My Baby Brother is a Grown Man!?

Who is this handsome young man? My little brother! He turned 23 the other week and I can't believe it!

I remember when the car arrived in the driveway with my Mom & her newborn 23years ago.

I was only 7 years old but I remember it like it was yesterday. He is the only sibling that I remember distinctly seeing his gradual growth, because he is the baby of the family.

This baby now has a foot size way bigger than mines and has a black belt!

I call my own Son his name all the time (on accident) because he reminds me of my brother when he was his age.

I can't believe my baby brother is a man. A man that I am very much proud of and love so much!

It was nothing but a joy to go out for dinner and celebrate his life, last weekend with family and friends!

We enjoyed him and each other over Pasta, Soup, Salad, and Cake!

As we ate, laughed, sung, and talked loud I realized that my baby brother has been a man for a while.

I think I am just fully accepting it now.

I am excited to see his dreams and aspirations fall into place. I know that God has great and mighty plans for his future.

It will be as much of a joy to see him grow into an older man.

Despite his age, strength, and shoe size he will always be my baby brother!

(The simple Things)

Angel Chicken

Are you looking for a fancy looking chicken dish?
 Are you also looking for a dish that can be made in a crockpot? Angel Chicken is the dish you are looking for and I made it the other night! It was delicious & the family thought so too!!!

Ingredients:

5 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast

2 Boxes of Mushrooms

1/4 cup of Butter

1/2 of a 8 ounce Onion and Chive Cream Cheese

1 can of Cream of Mushroom

1 packet of dry Italian Dressing

1/2 cup of dry white wine(optional)

Melt butter in a saucepan.

Add in italian dressing packet.

Stir in soup ...

and cream cheese until it combines and melts.

Cut up 1 of the packages of mushrooms.

And add.

Add the wine...if you want.

Place the other package of mushrooms on the bottom of crockpot.

Place washed chicken on top of mushrooms.

Pour sauce on top of chicken.

Cover & Cook on low for 5 hours.

I served it over Angel Hair Pasta and with my Cranberry & Walnut Green-beans!

Dresser MakeOver for Organization

This old dresser that my MIL blessed my daughter with needed a little loving & needed to be organized. It is a very roomy and sturdy dresser but with so many drawers it gets pretty messy. I wanted to give it a makeover & make it more functional. The room theme I am slowly but surely making is butterflies.

Before

After

What I Used:

Paint & Primer in 1(Mauve Bauhaus and Stem Green)

Acrylic Black Paint

3 Different sizes of paint brushes
A pencil

A Butterfly Cut-Out

Finishing Wax

I painted each drawer in the green color with two coats of paint(with two hours in between)

I then traced the butterfly with the pencil on each drawer. The next step was outlining with the purple paint using the 2nd smallest paint brush.

The last step was outlining what belonged in each drawer with the black acrylic paint & using the smallest paintbrush.

Lastly, once everything was drawn, written, and dry I placed I layer of wax on each drawer.

I took my time with this dresser and did it over 2 days & in an open garage. I did not want my daughter smelling any paint in her room.

Linking up with:

Family Mornings at The Market

That is the Farmers Market that I am referring to in the title of this post. I have seen signs and actual Farmers Markets from my car plenty of times. I never had the pleasure of actually going to one, until a couple of weeks ago and now I am addicted. We have been going for past couple of Saturday mornings, after the Boys' Basketball Practice.

It was Mr. Wonderful's idea and it was such a great idea!

I love looking,

tasting,

and buying our weekly

produce from the Farmers Market.

Everything is so fresh and umm umm

good!

The kids love all the activities

and performances at the Market.

Especially the Boy!

Mr. Wonderful and I love the time we spend as a family!

Killing two birds with one stone! Shopping and quality family time!!!! Two birds that I enjoy killing:)

Kale Chips

My husband and I fell in love with these yesterday when I decided to be creative with the leftover Kale I had from making the famous Zuppa Toscana soup. I love Kale in soup and salads. Now I also love Kale as chips....and so does my husband. We loved them so much that we ate them so fast!

Homemade Kale Chips

Prep: 5 minutes

Cook: 15 minutes

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

1 bunch of fresh kale

2-3 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 450F.

2. Place kale on parchment paper and then on baking sheet. Evenly toss with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake in preheated oven for 6 minutes; toss gently. Reduce oven temperature to 300F and bake 9 minutes more. Let cool and serve immediately.