Tour of Homes

I dragooned my parents into decorating gingerbread houses on Tuesday evening. Actually, my long suffering mother ended up having to finish up baking the gingerbread and making the extra "frosting," since I was coughing and sick. But we got the houses put together (Katie helped with construction this year!). To start with, the five little houses lined up on our kitchen table looked like a little Levittown, but it didn't take long for each house to be given its own, unique look.

(Travis eating licorice.)(My Daddy, concentrating fiercely. He is a perfectionist, and I know the misaligned walls and roof of his house must have been painful, but he did not complain......... at least, not until he got frosting on his finger. Did I mention that he is neat?)(Manly men frost gingerbread houses. Isn't he sweet?)

And now for our Parade of Homes!

Ed's home is warm and festive. It just looks happy.Here is Katie's house. The little gingerbread man waiting out front to welcome us looks a little deranged, but his yard is kind of messy and maybe he is afraid we will be critical. But we won't! We admire the blue swimming pool out back and the colorful winter flowers, and we move on...to Travis's house. His has pinstripes on the roof (how novel!) and a pond out back with a duck swimming in it. And on the other side...a tent for the kids to play in!And then we come to my Daddy's house. Hmmmm. Two gingerbread bodies on the lawn, a third on the roof, poised to jump, and the fourth lying on his back, preparing to lob a gumdrop at us. I guess every neighborhood needs an eccentric, eh?And finally we come to my mom's house. Serene, simple, traditional. The librarian called us today to say that it won the adult category in the contest. Congratulations, Mommy!