The foaming, frantic frenzy that overtook Gemma upon finding the table-top covered in candy when she woke up from nap yesterday was impressive.

“Tandy?”

“Tandy?!”

“TANDY?!?”

We told her we would be using it to decorate our gingerbread houses.  This was met with, “Tandy?” Jac pulled up the blog to show her what we would be doing but, lo and behold, we didn’t record it here last year.  The year before that she wasn’t yet born when we made our houses so it seemed extremely remote.

Shoot.

Before we forget or get overtaken by other memories, the gingerbread houses will take their place here.

Five. We made FIVE houses.  Or, more exactly, four houses and one Ninja ship.  Is this crazy? Probably.  Almost as crazy as letting Gemma loose with the pounds of sugar we had collected.

Thanks be to God Susan came to assist and just as Jac and I were thinking something was going to have to give, Bridget walked in and saved the day with her helping hands.

In the end, we were all covered in a fine coating of sugar, Gemma was put to bed in tears, and we had five complete gingerbread creations. Phew!

Highlights include:

Melted Jolly Rancher stained glass windows (they tasted AWFUL coated in the cooking spray needed to get them out of the muffin tins, a great disappointment to Max and I)

Parchment paper cones for the piped icing that oozed and leaked and created all sorts of problems

Shredded wheat is VERY painful under bare feet

Gemma ate most of the Jolly Ranchers-there are wrappers everywhere

Max’s abominable snowman out of gum drops and frosting, replete with frosting fangs

That we adults survived the ordeal

And now it’s recorded so we can really be satisfied. 8 days ’til Christmas!