So this Christmas season has been going by way too fast and I feel like I can not get everything done. Every year since Jaxson started school I make gingerbread houses for the teacher. Which is actually a tradition that my mother-in-law inspired. She made one for all of her kids elementary school teachers. Well with 13 kids she became really good at gingerbread houses. So when Jaxson started elementary school at the same school that his Dad attended growing up I thought what I fun idea to keep the Harward tradition and make the gingerbread houses. The first year I made one I went down to my mother -in-laws house and she helped me and I used all of the stuff and got her recipe. ( I am talking making the gingerbread from scratch and cutting out the pattern and then finding all the fun candy) I had no idea what work went into these. I made Jaxsons house and we took it to school and walking in the hall I saw an older teacher that was not Jaxsons teacher but she stopped me and said what is your name? I told the cute lady who we were and she admired my little house that I was so proud of. Then she told me about a mom who used to make gingerbread houses for all her kids teachers and how all the teachers knew if they had a Harward in their class they were going to get a gingerbread house for Christmas and that they all wanted one in their class so they could get one. Well I laughed and me and Jaxson took the little house to his teacher. You can imagine how excited he was to give it to his teacher after that. The teacher said thank you but did not act as enthused as I might have hoped...maybe she was not a candy fan. Then about two weeks later when I was at the school again she stopped me and said thanks for the gingerbread house it was so good...I went home and we ate the whole thing! I was devastated. Ha Ha!
I have gotten better at making them but I still can not hold a candle to my mother-in-law...and if that takes having 13 kids I am just going to have to let her keep the crown. But it is a tradition in my home now as well and we love it. This year I had to make 3 houses. I started them about two weeks ago put them aside and then I have not toughed them. I decided over the weekend that I just did not have time to finish them this year. So today I got home from work and saw them still sitting on my counter and decided that I needed to finish them. It just would not be Christmas without them.
