Decorating Gingerbread Men

I bake almost everything from scratch.... except gingerbread for decorating.  I can't bring myself to pass the delicious soft stage and bake it long enough to create the necessary solid structure.  I hate choosing between texture and stability.  So I buy a gingerbread kit each year for us to decorate.  Then if I want to actually eat delicious gingerbread (as opposed to so-so tasting rock-hard gingerbread), I make it with no plans to decorate it. 

Here is the layout from our gingerbread decorating in 2008 when Trevor was 2.  This is one of my all-time favorite layouts.  That's my mom in the pictures with Trevor.

Here is Gingerbread Decorating in 2009:

And here is 2010:

Here are the pictures from this year's decorating.  Check out Trevor's mad piping skills.  There aren't too many 5 year olds that know how to properly wield a pastry bag.  But in this house, you learn to work a pastry bag as a toddler.

 

Here's Trevor's finished cookie.

 

And here's Steve with his:

 

I was sitting across the table from Trevor and Steve as they were decorating.  As I saw their upside-down gingerbread men, I realized that the shape looked a bit familiar. 

 

It looks even better with some pink sugar on the ears and nose.

 

2011 has truly been The Year of the Rabbit around here!