Carving Pumpkins

Bean, 10, and i spent an hour hollowing out pumpkins this morning. I have learnt a few things about carving pumpkins in the past few years and today i learnt more. I remembered that it takes an age to hollow them out and that carving out a large lid is best. Today i discovered that the large pumpkins (which i have previously avoided) have the same amount of fibres and seeds in them as the smaller ones and are therefore easier to scoop out, they are also easier to carve as they have a larger canvas space.

Our friends, A, J, and H came over to play. They all choose pictures for their pumpkins and then their mum and I sat for hours carving them out. Pippin, 3, chose minnie mouse, plum, 5, chose the cheshire cat, pumpkin, 8, chose a scary face and bean chose another scary face. I didn't do so well with Bean's so we have plans to purchase another pumpkin.

Whilst we carved the children played marble run and a fighting/war/battle, there was some tablet games and discussion going on, and a new game based on the enderman character is minecraft which they called Slenderman. And there was food. Pippin got the Bing and peppa small world toys out and was singing Frozen songs over and over.

Later pippin and pumpkin played play dough together. Pippin creates characters and models and pumpkin was dissecting them or performing surgery on them. Sometimes it was a heart transplant and sometimes full amputation, head transplant or swapping limbs. It was brutal.

Bean and i played minecraft and he had a bath, continuing to practice holding his breath.

Plum took herself to her bed and watched/played on her tablet.

Peace on Earth

A new game formed this morning. Bean, 9, discovered a gun app where you can load and fire various guns of your choice. Pumpkin, 7, downloaded it too and Plum, 4, pretended she had it on her toy phone. They each made a base in the living room and proceeded to shot each other. Over the course of the morning they established rules (like 'reloading') and introduced how to use the mines and bombs. Slowly the game expanded over the house.

Pippin, 2, was feeling full of cold and attached herself to me. We took refuge from the war game in the bedroom and read books and watched Bing and then watched Bing and read books. She also had lots of breastmilk which is unusual and an indication of her not feeling well.

The Big Three ended up in the boy's bedroom playing lego:pirates of the carribean on the wii. Bean and Pumpkin both made multiple avatars for themselves. Bean had made a cosy nook for Plum using beanbags and duvets and pillows on the floor.

In the afternoon we met friends, A, J and H, at the dinosaur park. The older four played time travelling, and hide and seek, and capture the flag, and war games. Plum and H sat on the dinosuars and played see-saw, and slides and built fairy worlds and volcanoes in the sand. Pippin went on the swings A LOT. (And we missed out friend Cindy and her boys.)

The evening was full of baths and The Simpsons, Pokemon, DanTDM, plans to play monopoly, bedtime stories, toast and chocolate mousse (does it have real mousse it it, mummy?)