Gingerbread: Like a Fiddler on the Roof!

Families create all sorts of traditions around Advent and Christmas. And sometimez people get caught up in "Do All the Things!" I get it. I want that idyllic childhood feeling of Christmas for my kids too. But we have resolved ourselves that there's only so much we can do AND that our oldest is only on his third Christmas. Which means there is plenty of room for evolution in the traditions over the next few years.

But there are two things we have done every year that we intend to continue every year. The first being Disney on Ice, which we went to at the beginning of the month. We love Disney and while a trip to the parks might not be feasible annually, especially with littles, a trip to the ice arena for Disney magic is. They have a tendency to come around the same time every year and so it has become a tradition for us that kicks off winter and Christmas for us.

The second thing we do is gingerbread house day! For whatever reason, I had it in my head that I wanted my family to build an annual gingerbread house. I honestly have no idea why, it is not something we did growing up but it seemed like something we should do. We like to bake. We like to decorate. We like details. Why not make gingerbread houses?

The first year I thought we should get a kit and keep it simple. Husband was not content with that idea and just dove into the deep end of crazy. We made our own gingerbread and royal icing from scratch. Somehow using things we had around the house primarily (though we did go buy some candy) we wound up with a house we were pretty proud of. It was modeled after our house, which was still very new to us at that time.

2012

Last year we invited Kathryn to come over and do gingerbread houses with us. We had learned some lessons from the past year and went into the night with a little bit more of a decorating plan. We stuck with our same gingerbread and royal icing frosting and once again we were happy with the results.

2013

This year my entire plan was to get away from the red/white/green theme we had the previous years. That was not a great basis for a plan and we were definitely slow to start with the whole process. A lot of time was spent on Pinterest and Google Image search trying to figure out what ideas spoke to us. As it happens, red and white houses speak to me.

But I was determined. I picked a Cape Cod style house so Husband got off and running with the making of the gingerbread templates, dough and baking. I was still unsure as to how we would decorate. But we also decided that this year C was old enough to have his own house. 

This was not without drama. He took a bite out of one of his roof pieces and was not a happy camper with the build the house and wait for the icing to dry prior to decorating. (Noted and we will pre-build his house next year.) But all in all he was happy and we were happy and the house turned out pretty cute. He was the most excited that his house had a door. I hope he stays this easy to please. 

C's House 2014

 As for us, after bedtime we got to work. We once again had Kathryn join us for our gingerbread night and we once again had a good time full of conversation and lots of laughter. Once again we stayed up WAY TOO LATE but we think our house was worth it:

2014

The night time view:

Every year is a learning experience and this one was no different. I am thrilled I stuck to my plan of using color, albeit it more subtle than I originally thought. This year I was definitely the designer and Husband was the contractor. One needy little girl prevented me from doing much until the Christmas lights and the wreath but that's okay. I was present and it was my idea. I also made the middle of the process Walgreens run to get the gum for the siding. 

We love our tradition and hope it continues for many years to come.