Super Bowl Sunday

We are NOT a professional football watching family - we live two hours from Charlotte and I've never even been to a Carolina Panthers game.  Pretty much, if it isn't a home NCSU football game, my interest declines QUICKLY!  However, it does seem you have to watch the Super Bowl, or at least the half time show, so we got some game day food and let the kids watch for a bit.  Brian wanted to introduce the kids to pigs in a blanket, so we had those and chicken wings - it was all a hit.  The game was okay, most exciting part was when the power went out, but not enough to keep our interest as we turned it off probably sometime in the second half so as not to miss any of Downton Abby!

Bone licking good wings!

Hey Whitley Ann, you've got a little something right there... 

While watching the half time show with Beyonce, Lalon was the most interested with the singing and dancing (she's my musical one) and got so excited at one point, jumping up and screaming, "Look!! Look!!  She's got a microphone like me!!!"  Oh boy, I could eat her up.

Best. Neighbors. Ever.

We are so fortunate to live where we do - a great area, surrounded by great folks.  Our house is in the center of the other homes with kids late in elementary school and as a result, we hit the jack pot on hand-me-downs more often than not!  We love playing with all of our little friends and the things they have shared have continued to bring smiles and laughter.  I'm grateful every day for all of our blessings and this street with these neighbors is certainly one of them!

Whitley Ann (wearing a shared princess gown) sitting with Naylor in their new chair - so sweet!

Super silly Naylor sporting his new Superman outfit... he didn't believe me that the blue pants went on first then the red underwear part, so he just skipped the pants altogether.  The red piece was a tiny bit too big, so on his own, he grabbed his suspenders so that he could rock this awesome outfit... 

Some of our friends playing Ring around the Rosies with the girls - when I snapped this, they had all turned to listen to Naylor sing a song.  :)  

Mmmmm beef jerkey.

Brian's family arrived this morning and Pat brought with him the dehydrator we gave him for Christmas.  I'm not sure who was more excited about this, Brian or Pat, but let's just say they were both excited!!

They headed out just after dinner to get the supplies so that the meat could marinate overnight then we dehydrate the next evening.  We all agreed we should do some samplings before doing it all one way; it's quite possible they got carried away with that part...

They picked up a beef brisket and another piece, maybe a loin (?) and Brian started the slicing.  Pat was on the other side mixing up the marinade and then we set up the sample bags of Texas Pete, Cholula and Texas Pete Chipotle.

 

After doing those, I think the consensus was that the original TX Pete and Cholula were the best.  Then they got fancy and did some General Tsao's and two REALLY hot, hot sauces named Tongue and Fire.  In my personal opinion, I still vote for Pat's original TX Pete recipe and the Cholula!

The guys had an awesome time making it up and it was fun to see the process all the way through.

Other projects...

While I'm on the topic of projects, thought I'd toss this out there too...

I got the pieces together and painted and then while Dimitris had the saw thingy going, he cut down the 4x4 for me so that I could put this bad boy together.  It turned out just as I had hoped.  I think I'll tweak the bow, but was happy with it!


My version (with Inspector Lalon checking it's placement):

Two spots of inspiration for this bad boy:

Welcome Sign tutorial

Welcome Sign tutorial 2 (includes topper) I followed this one a little more, but either will work!

I also saw these on none other than Pinterest and loved the quotes... so I tried my hand at painting canvas.  Considering I have zero art skills, I was pleased with my very first attempt ever.  I think with some practice, I could do some cute stuff!

Inspiration: from Pinterest, although it seems the link / site is no longer there...

 My version for our screened porch:

This post is dedicated to Dimitris

I know I've been on extended hiatus... we've been busy having FUN!  I'll try to back-log and catch you up on things, along with pictures as I do.  I thought it fitting to resume blogging with the latest project under our belts thanks to Brian and our dear friend Dimitris.

