Gingerbread Men in Bathing Suits....

Well I won't disappoint you....coming later down the page there might just be a gingerbread man in a swimsuit....but I can say this with great assurance...I have NEVER baked ginerbread men while being in a swimsuit in my entire life!!! We know this is a year of firsts for me and here is yet another one.



Our good friends Sally and Andy have two kids that we adore and it works out great that James and Rosie love hanging out with them too!! It is summer break for kids now here in NZ, so we went and picked up Mackenzie and Georgia for the day. We decided that making gingerbread men sounds like a great plan. None of them had ever done it before and it was SO fun seeing their creativity come out as they decorated their cookies. Everyone helped with the baking...







I was actually feeling a bit proud of myself at this point...I have worked really hard to not be so stressed out over Christmas but to enjoy it. I read this great article last week that challenged women not to take the fun and family time out of Christmas by being so crazy about a clean house, the perfect presents, the best tree, the food, etc... The author reminded the readers that the point of Christmas no matter what your beliefs may be is to celebrate relationship and family and take time to enjoy moments together. I was even more convicted this year as I start my new family. I don't want to make my husband miserable because I want to start a new tradition. The author also gently reminded readers that a tradition that is stressful and a burden defeats the purpose of a tradition. I took that to heart this year and have really tried to enjoy each moment. Remembering that Christmas is about the gift of Jesus and the reason we get to have all these fun traditions is more important to me than all the stuff and traditions...at least I am trying to live that out.

Well, just about the time I was patting myself on the back in my head about letting my mother in law's kitchen be a disaster (she was at work, but man it stresses me out....), and letting the kids actually have fun and do all the baking and rolling of the dough and cookie cutting....I realized one little thing I should have been at least a little bit stressed about: I didn't take the cookies out of the oven!!!!!



The boys thought it was rather funny that I burned some of the cookies...



Seriously?!?!?! I was so frustrated at myself. Sam was working in the other room and when I found him to tell him what I did all he could do was laugh and then gently remind me that we still made a memory and that is what this was all about. I love my husband and love how hard he has worked to learn who I am and what is truly important to me.

We also decided that the cookies were salvageable...and the reality is they were more to decorate than to eat. We made some super thick and those ones ended up being perfect, too. So as they cooled we took a quick swim break...




It really is summer here...that is at least what they keep telling me. But the kids were SO cold after swimming that we decided to have a hot chocolate to warm up before the decorating began!!!



Georgia and Rosie made the frosting...because of course if you haven't noticed we did it ALL from scratch! We even made the frosting...which they call icing here and which the girls laughed at me each time I said frosting today :) I did have a laugh to myself when I realized how much work the icing was when it is usually $1 in the states to buy a whole can of it....oh American convenience how I miss thee....



Now the fun begins...



















And like I said earlier...gingerbread man in a swimsuit....hehehehe. Isn't my sister in law so creative? I love watching Rosie create...and I had to laugh because of course in NZ why would you not think to put a two piece on your gingerbread man...er, gingerbread girl :)



Before you think there was virtually no drama in the day aside from a partial burning of the gingerbread men, let me stop you right there. We of course had a bit of drama to add to the fun and memory making of the day. The kids were cleaning up outside before we were going to take them home and all of a sudden I heard CRASH...uh oh I thought. It was then followed up by AGHHHH! I was already on my way out the door because I could see that Georgia had dropped a jar by Mack's foot and thought he was probably just being a bit dramatic, and I get that :) But to my surprise Sam was quick behind me and we saw blood and then I saw Sam swooping up Mack in his arms and the crying stopped. Sam took him in the bathroom while we cleaned up outside. Then Sam came out and whispered to me..."It's quite a deep cut, hon...."



Yikes!! He was such a trooper though. So tough and I love to watch how Sam is so calm in crisis and seems to help people just stop crying without saying a word...reason number 912 that God gave him to me :) In the end, Sam wrapped it up and we called Sally and in perfect Mom of a crazy boy fashion, she said, "ah he will be okay and when I get there if it's still bleeding we will swing by the hospital and get it stitched." I love my friend Sally, she is similar to Sam in that nothing is dramatic for her...God does give me good friends doesn't He? :) He is all good and survived the cut and might even have a cool scar from it...which Sam told him and which made Mack smile really big!

We hope you have a great Christmas week!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!