Finished Project & Guests

Happy Birthday to George Washington & Abe Lincoln ! I just might have to eat cake today; you know to wish them birthday happiness and all not because I like icing or crave desserts :) I'm very patriotic! Even though I have been known to make brownies just so I can have the batter that's left in the bowl! Oh come on...you do that too!
I actually have some great desserts in my house right now and a fridge full of food. We had visitors yesterday evening and not only did we have all the food and desserts I made, but they brought a bunch of good stuff too! My husband's cousin and her husband came for a visit and we had such a wonderful time catching up! I know they like Mexican so I  made my chicken enchilada recipe that we all love and they did too! I made some Mexican Rice and Sweet Corn too! Sweet corn is so yummy! You bake it like corn bread and scoop it out with an ice cream scoop. And of course we had seven layer dip! Caitlin and Billy love seven layer dip so they were happy there was some of everything left over because since school is closed this week, they can pick on whatever they like all day long! We've got some pigs in a blanket and more! For dessert I made brownies but for some reason Ghiradelli brownies don't work well for me! I can never judge when they are done even though I check them and check them. They are so fudgy and good but such a mess. Upon further reading on the box, I realize I should make the cake -like recipe so that they are thicker. Thank goodness I put the reading glasses on and read that or my relationship with Ghiradelli brownies was to be short lived :(    Crisis averted. Upon consulting with my Caitlin, we decided not to serve the brownies since their presentation was less than attractive and instead we chose to just eat them with a spoon by ourselves.....
My other dessert was terrific! Christine and Jeff (the cousins) loved these little mini crumb cakes so much, I sent them home with some. This was a little recipe I got in the coupon pages a while back for chocolate chip coffee cakes. The easiest recipe EVER and so good. Hungry Jack had the recipe! I will put the recipe at the end of the post and believe me when I say you can make these in no time at all. I also had dutch apple pie and then our guests brought cheesecake and a delicious cake with whipped cream and chocolate shavings! Jeff said I made the best coffee he ever had too (just wanted to throw that in) and we had a great time!
I posted a picture of my Caitlin on Valentine's Day with a gift from Daddy. My thoughtful husband went to Walgreens on his own and filled a gift bag with valentine items just for her. I didn't even have to remind him!  She was excited for her Valentine party at school and the class made bags to collect all their valentines in!
I also posted some photos of  more little changes I have made with various shelves and knick knacks! Every time I dust, I think of something else to do!

Not quite 2" but that's okay!

I forgot to turn the picture the right way. Sorry!

Plate Rack

Now I'm just looking forward to this nice week with kids home. I love when they are home and we don't have alot planned but simple things. We plan to go to Sunshine Acres with our friends. That's a park we can walk to that they just recently redid! I love it because I can walk there (I'm a non driver, remember!) I pull Caitlin in the wagon and my son rides his bike. There are some trails behind the park too that are nice. We are also going to the mall one day. I literally go to the mall ONCE a year! I am not a mall type person but the kids and I have a tradition that we go on Winter Recess and spend the day and have lunch and I just go with them into whatever stores they like and don't rush them! My son loves Barnes & Noble for his books, he likes going into a store called FYE and some others. Caitlin loves the Disney store and we have a gift card for Build A Bear so that will be fun! ME?  Yankee Candle and Bath & Body Works! This is not a big giant mall so it's not too annoying. I like to be able to look up, see a sign above my head and navigate the three of us where we want to go! Then we have lunch, maybe walk around a little more and then back home! I plan on getting more projects done and new ones started too. Because the weather has been fairly mild in the high 40's I'm also getting the Easter bug but I plan on holding off decorating for Easter until March. We have been rewatching- some of our Disney favorites her too. Billy always liked Stitch from Lilo & Stitch so we already watched Lilo & Stitch 1 & 2. Caitin wants to watch Sleeping Beauty. I know my son would really love to work with my husband on his job site this week but unfortunately there isn't anything Billy could do to help his Dad right now. Maybe Easter Recess!
Remember the window box I had gotten from the old house my husband was working on? Well I redid it and hung it up in my parlor! The only thing that I added since this picture was taken is a small burgundy barn store and a battery votive to light it up! I hope you like it! Barn stars are the recurring theme of my house! They are in every room in one form or another whether it be a metal one, a candle holder, a light fixture or a fabric!
Below is that recipe! Try them! You'll Like Them! Oh, and before I go remember to have a piece of cake...for George & Abe!

CHOCOLATE CHIP COFFEE CAKE
2 1/2 cups of Hungry Jack Complete  Buttermilk Pancake & Waffle Mix
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup mini cocolate chips
1/2 cup of water
1/2 cup of sour cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
TOPPING
1/4 cup of sugar
1/4 cup of finely chopped walnuts
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Heat oven to 375 degrees
Coat 8 or 9 inch square pan with cooking spray.

