Family Time

Today, the whole family is embracing the camera ~ together :)

First off, a fun morning of snow tubing.

And of course celebrating Action's 9th birthday

I love it when we can all get in the picture together :)

O{pin)ions

Today I've got two of my own o{pin}ions for you.  One is food and one is not.

Let's start with food.

Honey Chicken

Via ~ Recipe Select

NOTE:  the person I pinned this from had most of the recipe in the description box of the pin.  When I clicked on the link, it takes you to a recipe website, but I couldn't find this exact recipe on their site.  So, I went with the part of the recipe I could read and did what I thought for the rest.

My o{pin}ion.... This is a pretty good recipe.  Most of the family liked it, hubby was impressed with how tender the meat was, and with a few changes (less pepper, salt and paprika as noted in original pin) I will absolutely make it again!
Here's my version of the original recipe (with changes) You take 8 chicken strips, then "bread" them with a mixture of 1/2 cup flour, 1 Tablespoons of  each black pepper, salt, and paprika. Place into a 9x9 baking dish and bake for 10 minutes at 400.  While baking, make the sauce.  To do this you mix together:  1/3 cup lemon juice, 1/2 stick of melted butter,  3 Tbsp. Bbq Sauce, and  1/2 cup honey  After chicken has cooked for 10 mins, pour sauce over chicken and continue baking until chicken is cooked through ~ maybe 10 more minutes.  Serve and enjoy!

** Now on to a Pinned "tip".  I came across this pin the other day and knew instantly I would be trying it. **

Make Nail Polish on Nails Last Longer

Via ~ Raining Hot Coupons

I was instantly intrigued with this pin, not for myself, but for my girls.  Sassy and Smiley always want me to paint their nails, but it always seems to chip off by day's end.  My fingers were crossed that this would at least help.  My verdict.  Smileys nails were chipping hours later ~ typical for this little 4 year old and Sassy's.... 24 hours later it was already wearing off in spots.  So my o{pin}ion is that this tip doesn't work, but I tested it on kids so maybe it would work better for an adult.  I however, don't like my nails painted, so I won't be trying it on myself.  

Pinned anything good lately ~ or have you tried anything that you've pinned? 

I'd love to hear from you!

(You can find my boards here)

Let's hear it for the boy.....

Today is Action's 9th b-day!

My Little Man

who is so handsome and tried to arrive 9 weeks early

But ended up coming only 1 week early

This guy, my son,

Whose smile is contagious

Who is goofy

and my personal Rock Star

Happy Happy 9th birthday my sweet boy!

O{pin}ions

This week was much like the others.  Meaning, the pins I recreated were all from one of my many food boards.  I tell ya, one of these weeks, I'm going to actually make, create or try something that I've pinned that isn't food!

Well, let me take that back.  I did actually use some pinned pictures to inspire me to create my gallery wall.  I blogged about that yesterday, so if you want to see my new wall and the pins that helped inspire the finished product, click HERE to read all about it.

Ok, back to today.

My first o{pin}ion of the day is in the form of soup.

Paula Dean's Crock Pot Potato Soup

(VIA ~ Fabulous Food Blog)

Let me start by saying, I have no idea if this is actually a Paula Dean recipe.  I found it on Pinterest and it doesn't link up to Paula Dean at all, so there is your disclaimer :)  Ok, back to business..... Now, we like a good soup especially during these cold winter months and this one looked easy and good, two huge positives in my book!  However,  I think the soup fell a little flat. I personally thought it was bland and am thinking the next time I try it I my use the southwest style hash browns instead of the regular, plain ones. I do want to add that Sassy liked the soup a lot and ate many meals of left overs of it as well.

Next....

Cheese Bread.... Like Red Lobsters

(VIA ~ Praying for Parker)

Can I just start with a question. Does anyone go to Red Lobster besides to get the cheddar bay biscuits?  Ok, so I joke ~ there actually are other things on the menu :)  But my family loves us some hot Red Lobster biscuits, so when I saw this, I jumped all over it.  My excitement quickly diminished with my first bite.  Dry, bland, nothing like Red Lobster ~ boo!  Besides not liking the taste, Hubby and the kiddos also didn't care for the chunks of cheese in the bread.  This is definitely one pin that is being deleted from my boards.

Final one for the week

Lighter Chicken Pot Pie

(VIA ~ Martha Stewart)

A few things caught my eye when I pinned this recipe.  First the dish itself looks delish, warm, hearty and full of vegetables.  Secondly, it's a "lighter" version of a classic, who doesn't want to skimp on a few calories this time of year?  And lastly, it comes from Ms. Martha herself.  Of course it will be good.

