Yummy fun & a Puppet Theater

 Inspired by another blogger, I decided to make ginger bread houses with my ktbunch this year. That means I dug in my cupboards to find the stone molds I have. I had forgotten I actually have 2 house molds. I also have a train mold but it's buried somewhere in the black hole that is known as my garage. I also have a small collection of stone cookie molds too. I baked them last night, made a call to my sister-in-love and invited my nephews, bought a few sweet goodies and we all got together today.

Now, that you are totally convinced and feeling guilty and like a loser mom cause you didn't bake your own gingerbread house this year and can't wait to get started to make up for it--let me share some tips I learned with you. And seriously, don't feel guilty--just hit the after Christmas clearance on Monday and score a gingerbread house KIT. It's processed and loaded with enough preservatives it WILL keep till next year--I promise. So back to those tips...

1. After baking, the edges may have expanded beyond the mold--this is not good for attempting to 'glue' them together. The edges need to be smooth.

2. Voila'! I'm a *genius*! Grab a cheese grater & lightly 'sand' the edges of the walls. A small hand held grater works best.

3. Icing can be placed in baggies, snip a small piece of the corner off to apply. HOWEVER, BEFORE you snip the corner, press all the icing toward the corner first. THIs can be accomplished easier if you use something like a credit card, ID or library card. ( I hope you own a library card--if not, go get one right now! Or, ok Monday, if the library is open) Trust me--it's much easier than just trying to squeeze it to the corner with your bare hands.

4. Hey! Look at that! Ginger bread house assembled. Ok--now for the fun part: decorating. Let's get this candy party started.

SUPPLIES

Don't worry, none of that every really gets eaten, (at least not by the kids) it's just for *decoration*. SSShhhhh! Don't tell the ktbunch.

Sammy icing his *side* of the house. Kurtis wanted an apron just like everyone else.

This is VERY serious business. 

Kurtis realized that if the "decorations" don't stick....he can just eat them!

Tada! This is Sam's side of the house. He went with a "candy-graffiti" theme.

Birdy's side of the house, she gets the chimney.

My nephews.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

After all the holiday hoopla, I took oldest to work tonight. On the way home, I took side street to avoid mall traffic. (there were THREE accidents in front of my house this afternoon within 20 minutes of each other) I noticed a home with a sign advertising a Puppet Theater tonight. I had just enough time to pick up the rest of the ktbunch and head back over to watch this mysterious show.

It was held at a corner house, the side door/porch was covered with black and red curtains and an attached stage. It looked really fabulous. There was a crowd so at least I knew I wasn't totally crazy to take my ktbunch to this 'event'.

Music started and an older man came out with a marionette. He performed to about 5 different songs with different marionettes. He had a fairy with light up wings, a hippo ballerina, a little boy, a traditional looking jester and more. There was a goofy little girl marionette that danced to this obnoxious song: I want a hippopotamus for Christmas. My mom just LOVED that stupid song. I couldn't stop the large grin from spreading across my face when that song started. I know my mom would have loved it.
I know it sounds stupid & I hate when other people say this: but I really felt like it was her just saying hello in that moment. That she really was/is looking down and watching us and everything is ok...she's ok. I guess it was just a moment of feeling her presence...or the memory of her presence.
It was fabulous. What a randomly fun night. I love my city.

Merry Christmas!

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