Of Gingerbread and Gumdrops

Beware of the pre-cut packaged Gingerbread House kits. The picture on the outside is very cute, and they promise that you have all the items needed to make your very own gingerbread house. Just like the one pictured!
What they forget to tell you is that the crafty person who put together the one in the photo is a gen-yoo-wine Gingerbread House Professional Builder.
The brothers and I attempted to build our own Gingerbread House earlier this evening. We should have realized when one of the pre-cut Gingerbread persons (being the equal-opportunity household that we are) chose to commit hari-kiri by leaping off the breakfast room table. We did not see the suicide attempt but once Anthony heard the crunching noises coming under our feet, we discovered the victim in the jaws of Bentley, our destructive black lab puppy. I'm afraid the casualty was DOR (dead on retrieval). He/she was also slightly stale, as determined by Michael when he nibbled on a piece that had broken off.
Nevertheless we perservered in our quest for an abode worthy of Hansel & Gretel's witch. We diligently iced pieces (although we really needed an icing kit with the little nozzles and such) and we stuck candy pieces on (I followed the pattern on the box but Michael chose to free-style his side). We had a hint of disaster when Michael's wall began dangerously tilting inward but we wouldn't give up. Although Anthony did abandon the project in favor of a nap on the den floor. Michael and I kept going. We decorated the house to the last available inch.
And then the roof fell off.
We tried to save the house but finally the Gingerbread House Inspectors condemned it as a lost cause. It was razed and removed to the nearest landfill (or trashcan, if you must).
We'll try again next year, but we're planning on using superglue and professional decorating tools.