D was up two weekends ago and I had shared with him and Brian a picture of some shelving / cubby things I wanted to build for the garage.  After some scheming, sketching, planning and two trips to Home Depot the project was under way.  They guys did an AWESOME job!!  I can't express enough just how happy I am with how it turned out.  They went above and beyond my dreams - really, I was just hoping for some plywood slapped together and they have gone all out and it looks like something straight from Pottery Barn.  I'm impressed and happy to be (momentarily) the garage envy of the street.  (I fully recognize this is fleeting as it will take us about 20 seconds to fill them with junk!)

After the guys were done I primed and painted it and then painted it again.  I picked up some hooks and Brian put those in last night.  This morning, Whitley Ann and I headed out on a mission to find baskets to fill these cubby holes to help keep some unity to the clutter (or at least help camouflage it!).  While at the store with my measuring tape, I began to think it would have been better to find some baskets first and then build around them... I'm not sure we have standard measurements, but I did find some things I hope will work.  I had wanted some baskets a little simpler, but this is what I could find that would work.  I'm hoping maybe the bright colors will help encourage the kids that cleaning up is fun!  

THANK YOU BRIAN AND DIMITRIS!!!   I **LOVE** my new shelves!!!  Now, to get them loaded up, so I can move the other stuff around and get my car back in the garage since it's starting to push 90* outside this week.

This is the photo of inspiration from a favorite blogger of mine: Memories on Clover Lane 

She also has a recipe blog: Cooking on Clover Lane that has lots of great hits!

 Higgins' new shelving unit completed and primed.

 Painted, hooks up, baskets in place!  

I'm actually testing out how I like the look before I load the baskets down and am unable to return them... although really cute, I'm leaning towards returning the far left column of baskets since they aren't quite practical for the space.  I'm going to feel it out today, but I see a return in my future!

Max and Harper, Part II

Harper was able to leave the Special Care Unit and rejoin her brother, mom and dad yesterday!  They will all be heading home on Tuesday of this week and I'm sure later in the week, Noah will return to complete their family of 5.  

I think NCSU made it to the Sweet 16 because they had these 2 cute, new fans cheering them on!

Max (L) and Harper (R)

 Harper (L) and Max (R)

Big brother Noah giving Max a bottle - sweet, sweet.

Welcome Max and Harper!

Friday, March 16, 2012 marked the day we added two new friends to our family!  Max Kennedy (5 lbs; 19") and Harper Quinn Shackelford (5lbs, 2 oz; 18") made their debut in the very wee hours of the morning Thursday arriving a tiny bit early, 35 weeks, but doing just great.  Mom Rikki and Dad Brian are both doing great too.

I was able to run over to Rex Hospital last night (Friday) to see Rikki and Brian, as well as meet little Max.  Harper at that time was in the Special Care Unit just for a little boost, but was doing great and looked like she would be joining the family back in their room in the morning.

Max was just as precious as he could be and so tiny!  I know Lalon wasn't much bigger, but it's truly hard to remember how little she actually was once I was holding him.  He slept the entire time I held him and let out one giant yawn... he had eaten just as I got there and had a belly full!

 Max Kennedy Shackelford

5 lbs; 19" 12:52 am 3.16.12

 Harper Quinn Shackelford

5 lbs, 2 oz; 18" 12:54 am; 3.16.12

We are so excited to have some new sweet friends on the street and in our lives!  Much congratulations and love going out to the Shackelford family of 5!

A crafty Saturday Night

I saw this on a friend's blog and knew immediately I was going to be trying it out!  Let me tell you, overall it was a pretty easy craft.  However, it's hard to get a profile picture of 3 small children, but on the bright side, I have them very well trained to look at the camera.  After the pictures, the rest of it went pretty quickly and I was so glad that I waited until the kids were asleep to do this.  I'm reworking the whole 'gallery' in our living room to add in some of Whitley Ann's pictures and I plan to put these in the mix too!  I'm including links to the two blogs (my friend's and her friend's with the instructions) in case you want to try it out yourself.  Overall, I'm pretty happy with how they turned out.  At the moment, I'm thinking I may change the background for the girls' silhouettes, but I'm going to see how they look on the wall before I do that...

