Charlie's cookies, pestering siblings, and a crazy mom

During fall break this week, Ethan went to go volunteer at the  church.  They had run to Walmart for treats and snacks for the youth activities at church.  While they were there my son bought Pioneer Woman's Charlie cookie jar for my birthday present.  He mowed yards to pay for it himself.  He knows I am slowly changing my kitchen to Pioneer Woman stuff. You know what I like most about the Pioneer Woman's kitchen decor?  It goes so well with my vintage items like my Pyrex mixing bowls.  Since Charlie is a cookie jar Sophie and I decided to make cookies to "Fill Charlie's tummy".  You just have to love 7 year old innocence.  It is just too adorable.  Ethan helped out and got everything out for the recipe and Sophie washed her hands.

Then we started working on the chocolate chip cookies.  We made just the standard Toll House cookie recipe. (Just in case you want to make cookies)  For the first time I let her  crack the eggs.   It took a few tries of trying to knock it on the side of the bowl, but she managed it.  The best part, we didn't have to pick any shells out of the eggs.  She was so proud and happy.   We continued to add other ingredients to the cream bowl then I let Miss Sophie add the eggs to the mix.  Her face pouring the  eggs into the sugars for creaming was just priceless.

I even let her use the mixer for the first time.  She thought this was the bees knees.  She did great. I am so happy to say there are no ceiling splatters or splatters all over wall.  She did great.  I was so proud.  You know everybody remembers there first time cooking with mom.  Sophie did much better than I did.  My poor clean freak mom,  I believe I splattered the walls, ceiling, and both of us.  Sophie even got to scoop the batter out and put it on the trays.  She did most of the work herself and she is proud.  Sophie and I had fun.  Now that we are done she is off pestering her brother.

I have sweet kids but boy do they bug each other.  The middle one bugs the oldest, and the youngest bugs the middle one.  Well, for the most part it is my fault with an age spread like  we have (18, 14, 7)somebody is bound to get on somebody's nerves.  They yell and bluster and drive each other as well as mom and dad crazy but when it is all said and done.  They all love each other.

Unspoken traditions that make Mom giggle.

Photo by Alyssa Hawkins Photography

Little Miss has always done photoshoots and she has always had a blast doing them.  She loves the camera and the camera loves her. When she was a little Little Miss I would trade sewing skills for photography work.  I could do pictures with no problem I had a film camera not a digital.  I knew for toddler age I would shoot about 3 rolls of film to get 4 pictures that were decent.  Toddlers are so fun and busy.   But for this particular shoot my friend and awesome photographer Alyssa Hawkins in Simms, TX was taking pictures of Little Miss.  I had made Cricket and Grasshopper costumes for her daughters for halloween.   So she was doing a fall mini session at a horse auction barn.  Love it.  So I made Little Miss some overalls with farm accents.  Best part I made them so Little Miss could still easily potty train.  I loved those little overalls.   Alyssa took some amazing photos of Little Miss.  But she also started an unspoken  tradition  embedded deep within Little Miss's mind.  At fall photo shoots, I get to eat the apple props.  

Fast forward to last week and mom doing the fall photoshoot .  Little Miss immediately grabs an apple out of the basket of prop apples and started eating it.  Funny it is even the same type of apple.  Years later and nothing has changed. My little girl still stealing apples off of the photoshoot set and eating them.  I wonder if 5 years down the road we will be doing middle school fall pictures and she steals an apple prop and eats it?  

You know it is the little things in life that make you smile and giggle.  This was one of those times.  It actually too 3 days and standing in the kitchen if front of the basket of apples for me to  remember why I loved the apple thing in Little Miss's pictures.  This is all Little Miss, her idea.  It makes my heart smile to think about this.