Hansel & Gretel would be jealous

Today we went to the Gingerbread House Tour. There were loads of gingerbread structures on display and a lab to make your own. After looking at each "house", we went into a special room where they gave us the basic pieces, "glue" aka frosting, and candy and cereal to embellish our home. Here are some pictures of our artists, Anna and Ryan, at work. They got VERY messy, and had a great time. I also had to include some of the amazing entries.

My Hero

For those of you who didn't know, we recently had our car stolen. Unfortunately, it was in front of Anna and I, but other than being knocked over, we were unhurt. Anna has been processing what happened and asking a lot of questions, just trying to understand something that is incomprehensible even to me. "Why did the bad man take our car and knock us flat on our backs like a bowling pin?" she asked. She also told Alex and I that she was going to rescue my car. She said the police were going to find it. I was a little less optimistic. However, today, 2-1/2 weeks later, the police did indeed locate my car. While the inside is not looking so pretty, these things can and will be fixed. When I picked up Anna from preschool she started in with the usual questions again, so I told her I had some news. The police had found our car and it was being fixed and we would have it back soon. Anna's face broke into a huge, excited grin and she said, "See, Mommy? I promised you!" Yes, you sure did, Honey.

Where there's smoke...

...there are birthday candles. Anna's friend, Colby, had his 5th birthday party this past weekend at a local fire department. The kids ran around the open bays and ate cake shaped like Sponge Bob Squarepants. After cake and presents (Anna gave Colby a cool hand-shadow theater), the firefighters took the kids over to the rigs. Each child got the opportunity to turn on the lights and hit the air brakes which makes a loud honking noise that never gets old...for them. The kids never cease giggling over it and the parents never stop cringing. Then the firefighters put on their gear and showed the kids what they look like when they are working. Then they handed out hats, sticker badges, balloons, and other fun stuff. They all had an awesome time.