Change and Pumpkins

Things change. I know this. Sometimes it's harder than other times. Sometimes the changes are for the better and sometimes they are for the worse and sometimes, most of the times, they just are.

For 15 years, I'm pretty sure that's our streak, we have carved pumpkins (or A pumpkin depending on how many of us there were). For 5 years, Anitra and the kids have carved pumpkins with us. For 4 of those years, we went to the pumpkin patch, with my work, and picked out our own pumpkins from the big field of pumpkins. Last year was tough. No Anitra for the pumpkin patch and no Big R for pumpkin carving. That was a BIG change. A hard change. A not so great change. 

This year, Steve and I were in Vegas for my work's pumpkin patch visit. We decided not to go to the patch and just get pumpkins from the store. Okay...tough change for some of the kiddos and I. Miss R decided she didn't want to participate in pumpkin carving. That's okay; she's getting older and some family traditions are either hard to accept without Mom. A change that I'm having a harder time accepting then I'd like to admit. 

Steve had promised G that he would take her to the haunted house and of course tonight is the last night they are open. Not an okay change. Now we're missing Steve, Big R, and G. I took a deep breath, sucked it up, and carried on. 

The rest of us, plus Ms. Kylie, carved our pumpkins, gutted them out, seeds will be roasting tomorrow. The boys argued over what would be the most epic design, G picked the girl pumpkin design since she would not be able to help us carve it. Tai was, as always, super helpful! 

We had a good time. Little R cannot wait until she can carve more of the pumpkin on her own. She is a master gutter though! Ms. K was a delightful addition to our "party". She is really like one of the family and we cannot imagine her not being with us for these fun events. 

This pumpkin carving season will probably not be our most memorable. We survived it...and sometimes, that's the best I can say. Next year, we will be going back to the pumpkin patch and picking out our own pumpkins. I don't know if Big R will come home and carve with us next year, but she will always be welcome to. Ms. K (and her momma)will hopefully still be able to join us. The rest of the family will be here and we will banter back and forth, elbow each other, argue over who gets which knife, and make a great big mess. 

Sometimes, change shows us that we need to keep things the same.