Happy evening before Halloween everyone! If you look forward to the holiday season as much as I do then you know how much fun it is to create holiday themed dishes. Especially for the kids such as kiddie cocktails. There is so much room for creativity and fun during these exciting months.Read More
Summer 2016 Recap!
Happy and blessed Sunday, everybody! I hope you all enjoyed your first Sunday of September 2016. It’s hard to believe it’s already September isn’t it? We’re officially 75% done with the year 2016. I know, I freaked out a little when I sat back and thought about it in terms of percentages too. Anyway…Read More
Super Bowl Sunday-Funday
The day is finally here ladies and gentlemen…Super Bowl Sunday! I don’t know about you guys but this is one of the first Super Bowl match ups I’m excited to watch because I love both of the quarterbacks. I can honestly say whether Superman Cam walks away with his first ring or Peyton walks away with possibly his last ring, I will be a happy lady! However, what is any super bowl without the delicious snacks?! My family and I have our usual favorite get together/party snacks, but some snacks are so super bowl worthy they have to be made for multiple occasions. Here are the snacks I have prepared for today’s festivities 🙂
Chips & Queso:
I found this recipe on Pinterest a few years back and it’s actually quite popular. Most grocery stores even have an entire display dedicated to the popular “chips and dip” during super bowl time. However, for my dip I use Velveeta’s Queso Blanco and add 1 lbs. of seasoned ground beef (or turkey). Guys…it’s SO good. The instructions are easy: brown 1 lbs. of ground beef/turkey in a medium sized pot. Add your block of cheese cut into three pieces to the cooked meat. Constantly stir to prevent the cheese from sticking and burning until it has all melted together. Take your can of Rotel and mix into the cheese and meat. Pour into a bowl and serve!
BBQ Root Beer Chicken Wings:
YES- these wings are as yummy and delicious as they look in the picture. My husband saw this recipe on Tasty’s Facebook page about two months ago and it’s one of our favorites. If you would like to give it a try, head on over to Tasty’s Facebook page, like them, and try out this recipe (along with many of their other delicious recipes)!
The wings were still in the crock pot so I couldn’t get a picture with the sign lol.
Root Beer Floats:
These are pretty self explanatory. When are root beer floats NOT a good idea? Exactly. They’re easy, fun and delicious which are all the right description words for a successful dessert following yummy snacking foods. I am a huge fan of the individual IBC root beer bottles so guests don’t have to share, and wait to use one 2 liter bottle of root beer.
Banana Bread:
This honestly has nothing to do with the Super Bowl. I had overly ripe bananas and didn’t want to throw them away/waste them. Why not make some delicious banana bread to send home with our guests to eat for breakfast throughout the week? We’re already having root beer floats for dessert so the banana bread would be overkill. If you would like to make this delicious banana bread click here for the yummy recipe.
In addition to these delicious snacks for our Super Bowl get together our friends are bringing homemade quesadillas and nachos. It’s going to be a great evening in the Jamieson household and an even better food “cheat day” for me! Haha. What are your go to snack foods for Super Bowl Sunday? Feel free to comment and share below.
Enjoy your Super Bowl Sunday and I hope whoever you’re cheering for wins!
Brie <3
[02.07.16]
Special Olympics Montana State Games 2015
This past Thursday evening to Saturday afternoon was the annual Special Olympics Montana state games. I haven’t been to the games since November of 2014 when I was still pregnant with Jordyn, and oh man did it feel great to be back with the kiddos in that crazy, fun atmosphere. I took last year off to adjust to new mommyhood a.k.a. I was a walking zombie who still learning how to walk around and not fall asleep in the process.
This year my team, the Great Falls Lions (team B) took 4th place in our bracket level and I couldn’t be more proud. Three of my only seven players played every single minute of all FIVE games played on Friday and Saturday. Talk about determination and toughness!
They were so tired and worn out by the end of the tournament on Saturday afternoon, but there were so happy to receive their 4th place green ribbons. My kiddos were the definition of the Special Olympics athletes oath:
In addition to the opening ceremonies for the games the kids got to have multiple team and family dinners, a carnival and dance to keep them going and having fun when they weren’t playing basketball games. They even made some awesome posters during their downtime to cheer each other on. If that’s not teamwork I don’t know what is!
Jordyn even did some “cheering” and made many attempts to run out on the court and “help” the team play basketball LOL. She was also a huge fan of Billy the mascot at the opening ceremonies. She wanted him to pick her up and she followed him everywhere she could. haha. It was adorable. My husband was a major help by taking care of her while I was crazy busy “Coach Brie” for 3 days.
