my pink life, mi vida rosada

Thanksgiving was fun! We gathered (as usual) at my Aunt's house in the country. The little cousins ran around and played and had lots of fun. They always get together on the Wednesday before for a bit of fun in the country -- they roast hot dogs and make s'mores and try to sleep in tents. This year, the big girls succeeded. One of them even slept late-ish -- until 9:30 -- in the tent! The boys and the little girls ended up sleeping inside, after starting out in tents, too. After a lot of running around, the kids all ate first, close to noon. Once they had cleared out, the rest of the family was gathered up for dinner. We had a "kids" table in the kitchen, where the 20-40's adults sat, an "adults" table in the dining room, where the 60-95's sat, and a mixed table in the living room, with some from each age group. My Aunt had found place cards from a long time ago and mixed us all up -- somehow we usually end up sitting with our own little fam...

I am grateful for so many things, starting with my family and coming full circle at my family again. What would i do without them? My family lives close by, and they help take care of us financially, spiritually, and in every way in between. We eat Sunday dinner together after church. My mama goes to yoga class with me. My sister comes over to bake. My brother tells us jokes and asks for haircuts. My dad talks to me about money and makes me do crossword puzzles with him. My mama takes me shopping. My grandma just likes to show us off. The things that i get to do with my family make me so grateful for them. Really, really grateful. Sweet hubby is inviting me to dance. I'm pretty darn grateful for him, too.

Also known as "Self Saucing Puddings," where "pudding" means cake. My sister and I did a test run a few days ago, and decided that this recipe would work for our contribution to Thanksgiving dinner. I mean, with only five ingredients, how could we go wrong? A little bit of self rising flour, brown sugar, butter, eggs, and ginger later, we had some very tasty little cakes in cute little tea cups. Forget using ramekins -- tea cups have handles! For the actual day, though, we needed to make more cakes that tea cups (I only have 12 fiesta tea cups -- I think 12 is actually a lot, most days!). We decided to use some small latte bowls, too. And when we had just a little bit more batter from our third recipe, we decided to use a large tea cup, too. (That large tea cup? It will be staying at home for Thanksgiving. No one needs that much of any one dessert one Thanksgiving day.) They smell good and look pretty too! I'm so excited to share them with the family!

that my sister canceled our running date. I'm still not over the cold from 2 weeks ago. Gross.

for a few days off of school!

for sweet hubby, and the millions of things he does each day to make my life nicer.

that my new year-round notebook finally arrived!