Gingerbread Housing.

Yesterday I woke up and decided we were going to make gingerbread houses. We got dressed, with a little resistance from the littles, and went on a gingerbread kit hunt. Our first store we loaded up with different candies but no gingerbread. (I'm not that homey to make it.) So we took off to Target where I found adorable pre-constructed houses. Which is great, because I remember one year we attempted houses and had the hardest time getting the stupid houses together, let alone decorated. So finding them already built and good to go was perfect!

Tiegan was ready for a nap, but the other two were excited about the houses. I decided to sacrifice having all 3 nap at the same time, meaning I'd get to nap too, to have gingerbread time with the oldest two without Tiegan being destructive. I was pretty worried about the whole thing, not gonna lie.

I set up a table in front of the TV, and put on some Harry Potter. (Loveland tradition to binge watch all of them at Christmas time.) I set out the houses and icing and bowls of candy and let them do their thing. Me being 100% Type A bought my own house to decorate myself. (control issues, right?)

And it was awesome. It took the entire Harry Potter movie to have lunch and decorate the houses, but no tears were shed. No fighting, or yelling or whining, or anything else a 5 and almost 4 year old would do. Since the houses were already built, it was so simple. Sometimes Aoife needed help squishing out the icing, but she never once got frustrated. The girls didn't even eat the candy until towards the end I told them they were allowed to. It was SO much fun and so great and not at all like the disaster I was imagining it to be. It was super awesome to just enjoy and have fun together.  Great mom days are serious tender mercies and with all of the crazy that's been happing in our house, it was much needed.