Happy Halloween

So, basically, I had one rule and one rule only when it came to Halloween's pumpkin patch pickin' day. And by the way...Nobody, and I mean NOBODY, could really understand how much pumpkins meant to me...

I'm in the first grade, maybe six years old?? Halloween had been a huge topic in class for the whole month of October. I didn't know what I would 'be', but what hurt me worst of all...? We didn't have a pumpkin. Times were tough... We had a big fat pumpkin in the classroom though... Oh, it was biiiiiig! I loved our classroom pumpkin. Halloween would fall on a Saturday that year. So, here comes Friday... Halloween around the corner. And get THIS! Right before the bell to let school out that Friday, the teacher says something like, "Who doesn't have a pumpkin yet?"... Believe me, my hand went up with a swiftness! I looked around the room...about three other hands. The teacher put the pumpkin on her desk. "Those with their hands up, pick a number between 1 and 10." OMG...OMG!! "Six!", I say. Wellllllll, what do you know?? After the others give their numbers, she looks at me and says, "Six!!" What?? I mean, WHAT?? I had won the pumpkin! My brothers would meet me after school that Friday to walk home....and ohhhhhhhhhhh how they were JOCKING my pumpkin!! They wanted to carry it. It was heavy too...but I would carry it all the way home by myself! That pumpkin was MY prize! Mama would help us carve it together though...and put a candle in it. I would look out the window for hours watching it.

So anyway, back to the one rule... You could have ANY pumpkin, on the Entire lot...as long as my little gobblin's could get theirs to the car by themselves! Wow! How much fun did I have with this one??!! Little Blake would start working out his muscles days in advance, from around the age of three. So funny!! Mini arm bicep curls and push-ups. The girls were more interested in perfect round pumpkins, although size did matter too... Blake on the other hand?? He just wanted the BIGGEST POSSIBLE PUMPKIN he could roll, push, carry, or move with his feet while leveraging himself on his bum. There was no real time limit...unless of course the pumpkin patch closed... and I think a couple of times it almost did!

Pumpkin Day

We get to get our pumpkins,

today is pumpkin day...

We see some from our car seats

Mom passes on the way...

She finds the perfect pumpkins,

a patch that suits her fine...

We run among the choices,

scream "mine, mine, where is mine?"

We pass up funky white ones,

regardless of their size...

We're lookin' for big orange ones

to take home as our prize!

Blakie spies, way in the back,

the biggest one of all...

If he gets it to the car

his sister's will look small!

He tries to lift the pumpkin...

He tries with all his might,

but can not budge that sucker

an inch left or inch right!

Tiffy runs with Heidi

and they search as a pair...

Looking for the best ones

there and here and there!

The girls agree on pumpkins...

the best in all the lot!

When mama isn't looking,

they come up with a plot...

When mama isn't looking

they help each other out...

'till Blakie spots them cheating

and finks and starts to pout!

We all get home with pumpkins,

and one thing we agree...

There were no better pumpkins

than those picked by my three!!

We'd line the front lawn with old newspaper and help with ideas as I drew faces. Sometimes scary, sometimes traditional and sometimes just plain silly. And then...on with the carving and cleaning mess!! Until, finally, a porch filled with lit pumpkins!! ... And three little faces lit with pride!!

To this day, six is my lucky number...