Unexpected masterpiece

To a child, a carved pumpkin is a masterpiece when it's finished. Today, four-year-old Eli and I set out to carve his Halloween pumpkin. Even though I felt there could could have been a few changes -- Eli felt it was absolutely perfect.

We decided on our design by looking thorough magazines and then gathered our tools (a sharpie and a large knife) and started the project. I drew on the design and when I turned my back, Eli drew some extra figures on the face with magic marker. Of course I thought it probably added to the overall design.

Cutting out the face make me a little nervous but Eli was very careful not to touch the knife -- only my arm that was holding the knife, so he was a big help.

The carrot nose was added and even though I thought it was the proper length, Eli decided it needed to be shortened so he bit off the end and had it for an afternoon snack. It wasn't exactly what I had envisioned, but again, Eli liked it.

Later we had to "practice" blowing out the candle over and over until I decided he had practiced enough and it was time to put the candle away for the night.

It didn't look exactly like the photos from the magazine but we both thought it was a wonderful experience. Tomorrow I wouldn't be surprised if we added some extra decorations to the pumpkin -- maybe even a new, longer nose that doesn't have a bite out of it.