:)

Merry Christmas

From Us to You

I Fixed The Train

I fixed the train under the tree.  No more Thomas the Train music and it works like new.  In fact, I would say that it works TWO TIMES better then new.  All I needed was a little help from Arthur and Ben.

Arthur is the red one.

One again Amazon and Thomas the Train accessories have come together to save me dollars.  If you haven't figured it out yet, I bought two new trains.  They were $6 each with free shipping through Amazon Prime.  Can't beat a deal like that.

Ben is the yellow one.

Each engine came with a car.  We like to put bells and mini-ornaments in them.  The great thing about these trains is that I flip the switch on top and they go without a remote control that plays music and other noises.  They do "chug chug" along.  If we want quiet play, they are designed to be played with without turning them on.  Maybe that way there is less of a chance of them breaking later on.

There was one more change to the train track.  I moved it from around the tree to in front of the tree.  The kids kept crawling behind the tree to play and I was freaked out by that.  Not because I thought the tree might fall over. there is a daddy long legs back there.  Every time I return with the vacuum to suck it up, he has hidden somewhere.  He is also the biggest long legs that I have ever seen.  Now I haven't seen him for a couple of days.  I hope none of us have an extra surprise in our presents.

Gingerbread House

Every year Grandma gives us chocolate advent calendars and a gingerbread house to put together.  It's normally the house you see at Michaels or the grocery store.  I think Costco even has it.  

This year Grandma went to Trader Joe's.  Chocolate advent calendars are basically the same where ever you go and loved by all children.  Chocolate every day until Christmas!  

But oh, the gingerbread house is way cute.

It's base on a German A-frame house.  In my opinion, the Germans really know how to do Christmas.  I don't know if that is because the first Christmas that I can remember I was living in Germany at the time or because the Germans are really that good.

Everything you see here came in the kit.  I only had to add an egg and some vinegar to mix up the "sticky" frosting.  I thought it was interesting that it called for vinegar to make the powered sugar and egg mixture sticky.  I had never done that before, but it was the best gingerbread house glue I had ever used.

Here is BG's side.  She took her time, picked out her colors, and made it pretty.

Here is LG's side.  She went crazy and couldn't put the candies on fast enough. 

This was the most fun gingerbread house that we had ever put together.  I think it was the kids, not the house that did it.  BG did most of the gluing and building.  I did the fancy frosting work that you see in the front and the tree.  BG is starting to get her crafter's hand and I think next year I will be strictly supervising the two girls putting together their own house.

After the house was all put together, I set it up on the entry table by our front door.  I thought that this would be the best place because it's the least accessible to LG, even though the house is on a low sitting table.  You see, we have a baby-proofing gate that blocks not only the staircase, but the downstairs bath and the front door.  Normally every time the gate is left open, LG charges for the staircase or the front door if it is also open.  Lately, she charges for the gingerbread house.

There are no more gummy candies left on the house.