Anna and Squashy

One day in August, I was walking along the side of our house and spotted something green growing there-and it wasn't a weed!  

It is the most inhospitable place for anything to grow.  It is a pathway home to rocks, old mulch, no water, hardly any sun, weeds, holes, and kids with shovels.  But there it was.  I called for the girls to come over and tell me about it.  Anna excitedly exclaimed that it was her squash plant!  Kaitlyn elaborated about how they had found the leftover seeds in the garage and Anna had planted them and had been watering them.  (When she saw how proud I was, Kaitlyn showed me the seed packet and proceeded to plant one for herself. To her credit, she did water it and it did sprout into a little baby plant-but that's all. This story is for Anna).  I was thrilled.  Anna was just beaming with pride for her little plant.  We carefully blocked it off so it wouldn't get stepped on and she happily continued to care for it. When it began to blossom she was overjoyed.  Her yellow flowers. 

Then one day I noticed that there was something more growing- an actual squash!  It grew and grew as best it could under Anna's watchful eye until the day the cold started to kill the plant, and Anna finally picked her little friend. 

She named him Squashy.  He is very special.  He lives in her pants pocket.  Sometimes she lets her special Cinderella Bear hold him. He has tried to go to school. He will not be eaten.

"Squashy is awesome.  He is my special-ist"

Does anyone know how to preserve a squash forever?