Day 17 of Christmas Crafting: Gingerbread House

Today we did a family craft.  Last year, Patrick really wanted to decorate a gingerbread house, but we never got around to it.  This year, we agreed it needed to fall higher on the Christmas activity priority list.  I was a bit nervous about how well decorating a house with Claire would go, but I needn't have worried.  She did an amazing job!  She really liked putting the candy on, and put them precisely where we applied the frosting.  I think this girl has some hidden talent, here! 

Claire applied almost all the candy to the house.  We directed the placement on the roof, but she had free range on the tree, snowman, and gingerbread man out front.  Patrick and I were in charge of the door and decorations on the front of the house.  By this point the frosting was super gooey and hard to work with, but we got it done!  Here is our first annual family Gingerbread House:

 It was practically impossible to get pictures while trying to help Claire get the candy on the house.  These two blurry iPhone shots were the best I could do:

Aren't you impressed by Claire's fine motor skills.  I know I sure was!

In fact, we had a great family day today.  Patrick and Claire did some Daddy-Daughter shopping this morning (for Mommy- gotta love that!)  I was busy helping 3 of my gal pals pack 55 boxes of food and supplies for our Big Give project this year.  (More on that later next week.)

Then, we went downtown and had dinner with two of my closest friends from college and their husbands.  One of our friends lives far away and has an absolutely adorable 8 month old daughter.  We hadn't seen her since she was born and she is such a little spitfire.  I love her happy, fun personality, and she is so stinking cute!  Here are our hubbies holding each other's girls:

Grant and Claire

Patrick and Maddie

Man, and that picture does not do her justice.  She is so beautiful, especially when she smiles, which seemed to be almost always.  By the point I took this pic, she was way sleepy, but such a little trooper.  Maddie and Claire got along like long-lost friends.  It was so cute to watch them interact!

We don't get to see these friends nearly enough, but they are very near and dear to my heart, and it was wonderful to have a couple hours to catch up!