Zuzu's gingerbread party

I don't mind running errands with the kids, because they both do really well when we're out and about. But I do have a limit to the number of times I'm willing or capable to get them dressed and shod, restock the diaper bag, throw snacks in my purse, load the stroller into the trunk etc. This is true even when there's no snow on the ground and the temperature goes above 20 degrees. The hardest part is planning ahead and making sure we leave when we're supposed to, to take advantage of the brief window between naps and meals. (Otherwise we end up hangrily devouring soft pretzels and popcorn at Target at 2:00 for lunch.) I usually reach my errand-running capacity quickly with just our standard weekly activities like the library and the grocery store.

Therefore, I have not yet taken my malfunctioning computer to the Apple store to ask them to fix it. This errand would be higher up on my priority list if I didn't have the internet on my phone. But since I can still read the news online--er, just kidding, since I can still check Pinterest and Facebook--my computer continues to sit uselessly at home, and the crux of this is, that I currently can't upload all the beautiful pictures that my husband took of Zuzu's birthday party.

Zuzu just turned three, and we had a gingerbread house party, and it was frankly one of the cutest things ever. A couple of low-quality phone photos will have to do for now.

First, there was a giant gingerbread play house. Daddy picked up a couple empty refrigerator boxes from Sears, and I made this:

The paper plate roof shingles idea came from here, and the lollipops idea came from here. The kids were pulled in irresistibly toward it, as you would expect.

But that was nothing compared to the joy of watching six children decorate mini gingerbread houses around our table with their mommies. The mommies handled the frosting and the kids handled the candy, and the kids did GREAT and the houses were too darling to believe. (I have heard that transporting the houses back home was problematic--there was a less than 100% success rate with this. Sorry, guys.)

The gingerbread recipe came from here and the icing recipe came from here. If you're going to make a gingerbread house, you won't do better than these recipes, which both yield sturdy building materials, and make the experience fun and easy.

I made the houses in advance and included a surprise: the tops lifted off! And I filled them all with skittles. I figured the kids needed some eating candy in addition to some decorating candy. I'm sure the parents were all extremely happy about this, especially the ones whose houses did not make the home journey intact. You're welcome for the mess and the sugar highs. I also made doors and windows in advance and then the kids could stick them on wherever they wanted.

I didn't know how long the kids would enjoy the decorating process. It was MUCH longer than I expected. We aren't planning to do a birthday party every year, but maybe we'll do a gingerbread house party every year just to celebrate the season. It was so so incredibly fun.