I can’t wait to see their faces again for the spring practices and games next year. Until then, go lions go! #LionPride
Brie <3
[11.15.15]
DIY Salt Dough Pumpkin Prints
I have had quite a few people ask me how I made the salt dough hand print/footprint pumpkin craft for my little one, and I wanted to share the very easy process with all of you. I got the idea from @jessiebroad’s Instagram page who made almost the exact same craft with her children. The only thing I did different was a few extra colors and details. Here is the step by step process for making the little print pumpkins.
You will need:
1 cup salt
1 cup flour
1/2 cup water
2 oz. orange paint
2 oz. black paint
2. oz brown paint
Parchment paper
Rolling pin
*optional* liquid glitter glue
- Combine your salt, flour and water in a bowl. Knead together until combined as a smooth dough.
- Place your salt dough in between two pieces of parchment paper on the counter. Using your rolling-pin flatten you dough until it is about 1/2 an inch thick.
- Take your little ones foot and with a little force press down on the left side of the flattened dough to make a distinct enough imprint. You will do the same with their hand on the right side of the dough. However, aim for the middle part of the dough for each side so you have enough room to cut around the foot and hand print.
- Using a sharp tip knife, cut around the foot and hand print in the shape of a pumpkin. Make sure to include the stem in the cut out. Once the pumpkin has been cut out place it on a cookie sheet.
- Heat your oven to 200 F and place your salt dough in there for an hour. Allow about 30-minutes to an hour of cooling off after it has baked for the hour before moving on to the next step.
- Paint your pumpkin orange using multiple layers if necessary to coat the entire pumpkin properly. Give the orange layer(s) a few minutes to dry.
- Using a smaller paint brush, using the black paint, outline the foot and hand print. Once you have outlined the prints, fill them in with the black paint using a slighly larger paintbrush to save some time. Using multiple layers if need be to completely cover the prints.
- Lastly use your brown paint to fill in the stem of the pumpkin. Once the brown paint has dried if you decided to buy/use the optional glitter glue apply as much as you want to the stem. Let the pumpkin completely dry for an hour and you have a lovely Halloween keepsake for your little one!
She your pictures of your little ones masterpieces below 🙂
Brie <3
[10.24.15]
DIY (No Carve) TMNT Pumpkins
Last year I did my first ever, DIY no carve pumpkins, by making three minions from the movie Despicable Me. After I finished the minions last year, I decided I wanted to make this a tradition by finding cool characters to recreate each year. This year, while on Pinterest, I saw a picture of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as a no carve pumpkin project. The picture I originally saw was a little more in-depth, because they didn’t only use paint. They used actual material for the eye masks. The other bummer was there were no instructions on how to make it, only the picture. So, using the picture, I decided to give it a try by free-handing what I thought needed to be done. I can officially say I’m satisfied with the results! I’ve had a few people ask me how I made the pumpkins so I wanted to share the instructions and steps with all of you who would like to give this a try this Halloween. You will need:
4 pumpkins
2 cans of green spray paint
2 oz. bottle red paint
2 oz. bottle blue paint
2 oz. bottle orange paint
2 oz. bottle purple paint
2 oz. bottle black paint
2 oz. bottle white paint
1 variety pack of paint brushes
Black permanent marker
*Helpful Tip: If you live near a Michaels, download the app on your phone to use the coupons to save on your purchase*
Day 1:
- In an open area (preferably outside or in an open garage) spray paint all four of your pumpkins until they are completely covered in green. I recommend doing two to three layers of paint so the paint doesn’t make a drip look on the pumpkins. Let the pumpkins sit outside (or in the garage) over night to dry.
Day 2:
- Place your pumpkins somewhere sturdy (I used the floor and/or dining room table) to paint the eye masks on. Put a garbage bag or large piece of cardboard underneath the pumpkins to make sure the paint doesn’t stain wherever you are painting. Now you will paint each pumpkin a different mask color. If you don’t trust yourself to free hand the masks you can always use a folded piece of paper to make your lines even on the masks. Give the masks about an hour or so to dry and do at least one more layer of paint on the masks so they’re dark enough. Depending on the paint you use you may have to do more than two layers.
- Now that your masks are dry, you will notice there is a black line underneath each pumpkin for the “shadow” of the nose. Use your permanent marker to draw this line underneath the mask. You can use black paint with a thin paint brush if you prefer. I used the permanent marker because I could be a little more precise and it dries extremely quickly.
