A Labor of Love

Growing up building a Gingerbread House each Christmas was a tradition we all looked forward too. I don't remember my mother's gingerbread recipe being particularly tasty but it built a strong house. My best friend Lisa and I would hide the gingerbread house from our brothers so we didn't have to share the candy. They would then seek it out, and usually find it, and hide it from us. We would go back and forth until we found the perfect spot. The last time I remember hiding it was in the guest bathroom under the sink. Now that I think about it I find that pretty disgusting but we were so happy to have all the candy to our selves.

Now this tradition has begun with my own family, minus the hiding part as now I don't care as much for candy. I've tried different recipes and molds but two Christmas' ago my sister Meg came home with a kit from Williams and Sanoma for each of us that I just love. The cookie cutters make a cute little house and the gingerbread is really good to eat. In fact I like it more than the candy.

This Christmas we are staying in camp along with many other families and when I found out exactly who they were and how many I decided the tradition must go on and set the wheels in motion. 3 Days later and several hours of chilling, cutting, rolling, baking, and frosting we had 8 little houses ready to be dressed.

It really was a labor of love but with friends as SWEET as mine I was happy to do it. My friends in the big city always ask me how it is living out here in the middle of literally no where. But if it weren't for this group of gals and some others that are out of town it would be pretty miserable. We work out together, play together, and sometimes commiserate together but they are what make this camp so great.

I was surprised that many of them had never actually made a gingerbread house with their kids. It became a good lesson in team work, as one mother said. The morning was a complete success! Everyone overlooked my, shall we say shabby sheik, designer flaws and sugared up those little abodes as well as their tummies along the way.

And with the kids doing most of the decorating I had no worries about trying to make it look perfect. I did want to make a little shout out for Jana E. who helped my boys while I made sure the treats were all distributed, Christmas music at the right volume, and frosting bags were all functional. When the kids got bored they jumped on the trampoline, dug in the sand, and just had a grand old time. This gave the moms a chance to do a few touch ups on the houses and catch up on a little mommy talk.

Even Graham tried his hand at frosting. After sampling plates of his favorite candies he decided to try his hand at the frosting.

Later we found he had snuck away with a bag of goodies and was secretly indulging in the corner.

All in all I'd say a NEW tradition may have been born.