Resourcefullness Saves the Day!

Well, this mom had ideas of grandeur as Christmas got closer and closer. I had purchased a "gingerbread house kit" and was shocked when I got it and found that it wasn't the kind I had seen at Michaels or Hobby Lobby with the gingerbread pieces all nicely ready to put together. You can imagine my surprise when I saw inside the cookie cutters and the directions telling me HOW TO BAKE the gingerbread house. "Oh great!" I actually have to BAKE this? So, gathering all my wits about me (with three 5 year olds excitedly awaiting the construction of our first gingerbread house). We baked it one day and then were ready to ice it the next day. Molassas was not a favorite taste or smell as we made the gingerbread pieces. Many of them got too black as we baked them but we decided to go ahead and frost it anyway because we weren't planning to eat it (I mean, after all there was MOLASSAS in them -gag!) That would have worked fine except that when we started working with the gingerbread, it crumbled (and no, not into a couple of big pieces we could "ice together", we are talking CRUMBS!) The kids were broken hearted and ready to cry. That is until I remembered I had a box of graham crackers. So in the attempt to save the day and make a wonderful Christmas memory, we mixed up the frosting and made the house. Although it wasn't a true gingerbread house this year, we had a pretty nice looking graham cracker shack if I do say so myself!