Combine pancake mix, 1/3 cup sugar and chips in a bowl and add sour cream, vanilla and water. Blend well. With an ice cream scoop, shape dough into 2" dough balls. Sprinkle with topping ingredients. Bake 24-26 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with fresh coffee!

Sunday Snowflakes!

Looked outside my windows to see some snowflakes are falling! They almost look as though they are falling in slow motion! Did they slow up so that I could look at them closely? :)   It's funny cause a few minutes before this occurrence, my husband said to me "It looks so gray outside; it looks like snow!" and ten minutes later I saw the flakes!

Yesterday it snowed too but it did end up melting. I think Mother Nature is trying to fool us this Winter. She's getting us into a comfort zone and then LOOK OUT! BLIZZARD! I recall the March 1993 blizzard we had. Lets not put those snow shovels away too fast. My husband said it isn't going to snow this year because we bought three new snow shovels! hahahaha We seriously broke the wooden handles on three shovels last year with all the snow we had!

It was a cozy day yesterday to be in the house. I made a big pot of turkey soup! The house smelled delightful! I made a great big pot and sent some over to my neighbor. I use turkey thighs when I make turkey soup~~lotsa meat on those bones! It was so nice to see my family really enjoying it last night especially when my husband came home from work and had been outside all day! It warmed his bones, I'm sure!

I did some touch ups around the house~~I'm actually in the process of rephotographing some of the rooms to show you all. I have an album on the "Pages" section but I would like to update some changes I've made. I did some crafts and repainting this weekend. I had bought the little bucket with the spigot item in a store several years ago and it was ready for a paint job.In the past I had displayed it outside on a rear porch with some flowers but the weather hadn't been kind to it. So now I cleaned it up and gave it a repaint! I love freshening things up! You get excited about them all over again! I also posted a picture of the cabinet in my first floor bathroom. It hangs above the toilet. On top you will see a duck and next to the duck is a find my son brought home last Summer. While going through my closets I came across it and found a spot for it. He knows good stuff when he sees it! It has little ceramic pictures on the front of it.

I posted a picture as well of a hanging craft that some of you might find useful. It is branches carefully bent or folded , you might say. They are then secured with floral wire and it makes a cozy place for a nest or a little flower basket or something that would snugly fit.  I would like to do this with some of the thinner branches I find in my yard or on walks. I love the fact this is a simple craft that can be made with what you find in your yard. It doesn't even have to be this big! I bought this particular one in Lake George several years along with other twig wreaths and wall hanging. I will try to remember to post pictures of the others. They may influence alot of people!

The bunnies got a bath on  Friday! I thought it would be nice to let them play in some nice warm water and freshen their little hides up! They loved it. After I dried them off, they spent a half hour preening themselves! SO cute. That is little Bandit shown in a fluffy towel.

My son celebrated his 13th birthday on February 2nd! Can't believe it! I still remember bringing him home from the hospital. We celebrated with a family dinner at his pick of restaurants and he chose a local Commack one--The Spare Rib. I have to say with all the gifts he got, I think his favorite was what my good friend Mary gave him. Knowing my son loves vintage Halloween like I do, she gave him two orginal blow mold plastic light ups! Frankenstein and Dracula! They are about 3 feet tall. He was thrilled. They aren't ugly or scary. My son likes the Halloween I like--not gory or scary but traditional! Caitlin's birthday is coming up Mrch 28th and she will be 7! We made a bunch of Valentine crafts for Girl Scouts together at our last meeting, and she will be having a Valentine party at school on Tuesday. She's busy writing out all her Valentines right now!

The last thing I wanted to show you was the house I grew up in. I recently passed it and I saw that it is for sale. We sold it after my Dad passed away in 2005, and my Mom relocated to the town next to mine. The couple that bought it has since had three children and I'm guessing they are moving for more space or perhaps jobs are taking them elsewhere. That house is in Franklin Square, about 40 minutes from where I live now and it was such a lovely neighborhood to grow up in! My Parents lived there happily for 49 years! It was truly "The House That Built Me" as the song says. It made me a little sad to see it for sale again. I had hoped that the young couple who bought it from us would stay there themselves for 49 or 50 years! But that's just me and my thinking! Oh, and when I lived there there wasn't that wooden fence...just saying....

Bandit gets a bath!

I love Americana!

That's Betsy Ross & Ben Franklin on the table!

More changes!

Well, I guess I'll get going. I'm having company next Sunday night and I'm making a mexican menu of food. I want to take out my recipes to compose my shopping list! I'm a big time list maker! Good night friends!

Can you smell the turkey goodness???