Precipitation, Peanuts, Pizza, and Pumpkins

It was a dark and stormy night. The wind was howling through the trees. Rain beat against the panes of glass. A three-year old was holding a knife. An old lady was talking gibberish. Guts were strewn everywhere. The Amonetts were preparing to operate...

***

How often do you encounter an All Hallow's Eve (...Eve Eve Eve Eve) with pelting precipitation, precocious Peanuts, jack o'lantern pizza, freshly picked pumpkins and a three-year who is ready to make the first incision? The weather may be playing plenty of tricks on us holiday-loving Utahns, yet there is nothing but treats inside the Amonett house. In an effort to show Xavier that I can in fact be a cool mom, I set aside our normally structured routine for an evening and planned a festive pumpkin party to introduce him to Halloween week. Since Thaus had finals on Monday, we designated Tuesday as our family night. The evening began with Xavier and I arriving home about 45 minutes before Thaus. I immediately began setting up the carving station while X could hardly contain his enthusiasm for the festivities to begin. Xavier was fascinated by his "knives" (plastic carving utensils), pointing them out to me every 30 seconds; he sat eagerly at the kitchen counter intermittingly asking when daddy was coming home and randomly shouting, "pumpkins!" for full effect. See below.



In hopes of distracting him from the knives and from the excruciating wait time, I turned on my beloved Peanuts special, It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. I enjoyed having a few minutes sharing in Xavier's anticipation while we watched Lucy, Charlie, and the gang gear up for the holiday season.



As a side note, "I'll hold the football and you run up and kick it" has got to be one of my favorite Peanuts' lines of all time. Perhaps it is because the parallels of irony run deep within the Amonett house. Xavier would be the one holding the football with his devilish grin and "innocent" taunts of invitation, I would be checking wind direction, speed, and barometric pressure upon approach, Thaus would be mimicking a dazed Charlie with stars swirling overhead as he lay on the ground suffering an asthma attack from short distance running, and Gram would sashay up to Xavier like a drunken sailor and ask, "If I kick it, do I get a home run?" I bet you didn't know there were so many life lessons to be pondered in a Peanuts special, did you?

As soon as Thaus walked in the door, the pumpkin carving began. Xavier chose the design for the larger pumpkin, leaving me in charge of carving the smaller one. I opted for a simple "X" insignia. This way, it could stand as a tribute to our X-Man or also masquerade as a pirate pumpkin if necessary.



Xavier, ready to operate (top left): "I got the knife!" Me: "Okay, buddy, just don't stab any..." Too late. The kid had already managed to stab himself in the opposite hand.
After Thaus cut around the stem, Xavier pulled the top off so he could see the seeds and pulp inside. This action unsettled my squeamish husband. "Ewww, guts! People actually do this? They stick their hands in it? They think this is fun? This is so disgusting!" I wonder...if Thaus hasn't already chosen a costume for this year, perhaps he should consider trick or treating as Popeye's friendWimpy.
Nevertheless, in spite of his overstimulated gag reflex, Thaus continued to dutifully clean and scrape out his canvas, while Xavier stabbed the little one over and over...and over. Note to self: keep all stabby materials away from X and baby.


Let's hear it for teamwork!


Mr. Bones and X


We took our pumpkins outside in the rain and wind for a test run. Thaus didn't want me to bring them back into the house (muttering something about rotting pumpkin meat and fruit flies) so we stashed them in the garage freezer. Not sure what they'll look like when we take them out on Saturday, or if they'll walk out on their own.


Meet Jack. We invited him for dinner. Covered in cheese and pepperoni and basking in 425° warmth, Jack was the tastiest pumpkin of the night. We may invite him again soon so we are keeping the oven warm...or maybe we will invite you! (Insert witch cackle.)

Happy Halloween, everybody!