An Annual Tradition

Yesterday I was coated in flour. Just had time to wash my hair, the pot holders and aprons and put together the gingerbread houses before the kids arrived to decorate their houses and coat themselves with frosting!

Tim arrived with Maya and Owen , their car decked out with antlers and a red nose. Tim hoping we wouldn't notice...OilMan thought it would be great fun to cook hot dogs on sticks over an open fire for lunch. One of those great ideas that works out better in the mind's eye than in reality. The hot dogs fell off the sticks, neither of the kids would eat them and we spent most of the time keeping Ozzie away from the uneaten hot dogs.

The house decoration was much more of a hit. More sugar in and on the kids than on the house. I love the difference in approach. Owen with a fist full of candy, and Maya carefully placing each piece just so. I packed everybody off to the creek (to work off some of the sugar and coat what remained on their bodies with a few runs down the mulch pile on the corner) while I washed down the kitchen. While I did that, Ozzie discovered that he could just...about...reach ...the edge of Maya's creation with his tongue. I think I have managed to repair it so that nobody will notice....