"Well that's a fine kettle of fish!"....

And it was ! Super delicious! We went to Joe's Crab Shack over the weekend. Do you have that restaurant where you live? It was snowing like crazy but we were out in Riverhead and decided to stop in for a Valentine's Day lunch/dinner. That's my meal above. Lobster, snow crab, and clams, corn and red potatoes.

Below is my snow crab loving daughter who had her own steam pot filled with 1 1/2 pounds of crab legs and she ate every last one of them! The key to her heart is crab legs!

Valentine's Day was very nice. It was a welcome fun day since I've been so busy lately. I received a lovely gift from a special friend all wrapped ups o pretty.

 It was filled with beautifully wrapped candy bars and cookies. So sweet. See them--look down:

Heart shaped cake and oreo balls from my friend Christina.

 My kids gave me this pillow that I adore!

It just keeps snowing here....a little here and alot there and then some more and then it stops and then it freezes and our temps never seem to get above 5 degrees anymore.

So I've been working on my St. Patrick's Day tree.

This Italian girl LOVES St Patrick's Day. I LOVE IT! LOVE LOVE LOVE IT! The Irish music station goes on the tv or my Celtic Woman cd starts to play and I am in heaven.

Caitlin's has plans to try and catch herself a leprechaun again this year. She's looking for a suitable box to set her trap. If you don't remember from previous year's of my posts, we had heard a legend that if you set a trap, you can catch a leprechaun. Kids take a cardboard box or some type of deep container and decorate it. Leprechauns are always looking for treasures and are attracted to shiny things so decorate your box with lots of gold and silver and metallic! If he is lured to it, make sure he can't get out cause if you trap him, he must tell you where he keeps his gold. If he escapes, he will leave you little gifts! You can try every year but only on St. Paddy's Day!

Have a great day!

Happy Thursday!

Just checking in to see how everyone is today! All ready for Valentine's Day tomorrow? Caitlin is having a party in her class. My poor girl just returned to school today as she had two teeth extracted on Tuesday! SO hard seeing your kids suffer. My son has returned to school for the first time in over a year! He is out today due to his IBS but has been going to school since last week and is so happy to be back. Of course, he will still have some setbacks on some days, but for the most part, he is doing very well. My week has been filled with doctors' appointments for the kids and my Mom, (first the heart, now the lungs....) it can be so depressing sometimes but we have to wake up positive every morning, right?

I am looking forward to Spring and usually I am a Winter lover. We've been so impacted this year that I can barely stand to hear the weather! Next week is Winter Recess for the kids so they will enjoy a week home. We have a couple of things planned so I hope they work out. This Sunday I plan to decorate for St. Patrick's Day! I've got my stuff ready to go. I 'm also making some ornaments for my tree.

Last Saturday my Girl Scout troop participated in a great thing called Food From The Heart. Food donations with a theme!

There were "Breakfast Foods" boxes, "Movie Night" boxes, Italian, Mexican, & Chinese Food boxes and
more!

Our troop did a Mexican theme! We had everything in there from taco shells, to beans, tortillas, spices, cookbooks, chilli shaped salt & pepper shakers, taco shells, salsa & chips, sauces for cooking...ALOT!

I loved the "Movie" theme box because that troop put in some dvds, snacks, popcorn, and toppings for icecream! So creative.

Well I have a few things to do and a couple errands to go on with my husband so off I go. My husband is building a bagel store! He gets some cool projects. He's also working on another historical home! This one isn't haunted though! Happy Valentine's Day! Hugs to you all!

February Already!

This cold, cold weather just makes you want to stay under your comfy quilts and comforters, doesn't it? We've had snow, after snow...more expected Thursday night. School closings, temps at near zero. That's what it has been like here and by many of you, I'm sure. February is off to a snowy start! Never fear..I'm sure the Easter bunnies will soon be here! Something to look forward to--Spring!

Yesterday was my son's 16th birthday! Can't believe he is 16 already. Feels like yesterday he would beckon me to a chair and say "EESH!" which meant "SIT!" or ask for candy "tintin" he would call it.

I am happy I wrote down both Billy's and Caitlin's baby vocabulary. It's something you would forget if you didn't. Both Billy and Caitlin said the word cat as "da". We knew what they were saying!

I also got a gift yesterday. It was in the mail and it wasn't even my birthday! I won the calendar giveaway from Viv from Viv Out on A Whim (check the sidebar). She had a calendar created of all her favorite things in her home. Crafts she makes, decorations around her home, holidays, her beautiful cats, etc. I love it! What a special gift that I will be saving long after 2015 is over!

I'm still having fun making my bird crafts. This was a match holder I had. Seems like a little bird has decided to make it his home.

I'm doing some St. Patrick's Day crafts too. Gotta keep looking forward! Stay warm!

Valentine Swap Package & the big Snow!

So our blizzard ended late morning yesterday dropping a grand total of 20" here in Eastern Long Island. The predictions had been almost three feet. I was actually getting a little scared with all the news coverage as the storm was getting closer. The weather people were kind of making it feel like an impending doom..they were scary!" Historic proportions of snow" was one of the terms used. 20" is alot but we have had more! A little further out on our island they had 30". West of us towards Manhattan only had 6-10". I live about an hour from the city. An hour makes a big difference! Below is the view out my front door.

Right before the storm started I did receive a package! From Kim K., my Valentine swap partner. We both participated in the Valentine swap that Viv had. Check my sidebar for their great blogs:  Musings from Kim K and Viv Out on a Whim. All I have to say is I was thrilled!

The pictures do not do this incredible gift justice! Valentine ornaments, vintage valentines....Even a Chinese style lantern which I haven't opened yet!

