The GINGERBREAD House.....



FIRST ever Gingerbread House...please don't laugh!!!

 Every year, we see Gingerbread Houses and the kids want to make one...every year I side track them with shortbread cookies or already made Gingerbread Men and Women.  All you have to do is decorate them, with the already made coloured icing and candy bling. I NOW know why I side track them....

This year while shopping at Michaels for stocking stuffers that are $1.50,  I came across a kit....the pictures are lovely and you too can have that EXACT same house...everything is included.....except for the patience with three kids......they kept hitting the table while you're trying to keep the walls up and straight, while waiting for the sides to dry!! And all the while, the kids want to decorate it....smash it.....and eat it!!!  BUT you too,  can have the EXACT same house shown!!!  So while at the store, I thought YES, I can, (not thinking about how my kids will act during the process) we are going to have a PERFECT Christmas...with ALL trimmings.

I arrived home and showed them the box....they were excited and wanted to do it then. But I persuaded them to do it the next day. I had to do more shopping  and later was the Santa Claus Parade.  Sunday came around and I unpacked the contents and read the instructions, seemed pretty easy. Without telling the kids, I set it all up and made the icing...when I was ready, I called them. First off...for the icing, they said "tooth paste consistency"......I thought I had it, I guess not!! Finally, I got the sides stuck together...and while holding them for a few minutes...the kids chanted that they wanted to decorate it.  I explained that it needed to dry before the roof went up, then the roof needed to dry. In reality, I should NOT have called them until the house was free standing and ready to decorate.

Even then, the icing was not holding the gummies and the rest of the candy!!!   BUT.... the gummies were FRESH......yes I ate some and the kids ate some and some of icing too......we had our SUGAR for the day. Once free standing, you are suppose to draw on the windows/doors...HA... our windows and doors are sloped....it looks like they are  melting!!  Again,  I should have gone with my gut, draw the doors/windows on the slabs when they were flat and let them dry to perfection.  But NO...... I had to OBEY to the instructions, they know what they are saying, I don't know anything, cause I have never made one before! The whole time during this ordeal, Josh kept saying "its not like the one in the picture, how come it doesn't look like this one..?" I just went down to his level and said, "we don't want one that looks like that...we want our OWN house, right...like OUR house!" He nodded and then looked back at the picture. When it was all done......they both said "that's better than the one in the picture!"  THANK YOU!!

So....next year, if we do another one...I will do it my way. Decorate the sides before icing it all together.....and when in doubt...use Crazy Glue.....that will make it PERFECT!! AND yes....I'll buy another one for the kids to eat, so they wont be hassling me every day they see the house on the kitchen island and ask, "can we eat it today? IS it Christmas?"  And PERHAPS to stop ALL the craziness...do it ALL while the kids are ASLEEP......then show them in the morning...SURPRISE!!!