A Willing Volunteer

Every year, we carve our pumpkins out on the front walkway. It's usually as far as we get before the kids get so excited they can't wait to start. Almost every year, in the late summer a little pumpkin plant pops up voluntarily from a tiny left-behind seed from our carving extravaganza! We usually let the plant grow and it almost always sprouts a few small pumpkins that kind of fizzle out and never really make it to Halloween. Even the year that the plant covered the whole walkway and we had to play hopscotch over the vines to get in the house, we still didn't get a decent punkin.

This year is no exception. The wee plant at the walkway has a few golf ball sized pumpkins that are already turning yellow.

BUT!!!!!

This year, we had a surprise. After said pumpkins are carved and they've served their purpose as halloween decorations, "da boys" take them to the edge of the garden and being boys, pulverize them and blow them up with firecrackers (kidding!), leaving the remains to be carted off by a cute forest animal to eat over the winter (awww).

This year, we had another volunteer pumpkin plant come up there and let me tell you, what it's sister plant lacks at the walkway, this baby makes up for! It is HUGE! AND the best part is that it has 5 beautiful pumpkins growing nice and fat and round. I think that we may have some awesome punkins to carve up in a few weeks. The kids go to check on them every day; making sure that they're still growing and thriving. They are so excited.