Gingerbread houses





Every Holiday season, Great Aunt Tish in Vermont sends Graham and Julia a Williams Sonoma Gingerbread house...we still have it sitting on the Dining Room table. Last year, at age 3.5, Graham and Julia opened it and started eating it upon its arrival...this year, at 4.5, they 'chilled' on that idea.

 

Perhaps because we made our own Gingerbread houses. The houses were assembled (thank you, Safeway!) and, with the help of frosting, gumdrops, marshmallow snowmen, M&Ms, candy canes, and all types of 'stuffster' voila! Graham and Julia created imaginative houses...well, they did eat a few of the decorations..

 Above, Graham's creation

 Julia's, on the left with candy cane hearts, Graham's on the right

 Graham put snowmen on his roof.



More Holiday Photos

Here are some shots from Terence's iPhone re: Kennedy Center's Santa Brunch and one shot of Graham in the auditorium before the Nutcracker...little man, little lady.

Oh, and our trusty indoor 'family' tree...as opposed to the 2 trees that Graham and Julia have, and the one outdoor tree that stays up until March or so...

 

Did I mention that Julia opened almost all of the gifts on Christmas morning, as she was the only one awake at the proper time? And that mommy, who had helped the elves in the basement workshop until the wee hours of the night, warned daddy to 'go downstairs, I hear childrens' voices.

Once downstairs, Graham stated there was a a bicycle in the basement bathroom.

"Oh, I think an elf needed to go to the bathroom, then heard Santa's sleigh start to take off, so he left the bike in the bathroom." My answer 

The truth was that I thought that, indeed, the children would wake before Terence and I did, so I did not want the bikes with training wheels under the tree. That is, bikes that can bash into walls and down the 3 indoor Christmas trees.

Facebook showed photos of friends whose children were so in order, so 'in front of' wrapped gifts. I bet such photos were taken weeks before Christmas, and not on the actual day.

 

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Santa and Happy New Year

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Blogger has changed for some reason, so bear with me on the posts...just trying to upload photos since it's been awhile
Here is a photo of Graham and Julia at the Kennedy Center "Brunch With Santa" prior to the truly lovely Nutcracker ballet (long, one intermission, but the children held their own...not bad for 4.5 year olds!)...

Now, what was the Kennedy Center thinking? They stuck poor Santa--a v. good Santa--in a dark corner, where it was difficult to get a photo of him...well, here it is...

And also, a photo of our 14-foot outdoor tree...er, including the ladder that I had to get on to put the lights--ahem, WRAP the lights around each branch at the top--oh, did I mention we also have 3 more trees inside?? Let me find a photo or two...

OK, this year, Graham and Julia decorated (mean: me) their trees in colorful lights...it was fun...you can't see it, and I will take a photo of it later, our 'family' tree which is all bathed in which lights to reflect the outdoor tree which lines up with the indoor tree through the v. large window in the parlor...oh, never mind...it gets so complex, for someone like me, who is so not into such things...but, alas, at Christmas...well, lights mirror one another, indoor and out, and trees align and Santa comes...what can I say? I'm a sucker for the magic of Christmas!

I have more photos...let's see if Blogger will cooperate...I do NOT understand what is going on with Blogger...but I want to upload another Santa photo from our friend Kristina's party...god bless, she hired a Santa!! I did not have to go to Pentagon City to go to the Santa there (and frankly, I think the entire idea of a little kid sitting on a strange man's lap is...well, creepy anyhow)...
I digress...let me dig up that photo from the party

OK, I'll get back to you on that...:) Happy New Year