So I got behind.... I knew I would.

Thanksgiving is over.
And it was goooooood.

I took my camera to both places with hopes of blogging about our day, but I completely forgot to take any!!

This year, Lance's granny did her's the weekend before, and Lance's mom was unable to make it down since she is spending he every moment with her husband... So we did not have a dinner with that side this year.
This was the 2nd year without my step-dad's mom, 
leaving me with just 2 places to go this Thanksgiving day.
I can not tell you how pleasant it was.
I got to visit more...
and sit and eat, and chat afterwards.
And Maddox thought the food was "delicious" and "delightful"!!
And was great all day, despite no nap.

He threw out all the stops at Nana's, being the only kiddo there, he had the attention of everyone.
He probably told his knock knock joke 30 times, and cracked everyone up with his 4 year old personality!
My favorite thing:
My Nana said, "I'm serious, I have never seen a 2 year old with a vocabulary like his"... Maddox replies, "Yes, It's incredible!"

Thanksgiving was nice.
Maddox and I had a great day.
The only thing that would have made it better would have been to have Lance home. He had to work.  :(

I went to my mom's that morning to help cook... and here are the only pictures that were taken that day.

As for shopping...
I skipped the Black Friday thing this year...
Well, kind of!
My sister went to WalMart at 11:00 at night and bought $200 worth of stuff...
(I didn't have the heart to tell her that most everything she bought was still on sale Saturday when I went for groceries!)
My mom and I ventured out about 3:00 and got some pretty good deals...
The mall was not that crowded considering...
I think everyone had gone to bed already!

Now I will try  and get caught up on my 30 day challenge...

Day 4:
These are my parents.
They're pretty great.

They love my kid as much as I do... and they are the first people (behind Lance) that I call when Maddox does something new, fun, exciting, bad, etc...
And my child loves them back.
Sometimes I wonder if he loves them more than me...  :) 

[Honestly put, that's the quickest way to move to my top of my list.
As an adult, sometimes it is easy to see why people may not like you, or act unfair towards you... but when it comes down to my kid;
You love him and treat him fair,
Or you go to the bottom of my list.
Simple.]

I love my parents.

Day 5:
I was suppose to share my favorite recipes....
If I make it, you can guarantee it is one of 3 things-
*easy  *cheap  *made without ground hamburger meat.
Here's a few of my absolute favorites:
(I am not promising that any of them are healthy-- but they are all good enough to share!)

Smothered pork chops:
1 package of boneless chops
1 can of Golden mushroom soup (you can not substitute with cream of mushroom)
1/2 can of water
1/2 small onion chopped
throw it in the crock pot on low for about 6 hours... and enjoy with mashed potatoes and a veggie!
(Sometimes I throw raw carrots and chunk up potatoes in it so it is a complete meal when it is done)

Cheese enchiladas:
1 can cream of mushroom
1 large can (or 2 small) of mild enchilada sauce
Heat in a sauce pan until smooth
(heat corn tortillas in microwave so they roll without crumbling)
spoon mixture into tortillas and add shredded cheese.  (I add onion to mine-- you could add HB meat too)
fill a 9X12 with as many as will fit and pour the rest of the mixture on top.
Cover with cheese and bake until the cheese is melted.
I always open a can of refried beans and make a package of Spanish rice.

Velvet chicken pasta:
1 pkg cream cheese
1 can Golden mushroom soup
1/2 cup white cooking wine
4 or so chicken breasts
1/4 stick butter
2 tbsp oil
cook in the crock pot on low  for 6 hours
Serve on angel hair pasta.
I always make green beans and garlic toast with it.

Easy Loaded baked potato soup:
I will only make this on a day that I already made bacon for breakfast!!
Peel and dice about 8 potatoes (small chunks), throw in a glass bow, cover with saran wrap and microwave 8-10 minutes. (until all the potatoes are soft)
while those are cooking, melt 1/2 cup butter in pot and whisk in 1/2 cup flour
Once smooth, pour in EIGHT cups of milk.
bring to a boil and then reduce heat but keep stirring until it thickens.
dump in cooked potatoes
add 8 oz container sour cream
and 1/2 cup shredded cheese
crumble in 5 or 6 slices of cooked bacon
and chives if you want them.
(it makes quite a lot so you could 1/2 this recipe)

Chicken tacos:
4 or so chicken breasts
1 can rotell
salt/ pepper/ ground cumin
shred chicken after 6 hours on low in the crock pot
saute onion and garlic in butter
serve chicken, onions, monterey jack cheese on corn tortillas with sliced avocado.

Tony's tortilla soup:
(save the chicken leftover from the recipe above and you can skip this part.)
chop up 1/2 onion in pot with a couple tbsp oil
add 3 or 4 raw chicken breasts (diced)
pour in large container of chicken broth
add 1 can of corn
1 can of carrots
1 can diced tomatoes
dice up 1 zucchini
and 1 yellow squash
add equal parts cumin/ ground coriander/ cilantro to taste (maybe a tbsp each?!)
add more broth if needed to cover veggies
bring to a slow boil
grate in 1/4 cup or so montery jack cheese into pot, stir until melted. serve.

top with crumbled tortilla chips, sliced avocado and more monterrey jack cheese.

My version of beef tips and rice:
I made this by accident once and it was so good that I remake it now!
Throw stew meat and a package of stew seasoning in crock pot with about 2 cups of water
1/8 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup worstersire sauce
salt/ pepper/ garlic powder
cook 6 hours on low.
while cooking white rice (or noodles to serve with) make a package of brown gravy by the instructions on the package and stir into meat mixture.
Dump on your rice and enjoy!

Day 6:
A picture of something that makes me happy.

I took these the other day...
Of course it makes me happy because its is my baby biscuit, but more than that-  it makes me happy to have a child who is full of so much bliss.
I think his favorite thing is to be outside... on the tractor... on all this land... 
He is such a happy boy.
I can't wait to meet his brother.