Halloween Preparations

I finished carving the first pumpkin last night. I wasn't feeling terribly creative this time so I just carved something fun. All the Peanuts characters go around one pumpkin. I started with Charlie Brown because I think of Charlie Brown on Halloween and because I wanted to incorporate baseball somehow. (My original plan was to make the world series trophy with the sox in the middle, but I didn't want to make all the little flags.) Then I added Snoopy and Lucy from scenes in the Charlie Brown Halloween special.

Tonight I carved a simple cat face for Tommy on the other pumpkin. I've been staying up really late with all the playoff games and then again last night to finish the first jack-o-lantern in time to share it at work for a carving contest that started today, so I really needed the second one to be quick. (I know I won't win, but I wanted to participate anyway.)

Tomorrow should be a fun day at work in the sense that Halloween is a big deal in my office. Of course Tommy will have his party at school too, and we'll bring him trick-or-treating for sure, so expect more photos tomorrow (or at least later this week). He didn't get a chance to decorate a pumpkin himself this year, but isn't this fantastic?

He's excited for Halloween, of course, and I think we have everything we need except some flashlight batteries and a trick-or-treat bag, which we'll pick up tomorrow... We will, however, have to clean up the mess on our porch before we put out our big pumpkins and invite trick-or-treaters to our door. Tommy got a little pumpkin at school, and our friendly squirrels have been doing some treating of their own... They started out at the top with several little nibble marks that grew a little each day. Then this weekend Brian caught a squirrel with his nose inside a big hole. We now have seeds spread all the way down our stairs and quite a mess by the door. We caught another little critter again today when we came home. Brian shooed him away and he crawled up the wall and through a little hole in the overhang. Needless to say we'll wait to put out our carved pumpkins until we're ready to light them, as I'm sure our little friends will be back for more!