Houses

We've made gingerbread houses for several years now. We have tried several methods and experimented with different building mediums. This year we went back to the basics. We had one night when we were all home in December in which to build the houses. I baked them several days earlier, but the whole thing felt overwhelming this year. We simply don't have the time that we used to. Also, I didn't bake them quite long enough, so the pieces were still a little soft when it came time to construct. The whole thing was just a little too much. I wonder how many more years this particular tradition will last. 

With that said, we did make them this year. They mostly turned out, and once we started assembling, it was mostly fun, with the occasional tears thrown in.

The houses each were unique this year. Ethan used extra pieces to make a balcony off his house, and add a Romeo (I've been corrected. It's Juliet in the balcony. Romeo was in the garden). He would like it noted his balcony lasted until I threw it out a week later.  My house didn't even last a day: there was a minor (read: complete) roof collapse.

Ethan's house, complete with a truck and smoke coming out of the chimney. The smoke did not hold up even as well as my roof.

Libby added several gingerbread men in ugly Christmas sweaters to her home. She was very pleased with the result. Her house also stood well and strong.

Sam struggled with his house, but with Michael's help eventually got it to stand. He added the inscription R.I.P Ted, in reference to this Studio C sketch. On a side note, my kids LOVE Studio C. I barely tolerate it. Each video starts out reasonably entertaining, but then they drive the joke into the ground.

When the roof on my house collapsed the next day, I found a single gingerbread man wedged under the fallen roof and learned the kids named him Ted. Ted had a rough time at our house this Christmas season.

An aerial view on the completed houses. Grace's is on the far left, she struggled to get it to stay, but she persevered. Mine is on the red plate, the structural damage to the roof already apparent.