Lovely embellishments so I can make more ornaments for my tree! Which I did during the snow storm!

I love this vintage style Valentine box of chocolates! It is now serving as a backdrop to some of my decorations in my new hutch. I love you Kim!

A beautiful card and a clingy for the window!

This card is just the sweetest thing. I'm gonna have a hard time putting that away when the holiday is over.

A beautifully decorated Valentine heart! I put my vintage Valentines in it to store them. What better place?

Such wonderful things and I truly thank you!

These vintage Valentines are the coolest. I remember ones like this when I was little too.

It was such a fun swap! Kim should get my package to her by tomorrow. I mailed it before the snowstorm!
Have a great day! Today a shovel is my new best friend as I prepare to go out and do a little more clean up!

It's Snowing! Get the Shovels!

Happy snowy Saturday! Snow day for us today and it looks like Sunday night into Monday will be another. I think I'm going to stay in and play today. I finished my Valentine swap items and they are ready to be shipped. Maybe later my husband will take me to the post office so I can get that mailed away.

I've been working on different bird items using mushroom birds. Sometimes I use extra little resin birds I have too.

I made a few tea cup birds and one with a match holder that came out cute. I'll photo that one later. What have you been working on?

It was a busy week here. My husband picked up our new dining set. I'm thrilled as our old one, which really wasn't very old, had been a lot of trouble lately with chairs that were no longer sturdy :(  It was stressful trying to repair them only to find it was a temporary fix. Now no worries!

I love the hutch and it has a nice light inside! Six chairs for the table. The set looks perfect for the spot it is in. Little Jinxie thinks so too. He loves to photo bomb my pictures.

I had fun decorating my hutch and I was also glad that I didn't have to remove my corner hutch as that was one of the first pieces I ever bought from Lancaster many years ago and I have an attachment to it. It must be in my home forever!

Caitlin made some Valentine ornaments for the Valentine tree--little Love Bugs. She's my love bug.

SO today that it is looking like this:

I think I'll take it easy (like Miss Molly Moo below) and clean a little, craft a little, make some chocolate chip cookies (cause Caitlin has been asking to do them) , and make a roast beef tonight for dinner....maybe shovel a little (or not!) and just settle in!

Have a super day!

Rainy Sunday

Woke up even earlier than I usually do this morning. And believe me, I'm an early riser! I'm thinking on this rainy day I would like to do a few things such as Valentine crafts, and make a few little changes around with the knick knacks, Take some out to display, put a few away, etc. Just rotate a few things!Change it up a bit. That means going into my big closet upstairs so you may never hear from me again! I love digging through there cause sometimes I forget about things I have but I can get lost among the piles....  :)

Are you decorated for Valentine's Day yet? I've done some. I picked up this little girl below at the the thrift shop along with the little tea pot,  tea cup combo. Have I told you I'm in love with chamomile tea? Me...an affirmed coffee drinker and part time tea drinker has discovered this wonderful tea! I look forward to it every day!

I'm making more bird crafts too using tea cups and other things I can find and working on a Valentine swap for my swap partner that is just about ready to go! I made something really cute and country looking yesterday. I have to photograph it to show you.

Our Girl Scout troop had a great guest speaker the other evening. My friend Debbie is not only our school crossing guard but also a licensed vet technician. She does animal rescues and also is the owner of Gina, a therapy dog. Little Gina is a golden retriever who had been hit by a car ten years ago and doesn't have the use of her hind legs. She drags them. However when Debbie adopted her right after she was found, she discovered Gina had an incredible will to succeed and a great disposition. So she became a therapy dog.

Debbie had a scooter built for Gina's hind legs. She also has a special carriage for her and special suits for her legs. Gina visits hospitals, hospice, schools and is even a mascot for the Special Olympics events held here in Commack and Northport. My troop loved her and Debbie! Gina is truly Debbie's baby! Our girls learned so much about the services of therapy pets and how important it is to serve others as our Lord intended . Gina thrills the people she visits and cheers them up with her loving personality.

The girls also felt that animals with disabilities make great pets and should never be counted out at adoption.

 As for me, I'm off to the store to get some parmesan cheese as I just ran out after making a batch of meatballs when I woke up this morning for dinner later. I'm in the mood for spaghetti and meatballs. When my husband got up he said "the house smells delicious!"

Happy Sunday! Stay dry!

Outside My Window...

Snow was falling....now it stopped. We got about 2". It was so peaceful this morning to look out. I had two cups of coffee and then had to get moving to wake my husband up!

My patio set and my bird feeders...

Out my front door on to the front porch...I still have a lit tree on my porch. No Christmas ornaments on it; just white lights. It is still fresh and pretty so it will be here a while.

The wood burning stove with my water pump below. Waiting to hold some begonia and geranium next Summer.

 Valentine hearts and my shed in the background. So pretty and peaceful.

Caitlin has our Girl Scout Father/Daughter dance tonight. We call it an escort dance but it is 99% Dads. The theme this year is "Once Upon A Time..." My co-leader made some adorable blue and silver candy bags and I made these hand mirrors.

They have long ribbons to flow. The tag says "Who's the Fairest of them all?" I hope they like them. My husband said the girls dance the first dance with their Dads and then run around the whole time and eat the snacks. The Dads just hang out and talk. Still a fun night for all.

I've been doing a lot of cooking this week in the cold weather. I made chilli and chicken francese and muffins and a rustic Italian tomato stew. Our temps have been hovering near 0. It's going to be that way on into the weekend. Cold weather just makes me want to cook and when I cook I eat.....

Stay in and be cozy !

Have a great weekend!