Gingerbread Houses

After 3 evenings of gingerbread baking, Charlie and I finally had our gingerbread village ready for his classmates to decorate. I got slightly jealous so decided to make one for me too:). Turns out gingerbread houses take a little more thought than I thought. The first attempt was so sloppy that the roof kept falling off. I decided to actually read the recipe/instructions....The kids seem to have a lot of fun and worked so hard decorating their houses. Charlie's house has turned into a multi-day event as he continues to fill in any remaining space he can find. charlie is very precise, balanced and geometric with his decorations....Diego's house is bit more abstract. His tactic is to skip the house and just pour the decorations onto the ground around the house. Very colorful lawn...

the village

hard at work



getting decorations out



my house

Our christmas tree hunt was slightly less romantic than in years past when we chopped it down.  This year we hunted it down at Fragers and picked one with a white tag indicating 9 ft.  Oh well - maybe next year. 

On Sunday we went to "Ice" at National Harbor which was totally mind-boggling.  They import chinese artists to sculpt two million pounds of ice and then keep the whole thing refridgerated to 9 degrees.   Doesn't seem like a very sustainable idea.  It was totally bizarre and Diego hated it, but Charlie loved it.  Here we are in our parkas...

We've been down about this year at Charlie's class which perpetuates the continual conversation about where best to live.  The teacher's aide never shows up and there are 2 kids with IEPs in his class so the poor teacher is on his own with 20 4/5 year olds.  The school principal, the parents and the PTA are all involved trying to fix the situation, but that hasn't stopped Carlos from having some choice words with the superintendent, her chief of staff, the deputy superintendent, the chief of staff for the mayor and our ANC representative. ahhh carlos.

Diego is so sweet and cozy.  He insists on sleeping with THREE pillows, two blankets and at least one toy.  He literally hugs trucks as he goes to sleep.   Of course they are not just any three pillows - they happen to be the three best in the house.  It might be time for us to buy more pillows because I'm down to one sad pillow which excerbates my uncomfortable sleep these days.  He has also been waking up early some mornings asking to come into our bed and when he does he insists on bring all three pillows and both blankets!

Baby #3 news is officially out.  I finally told my boss which was a big relief.  She is a maniac in my belly which can't mean good things for her future sleep patterns.  Then again it may be all the coffee I still drink...