*** A Blanket Of White ***

Greetings my friends! I hope you are having a wonderful weekend! We have had a quiet one. Our 16 year old daughter got all four wisdom teeth out on Friday. So we have been lazily watching movies and playing a few games. Pretty low key, which has actually been really nice. She is getting along fine, chipmunk cheeks & some discomfort but fine. :)

A roast, potatoes, carrots & onions are in the crock pot and the snow is finally falling! Our forecast sounds like a doozy so I guess we will be making up for the lack of a white Christmas. Fine with all of us, we have been waiting for a blanket of white for a long time now. It is so pretty I had to get out and take some photos.

Here it is coming down…Let it snow!

These are from around our house~

Our birdbath~

My hubby and I went for a drive, we found a trail area and I hopped out and snapped some photos!

It felt so amazing to get out and get some fresh air! Everything is so soft and white. Totally untouched. We are to get more snow tonight, tomorrow & Tuesday. I say, bring it on! We haven’t had much of a winter so far. I know some of you have had more than your fair share, so we are happy to take our turn. The kids would like to sled, make snow angels and throw a few snowballs! Oh and they are crossing their fingers for a snow day too!

Have a great evening.

"When snow falls, nature listens." ~Antoinette van Kleeff

Until next time, take care.

~Sarah~

:: Feelin’ The Love ::

Happy Thursday everyone! Hope you are all having a great day! I have some FUN news to share with you! My sweet friend Kindra from At Home With K has asked me to be a part of her Be Mine Bonanza! I am thrilled to be one of the guest bloggers for her event that runs from Sunday, January 30-Saturday, February 5.

Here are the details ::

The BE MINE BONANZA will feature 7 Love Themed Tutorials from 7 Different Bloggers, including Kindra herself!

Gwen from Gwenny Penny

Heather from Summerstead

Michelle from Emerald Cove

Sarah from All Roads Lead Home ~ That’s Me!! :)

Suesan from Frou-FruGal

Tonya from More Prim Than Proper

Mark your calendars for this fun event! Without a doubt you will come away with some inspiring ideas!

I can’t wait to see what everyone will be sharing!

Feel free to spread the word about this event! Just right click and save the image above, add it to your blog and LINK it back to Kindra’s Be Mine Bonanza post!

Thank you to Kindra for including me in this “LOVELY” event!

“Let us all meet each other with a smile, for the smile is the beginning of love.” ~Mother Teresa

Until next time, take care.

~Sarah~

Winter Decorating??? & Decorating Our Door

Hello everyone! I hope you are having a fantastic Tuesday so far! I haven’t been too productive yet today. But I plan on doing some Yoga, then I am going to start un-decking the halls. What a job that will be. Our kids don’t want me to take down our Christmas trees. And I have to admit, I really enjoy the little white lights at night. So cozy. And I think most of all, I am stalling because I don’t like the mess that goes with the dismantling process.

Which leads me to my dilemma. I can’t decide what to do. I have been reading about so many people being so thankful that all of their decor is taken down and put away. Some are even putting out Spring. I am NOT ready for Spring, we have barely had a winter. Normally, after Christmas I “winterize” our house. Leaving out a few greens and snowmen here and there. I just don’t know if I should just put it ALL away this year. I know my house will look bare. And I will need to re-decorate some. See what I mean…..it all sounds like a lot of work to me!

One thing I am leaving  for a little while longer is our front porch. I love my sled with my skates. And I just added a wintery touch to the door. This metal snowflake is just perfect and shows up great against the red. Check out Doodlebug Decor on Facebook! Cute accents for your door for every season! She has silver snowflakes too!

Here is my snowflake~

Notice we have no real snow. Glad I could order some! :)

And here is some door art that I got for my husband. We are all big Iowa Hawkeye fans! And we will hang this proudly on game days! GO HAWKS~

She has Valentine door art too! 

Well, I will let you know what I decide. Right now I am staring at our big 9ft tree, looking at ALL of the ornaments that need to be wrapped in tissue and boxed up. Ugh…. I think I will be stalling a little longer. Besides, I feel like I just put it all out. I was still putting the final touches on the house on Christmas Eve! Haha! To those of you who are all done and organized~~ I envy you! Wanna come help me?

Have a wonderful day!

Until next time, take care.

~Sarah~

:: A Few Festive Recipes ::

I thought I would share a few of the recipes I made tonight for our little at home New Years Eve party.

First up one of our Holiday staple munchies.

Crispex Spicy Party Mix ::

12 oz box Crispex cereal

2 cups KIX

2 cups pretzels -broken

1 pound can cashews

2/3 cup oil

½ tsp garlic powder

3/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 ½ tsp chili powder

1 pkg. Hidden Valley Ranch dry mix (original buttermilk mix)

Mix cereal, pretzels, cashews in roaster : mix oil etc. together pour over cereal mixture. Stir well. Bake @ 250 stirring every 15 minutes for 1 hour

Now if this doesn’t become a favorite of yours I will be shocked. WE LOVE it! I always make a double batch and it always gets eaten. *** Just a note*** I have been known to add other things to this that I have in my cupboard such as cheerios, cheese nips crackers and there is a WONDERFUL cereal out there from Quaker called Crunchy Corn Bran…let me tell you, it is delicious and I ALWAYS add it to this mix! So as you can see, anything goes! So make it and munch away!

