cousins + candy...lots of candy

Last night when I was putting Levi to bed, I told him that when he woke up his cousins were going to come over and we were going to decorate gingerbread houses. He was so excited that his cousins were coming over.

I don't think he had any idea what decorating gingerbread houses meant. But he sure was excited when he saw all the candy the next morning.

I hot glued the gingerbread (grahm cracker) houses together the night before. Messy projects with little people always go so much better when you are prepared. I learned that from teaching kindergartners.

Levi helped me set everything out on the table. And then we had to wait for his cousins to arrive. Man, waiting is hard. Especially when candy is involved. I kept catching those little hands of his reaching into the candy bowls.

I tried to get a picture of Levi with his two cousins before they got all messy. This is the best we got. Ellie tried so hard to get the boys to cooperate and smile. :)

Ellie did such a good job helping Levi. When I watch her with him, it gives me a glimpse into what it might be like if Levi's big sister were here. Always watching to make sure he is doing things right and helping him...sometimes bossing him around and putting him into a headlock to try to get him to smile for pictures. :) Maybe that is how Cora would have been too!

I was surprised that the gingerbread houses kept Levi's attention.

But he was very intent on spreading his frosting...all over his house and all over himself.

Of course they had to taste some too. Tripp really liked the frosting.

When the houses were frosted we had to take a break and play with Griffin.

My kids are well loved by their cousins.

Back to work. Now it's time for the fun part. Candy.

They all worked so hard to decorate their houses.

I am pretty sure a certain little boy ate 500 pieces of candy for every one piece he put on his house. I have never seen him consume so much sugar. Every time I looked over, his mouth was packed full like a chipmunk. Can you say sugar high?

And here are our finished houses...

Griffin (made by Mama)

I was sitting next to Tripp and every once in awhile he would look over at my house and say, "Good job, Jess!" or "That's good!" His kind words were so good for my gingerbread house building self-esteem. :)

Levi

Tripp

Ellie

And even when we were finished, ever so often a little hand would sneak back into the kitchen for more candy off of his house. It was such a fun project...but it is a good thing we don't have that much candy around here every day!