Wednesday, December 22, 2010

A Christmas Tradition

In my husbands family it has become a tradition for all the siblings to get together in one house and for the cousins (all 16 of them aged 4 months to 15 years) to give presents. Well, each gives a present to one other so it's more manageable ...... and a LOT less expensive.

This year it was our turn. My 4 were so enthusiastic about having all their cousins around, it made the stress of the preparation more bearable, and I have an exceptionally clean house for the holidays.

Because the night is about the children, there was one cake I just had to make - a gingerbread house.




















Really the most difficult part is putting the house together and trying to make sure the walls stay standing long enough so that the icing hardens and holds the whole thing together.

I filled the house with chocolates and jellies, added Santa snowmen and reindeer and a few icicles. The adults loved it as much as the children.




After the children opened their presents, we put the house on a smaller table and some of the younger children sat around looking at it. I think they've been told to keep away from cakes so much that they were really slow to pick the sweets off of it - until they got started!! It was priceless to watch them.
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3 comments:

  1. Wow! Your house looks fantastic! Your kids are sooooo lucky.

    Merry Christmas!

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  2. I am so impressed....I looked at a recipe for a house like this and decided I couldn't handle the stress!!! Maybe when mine are a bit older I will have a go, when they can actually help me, rather than trying to help!

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  3. Thanks Karin. It's an extra special treat for the children, because normally I limit sweets and never give them 'smarties'.
    Wishing you a very happy Christmas too.

    Millie, I think when I get stressed I find one thing to focus on (like the house) and it gets me through the rest. Glad you like the house. Yours would love it alright, but the 'trying to help' scenario is a major issue!
    Hope you have a great Christmas.

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