Polar Express 2011

Instead of trying to get a Gingerbread House to actually stand up, sometimes

(not consistently, of course) we make what we call the Polar Express. We haul 

out LOADS of candy and royal icing, some floral cones and

cake boards covered in tinfoil and go to town. 

It's actually surprising that anybody gets out without

frosting from head to toe. 

We invited our friends the Johnsons over this year and had a blast. 

Above, Abby prepping the candy canes. 

Below, Sam, Millie and Holly focusing on their trees.

Above, Brock, Abby and Sam without much damage (yet).

Below, Max and Brock

Below is cute little Ada. She surprised me by not being interested
in the frosting. Just hand over the chocolate and you'll be fine.

Look at Brock - getting into it.

Evan (the dad) and Brandon are trying to figure out what else to add.

Holly got her tree just right.

Here is our finished product.

And the Johnsons.

Look at that mess! 

Two keys: make sure each kid has a frosting bag = less fighting. 

Put a disposable covering on your table (I had a shower curtain) and then just roll it up and toss it. 

Worth hours of clean up.

We had so much fun and our kids even got a little bit

of sleep last night despite all of the sugar in their systems.