A Thread on Gingerbread....

I can't believe how long it's been since my last post.....the hours and days this time of year seem to just slip away, much like the brown, crunchy leaves off the trees in my back yard.

I have been busy working, shopping, wrapping, decorating, going, doing, being, seeing.... and writing has fallen to the back of the "to do" list.  We've had school parties, work parties, family parties, friend parties and birthday parties.  December wins most festive month for us, hands down.

The boys are out of school and have been enjoying some time outdoors in the unseasonably warm weather we've recently had.  Despite it feeling like spring for a few days, they are totally focused on Christmas and upcoming visits from out-of-town family members, and of course from Santa Claus himself.

Disregarding the lesson I learned last year (and the year before), I gave in to a cute little red box on sale with even cuter contents, and purchased a ginger bread house for us to build and decorate for Christmas.

What happened last year you ask?  Well, our pretty little gingerbread house had bites taken out of each side, missing gum drops, gum balls and sprees from the roof and windows, and the little sidewalk constructed of peppermints and candy canes was sporting some dangerous gaping holes.  I mean, no gingerbread man could have safely crossed.  At one point I just handed the whole thing over to them and told them to munch away.  This was on the same day we made it.  Uh huh.  Didn't even last a DAY.  But, it was fun.  And I appreciated the time we spent together to make it.

This year, the house has already lasted TWO days.  That's 'cause I stuck it up high.  But, we did work with less materials - because with each candy bag we opened, they insisted on "testing" multiple pieces.  You know, to make sure they wouldn't corrode the icing foundation or anything.

I also started with the idea of following some sort of logical decorating pattern, but then G-man said, "Hey Mom, why do we have to follow a plan?"  I said, "You know what?  We don't! Get creative! Go crazy! Be unique!"

Allowing them to decorate it however they pleased and in whatever fashion was, oddly enough, very freeing.  A former perfectionist and slightly OCD person about orderliness, I have really learned to let those characteristics fall by the wayside.  It's been very therapeutic and quite liberating.  I still drive my husband crazy with my occasional organizing freak outs, but I'm not as particular about it as I used to be.  My kids broke me, and that's perfectly okay with me. 

So anyway, I give you the Three Small Men gingerbread house:

I especially like how B-man broke up his candy canes and abstractly placed them on the roof.

G-man ate his.

Those two little slots in front of the house?  Those are supposed to hold two gingerbread cookies that you decorate as well - a Santa and a tree.  Well, Wee-man polished those off before we could even ice them.

But hey, we have a house, it's cute, and it's lasted more than a day!

And, to finish off the evening in true Three Small Men style (with a good laugh), G-man really amused me when he told me that he's really glad people don't live in gingerbread houses anymore like they used to, because it must have been a lot of work to keep the birds and squirrels from eating your house.  :)