You know on here I am huge on having people in your home and building relationships. My friend Ashley’s mom comes to mind when I think about entertaining and having an open house!  Ginger and her hubby have people in and out of their home ALL of the time. There is always a bag of chips and homemade salsa on hand and people are typically discussing the next meal! Because they are amazing cooks and love to gather around a great meal! I haven’t been to Ginger’s house in probably 10 years at least but I know it’s still the same.

As I was thinking through holiday activities and things to share with all of you I thought of Ashley and her family and wondered if I could talk her into sharing a bit about their gingerbread house party tradition. Now, like Lisa from the last post, these gals are in Texas so they do it up big.

One of my favorite times building up to Christmas is my family’s
tradition of making gingerbread houses.  As far back as I can
remember, my mom had made the dough (as did her mother), rolled it
out, cut it into little pieces, and baked the pieces for assembly day.
We could much easier go out and buy the kits, but the process of
actually making the houses has been a fun memory of mine.

I think I was 4 when I remember (only by seeing pictures in old photo
albums) my mom starting this tradition passed on from my grandmother.
Mom did one house for our family for a long time, but my mom wanted
more and more families to enjoy the joy of “art” of making their own
house.  This year (2012), my mom and I rolled out 20 (!) gingerbread
houses.  Mom made the dough and I was her workhorse for the rolling
and cutting the next day.  We started rolling and cutting around 9am
and carried on until about 4 in the afternoon so that everyone we had
invited would have their own house to do.  Turns out my little family
took up 3 of the houses this year.  Landon (12), Riley (6) got to do
their own houses and I had to do mine myself (or I would have taken
over the boys’ houses)! OK, it was mine and my husband’s house, but he
graciously let me have all the fun 😉

On assembly day, I got to my mom’s house around 8 in the morning to
help set up.  My grandmother, aunt and Mom were already hard at work
in the kitchen making the “glue” for the houses.  Mom has a recipe for
Royal Icing she uses to glue the houses together and for all the candy
to stick on, as well.  While the icing is being whipped to oblivion
(it’s gotta be STIFF– think DQ Blizzard thick), we are setting up
more candy than you can imagine!  A few bowl on every table leaves
just enough room for the actual houses to be decorated!  Our guests
arrive around 10 and the fun really starts!  There are always people
who have not assembled a house before, so we help get them started,
but from there, it’s just icing and candy flying around for the next 4
hours.  It’s literally a SWEET time:) 

We try and get pictures of everyone before they leave with their completed houses and it’s so
much fun to look back every year and see how the houses have
progressed.

I could go on and on about the houses, but I’d rather Kristen share
with you our pictures!  Hope you enjoy!  Merry Christmas!

Thanks  for sharing, Ashley! I should be sending my boys down for gingerbread house school with you and your mom next year!  I might just have to try my hand at making some homemade next year. I do love me a good kit but this looks like so much fun!  Another friend mentioned doing gingerbread nativities so that might make the list next year too!

For those of you that find yourselves bored this weekend (this is kind of a joke because I don’t know anyone who isn’t packed with activities) before Christmas and your house does not yet have a little fragrant gingerbread house roll up your sleeves and give it a try! Don’t be intimidated! The walls might fall in and your hands will be sticky but it will be a good time!    And you don’t need 50 kinds of candy although they look divine, start slow and small. Pull out graham crackers if you don’t want to bake!

For you brave folks, Ashley has shared the family recipes!! Invite someone in to enjoy it with you!

this is my 90 year old Nana making on with the boys last yr! This is their “tada”

BASIC GINGERBREAD HOUSE RECIPE

6 cups flour

1 ¾ cups sugar

2/3 cup shortening

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon ground ginger

2 teaspoons double-acting baking powder

1 ¼ teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 8-ounce container sour cream

2 eggs

To prepare dough:  Into large bowl, measure 3½ cups flour and remaining ingredients. With mixer at low speed, beat until well mixed, constantly scraping bowl with rubber spatula. With hands, knead in remaining 2½ cups flour to make a soft dough. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate 2 hours or until dough is not sticky and is of easy kneading consistency.

To roll dough: Keep refrigerated until ready to use. Working with half a batch at a time on lightly floured work surface with lightly floured hands, knead dough until smooth. (Do not skip this step!!!) Roll out to 1/8” thickness on well-floured surface such as muslin stretched over a cutting board. (To help create uniform thickness, roll out between 2 wooden dowels placed on either side of dough.) Lay patterns on top and cut with sharp knife. Place on ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 350 degree oven for 15-18 minutes until golden brown and very firm when lightly touched with finger. Cool on wire rack.

ORNAMENTAL ICING

1 16-ounce package confectioners’ sugar (about 4½ cups)

½ teaspoon cream of tartar

3 egg whites at room temperature

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine all ingredients in bowl. With mixer, blend until smooth, then beat at high speed until very stiff. Makes 3 cups. Keep icing covered as it dries very quickly. Yum.

