Last Day of Old Year

A few of my favorite pictures from the Holidays....

 

Crazy Snider Christmas hats!



 

New Year Resolutions to come!

Happy New Year!

We haven't fallen off the edge of the world!

Hello readers! (If I have any left!)

It has been an insanely busy couple of months!  Our family is doing well and I promise to be back in the New Year with fun updates about everything...along with some new and tasty recipes! 

Merry Christmas to all!

See you in the New Year!!!

1st Trip to a Pumpkin Patch!

In a moment of firsts....Our First Trip to a pumpkin patch happened this Sunday afternoon. I learned after the fact that it was both Preston and Cate's first time to visit a pumpkin patch! And I couldn't remember the last time I had been to one...so it was a good day for us all.

We visited Gaddert Farms just outside of Buhler. They had a pretty neat little set up! Cate rode a pony...which she wanted to do soo badly, but wasn't so sure of once she was on! She went down a huge slide (made of plastic drainage pipes) with daddy, rode a train, played in a sandbox, and of course went out to the pumpkin field on her first hayrack ride! We had a great time!

Cate in the Pumpkin Field.

Cate on the Hayrack Ride.

Cate and Mommy.

Cate and Daddy.

Cate's favorite part of the day...the sandbox!

Fun Find!

I just found the cutest new way to decorate!

Happy Tape is this really neat website that sells Japanese Washi paper...or essentially colored masking tape.

It is super cute and there are a ton of colors and designs! I can just see it dressing up packages, scrapbook pages...and even my pumpkins for Thanksgiving. Or my sister's wedding....

They even have a cute little blog that demonstrates more ways to use their tape. I am definitely going to be ordering some rolls for myself soon!

Fall Time

It's official! Fall is here...and has been for about 10 days, but it is finally starting to feel a little fallish in the weather! Although I would prefer it if it was about 10 degrees cooler! Dance has started again (hence my lack of recent blogs). And life is getting back to a schedule. I wish we could have the lazy days of summer with the cool weather of fall...that would be ideal! Snuggling up with tea and a book and no obligations...hmmm... :)

Yesterday I decided to do a little craft project. (Preston makes fun of me and all of my craft projects I always have going. I think I may have missed my calling. Martha Stewart, are you looking for an intern???)

I took this project out of a Lowe's creative ideas catalog. They purchased bell-shaped glass shades, flame-less candles, and black saucers. I had some old lawn lights that I turned upside down and used. (I love it when the materials for my projects already exist in my home!) I took out the old batteries and washed and dried out the lights. Then I used some black paint and a paint brush and painted on eyes and mouths. And wha la! Five too cute little ghosts to line my porch for Halloween!

I will place them back on their black tops and add a little tea light so that they glow. Now to buy some pumpkins! Happy Fall!



PS. Shout-out to Cousin Erica who is getting married this Saturday! Congratulations and much love! ~The Sniders

Fair pictures!

Not much time today...but I thought I would share a few pics from the State Fair. Nothing fantastic...just Cate having a good time! :)

Update on the chickens coming soon.......

The Fair is HERE!!!!

The Kansas State Fair is in town!!! And I am a self-proclaimed State Fair junkie! It probably has to do with all the years I spent in 4-H....but anyways, I am so excited. I was driving in town today and there was a ton of traffic with people bringing in tractors, concrete displays, animals, and all kinds of cool things! The atmosphere of it all is soo intoxicating!

Now for those of you who have never been to a State Fair (or even if you have), there is nothing like the Kansas State Fair. (At least in my opinion.) The place is like it's own city for 10 days. There are over 1,000 exhibitor booths, and 300+ food booths and that doesn't include exhibit entries! Such as the things the 4-Hers bring and don't forget Open Class! There are foods, clothing, photography, arts and crafts and etc, etc. It's awesome! lol...I know I am a little obsessed...but I want you to understand that this is not just some little State Fair; this is a huge event! I've been lucky enough to see if from many aspects. As a 4-H fair participant, on FACS bowl teams, and as a exhibit participant. I've also worked in several food booths over the years as well. It is quite exciting to have been able to see all these different aspects of the fair...and it's probably why I like it so much. :)

In the past, I have been known to be at the State Fair 8 out of the 10 days! In recent years, it hasn't been nearly that much...but this year I decided to try my cooking skills again and enter the food's open class. So I am sharing with you what I made. And if you are at the fair, be sure to look and see if you can find my cookies! Have fun!

Buried Cherry Chocolate Cookies

1 10-ounce jar maraschino cherries

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1/4 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1 egg

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

1. Drain cherries, reserving juice. Halve any large cherries. Beat butter with an electric mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add the sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat until combined, scraping bowl. Beat in egg and vanilla until combined. Beat in cocoa powder and as much of the flour as you can with mixer. Stir in any remaining flour.

2. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place balls about 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Press your thumb into the center of each ball. Place a cherry in each center.

3. For frosting, in a small saucepan combine chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk. Cook and stir over low heat until chocolate melts. Stir in 4 teaspoons reserved cherry juice. Spoon 1 tsp. frosting over each cherry, spreading to cover. (If necessary, frosting may be thinned with additional cherry juice.)

4. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes or until edges are firm. Cool on cookie sheet 1 minute. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool.

Enjoy!

What's for Supper?!

Time for a little segment on food! One of my favorite past times is eating. :) I love food! Especially comfort food....

Here is a quick background on my culinary expertise :)

I grew up doing 4-H and my mom was an ex-home EC teacher....so I learned how to read recipes and correctly measure ingredients; when to use a dry measuring cup versus a liquid, etc. I was a pretty good baker. When I was 14, my mom decided that I should learn how to be a "cook" as well...so that way I could make something other than cookies and bread. So one night a week it became my "job" to cook supper for the family. There was no recipe for how to properly cook German sausage or pot roast. I had to learn what was the correct heat and time needed for all of these home cooked meals I loved. Casseroles were also a big staple at my home...being an economically smart way to stretch the groceries. So I learned what items should always be in the pantry and what items should be pared together and which should not. I am very grateful for these lessons...it has made me a fairly successful cook in the kitchen. Although I am no gourmet chef, like those on Top Chef! I am not afraid to try something new! And I also feel comfortable enough to take recipes as a "suggestion" and often substitute one ingredient for another with no hesitation. With that...I plan to share with you a few of the meals I will be making over the fall. I am all about homemade and quick. So with that, a look at what we had for supper last night...

In honor of all those currently harvesting apples ;)

Brown pork chops in a small amount of oil. Takes about 2 1/2 minutes on each side over medium heat.

Place pork over sliced apples and onions. Drizzle mustard and honey mixture over top.

Bake for one hour in a 325 degree oven.
Bon Appetit!

Holidays

I just got my new Holiday Catalog for Uppercase Living today and I am sooo excited about it!!! Not that I want to go on and on about it here...but Preston is out of town and there is no one else to tell! Even if he was here, he doesn't get nearly as excited about this kind of stuff as I do :)



The Holiday Catalog is soo cool!!! Uppercase Living has introduced tons of new product. There are this adorable turkey placemats that are actually chalk vinyl, there are place card sets, new iron on vinyl, and some awesome gift sets! I want one of everything! lol. This is why I get in trouble with this company. I try to sell and make some money, but I always just end up buying stuff for my house. haha. This catalog has also gotten me into thinking about the holidays...with this hot weather we have been having, I could go for some snowy days, cute sweaters, and boots. Plus some yummy hot chai tea!



Looking forward to cooler weather and the joyous holidays!

~Sarah

Coop Update

Busy day today...but I thought I would post some pics of this weekend's activities~

Chickens roaming around. They are getting all their feathers!

Cate playing around the coop. Preston built a rectangular frame for the outside run.

Preston working on the roof.

The finished roof!

(to the right)





The start of the inside part....this is where the "girls" will stay at night and where we are going to be putting a roosting box, for when they lay eggs!

And last of all...a little video of Cate serenading her daddy as he worked.

Till next time!

~Sarah

Time to Build a Chicken Coop!

The chickens are growing so fast! We decided this weekend that it was time to start building their run so we can get them outside. They will out grow their box on the table within the next few days! When we originally thought we were going to be able to build an actual coop, we went searching the web and found some really neat sites!

This YouTube video is one of our favorites. And is what we were planning on building, until we found out that we can't build a structure like this in town. But we are able to build a run and so we based our outdoor run off this instructional video.

There are some really cool coops out there. I think this one is pretty neat! It has wheels so you can move them around your yard, which makes clean up nice and easy! It's a bit pricey though...but if you don't want to do the building yourself, totally worth it. I also like the website diychickens. It gives some really neat pictures and gave me some good ideas of what we wanted. They also have plans available for sale for those who feel they need some instruction. And backyard chickens is once again a favorite of mine! It has over 450 designs and pictures on it!

But we went for simple. We took a trip to Home Depot Saturday night and purchased 10 2x4's, chicken wire, a sheet of plywood, and nails. We will be going back to buy some more to put the roost in, in the shed. But these are all the materials we need to start the run. Preston put together part of it that night.

He added 4 legs and put another rectangle on top; so we ended up with a big rectangular box which we will enclose with chicken wire. More to come soon!!!

~Sarah

A few of my favorite things....

