Christmas in July

The kids were given this gingerbread house kit last Christmas. They've been itching to get to it ever since. I forgot that I had put it up in the cupboard for something to do at a later date. I had it in my mind that after all the holiday excitement wore off and the house was vibrating back and forth to the 100th degree (like January/February) that then would be a good time for a distraction/project but I forgot about it. I lovingly refer to this as kidtimers. (I know....groan...)

As I was digging in my cupboard for a cookbook, I saw the kit sitting there and so did the kids. Squeals of excitement met my ears. I hate to disappoint the children so of course, I said that it was time to pull it out and have some fun, fun, fun!

Grace being the creative one and having a certain plan in mind for this creation, had a bit of a time of it with her younger siblings. She was in charge of putting the house together and to hold it in place while the icing dried. This did not set well with the younger ones. They did not for any reason ever want to wait to put the candy on. I am amazed that they didn't lick all the sugar off the gumdrops or suck on the gumballs till they were a sticky mess. That would have certainly added a different dimension to this project.

Finally, it was candy time! They did a marvelous job minus a few eaten pieces. Before it was even completely done, they were itching to eat it. I, being the Mom, had to inform them that they needed to wait till after dinner to start having a munch fest. The disappointment was evident.

During the course of dinner making, I noticed that there was one gummy drop missing, then another and another. I looked over and there was eight little fingers holding on to the cupboard along with two eyes and a nose peeking at me. Upon looking further, what I found was a mouth full of yumminess oozing down her chin. Kara was the gummy thief!

Then another kid noticed that she had been stealing the candy and decided he would try it too, then another and another. They are sneaky buggers. Pretty soon the front lawn to our beautiful gingerbread house was all gone. Do I not speak in a language they can understand? Should I try a different one to see if that works?

Amazingly enough, there was some left for an after dinner dessert. I left the room for a few minutes and what was left wasn't even enough to satisfy a mouse.