Third Annual Gingerbread House Decorating Party

So the day arrived an all the party prep was coming together. Fifteen houses had been rolled, cut, baked, and put into bags that were all about the house and some even in the garage.  For two weeks I would make two batches of dough in the morning and roll, cut and bake in the evenings after dinner.  I also made three giant gingerbread men and two giant trees.  Mom and I spent quite a bit of time Friday night putting the houses together with hot caramel syrup.  I think I splashed it on her three times with immediate blisters resulting.  I am glad she is so patient with these things and I just sent her to the sink to cool it off.  It took over an hour and more to get them done but we did it. 

In the morning I put my elves to work decorating this little tree for the cabinet in the hallway.  It has tons of tiny ornaments and there is at least one on each branch rather like our living room tree.  I like a full tree, what can I say.  They did a great job while I puttered around the kitchen getting ready.  

I started mixing up the frosting for a giant chocolate chip cookie in the shape of a Christmas tree.  We tinted it green and added M&M ornaments.  Baylor said it was very bright in the kitchen and he needed to wear sunglasses.  It lasted about as long as the photo and he was back to mixing.

Earlier in the week Zakiya came over for dinner and a visit. We mixed up some dough and Baylor did everything by meself and showed her how it was all done.  He was quite the little pro about it too and I was giggling behind him as I was measuring out the ingredients. 

Since Mom was there I had her help me get a photo of Baylor and Eddy by the tree for our Christmas card.  One person needs to wrangle the dog for the shot.  With me sitting on the floor she wants to head straight for me for a kiss and lovings. 

I cropped it in a bit for the card but you can still see the flash of Mom's hand trying to keep the hat on Eddy. 

We made turkey and veggie soup, sandwich wraps, and cream cheese tortilla rolls. It was an easy spread and not much was left over at the end of the day.

At 11 we were all done a ready for the fun to begin.  We had the table ready with royal icing and candy to get people started with.  Like I told Tara, if we did not have some candy, she would only have her candy available for her house.  And not that she would not like what she brought and all but it is good to have choices.  And thankfully we live near a lot of stores with huge bulk sections with a lot of seasonal candies. 

Some houses waiting for new owners to snap them up. It is a buyer's market after all. 

Mom took a pretty good photo of Baylor and I getting ready with our aprons on.  I love my little helper. 

I pre-decorated a few items to go on the houses so they would be dry before people needed to use them.  I made wreaths on doors, Mom and Baylor picked holly and berry sprinkles with tweezers and made large wreaths.  We decorated birds and bird houses and a few other items. 

At 11 Baylor and Mom got started on their house. Baylor remembered doing it with Mom last year which just amazes me that he remembers it.  It was a year ago but I guess he has the same memory ability as I do.  Silly Mommy!  Mom lets him lead while he is there and once he is done, she is free to finish as she wishes. 

Tara and Lucas were first to arrive.  Lucas really just wanted to play with Baylor and the train room.

 It took a bit of convincing to spark his interest in decorating but eventually he did help out. And when Baylor was done, so was he. They sped off to the basement with the two Addys who had also arrived early in the party. It is always fun to play with new toys!

With their girls gone, Megan and Danielle were free to finish their gingerbread men in peace. Megan suggested next year we just send the kids outside to play and let the moms decorate together.  That is the way it ends up anyway with the little kids. 

Tara and I have been joking about the whole owl craze sweeping the nation and I could not resist making an owl.  But the real joke is about turkeys and I should have made her a turkey!  Next year or depending on what is fashionable then! 

I try to get photos of everyone with their houses.  Mom was first. 

Tara was next.  She was really interested in a bite out of her house. 

 Teige just turned two and she really got into it.

 

Poppop Darren was helping her get started.

Tammy and her granddaughter Teige.

Teige's mom Sam.

Sam did not finish her house because she was being very methodical about it and they had to leave at a certain time for another engagement.  Hopefully she will find time to finish it. Apparently she has Aunts who make these and enter them in the Farm Show. 

It could be one of these from this year's Farm Show. 

Zakiya brought her almost two year old nephew Justice and his mom Anel.  It was her first house and she did a great job.  Justice was a sweetheart and had fun with all the kids. 

The girls and their dad arrived mid way through the party.  Mandy was at a writer's club meeting but was able to come over to take over so Doug could go home to take care of a few things. 

Vanessa and her gingerbread man.

Natalie and her house. 

Brigid helped out with her house. I helped her with the frosting and she stuck the candy on it 

And Connor and Heather worked on theirs.  For some reason I did not take a photo of them with their creations. 

