Our very first gingerbread house!

The other night, we made our very first gingerbread house, which amazingly stayed in one piece and turned out pretty cute! In my family it's always been an inside joke, since my Mom has always had great intentions of building and decorating a gingerbread house, but we somehow always talked about it and never actually made one. The year my Mom had back surgery, my Grandma came into town and she and I made one (back in the day when you had to actually bake the walls, etc) and my Mom was so proud (and a bit envious, I think). Anyway, since then we always talked a big game but never actually built one together. Last year, my Aunt (Mom's sister) sent us two different gingerbread kits. So, this year I decided to pull one out of the pantry and make it. I'd planned to do it with Sofia one afternoon but instead we all sort of fell into making it after dinner one night. I'm so thankful CK was the master builder because it was a bit more steady work than expected and with Sofia wanting to touch everything every 2 seconds, he build while I made the frosting and kept it from getting stiff. So, CK built, Sofia watched and I made the frosting and took photos. Once the house was together, Sofia and CK went to town decorating. Of course, Sofia was also telling some made-up story about birds living near the house, etc. while she worked. CK's side started off very orderly until Sofia was done decorating her side of the roof, then she started adding candies all over CK's side. It really turned out cute and has a definite "homemade" feel to it! Now, she pretends that her little toys live in the house and she has a great time!

All the decorations are ready!


Sofia and Papa erecting the walls of the house


Adding the roof


Let the decorating begin!


Sofia's side of the roof is nearly complete, so she eyes her Papa's side for possible room....


Notice how orderly the bottom decorations are from the top? That's CK's handiwork while the rest is Sofia's!


Still decorating...


Nearly complete! We later added a "snowman" to the front yard.


Adding more icing (we did have a little roofing problem and the house has a small "sky light" along the top seam).


Our masterpiece!!!