Carving pumpkins?

Does anyone still carve pumpkins? We've always carved pumpkins with our kids. Even though they are all away this year, we've decided we must carry on this tradition. We're a little late, but we're heading to the pumpkin farm this weekend to get one pumpkin and a gallon of apple cider.

What do you do on Halloween? We've invited family here for pizza and salad. We always greet the kids at the door and make a big deal over their costumes. The littel ones are precious. I even get a kick out of the teens who throw on a funky tee shirt or mask and go for it.

Here's a fun link to practice before you carve the real thing.

http://www.cubpack81.com/images/carve_pumpkin.swf

Carve your pumpkin by holding down your left button on your mouse and moving the "carver". When you are finished click "done" and see what happens!

We don't celebrate Halloween here, although it's just starting to become known with the shops selling 'candy' goulish things and costumes.

The UK has only just started catching up with Halloween although they're not quite there yet. I do have children coming to my door for treats but, I usually don't have anything for them because they don't really dress up. Some come with just bin bags over their civvies and that's it. No further effort is made. For them, the night is just a date really. It's a shame because it could really be fun if only they knew how to go about it. I just tell them to come back on Guy Fawkes night and give them change for the guy.

My husband enjoys Hallowe'en. He buys several pumpkins, scoops out all the pulp for his famous homemade pumpkin soup, then carves different faces on the pumpkins, installs a light inside each one, and then sets them all up in the front garden. We usually attach a few huge corn stalks to the shepherd's hook out there too. He starts collecting the candy weeks in advance, and by the 31st has enough mini chocolate bars and chips to feed over 1000 kids!!! He knows all the kids in the neighbourhood, and they know him...he gives out candy at the door all year round (but only to kids whose parents have met us and given their kids permission to have the candy - and no child is ever allowed inside our house). So he knows what candies they like, and they all make a point of coming by on the 31st to show us their costumes. It's a fun night, and we usually get hundreds of kids at the door - though many come more than once (it's a housing development and all the houses look alike, especially in the dark).

I'm not a big Hallowe'en fan, but do enjoy seeing all the kids...we do see some amazing costumes every year.

Today I forwarded an email of pictures of carved pumpkins to those of you whose email address's I have. They were outstanding and such fun. No kids come here, this is a gated Senior Resort so its not worth carving a pumpkin or buying candy, which I would end up eating myself. This year we aren't allowed to visit the Seniors in the Nursing Home. New administrator, new rules that suck, and only hurt the old folks....!I will take homemade treats to the animal shelter however for all the dogs, cats etc.

Oh Chatty, how said and mean that the new administrator won't allow visitors for the Seniors. I know that several of our Girl Scout troops in our council visit local Nursing Homes for all holidays and are welcomed. The patients look so forward to seeing the girls and talking with them. I'm surprised families of the patients don't put up a stink.