How To Make Your Home Cozy This Winter

  We are all at home a lot during the winter, making your home cozy is so important...

it will evoke the feeling of 

"I love being here during this special season".

Starting with the most important element to me...does your home smell good?

This potpourri is so easy to put together and it will make your home smell amazing.

The best part is, 

you can use almost anything you have on hand. 

I think citrus, vanilla, and cinnamon are the three best ingredients to include.

I found this recipe on Half Baked Harvest. 

One orange, 2 apples, 5 cinnamon sticks, a bunch of rosemary,

1 and 1/2 cups of fresh cranberries, vanilla, cinnamon and cloves.

I let this simmer on the stove all day and the house smelled amazing!

Candles and scented oils work well also.

Bringing fresh elements indoors is always fun...

these are cutting from my outdoor holly bush that I mixed with my snowmen and lights.

My holly did not have many berries as I searched through it, but I made due.

I keep lots of pillows and warm blankets out on the couch, 

 I also keep extra blankets in my storage ottomans, so we have lots to keep us warm and comfortable.

Lay picture books, memory books and magazines on the coffee table and end tables.

Keep books open so you are more inclined to flip through the pages.

I have a lot of scrapbooks.

Be sure to keep your snow shovel by the front door,

so you're ready, when that first snow comes!

The Thanksgiving Day Parade

In 2013 we went to see the Thanksgiving Day Parade in NY City live.

We stayed in the Midtown Hilton, the hotel had a parade viewing area out in front,

so we had an amazing view.

It was a wonderful experience that I wrote about here.

This year Mike, the hubs and I watched it on television, and I will say

 it was a lot warmer and quite enjoyable.

I took a few pictures to share here, just in case you missed it.

Everything was so colorful...I seem to like the floats better than the balloons.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles...Mike's favorite as a young boy.

I hope to get back one day to see it live!

Traditions...

 I find with the boys not living here, we have not continued as many of our Christmas traditions.

This countdown to Christmas is an important one,

 and I still keep it going on this snowman while they are not here. 

I got this when they were 1 and 2...

Mike got it started while he was here and it is going to be hard for me to erase his numbers to keep going.

His handwriting reminds me of him. 

Another is decorating the house for Christmas on Thanksgiving weekend,

Mike helped us and that was awesome.

This tray of candles is my favorite.

I bake cookies each year, these are from a few years ago.

Michael always loved candy kisses and we bought him this Advent Calendar one year when we went to 

- Hershey Park -

he was just a little guy, and we have kept it for all these years.

He got it going while he was here for Thanksgiving,

the hubs and I will keep "eating" the kisses until he comes back home for Christmas.

I always watch the Thanksgiving Day parade, Mike watched with me.

Just in case you were busy cooking and missed it, here's a great picture of Santa.

One tradition we never skip, is driving around to look at Christmas lights.

We just happen to pass this house on our way home the other night.

It was gorgeous!

Their gate was decorated and there was Christmas music playing.
- be still my heart -

The BEST tradition we have is going to my Niece Deanna's and her husband Anthony's house for Christmas Dinner

You have never had fun until you have spent a holiday there, they host all of the holidays.

It is a wonderful time of family, fun and love...I am so very grateful to have them all.

The Bucket List is filled with a lot of fun things to do!

Wise Words On Sunday

Let us always remember...

- have a wonderful day -

Saturday Critters #572

When we go out for a drive, we often end up at Spring Lake, we really enjoy the area.

On this day, 

we stopped to survey the ducks to see if there were any "out of the ordinary" ducks.

A huge group of Mallard Ducks came out of the water to greet us, I am sure they thought we had food.

I keep duck food in the car but many people frown upon feeding the ducks, so I usually don't.

After a few snaps, 

these beautiful Mallards realized they were not getting fed and headed back into the lake.

This duck in the center... 

and this one that would not come out of the water appear to be Hybrids.

- let me know what you think -

Sharing today's images with Eileen at 

Viewing Nature With Eileen 

for Saturday Critters

Happy Turkey Day

I hope these friends of mine made it out alive!

 

Have a wonderful day!

I Love Having Mike Home

It is so nice to have his younger spirit in the house, 

some noise, fun chatter...the house feels a little more like a home.

I made these as he was traveling home from the airport.

The house smelled like cookies when he got home and I love that.

They are a family favorite, the hubs loves them too and he is celebrating his birthday.

We play games when Mike comes home...

I may be the only one who loves games but he humors me and plays and that makes me very happy.

This is my winning hand at Racko, I only won once.

We took a walk around the Reservoir, and we are still in a severe drought.

If you look closely at the second picture, 

you can see the water line on the rocks where, under normal conditions, the water is filled to.

I have never seen it this low before.

We did have a little rain which enabled the town to pump some water in from a nearby pond.

We ended this day at the beach at Pier Village, 

Serena's on the beach, the hubs favorite restaurant.

Celebrating our special someone, I hope you had a nice day!

2 Needles and Some String

 Hello friends, 

I am still knitting some, no big projects like that crazy sweater I knit.

I finished a headband/earwarmer for one of my nieces as part of her Christmas package.

The center is twisted and it looks a bit like a bow.

It is difficult to see in this picture.

I started a second one for her sister, 

she's a redhead, I thought the cream color might be better with her hair color.

I have been knitting washcloths to gift with homemade soap for Christmas gifts.

One or two will look pretty in a small gift box with this homemade soap.

Here are two more that I finished.

You have to use 100% cotton yarn for these, 

I really like the green yarn that came from one of the Dollar Stores.

My KC Chiefs won again on Sunday, but the game was not televised in my area.

 I could have gone to a sports bar but I really don't enjoy that.

This picture is from the week before, Patrick throwing a nice touchdown pass that put us ahead.

We ultimately lost that game which gives us a record of 10 - 1, and first place in the AFC West.

Youngest son Mike is in the air right now, flying home for the holiday week.

I did not drive to the airport with the hubs, instead I stayed at home to bake some cookies.

I can't wait to see him!