Operation Frosty

Busy days, busy weekends...busy , busy, busy but be careful not to let the time go so fast that you don't enjoy it. Cause you have to wait a whole year for this special time again! I'm trying to fit in everything I want to do though I still have a little shopping left, a lot of wrapping to do and bake! It'll all get done. I put on the Christmas music and get going!

I also make sure I never get so caught up that I forget the most important part of it all. Every day I am thankful and praise Him and give Him the glory.

We participated in a special event this past Saturday called Operation Frosty. Our town, Commack, has a volunteer ambulance corp and they have an event to collect toys for kids. My Girl Scout troop participated and it was hosted by my friend and co-leader Cheryl.

As you can see, the whole block was filled with a fleet of ambulances and police cars all with sirens blaring and Christmas music playing. There were close to a hundred volunteers to visit and collect the bags of toys we had collected for kids in need.

Santa, Mrs. Claus, Elsa & Anna from Frozen, Winnie the Pooh, a gingerbread man and Frosty all mingled with the girls handing out candy canes and they were so happy and grateful with all that we had collected.

Our community is not a needy one;  we are blessed to be in a very fortunate place and it's important to teach our kids that giving back is the greatest gift of all. 

Here's Rudolph with some of the volunteers. The ambulance corp takes youth trainees at age 16.

Caitlin and Ashley got a hug from Santa. We visited the ambulance corp last year for our first aid badge! They taught our troop all the basics and gave them a tour of an ambulance so they would never be afraid if they needed one.

 Here is Elsa with Caitlin. She was so thrilled with the donations we collected. The "giving" feeling is contagious too. The girls are already excited for other upcoming community service projects we have for 2015.

I loved how the ambulances were decorated. They looked like a gingerbread village on wheels!

Little Stuff

I'm so happy with the tree we chose this year; not too big, not too small. I prefer tall trees more than fat so I just love the one we chose. Poor Caitlin had the sun in her eyes when I took the picture  :)

Do you prefer fat or tall trees? Ours is 7.5 feet tall. Thank goodness the two cats have been very well behaved with it. Miss Molly Moo actually loves sleeping under it or napping on the chair next to it. Waiting for Santa, I guess! Have you been a good girl Molly Moo?

I wanted to show you the things I bought at the two craft fairs last Saturday. I saw so many things I loved and I was so happy to see some primitive country booths too. I saw a cool ideas of a craft made with chicken wire pointed out by my friend -  a barn star and the center of each point of the star was made of chicken wire and white lights were added. Loved it. I'd like to make my own. One for the house, one for the coop.....Here's what I did get:

I bought three Christmas block lights. I'm sure you have seen these. They are a glass blocks filled with lights and a picture on the front, ribbon, etc. This one is mine. I bought two others as gifts.

It lights up so nicely!

Random cute stuff! The Santa is made out of terra cotta pots. Loved his sweet face.

More adorable little items for "extras". I bought three of these glass snowmen. One for me, two for others!

Could not resist these next two items. Such simple materials making such a lovely craft that is beautiful. Just look at how simple yet so precious.

I bought three of these yard signs too--one for me and two for gifts. I added the white lights and I will not be putting it into the ground. I display it on the porch so it doesn't get ruined by the weather. It's a little hard for you to see but there are snowmen on a fence and it says Warm Winter Wishes. I love that it can be up all winter as it more a winter item than a Christmas item. A steal for $20 each.

Today it's a day home to do some work around here and straighten up the house! I have a busy weekend ahead with toy collection for Operation Frosty with my Girl Scout troop, shopping and some guests coming. I have to keep up on my wrapping too!

Hope you have a great weekend!

A Special Sunday Surprise!

It's Monday! Time to wake up and get the day started! This was a weekend I wish never had to end. Two wonderful days. Not only did I have a great Saturday at two craft fairs with some special ladies but then my husband surprised the kids and I with a lovely day planned for Sunday.  Now understand that he loves doing things and going most places but usually I am the one who does the planning. Always! and that's fine cause I love to plan but what a super surprise when I found out he made a whole plan for our Sunday including reservations without ever mentioning it to me! It just made it even more special!

When I came home from the craft fairs on Saturday, he met me at the house from one of his appointments and we did a lil' Christmas shopping. At dinner he told Billy, Caitlin, and I to be ready in the morning to pick out our Christmas tree and then have brunch at The Three Village Inn with Santa!  This is a special event that is just amazing and  one of my favorite places to go but it's like a special occasion type place! The Inn is from 1751, so of course it's everything I love, and it was beautifully decorated.                                                                              

Carolers walked through the dining rooms singing Christmas songs and we had a beautiful table right next to the fireplace!

Oh my goodness the brunch was amazing! Everything from breakfast foods to a carving station and seafood! 

Santa came from table to table and chatted with all the families. 

Here are some photos of the Inn. It's such a beautiful place to visit and it's not far from from my home at all.

This is the foyer and they have antiques displayed and lots of Christmas greens made the room smell so heavenly!

My son enjoyed himself and even let me take a few pictures with him in them! Yippee!

Just a wonderful brunch!

After the brunch we took a walk through Stonybrook village which had more carolers, some Christmas characters and beautiful manger scenes.

 We stayed for a bit and then took a short walk by the water because it was VERY COLD! and windy too!

