Tale of Two Gingerbread Houses

 Once upon a time there lived a plump little woman, her carpenter husband and their three little munchkins. Christmas was nearing and the woman pondered aloud what traditions could they begin to be a special part of each year. It was decided they would build a gingerbread house as a family.
  Stores boasted Reduced Prices on Gingerbread house kits. Husband suggested getting one, but Wife countered that gingerbread is easy to make..a bit like cookies. She went home and looked at pictures of beautiful houses, lovely churches, and grand castles dripping with frosting, expertly crafted and decorated with  a tempting variety of sweets. She watched you-tube demos and it Looked Simple.
 Visions danced in her head of a perfect little house being assemble with Husband's help and the little munchkins joyously working with their parents to make a cute edible memory.
  She set to work. Her kitchen her workshop, Her girls her assistants and soon a big bowl of brown sweetness was firming up in the refridgerator. Cream Puffs and Cinnamon Rolls made their appearance before Gingerbread was retrieved. And slowly Stress made her appearance. The dough didn't want to be workable.
   Carpenter Husband calls home. He is going to town before coming home. Wife meekly suggests he pick up a Gingerbread House kit...kind of as a backup, you know.
   The kitchen looks stressed out, the living room looks like Hurricane Munchkin hit, (though the blanket house still stands), Fast Moves and Vaccum come to the rescue. Till Husband arrives, all is Calm and all is Bright. Pizza is in the oven and candlelight flickers a welcome.
   After supper, Husband helps wick away the dishes and the Time Highly Anticipated, arrives.  Gingerbread Family Tradition Year One !
  Well, maybe it will be Daddy and Daughter Tradition. Baby Munchkin plays with candy wrappers in his highchair while the Plump Little Woman trys valiantly to salvage Her Gingerbread house..to no avail. The foremost thought in her mind is; " I think this is why my Husband is the Carpenter and not me!..and If I would have listened to his suggestion in the first place I would've saved myself time, energy, stress and mess to say nothing of all those ingredients." But yet, there's just something much more special about home-made ones..so maybe till another year.

House Disaster !

The girls Loved doing this with Daddy !

A Homemade Christmas

  Thanks goes to Ruby Showalter for this idea. (above) I didn't have the cute ribbon she used or much seasonal paper to work with , but this hangs in our living room.

 

 The "LOVE" one kinda "happened" when I was messing around trying to get inspired. And the following idea of putting candles in baby food jars comes from a magazine but I tried to make them a little more seasonal.


 So what are Your inexpensive and simple
 decorating ideas?  I'd love to put a few more things up, yet.

Spaghetti Brain

What's the point of a blog with no new updates? But sometimes my spaghetti brain is going into too many directions to settle down into a nice rhythmic flow of words. So bear with me if this blog makes no sense or is just a humble -jumble of topics.
  Some days I just want so badly to call up my friend, Elaine who passed away of breast-cancer June 10th. I want to talk, ask questions, lend a listening ear, I want to be able to travel to Virginia and sit with her again and laugh and cry and drink tea with her. I want to go back to the last time I hugged her, and hold on a little longer. We both knew it would be the last hug. It was so hard. She told me how hard it was to let go of life when her children needed her so badly. I wish I would have understood better. I wish I could have encouraged her better.
  I remember as a school teacher and boarding with the Highs, she "begged" me to tell her anything I noticed about her that she could be a better person, a better mother. Now as a mother myself, I want to go back to her and ask her for advice and tell her what a wonderful job she did!
  Lately someone asked me to please consider making a phone call to talk with/ encourage someone. My reply? " I'm too scared." The next day Todd Miller preached an excellent sermon on Courage. Wow. Sometimes, I am such a coward ! I plan on making that call tonight and I'm actually looking forward to it in a shaky sort of way.
  Someone else needs help and encouragement. They are on a slippery slope. Would I please invite them into my home? And fear whispers, " You fail too much already! How could you ever help someone else? Besides, you still have so much to learn about being a mother and wife, how do you think you could  'reach around' emotionally?" But another gentle voice whispers, "Maybe I want you to do this for your own growth, don't let fear limit My Power!" I don't know what the next half year holds but I'm glad I don't have to rely on my own strength !
   Joyce Meyer says, " Everything we run away from has power over us; everything we go through, we conquer."  and Jesus says, "My strength is made perfect in weakness."
   I'm grateful for my children who can be so frustrating and yet so fun and sweet. This morning, Hannah comes to me, " God made a little baby just for you!" she announces as she gently places her dolly in my arms. And instructs this "new" mommy, "You must rock her and feed her!"
   To Heidi, i ask, "are you adorable?!"   "No!" She says, "I'm Heidi".   and the other night her daddy wanted her to say, "spaghetti".  Her reply, " I tant!..I'm too little !" and she continues to refuse to say it upon request or even if bribed with candy, but if she forgets herself and is copying her sister, she can say it rather well. hmmm. Stubborn, I say !
  And I'm looking forward to taking a trip with my baby and my man to Indiana this Thursday. He has a "business meeting" on Friday. It's only three hours or so long but his way is paid. I'm hoping for some fun quality time :)
   When I started this blog I was thinking maybe I'd get on the subject of baking, but I guess not. Here's something though, I like to make..want to join me for some?

