Gingerbread Cycle of Life

The morning of gingerbread house making began with the girls deciding they wanted to carry their various babies in "baby bjorns"- their PJs acting as the bjorns.  Jake and I found this extremely creative. 

It was a rainy day, and I decided we were DEFINITELY going to do our gingerbread house that I had been saving for the perfect moment. I forgot that you are supposed to let the icing dry on the walls and roof for 2-3 hours before decorating until I opened the box and the girls were all poised to decorate. So here is the beginning of the life of our gingerbread house.

 We jumped right in.

Blythe and Joy weren't always fans of having anything sticky on their fingers. (P.S. Officially, tutus and white stuffed bears are really poor choices of objects to have anywhere near the decorating of a gingerbread house.  For your future notice, should the issue come up.)

 There was a little treat sneaking.

 There was decoration and technique sharing.  Abby Jane was really a superstar that morning.

 Team effort.

 Sweet Joy had some difficulty with the dexterity of placing decorations on the house, but she had much improved success by the end.

 Blythe did not have any difficulty.

I transferred the lovely gingerbread home to the peppermint cake plate left over from Jesus' birthday bash. Here is our house in its full glory.

 Group hug/ celebration by completed house.

Completed house 73 seconds after being transferred off the floor.  Note to self: allow icing to dry on walls and roof for 2-3 hours before decorating.

The girls were then raptured.  Just kidding.  They were covered in halfway melted peppermints and sprinkles, so they got stripped right there on the tablecloth.

Then they were transferred to the sofa for a 20 minute Polar Express segment while I did an overhaul on the kitchen.  I left the remains of the gingerbread house for Jake to admire before laying it to rest in the trashcan. It might be the shortest surviving of a gingerbread house in history, but there was major success in that the girls had a fun Christmassy activity on a rainy December morning!  Memory= made. Lesson in follow instructions= taken to heart.