This recipe came from Grandma Lina, who got it out of a Good Housekeeping magazine sometime in the 1960’s. The original gingerbread houses she made were placed on a paper Coke carton for stability. As long as the air inside remains humidity-free, the house should stand. In 2007, Kelly’s lasted through August of 2008!

Well, instead of picking up our friend we are prepping for Frankenstorm as they are calling it. Yesterday Annie and I talked and decided it made the most sense for her to avoid the storm and come at a later date. So sad! We are getting our emergency stuff together and just trying to be prepared. Not sure still when or how hard it will hit. It’s a bit of a funny test to go through after nearly being done with so many projects. Hope she holds up! And that chimney, hope it is as strong as they think it is. We shall see!! This area has had some bad storms in past years so everyone is nervous for good reason. We have made some friends with neighbors and people through the school so we are thankful to have someone close by. To avoid boring you further with storm preparations I am going to oooohhh and awwww you with my friend Nina’s space!!!

Nina is my friend that is originally from Germany but was living in Bern while we were there. She has two little boys around the same age as ours. Owen and her son Mica did swimming lessons together and we enjoyed many fun times with them.  They moved to Warsaw, Poland in early May.  It was such a sad day!! We made them this little polish air cake the day their movers came! Many tears were shed that day!

The most fun part for me with my friendship with Nina is that it really was not just about the kids or for the kids. Most of my friendships these days tend to be finding friends that have kids my kids will enjoy playing with. Nina and I hit it off with our love of fabric, crafty stuff, brocante shopping, pumpkin pie, chocolate croissants, Green Gate pretties…you know the important things in life! I knew when I asked Nina to contribute some pictures that she would have some amazing new space. And I knew that it would be colorful and cheery!!

This space is in the playroom of Nina’s house. I love all of the use of mixed fabrics, all so cheerful!

look at these fabric guitars!! My kids need to trade in their noisy ones for some of those!!

Nina has a little sewing business if anyone is interested in checking her out! You can look for her shop on facebook at “MySweetToBe”. She does lots and lots of custom orders. You can message her to ask about pricing and shipping!

Thanks for sharing, Nina!  Miss you tons!

As much as we enjoy (“enjoy” is a bit of an overstatement, this line of projects has been a stretch for our skills or lack there of) doing these DIY projects and pushing through on our own there are many times, in home renovation and life in general that we just can’t do it on our own. We have to rely on friends and family.

I look back on seasons in motherhood in particular and the times I was on my own and setting up life for us, I was most drained and isolated. Not because of the exhaustion of moving but from not being recharged by friendships and the encouragement that comes from relying on others. Wouldn’t it be nice to think that I could be supermom or super DIYer and  not need anyone to pull me through? For a split second while the self-sufficiency was still patting me on the back maybe, but as soon as the pat let up I would be keenly aware of how lonely it was to do it on my own. I love the community of family and friends we have developed in each and every home and in our current new space.  It has been so hard at times to cultivate it and it takes many months, even years but the work is so worth it.

I never could have imagined how much our friends and family would have to jump in with this house gig. From looking at houses with our realtor, checking out the engineering of our deck (thank goodness my brother is an engineer!), watching our children while we worked, to helping me paint molding on each and every rung of the stairs. The list goes on. And goodness knows we never would have made it out of Switzerland without the endless hours of garage-saling, corralling kids and cleaning from our dear friends there. Many times we didn’t even ask for help people just jumped in or called to offer help. You may remember when some of our friends surprised us and came to the house before we arrived and cleaned up the yard.  At the time I was so resistant to feeling like we needed to be rescued. My friend reminded me that each one of them had moved and renovated homes in the past couple of years and not one of them had done it all on their own. There are days when the projects are flowing and our energies are high and there are days when you just need a friend to pop in with enthusiasm and encourage you on your way!

this picture frame came with us from Switzerland. This was not a necessary house fix up project but I had a crazy idea to hang it in our entry way. I love that it is ornate but simple and filled that random space. Our friends were here for dinner one night and the guys helped Seth hang it. True friendship huh?!   I did feed them well when they were done! And the ladies had great entertainment watching them get it done!  Each time I see it now I am reminded of the friends who helped hang it! Reminders that this place is not put together on our own!

What project are you currently postponing because you need some help? Call up a family member or friend. It’s likely your friend would love to be asked and would love to feel needed and it is likely that your time together working on it will be a boost for both of you!  Or if you know of a friend who is working on a project call and ask how you can help! You don’t always have to be an expert in something to offer moral support!

Saturday morning we got an early start to head out to meet some friends and spend the day at the fair. It was a crisp sunny day, perfect for being outside!  We spent most of the day making our way through the fair. It was full of free activities for the kids and entertainment as well as yummy fair food. We finished the day at our friends house, tired and happy and well fed with a big spread of bbq, sides, s’mores and apple pie (made from apples from the trees we ate under). It was a sweet day!

“baby barn”….nice gesture for nursing moms, except for the wind

some of our gang joined in the clogging demonstration…