Gingerbread

We always have a lot of fun with the gingerbread theme at Christmas time.  

I decided to try something different this year and let each child decorate part of our gingerbread house before assembling it.  This worked out well; it was a lot easier for the kids.

 Kate enjoyed my homemade gingerbread scented play dough.

"Gingerbread" boy almond butter sandwich for lunch.

The girls baked gingerbread cookies.

Kate did a great job rolling out the dough and using the cookie cutters.  She is getting so independent.

  I love love love this picture of the girls working together.  It's just sweet to see them like this.

 Time to decorate the cookies!

 I was happy that Collin appeared to decorate a cookie!!  He was being silly during the "photo session".

 The cookies in the above photo were decorated by Reagan, and the cookies in the photo below this text were decorated by Katelyn.

Gingerbread Fun Continued

I got this foam gingerbread house kit from Target recently, and Collin and Reagan assembled and decorated it yesterday.  

 Collin is such a fan of assembling things that he didn't even stop to take his coat off when he came in from school and saw the kit.  He did all of the assembling.  After a few minutes, he did take his coat off!

 Reagan enjoyed decorating.  They did a nice job!  I was very happy with the quality of the kit!

I've made a few gingerbread sandwiches over the last couple of days.  

This one is peanut butter with marshmallow accents and candy facial features.

Even Cherry is having fun with our gingerbread theme!!!

Elf on the Shelf and our Gingerbread House

Our Elf on the Shelf, Cherry, arrived the morning after Thanksgiving.  We are so happy to have him back.  He makes us laugh and he is also very sweet.  It's nice to have him around for the Christmas season.

Cherry brought these placemats.

Marshmallow messages are the best.

Cherry enjoyed a game of Candy Land with Snow White and Tweety.

Someone has a sweet tooth!

We assembled our gingerbread house and left it overnight to set.  The next morning, we discovered that Cherry brought extra decorations to make the house really beautiful!
Collin and Reagan worked hard on that house, and did indeed make it beautiful!

I think Cherry hanging from the fan has made Collin and Reagan laugh more than any other spot  to date.

I can't wait to see what Cherry has in store for us next!

Paper Bag Gingerbread Houses

We woke up on Sunday morning to find Cherry (our Elf on the Shelf) next to the gingerbread house, and he had a piece of candy from the house in his hands.

He left a note for C and R that said,

"Thank you for welcoming me into your home!  I brought you a little present from the big man in red!  These gingerbread house coloring pages are just for you.  I have a special request too - will you PLEASE make some pretty paper bag gingerbread houses to go along with the real gingerbread house you made this weekend?
Love, Cherry
P.S.  I ate a few pieces of candy off the house.  I couldn't resist.  I hope you aren't mad!"

They weren't mad at all.  C and R colored the pages and made their paper bag gingerbread houses.

R's house is on the left (she drew the gingerbread girl with her licorice hair!), C's is on the right (they both seem to like the gumdrop roof idea)

We also read a few gingerbread books:

Gingerbread Mouse by Katy Bratun is about a little mouse who makes a gingerbread house into her home.  When Santa visits, the mouse gets a wonderful surprise.

The Gingerbread Girl Goes Animal Crackers by Lisa Campbell Ernst begins with a celebration of Gingerbread Girl's first birthday.  She receives a box of animal crackers and is excited to open the box and find friends to play with.  The animal crackers have a different idea though, and they run out the door as soon as they are free.  You can imagine what happens from there.

The Gingerbread Man Loose in the School by Laura Murray begins with a class of children making their own gingerbread man.  When he is finished, the class leaves the room to go to recess and the gingerbread man runs after them.

You can find printable gingerbread house coloring pages by clicking here.  If you are interested in purchasing your own Elf on the Shelf, click here (it's not too late!).  To purchase the books we read, click on the title of the book to be redirected to Amazon.com.

Traditions

Who breaks the wishbone in your house?  C and R own the rights around here right now.  This year, I thought R got the bigger half, but C and R both said it broke right down the middle so they are both expecting their wishes to come true.

We began a new tradition this year - The Elf on the Shelf has visited our house.  C and R named him Cherry.  This morning, they found him sitting on this giraffe!  Do you have an elf?

Decorating a gingerbread house is something C and R always look forward to after Thanksgiving.  This is the one they decorated together this year.

I love this time of year.