Edible architecture

What can I say about making a gingerbread house alone with two ravenous children that I didn't already impart last year? To think somehow this time it would go smoother, with more patience on their (or my) part was perhaps a little too optimistic. But I went for it on Thursday night since Elisa was so eager to make it before the weekend. And honestly, I don't blame her. When I spotted the kit in Costco and saw all the little flourishes, I thought, now that looks fun. And it was. Mostly. 

Carolina is a champion cruncher of all kinds of candy, so I had to work fast and keep her supply almost cut off (but not enough to make her whiny). Elisa was a bit more willing to let me do the prep work, but she didn't waste any time begging to eat the first gingerbread man she'd decorated (we actually decided it was a gingerbread chick with a cute little red fondant mini dress on).  Overall, the kit got high marks for its ease of use and abundance of icing. I did yell out once or twice when Carolina knocked her bowl over spilling tiny little candy beads all over the table and floor. But otherwise, it was a peaceful affair and this year, I tried to embrace the demolition a bit earlier than before. Realizing that the best part of the gingerbread house is destroying it, we started munching on it the same night we'd made it after I'd snapped a few pics. And today, we took down the chimney and most of the roof candies while watching our Friday night movie. 

So yeah, I'm trying to be more forgiving of their impatience and yet still enjoy the parts of the process that I love. And they left me alone with the icing and the rest of the candies to decorate in silence for a whole 10 minutes at the end. Apparently, they had lost interest after gorging on the sweet stuff which was fine by me. I didn't make Martha proud, but this year's house was a cute little cottage and we managed to get through it without any tears. I'd call that a victory any day.