It’s Pumpkin Carving Time!

I love Halloween! It’s so fun to dress up and scare the bejeebers out of people. Not to mention the CANDY! Can you say an excuse to buy a ton of Peanut M&Ms? I knew you could!

This year I will have my ten year old nephew to help me get ready for the holiday. One of my favorite things to do is carve a pumpkin. Getting the kids involved to help “De-Goo” the thing is a blast, especially for those 3 year old kids that just get right in there and rip those guts right out. If you don’t like all the mess, you might want to check out a Funkin.

Once the thing is all cleaned out and ready to go we can get to the carving. I’m not a big fan of the plain old design that you see on porches. Instead I like to get really cool and sometimes intricate designs. You can find a design for just about anything from religious to horror at many websites across the net.

My favorite place to go for these designs is The Pumpkin Lady. She is a professional pumpkin carver (yes, there is a competition for that) and also has several videos describing how to pick and carve a pumpkin.

Sadly I have seen a drastic decline in the Holiday since I was a kid. Some towns even have a “Junk in the Trunk” event where kids get together in one area with police security and go to cars that have registered and lined up to get their candy. Usually it is held well before dusk as well. To me that’s just lame. I enjoyed going out with the friends, knocking on peoples doors and begging for candy. No parents and we were allowed out after dark, I mean come on, what kid doesn’t like that?

Regardless, I still try to keep my Halloween spirit and have candy available should I have a hapless child knock on my door. As a reward for letting me scare the pee out of them they get the good candy. None of those mini-bars, fruit (WTF?) or cheap, nasty Necco Wafers, only full size candy bars at my house! We’re talking Snickers, Milky Way, Three Musketeers, Hershey’s, the works. Unfortunately, I have seen the number of children come to my door begging for candy diminish more and more each year. On the plus side, I am left with a good supply of candy.

How is Halloween in your neighborhood? Do you still see the ghosts and goblins outside at dusk running from door to door or have you too seen a decline?