My second recipe is a brand new one for me this year. Nigella Lawson is a new favorite chef of mine. I love her carefree, express way of cooking. She is a joy to watch and beautiful inside and out too!

Here is her recipe for Roquamole ::

• 1 cup crumbled Roquefort or St. Agur
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 2 ripe avocados
• 2 tablespoons finely sliced scallions
• 1/4 cup jarred sliced pickled green jalapenos
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 1 bag blue corn tortilla chips

Directions

Crumble or mash the blue cheese with the sour cream in a bowl. Mash in the avocados. If they are ripe, a fork should be all you need. Roughly chop the sliced jalapenos and stir them into the mixture along with the finely sliced scallions. Arrange in the center of a plate or dish, dust with paprika and surround with tortilla chips. Dive in!

I topped mine with a few more snips of scallions.

Like I said, this is a new recipe for me. And it was so fresh tasting. The Bleu cheese didn’t overpower and neither did the jalapenos. Give it a try!

The last recipe is a fun, festive drink ::

Pomegranate Soda (Non-Alcoholic)

• 4 oz. Pomegranate Juice
• 2 oz. Club Soda
• 1 lime wedge
• 1 cup ice

I squeezed real pomegranate juice, you could use the bottled. And just for fun I put the pomegranate juice and the ice in a cocktail shaker. I strained it and then added the club soda and some pomegranate seeds just for fun!

Refreshing ::

I am sure you all have your own favorite festive recipes! I just thought I would pass on a few of ours! The good old standbys are great and the new ones are so fun to try!

:: Happy 2011 ::

Until next time, take care.

~Sarah~

 

:: Happy New Year ::

Another year is coming to a close. Wow, when I look back so much has happened in the last year. Some good and some bad…but thankfully mostly good! Tonight we will be spending the night in with our kids watching the ball drop in NYC. The same as every year and we wouldn’t want it any other way.

We all have the sniffles, so we will be sipping on hot chocolate and soup While munching on warm appetizers. Mmmmm~

I want to thank you all for your wonderful, heartfelt comments this past year. Blogging is such a blessing in my life. I have made so many friends, some of these friends I have never met. You all hold a special place in my heart.

It amazes me how kind people truly are. How thoughtful and concerned they can be about someone they have never met. You have all touched me and renewed my faith in the goodness of the people all over this world. I have gotten emails from different towns, states and countries. It truly is inspiring! Thank you! Here’s to a whole new year full of friendship!!

I wanted to leave you with a couple of New Years quotes. You know how I love quotes!

"We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day. " ~Edith Lovejoy Pierce

“Another fresh new year is here
Another year to live!
To banish worry, doubt, and fear,
To love and laugh and give!
This bright new year is given me
To live each day with zest
To daily grow and try to be
My highest and my best!
I have the opportunity
Once more to right some wrongs,
To pray for peace, to plant a tree,
And sing more joyful songs!”

Happy New Year my dear friends! May you all enjoy safe celebrations! I wish you nothing but the best of blessings in 2011. Make it a year to remember for you and those around you!

Until next time, take care.

~Sarah~

 

Twas The Night Before Christmas….

We are all set for Santa! Merry Christmas to all and to all a goodnight! …….

Merry Christmas To All…..

Holiday greetings my friends! The little boys have settled down for the night and the older kids are ready to help me do some last minute wrapping. We are all cozy inside while some rain/ice is forming outside. I hope everyone that is traveling can reach their destinations safe and sound.

I just thought I would share a few festive photos with all of you. A little bit of this and a little bit of that. I received my vintage ornaments and I couldn’t be more happy! Next year I want to do a whole big tree full of lights and filled with them!

LOVE these kind!

A little light on our bedroom dresser~

In our Master Bath~

Just a little snowman that I love~

 

And here is a wall box that I had custom made by Denise a.k.a Sawdusty. Click HERE to visit her Etsy shop. She makes the most wonderful wood items! I am so happy with my wall box, I will have so much fun changing it from season to season!  Thank you Denise for getting it done so quickly and delivered to me in record time to enjoy for the holidays!

Tucked in a few greens and goodies~

Our basement tree~

Here is an oak nativity that my Dad made for me years ago. I put it out every year. So simple, so special and I love it. Brings our thoughts back to the reason for the season~

A couple more pictures to share. This is the gingerbread house that Owen and I made in Preschool yesterday. So much fun! And it turned out so cute!

And this is a card that Alex made for Geoff and I. He tucked it into the tree for safe keeping until….as you can see…. “Do Not Open Until Christmas Eve”.

I guess we will just have to wait to find out what is inside! :)

Here is what is burning tonight. Christmas Cookie by Village Candle. We even did some baking today, boy did our house smell doubly yummy!

My wish for you is that your heart is filled with all of the sights, smells, sounds and spirit of the season and that you feel the love and warmth of family and friends around you.

May Peace be your gift at Christmas and your blessing all year through.

Until next time, take care.

~Sarah~