Christmas Odds and Ends

We made "gingerbread" houses last night. I wasn't going to be Martha and make homemade gingerbread-or for that matter-homemade frosting. Here is a couple of things I will try to be aware of for next year...buy good graham crackers. The generic ones are not straight. They were so crooked that the walls of Josh's house looked caved in. I broke mine in half and then put them back together with frosting so they wouldn't look so crooked. Next- whipped frosting from a container is not the best frosting to use to put graham crackers together. It is so fluffy and thin-it did well enough for this year-but next year we will use something a little thicker and tougher. When I was in college- my roommates and I made a gingerbread house- and it withstood EVERYTHING. It was the toughest house I had ever seen. The frosting was like glue- but it was so good. I might have to look up my old roommate and get that recipe from her. Oh, and if you didn't notice- in all of the pictures of Maddie lately...what is she missing? Oh, that would be her bangs! Yep, that would be twice now! I was working on a Christmas gift a few weeks ago, Maddie came in and said she was going to brush her hair. No more than 2 minutes later- she emerged with the SHORTEST bangs I have ever seen. She had learned a couple of things since her last self-made haircut. One being to throw the evidence away. She buried it in the garbage can. Two, put the scissors away. Three, only cut the bangs. Cutting other hair makes it longer for hair to become "princess hair" and four, walk out of Mom's bathroom with complete confidence and maybe she won't notice. I called my parents on the phone to tell them she did it again and that the mother's curse hit the wrong kid. (My sister cut her own hair 4-5 times, I had never even thought of doing that!) My mom laughed and laughed...and laughed. She said "Pull her bangs back. Ashley had kept cutting them because she hated bangs. Maybe that is what Maddie is trying to tell you!" So-yep- bangs are gone. They were so short. I didn't get a picture of it this time and now I am wishing I would have. Every once in a while, the little hairs pop up if they aren't securely held down and she looks like she has a buzz cut but I am beginning to figure out a way to do hair cut by a preschooler. That might look good on my resume one day.