Chickens are getting bigger

Here are a few recent pictures of the older chickens.  They are bigger now than our bantys were full-grown.  It's hard to believe that they will get even BIGGER.  No complaints, though - bigger chickens = bigger eggs!  And yes, they have names.  We decided to go to Disney for inspiration and named them as follows: Flora (white chicken), Fauna (speckled chicken), and Merryweather (whichever Araucana - blue egg layer - we keep).  For now, Claire has named the other Araucana "Aurora."  ('Cause they all have to have names, you know...)

If you look closely,  you can see the feathers starting to grow on Flora's feet.  Fancy!

Chickens!

Ever since we lost our banty hens to the new neighbors' cat a few years ago, I have been pining for new ones.  The neighbors (and their cat) moved away and we finally felt that we had the time and the secure yard to try again.  This time,  I decided against bantams - they were smaller, making them easier targets, and we had to constantly clip their wings to keep them from flying over the garden fence.  Instead, I researched some full-size breeds and then took a trip to the local feed store to pick them out.

We started with two - a Barred Plymouth Rock and a Light Brahma.  They were about a week old when we brought them home.

After just a week they had almost doubled in size!

They have doubled in size again, but I haven't taken any recent pictures.  They are fully feathered now and live in the coop outside.

A few weeks later I received an email letting me know that Auracana chicks had arrived (they lay blue eggs!)  I went and picked up two more - they were only a day old.  We only want three chickens, but there's a chance that one might be a rooster, so I picked up a 4th, just to be safe.  Thankfully, I have a friend who will take either a rooster or a hen.

Look at these little balls of fluff!

We're crossing our fingers for our fun brown and blue eggs by fall, but we may have to wait until the spring.  Sooooo excited!

Chinese Ice Cream Giver

Claire - "Daddy, you'd better move to China someday."
Erik - "Why?"
Claire - "Because I'm going to be an ice cream giver in China and I won't even drop it on the floor!"


BACKGROUND: About a month ago, Claire shared with us what she wanted to be when she grew up:

First an astronaut, then the president, then an ice cream giver, and finally a pastor (a crazy music pastor like Pastor Jay...her words).


It's nice to know that she'll at least be closer to home for the first two career endeavors. After that, I'm sure the People's Republic of China will welcome another ice cream giver. We ALL need more ice cream givers in our lives.

Is that nature calling, or the fire alarm?

Claire sometimes tries to find reasons to get out of bed after the last "goodnight." We finally found a way to make it simple for her - the ONLY reason to get out of bed is to use the restroom.

The other night, she got up (again) and Erik got on her case. To make sure she understood the rules, he asked, "When is the only time you can get out of bed?"

"To go potty," she said.

He shut the door, paused, and then opened it again saying, "And if the house is on fire. You can get out of bed if the house is on fire."

She responded, "But we don't have that problem."


(smile)
Let's pray we never do.

Southern California Snowman

My computer broke down a few weeks ago, leaving me stranded without my photo editing software and easy uploading ability. We finally got another one in place, hooked up the external hard drive (where all of the recent photos are stored) and now I'm able to get back to work!

The hundreds of pictures I've taken in the meantime is leaving me a little overwhelmed, so I thought I'd start with this - the day our front yard hosted an unexpected snowman on a very warm day. Erik had gone to Big Bear on a men's retreat with the guys from our Sunday School class and brought back an ice chest full of snow!

Claire was thrilled and promptly ran into her room to find her "snow gear." When she emerged, she was sporting a stocking cap, fleece gloves, and a long knitted scarf - PERFECT for a 90 degree day.

They got to work. It's a little hard to roll out a ball for a snowman's body when you're working with partially-melted snow and warm grass, but they did their best.

All we had were dried beans for the eyes (I think anything bigger would have overwhelmed our little snowman's face), but Erik found a gen-u-ine carrot for the nose. Now the snowman's legit, right?

Pretty cute, if you ask me! (And the snowman's not too shabby either...)

I had to put this shot in too, because I love the look on both of their faces.

Yep, that thermometer says 90 degrees. Poor Frosty...never stood a chance.

So here he is in all his glory, but it didn't take long for the sun to win.

Going...

going...

gone.

A Dress-Up Bin Full of Love

Claire said to me just now, "Mommy, guess what? I love you more than my dress-up."

That's just about the highest compliment one can receive from a 5-year old girl. But THEN she followed up with this:

"I love you more than my BARBIES."

Now I know I'm loved.

Move out of the way, kids. Cake coming through!

Many of you know that, 5 years ago, I got bit by the "fair contest bug" and have been entering food contests at the L.A. County Fair ever since. It pays our way into the fair, we have won some fun prizes (including cash!), and I have been able to experiment with different recipes. However, the one contest that I have shied away from is the cake decorating contest. The cakes on display are AMAZING (well...they are amazing for the first week - after that, they start to look a little like this.) I always stand at the glass case and stare in awe at the carefully placed gumpaste flowers, flawless buttercream frosting, and fondant masterpieces. All of this helps to explain my excitement when this came home from school in my 5-year old's backpack.

A cake decorating contest for average moms like me? SIGN ME UP!

So, armed with fondant/buttercream recipes, a bag of supplies from Michael's, 3 cake pans, and 2 cake mixes (plus a bunch of other "baking stuff"), I went to work. I baked the cakes on Tuesday and prepared the fondant/assembled the cake on Wednesday. My kitchen was a DISASTER by midnight Wednesday night, and the fondant was much harder to work with than the recipe led me to believe, but the cake turned out pretty nice in the end.

Here is the aftermath of my baking frenzy (I think I'll be finding powdered suger in nooks and crannies for years to come)...

...and here is my apron. I even found a powdered sugar footprint in the hallway.

and...

(drumroll please...)

TA DA!!

I wasn't too thrilled with the yellowish buttercream next to the white fondant. I thought I had white shortening in the house, but all I had was the butter-flavored stuff. Erik tried to make me feel better by reminding me that gold was another patriotic color, but, although I appreciate his husbandly efforts, off-white is no gold. Oh well.

Thursday afternoon I rushed home from work and got everyone ready for the PTA program/contest. Erik dropped me off at the door to the school and I proudly carried my cake right up to the cake table.

Two cakes were already there.

And then a feeling of horror struck me.

...

It was a KIDS cake decorating contest.

...

Erik took a picture of the table while I took my red face as far away as I could get. Here are the three cakes all in a row.

1/2 way through the PTA program (and prior to the "judging"), Erik saved the day by sneaking to the table in the back, grabbing the cake, and whisking it off to the safety of our car. (Whew!) A couple of kids nearby were a little concerned, though. Erik overheard one say, "Hey! I think that guy is trying to steal one of the cakes!"

Lessons learned:

1. Don't assume anything. If there is anything non-specific on a flyer from school (go back up and look at it), ASK for clarification before spending two days making a cake.

2. Fondant is not my friend.

3. Buttercream IS my friend - it hides a multitude of fondant sins.

4. Don't assume anything, EVER.