Gingerbread Houses

Lily's cousin Madeline came over to visit on the weekend and Lily was thrilled to see her. She had so much planned to do and play with Madeline. These two mesh together so well. They have similar personality characteristics, likes, dislikes, and their temperaments are quite equivalent as well.

One thing I need to be better about is starting and establishing Christmas traditions in our family. This is the first year that Lily truly grasped the concept of what Christmas is, and because of that Christmas so was so much more meaningful and magical. Watching the awe and wonder in her face when learning new things, participating in new events, trying new things, and opening presents was what made this Christmas extra special. 

Shout out goes to my mom who bought all these cool "extras" to make Christmas more memorable. She bought the Olaf supplies (to make a snowman), Gingerbread house kits (to make gingerbread houses), and supplied Lily with ample opportunities to see lights, open gifts, and read Christmas stories.

One tradition I had always wanted to start was making Gingerbread houses. I thought it was such a long and messy process, but it actually wasn't that bad. Grammy bought a kit that included (real) gingerbread, frosting, and candy embellishments. Had I been in charge of this on my own, I probably would have made gingerbread, bought all the candy, and whipped up frosting. I had no idea that all this comes packaged together for ease and convenience.

The girls loved sneaking more candies into their mouths than putting them on the house. All the adults wanted to make a nice Greco-symmetric home, while the kids cared less about symmetry and design. They just wanted to place one candy on the house and then put two in their mouths. It was comical to watch them try to blame each other for eating candy when they were both engorging and trying to be sneaky about how much they could eat before getting reprimanded.

The excitement didn't last long with the house. Once the candy popping was prohibited, they quickly lost interest and wanted to watch movies instead. I think that gingerbread houses may be more geared towards an older audience, but if it becomes a tradition, then it's something that the kids can look forward to each year!

The remainder of the evening was spent relaxing and enjoying each other's company. Lily loved playing with Madeline. I am so happy to see her playing with her cousin and enjoying the attention that she gets from my family.

I had to sneak this gem of a picture into this post. While we were busy decorating our gingerbread house, Michal made things more entertaining. I have no idea why a basket is on top of his head or why he is attacking me with a spatula. But he never ceases to make me laugh. Every time I look at this picture I still laugh. 

What a wonderful day. What a wonderful new tradition. What a wonderful experience being able to spend such quality time with family.