Baylor wanted to do a house all by himself.  And he did.  I tried squeeze bottles this year for the icing and other than the pain to refill them all the time I think they worked better for kids and anyone not used to an icing bag. 

He even did the layering of candy on the roof and a pattern going on the peak. 

Robin made a giant gingerbread man.

Gavin decorated a house.

Jaden with his house.

His sister Leanne with her house. 

And my little man passed out on the couch after every one left after 7.  We had a great party and I am so happy for the memories we are creating for our children. 

On Monday night I decorated two of the remaining houses and took them into work for my bosses as gifts.   And use up some of the candy, which whatever was left over was taken to work on Wednesday.

And Tuesday I made a log cabin out of the last blank house. 

Ok, I am done decorating houses for another year!!  

The tree, Birdseed, Snowglobes, and Christkindlmarkt Bethlehem

 

The Saturday after Thanksgiving Baylor and I were invited to our neighbor's for a Christmas craft.  We were making bird seed wreaths and ornaments to give as gifts to the grandparents.  Mandy tested two recipes and choose the one she felt worked the best.  The kids took turns measuring, pouring and stirring the gelatin, water, corn syrup, flour, sunflower seeds, and bird seeds. 

 

 

 

The we packed them into bundt pans for wreaths and into cookie cutters for ornaments.  By the time we were packing the ornaments my hands were sticky and not suitable for touching the camera. The ornaments dried at their house for a few days and they brought them over to us.  I had to put them away because I was getting ready for the gingerbread party and I did not get a photo of them yet.  But they turned out wonderfully cute and they will make great gifts.   

 

Saturday afternoon we worked on decorating the tree.  Last year Dave helped to bring the boxes down from the attic and since he moved out in October, it was up to Baylor and I to do it this year.  Baylor loves going up there but really cannot help with the boxes other than pushing them closer to the steps.  We made several trips bringing down a few boxes at a time, going through them, and taking them back up stairs to get more.  He had his step stool over in the corner by the window and put his decorations all on that side.  I would up box an ornament and he would holler out, "Give that to me Mommy, that would be perfect for me!" It it was unbreakable, I gave it to him and he piled them on the branches he could reach.  He had them three and four deep in places.  And for the most part, I left them there because the bottom half of the tree is redecorated nearly every day. 

 

 

All that running up and down the stairs takes a lot out of a little man. 

 

Between Baylor's birthday, Thanksgiving, and prep for the gingy party I have been making waterless snow globes to give as my gift for the Aunt's Meeting Christmas party.  I have been hoarding jars all year and Lori has been recycling them for me almost as fast.  I was short a few jars so at work we ate chips with salsa and queso for a few days for the jars. 

 

I even found a few baby jars in a bag in the basement!  Now those are old.

 

It was fun shopping for little items to put inside.  I choose to go waterless because there are more options to put inside.  Most items would flake paint or rust if they were in water and water proof items were a bit hard to find anyway. 

 

 

I wanted to do one of those great photos in front of the Christmas tree that are all over Pinterest.  It was a failure. I need to do some more reading on the process.  He was a good sitter for about six shoots and then he was over it.  It was even worse trying to get Eddy and him to sit together. 

 

But my little Santa is even adorable in his out takes! 

 

Thursday November 29th we went to my parent's house after work to spend the night.  In the morning we headed to Bethlehem for the Christkindlemarkt.  This year we had better directions than last year and arrived without any issues.  It was in the same part of town as last year, in the old steel mills.  The first stop was the restrooms and I had to bribe Baylor with the promise of a prize to even try to go.  It was quite a walk to the restrooms and I did not want to have to make an emergency run to go. With him we have a lot of time but I don't want to risk it.  So off we went back to the tents and stopped by the tree for a photo.  We had already lost Dad so I did not get one of him. 

 

Don't we look happy all squinty and concerned looking? I think Mom was having issues pointing and shooting with my camera and I was not sure if she was going to get a picture or not. 

 

We visited a few stands and Baylor was itching to find his prize.  We went to the best Santa ever that Baylor has been to three times now.  He usually makes it to our Christmas card and this year is no exception.  Baylor was all shy and quiet but talked to him for quite a bit. 

 

 

He got a pack of Christmas Mike and Ike's as JustBorn is a sponsor for the market.  For having such a big sponsor, they charge a heck of a lot for a photo. But it is worth it. We started to head to the food vendors because I thought part of his irritability was hunger.  On the way there we passed a wood carver and he asked Baylor if he every saw a lathe being used.  We watched him make a top and Baylor got to choose two colors to put on it: blue and orange.  For $5 we got to take it home and call it a prize.  And after eating lunch all was right with the world again. 

