I am quite convinced…
…there can never be enough pictures of kids with pumpkins.
Or kids on pumpkins.
And I particularly feel there can never be enough pictures of kids with their Great Gramps and pumpkins.
But, until next year…
…these will have to do.
The food is piled willy nilly in the kitchen and there aren’t enough bowls to go around.
There are people carving pumpkins on the table and people carving pumpkins on the floor. 
The house is getting hot and the kids are getting loud.
Friends have come with mere hours notice, food and pumpkin carvers in hand.
Now they rummage through the kitchen to find spoons, dinner and drinks.
Great Gramps grew the pumpkins and John made the chili. 
Halloween is still my least favorite holiday but in this moment…
… in this moment, it’s the best.
Sounds like it should be a story doesn’t it?
The Junco and The Pumpkin!
It’s not.
I love fall.
The blue skies.
The yellow leaves.
The orange pumpkins!
Gramps once again grew a bumper crop of pumpkins for his great granddaughters.
Once again I made everyone else do the heavy lifting while I took the photos.
And once again I decided that pumpkin picking makes for some of the best pictures of the entire year!
You can see other years of pumpkin picking here Pumpkin Patch and here Pumpkins.
Last year I posted about my hatred of Halloween.
This year I’ve had close to 600 views of my “Halloween Hater” post from people searching for pumpkin carving patterns.
Oh the irony…
This year I still hate Halloween.
First of all I hate Halloween because I can still never spell it right on the first try.
Secondly I hate it this year because I’ve completely lost my voice today.
Here is what I can report about being voiceless:
-Screamfree parenting is one thing… parenting in whispers and hand signals is too much.
-Puppies do not stop chewing on toys when you whistle, clap or stomp at them across the house.
-Small children do not stop coloring on your new drywall that got installed YESTERDAY when you whistle, clap or stomp at them across the house.
-“They” say that if you talk quite others around you will lower their voice to match yours.
-“They” lie.
Lost voice aside, other preparations for my least favorite holiday are going…
… well they are going.
A few weeks ago we made some fun lanterns for the table.
This weekend we did some pumpkin carving.
Now with the big day finally here there are costume wars going on. Decisions made in the last weeks are suddenly not OK and fights are cropping up. Meanwhile I try to whisper alternatives and peace making strategies and, in a moment of something decidedly not screamfree parenting even without a voice, threaten to cancel trick or treating for my children altogether.
Because if we are all being honest, I’m only in it to steal their candy and I bet I could get a big bag on sale at Wal-Mart tomorrow for at lot less trouble!
Once again the girls Great Gramps grew them a patch full of pumpkins, and once again I made the girls do all the work while I took pictures.
The pumpkins have turned into a tradition for the girls, you can see a how some past years have gone on last years “Pumpkins” post.
This year while the picture taking was fun as always. Clara, just up from a nap, was not so interested in getting out and finding pumpkins. She was unsure of the whole ordeal until I showed her that there were bugs on the pumpkins. I’m not sure if we predisposed her to her love of bugs by nicknaming her Clara Bug or if it was bound to happen but give the girl an ant, a few squash bugs and a worm and she’s a happy camper. 
She and Granny found all the pumpkin bugs, but it look like they were a little unsure of some of them.
Ivy on the other hand was the big pumpkin carrier this year.
Good thing because Gramps needs lots of help sometimes!
They loaded up pumpkins until the cart was full and headed off into the sunset.
Clara didn’t want to get left out of the ride…
…but my serious little girl picked an unsteady seat and Great Gramps tipped her on the first corner.
Pumpkins, they are all fun and games until someone falls off!
Pumpkin patch pictures are some of my favorites, the orange pumpkins, green grass, soft fall light…
… you can even take a picture of your stockbroker with a few pumpkins and it turns out great!
*Please ignore the date stamps on the photos as almost all of them are wrong!*
Since Ivy’s first fall her Great Gramps has grown her (and now Clara as well) a whole pumpkin patch full of pumpkins.
The first year Ivy was amazed at what she found in the pumpkin patch
The next year pumpkin collecting inspired nose wrinkling, always a sign of true happiness!
Last year Ivy took her pumpkin collection duties a bit more seriously.
Now this year it was Clara’s turn to be amazed at her pumpkin patch finds…
.
..while Ivy used the pumpkins (and everything else) as a climbing tool!
As you can see the girls and I have loved pumpkin picking time, and it looks to me like Great Gramps loves it all too!
Notes From The Photographer (that’d be me) –
I tried really hard to get a picture of these three sitting with the pumpkins.
Ten pictures I took and not a one of them has more than one person looking at the camera…
…I tell ya, it’s like herding cats!
Behind the Willows 