Annual Pumpkin Carving

I have a friend who came up with a wonderful family tradition to do each year before Halloween. Her family gets together to carve pumpkins.

This may sound like a simple idea – and in theory, it is. That’s what makes it so terrific. Some of the best traditions are relatively easy to do.

Carving pumpkins is something that we usually have our children do. As they grow up, the tradition can get lost or forgotten. But it’s still a great and fun thing to do – especially with those you love. And if you are looking for a way to gather your family together, this is a great way to do it.

You can either purchase pumpkins in various sizes and have your family members choose which pumpkins they want to carve when they arrive at your house… or you can choose to have everyone bring their own pumpkin with them. Have a couple tables or work surfaces set aside to work on and then simply invite friends or family members over.

While people are carving their pumpkins, it’s a great opportunity to catch some videos and pictures of the laughter and chatter that abound during everyone’s “work mode.” Also, try to refrain from “correcting” some of the kids’ pumpkins. Part of the fun is to let them design their pumpkin just as they see it – even if it’s not exactly perfect.

When people finish, you can take a break and grab warm cocoa or spiced cider inside together. But be sure to all go back outside together once it gets dark to unveil everyone’s pumpkins all lit up!

Carving pumpkins together can be such a fun family ritual and tradition. Don’t go it alone – but do it together with those you love.

A Simple Way to Enjoy Each Other's Company

My family stumbled on a way to spend some quiet bonding minutes with each other in the form of puzzles.

My husband is a great thinker – as is my youngest daughter. One day he was doing a logic puzzle and she joined him. Together, they discovered that they not only loved this activity, but that it was something special that they could do “Just together.”

I don’t particularly like logic puzzles. But I do like word searches. My oldest daughter has a couple of word search books and so we have started doing them together in the last half hour before her bedtime on many occasions. It’s neat because there often isn’t a lot of time to start another activity, but this is something that fits in that time frame and that we can share together. Sometimes we end up talking, other times we just listen to music while we work our brains, and still other times we just lay side by side working on the puzzles. But the neat thing is… we’re together and we’re bonding over something.

Now I’m starting to try crossword puzzles as well and my husband will help me figure out the tough ones at bedtime. And I keep a sudoku book in the car for when we travel.

Puzzle books.

We never went out looking for a hobby like puzzles. We simply stumbled across it and it’s started to become a fun little side-activity for our family. Different puzzles that fit our different strengths and personalities. Bonding time. Time to use the minds that God gave us. Time to slow down, debrief, and just be together.

It’s really been fun and a great discovery and it reminds me that it’s often the simple things that hold us close to each other and create some of the most tender memories.

We’re creating a tradition. I hope someday that my kids will look back and say, “Mom remember when we used to lay on the bed and work on that puzzle together?” I hope that it will be something we can do well into adulthood.

I plan on buying more puzzle books and keeping them around so we always have one on hand because I’m so thankful for this one little thing that can simply pull a couple of us together and allow us to spend time in one another’s company. A time and moment that doesn’t have to be a deep discussion, a huge laugh-fest, or an intense time – just a moment spent enjoying one another’s company. And for that, I’m so grateful.