Giving Thanks

I’ve come to the conclusion that I am not a big family meal sort of girl. At least, I’m not the host-and-cook a big family meal sort of girl. I get absolutely no joy out of cooking. I mean zip. Zero. Nada. All that peeling and prepping and cleaning only to what? Spend the next two days cleaning up from it? All that for a roasted bird that I don’t even eat.
Once the guests arrive I typically forget to offer them a drink. I’ll forget to set out a main ingredient in the meal. I’ll forget to bring out the birthday cake (seriously, I forgot to do that at Callum’s afternoon party).
I think the biggest reason I hate hosting a big meal is because I’m not a real food person. I could happily eat mediocre food for the rest of my life and not care. It doesn’t have to be spectacular, all it has to do is keep me from starving to death. That’s all I ask. In fact, I would even go so far as to suggest that I prefer boring food. I could have something in a tomato sauce everyday. Add in some cheese and I’m yours for life. I am that person who would eat the pot of chili every day for a week because it meant that I only had to cook one meal.
So, it’s not that I have anything against the family meal. I’m all about family and spending time together. Even more so when someone else does the cooking. It’s just that quality time can be spent over a take-out pizza without the dishes.
Yet I enjoy setting a nice table. If you want to cook, I’ll come over and set the table. I might even make a center piece. oh! And napkin rings!
I also enjoy giving out a Thank You gift to people who come to my parties. I seldom throw a party making putting together a Thank You gift much more reasonable, but it is even more acceptable when it’s a kid birthday party.
As a party favour at Callum’s little shin-dig we gave out Haunted Halloween Gingerbread House Kits that the kids and I made. This was in lieu of a loot bag which I think is becoming a thing of the past. It seems most parents hate the loot bags, and are opting instead to do some really creative alternatives. Both Angela and Michelle had some fantastic ideas this year that I am so stealing as my kids get older.

Anyway, this kit looks exactly like the kit Michaels sells (unintentionally), except with that home-made charm which likely means the walls don’t line up with the roof.

I was really proud of these little boxes. Each box contains the gingerbread house pieces, some black food coloring, candies, little gingerbread skeleton dudes and gravestones, instructions, and chocolate windows. So much fun to put together and with the exception of the candies and food coloring, the kids and I made it all ourselves!
The little pumpkins on the box are those foam forms you can buy and I cut out random shapes that Callum glued onto the pumpkins. He was pretty picky about the exact placement of eyes and mouths and wouldn’t veer from that. Something I wasn’t expecting from a 3-year old and I’ll be honest, I was a bit disappointed. I was so hoping to see random eyes in the middle of that pumpkin’s forehead. There are, however, little eyes glued underneath big eyes…

Here is our house after Gwen realized that the fence? MADE OF CANDY. You should see it now… a sad little run-down shack with no windows and only half a door.
It of course still houses a secret gingerbread baby inside its walls, as all gingerbread houses must.