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We decided to carve pumpkins on wednesday night. The kids picked out their patterns, and after I drew them on the pumpkins, Ed and I each carved one. We also had a third pumpkin, but unfortunately, when Ed opened it up, the insides were completely rotten. It looked fine on the outside, but the insides were a stinking mess. Ironically earlier in the day I had carved an ugly, scarred, dirty pumpkin at E's school but the insides were perfectly clean (shoot! I just realized I missed a great teaching moment with the kids regarding the state of their hearts and outward appearance).
Anyway, E had fun scooping out the guts, while N just preferred to watch.
K liked watching too, until I thought it would be a fun idea her to stick her hand in the bowl and squish the seeds. As you can see, she did not appreciate it one bit!
(Isn't this the saddest little face you have ever seen?)
We lit up the pumpkins, and stuck them outside.
Unfortunately, the next day a squirrel decided to eat N's poor autobot pumpkin. We were all very sad.:(
I just finished listening to this episode of TAL. This is a must-- it is very helpful in understanding the financial crisis.
I got this recipe from Trader Joes, and have made it twice in the past week. It is that good. Make it now, before all the pumpkins disappear!
Ingredients:
small pumpkin
tart, peeled and chopped apple
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup of chopped nuts (I used pecans)
brown sugar (to taste)
2 Tbsp butter
Cut open and gut the pumpkin. Mix together the apple, raisins, nuts, and sugar, and stuff the pumpkin. Put butter on top of the mix, and then replace the pumpkin "lid". Place in baking dish and put in 350 degree oven for an hour.
The first time I made this, I followed the directions and baked it in the oven at 350 for an hour, but the pumpkin didn't completely cook, so I had to end up microwaving it. If you decide to bake it, periodically use a spoon to scrape the inside of the pumpkin. When it is soft and comes off easily it is done. It may take an hour an a half. I think it all depends on the size of the pumpkin. The second time I just ended up microwaving it on high for 5minutes at time, until I felt it was done (I think about 20 minutes total).
I served this with roasted chicken and garlic mashed potatoes.
When I read a couple of months ago how my county, in my state, was "ground zero" for the Presidential race, I thought it was a bit presumptuous. But since then, I have heard more and more about how the way we vote will be a good indicator of the election results. Then I listened to TAL today, and it was a show that focused on PA as a battleground state. (I am just sorry I didn't know Ira Glass was camped out in PA- I would have liked to have gone to a rally he attended, just to meet him!)
I haven't been too vocal in this political race, either privately or publically. I also don't usually like putting up signs, in order to keep our political views to ourselves. But slowly, our street has been overtaken with Obama signs, and the last straw was when our Dutch neighbors who can't even vote put one up! I went out yesterday and got a McCain/Palin sign and stuck it out front. And I'm not even that strong of a McCain supporter. I know, this will shock and surprise my poor husband. Yes, I like McCain, but Obama has been pretty convincing as well.
I hear that Obama is losing his lead in this race, something I never thought would happen, after his speech at the Democratic Convention. It all just makes me wonder how this will turn out next week-- I think this race is a lot closer than most people expected. I am excited to know that in this election my vote does count, and that vote is gong to McCain (
I think).
It had been a long day, with every minute taken up by one thing or another. Dinner was rushed, with me forcing E to finish her beets, under the harshly spoken threat of missing Pioneer Girls. She tearfully choked them down, and we were out the door, racing to church. On the way there I warned E that she would be walking in late because she had taken so long to eat. On arriving at church, we discovered that it was a non-meeting week, so I muttered under my breath things like,"I can't believe we drove all the way out here for nothing!", while E walked quietly back to the car with me.
I usually shop at Trader Joe's during this time, so E asked if I was still planning on going. I said I had been planning to just go home so that she could go to bed. A second passed, then a little voice, " But won't I still get back home sooner than if I had gone to Pioneer Girls?". I laughed at her reasoning skills, and agreed. We headed to TJ's. At the checkout counter E proudly handed them her coloring page, and received two fruit leathers and a balloon in return.
On the drive home she chattered happily about a story she was planning on writing. As we approached a Starbucks I impulsively turned in, and E asked where we were. I helped her out of the car, and said," I think we need a little something to warm us up". We went in and ordered hot chocolate and a cookie before heading upstairs to the seating area. As we sipped and nibbled, we talked quietly. E seriously munching away, feeling the specialness of this unexpected treat, "Mommy, isn't it so dark outside?" Me just watching her and reveling in this little blessing of mine. I had been so cross with her earlier, and she hadn't said a word against me. Instead her sweet little self had "saved" the evening. Instead of returning home in a bigger funk than I had left it, I was cheered and my bad mood had evaporated. I had been given an evening out with my daughter, and one-on-one time that I usually don't get with her. Time to listen to her concerns about friendships at school as well as laugh over her story, " The Day the Elephant Went to School". The Lord is good, to have given me this gift, even though I did not deserve it.
A fun time was had by all:
(click on picture to see it in all its glory!)
'nuff said
E was busy working at her craft table this afternoon. She came upstairs with the finished product-- two very cute Halloween cards for her friends. The outside said, "Happy Halloween", while the inside had a message to this effect: "I hope you have a spooky halloween. What are you going to be? love, your friend, E". She had illustrated them with haunted houses, complete with cracked windows, "Beware" signs, flying ghosts and witches, and walking zombies. I know they were innocent, thoughtfully made cards, with no ill intent. But this is where "celebrating" Halloween gets a little dicey.
I think that it is a perfect trifecta of kid fun-- dressing up, going out after dark and getting/eating candy. We love it in our house. I would say there are very few people who actually consider Halloween a demonic holiday. For most, it is just a fun kid's day. And it is in that spirit that we celebrate it. But there is undeniably the darker side, the reason many Christians choose not to celebrate this day. But I want to strike a balance. I want my kids to have fun, and enjoy the day, but not embrace the spooky or gruesome aspects. It is this reason I will not allow them to be witches (even "cute" ones) or mummies, zombies, ghosts, etc.
So the question is, how should I have addressed E's drawing ghosts, witches, zombies and haunted houses around this time of the year? Should I have just let her do it, and figure it is harmless? Or was I right in telling her that there are darker parts of Halloween that are represented by these things, even if she doesn't mean it that way. As a Christian family, we celebrate the fun parts, but we don't want to glorify the gory or scary. Instead, she can make cards with pumpkins and scarecrows. I don't know, am I doing the right thing? Is there more I can/should say?
K liked watching too, until I thought it would be a fun idea her to stick her hand in the bowl and squish the seeds. As you can see, she did not appreciate it one bit!
(Isn't this the saddest little face you have ever seen?)