- Now take your white paint and draw the mouths on THREE of the pumpkins. It will just be a white area in the shape of the pumpkins mouth, but we will use the black paint later to draw in the teeth. If you know a little about the TMNT you will notice each facial expression matches their personality. Take your time doing this part. I looked at the picture after each brush stroke to be sure I was doing it correctly. Once you have painted the first white layer for the teeth, wait about 20-30 minutes and add one more layer so that the teeth really stand out. There is a picture underneath step 5 showing you what they should look like.
- Michaelangelo (the orange one) is different from the others when it comes to designing his mouth. His tongue is sticking out. Using the permanent marker OR black paint, draw a thin line almost resembling a smiley face on the pumpkin. Now take your red paint and draw a rounded out wide tongue on the pumpkin. There is a picture underneath step 5 showing you what they should look like.
- While you are waiting for the “teeth” to dry, draw in the eyes. When drawing them think of making two triangles lying on their sides facing each other. Wait about 20 minutes and do another layer to make sure the eyes stand out. Your pumpkins should look something like this:
- Once the eyes have dried, using the permanent marker draw the outline of the pupils on each pumpkin. Then, using the black paint, fill in the pupils.
- Now you will use your black paint again to fill in the details for the teeth on each pumpkin. Refer back to the original start picture so you are able to recreate every detail and line for each particular pumpkin. Take your time doing this step so you don’t mess yourself up and have to start over.
- Put your pumpkins in a dry place to dry overnight.
The following day you should have pumpkins that look like this and are ready to be placed outside to be admired by your neighbors, and strangers in passing. I hope you guys enjoyed doing the DIY Halloween project as much as I did! Share pictures of your finished pumpkins in the comment section below 🙂
Brie <3
[10.08.15]
Jamieson Diaries
Today is the one year anniversary/birthday of my blog. Not only have I thoroughly enjoyed writing and sharing stories of my life and family, it has helped “re-spark” my passion for writing all over again. This blog has inspired me to reach deeper emotionally, mentally and spiritually. It has allowed me to connect with people around the world, and even make some blogging friends.
I had become so connected to this blog over time that I made the decision a few months ago to completely remodel the layout, but more so, become more organized about taking it even more seriously. l decided I wanted to not only make it more visually enticing and user-friendly, but I wanted to set personal blogging goals. I came up with the name Jamieson Diaries over the summer when I realized how often I turn to my blog to express any and all aspects of my life. I realized this was my public digital diary to share my personal and special moments with the world. I considered renaming it “Brie’s Diary”, but this blog incorporates, more than anything else, my entire family. Because this blog is about my life, and my family, why not use the name that connects my family together…Jamieson. The other changes I made regarding my blog was renaming the categories to fit more of my personality, commit to blogging more times about more variety weekly, and be more active on social media to spread the word about my blog, as well as, meet and follow other bloggers/blogs.
As I grow emotionally, mentally, and spiritually, so should the people and projects I put my time and effort into. I pray this next year of blogging brings about more readers who can personally connect to the content, more opportunities to spread to larger audiences, and more love to share with all of you.
Thank you again for your constant support of my blog, and I hope Jamieson Diaries is as fulfilling to you as it is for me.
Brie <3
[10.05.15]
Baker Orchard
Earlier this month my husband, daughter and I, went to visit the Baker Orchard in Centuria, WI. My (pretty much) brother-in-law, Ryan, his family owns the orchard. Ryan’s family lives in Minnesota, and since we were going to pass through Minnesota on our drive back to Montana from Illinois, we made plans to stop in Minnesota, and spend time with Ryan and his family. During our brief, yet fun stay with his family, we decided to go to their apple orchard and spend the day there. I happen to LOVE apple orchards, and knew it would be the perfect fall activity to wind down from a pretty hectic two weeks at home, in Illinois.
It was the perfect day to spend at the apple orchard. Seventy degrees, sunny, and not too crowded. We were able to check out the gallery filled with so many beautiful hand-made arts and crafts. In addition to the arts and crafts, there were yummy non perishable food items for sale as well, in the gallery. We bought a bottle of pure maple syrup, and Mexican hot chocolate to bring home with us. After we finished our shopping and tour of the gallery, we wandered out to the field and ate some extremely deliciously juicy apples. Jordyn had her first fresh picked apple that day, as well as, fresh cherry tomatoes from the garden that Uncle Ryan shared with her :-).
Here’s another picture of Jordyn thoroughly enjoying herself, running around the orchard, soaking up the fresh air.
