farewell fall

I have so much to be thankful for. Monkey Pants woke up yesterday in the best mood ever like she just knew it was Thanksgiving. I laid in bed for a bit and watched she and Shane down on the floor wrestling and giggling and then reading books and I thought, boy I am ever blessed. So thankful.

Thanksgiving was nice and simple and relaxing this year. Brunch at my mom’s with my family and dinner with Shane’s family. Some times I volunteer to bake pies and yummy dishes which are great but also a lot of work. More and more I am learning my limits. I felt overwhelmed this year so I was smart and brought the same potato casserole to both places. And may I say it was amazing. Not the casserole, I mean it was good but the lack of clean up is what was amazing. One bowl. Two casseroles. And done. Every one and their mother probably already has this recipe, but I’m posting it anyway. This makes one casserole, I just doubled it.

Cornflake Potatoes

One 2 lb bag of hash browns thawed (I like the chunks, not the shavings)
One 16 oz tub of light sour cream
1 can cream of chicken soup
8 oz shredded cheddar cheese
2/3 cup chopped onion
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
2 cups cruched up corn flakes
1 Tbsp. butter melted

Mix the first 7 ingredients in a bowl and dump in a casserole dish. Bake at 350 degrees until bubbling. Sprinkle the cornflakes on top. Drizzle the butter on top of that and bake for 10 more minutes. Nice and gooey and easy.

Did anyone venture out shopping today? I went and got some Christmas shopping done. It was kind of nuts, but I did get some good deals. It was fun to buy for Marlie because this is the first year I think she will get pretty excited about her gifts.

We keep it small in the Duggin household. Shane and I just do stockings for each other and in effort to keep Christmas Christ centered instead of “stuff” centered, we made the decision that we would give our children 3 gifts every Christmas. Three gifts because that is how many gifts Jesus was given. So don’t tell her, but this year Marlie is getting a cute little apron (she likes to pretend cook) a pop up tent that looks like an igloo, and an Elmo doll (she calls him Mo). Not a laughing or jumping or dancing one. Those scare the poop out of miss Monkey Pants. Just a cute huggable one. I can’t wait to see her pull him out of a box.

Farewell fall. Thank you for the leaves and the chai tea and the cardamom candles. Its time to get out the green and red. We’ll be decorating this Sunday. Decorating for Christmas is always one of my favorite days of the year.

But before that I have my 10 year high school reunion tomorrow night. I am not at all nervous (lie) and I’m just going to throw on something I already have in my closet (or the outfit that took ten tries to decide on). I helped plan this shindig so lets hope all goes well.

Have a good weekend!