Time to take a little break from the chicks and share my latest art project. I am a big fan of arts and crafts. It's something I've always had an interest in, but didn't actually think I was good at it. So I stayed away. It's only recently...in my more adult years, and in my quest to decorate our home on a budget, that I have realized that I am fairly good at painting and little crafty projects! I also really like it. The fact that it is a way to release stress is also nice :)



I painted Cate's room last spring and thought that I had finished it up. It was the first room in the house that I actually made curtains for! Which is sad, 1.considering that we have lived in this house for 3 years, and 2. because I am a very capable seamstress! But the walls were looking bare to me and so I thought I should put up all the ballerina pictures I have accumulated over the years. I didn't want to spend a lot on frames though and I wanted them to match her room. Walmart has these great photo frame sets that I was able to purchase for a very reasonable price. Plus if you ship it site to store, you only pay tax and no shipping! It's a great deal really and I use it all the time! Then I went to Hobby Lobby (a must store for any arts and crafter!) and bought a bottle of spray paint and one bottle of blue acrylic paint and one in pink. (I like the brand Folk Art.) It was a very easy project and one that I enjoyed thoroughly. I added some ABC's at the bottom, that I bought from myself through Uppercase Living. I also added a little saying above her door:



And I have to say...I really like the whole room! I can officially say that I am done with her room! Now on to the next room....the basement and bathroom!!!

Cheep cheep cheep!

The past two days have been full of little cheep cheep cheeps! Our little chicks are currently living on our dining room table in a box. It is the safest place for them for now and we are enjoying being able to watch them and learn all about their little personalities. For those of you wondering what made the Snider's decide to raise chickens, let me explain a little bit more about how these became to be and how you can raise some of your own!

First of all we had some friends that decided to raise chicks for eggs...and our little girl was staying at their house and loved helping out with them and playing with them so much. So we thought to ourselves, "Let's do some research and see about having a few of our own! The fresh eggs would be great to have, and we can use the "mess" they make as fertilizer for the garden. It's a win win!" Well sadly our city has an ordiance against raising fowl in town :(
BUT wait! There was a loop hole! If we said that we were going to be raising them and showing them...then we could have them. Welll.....my sister, who is in 4-H, is hoping to get mom to let her show chickens and so we said we would keep them ;) lol...so that's our story and we are sticking to it. We ok'd it with our neighbors and we are good to go!
So here are some pointers on how to start some backyard chickens of your own:

• Research, research, research! Google is a great place to start. A few of my favorite sites are http://www.mypetchicken.com/, and http://www.backyardchickens.com/, and of course youtube. You want to find a breed that is going to produce the amount of eggs you want weekly, can handle your area's weather, and deals well with confinement. You also may want to find a breed that is docile, espeacially if you have children, or just don't want to be pecked yourself!
  
• Second of all check to make sure you city allows chicken! And what their requirements are. How many chickens are allowed? Can you build a coop for them? Do you have to show them? :)
  
• Next contact your local feed store or farm supply store. They are a great source and can help you get started. If you are looking for egg layers only, you want to make sure that you buy pullets! This is something we didn't double check...I just assumed the lady knew what I meant when I told her we wanted chickens in the backyard for eggs...and we are hoping we didn't end up with a rooster!
  
• When you pick up your chicks you will also need to buy the following supplies: Pine shavings (cost us $6.50), starter/grower feed (cost us $4.85 for a 5lb. bag), chick waterer ($4.75), and a baby chick feeder ($4.39). You will also need a heat lamp, which you can use again in their coop during the winter (we are currently just using a regular desk lamp, which is what the feed supply store recommended for 3 chicks). Plus our chicks were $2.50 apiece...some places sell them as cheap as 50 cents! Or if you find a farmer who wants to get rid of some, you can get them for free.

Alright...well I have a little one up from her nap...so that's all for today!

The next blog will include all the many ways you can construct a coop!

~Sarah

Our Little Farm

Well....we don't exactly live on a farm...but we are certainly trying to do the best that we can while living within the city limits! Let me explain...

First of all, welcome to our, or should I say, my blog! I am very excited to be starting this online little journal about the happenings of our little place. There have been several friends of my mine saying that I should give bloggin a try, so along with my husband's encouragement, and the start of our newest project, I thought now would be a good as time as any! My hopes with this blog is to share our projects with you: our 1st garden, the raising of our 1st child, the up-keep and remodling of our home, my attempts at cooking new things, craft projects, and our newest project....the raising of our 3 little chicks! That's right! We have multiplied our little family 0f 3 to 6 in just one day! And I do mean "chicks". Preston and I have decided to give backyard chickens a try. The thought of raising chicks and latter having fresh eggs was so appealing to us that we just had to try it!

In the next blog, I will give a more detailed decription about the decision on getting these hens, along with tips on how to DIY. For those of you who might decide that they want to give chick raising a try....