Every year at Sawtooth Elementary there is a pumpkin decorating contest. Yes, decorating because if it was pumpkin carving then after about 2 days the pumpkins that are displayed in the library would start to rot and stink. So, all of the kids are invited to decorate a pumpkin. This year Savanna decided that she wanted to decorate a pumpkin like a porcupine. Hummm, not the easiest but probably a very creative idea. I pondered over many ideas and even scoured the internet looking for an idea for a porcupine pumpkin. You may all be astonished to find out that there really aren't that many Porcupine Pumpkins out there in circulation and believe me, I employed all of my internet searching talent to find something to spark some creativity. I really didn't find anything to help me out of this artistic hole so I decided to just make it up. We went to the store and picked up some wooden skewers, googly eyeballs and some play-doh. This is what we came up with as a finished product.
The pumpkin sat at the end of a bookshelf in the library for a week and on the final day I received a phone call from Savanna. We had one a prize for our entry. Not just any prize. We were really thinking we would get something dorky like, "Most Porcupinee'est". We received the award of "Grand Champion". This is not just an award they give out willy nilly. They only give out 2 of these per year. One for the K - 3 grade and one for the 4 - 6 grades and Savanna's won Grand Champion for the 4 -6 grades.
I have mixed emotions. I am thrilled that we won, of course, but this also means that Dad will be expected to create a high level of pumpkin decorating prowess for years to come. I don't know if I'll be able to match the success we had this year. Maybe I should do as Dennis Miller always says. "Always be closing!" And Seignfield said on his TV program that if you had a great laugh off of one of your jokes, quit on a high note. "That's it for me folks, you've been great!"
