Picking up Chicks

 Last week, a day we had anticipated for several months finally came.  Our post office called to say that our mail order chicks had arrived!  We were waiting at the door when the post office opened.  We could hear their sweet little cheeps before we even saw the box.  The looks on the girls' faces was priceless.

 We've had a few days to get to know each other.  Our mudroom has been taken over by chick paraphernalia.  I no longer have sleepy girls climbing into my bed when they first wake up.  Instead, I hear soft footsteps bounding down the stairs to greet their chicks a good morning.

 We have 11 of these new little ladies in our life.  Unfortunately, one still seems to be a bit under the weather.  For now, she's separated from the rest while we give her some special attention.

 Grace is especially smitten with the chicks.  She loves feeding them by hand, holding them, reading books to them, and drawing pictures for them.

 Madeline likes the chicks, but would really be happy just to look at them and not touch.  She agreed to this photo if "the creepy claw feet wouldn't touch her."

 They've definitely been a learning experience for us all.  I've got way more up close and personal with these chicks than I ever imagined I would.

 Our chicks are Easter Eggers, so we have a mix of different shades of brown and one little yellow gal.  It will be interesting to see if their color now corresponds to their feather color as adults.

Lily is still a little unsure.  She likes them, but they scare her a little when they run or start flapping their wings.

Guess what you'll be seeing soon on the blog?  That's right.  The makings of a chicken coop.  These ladies grow FAST, but we have a few weeks until they're ready to be outside in the coop on their own.  Time to turn that pile of wood into a cute coop!

Moving Announcement

Just thought I would share a quick picture of our moving announcement.  We sent these out recently with our new address.

A while back, a friend from college sent out moving announcements with a picture of her son in a moving box and I knew that I would be stealing borrowing that idea in the future.  I loaded up the girls in a big moving box and I originally wanted Ryan to push them with the hand cart, but that was a little scary, so we just left them in the box.  I added the text in Picnik, and voila!  Easy peasy.

I had them printed in a square size from Mpix and tucked them into solid colored envelopes from Hobby Lobby.  Our return address stamp is from Stamp it Out. 

I always like to get these in the mail so that I have a new address when it comes time to mail a birthday or Christmas card.  Have you done anything creative with moving announcements/change of address cards?

Preschool Career Day

A few days ago, my twins came home from preschool and were so excited to tell me about Career Day.  They were supposed to choose what they wanted to be when they grew up and dress accordingly.  I thought I would share their quick costumes for future Halloween ideas.

Madeline quickly decided that she wanted to be a vet.  I admit, I was really excited about this because the girls had received a play vet kit for Christmas, so we had lots of props.  :)

She wanted a "long, white jacket like a doctor", but I convinced her that scrubs would work for a vet.  We found lots of scrubs at Goodwill for $3.99.  I ran an iron-on transfer through the printer to add her full veterinarian name.  The size extra-small top wasn't too bad over some similar colored leggings and a long sleeved t-shirt.

For a finishing touch, I printed out a few fake business cards for her.  She kept them in her pocket and told me that she gave her teacher one before she left. :)

Grace had already decided about her career choice long before I asked her (big surprise).  She told me that she wanted to be "a person who works at the grocery".  I assumed that she meant a cashier, but when I started discussing a cash register, she quickly corrected me that she wanted to be the person who put the food on the shelves.  Dream big, little girl!

I picked up a child size canvas apron at Walmart and used an iron on transfer to make her a grocery store logo.  The apron didn't have pockets, so I just folded up the bottom and stitched the sides and the middle to make some pockets to hold her stock girl accessories.  We added a clip on name tag, a small notebook, some garage sale price tags, and a produce bag that I swiped from Walmart.  She shopped her play kitchen for a grocery basket and a few essentials to carry along.

I wish I had a picture of the whole preschool class.  They all looked pretty cute today!