Land of the Sweets

Sunday night, as the kids constructed and decorated their Gingerbread houses, our kitchen reminded me of The Nutcracker's Act II "Land of the Sweets"

There was certainly enough confection and marzipan flying around.....and after consuming large quantities of candy and icing, Sarah looked like she was doing the dance of the sugar plum fairy.... Well, her version...maybe not as graceful, but she was fluttering around the kitchen on her tippy toes from complete sugar shock!!

These may not be the prettiest pictures I have ever taken, but they certainly captured the fun that we had that night.

Nick totally blew me away.....he worked the pastry bag like no other!! I think he has learned a thing or two from Duff on Ace of C@kes....one of Nick's favorite Food Netw@rk shows!! He really did a fantastic job....this is the first year we did not have our GB house fall apart. They are both still standing today......they might be missing a few treats, but the structures are still secure:)

Nick did all the frame work while Sarah was taking her nap. She woke up just in time to decorate her very own house!! Although she was willing and ready to decorate, she would not let me brush her hair or pull it back.....hence the frumpy look!!

Hey, why is Nick licking his fingers? Can we actually eat this stuff......no one told me that!!

Daddy, you and Nick can take over....I don't want to build, I would rather supervise....more like have a snack while you two do the work.

Don't even think about taking my candy!!(This is my favorite photo...her eyes say it all)

Here are the finished products!! Nick and Pat did such a great job......they managed to cover a lot of ground considering they had "The Candy Expert" snatching up their supplies!!

I am happy to report that I am finally starting to crawl out from underneath all of the to do's and the stress is slowly slipping away.....I have the shopping and Christmas cards done, I just need to bake, finish wrapping, and do some cleaning before the big day.

As of today, I am basically done with work until January 5th. My boss is going away for the holiday and told me to take the rest of the year off! That in itself was such a gift......but it didn't stop there.......on top of giving me these last two weeks of paid time off, he presented me with another surprise.......details to follow....I am very excited to say the least!