Gingerbread Houses

"I have a great idea...let's have 5 friends over and make gingerbread houses!"  No problem, I say to myself, IKEA sells gingerbread house kits, so this will be easy...

I thought it would be a fun activity to put the houses together with Allie and Tessa.  So, after school one day, we melted down the sugar to make the 'glue' and opened the first kit; boken in a few places.  Don't worry girls, I'll mend this one and then you can put it together.  15 minutes later, it was ready to assemble.  On to kit number 2; broken.  Let me clarify.  They were not just broken in a few places.  It took major reconstruction to get the kits to their original pieces.  Needless to say, Tessa bowed out after the 2nd one.  An hour into it I turned to Allie and said how many do we have done?  Three was her response.  Surely you guys could all share houses, right???  Ahhhh, no Mom, keep making the houses. 

We were able to finish them all, some looking more solid than others.  The kids had fun decorating them and eating too much candy in the process.  I love this tradition and seeing how the kids create their masterpieces and are so proud of them.  As I relayed this story to my sister, her comment was, "That is my experience with most anything from IKEA."  Point well taken.  Next year I'll have to consult Martha Stewart on making my own gingerbread houses....