Move Over Coco Chanel!

 

Love this outfit!  She's totally rockin' it!

 

Seriously love this girl and her style!

Please, no! Not the Ice Cream Man again!

Is the Ice Cream Man ruining your life already, too?  Oh, good!  It's not just me then.  We've heard him once already and it sent my kids into full convulsions.  Don't get me wrong, I really have nothing against the Ice Cream Man.  He's a great symbol of vintage Americana.  I love the thought of a 1950's suburban street with kids lined up for their double scoops.  That's just not the image of the Ice Cream Man anymore.  Now you've got all of those character pops with the gumball eyes.  And before someone freaks out about me complaining about their Ninja Turtle popsicle they enjoyed as a child let me explain a bit.  I loved getting those too!  I really did.  I just don't see the point in paying $3 for one.  Not EVERY time he comes around, anyway.

I guess a lot of my frustration comes from my neighbor (yeah, don't get me started on my neighbors!).  She would buy my kids those popsicles after I told them no, and then expected me to return the favor.  So, now, much like Pavlov's dogs, when that bell, or in this case music, rings through the streets, my kids go running.  Last night, or maybe the night before (yeah, that's how bad my memory is) we heard the Ice Cream Man streets away Big Sis immediately started begging.  I told her no, and although she didn't cry she definitely made her disappointment known.  Over.  And over.  And over again!

So!  In keeping with my attempt to make our home a more happy home I went straight to pinterest and started looking up fun popsicle recipes.  I came across this one, but for some reason didn't pin it.  It turned out fantastic!  I really wish I could post a link and give credit to the blog I found it on.  The great thing about this recipe is the versatility it has.  So many possible flavor combos!

 

 

Jello Popsicles
 
1 3oz pkg Jello (we went with strawberry)
1 packet of koolaid (we went with lemonade)
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups boiling water
2 cups cold water

In a bowl, mix Jello, Kool-Aid, and sugar together.  Add boiling water, stirring until dissolved.  Stir in cold water, and pour into popsicle mold.  Freeze for 4 - 6 hours.  My molds couldn't hold all the liquid, so I poured the remainder into a plastic container and ate as a slushy before it fully froze.  It was really good!

Vanilla Memorial Day Cupcakes

I'm pretty much obsessed with cupcakes right now.  I bake some every chance I get, and try a different recipe every time.  For Memorial Day I decided to go with a basic vanilla cupcake with red, white, and blue vanilla buttercream.  Both recipes come from The Baker Upstairs.

Vanilla Cupcakes

1/2 cup butter, room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350. Line a muffin tin with paper liners. 
In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until creamy. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Mix in vanilla. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to the egg mixture in three additions, alternating with the milk. Mix until smooth.  
Scoop into paper liners, filling 2/3 full. Bake 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in pan for five minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

 

 

This batter came out so delicious, thick, and creamy.  However, Scot felt the cupcakes themselves turned out a little dry.  I think I'll try them again with a bit more milk and see if that moistens them up enough for him.  If so, this recipe will likely become my go to vanilla recipe. 

 

 

Vanilla Buttercream

 1 cup butter, softened
4-5 cups powdered sugar
2-4 tablespoons milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter until smooth. Gradually add 2 cups of powdered sugar, and beat well to combine. Add 2 tablespoons of milk and vanilla. Add powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, until desired consistency is reached. Add additional milk if too thick.



What's in a Name?

I don't know what it is about chicken names, but I just love them!  Naming chickens can be so much fun.  Some people get really creative and go with names like Attila the Hen (one of my favorites!).  Other's go with food names like Nugget or well known characters such as Foghorn Leghorn and Henny Penny.  My personal preference is farm-ish names and famous duos (Scot likes to buy chickens in pairs). 

Here are the names of all the pullets in my newest flock.  I love taking pictures of my birds, so get used to seeing a lot of posts of them. :D



CC - Easter Egger

Ginger - Easter Egger

Goldie - Golden Laced Wyandotte

Lulu - G's Easter Egger

Petunia - Easter Egger



Daffodil and Buttercup - Little M's Buff Orpingtons.
She calls them Yeyo Chickie, and if you call them anything else
she gets pretty mad at you.
 

Lavern and Shirley - Our working girls.  Rhode Island Reds are little egg machines.
 

Ouiser and Clairee - Cuckoo Marans
 

Lucy and Ethel - Black Sex Link. 
They're always getting their noses up in everyone's business
and are serious attention hogs.



Roadrunner - M's Silver Laced Wyandotte (she's hard to catch)
 



Officially a 1st Grader!

Little Miss is officially a 1st grader!  Seems like not too long ago she was watching her brother head off to Kindergarten and begging to go with him.  That little three year old sure grew up fast!

She had a fun last day of Kindergarten.  Full of bubbles, friends, and ice cream.  You'd think there would be no tears, but......
 

 

Nope!  She was given purple bubbles instead of pink.  Heaven help us all!

 
 

 

She hid under the playground until her "boy" friend talked her into coming out.

 

 
 




In the end it was ice cream that got her out. 
 

This girl had a blast hanging out with the big kids!

New hair, same cute face!

Someone got a hold of some scissors.

 
She cut the left side of her hair pretty short.  Little stinker!  The question was, do I take her somewhere or just try to fix it myself.  Most people told me to take her somewhere, but I just felt like I could do a decent enough job, so I went for it.  I figured I'd cut a little at a time and if I felt like it wasn't going well I'd stop and take her somewhere.

 

It actually turned out to be a really cute bob!  And we've gotten a lot of compliments.

 

 

I'm happy, she's happy....now let's hope she stays away from scissors.

 

 

The cutest messy face in the world!

Feeding the Goats

I love this country life we've picked for our family!  In our town there's a goat farmer who lets you come and feed his goats, chickens, and ducks.  $0.25 for a handful of feed.  Totally worth it!



Chicken Love
 

I love this one!

But feeding chickens was not why we came.  We can feed chickens at home.  We came for the goats!



How cute is this baby goat!?!

 I never thought I'd want a goat!  Being a born and bred city girl I never thought I'd want chickens, but here we are 20 chickens later (only 14 currently).  After loving on this cute little goat, I now want a baby goat.  Luckily I can just come here anytime. 

 

 

 

 

Mama goat kept trying to get us to feed her instead of the babies.

Little M telling the mommy goat, ever so politely, that she did not want to feed the bigger goats.  She wants to feed the small ones.

Just when we thought this trip couldn't get any better we get to see a baby goat nursing!  No wonder mama goat was so hungry!

If you live in the city may I suggest you take a trip out to the country?  You won't regret it!