Welcome to the construction site! No hardhats (but maybe an apron) required!
pamelamyers | December 23, 2012
It’s that time again — gingerbread house time, that is! Although, according to Sam, it is NOT a gingerbread house, it is a farm, thank you very much. She kept saying it would be a nice farm for the animals. I assume she meant barn, but I got the idea. We assembled the structure of the house a few days ago, then let it sit so as to not fall apart while it is being decorated (yeah, made that mistake one year, doing it all at once – toothpicks held the poor thing together). Sam was so excited that decorating the house was literally the first thing she said to me when she woke up this morning. She was a lot of help, more than I thought she would be, to tell you the truth. She really didn’t have a plan as to how she wanted to decorate, but once we gave her some direction, she jumped right in.
She couldn’t wait to get her hands on that frosting!
One by one she placed each little candy on the row. If we tried to do more than one at once, she said, “No, one at a time!”
“One at a time” didn’t keep her from wanting a whole handful, however.
Mark asked her to smile and this is what he got. She has reached that age where kids think making a big, goofy smile is clearly, the best way to go.
Eventually, she wanted to do the frosting by herself, so I let her. I must say, she shocked the heck out of me. She did great!
Mark helped her roll some fondant figures, some windows, and some doors and also squashing some gumdrops. She loves her rolling pin!
The entire time she was so focused on her task. I hope she keeps it up, the diligence, when she starts other things, like school.
Almost done now!
Ta da! The finished project. It looks pretty darn good and was primarily decorated by a 3 year old (with some assistance, but not too much).
Sam was really happy the house had a Christmas tree.
She placed almost every single one of those candies herself.
This side is my favorite for a few reasons. One, the snowmen, which Sam was really excited about. Secondly, the little green animal I constructed for her on the bottom right. She draped a red “blanket” on top of him, “because he was cold.” Sam is always looking out for everyone. She is such a sensitive little soul.
