely time" farm.

We got to see baby pigs (not quite as young as the ones we saw last year, but that's ok; they were still mighty cute!), a pony, pygmy goats, geese, ducks, peacocks, and turkeys. Inside the barn, the kids got to pet ducklings, baby bunnies, and chicks. We also observed a snoozing calf and were memorized by the hatching chicks in the  incubator.

After wandering around the animal area and daydreaming about having farm animals of our own (ok, that is more of my daydream than Eric's, but in my daydreams he dreams about having some of them, too! Oh, and I don't daydream about having the farm birds... only the mammals), we found a wheelbarrow and made our way to the pumpkin patches. After careful consideration and evaluation, each of us found a perfect pumpkin to take home. Conor found "THE" pumpkin about five or six times, but was able to (eventually) find "THE THE" pumpkin for him. Meanwhile, Eric and Annika seemed to hone in on their ideal squash quite easily.

While Eric paid for the pumpkins, the kids and I spent some time in the farm's play area. There's a full-size tee-pee, as well as a old-fashioned wagon, cutouts for photo ops, and a few bales of hay to climb. A few raindrops started to fall, which was our signal to exit stage left, and I'm so glad we did. Getting home without being sopping wet and covered in mud is a wonderful bonus.

As we walked back to the car, we saw the farmer who had just used his tractor to pull a car out of the mud. I stopped to tell him how much we enjoy visiting the farm each year and mentioned that Eric and I started visiting long before we had kids. The farmer seemed genuinely touched by this and just as I finished talking, he scooped up Conor and plopped him in the tractor's driver's seat. That boy was in hog heaven! He gripped the steering wheel with gusto and made happy tractor driving noises like never before. Of course, as soon as Annika saw him, she asked why she didn't get to sit up there. (Ahh... sibling rivalry!). We explained that there is only one seat and she'd get her chance. (Whew, crisis averted.) After her turn in the tractor's seat, we thanked the farmer again and made our way home. Within just a couple of minutes, the sky opened up and began dumping rain. Talk about timing! :)

Oink

Annika doing her pig impersonation

I've decided her name is "Big Mama"

Strike a pose!

Hatchlings

Fluffy chicks

Headin to the pumpkin patch

Picking out pumpkins

Too small for carving, but I bet they'd make lovely pies!

The hunt continues

Mama and Conor... he didn't actually want
this pumpkin, but we needed a photo prop :)

Pretty sure that at this point, he was much more
excited about his dandelion pumpkins

Annika with our plethora of pumpkins

Ready to roll

My sweetie, two babies, our four pumpkins ... and a dandelion for good measure

In the wagon

Annika the scarecrow and Conor the pumpkin

Conor "driving" the tractor

Farmer Annika

I plan on doing a blog post about our pumpkin carving soon.
Until then, here's a picture of our final results :)

Christmas 2013

Before the new year arrives, I figured I'd better give a quick recap of our very fun, very chaotic Christmas.

It all started many, many years ago in a stable in Bethlehem.... well, I guess that's given ... let's fast forward to this year.

We invited our parents/the grandparents to have a sleepover on Christmas Eve and were so glad when they accepted the invitation. It is such a treat to have three generations under one roof to celebrate a holiday ... especially one as cherished as Christmas. Not long after everyone was here, the festivities began. And by "festivities", I mean Eric and his dad playing cribbage and the grandmothers diving in to any work that needed to be done! :)

One of our traditions for Christmas Eve is to have breakfast for dinner, and this year was no different. We had a breakfast casserole that a dear family friend/one of my adopted aunties gave to me years ago (thanks, Carolyn!) and my mom offered to bring the makings for the Pioneer Woman's apple dumplings, which she had recently had on two occasions and LOVED. (We were quick believers in the recipe upon first bites, too!!) After dinner, my mom and I packed up the kids and headed to church; due to the times of the mass schedules, we wound up at St. Luke Church and really liked the service. The fact that the priest made references to the movie "Elf" was a highlight for me! Come on! How much more in touch with the general population can you get during a homily than THAT??? After we returned from church, we did another family tradition of reading "Twas the Night Before Christmas" as a family, left out cookies and milk for Santa (as well as carrots for the reindeer), and then shuffled the kids off to bed. I adore the fact that the "Night Before Christmas" book we read from each year is the very book I read as a small child; in fact, I think it was probably my sister's book when she was a child. The book is tattered and well-read, but that adds to its appeal to me.

On Christmas morning, Annika, Eric and his parents were up before 6 AM (no surprise, considering Annika was practically exploding with anticipation the days leading up to Christmas... and Eric wasn't far behind her!). Before Annika "woke me up" at 6, I stayed in bed and listened to the sounds of our family tromping around above me ... all was right in the world, and yet, I still wasn't quite part of it... I was more of a silent observer for just a few moments. As soon as Annika and Eric popped through the door, Christmas was in full tilt! I barely made it upstairs before Eric and Conor made an appearance in the kitchen and I could tell from Eric's sheepish look that he woke up Conor... oh those kids (even the grownup ones) and their Christmas enthusiasm. After the kids woke up my mom, the presents opening began.

Our kids do a lot to entertain us on a fairly regular basis, but Christmas took that entertainment to a new high. Annika and Conor's faces were alight with the thrill that is a tree brimming with presents.... and knowing many were for them. We did force them (evil parents that we are) to open their stockings before commencing with the tree presents. Once we gave the green light for the presents, the kids opened their presents from Santa. Annika received the remote control helicopter that she'd been longing for, and watching her open it and realize what the package contained made my heart leap with happiness. Conor liked his remote control pick up truck from Santa, but felt a wee bit disappointed that he didn't get a helicopter, too. (He needs a few more years and better gross motor skills before he can have one, Santa decided after receiving the shipment!) Thank you to EVERYONE who was responsible for a gift (or gifts) under our tree!! Your generosity was beyond touching ... in fact, it was overwhelming at times. (Yes, I did tear up when I saw that Santa gave me my own Muppet... I'm not ashamed to admit it!) :)

After the presents were unwrapped and the living room floor was (mostly) cleared of the shreds of wrapping paper, we enjoyed a lovely breakfast of our family's traditional Christmas breakfast casserole (cleverly called "Christmas Breakfast" ... a special thanks to Eric's mom for making it!!) and some tasty, albeit not fluffy enough, cinnamon rolls made by yours truly.

In the early afternoon, my brother and his family joined us at our house for more festivities and (probably more importantly) our prime rib Christmas dinner. There were stories, jokes (thanks, Dad for your joke about the guy who sold the fishing supplies!), laughter (much due to the fishing joke), and silliness ... all the perfect definition of a fun holiday. We told stories of "back in the day" that stemmed from both sides of the family; I love that over the years, Eric's side of the family and my side of the family have really become one. Not only does it make holidays easier and more enjoyable, but it reinforces for our children that they have an enormous support network filled with kind, loving hearts ... no matter which direction they turn.

To everyone (both near and far) who made our Christmas special: Thank you, we love you, and hope you enjoyed your Christmas!

As I took photos of my Christmas cookies, Eric's dad decided he needed one. Talk about getting caught red handed!!

The grandmothers conquering the apple dumpling process (notice how I stayed out of it and just took photos?? No dummy am I!)

Eric and his dad playing cribbage

Reading "Twas the Night Before Christmas"

Annika opening her slippers

Conor opening his slippers

Annika realizing she actually received a remote control helicopter

Conor enjoying the view from his kaleidoscope

Eric's brother and sister-in-law gave the kids the cutest animal hats ... great for cold weather and dress up!!

Annika modeling her elephant hat

My very own Muppet, who I lovingly named Wilson!