Well my friends, in my o{pin}ion.  The picture is a million times lovelier than the flavor.  Hubby actually called this one "filler".  Nope, I won't be making it again, but it sure is pretty.

(Just so you know, you can find me on Pinterest here)

That's all for this week 

What have you been pinning lately?  

Anything you've loved or loathed?

Gallery Wall

I have had this picture pinned forever.  I think it was one of my very first pins.

(VIA ~ Just Be Blogged)

And, Jennifer from Hope Studios recreated it in her space.

(VIA ~ Hope Studios)

I also pinned this wall gallery.

(VIA ~ Love Charla Anne)

As you can see, I like the uniform look of the picture layouts.  

Square pictures.  Equal spacing.

And I finally found some time to redo the wall in our basement.  

When we finished our basement (5 years ago), I quickly found 6 of my favorite pictures, had them printed in black and white and tossed them into some UBER CHEAP Walmart frames 

that I spray painted black.

Here is what I ended up with:

Blah, boring and none of Smiley!

Well, things have changed :) 

I started with a plan.  A plan for 9 new pictures.  

I knew I wanted them to be 12x12's and I didn't want big clunky frames (simple, almost frameless).  

I also didn't want to spend the money to make the into canvas' for two reasons.  One, the $$ and two, 

I like to change things up and wanted to be able to swap out pictures without having to create yet another canvas.

I began frame shopping and ended up finding some at Michaels that I liked.  (This one is not the exact one I purchased, but very similar!)  Luckily I found them during the Christmas shopping season and besides them being on sale , they also had additional 25% off coupons!  Oh yeah...... :)

Anyway, with Hubby's help (more like I assisted the Hubs) we measured and leveled 9 frames.  Put the pictures in them and hung them up.  

~ Voila ~ 

So much better!  

BUT...

I loved it so much, and the wall is so big, and there were so many more pictures I wanted to use, that we ended up purchasing and hanging 9 MORE frames.

That's right 18 pictures in all.

AND I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!

Details:

Frames ~ Michaels (similar to these)

Photos ~ 12x12 printed at Costco

** The only thing I don't like is that Costco only prints 12x12 prints in a glossy finish.  So, there is a bit a glare.  In the future, I may look for a printer that prints 12x12's reasonably in a matte finish.

Get your Craft on

Someday Crafts

Friday Funny

I haven't done a "Friday Funny" post in a very long time.  And then today I saw this on one of my friend's facebook page.  It made me laugh, so I thought I would share it with all of you.  After all, who doesn't need more laughter in their life?

Have a great weekend!

Enjoy!

Dance Party

By no means are these pictures of high quality.
The lighting is bad.  The composition is bad.
Just so you understand, they will not be entered into any photo competitions, but they will be entered into my memory and hopefully into Smiley's memory, forever.  Because, this is us.  This is what we like to do.  We dance, and we play.  And like these pictures.  We aren't professionals, but we do have fun!

A bit of jumping, twirling and grooving.....

And lots of laughing and smiling!

Enjoy your day friends, and don't forget to get in front of the camera and capture some fabulous everyday moments with your loved ones so they can see and enjoy those memories over and over.

O{pin}ions

It has been for-ever since I sat down and wrote an O{pin}ion post.  And don't think that I haven't been baking, making, creating and trying any of the things I have pinned.  I have, and today is your lucky day!  Here are my o{pin}ion's of of a couple of meals I have made from my Pinterest "cooking" board.

First up ~ 

Cowboy Casserole

via ~ The Cutting Edge of Ordinary

I thought this was pretty good for a "tator tot" casserole.  Everyone in my family seemed to like it, and that makes it a winner in my book!  The only thing I really did differently, is I baked the bottom layer of tator tots for a bit just to get them hot and a little softened up, before I poured the hamburger mixture over them.  It created a nice base.  I will definitely make this again.  It was an easy, hot, comfort food for a cold winter day.

And...

Tomato Tortillini Soup

via ~ Mrs. Schwartz's Kitchen

I was definitely skeptical of this recipe.  I mean ingredients and only about 20 minutes to prepare and cook.  Don't soups need to sit and simmer awhile to gain all of the delicious flavors and seasonings?  This recipe proved my theory wrong.  It was easy, quick and good!  I was surprised at how flavorful it actually was and will absolutely be making this again.  Another perfect winter day meal!

What have you been pinning lately?

Finally ~ a Christmas Review... in pictures

Smiley, our goofy girl, who truly does makes us smile :)

Christmas Morning

Snow Tubing

Back to the 80's ~ Crimper Style

And,

Welcoming 2013 ~ in High Fashion