I am thankful for the mess to clean after a party because it means I have been surrounded by friends. ~Nancie J. Carmody

For the past eight years we have hosted, in a very informal way, a gingerbread house party.   Before having Taelin it was something we did with our friends.  Most of the creations were inappropriate in some way and then there was me, who was trying to build the "perfect" gingerbread house.  Granted we were just using graham crackers, but still.  There has not been a year, in all the years we have been building gingerbread houses that I have actually completely a house.  I end up giving up because things start to fall or they don't line up.

The last three years we have invited a different crowd over, our friends with kids, and just had kids decorate. I have used milk cartons to prebuild the houses and the kids use frosting like glue to stick the candy on.  It has been fun and most years Taelin has ended up eating more candy that what ends up on her house.  We also end up find frosting is unusual places.

This year, in order to combine a few things on the list I decided to formalize our gingerbread party a little bit and make myself finish a house.

We had 10 kids from ages 3-10 over to the house and it was a blast!  I had a pair of reindeer antlers for each kid, their place set with all the things they would need, one table just dedicated to candy, 12 pounds of frosting, and a few things to snack on (other than the candy).  There was a crockpot of hot chocolate (with some peppermint schnapps for the adults) and a reindeer food making station.  I had little grab bags for each of the kids, with a few treats included.  I am pretty sure that all the kids had a great time and the adults had a fun time too!

Here are a few pictures from our day!

This was after I spilled Taelin's bowl of candy not once..but twice.
She told me I couldn't help anymore.  Fair enough.

A family picture!

Reindeer food: oatmeal, marshmallows, chocolate chips,
red and green sugar, and some Christmas sprinkles.

Making her concoction for the reindeer
that we spread on Christmas Eve

SO CUTE!

So, the party was a success but because I was trying to be a good host I didn't get a chance to build my own house.  After the break started however, Taelin and I took some time and went for round 2.  While I started from scratch, Taelin added more candy/frosting to her house/tummy.  About 20 minutes in I was frustrated and was ready to give up. I sighed and Taelin asked me what was wrong.  I told her that the walls were falling in the ceiling was sliding.  Her reply, "Just add more frosting and hold it.  Don't worry, you can do it."

Such a wise little girl.  I did add more frosting and finished the house.  The walls weren't straight and things were super uneven.  I had to add a few things that hide some of the imperfections but in the end it just was what it was.  I finished it and I even kind of liked it.  It sat on our counter along side Taelin's until today when we had to clean them up.

Ta-Da!!!