Tonight we were so excited to finally be able to go build and decorate our gingerbread houses at Kelly’s Bakery.  We missed last year’s event thanks to a mean ice storm that trapped us in our neighborhood over at the Bobwhite house.  But this year the weather was kinder and gentler, and we happily traversed the path to our favorite bakery.  Laura, Isaac and Luke each had their own houses to decorate, while Miguel and Amelia shared decorating duties for their house.

The other Lyons family joined the fun and decorated a house too.  I think Hannah and Lydia were supposed to be working together, but I saw an awful lot of “help” from their dad.  Perhaps next year he’ll earn the chance to have a house all to himself to decorate.

Last time the children decorated gingerbread houses, I didn’t prevent them from snacking on their artwork right away.  So by the very next day the houses were all chewed up and not very pretty at all.  This year I decided I would like to look at the houses for a bit longer before allowing the children to gnaw away at them.  When I told the children they had to wait until Christmas to eat their candy and gingerbread, they were aghast.  Christmas is 12 days away!  How could they be expected to exercise such self control?  But I am smug in my insistence, and the houses are sitting beautifully on the dining-room table as I write this.

Another Christmas tradition has been satisfied.

I’m thinking this is a tradition worth continuing!

Oh, and by the way, if you are noticing that there are no photos of Isaac with his house, that’s because it wasn’t finished at the bakery.  Instead, he packed up all his pieces and brought it home to finish here.  Isaac cannot be rushed when it comes to the details of things.  Perhaps tomorrow I can photograph Isaac and his masterpiece.