I hope I get an A

I mean, uh, I hope Maddie gets an A. Cause it's her project. Not mine.

She came home about a month ago and informed me that she had to construct a Colonial home. Of course this kind of project is one of those where the kid couldn't possibly do it alone, so that means lots of parental involvement.

Construct a Colonial Home? Out of what? Wood? Cardboard? Popsicle sticks? We also had to include the surrounding land. Crops and a water source and stuff. That was the key for me. As I wondered how on Earth I was we were going to construct this, I kept thinking "well, I know how I would do it if it were a gingerbread house..."

And then I thought "Well, why the heck not?" I'm not so comfortable with wood or crafty materials, but baking? I've never done anything like this before, but it's worth a shot.

And as luck would have it, last year on a whim, I bought a Gingerbread book with all sorts of house plans in it that just happened to include a New England Colonial house. It must have been fate.

I was afraid my genius plan would fall flat on it's face, but unless I trip or something on the way to school, I think it turned out better than expected.

(And yes, I let Maddie help. I might have done the shopping, and the baking, and the constructing, and was the chief pastry bag wielder, but she helped alot with the planning, and the design and the decorating. )

And so without further ado, The Big Reveal-

Everything is completely edible of course. Fruit leather shutters, window panes made out of thin strips of Juicy Fruit gum, a chocolate block for the front porch, and we just had to include the Peeps Christmas tree ...

pretzels for the fence, frosting tinted brown for the dirt...

strawberry and chocolate Twizzlers for the roof...

Tootsie Rolls for firewood...

assorted candies for the garden...

a gingerbread cookie cow...

and last but not least, chocolate rocks and grasses made out of thin strips of gum.

The 5th grade has been doing this project for a few years now, and I think mine hers is the very first gingerbread one.