Gingerbread House!

We had Family Home Evening on Tuesday night because Monday night was chaos for our little household.
I bought a gingerbread house kit and decided that we would incorporate that into our night. The girls had a Buhlast doing the house. I, however, had a couple of mini breakdowns. Yeah, I know it's all about the kids and I need to give up control and all that jazz. However, I want to help them make it look absolutely beautiful! Our definitions of beautiful are not the same, at all.
Cary read the instructions for the house and directed me on how to do it. I was in charge of piping the icing! Mmmmmm. I told the girls it tasted really horribly and they would NOT want it in their mouths. They looked at me with that face that knows mommy is telling a fib!! Rude! :) So, the instructions didn't tell us to pipe the icing on the windows and doors BEFORE we assembled the house, and we did not! HA! I tried to do it after we put the pieces together but it became a gooey white mess and wouldnt stay where I put it. (kind of like my girls!)
I piped and piped and did not do such a great job. The people who did the house on the box definitely cheated and used different icing tips! They did not include these in our kit and I think it is because they knew our house would look far better than their house! Jerks! We poured out the candy into bowls and let the girls go to town decorating it however they saw fit. We should have divided the candy and gave each their own bowl because we had a couple of meltdowns. Someone got all the round ones! Oh no! Well! Someone else got all the flat ones! Gasp! Horror! Ooooooh the tragedy!
And, don't you worry we did not waste even one piece of candy. No Sir! We put every last bit of candy on that house! What a sight!

In the end, I think it is truly a lovely little house and we had such fun building the thing! This will definitely become one of our family traditions.






As a side note....I purchased our kit at Walgreens this year for $9.99! It has been the best kit that I have bought. It included all the candies, and there were 3 of 4 bags of them! In the past it's been like one small bag and I have had to go buy more things. so frustrating. So, if you're looking to score a sweet g'bread house kit, go to Walgreens! :)

Some more PIX!

Last weekend we were able to have a wondeful visit from some of our favorite friends. They stayed with us for 6 months and were able to go home in August. We are fortunate enough to stay in touch and still visit them.
This is my little Yoalli. She is one of my little love bugs.


This is a photo of me and my buddy Cuauhtli. They have Aztec names and are almost impossible for me to say properly. I love their names and can't imagine them being any one else. This little guy cracks me up!!


And this little peach is Tonathiu. He is my tough guy. I can't remember how I got this smile, but I did and it was a doozey! I love it!


And, just as a side note.... The girls G & B were in the bathtub yesterday and I hear G say...."DOMINOES! HOP IN AND LET'S GO!!"
So, they had been watching Dora's Santa show the night before and Dora said "Vamanos,hop in and let's go!" It cracks me up! I love Dora!

OH Christmas TREE!

I was starting to feel a little bad for leaving the craptacular weekend post up for so long. We've been so blessed since then and I should have changed it long before now. Our three girls are making this Christmas quite magical for us. Their spirit is very infectious. We put our Christmas tree up the Saturday after Thanksgiving. I have always had to have my tree "JUST SO" and I was determined that this year would be no exception! What do I know? Not much. I was very maticulous in decorating the tree and allowed the girls to help place ornaments exactly at the proper designated location! It turned out beautifully! AH! My tree! Then, I started feeling a wee bit on the guilty side because I knew that even though they thought the tree was lovely, they would have liked to been more a part of the process. I probably should have got a swift kick in the pants. So, I decided to put a tree up downstairs just for them. We decorated our music/toy room with a bunch of old goodies that I've been saving for ages. I put up the old charlie brown tree and realized that I didn't have enough ornaments for their tree.
I decided that we (me and the girls) would make paper chains for the tree and they could decorate the individual chain pieces however they like. We used stamps, markers, glitter, stickers, you name it! We made a chain over 6 feet long and it was lovely! We each made a link with our name on it as well. I think it's going to be one of those things that I am going to have to keep, but I think we will make a new one each year. We spent all afternoon on Sunday making it after church. We were probably down there for a good 4 hours. I thought for sure my three year old would get bored and wander off, but she was probably the most excited about it! They loved it and it turned out great.
Over the past couple of weeks I have noticed that "MY" tree has undergone a couple of transformations. The ornaments are mysteriously being moved from one place to another and we now have candy canes all over it. I have decided that it makes it even more beautiful and I will let them "fix" "my" tree as much as they like. Even as an old bat, I am still learning. Thank goodness for that!
We put their stockings up as well, which is a completely new thing for them. They check them every day in hopes that Santa has snuck in our house and left a goodie for them even though it is not Christmas. Maybe he will start sneaking in on the twelve days of Christmas and start leaving them a treat! I'll have to ask Daddy about that one. :)
Speaking of Daddy...one of his mates from work has a Santa suit that he is loaning us. Cary wants to dress up for the girls and I think that is wonderful! I can't wait to get some photos of that!!
In the meantime, here are some photos of our beautifully decorated trees. :)
Merry Christmas!