Building a Gingerbread House

I decided to fulfill one of my Christmas fantasies and build a gingerbread house. I cheated and bought a kit. Gimme a break; my assistant was four-years-old. It started out well. The kit looked fun. I got it on sale even. Then I got home and opened it. The pieces were intact. Opening a box to broken pieces was one of my fears, so I checked it out before I even told the little guy about the house. The white frosting was easy to make. Just add water varieties usually are. They included packets of red and green dye that I opted not to use based on their packaging. Food coloring in plastic tubes sounded like a disaster to me. I figured that regular food coloring would be okay to use instead. More on this later. The kit included a plastic piping bag which I filled with white frosting. At this point I discovered why the icing instructions were adement on keeping the frosting moist through the use of wet cloths. Instantly my hands were spotted with fast-drying white dots and dribbles. The little guy and I started with the back wall and on of the side walls, per instructions. Note to self: Construction of gingerbread houses requires four capbable hands. I called for my husband to come help and distracted the little guy by sending him to show Grandma the house we were building and the other ones available. I hadn't opted for the train kit, but based on his coaxing, we might end up with it yet. Once the four walls and roof was one, I gave the little the special task of decorating with the available candies. Our base was a white cutting board that is seldom use due to its size. We drew sidewalks and made bushes and in general had fun. The little guy was disappointed that we didn't have any men to put in it, but overall, he was happy with the house we built. Next time, though, I'm going to trust the kit. Remember my food coloring substitution? The effect was really, really, really runny frosting. The windows were supposed to be red outlines. They look more like red globs. The verdict hasn't come in yet on the green bushes and trees yet. If they hardened sufficiently well by tonight I'll try to stick them on the house with regular frosting. Otherwise I'll just "drop" them. Overall, I had fun. I probably do it again next year, but no way am I doing this without a kit. I don't think I could handle all of the steps without a crutch.