IT'S A GRILLED ALL-GOURD PATTI, SPECIAL SAUCE, LETTUCE, CHEESE, ONIONS, PICKLES ON A SESAME SEED BUN!!

Santiago and His BOO!-Burger with Cheese

Busy, busy day today.  At pick-up, the kiddos reminded me that we still needed to carve two more pumpkins for their pumpkin carving competition at school tomorrow. Tomorrow. Of course. Last minute is always my favorite time of day.

On the way there, I find out from Saia that Santiago was in the office today. Twice.  But, no, not for behavior. (See how quickly you went there? Tsk, tsk, tsk.) But because he was feeling yucky.  No temp and two glasses of water later, and off he goes back to class.  But this evening, you could really just see something coming on.  He's got a major case of the creepy cruddies.  Totally not himself.

Saia & Her Shrunken Head
of Frankenstein

So, while I got them going with their pumpkins in the garage, I put a chicken on to boil (why does that always sound like voodoo when I say it? I mean, it was frozen, for pete's sake. It's not like I went and snapped the little head myself.) for some caldo de pollo, the tried-and-true cure-all for everyone south of San Antonio.

And then the milking began...

At his request, from beneath the covers and cool washcloth, his Mommy read him his new favorite comic, replete with superhero voices and sound effects.  He got his o.j. in his favorite pumpkin cup on the couch (totally not allowed) so he could watch the game.  I practically spoon-fed him his dinner myself, even letting him pick out his favorite parts (read: avocado slices), so long as he got some of the broth down, too.  And even offered to carry him up to bed as soon as it was time.

But...we STILL had to finish HIS pumpkin. Saia had already finished hers. Of course.  Had been working diligently on it since we got home.  Carved it and hand-painted it all herself.  Every little bit of it.  And she did a damn good job, too.  But now we were down to the wire. We had 15 minutes til bedtime.  And he had to do this himself.  Had to. If it wasn't done by his own hand, it would not be submitted for the competition -- WOULD NOT -- unlike some other nameless spawnofthedevil who submitted her pumpkin so obviously designed AND carved by her parents last year, and yet still won.

But not this time.  And not by our boy.  Because he knew he wasn't feeling well when we went to buy the thing. And he'd so obviously thought it through, and realized that what he needed was something fun that wasn't gonna require a whole lotta work.  So he chose a beautiful harvest pumpkin, carved some lines around the equator, and painted them in with brown, yellow, red, and green.  Boom! It's a Boo!-Burger with Cheese, he says.  Brilliant child.  Just freakin' brilliant.

If one of them doesn't come home with at least a ribbon for this, I might have to pull my little neon orange plastic pumpkin gutter on someone.

Just sayin'.
...