The Gift of Memories

When Emu came to visit last week, she brought the kids a gift. I saw Issa's eyes light up, and drew a long, jagged breath because I knew what I was doing this weekend. The gift was a "gingerbread" kit, and it is actually a fabulous idea. Half of the trouble with gingerbread houses is they are hard to make. They take a lot of precise cutting and planning ahead. Once you actually get it assembled, you have to wait for it to set and then be very gentle when you decorate. None of the above is conducive to small children. Enter this kit. The house itself is plastic, and it snaps together very securely. The idea is that you can decorate the little house for every season, and "just" wash it off in between decorating. (I'm envisioning that washing to be a bit more complicated than "just" washing.) Needless to say, we needed to make a Thanksgiving house this weekend.

Issa went to the grocery with me on Friday, and I let her go crazy in the generic candy section. Anything fall colored went in the cart: gummy bears, candy corn, gummy fish...she was on it. We also picked up some small cookies and such just in case. Yesterday morning, we set to work:
Look at that proud guy:

Yep...my two year old mastered a pastry bag well enough to get royal icing on the candy and then on the house.

Issa was very precise and creative:

She was very specific about what she wanted her sides to look like--right down to the color of the icing. I am certain I could never make that exact right shade of Thanksgiving orange again.

And, of course, there was plenty of sampling:

I love the chaos on the counter, and I love that my coffee cup is right in the middle of it.

Check out Issa's piping skills along the ridge:

Here is Issa's finished product:

I love the chair for the fish.

And here is Evan's:

I made each of them a turkey (I bet you didn't know the head of a gummy fish makes a perfect turkley gobbler), but aside from that they did absolutely everything themselves. By the time the house was proclaimed finished, we were a sticky mess of giggles. The kids were so proud of their efforts, and we found a home for the house where it can be seen when you come downstairs, through the front door, and from the family room. Even this morning, the kids were looking at the house, praising each other for good ideas. Evan yells, "My Turkey!" every time he comes downstairs, and his whole face lights up.

I do believe that this little house will hold lots of memories over the years, and I will gladly clean up the sugary sticky mess so we can make those memories. Thanks, Emu.