The Attack of the Gingerbread House

We have never made a gingerbread house. *gasp* While Nonnie was here we decided to take that Friday and do something fun and new to get us into the holiday spirit.

First stop: Target. To buy the boxed gingerbread house. Sign says $9.99. Register says $19.99. So sorry to the lady behind us. You were so very patient as we waited to prove the sign said $9.99. And yes, we only paid $9.99. My guess is we were the last customer to pay that price!

Next stop: Home. Friday morning. Christmas music playing. Open box and lay out all the pieces. LilE asks to eat just one piece of candy. No. Candy rolling on the floor. Quit playing with the candy. Put candy in bowls to help it from falling on floor. Asks for a piece of candy. No. Somehow the candy is still falling on the floor. I thought I told you not to touch the candy. We must put the house together first. Must mix up icing to get it warm and squeezable. Ice, place, hold for one minute. Must hold together longer than a minute because it fell apart. Try again. Can I have a piece of candy? NO. Maybe 2 minutes will work. Holds a bit better. Stack candy bowls and move the temptation away from 4 year old. Wait one hour to decorate. Lets play a game. Every 5 minutes for the next hour "can we decorate yet?". One hour finally over. Must remush icing bags as it is cold in the house and icing is not squeezable. Argh. Move house a bit and the wall falls in. ARGH! Frustrated. Must start over. Once house is officially set, try and decorate. Must squish up icing again. Really? Then have to cut a smaller hole in bag to outline the windows. Icing will not come out of bag. Totally losing my patience. Call in the patient reinforcement and artsy one--Daddy. He makes very little process. LilE tells him where to put icing, then licks the icing off. She can finally touch the candy. And continues to ask if she can have a piece. We tell her there is no telling how old the candy really is. Random placement of old candies. She doesn't want to make it cute like the box. Whatever. Icing doesn't really work even in my Wilton bags. Daddy not longer has patience either. Icing all over the table now. LilE is licking the icing. House about half decorated. Yes, it only snowed on one side of the roof. Done trying. Santa and tree are next. Quick, easy, and ugly. Glad this is not a contest. Icing (or whatever it is) now in trash. Leftover candy, trashed. Want to trash the house. But keep it up because it is LilE's work of art and she is proud. So glad we did not pay $19.99. It was NOT worth the $9.99 we actually did pay. Total FAIL.