The following story is destined to be repeated at every Halloween family gathering for years to come…

A few years ago, my husband and I had a revelation. It is not fun to carve a half-dozen pumpkins in one sitting.

The kids do a great job gutting the gourdy beasts, but it’s left to the adults in the family to wield the knives per each kid’s specifications. It was demanding. We felt the last few pumpkins weren’t being carved with as much care as the first, which wasn’t fair.

Our solution to Jack-o-lantern overload was to set reasonable limits which still inspired creativity.

This year, we bought two nicely sized pumpkins with the idea we’d hold a contest. Each kid designed a pumpkin on paper. Even Archie. Aidan drew a pumpkin outline for him and he scribbled in a face. The kids submitted the designs. My husband set up a polling place on the kitchen table. The designs were laid out, labelled with names. Everyone was to vote for his or her favorite, except for Archie. I was going to vote on his behalf.

There were seven submissions and seven votes. The #1 rule was you couldn’t vote for yourself. The top two designs would be carved.

One by one, we went into the kitchen to cast our ballots by writing on little scraps of paper and placing the folded bits into a bucket. Faintly, in the background, I heard tribal council theme music.

My husband emerged from the kitchen with the bucket. The kids lined up on the couch, squealing with anticipation. With the flair of Guy Smiley and the hair of Howie Mandel, my husband channeled the greatest hosts in game show history as he presented the results.

The first vote was for Aidan! Applause!

The second vote was for Sam!

Then Tommy!

Joel!

Ryley!

Beatrix!

Archie!

We had a seven way tie.

I still can’t quite believe that’s the way the first vote shook out, but it did. Nobody voted for him or herself and somehow everyone still got a vote.

The executive producers of Project Draw That Pumpkin (me and hubby) decided to put the names back into the bucket and have Archie pluck two names.

The first name was Tommy, who drew the most complicated and surreal design. I’m sharing his first submission.

The actual pumpkin carved was scaled back greatly, but with his approval.

The second name was Archie. I’d love to share the original design, but the artist spilled the dog’s water on it, rendering it impossible to scan.

Tune in next year to find out whose pumpkin design makes the cut.