Gingerbread House Night

Last Tuesday was supposed to be our Gingerbread House making night but several of us still felt punky so we just put it on the back burner.  A couple of us still feel a little eh, but we charged forth in good faith tonight and ended up having a really good time together.  

Mike and Xavier preassembled the houses, and then after supper we let the kids decorate to their hearts desires.  I was going to do teams and have a contest, but they each asked to do their own, so that's what we did.  

Evalynn followed the "one for my house, one for me" rule of decorating and was thoroughly enamored at all the candy on the table.  This is her first gingerbread house experience.  We alternate years of houses and sugar cookies and the last time we did houses we waited until she was napping.

We had several dye free candy options that we set out including trader joe "m&ms," organic "skittles," dye free gummies, trader joe jelly beans, chocolate chips, pretzels, chocolate candy bars, marshmallows, and dye free sprinkles.  We did save our big bag of candy from the lighted parade and told the kids they could use the things with dye for decoration and then just choose not to eat it, but in the end they stayed with what they know and only used the "dots" gumdrops from the dye candy bag.  It's now on it's way to Daddy's candy bowl at work.

Daddy was the "frosting slinger" and I was the "fetcher," problem solver, and mess wiper upper.

Evalynn finished first!

I love her chocolate Santa door, gummy lights, and log cabin vibe pretzel sticks on the back.  She also worked diligently to line up her decorations on the roof.

She finished and then said, "now I'll eat it!" and was disappointed when I said she couldn't eat it all tonight.

Natalee finished next!

I love her Christmas trees, lights, and star framing her door, and the chocolate Santa on her roof.  I also love the snowman on the roof!

Ameliya finished third!

I love her chocolate chip Christmas tree with the gummy star on the side of her house, and her gummy lights on the roof.  I also love her red Santa hat that she created from a gummy and placed above her door.

Xavier was the fourth one to complete his house.

I love the pretzel framing and peak of his house.  I also love his chocolate chimney with the chocolate chip smoke coming out.  His uniform doors and windows bring it all together!

Zayden had a blast with the gingerbread houses and was the last one to finish.  Then he tried to "clean up" by eating all the leftover candy on the table.

I adore his little mini gummy bear lights and trader joe M&Ms that he framed his roof with.  He worked really diligently on those.  I also love his pretzel tree that he decorated with tiny sprinkle dots and the star above it.

We are definitely not a no sugar house, but we don't often have dessert at supper or sugar at bedtime.  The sugar hit as the kids were brushing teeth and our house got very loud at bedtime.  I told Mike, let's just choose to smile and ignore it, because we don't want to ruin this good memory with grumpiness.  They eventually settled down in bed after lots of giggles and laughter floating out of their rooms.

The houses will remain on the table for a few days.  They will get stale but the kids will bit and piece on them anyways and then we'll eventually let them fulfill their destinies and be grateful for the experience.  We don't regularly have pop tarts around, so I'm not sure who will like them, but it'll be something fun to try.

I am thankful we felt well enough to do this.  I am grateful for this memory.  I am so glad for joy instead of disappointment tonight.