 

It is a good top and my little man did not have any trouble making it spin across the table.

 

After driving home Mom and I packed up our stuff into my car and we headed home.  Saturday was our Gingerbread party and Mom always comes to help me with the party.  Next post will be the party!

 

Tara, on the red shirt and jeans.  Around his first birthday and before Pinterest, I read some where about buying adult clothes and photographing your child in them every year to see how they grow into them.  So I went to the Goodwill and found the red polo and jeans. 

1st year

2nd year

 3rd year

 

4th year

 

Thanksgiving Catch Up

 

Sorry for the radio silence.  I apparently have too many photos stored between the blog and Picasa, which I rarely use.  I did not want to buy more space for a monthly charge and was too lazy to figure anything else out.  Thankfully Tara figured out a solution for me this weekend.  I removed files from Picasa and can post again. And I am pretty burnt out.  I have been party planning and preparing since September and I need a break. But the parties are over for this year and I am not hosting any Christmas get togethers so I will get a break. So to catch up....

 

I have fallen off the fall photo wagon but I hope to catch up on it soon.  Not much has changed back there other than toys being moved around. 

 

Baylor napped on the living room floor in his sleeping bag that he received for his birthday.   Awwwww.

 

 

We had cake for breakfast the day after his party. Doesn't everyone? Sundays have special rules anyway!  I am sure you can imagine what all that food coloring does to one's gastrointestinal system.  Lori had a few questions on Monday to make sure it was nothing other than cake going on. 

 

It took a few nights of convincing, but I finally was able to get him to sit for the photo in his red shirt and jeans.  One day they will fit, I know it. 

 

See how much better it fits three years since I bought them for him?

 

 

Thanksgiving weekend was really nice weather and we did a lot of playing outside.  Baylor plays more than I do as I am usually trying to get something done.  We cleaned up the dead vines in the garden and pruned the raspberry and rose canes. I dug up the horseradish roots and made fresh horseradish.  I have plants that were originally from my grandpa's garden.  They have never grown very big because they are in a fairly shady area so I do not get very much.  This year I gave my crop to my brother and sister in law as a gift.  I also planted some roots in a sunnier spot so I hope next year to have more roots to grate and share.  

 

 

It is very strong stuff but we had the house open and no one was affected. 

 

On Thanksgiving Baylor set the table for us while I was cooking.  He found paper plates and first gave us all his utensils and then pulled out our regular table ware and I added our dinner plates. He was trying and we truly appreciated.  And he was shirtless this year just like he was last year.  Unfortunately Lori's parents were not able to join us because a plumber's work is never done.  Norman was on a call until very early in the morning and he was just too tired to make the trip. 

 

Lori took a shot at carving the turkey this year.  She did pretty good for her first time but I think I will have her practice on some chickens this coming year. I love the look on her face.  She hates food on bones and I a really surprised she wanted to attempt it. 

 

Black Friday we did not go out shopping in the early morning but rather worked on setting up our Christmas tree.  Baylor got into the spirit by wearing the tree skirt, or Santa dress, and his Santa hat!  When we went shopping later that day I bought a plain Santa dress with a 40% off coupon at AC Moore.  He was more than pleased to have his own dress.  We went to the craft store, Wal*mart, and Wegmans.  We had lunch at Wegmans, which is quite expensive for the two of us to eat.  But he loves it and eats lots of veggies off the Asian take out bar. 

 

With the two aquariums in the living room we do not have a lot of extra space.  They are too much to move right now so we removed the two end tables and lamps and pushed the couches to the ends of the walls.  There was some cleaning to do before we could put up the tree.  Baylor is usually a very good cleaning helper and was quick with the floor mop and vacuum. 

 

Baylor put the floor mop into the tree stand. Being four he does not have a lot of patience with the process of things and just wanted the tree to be put up now. 

 

He was very helpful in sorting out the branches and put color code keys with the piles.  The duster was the pink code and he had his white electric truck for the white code.  A brown pillow was the brown code and the mop was the green code. 

 

We put the tree up and a zillion lights without any issues.  Baylor's first decorations were balloons. Not the blown up kind, the deflated kind fresh from the bag or soggy kind from being blown up and let loose around the room.  

 

There may be a few still hiding in the branches though I tired to remove them without being noticed.   

 

My sleepy babies took a nap on the couch together by the light of the tree. Friday we only got this far but by Sunday the living room had become a Christmas Wonderland!    

 

I started this post with a napping son and I guess I will end it with one.