Orange Pumpkin, (orange pumpkin)....

     Probably my favorite preschool song from the past is "orange pumpkin" sung to the tune of "are you sleeping, farmer john".
   
     Orange Pumpkin, orange pumpkin
     Soon you'll be, soon you'll be
     a smiling jack-o-lantern, a smiling jack-o-lantern
      just for me, just for me.

     Yesterday we were carving our smiling jack-o-lanterns, or coloring depending on the age of the child.  I'm not sure what's scarier, a nine year old with a carving saw or a 4 year old with sharpies.
     The youngest three had a ball.  Si Guy put green stripes down the creases of his pumpkin.  Miss P made a work of abstract scribble art with all the colors of the forbidden markers.  Miss D painted a "scene"....a purple unicorn drinking out of a lake.  The blue marker made a muddy lake on the orange pumpkin.  Maybe next year I'll get her a white pumpkin.
      The Ethanator went the scary route, multiple eyes, noses, and a few less teeth than he originally planned.  Funny how those things change when you're doing your own carving.  E1 did your classic, kitchy, smiley pumpkin face.  Our oldest had scout and homework stuff, so he's carving his today. 
     It turns out E1 is recarving his today too, because who knew squirrels liked pumpkin?!  So his non-scary pumpkin now looks a little zombie like with scratches and one eye chewed out.   He was at a party when the fat, bushy-tailed invader struck.  We pulled into our driveway to see the culprit at work, perched on top and chewing away.   His siblings took squirrel sentry duty for the rest of the evening for their "pumpkin protection patrols."  While grateful for his siblings efforts, he didn't care for the um, improvements....so he's redoing his today.