My friend Lindsay's blog entry

Tutorial of How to Make Silhouettes

And here are my finished products - I was pretty excited that I actually finished a project!

Lalon 

Naylor 

Whitley Ann

Toddler Rules

Grandma T shared this with me; there are certainly days in this house that go this way!

Pinterest Projects

Well I partly haven't been blogging because I'm always checking out or doing a pinterest project.  My friend Rikki got me on to it and I've found so many neat ideas / recipes / stuff / etc...!  So, we've done a few and I have a good old wish list, just waiting for an occasion that I can say, "yes please, I'd like that!".  :)

Here are a few that we've done - they've been pretty fun!

Buffalo Chicken Rolls 

 Footprint Christmas trees (Lalon and Whitley Ann, Naylor was not interested!)

 Christmas ball decor 

Handprint Christmas Tree (top to bottom: Whitley Ann, Lalon, Naylor, Robin and Brian)  

Probably should have left the star off, but too late now!

Here are the links of inspiration that I've been working from - so fun!

1. Footprint Tree
2. Handprint Tree
3. Window Decor
4. Buffalo Chicken Rolls

THS Holiday Party

Last Saturday, Annie and Pa watched the kids and I headed to Charlotte to join Brian and the THS crew for a nice dinner out and some fun.  The guys had been there most of the week meeting and planning for the upcoming year.  Earlier in the day they had done a ropes course that after lots and lots of stories sounded like to me was a mix of Super Mario Brothers and Donkey Kong!

We had a FABULOUS dinner at Morton's and then headed out to Howl at the Moon at the EpiCenter.  It was a really fun night out, just sorry that I forgot we had our camera until the end of the night...

 Lisa, Lizzie, Robin

 Robin, Brian, Lizzie, Blaine

Kevin and Lisa

We're on a boat!

As we continue celebrating 35 years of Brian, we went out with our family and friends for a sushi dinner.  Brian loves, loves, loves getting a boat when we get sushi, so I was hoping that we'd get enough folks to join us so that we could get the boat for 10.  And we did!!  It was delicious and a good night with friends.  Afterwards, we were just across from Tony's Oyster Bar, so we had to drop in and see what was going on.

It was a fun time doing a little dancing and just having a great time with our friends.  We are so blessed with awesome friends and amazing family.

Here's a link with more pictures from the evening.  Brian's 10 person boat sushi dinner

Happy Halloween and Happy 35th Birthday Brian!

 Brian carried the patio umbrella to keep everyone dry - too funny, but it worked.

We had a great day for Halloween.  The kids and I made some breakfast and delivered to Brian in bed where he ate and then opened some presents and was off to work for the day.  Naylor and Lalon spent some time in the morning decorating some cookies with frosting and sprinkles and boy did they have fun.  I'll have to keep that on my list of things to do because it was entertaining for some time!

Late in the afternoon it started raining and so we were planning to just skip out on the trick-or-treating, but then as we were eating dinner some folks started arriving, so we decided to hustle and make one token stop so the kids could do their thing and we get a picture.  It was fun, but wet so we came back home.  Naylor and Lalon had just as much or maybe even more fun passing out candy.  It was so cute to hear them say "trick-or-treat" and "Happy Halloween" to all of the kids as they passed the candy along.

Once we were back in, we had some birthday cake.  It was my first attempt ever to make a 10 layer chocolate cake and it was pretty good for a first try!  I'm not sure how those ladies get their layers so thin, but this one was pretty darn great and I'll try it again - maybe around the holidays.

Brian has been helping Blake (our good buddy and neighbor) with his Trail of Terror, but there was too much rain to spook the kids last night without electrocuting someone, so it was postponed.  I think Brian was a little disappointed in that, but they are going to try again tonight once it's dry.  I think he had a pretty good birthday, aside from getting old and all... ;-)

 When I went to pass out some Halloween candy, Whitley Ann snuck some birthday cake!