By the end of the day we took a ride out to the “peace garden” and completely understood why it was called the peace garden. It was too beautiful to be able to describe in words, but it is truly a snap shot of how perfect God’s green earth can be. Kris, Ryan, Jordyn and I walked around the “peace garden”, took some beautiful and a few not so beautiful pictures while we were there LOL.
We ended the amazing trip to the Baker Orchard having drinks, eating food, and plenty of laughs with Ryan and his family. There were even a few games that took place. This was Kris’ first time at an apple orchard and it’s pretty safe to say enjoyed himself as much as I did. We ended the trip the only way you should end a trip as fun-filled as this one – with an awesome group selfie..
Thank you for the amazing hospitality you all showed us while we were in Minnesota. We had such a great time, and look forward to going back and spending more time with all of you. It’s very rare you meet people in person for the first time and feel like you’ve known them for years. Thanks for being amazing! We love and miss you all.
Brie <3
[09.30.15]
Starting Family Traditions
Reminiscing about my childhood is easy to do considering all of the greats memories I get to remember and share with others. It is because of my great memories that I want to be sure to pass the same feeling and memories on to my children. Passing down family traditions is something I want my children to not only enjoy, but I want the traditions to mean equally as much to them, as they do to me. I want to create memories for a lifetime, and ultimately they pass the traditions down to their children, and their children’s children, etc.
I belive building family traditions is an important concept in teaching children what makes the love of family so special in our lives. There are so many people in this world without families to love them or for them to love back, and I think those of us who are blessed enough to have the love of family often take that same love for granted some days. I want to be sure our children are aware of the blessing they call family. Throughout their lives, I want them to share the lessons and love they received from us, with their friends, strangers, and eventually their future children. These are the five traditions I plan to tart with my children and hopefully generations to come.
I will let my children pick one day out of the year (not their birthday or a holiday), to skip school and have a mommy child date. This is a one on one date I will make with each child. We will go to eat at the restaurant of their choice and do one activity of their choice. However, I also want them to use this opportunity to open up and talk to me about whatever may be on their mind at the time. It is all about them on “school ditch day”, and I want them to remember no matter how busy and crazy life gets, they are individually special and individually deserve time with Mom.
This one doesn’t need much of an explanation, but family fun night is important, because it’s FUN! Family fun night can be anything from playing board games to watching movies. Whatever it is, it is up to the family to decide together. I would like to do family fun night, bi-weekly. I figure as our kids get older, and start spending more time with their friends on weekends, they can set one evening to the side, every other week, for family bonding. They can even invite their friends over to join in on the fun with the family. I want them to always remember having tons of fun with their parents and siblings.
I’ve already gotten the ball rolling on this one, but it is something I want to continue doing. Kids change so much and so quickly within the first few years of their lives, and it’s nice to look back on family photos and see the progression. Jordyn is only a year and two months old, and we can’t believe how much her face has changed since our Fall and Christmas family photos last year. As they get older, one family photo every year would be perfect. Preferably during the holidays :-).
More than eating the food, I love the fellowship sharing a meal brings to the table (I know you like my creative pun). Sunday is the day of praise and worship, and nothing ends a day of thankfulness like a big home cooked meal. Sunday dinners are something I have already started within the last few months. Coming from a huge Caribbean family, sharing a huge meal with a huge group of people is something I have loved since I was a child. In the Jamieson household, Sunday evenings are meant for big meals, full stomaches, complete happiness, and being grateful.
On the days we are taught everything is about US, I want to teach my children the complete opposite. I want them to understand the gifts and special treatment they receive on these days are a privilege many never experience. More so than teaching them their privilege, I want them to understand the importance of service before self, at a very young age. This is something our children won’t be able to understand until they are a bit older, but you can’t start them too young, in my opinion. Being in the military means we will be living in different states during these times throughout their lives, and will need to look for our local homeless shelter or mission. The kids will still get to have their big meals and presents, but my prayer is that when they eat or open their presents, they have a completely different appreciation for the lives they live, and privileges they receive on a daily basis. I want them to learn the beauty of compassion and to share it with others.
If you have a family to love, always remember to love them unconditionally.
Have a happy and blessed Sunday everyone!
Brie <3
[08.23.15]
“Ain’t My Type Of Hype”
You can call this my official “we’re leaving for Chicago in exactly one week” celebration song of the day. Besides, what other excuse do I need for this song besides it being Friday, a great song, and the best dance battle in a movie?
Exactly.
Here is the dance battle from the movie House Party, and the actual full song by the group Full Force (who played the bad guys in the movie).
Have a fun and safe Friday, everyone! 🙂
Brie <3
[06.05.15]