I Live in Kansas and I Butcher Chickens.

Two things I never, ever thought I'd say.  The count is 3 now.  Yup.  Three chickens we have butchered.  One was a meat bird, destined to be in our freezer from the start.  Kenneth only bought her because she was such a cute chick (man, she sure did grow up to be an ugly bird!!!!).  The other 2 ended up being roosters.  Let me tell you I am sure getting better sleep the last 2 mornings with those guys gone!  I was starting to get really stressed out.  Not only for my sleep, or lack thereof, but for my neighbors.  Yes, I live in Kansas, but I do not live out in the middle of nowhere.  We live in a regular old neighborhood.  Roosters are not really welcome!!  Luckily, most of our neighbors actually grew up on farms, so it's not like it's a noise they haven't heard before.  Plus, they are are so nice, I don't think anyone would give us a hard time about it, but still, my stress level in the mornings has lowered significantly, for which I am grateful. 
Now, I know you all want the nitty-gritty details, right?  If you don't, skim down a ways and I'll share more fun stuff that's gone on around here. . .

The first chicken to be butchered was "White-ea".  The kids named her, of course.  We butchered this one not too long after we returned from our long trip.  She was getting to be too big to even walk around very well! 
The kids were amazingly okay with us butchering her and witnessed the whole event.  All Arianna could talk about was getting to eat her wing when we cooked her.  (One of Arianna's favorite meals is a whole chicken cooked in the crock-pot)  Now, when I say 'I' butcher chickens, of course I mean 'we' and when I say 'we' butcher chickens, I really mean 'Kenneth' butchers chickens.  I did help with the plucking.  That counts, right?  Plus Kenneth and I are a team, so sure it counts!

Here are the pictures of that:

Saying goodbye to the old girl

Then.  See? Wasn't she an adorable chick?

Now.  White-ea in all her glory.  To my friends in Liverpool:  Yes, this is the very same chicken I impersonated.

Daddy stringing her up.  We couldn't do it on a block- couldn't have a headless chicken running around our fenceless yard!

 

Relaxed and ready to go.

 

I spared you the picture of the deheading.  After that step you dip her in 180 degree water to loosen the feathers.

All plucked.  It actually wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it would have been.

We turned it into a science lesson and showed the kids all the insides.  They were intruiged.

Once she was all cleaned up, she was still over 7 pounds!  Big girl! (After I wrote this whole thing Kenneth tells me he thinks she was a he.  Oh well.)

The roosters we just butchered 2 nights ago.  I didn't take nearly as many pictures, but here are a few: 

Here's one handsome rooster.  Zebree is was his name.

One last picture all together.

Grant saying goodbye.

Arianna had to say one last goodbye.  They were a little sad to see this guy go.  He was so pretty, after all.

 

This is Tiny.  He really was a little guy.  But, he was starting to be a feisty little bugger.  Kate likes him, don't you think?

Grant helped to keep Kate happy while I helped pluck.

Out with the old in with the new.  Here are some baby birds living in our hanging flower basket on the front porch:

 

Here is the first baby hatched.

Mom!  Dad!  I'm starving!  Please feed me!

Here they are just this evening.  They are getting bigger!  They were all sleeping, sorry.

After we returned home form our trip, I had 2 weeks to get the house ready for a housefull of visitors.  I definitely wanted to change the paint color in the dining room since I knew with that many people here we would be spending a fair amount of time in there eating.  I am pleased with the color I chose. 

Before

After

Now, I just need to find the right pictures, curtains, centerpiece, etc.  I really love the Black-eyed Susans from my yard for now, though.

Alright!  I am catching up!  I will post more soon on my visit to Colorado and Kenneth's whole family's visit here to our home!