A Gingerbread House for Baby Jesus

Ahhh, I feel like I can breath a sigh of relief now that I'm done with my classes.
I don't know why I decided to take two classes and have a baby and try and manage Lillian all at the same time. It wasn't easy and I'm sure I made it hard on everyone when I got really stressed. But, I made it through and I got A's in both classes. Now, I have a little break until January when I start just one class, Biology.
I got some happy, happy news this week that Jonas is coming here for Christmas!
He'll be here for ten days and I just couldn't be more excited!
It's the best Christmas present a mother could ever want.
I 'll have all four of my children here together!
What a blessing.

In the spirit of Christmas I put a baby Jesus wrapped in swaddling blankets under the tree.
This was to try and help Lilly understand that this is Jesus's birthday and we celebrate by having Christmas. Well, whenever Lilly hears the word "birthday" it means birthday cake and she was ready to make a cake.

I had already planned for us to make a gingerbread house and she insisted that this was Jesus's birthday cake. She was pretty good about not eating any of the gingerbread. She loved helping decorate it and ate just a few pieces of candy in the process.

Of course, it wasn't until we were done and put the gingerbread house on display that she decided it was time to indulge.

See those little fingerprints in the frosting on the pathway to the house?
It just adds character.

We also made Christmas cookies this week.
See how beautiful they are on the cookie sheet?
But that's a whole different story...