Decorating Gingerbread Houses: Creative Christmas Countdown Day #9

Welcome to Day #9 of the Creative Christmas Countdown
brought to you by........ME!

This Advent has been filled with lots of fun.  I have been busy making sure that each day brings a little something fabulous to the lives of the Lil Divas. Today, I am sharing our Mini Gingerbread Houses with you.

Cute, right? Well these adorable little gingerbread houses have a story behind them. It's the story that I'd really like to share with you today more than the activity itself. Over the weekend, I set out to have the most fabulous gingerbread house making experience with the Lil Divas that we have ever had. Talk about putting pressure on myself!

I was determined to make them from scratch. 

Who needs a kit? Not me! 

Yeah, right! It was a disaster! 

Three attempts at dough and three separate frantic runs to the store later -  I was feeling defeated. I couldn't get past mixing the dough. As a matter of fact, it wasn't dough - it was slop! I don't know if it was the horrible humidity that day here in South FL or if it just wasn't meant to be but I followed the  recipe precisely and it amounted to failed dough. Then I tried not one but two of those packaged dough mixes. Can you guess what my results were? Yes, FAILURE!

Through all this the Lil Divas were happily helping me measure, pour and mix. Never daunted by the fact that we were not actually getting anywhere with all of it. Looking at their happy, expectant faces I could NOT give up on the project. It simply was not an option. So off to the store I went. Again. This time I came home with (gasp)...... a kit! :)

I felt horrible, like I had failed the Lil Divas. Except, I was the only one that felt way. The Lil Divas were beyond excited to sit and decorate their mini gingerbread houses. Yes, mini - I bought the wrong kit! Seriously, at that point I could do nothing else but laugh. But, it actually worked out great. They were the perfect size for the Lil Divas. 

Look at these faces:

They did not care that the gingerbread was store bought.

They did not care that it was the wrong size.

They did not care that we had flushed globs of dough down the toilet.

They embraced the moment. They happily sat and decorated their houses, taking great pride in which candy went where. There was lots of giggling, decorating and of course candy sampling.

I learned a valuable lesson that day.

I do not have to be SUPERMOM.

I do not have to do it all from scratch.

I do not have to do it all perfectly.

I merely have to allow myself to enjoy the moment. To be present, to embrace the opportunity I've been given to make these memories with the Lil Divas. To simply have fun decorating gingerbread houses with my daughters. In the end, isn't that what this is all about? 

Happy gingerbread house decorating!

Bern