Thanksgiving 1, Award, and CP Wednesday

This is a loaded post! Thanksgiving special--Part 1-our Thanksgiving take one, an award that I turned Thanksgivingish, and a Thanksgiving Crock Pot recipe...whew!
Sunday evening we had Thanksgiving with my Mom's side of the family! Mom and I spent the day chasing children, cooking, and cleaning house. It was actually a pretty good time. Then, our family came over and enjoyed a FEAST. Here is Lilly in her Thanksgiving outfit! I got this from Kari at the Candy Cane Lane Boutique show. My friend Amber also makes great tutus and tees as well if you are interested!! Amber, I will be ordering some tie t-shirts for Reid very soon!!! I love the one you did for Brody!

Anyway, I love this little turkey!

Great Grandma Berti and Reid. She couldn't get enough of him--even though he is solid as a rock and not easy to hold for long periods of time..haha.

See Reid's tie...it has a little turkey on it, too! LOVE it.

Playing with a ball and a hanger. This girl knows how to have a good time!

Posing with my cousin (not sure what that makes her to Lilly...second cousin?).
How many kids can fit in Lilly's couch-bed? I guess three! This is Lilly, her 3 year old cousin Emma, and her four year old cousin Ethan.
Reading a bedtime story!
This is Lilly's priscilla piggy bank that Lynn and Bill sent her from Australia. Anyway, it has some dollar bills in it. My mom went into Lilly's room and Ethan and Emma were shoving dollar bills into their pockets and she asked, "Where did you guys get that money?" Ethan's eyes got really big and he said, "Right here in this pig!! It was just sitting here waiting for us!!! You want some, too??" Haha.
My mom was getting the stuff out of the fridge to make a salad and Lilly snuck in and grabbed the tomatoes and took off!!!

We had a pretty hard time getting them back from her.

Aunt Shelly stealing some of my sugars from Reid.

Snuggling.

This was my attempt at getting a picture of Emma and Lilly together with their tutus. Notice how Lilly's belly is showing. Little cutie.

Another little cutie.

After everyone left, Lilly just relaxed on her couch!

Chillaxed! (That is a Modern Family word if any of you watch it.)

Then, my sweet blog friend Ginger gave me this award! She has got a little girl named Lillian Grace and is about to have a little boy named Thomas. I love reading about this family and all that they are up to and am so honored that she chose to honor me with an award! Thank you very much, Ginger!!

Ok, the rules were to say 10 interesting facts about myself, but since it is Thanksgiving week (and I have already stated 10 interesting facts about myself and I am not sure I have 10 more in me) I am going to list 10 things I am thankful for instead!! Then, I am supposed to pass it to seven blog friends. So, here it goes:

10 things I am thankful for:

1. Our family relationship with God. Although Matt and I have went to church less this past year than ever before in our lives, God has blessed us with a closer relationship with him anyway! I believe it is because when I became a parent and got to experience the love I have for my children, I understood so much more deeply the love that He has for us. The ways in which we get so excited over the most "trivial" milestones or how we truly wish that we could experience all of their pain ourselves in order to spare them any. The way we hold our breath as Lilly would stumble over and over when she started walking and how PROUD we are of her now that she is a little pro. I can't think about my love for my kids without thinking about how awesome it is that that is just a glimpse at how God loves us! I believe these little insights have brought Matt and I closer...that and not to mention the fact that our prayer life increased dramatically once we had our babies. Haha! And, while I would be thankful for just my relationship with God--I am so glad that my husband shares in it as well!

2. Matt. I know how extremely blessed I am in to be a marriage that is a true partnership. We are a team. He is my safe place in this world! He is such a wonderful husband. He is the leader of our household and he always puts his family first. He rushes home from work to be with us and this is truly where he wants to be. He is the best dad to Lilly and Reid and I couldn't ask for anything more!

3. Lilly and Reid. I am thankful for their smiles, their laugh, and their little personalities. I am thankful for their health. Sooo thankful for their health. I am thankful that they have all five of their senses, that I am able to hold and rock them and kiss and hug them every day. There is no way to list ALL of the ways I am thankful for my children and I am sure that I am leaving off some of the major things that I should've listed, but know that I am thankful even if I didn't list it.

4. Our family and friends. I love you all! You offer kind words and encourage us when we need a little push. You share your lives with us and we are so grateful!!

5. All of our blessings. I couldn't possibly list these. However, I am thankful that we are blessed enough to be able to help other out. At this particular time in our lives, (you know I have two babies and no job) time and money are pretty tight. However, here are a few things we do to show thanks for our blessing. I am not a cash carrier, but during the holiday season I always carry a few dollars so that I can put them in the salvation army buckets. I have to buy at least one toy for tots each year despite any money tightness. This last one is going to sound very cheesey but here it goes: I know that holiday shopping can get stressful especially since everywhere you go it is crowded and people are all over the place and some are cranky and rude...so while I am out--I try and smile at everyone. I know that is super silly, but I feel like being nice and polite is a way to bless others!

6. Ok there are more serious things to be thankful for but this is getting heavy, so the rest are small things that I am thankful for...starting with....Sonic drinks and Happy hour!! Oh, how these can turn around a rough date! Dt. Dr.Pepper with cherry and vanilla syrrup. Yummy!

7. Cable. The Biggest Loser, American Idol, Criminal Minds, How I Met Your Mother, Modern Familiy---these are the things that keep me sane after the kids are in bed and I just want to sit and be mind-less.

8. Being a stay at home mommy. Best job in the world!! Ok, this one is a little serious, but I LOVE it!!

9. Picture and memories. I have always loved photos and just sitting around and reminiscing some days.

10. Bubble baths and massages. These speak for themselves.

Ok, now to the 7 winners--you can do the 10 interesting facts or 10 things you are thankful for.

1. I am retagging Ginger for the 10 thankful things because I just love her blog, too!

2. Debbie at dining with debbie. Not only does she host Crock Pot Wednesday and the mother of my favorite doctor, she has a wonderful blog that combines good stories with good recipes!

3. Cori --she just had a beautiful baby girl named Katie!

4. Brittney -- she has a three year old named Trevor and 2 month old named Cruz. Reid and Cruz are already buddies.

5. My friend Kaci, we interned together. Anyway, she is a teacher and her church recently got a huge donation. Well, the church did the coolest things and gave the money to the people in the church for them to help others with. You need to go to her site and see how they spent the money--awesome is all I can say. I am so proud of you Kaci!!

6. Jennifer is a great mom who loves the Lord! Brody is close to Lilly's age and he is just a cutie!

7. Sarah --I was giving her an award but when I went to her blog to tell her about it--it just wasn't a good time! Anyway, she is such an inspiration with her attitude and beliefs.

There were so many others that deserve awards for great blogs-hopefully this will get to you all!

Now, in honor of Thanksgiving, here is my Crock Pot recipe for Green Bean Casserole. In true Sara Scott fashion, this one has cheese in it!

Ingredients
1 (10 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
3 ounces processed cheese (i.e. Velveeta®), cubed
1 tablespoon real bacon bits
2 (15 ounce) cans cut green beans, drained
1 (2.8 ounce) can French Fried Onions
Directions
Basically just mixing everything together (softening the cream of mushroom soup just for about 30 seconds in the microwave to make it easier to stir.) I mixed about 3/4 of the French Fried Onions in at the beginning. Then, about 10 minutes before serving, I sprinkled the rest of them on top. I cooked it on low for about 3 hours, and let simmer until I was ready for it. I made a double batch for yesterday and every one loved it and the leftovers were YUMMY too.