Every year during the Christmas season, we have made candy houses with Michael's family. It became a family tradition. We wanted to do the same things that we have always done this year, even though we moved 2,000 miles. So, we opened up our home and invited some friends over to share in our tradition. To host a successful candy house party, you need to follow a few steps.
First, you have to round up a lot of cardboard and cut it into rectangular shapes and cover it with aluminum foil. Then you need to cut basic house shapes from graham crackers with an electric knife. This is definitely Michael's area of expertise.
If there are a lot of small children involved, glue the houses together in advance so they can start decorating ASAP and they don't have to wait for frosting to dry and their house to take shape.
Next, put out a ridiculous amount of candy. If you have little to no will power, buy items that look great, but taste bad. Hint, Necco candies are great for roof tiles, but taste pretty bad. This way you don't gain 5 pounds just from participating in the event. The kids will find the M&M and Skittles and all of the mainstream candy anyway and will eat until they are sick, but oh well, it is only once a year.
Finally, let the fun begin. While people decorate, keep making huge quantitites of frosting. The stiffer you make Royal Icing, the better. We have blown out hand held mixers in the past making icing, but this only adds to the legendary event, besides, it makes a great story!
At the end of the night, survey the damage, I mean, marvel at the creativity. If your group is competitive and can handle it, judge the houses and hand out prizes for various categories like, most creative use of candy, most candy, tallest, etc. We may have moved and made a lot of changes this year, but we are still determined to maintain traditions and celebrate just like we always have. It is a great survival technique!
First, you have to round up a lot of cardboard and cut it into rectangular shapes and cover it with aluminum foil. Then you need to cut basic house shapes from graham crackers with an electric knife. This is definitely Michael's area of expertise.
If there are a lot of small children involved, glue the houses together in advance so they can start decorating ASAP and they don't have to wait for frosting to dry and their house to take shape.
Next, put out a ridiculous amount of candy. If you have little to no will power, buy items that look great, but taste bad. Hint, Necco candies are great for roof tiles, but taste pretty bad. This way you don't gain 5 pounds just from participating in the event. The kids will find the M&M and Skittles and all of the mainstream candy anyway and will eat until they are sick, but oh well, it is only once a year.
Finally, let the fun begin. While people decorate, keep making huge quantitites of frosting. The stiffer you make Royal Icing, the better. We have blown out hand held mixers in the past making icing, but this only adds to the legendary event, besides, it makes a great story! 
This year Hayden tried something new and signed up for the sixth grade chorus. He had hoped to join band or orchestra, but couldn't because he did not play in fourth or fifth grade in New York which is required to play at the middle school level. He did not know if he would like it, but it has been something positive.
In December, the chorus performed and it was a packed house. Even though we were at the high school auditorium, it still was not large enough. Eventually, the decision was made to divide the concert into two parts. They made all of the family members of the 7th and 8th graders leave the auditorium. Then they sat everyone who was there to watch a sixth grader and they performed. Then we cleared out, the family members for the older kids filed in and the concert resumed. It was a hectic night, but in the end, Hayden performed and did very well.
The next night, we had the chance to watch Sydney perform at her school. Each of the third graders was asked to wear a costume that reflected another country or culture. Sydney decided to pull out the massive sombrero from the basement costume box. Hey, at least, we could spot her easily!
Sydney's class sang a lot of songs, and they did a a lot of hand actions for too many verses. Little did we know that she nearly passed out because she had a heavy, wool blanket draped on top of her in addition to that huge sombrero, and was packed in like a sardine next to a bunch of other sweaty kids. She was adorable up there, but needed a shower when we got home! Nothing says, "Merry Christmas" like a sweaty eight year old singing Hava Nagela (sp?) in a sombrero. Happy Holidays! 