I took the kids to pick out some mums and pumpkins for the yard, and most of the kids decided on small white pumpkins that they could paint when they got home. Alex decided he wanted a big orange one, and did a good job picking it out. But he is a man on a mission, and first wanted to carve it as soon as we got home - got out newspaper, a butter knife, and a spoon. I tried to tell him if we carved it now, it would rot soon and he wouldn't be able to keep it very long. He bought into it pretty quickly, which is a bit scary because it means he already had a plan B.

And he did - pumpkin pie. He doesn't like pumpkin pie, or any pie for that matter, and I explained to him it was a lot of work to make pumpkin pie from scratch, that it wasn't like pouring brownie mix in a bowl with some eggs and water, it was time consuming. I wouldn't mind going through the process with him, but I had a bunch of people showing up for brunch about 30 minutes later, and it just wasn't happening.

As I said, a man on a mission - he got out bowls, pie pans, beaters, etc. and wasn't even listening to what I was saying - actually at one point he put his hands over his ears and said, 'blah, blah, blah, I am not listening." Had to distract him quickly or this was going to go south fast, and thankfully the doorbell rang - literally saved by the bell! Some of our company showed up early, yeah!