art every day month, day twenty-five (also titled: natty's thanksgiving top ten).

It was a beautiful and festive Thanksgiving at my home. 

Last year, we did a family craft for Thanksgiving. I decided not to do that this year. Namely because I would be cooking all day and wanted to focus on that whilst my family had fun in the living room with football games on the tv and video games on the Xbox.

After five years of not having to cook for Thanksgiving (because we were always going to someone else's house), I was so excited to just get in there and cook my own Thanksgiving dinner again. And that is NUMBER ONE on my list of thankful goodness this week.

I started the morning off making the Pumpkin Pie while listening to the sounds of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade coming from the living room.

Ahhh. NUMBER TWO. Pumpkin. Pie.

Once the pie was out and cooling, I whipped up the cornbread for my Oyster Dressing.

I put together the seasoning for my turkey.

After using some of my seasoning for the cavity and buttering my turkey under the skin with sage butter, I buttered the outside of it then added the rest of the seasoning.

Once the turkey was in the oven, I was able to take a short break. I horsed around with my kids, and took a few pictures of the little tree in my backyard. I am definitely thankful for the peaceful little view outside of my kitchen window (NUMBER THREE).

After resting my feet for a little bit, I got my pot of Collard Greens on.

Ahhh. Greens.

After a few hours, I took the foil off of the breast of the turkey, and got the turkey stock for the gravy simmering. Man, that turkey looked and smelled sooooo good.

NUMBER FOUR is definitely the aroma of good food wafting through my house.

I wiped my hands on my apron a lot. My now-wrinkled apron, which has seen countless lovely meal-making sessions since I got it. NUMBER FIVE. Thank you, Anna Maria Horner.

Eventually, everything was done, including the gravy, a pot of plain stuffing, and rolls. I set some of the food on the table, but not everything because my table is not big enough.

My husband started carving.

With our mouths stuffed full of yummy food, we went around the table saying what we were thankful for this year. I am thankful for these heartwarming "money" quotes from my family.

NUMBER SIX.

From my husband:

"Man, this turkey is bangin!"

"Dang, these greens are so good I forgot all about the pepper sauce!"

NUMBER SEVEN.

From my little boy:

(Right after my husband said, "I am thankful for," he interrupted and said) "for your kids?"

"I am thankful for my family too!"

"And I am thankful for God too."

(In a great news-anchor-sounding voice) "Bobby, what are you thankful for?"

NUMBER EIGHT.

From my baby girl:

Actually, when it was her turn, she didn't say anything. She just held up her dinner roll. She was thankful for bread. haha

NUMBER NINE.

From my oldest son:

"I am thankful for God always taking care of us."

"Oh my gosh; this oyster dressing is amazing!"

And it was amazing. It didn't last long. 

Neither did the pie.

Ahhh. Pie.

And NUMBER TEN on my list is MY FAMILY. Yes, it may sound cheesy, but I love them so much. I love everything about them. I adore their beautiful God-kissed faces.

The laughter and joy in my home is even better than the food. And the food is GOOD.

I hope your Thanksgiving was just as GOOD.

This post is part of You Capture this week.