Los Livingstons

I decided to start a new tradition with my kids.... decorating a gingerbread house. Patti thought it was a fabulous idea, but she didn't want Cal working on hers. She said that it was only for girls. So, I decided to buy two... one for Patti and one for Cal. Then, I thought it would be fun to have a friendly competition... boys against girls. I explained it to Patti, and she got so excited and then told me, "Momma, I have a great idea!!!! How about YOU help CAL, and DADDY can help ME!!!" What a sweet way of telling me that she's smitten with her daddy and would rather share that time with him. I totally wasn't offended and thought it was precious. So, that's what we did.

We let the kids name their teams.... Patti and Daddy were Team Princess and the Frog and Cal and Mommy were Team Dinosaur Man and Dinosaur Woman. Funny.



We had so much fun! Cal and I were perfect together.... both of us are impatient and can't sit still. We kept getting up to check on the competition, take pictures, run around, etc. Patti and Daddy didn't move the entire time.... taking great care and planning in their decorating. Well, Patti did get up several times when Cal wanted to brag on our house.... "Wook Patti!"

As soon as the last candy was placed on the house, the party began....

The finished products.... minus a few pieces of candy.

My munchkins with their Advent Calendars. Daniel had these calendars when he was a kid... the paper ones with chocolate behind each little flap. Thus, another tradition has begun.