O Tannenbaum

Like so many, we have spent the past two days decorating our home for Christmas.

And, might I add, I really thought by this age we'd have kids old enough to do all the work for us.

Ah, God, always stretching us, aren't you?

Anyhoo, Scott and I tackled about 90% of the work while Eliza Grace and Will were with their Grandmother.  Of course we waited to decorate the tree until we were all together.

As I've mentioned before, we have an artificial tree. We've had the same tree for about ten years and I've wanted to get a bigger one for about five of those.  

Every year we say we'll buy one on big time sale the day after Christmas.  And every year we don't get out of our pajamas until somewhere around December 27th, which means that all the good trees are loooooooong gone.

So this year, with the help of a great deal from Home Depot, we got a new 9' tree!  A "snaps-together-in-three-easy-pieces-and-is-prelit" tree.
  
It wasn't much of a hard sell for Scott.  "I'll never have to string lights again!" he declared gleefully as he snapped it together.

For the first time ever he had to use a step stool to put the angel on top!

Santa's little helpers were on the ball.

Except for Chewie, who had planted himself firmly in front of the space heater.

 

Will only had to pause once to indulge Chewie in a well deserved belly rub.

I wanted to get one last shot of the finished product.

First try and it looks like we have leaping ghost. In Lego Star Wars jammies, no less.

This time it looks a lot like a curious Schnoodle poking his head in there.

Ah, finally.

O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree!

Thou tree most fair and lovely!

Oh Christmas tree, O Christmas tree!
Thou tree most fair and lovely!

The sight of thee at Christmastide
Spreads hope and gladness far and wide

Oh Christmas tree, O Christmas tree
Thou tree most fair and lovely!

Our baby is SEVEN!

A very happy birthday to our little man Will (or William or Wilbur or Willby or Willberforce or Bubby or Dude or Frat Boy...and a dozen more nicknames).

You are the sweet, sensitive and silly man of our family and we all love you so!

How Will Does Math Homework.

Never a dull - or quiet - moment around here.

Frat Boy

One of the nicknames we call Will is "frat boy." This pose is why (with his best buddy, Lexi).

No one ever asks him to pose like this.  

It just comes naturally to this happy, silly, fun-loving kind of kid.

Fall Menagerie

 

Will Sings.

Well, he finally gets to sing this song!

What's In A Name?

 

{One evening in September on Kiawah Island, SC}

"Mom?"

"Yes, Eliza Grace?"

"I have something I'd like to speak to you about."

Uh oh, I thought.  This sounded serious.  Of course Eliza Grace almost always sounds fairly serious.  Like 10 going on 50 serious.  

"Alrighty," I said. "What's up?"

"Well, I hate to say this but...when I'm out in public I find it a bit embarrassing when I call Grandmommy 'Grandmommy'."

"Okay," I said.  Grandmommy is what most of my Mother's grandchildren call her.

"It's just that I think I'm just a little too old to be calling her something so little kid-ish. So I wanted to know if I could call her something else."

I worked hard to keep my face serious and not smile, because, for goodness sake, the kid is just so darn cute.

"I think that would be okay," I said. "What did you have in mind?  Grandmom? Grammy? Something like that?  You already know that she does not like 'Grandma' or 'Granny' at all."

"Well, I think that I would prefer to call her Grandmother."

"Yes," I said with a smile, "that does sound more like you.  I'm sure she'd be okay with that but you might want to ask her just to be sure."

"Okay, I will. But just so you know, I'll still call her Grandmommy when we're, you know, around family, because that is what she is used to."

"Okay, sweetie.  Sounds like a plan."

{Two minutes later}

"Hey Mommy," said Will as he pulled me a little to the side and leaned close to my ear.

"Yes, sweetie?"

"I'll still call her Grandmommy, though.  Okay?"

"Yes, sweetie.  You can call her that as long as you like."

Happy Place

Our family has been vacationing on Kiawah Island, South Carolina for just shy of 20 years.  

This was the place where our kids' feet first touched the ocean - before either had reached three months of age. It's no wonder they're so at home in the water.

For an amateur photographer, like myself, it's a great place to experiment with light and depth, expanse and detail.

Mysterious swamps, wide ocean views, amazing sunsets, fishing holes, winding paths, and Spanish moss laden live Oaks makes it a wonderful place to just breathe.

Throw in the Nature Center activities, a kids camp... 

...and the fact that it's 25 minutes from downtown Charleston's history, shopping and fabulous dining...

 

 and it's almost paradise.

No wonder it's one of our happy places.

My world-famous...

...chocolate chip cookies.  

Of course they're world-famous because they're the Toll House recipe from the back of the Hershey's semi-sweet morsels package.

I do add my own little flare, however, that includes using unsalted butter, Kosher (ONLY Kosher) salt and real Haitian vanilla.

I also cook mine a little longer so that they're flatter and a little caramelized, so they have a great crunchy, chocolaty, hint of salt taste.

We are crunchy chocolate chip cookie people. No "soft batch" cookies found around here.

The kitchen was a little tight during this particular bake, as everyone, including Chewie, wanted in on the action.

My type A personality requires that all ingredients are present and accounted for in their proper proportions before anything gets started :)

I find it so much fun having my kids help in the kitchen.  And even though I don't really cook that much - or that well - I do happen to be darn good at cracking eggs and some of the other basics. 

It's much more fun teaching them something that I actually know how to do well.

Time to start mixing.

Are we the only ones that could sit and eat a bowl of the sugars, vanilla, butter mixture?  

Taking turns slowly adding the flour, baking soda and salt mixture.

 Round and round it goes.

Holy chocolate chips, Batman!

Second best part of making cookies!

Why, yes, they do look scrumptious, don't they?

"Hey Will, how're the cookies?"

I think those eyes say it all.