Well…I had to do a modified version of the unplugged day.  Since my new art prints launched on Thursday,I did have to use the computer a little while.  But, I made some rules for the day.  First, I only had one hour for the whole day and no blog reading.

This challenge was hard for me!  I was at home, having a regular day, there were many times I wanted to use the computer.  It was a great check-up though…. I am more aware of how much time I’m spending on the computer now…which is a good thing!

How did it go for you?

By the way…I have some new ads up! Click on this button to see my new ad.

CIVIL WAR –498,332
WORLD WAR I–16,708
WORLD WAR II –407,316
KOREAN WAR –54,246
VIETNAM WAR–58,655
PERSIAN GULF WAR –372
IRAQ WAR–3397

Total is 1,139,026

BABIES LOST TO ABORTION IN USA— 50+ MILLION

“In the past two hundred years, over one million Americans have died for their country. Monuments have been built and speeches have been delivered, honoring these American heroes. America is now engaged in a war where there are no heroes, no monuments or accolades – only victims. Our society has declared war on its most helpless members – our unborn children. Since that war was declared on January 22, 1973, there have been over 50 million deaths.”

This Sunday let’s pray:

For the babies of Mothers who feel trapped with no options

For the Mothers with arms and hearts empty from a decision they regret

For the scared teenager who’s boyfriend left her stranded

Let’s remember that most women have just believed a lie– that the life growing inside her is just “tissue”.

Being AGAINST abortion is not enough,  we also need to be FOR the Mother’s who are desperate and FOR their babies lives that hang in the balance.

Learn more: National Right To Life

Boo Mama is having a virtual open house and I just had to get in on the fun.

She asked that we share our favorite easy Christmas recipe with you as well.

My recipe isn’t for eating, but you’ll laugh when people walk into your house and ask what’s cooking!

Simmering Spices:

Put about 2 Tablespoons of cinnamon, 1 Tablespoon of cloves and the peel of one orange.

Cover with water, put it on the stove and  turn it on high, when it starts to simmer, turn it down to low and enjoy the wonderful smells wafting through your home!

You can use what you have for the spices: Whole or ground cinnamon, whole or ground cloves, apple slices, lemons, etc.

Ready for the tour? … Here are a few of our Christmas decorations from around the house.

This is in our family room.  I was inspired by Nester to make this over the top garland. I’m really pleased with how it turned out.

This is our family Christmas tree. ( It’s in the same room as the garland above.) It has icy branches, berries, copper colored birds, and lots of red, gold, silver, and clear glass ornaments.

This next picture shows something very precious to me; our yule log. This is our family’s version of the traditional yule log. (Without all the weirdness of the original yule log tradition.)   My Mother’s parents had a yule log that they brought out every Christmas.  At meals they would light the candles and let the wax drip down onto the log.  My Grandmother’s  yule log has over fifty years of Christmas candle wax on it.  It’s beautiful!

My Grandpa cut a yule log for my Mother when she married and he cut one for me when I married.  Ours has eleven years of Christmas candles on it!  My Grandpa passed away about five years ago, so this yule log is very special to me.  When our children marry we will cut yule logs for their first married Christmas too.

These next two photos are of our children’s  tree and skating rink.  The children’s tree has all of our ornaments from Adam’s and my childhood, as well as ones the kids and I have made.  I grew up with bubble lights on the tree, so I was SO EXCITED to find these clear bubble lights to put on ours!

The skating rink is one of the kid’s favorite Christmas decorations. They really like to play with the little skaters that go round and round. 

I hope you’ve enjoyed some of the ways we decorate for Christmas, thanks for stopping by!

Last night we had a wonderful time with the married couples of our church.

We ate and played a Taboo type guessing game.  It was a lot of fun!

Afterward we shared our favorite Christmas memories and got to take beautiful ornaments home.

it’s always so nice to be with other couples who love the Lord and know how to have a good time!

Here are some pictures from last night:

Here I am with my sweet husband Adam, without whom you wouldn’t be reading this!  He is my computer genius and helps me figure out how to do everything on the computer.

My sister in law and I got to do these decorations.

Enjoy the extra time spent with family and friends this season, it’s one of the best things about Christmas!

Here is this week’s Works For Me Wednesday post.

As I was growing up we would save the beautiful Christmas cards that family and friends would send us.

But not in the way you might think!

We would make them into Christmas tags for the next year’s gifts.

Christmas Mail

After I got married I continued the tradition and even inherited some of my Mother’s tags!

I have been adding to the bag of tags every year.  Some of them are almost as old as I am!

When I wrap gifts I’ll sort through the tags and find the ones that match the package just right.

Here is how we would do things growing up:

After Christmas was over we would take the tree down and put things away till next year.

During a break we would sit down, take our scissors and carefully cut around the most beautiful parts of our Christmas cards.

As we would make these cards into new Christmas tags for next year, we would be reminded of our loved ones.

The love they sent through the mail will live on through the years.

If you listen to the news you hear a lot about flu and cold season.

So, I thought I’d share what has helped our family stay well.

When our babies were sick I would have given anything to make their pain go away.
So after suffering through a few colds, I had enough!

It was time to be on the offense.

I  found our there is  SO MUCH we can do to keep from getting sick!
Here are a few things I’ve learned over the years:

Sugar is public enemy number one.

Eating one teaspoon can lower the immune system up to     six hours.

Ever wonder why the flu season happens around the holidays?

Think about all of the pies, cakes, brownies, sugar cookies…

It’s hard not to eat sugar but it’s even harder to see your babies with what my daughter calls “booger nose”.

Enough said.

Over 80% of your immune system is located in the intestinal tract.

Help keep the digestive tract working well by taking  a good quality probiotic.

Peroxide is a wonderful helper in the fight against disease.

Bubble out your ears with peroxide.
(Just dip a cotton ball into the peroxide, lay on your side and use the cotton to drip peroxide  into your ear canal.
Wait until you hear it stop bubbling and then tip your head and pour it out.
It’s helpful to have a hand towel on the pillow.)

I do this whenever we have any symptoms and it really seems to help.  With little kids you can just take a cotton swab and dip it into the peroxide and gently put some into their ears.

If you are having a sore throat you can gargle with a mixture of  half water and half peroxide.

Wash your hands, eat healthy foods, get plenty of rest and STAY WELL!

I hope these things help your family too.  I’m not a doctor, so these are just tips from one Mom to another.  May your family stay healthy this winter!

“… I am the LORD that healeth thee.” (Exodus 15:26 KJV)

If you enjoyed this here is some additional reading:

My homemade germ killing cleaner.

How to treat a cold.

Drink enough water.