The Little Seed That Could

At the end of last school year Alyssa came home with a Dixie Cup full of dirt. Her first grade class had planted pumpkin seeds. So, as I have done through the years with all our kids' Dixie Cups of dirt, I put it in the kitchen window sill. Normally these poor seeds are fairly neglected, never sprout or sprout and quickly die. But Lyssie was pretty religious about watering and caring for her little seed. It sprouted and was green and everything. By the end of July the plant itself was getting too big for the Dixie Cup. It was up to Brad and/or I to plant it. Again, normally this would be the end of the plant's life :) But Lyssie pestered us and pestered us until finally one night after work Brad planted it in the back yard garden. By now the plant was quite yellow and looking near death. We apologized profusely to her and crossed our fingers. Well, we came home from our 2-1/2 week Canada/Utah/Seattle trip to find THIS:

Alyssa's plant turned into a monster! It swallowed the barbecue and is threatening to overtake the entire back yard. We have had to keep re-routing it's chutes back into the garden area. So far there are 8 mature pumpkins, which means Alyssa has supplied this year's Halloween pumpkins for her whole family! Thanks, Lyssie!