Our First Snow and Carving Pumpkins

 We woke up on Halloween morning to find that it had snowed, and that the snow had actually stuck on the ground.  I had told the girls we might get flurries, but that it likely would melt quickly because the ground isn't that cold yet.  They delighted in telling me that I was WRONG because the snow did in fact stick on the ground.  They were so excited to see the snow; Megan even said "I'm so glad it's finally winter!"  Ha ha, not me.  It was 23 degrees that morning, with a windchill below 10, but of course they had to go outside and play in the snow.  It was a good thing Amelia had a day off (for teacher institute day?) so they could enjoy the snow.

And what fun is it to play in the snow if you don't get to eat snow?

Nathaniel wanted to go outside and play with his sisters, but I made him stay inside.  He had fun watching the girls through the window.  He especially liked it when they came over and put snow on the outside of my recently cleaned windows and when they clapped their hands against his through the glass.

When Mom and Dad got here, Megan convinced Grandma to play dress up with her.  Megan is carrying the end of Grandma's veil.

In the afternoon, we finally carved our pumpkins.  I told the girls they had to help clean out the pumpkins.  Last year, they thought the "ooey gooey pumpkin guts" were cool, but this year they were disgusted by the idea of sticking their hand inside and pulling out the guts.

Amelia helped carve her pumpkin herself, with some help from me.  I had to do the mouth because she wanted lots of little teeth, and the eyes, because she wanted them heart shaped.  But she did the nose and the eyebrows mostly by herself.

Megan was a better sport about emptying the pumpkin guts, but she still wasn't thrilled.  I carved her pumpkin based on the design she chose.  Mom helped separate out all the pumpkin seeds, which Ben then roasted.  The girls remembered that he had burned all the pumpkin seeds last year, so they reminded him several times not to burn the seeds this year.  They enjoyed eating some at dinner.

Here are their pumpkins glowing on Halloween night.  Amelia's is on the top and Megan's is on the bottom.