Gingerbread Men

One of the stories that Chad and I enjoy telling James at night is the Gingerbread Man. We recently checked out a book with a CD from the library, enabling James to listen to and read the story on his own. After a few days, he asked if we could make gingerbread men. I told him that we would "tomorrow during May's nap."
The next day, after I came out of the nursery having put May down, this is how I found him. He said, "I know we need the rolling pin and the Alaska (he meant molasses), but I don't know what else we need." Smart boy to get those two essentials out all by himself! His helpfulness didn't stop there.
He cut up the butter to stir into our pan of sugar and molasses.

He kneaded the dough.

He rolled it out.

He cut out the men.

He carried the pan to the kitchen.

After they cooled, he decorated them with frosting and candy.

And he shared them with May when she woke up. This project took us an entire 2 hour nap time, but it was well worth it.