Carving Out Family Time

I know.  It's a terrible pun.  Carving out family time because we carved pumpkins tonight.  So I won't be winning any journalism awards for my titles.... 

Anyway, today was a crisp fall day.  One of those days where you finally have to put on a fleece.  One of those days where your fingers get a little chilly and the tip of your nose and cheeks get rosy.  Felt good.  I wanted to be outside and breathe that air so I bundled up the little ones and headed out to rake (again).  The littles looked so adorable in their hats I just had to get out the camera and snap away.  

One of my absolute favorite pictures from the day.  

I said, "Nora, show me your new mittens," and she
puts her hands up like this.  HA!  She does not look
at all amused.  

But she was.  She clapped her mittens together
for a while which made Rusty come to see what
was going on which made it even funnier.

And when the gray hat kept going in her eyes
because it's still a little too big, I switched over to
this cute one.  Love how round her cheeks look.

Myles got this crocheted froggie hat from a friend of
mine, Jenna, when he was first born.  He looks
absolutely adorable in it!

Nora thought she was being a big help by taking
the leaves in my pile and...

putting them here.  She means well.

   

All the fresh air proved to be
too much for this boy.

And when Daddy got home, it was time to carve pumpkins.  As you might remember from last year Nora wanted nothing to do with touching the pumpkin guts.  And with her girly tendencies, I was expecting the same for this year as well.

I was wrong.  Kind of.

She generally only wanted to touch the inside
 if she had a spoon in her hand, but she didn't
freak if she got some guts on her.

Her job was to put
the seeds into the bowl. 

All cleaned out.

Then Nora's attention span for pumpkins wore out and Myles woke up.  So we took a break, spent some time playing with Nora and cuddling with Myles, got pjs on and ready for bed.  

I think they like each other.

All three of my guys.

Carving took place with no children around - just adults with the knives.  And the final products look like this!

Upper Left: Myles' pumpkin (going with the
theme that baby's first pumpkin gets carved
with their name or initial)
Upper Right: Mine
Lower Left: Dan's
Lower Right: Nora's