La Casa Dulce/ The Gingerbread house

 I come from a long line of crafty women.  My grandma and her sister were/ are the ultimate homemakers ever-ever-ever.  They started this wonderful/horrible tradition of making gingerbread houses every year for Christmas.  Wonderful-  the kids love it and think it the greatest most delicious Christmas activity.  Horrible- moms hate it.  They spend a week of their precious limited free time and it goes something like this:

 bake it,

cut it out,

 re bake it because it didn't work the first time,

cut it out again,

make another batch of dough because there was not enough,

go to the store in the middle of the night because you are out of molasses,

put it together,

it falls,

put it together again,

kids decorate (the only fun part)

make snow for the roof

make more snow for the roof because there was not enough

ahhhh.... done!

kids pick off candy

Qui Que & Valentina helping me make the dough

Qui Que decorating the house.  I think there are like 5 red hots in his mouth.

Here she is before Qui Que has had a chance to pick away at the fence.  This is the pattern my Grandma created.

And here she is after Qui Que has had a chance to pick away at the fence.

Watch out Valentina, enjoy it now because in about 25 years you will be making your own!