Monday Message

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from the Shooks!

I saw this and thought it sounded like a good idea so passing it on to you http://www.foodstoragemoms.com/12-christmas-meals-bags/

http://www.foodstoragemoms.com/need-want-christmas-gifts/ - good to read

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/11892386491999982/ - a great food storage gift, you can see the tutorial.

http://www.midwestliving.com/recipe/candy-cane-snack-mix/ - snack for family

http://christmas.organizedhome.com/crafts/christmas/blessing-mix  - nice to remember our blessings and tastes great too!

http://foodstorageandsurvival.com/making-evaporated-sweetened-condensed-milk-powdered/ - this is helpful info.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Basic-Sewing-By-Hand-Tutorial/ - this is a good tutorial to teach our children.

http://www.loveofknitting.com/instructions.html - knitting

http://crochet.about.com/od/crochetstitches/tp/basic-stitches.htm - crochet

http://theartofsimple.net/back-to-the-basics/ - this looks good but I wanted you to see the video clip, scroll down. I think you will find something you can relate with.

Remember, it is not about who has the best decorations. It is not about comparing yourselves against someone else who seems to wake up and walk out of a magazine, whose house is like a page from a magazine. These images are not the real picture. Every house has a kitchen sink for dirty dishes, so if you really live in your home things really are not like the magazine page.

I once looked at a magazine thinking hmmmm that is soooooo nice then looked closer and in the different pics was the same stuff used over again taken so you would not notice, plus someone who did have their pic of their house put in a magazine said not much was hers and that they moved out her stuff and put in their stuff just for the pic.

So what I am saying is sometimes we don’t see the whole picture. What might look like the perfect family with the perfect kids is not that way at all but yet we have a tendency to beat ourselves up for not being as perfect. If you do that you only end up with boo boos.

I one time asked my grandmother how she was doing and she said well I can't clean the closets as well as I use to... I responded for her not to worry about them, no one looks in them anyhow. Many years later I get it. I know just what she was saying as I have arrived.

Life is hard enough without adding unnecessary stress. Enjoy life so there are toys all over the floor. I actually love to go to a home with toys all over the floor, it says fun happens here!

Christmastime can get out of hand stressful .

When our kids were little we would read aloud The Little House on the Prairie series in order from beginning to end.

Even now my tradition is when we get the first really bad winter storm I will read The Long Winter from that series. Nothing will make you want your food storage in more except to live it perhaps.

So pick up a copy and join me in reading it this year when we get the first real bad "stay indoors" storm!

So if you are feeling overwhelmed you can cut back on everything, you have permission!

Keep your eye out for someone who isn’t feeling well or doesn’t have the Christmas spirit this year. You don’t have to look far. The economy is pinching all and bring them some of your cheer. Opportunities are out there to brighten..…

Maybe there is someone who is ill in your family circle or have had hard times fall on them. Start there and work your way out. There is plenty of suffering all over, even a kind smile will warm a weary heart.