Here they are!!!!

These are our precious chickies! They are so precious. We started with 3 but unfortunately lost one over the weekend. Hopefully the other 2 will live for a long time. So far so good....
Their names are Chicken Little (black one), Daisy (smaller red one). Bacon was the other red one...may she rest in peace ;).

Pics of the coop

The chicken coop is complete! Hooray! Just a few more finishing touches and the chicks will have a wonderful home. Pics of the chicks coming soon!

Hard workin' boy

So cute!

Happy Spring

I found a fun and super easy recipe to celebrate the spring season. Here it is!

Bird Nests (makes 1 dozen)

1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup shredded coconut
Handful of M&Ms or similar candy

Melt chocolate chips according to package. Mix in coconut. Spoon onto wax paper. With spoon make a small indention. Place 3-4 eggs on top. Let set.

Spinach Quiche Recipe

I have been using this recipe for years and have really enjoyed making it for the fam. Whenever you have a little time on your hands to make a yummy and versatile meal, I highly recommend this one.

Single 10 inch pie crust (preferably homemade...yay!)

1/2 cup chopped onion
3 garlic cloves, minced
6 eggs, barely whipped
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
3 cups mix of fresh chopped spinach, broccoli, green/red pepper
2/3 cup sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 cup mozzarella
**The cheese is very forgiving so you can substitute or just use one kind of cheese.

Line pastry. Bake at 450 for 8 minutes. Remove foil and bake additional 4-5 minutes. Remove.
Reduce oven to 325. In large skillet saute onion and garlic in olive oil. Set aside.
Beat eggs slightly. Stir in yogurt, whipping cream, salt and pepper. Stir in onion mixture, veggies and cheese. Pour into pastry. Bake for 45 minutes or until cooked through. Let stand 10 minutes.

It should turn out something like this.......

A different kind of chip

They look kind of funny but oh do they taste delicious! Kale chips is the name, eating them is the game. Have you ever had them? If not I highly encourage you to try them. They are super easy to make and a healthy delicious snack. Here is the recipe.....

Take a bunch of kale and wash it off. Dry the leaves extremely well as the moisture will keep them from getting crisp.

Cut the leaves off the stem and cut into smallish pieces.

Put leaves into a bowl and toss in olive oil (about 2 tbsp.) until well coated. Place on baking sheet and sprinkle some sea salt all over the leaves. You can add other spices if you wish.

Put into 200 degree preheated oven. Let bake for about 45 minutes to an hour. You can check the kale half way through and stir the leaves up a little bit so they bake evenly. Then turn up the oven to about 350 - 400 for about 10-15 minutes or until the kale is a deep dark green and crispy. Take out of oven and cool. If the leaves are still not crunchy at this point you can keep baking them until they are. Just watch them closely because it's easy to burn.

Store in a sealed container and keep in fridge or cool place; if you don't eat them all first.
Enjoy!

God's grace

Have you ever been through a situation in your life that just ticked you off? Then after a while you begin to see how God's grace was so evident in it that you feel so humbled? One of those experiences happened to me this week so I thought I would share.
I finished up our taxes about 2 1/2 weeks ago and we ended up getting a bigger refund than expected. Thanks to our energy saving additions..... Stephen and I were both so excited about it. Thank you God for providing for us to have a little cushion in savings.
Then last Friday I received a letter from the IRS stating that I didn't claim some income from 2008 and we owed quite a bit of money. I was upset because I always claim our income. So after a couple of days calling, waiting in line, waiting on the phone, and trying to figure out what was wrong, I found out that somehow the IRS doesn't have the income documented. Theories aside, it's just not there. Unfortunately I can't pull out my 2008 return because it's gone from our computer virus last year. (Lesson learned: print out everything!) Any way I turn I can't prove that I filed that particular income. It's me vs. the IRS. Guess who's gonna win. Bummer. So I have had to suck up my pride and accept the fact that maybe I messed up somehow. All that to say, yesterday while I was waiting at the IRS office, God told me that He provided the money for the fine through our return this year. Gulp. Sigh. Relief. Thank you God for providing the money. Thank you that it happened at just the right time. He is so good. Even though our return won't be as big as I thought it would be, God is going to take care of us anyway. He is so good, all the time: even in those circumstances that make us upset and frustrated. Is there anything in your life right now that God is showing His grace to you? I would love to hear!

Misc. fun

Jubal loves Leggos. He has gotten some cute little sets in the past couple of years and has done so well at putting them together. This past Christmas he got a big set from my folks. He loves it! He put it together once already and then took it apart. One day this week when he didn't have school, he was motivated to get a lot of it done. He finished it a couple days ago. It's definitely blog-worthy to post a picture. However, the picture does not give his hard work justice. There are lots of little parts.
He put together most of it himself. I just sat and watched for moral support. Cute.