I should clarify... I mean the gingerbread house is ready for Christmas! Our real house is NOT ready for Christmas. It needs some serious TLC... there are some gifts that aren't wrapped yet... we have one more party to go to... {BIG SIGH}... I am giving myself an anxiety attack by just thinking of my to-do list. But at least the gingerbread house is DONE!!
We make it from a kit, so one would think it would be easy-NOT. The frosting is always so difficult to work with and there is the inevitable bickering between my two children as we spend several couple hours getting it assembled. I wasn't really looking forward to doing the house this year, but the girls would not let this tradition go.
The treat this year was that Grandma Rose got to help us put it together! My parents stopped by on their way back from their 7-day Caribbean cruise. Having mom with us calmed down the usual bickering about who-gets-to-add-X to the house. Plus, Grandma Rose had some very clever ideas which saved the day... microwaving the frosting when it was too difficult to squeeze totally saved my hands!
Over the years, we have gotten a little more creative with the decorating of the house. Initially, Abby would insist that it had to be decorated EXACTLY like the box. Talk about impossible - I can never get the frosting to cooperate! Now to inspire more creativity, I try to pick up additional candies to go with the kit. I am happy to say that we branched out a little more this year and included some new features. {Or as my friend Kathy would say, "We got out of our Strawberry jam."}
New this year... decorated candy-cane tree.,, which almost was a disaster when Abby discovered after she decorated it that it wouldn't fit on the cake plate next to the house. Steve saved the day and quickly grabbed a glass mug and inverted it. It became the perfect pedestal for the beautiful tree and avoided an Abby-meltdown.
Another new feature... a snowman on a toboggan (Steve's invention) was created with some candy canes, marshmallows & a graham cracker. The girls were so clever figuring out how to make a nose by trimming a gumdrop and adding pretzel arms and mini-chocolate chip buttons.
There was a big argument about what side was the front-door and what was the back-door, but eventually we decided that the imaginary "people" could use whatever door they wanted. Isn't it amazing what can cause arguments? {This reminds me of our dear friend, Denise, and the discussions about what is the front of the cabin and the back of the cabin...}
All in all, it ended up being a very fun family tradition... even if I initially felt Grinch-ey about it.
So which door would you use as the front door... the door flanked by the candy canes?
Or the door flanked by the gingerbread tree and snowman?
Next we all headed out to Mable Murphy's for a wonderful supper. Maple's helped us celebrate mom with a delicious ice cream topped brownie, complete with a candle. Mom, as generous as always, shared with the whole table. 
The final destination was the Mannheim Steamroller Christmas Concert at M-State. It was fabulous! We loved the entire performance, and especially appreciated the history given before each selection was played. I think it was one of the first Christmas concerts my dad has been to that didn't have a grandchild performing in it and he STILL liked it. As we were leaving the concert, huge fluffy snowflakes were falling. It was so beautiful! Three generations together - PRICELESS!
