Pumpkin party

There was a lot happening in September, and my brother and sister and I missed our designated sibling hang-out date for the month (although we did spend a lot of time together as a family). Some of our sibling hang-outs have been seasonally appropriate, so when we got back on track this month, pumpkin-carving popped into my head right away. It's one of my favorite fall activities, and Josh and I usually carve at least one pumpkin - and often more - every October.

As it turns out, though, my brother and sister haven't carved pumpkins in ages. What!? Maybe last night changed their minds. Maybe I just need to demand sibling pumpkin carving parties every year from now on.

While I finished the lasagna soup, they started scooping out the seeds. (In the picture below, my sister is cleaning out my pumpkin - as I was cooking, she did all of my prep!) My brother's pumpkin was the smallest, but he gets bonus points because his pumpkin started out covered in dirt, looking straight out of a pumpkin patch instead of a Target bin. He also was embracing the seasonal theme because he impulse-bought a box of Count Chocula and then tried to replicate the Count for his pumpkin. Lots of spirit points.

Wish took a few laps around the work station, and once he figured out he wasn't getting lasagna soup or pumpkin parts, he plopped down in disinterested defeat.

Josh and I usually carve in the living room, but the dining room was a good spot.

My sister started sketching a house design and was definitely the most vocal about the highlights and lowlights of her pumpkin-carving experience, especially when she mangled most of our carving tools!!!

She was dubious, but right away, it looked good!

My brother boldly started tracing the intricate Count Chocula design, with the plan to carve and shade to show the various details, and pretty early in the process, he realized he was in too deep (but looked jolly just the same).

He switched gears and tried out one of the patterns we had on hand for a spider, which turned out great. He'll try the Count next year, I bet.

And me? I thought about doing a Tennessee "T," but held off for now - if the Vols upset Alabama on Saturday, though, all bets are off. For my first pumpkin of 2013, I stuck with an old beloved favorite: the design I've carved most years, if not every year, since 2004. Boofus! (Once you see his face, you'll see the appeal.)

After I finished carving, I had to make a run to the store to get candles after realizing I didn't have any votives on hand (or chocolate chip cookies for that matter, either). When I got back, everyone was done!

Then it was lighting time! Individually:

Brother's spider:

Sister's house:

And Boofus:

All together now, please!

That's a merry trio of pumpkins if I ever saw one.