Stuck for Pumpkin Faces? Draw Your Own!

If you're stuck for inspiration When It Comes to your pumpkin's face, the girls of Westport Redmer Have some great tips. Claire, 7, is lying in wait for me on the front steps, Surrounded by cobwebs. A giant spider drops from the porch Suddenly Ceiling and scares the bejeesus out of me. Things are a little less spooky Indoors Somewhere Brooke, 9, is drawing at the kitchen table next to a brilliantly carved pumpkin, christened "Senior French dude." A flashlight sits inside-to-light him up - a Safer Option to a candle - while the girls Their work is second pumpkin.

Carving the Pumpkins Halloween is very much a family affair in the household Redmer. Alan, the dad, does the hard work - scooping out the pumpkin guts. "Usually I help him," says Brooke. "But she has to do the drawings," chimes in Claire. Sloan, 2, Practices Her favorite new word - "pumkin, pumkin."

"We Used To have a book with pumpkin faces," says Claire. "But we lost it," ADDS Brooke. So this year the girls decided Thurs Draw A Whole Different Faces load of the paper is to find inspiration. Brooke Their volunteers it was dad's idea, But the girls have Taken off with it. There are tons of fantastically scary faces, though none of Them look like Senior French Dude. "We Took bits from all the pictures," the chorus girls. "We liked the buck teeth and they has a mustache." Apparently, they also Life has a French accent. Very spooky!

Lori, the mom, gets into the action by supervising baking pumpkin seed. Brooke is in charge of cleaning the seeds: "I put Them in the strainer and rinse off Them," she says. "I do it with her, 'ADDS Claire," and then I spread Them on the tray, just a few at a time. "Brooke sprinkles Them with Oil and Claire ADDS the salt, admitting That she's not very good at the oil. The seeds go into a 375 degree door and are ready "when they're brown and crunchy.

With only a few days to go before Halloween, the excitement is palpable in the house Redmer. The Pumpkins will stay in the garage Until October 31 so the Squirrels Do not Eat Them, But In The Meantime, The Girls have Their costumes to get ready. Brooke is going to be a farmer, Claire is a little shepherdess and Sloan Will Be a Sheep.