Gingerbread House with Jen

Two years ago we invited our friends the Smith’s over to hang out and make a gingerbread house with the kids. Since then it’s become kind of a tradition to do the gingerbread house with them. This year Jen had a baby so we weren’t sure if it would work out. But even with a newborn in the house and not quite as much sleep as she’s used to Jen was up for the project!

The kids and I went over there last week (both Dan and Todd were working) and we worked on a beautiful gingerbread house together. Well, Jen and the kids did most of the work and I had the very important job of holding baby Darby. She is so precious! Drew and Ava really enjoyed sorting the candy into bowls and then deciding who was in charge of each type of candy. Jen and I were in charge of the icing and the kids were in charge of candy placement.

The gingerbread house is a good example of how type-A personalities, like myself and Jen, have to learn to let go of some things when we become parents. For example, I would prefer to do things a very specific way, with certain candy in the appropriate places, with just the right amount of icing to hold it in place. But kids have great imaginations, and they can totally see the logic of using peppermints on the roof! It really has been an exercise in letting go for me. And it’s not just the candy placement. I have learned this lesson with play-doh too. At first I used to insist that the kids keep all the colors separate and would even only allow one can out at a time to minimize the mixing of colors. But now I try to embrace the wild color combinations that they come up with. Sometimes it’s really beautiful. And if my type-A side gets the best of me, it’s relatively easy to throw it out and replace it with some new perfect play-doh.

Jen and the kids with their finished gingerbread house

Drew and Ava

Working on the house

Drew, Ava, me and Baby Darby