Gingerbread House

So I bought a gingerbread kit at the grocery store last week thinking I wanted to start a new yearly tradition with Norah (and Jack once he's old enough). Well, I made the mistake of showing it to Norah right away and every day she's been asking for it. So this morning I asked if we wanted to make the gingerbread house today. She got so excited immediately that she was almost beside herself. She ran to daddy in excitement telling him that we were going to do the gingerbread house today. So once Jack was down for his nap and we were finally all dressed and ready for the day (the gingerbread house was great incentive for her to get dressed with no issues today!) we started. We "built the house" then had to let it sit for 15 minutes to "dry" I guess. Well, she just wanted to sit there and look at it. But I told her we'd read 2 stories and then we could put the candies on. So we did and after the second story she hopped up and ran to the stairs saying we could put the candy on now. And we did. It was just about the right length of project for her cause before we were even totally done, her interest in it was waning.
Our house looks nothing like the pretty one on the box that I was trying to copy, but hey, I learned a lesson myself - not to cut the icing hole quite so big next time. And she had fun putting on the candy. I'm sure we'll do it again next year!

Norah all excited about the gingerbread house making as it was getting taken out of the package!

Putting candy on the house...the one on the right (under my arm!) was the one on the box that I was sort of trying to copy...ours looked nowhere near as nice!

Norah did great with putting candies on...though there were several that were licked and THEN put on the house!!

Norah admiring the finished product while licking the icing off the gingerbread man!

potty

Just a short little note and it's nothing too great - just a little phrase Norah said that I want to remember cause I thought it was kinda cute. So she's not potty trained yet (though I am starting to pump up the fact that after Christmas when we get home from Nanna and Poppa's there will be no more diapers for her!) but has for the last year almost occasionally gone on the potty and often it's when she asks to go.

So last night I was putting Jack to bed and when I came downstairs after, Norah was running around with no diaper on. Scary cause she has had the occasional pee on the floor incident when she's done that. So I asked Nate what was up and she had apparently wanted to go on the potty and had proceded to rip her diaper off and go to the toilet. Ususally when she does that it's not very long before she actually goes. So I guess last night she sat there and nothing was happening. So she said to Nate "daddy please help me...my pee's not working". So cute!!! Anyway, I guess she asked him to do the usual potty routine - sitting on the little stool and singing The Wheels on the Bus (that's the only place we've every sung that song but somehow she knows that's the potty song!) and I think Jesus Loves Me.

I'm sure I'll have more potty stories to tell come Jan. 5th!