We at chez Jen are participating in the Halloween Punkin Gallery 2006! I spent most of Saturday hanging out with my kids, carving pumpkins. I stole an idea this year from Blogging Baby's own Heather Craven. You should go check out her amazing carousel from this year. I don't know how she does it.

I admit that I did not follow her directions exactly-- I was supposed to spray paint my pumpkin black before I started drilling holes into it. But I just cleaned it out and started drilling holes. I had already purchased colored beads to put into the holes (and have since discovered that the pumpkin works better with clear beads! Colored beads just block the light of the candle). After I drilled holes all over my pumpkin, my kids sat and helped me set beads on top of each hole and then my youngest child gleefully hammered the beads into the holes. It took about two hours to do, so we watched House on DVD while we did it.

The children are all old enough now to de-gut their own pumpkins, which makes the whole affair much more enjoyable for me. Instead of having to clean out four pumpkins, I could concentrate on my own. But there is the little matter of who put their pumpkin guts down the disposal and the sinks that won't drain anymore in the kitchen...

Happy Halloween! If you have pics of your Halloween on your blogs, please post the url's below so we can check you out!