Ooey Gooey Goodness

What could be better than some graham crackers, chocolate, and marshmallows?? Not a whole lot unless you add Peep marshmallows, butter, and vanilla.

My dear friend Laura gave the boys and I a real treat yesterday. Peep S'mores in a jar! She got this super cute and yummy idea from The Gaines Gang blog - check it out for the recipe and details.

My boys were so excited to make these, they could hardly contain themselves as evidenced by Oliver's face in the picture above. I spent part of the morning whipping these up with my little helpers. They had a blast and so did I.

We followed the easy instructions on the jar and had ourselves some ooey gooey goodness just 15 minutes later. Seriously...to. die. for.

Get the recipe here. I promise, you'll be glad you did.

The Perfect Skinny Jean...for boys.

I have an upcoming photo shoot scheduled with the fabulous Laura Winslow of Laura Winslow Photography. Here is a shot that Laura took of one of my Union Jack t-shirts. Isn't she awesome? 

Anyhow, as we were chatting about how to style our little models, we decided that our boy models should most definitely sport some cool skinny jeans. Not emo tight skinny jeans - more like retro 70's skater from Venice Beach skinny jeans.

After a bit of searching, I found the PERFECT skinny jeans at H&M.  Not only did I find the perfect skinny jeans, I found a ton of other cuts and washes that were simply rad. The quality seems to be very high and the price was great. $19.95 per pair is a few dollars more than I'd usually spend (my boys are HARD on their jeans) but the quality and look were hard to turn down.

I picked up two pairs - one for each of my boys. How cute are these? 

Check out the detailing of the back pockets.

These are not the skinny jeans. I'm saving those for the photo shoot so you'll just have to wait in eager anticipation to see them. If you've got little kids and are fortunate enough to live near an H&M, you have to check it out. Also pop over to Made and check out Dana's blog post on the best boy jeans under $12.99.

Which came first?

We have recently become the proud owners of four beautiful chickens: Ramona, Flo, Lucy, and Effie. They are barely 6 weeks old and since I like to talk about them (a.lot.) I figured I'd bring you up to speed on our process of researching raising chickens up until now.

(My sister, The AZ Plant Lady, has blogged about our chickens and our little hobby farm, several times and you can read the posts here, here, here, and here.)

Just over a year ago, my husband and I bought a home with my mom on some horse property. It was a dream of ours to live on a small hobby farm and raise chickens, goats, grow crazy veggies and fruits - the whole nine yards. So, we took the plunge and decided to make it happen.

I spent the better part of the last year researching what it would take to be successful at raising chickens and I soon realized that it really wasn't that hard and that the benefits would be awesome...fresh eggs and some new pets for the boys and I to have fun with! Not to mention the chicken poop for the gardens.

My husband got to work building a super cool coop and I put together a super inexpensive brooder (chicks live in a brooder for the first few weeks to keep them warm.)

Once we felt we were fairly well prepared, we went ahead and ordered our chicks from My Pet Chicken. We chose to order a Buff Orpington, a Barred Plymouth Rock, and two Easter Eggers (mixed breed). They are all known for their fairly docile personality and ability to lay eggs well.

A couple of weeks after I placed the order for the chickens, I got a phone call from the Post Office that our chickens had arrived. Yes, our chickens came in the mail! It still blows my mind but they arrived cute, fluffy, safe and sound.

Chicks still receive nutrients from the yolk for the first couple of days so they can go without food and water until you receive them.

Since they've arrived, we've been having a ton of fun with them. They really are so easy and we are anxiously awaiting our fresh eggs which we anticipate having in another four months or so.

The only bummer is that they grow up super fast. They went from this:

to this in just 5 weeks!

Oh, and I almost forgot the best part of all. I finally had an excuse to buy some Wellies! If I have to scoop chicken poop, I must do it in style!

Brand Spankin' New!

This is my brand spankin' new blog! It is my very first attempt at joining the blogosphere (is that what it's called?) so please be patient as I try to figure out what the heck I'm doing and get the ball rolling.

Anyhow, my name is Grace and with me is my little chicken, Ramona. I am the brains and the brawn behind Finley and Oliver - my little clothing line and also my little boys. I'm hoping this blog will be another fun, creative outlet for me to share with you some fun shopping finds, tutorials, my amazing family, and the antics of living on a small hobby farm.