  I

Birthday Week

 Here's a big THANK YOU to all who send kind wishes on my birthday ! My whole week was a rather fun, though busy one, with family from Minnesota around, I didn't plan much. Most days My SILS, Rosie and Verena and Rosie's 2 little boys, came up for part of the day and we worked at scrapbooking/ card-making. .something I enjoy but rarely take time for. Mom also came up one day and Grandma Laura did twice.
  I also was able to get some outside work done. It's so unusual to be having such a mild brown November. Monday evening we enjoyed a Thanksgiving meal at church with the school. "Turkey-in-a hole" was a mouth watering success!
  Tuesday evening Mom, Grandma L, Verena, and Rosie took me out to eat for my birthday and we did a little shopping also. It was a special evening but the fun was quite diminished when I got home and discovered my baby had cried most of the evening and a daughter had wet herself making the evening a bit stressful for hubby.
  Wednesday evening was prayer meeting. Jacob was song leader and I was group leader for our little prayer group. What a blessing to pray together with friends. Verena spent the night.
  Thursday I was delighted to see what gift God had sent..finally the ground was white :)  The girls were so excited and anxious to get out in it. So we scooped some up and they ate it with spoons. After packing Jacob's lunch and making him breakfast I went outside and played in the fluffy stuff for a bit. I told them it was hardly enough to make the snowman they wanted but gave in and made a mini-man for them.  Meanwhile Verena whipped up some yummy pumpkin pancakes and sausage which we enjoyed after Rosie and her boys arrived. I said that food tastes 90 times better when someone else makes it. I did a load of laundry and more scrapbooking. Mary Emma sent up a big bag of groceries with lots of yummy stuff to make some easy meals. Very special! i also received a box from my mom and now have a new book to read ..sometime.  For supper  we all ate at Grandpa Gingerichs.
   Jo Hershey had invited me over for Friday. Liz, Julia S, and their children were also there and we had a nice relaxing visit and lunch. And the ten preschoolers played nicely for the most part. It's so nice to connect with other moms and share stories and tips.
  Jacob called as I was about to leave. He came home from work early and we left again around 5pm. Grabbed a bite of supper on the run and then met Greg Drabek, his wife and daughter in town ( a guy Jacob works with) and they bought us tickets to watch  "Courageous". We really enjoyed it even though the children got a bit restless till the end.
  Today Jacob is working. I'm not getting much done on the homefront. I have a toothache that tylenole hasn't knocked out and am rather tired for some reason.  Hannah is praying for more snow since our last stuff didn't last real long. I would be happy with that !
   Happiness is... a clean house, a smiling spouse...giggling girls, soft baby curls...snow in its splendor, a heart of surrender.
   Signing off.....Jan
  

