Gingerbread Houses

Last night I went to our ward's Relief Society Christmas dinner.  After chips, salsa, and tamales, we sampled desserts from sisters in the ward.  Each person brought something that is a tradition in their home.   After the dinner, we had a simple program where several sisters shared a bit about their family traditions.  One sister, my friend Heather, read a quote from a talk she found on lds.org that said, basically-
If we let anger, impatience, or a mess get in the way of observing our family traditions, we lose the meaning behind them.  What's important is the time spent together as families and loved ones.

I am guilty of this at times.  Living with three small children means a lot of things get messy, things take a lot of time to do, and someone often ends up crying or frustrated.  My temper runs short and my patience wears thin.  This quotation made me stop and think about my own attitude this Christmas season and beyond.  Is it really so important to keep the table clean when it can be easily cleaned up?  Does it matter if Kyle plays around instead of finishing the "fun activity"?  I want my children to have good memories of the things we do, not memories of a tired, shouting mama.  I may not always be successful, but my goal this month is to simply enjoy my time with my family and try to be more patient as we participate in our Christmas festivities.

In that vein, here is the story of the gingerbread houses.
Once upon a time, a family bought a gingerbread house kit to make with their two small children.  It seemed like so much fun, but it didn't turn out to be.  The frosting wasn't strong enough to stand the house up, and it squeezed all out the end of the bag and all over the father.  The kids would rather eat the candy than use it decorate.  Much yelling ensued, and though the houses turned out in the end, it was an experience best forgotten.

A new year dawned, and when the prospect of building houses once again dawned, the mother thought and thought about how she could make the activity a better experience.  So,  she made her own frosting glue from a tried and true recipe on the web.  She composed the houses from graham crackers well ahead of time, so they would be sturdy and dry for decorating later.  She bought squeeze bottles for the icing to contain the mess.  And when the kids ate the candy, she and the father just shrugged and smiled.
The result was this:  two beautiful houses and a happy family.

Dad handled the icing

Sampling the candy

Kyle gets a little help from Dad

I love how serious she looks in this picture.  She's committed to the task!

Kyle's house

Emma's house