Before we went to the Three Village Inn, we did get our Christmas tree and when we got home we decorated the tree for the rest of the evening. 

It was such a magical day and I thank my husband, who is one of the hardest working men you'll ever meet, for planning this special day for us! As for my wonderful Saturday at the craft fairs, well I'll show you all my great goodies next post! Hope your day is filled with Christmas spirit!

Saturday is Here!

 Three Cheers! Saturday is here! Christmas is getting closer so it's going to be a busy weekend. I had hung the plaque below that I got from Lancaster and I wanted to show you how lovely it looks! It has a little sparkle to it in person so just imagine...sparkle, sparkle, sparkle.....

I realized I still had a couple of Christmas thrift store items to show you but I didn't get to photograph them yet. Maybe next post. I am looking forward to some craft fair shopping today. There are signs for them on every corner. I can't wait. Even if I don't buy everything, I love seeing new ideas. I love the creativity.

We may be getting the live tree this weekend too! We'll see, we'll see! That's what makes Saturdays fun...anything can happen!

I was at Walmart last week and was able to add to my mitten collection! I know lots of people make fun of Walmart but all I know is I find some good stuff there!  This below is my mitten tree. It's to dry your hats and mittens out when they are wet and I keep it by my front door next to the little stove heater. I also use it to hold mitten ornaments and I keep my eyes open for new ones.  I found a couple at Dollar Tree that I haven't hung yet. My son said they look like little boxing gloves!

Below is the Santa's workshop my Dad made for me. I show it every year on my blog cause I love it so. It'll be ten years since my Dad passed away and I treasure this little workshop. He made the furniture, the shelves, the structure and I added the details.

Dad made the fireplace and the map. It's Santa's workshop so he must plot his course of where he is headed. On the desk below are letters he still has to read. My Dad said Santa smoked a pipe so his pipe and tobacco are on the mantle.

The workshop area is filled with toys being made and wrapped. A tool bench with tools (Dad made all that too) A jar of candy canes on the table for a snack and kitty playing with some Christmas lights.

Bicycles, sleds, teddy bears, dolls, tops, checkers all for a good little boy or girl... Maybe I'll find some more goodies to add to it at the craft fairs.

Before I go and get ready to leave for my shopping, here's one more wonderful thing that happened this week:

See those three brown eggs? Those are three of the SIX that my Frankie laid this week! Six days out of seven she laid an egg! They are smaller than your regular egg cause she's a silkie chicken but phenomenal they are! Yes I said phenomenal! Frankie eggs! I'm so proud of her.

Caitlin and I are making 7-UP biscuits later. Ever hear of them? I read they are super good. I'll let you know! Have a great day!

Christmas Came Early For Me!

Oh what fun I had with my friend at the thrift shop the other day! I always seems to have good luck when I go with her. She's my lucky charm I guess! We both got some good stuff! She was able to find some items for her daughter's log cabin weekend house--perfect! And I found a bunch of Christmas items, some retro, some not, that I just loved. My favorite is the vignette in the Christmas ball above. I just love it so much and decided to display it on a crystal pedestal that I added some glitter snow to. Here's an up close pic. It's pretty large. My favorite find of the day! Reminded me of some of our blogger friends' projects!

There were so many good things and the prices were perfect! $2 each for these cookie jars:

A musical Teddy Bear! He spins to the music and works perfectly. $2

A smaller ceramic light up for $2. What a bargain.

More great stuff!

And the items below were all $1 or less! 

                                                   

And last but not least, this homemade reindeer who stared at me the whole time I shopped and was sending me silent messages saying "please buy me, please buy me." okay, sure! hop in! 

When I woke up this morning, I was still  excited about my goodies. Sometimes I wonder how people can part with homemade goods from relatives. So many of the things I buy that are homemade and older remind me of my relatives that loved doing crafts who are no longer with us. I miss them so much.When I see things with colorful beads or beaded ornaments I think of my Aunt Jean. When I see afghans I think of my Grandma and her sisters who made them. Everyone made granny square afghans! My Mom made them too but can no longer hold the crochet needle due to arthritis. These items are treasures! 

If you've gone to Dollar Tree lately, they have had some unique stuff. I found these "chalkboard tags". I'm probably not going to use them for Christmas gifts but I was thinking of tagging different mason jars with them throughout the whole year. Even if you filled a mason jar with Christmas greens and ornaments, you could add a chalkboard tag that says "Seasons Greetings" or something....They are shaped like a plaque--not a sled. In the picture it looks like a sled...that's just cardboard holding them in and it even came with chalk. 

Our elf on the shelf, Merry, has found some unique spots to hang out....Caitlin has been good this year (well, for the most part...) so she should get just about everything she has asked for.

I bought this decoration  below at KMart to hang in the hallway by my back door since that is the door our friendly raccoon, Miss Raccoonie, comes to at night for her dinner...for the last five years! Seriously. She's our polite raccoon friend who waits patiently on the rear porch for her dinner. Then she quietly eats and goes away till the next night. She sits in the same spot and looks at us through the full view glass door until her dinner is ready. She's very sweet. Like me, she's turning gray now :) she's raised three litters of babies over our five years together though her babies, once grown, didn't stay here to eat. Just her. We're friends!

Have a happy day wherever you are!