And Last but not least, here's our lil' chubs; Jacob Mahlon Gingerich joined us just 8 months ago. His Daddy named him and  he goes by his middle name. (He's named after his 2 Great-Grandpas and also his Daddy.) So far he has two teeth through. Once in awhile he'll manage to get his belly off the floor but so far he's not crawling .He loves his walker, bouncer, swinging outside, wagon rides.. and gets bored quickly if he can't watch his sisters playing.    He's been a little fussier than his sisters were but all-in-all he's a little charmer with a quick smile. His sisters adore him but he knows that Heidi is rougher and he will start complaining sometimes before she even gets started "lovin him up". (more than once she's been found sitting on him.)  On investigation once, I discovered one girlie pulling him by the arms and the other coming along hanging onto his legs, and in this way were moving him across the room.  But he's tough and already their payback is coming when he "runs over" them with his walker.  He  loves to snuggle, pull hair, be on the move, and eat. We're so grateful to God for our sonny-boy !

Heidi

Heidi Jo, with the sparkling brown eyes and curly brown hair, just turned 2 years old. She's our quiet observer, our moody one, and our little tease.  An early talker, she says nearly anything she wants. Her and Hannah are nearly constant companions but she also enjoys being off on her own and isn't always submissive to her sister's desires.  She was the biggest "mama's baby" but now is often her Daddy's shadow when he's working around the house. She like to share, "make bekfast" in her little kitchen, help mommy empty the dishwasher and hang up wash, playing dolly, and looking at books. Her favorite song right now is "tinkle -tinkle little staweer".  One day she wanted candy we'd gotten from a parade and said, "Jesus throw those !"  Once Hannah asked Heidi if she wanted help. The answer?.." No! I  help me !"

Hannah

And this is our "Hannah Girl". She was sent from above, three and a half years ago. She's very sweet natured and  also extreemly strong-willed. She dearly loves her family.  She likes to go away to other people's houses, she has a great imagination, enjoys drawing, puzzles, singing, being outside, being in control ;) and is happiest working or playing side-by-side with her Mommy or Daddy.   She's taught us much, is very particular, and I think as she gets older she'll be wonderful at helping me keep things neat and tidy.   She often talks about heaven and wanting to go up to Jesus so He can hold her and she can  "sing a new song".   This morning she was coloring a horse purple and I told her that I never saw a real purple horse.  She says, "When i get big i'm gonna see a purple horse." Smiling, I replied, "God doesn't make horses purple, silly !"  She giggled, " I forgot that !"

Meet the Mrs.

Yesterday I introduced you to my man..now a little about myself. I'm Janice (Jan), formerly a Weaver from good old Pennsylvania. I first came to Wisconsin to teach in a small parochial school but we'll save that story for another time. I'm now a nurse, wife, teacher, cleaner, mother, cook, laundrier,and the list could go on. In short, I'm a stay-at-home mom. With three little ones there's never a lack of things to be done. I enjoy gardening, mowing, canning, reading, writing, games, family times, traveling, photography, crafts...but most of the time, those things are on a back burner to settling squabbles, changing diapers, making meals, and trying to keep the house presentable. We enjoy having company so feel free to stop in for a cup of tea and visit. Just ignore the dust bunnies lurking behind your chair. I serve an awesome God and it really is a wonderful life !

Welcome To a Peek Into the Gingerich Home

Meet Our Hero : Jacob is the head of this household, a great husband and wonderful father.  He finds work relaxing and is a jack-of-all-trades whether it be electrical, plumbing, building, roofing, mechanical, OR doing laundry, making "Dutch Babies" for breakfast or changing a wet diaper.  He's a good public speaker and enjoys playing piano. He's a deep thinker and also has a great sense of humor.  ...his proud wife, Jan

Sunday october 16 2011

Once again getting ready to go to church, looks like we are gonna have another descent day. With family here from MN we will spending time with family after church, this always a highlight for us.