Make this Today!

Holy Moly Canoli! I just got the new Ree Drummond cookbook, Food from my Frontier and decided to try some of the recipes.  Ok, that's dulling it down a little.  I got the book, screamed like a little girl, and then neglected my work whilst I ooooed and awwed over every page. I have her first cookbook and use it at least once a week.   As you probably know I am kind of addicted to Ree Drummond's Blog Thepioneerwoman.com go there just once and your life will never be the same.

So on Thursday I made the fabulously delicious apple dumplings featured in the book.  Here's the crazy thing.....they are made with Mountain Dew! Yea, I wasn't sure what to expect when I tasted them, but let's just say they are so addicting and wonderful that this is the 2nd batch I've made.  I don't feel right giving you the whole recipe since the book just came out this week, so go get the book and you won't be disappointed.  I also made the fried chicken tacos for supper and they were delightful I just forgot to take pictures. I was to busy stuffing my face!

Even the boy will eat them! He doesn't eat anything!

Chicken update: all four of our chicks are doing great, though I think I might have three roosters and one hen! What horrible luck.  Aren't they adorable? This is Princess.

Chicks!!!!!!

Isn't this a fantastic picture of a just hatched baby chick? Lex was transporting it from the incubator to the brooder.

We rushed home from work on Wednesday to find that two of our baby chicks had hatched early! The other two were soon pecking their way out of their shells.  Hatching chickens is something every family should do.  My kids were so amazed and awed watching those chickens hatch.  We had candled the eggs throughout the incubation process and they saw as the chick developed and grew bigger in the shell, until Wednesday they were finally ready to enter the world.  I'll admit I get as giddy as the kid do.  There is nothing sweeter than baby chicks.

This year we decided to hatch a different kind of chicken then we did last year.  We ordered 6 Barred Rock chickens.  My kids call them Zebra chickens because the adults have black and white striped feathers.  As chicks they are mostly black with a couple of yellow spots on their heads and wings.  If you thought yellow chicks were cute, you aren't going to believe these! I don't have any pictures right now of them with their feathers all dry and fluffed up, but even my husband who is a chicken hater, could not believe how cute they are! 

This one was the last in the group to hatch. Lex named it Kazoo

This is Lilly holding Princess. (Lilly named it)

Lex snuggling with Ally. (Lex named this one too)

Me holding Tinker Bell. (Lilly named this one too.)

Little Ballerina

This week is National Lutheran Schools Week at my kids' school, and today is hobby day.  My daughter decided she wanted to dress like a ballerina, because next year she gets to take ballet classes.  I put two adorable little sock buns in her hair and she was the picture of cuteness. I had to post the pictures.  Enjoy.

I don't know where she learned it, but that girls sure loves to pose!

I'm still here.........

It has been forever since I've written a post.  It's not that we haven't been doing some cool stuff.  I just haven't been motivated enough to get on here and write about what we've been doing.  I've been feeling kind of down and out of sorts lately, but hopefully some nice Spring weather will bring me out of my funk. To bring you up to speed, here is my last month or so in pictures. 

Getting our Barred Rock eggs in the mail!

Carefully putting them in the incubator

The hardest part is waiting the 21 days needed before they hatch.

The kids' fierce faces and they prepare for their first tournament

Showing off their medals after their first tournament.

Making the most delicious Cinnamon rolls on the planet.  The recipe is from Ree Drummond's cookbook. Pick it up here.

My baby boy tested and go his Yellow belt! So proud.