Gingerbread

One of my favorite traditions when I was growing up was making gingerbread houses. So of course I had to make it one of the things my own children would grow up remembering. The last two years I have bought the "kit" from Costco. It's so much easier than buying the big variety of candy (which is eaten if it doesn't make it on the house), graham crackers, frosting etc. I know it is sort of cheating, but for me ease is worth it this time of year. As you can see by the pictures the kids have a blast! They each get their own "side" of the house to decorate, and their little personalities shine through. Hannah's is meticulously organized with the candies perfectly lined up. Ben's is thrown together with whatever candies he has left over as he eats/works. Everyone has a great time as we create our masterpiece. Then we take a picture and the house is displayed for a whopping three days before it makes its way to the trash can. The kids can't help but pick the candy off, and I can't stand the thought of them eating that much/that old candy. So three days has become our special time. This year we softened the trash can blow by taking the kids into Seattle to see some MAJOR gingerbread house creations on the day we threw ours out. Check these out... Our finished house

Now look at these... People made these and everything is edible! I cannot even fathom being that creative. I was quite happy with our little cabin, but now I think my kids are going to have bigger aspirations! Maybe I can use the kit for one more year...