Reconnecting as a Family...

Part of getting ready for Christmas has always been decorating a Gingerbread House together as a family. 

I’ve been buying the basic kits ever since the first disastrous year I began the tradition by trying to bake the house pieces from scratch.  If anyone else, beside Martha Stewart, has ever tried to make those kinds of memories for their kids, they will understand why kits are so much safer. There are certain words that children under 5 should never hear Mommy say!

This year, we even found the foil covered cardboard at the Bulk Barn along with an infinite variety of candies.  One of our favourites are the chocolates that look like rocks to make a path with.

Every year, I remind myself that I need less than half a cup of any type of candy... and each time we have leftovers.  The thing about family traditions is that they don’t always come cheap, but they are fun!

This year, we even found a set at Michael’s that let us make some candy mouldings for the house such as the tiny wreath, gingerbread trim and the little welcome mat.  Is that cute or what?

The coolest tip was also how to slice up those sticky mint leaf candies to make trees and bushes.  A keeper for next year, but I won’t use a good pair of scissors!

Because we decorated the house so close to Christmas this year, we didn’t have a week of torture walking past the finished house and trying not to pick off candies where no one would notice.  It has less than 48 hours before the giant rodents in our house began to nibble at it... but that is the second best thing about making our Gingerbread house.

The best thing is just spending time as a family... something I appreciated more this year than ever before!