Tags for Christmas packages can be fairly costly, but it is important to label each package properly so each recipient gets their intended gift, right?  Well, I have a few tips on how to keep the cost of these items to a minimum. 

• Print your own using address labels.  Try these links for Christmas printables.  Gift Tags, Christmas Printables. 
• Consider making your own labels.  A little sticker on an address label, children drawing on address labels, etc will make the most adorable unique and personal labels for your gifts
• USe last years Christmas cards.  Each year I have a few cards left over from the previous year,s mailing.  I also save the fronts of all cards sent to us.  These make excellent and FREE labels.  Use a hole punch so you can attach with packaging ribbon or simply adhere with tape on one corner.  Sign the back and you have a FREE Gift Label.
• Use a photo.  We all have photos that have been printed that we will never use in a scrapbook, photo album, or frame.  Punch a hole in a corner and attach as above.  Sign the back and a little line about what the picture is.  People really enjoy these labels.  They aren't free because you paid at some point to have the pics printed, but they cost nothing extra.  These are always a big hit with our friends and family.

Happy Gifting!

These are my thoughts.

Leslie Valeska

~Contributing Writer~

Leslie Valeska is the lucky wife of Thomas.  With children ranging in ages from 4-16, she has had a lot of time to learn and experience much of the fine art of homemaking. She is a writer, speaker, and vintage seamstress. For FREE daily tips and a FREE E-zine on simple and frugal living visit her blog Journey to Simplicity. Need a source of encouragement, inspiration, and support on your journey to Godly womanhood? Visit Simple Journey Ministries (she has a FREE E-zine too!) Of course, don’t forget to visit the Simple Journey Bookstore!

I can't believe that December is here! We've been very ill for the last several days. We had a lovely Thanksgiving, but that evening, I developed a high fever. At first, I was concerned with my incision (infection?) but as it turns out, it was flu. I am still running a low grade fever and feel very tired and weak. The boys are mending quickly, thank the Lord. The worst of it for them was the first 24 hours. My leg is very bruised and still swollen and painful. It's been difficult to do my daily tasks and so the boys are pitching in with laundry and such. The biopsy results have not come in, and it looks as though I will wait another week for them.

We don't have our trees up yet, which has never happened! We will start this evening with some decorating and hopefully, be ready once the weekend comes. When I'm able, I want to take a walk around the farm to gather greens for garland. I'm planning a Christmas open house for friends and neighbors next weekend, so I pray that we can get well and stay well for the festivities.There's much to be done! I am making my "to do" list. I noticed that I need to polish the silver punch bowl. It seems only yesterday, I put it away! It only comes out for Christmas, and makes things seem so special. We have a bit of snow on the ground now which only adds to the charm of the season. There is much to look forward to!

For Today

 Monday,December 1, 2008

I am hearing... some soft Christmas music.

A picture thought to share for the day...  

(Ginger folks from last year. We can't wait to make more!)

Please stop by to visit Peggy  to peek into the lives of other "Simple Women," and to read the guidelines for creating your own Daybook!

After my post a few days ago about sending cards to Recovering Soldiers, I found out that is not going to work.  Walter Reed gets so many that they cannot handle them, so the Red Cross has a program to distribute cards in many areas.   Following is some information and the address to use.  Please disregard the previous post I made, sorry for the confusion. 

Also note that the cards must be sent by Dec. 10!

Another thought I had was to plan to do something for patients in your local V.A. hospital.

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That's what we both are tonight!  Hubby announced this morning that he was going to back a trailer into the shed and we were going to start cleaning it out.  Well all I could say was WooHoo!   I should have taken a picture of the mess we had, but honestly it was a little too bad.  It is a shed that is open to the south and we use it for shelter for the goats.  They have been using the front half, but there was a cattle panel across the middle and the back half was total junk!  When we moved here 71/2 years ago, we stored things we didn't know what to do with there..........well, you know boxes got damp and gave out and stuff just got to be a total mess.  I have had the best intentions every year to get it cleaned out so the goats could use all of the building as well as just getting the junk cleared out.  But everytime I looked at it, it just seemed like too big of a job to start on myself, so I would just walk away.  So when hubby was in the mood to start on it this morning, I was overjoyed!  A lot of work, but a good tired at the end of the day.  I am guessing we burned 10 or more trash bags full, plus some boxes that we just carried to the burn pile.  Besides a trailer pretty full of stuff to haul to the dump tomorrow.  There is a huge pile of used lumber along one side that my Dad had stored there, so we will have to start on that tomorrow too.  We are thinking some of it may be no good, but some can be  salvaged.  Then of course there is a row of "stuff" that we want to keep that will need to find a home before we can say we are finished. I doubt that we can finish it tomorrow, but we sure have made a good start and I am thrilled.

This shed is where we hold the Live Nativity that we host each year.  So that is another reason to be happy to get this project done now before Christmas.  Past years we have just hung a tarp across, covering up the mess.

Today was a perfect day to work outside, we were out of the wind, so not cold, but just right to work and not get hot either.  There was very little wind, so we were able to keep the burn pile going and get rid of the burnable stuff right away.

One more blessing to share with you.  I send out a newsletter from our farm, and in the one I did last week I added a wish list of things we could use here that folks might have laying around and want to get rid of.  Included was a baby monitor,  jelly jars, concrete wire, and pieces of chain link fence to cover gates.  In response, a friend emailed and offered some fencing.  We borrowed a trailer and picked it up yesterday when we were in the area for Thanksgiving.  There was part of a roll of wire, several hog panels, some are bent, but we cut them up and use the pieces for hay feeders, a chain link walk thru gate, some steel posts.  And they also gave us 2 rubber buckets, a rubber feed pan, some metal wash tubs.  I think that is everything........  We were so happy to be blessed with these items and she told me she had wondered for 2 years what she was going to do with this stuff.  So we helped her out as well.  Isn't God Good!!!

I have 2 pies to bake by noon tomorrow.  Being busy all day and worn out tonight, I was very happy that I had made an extra single pie crust last week and put it in the freezer.   I stirred up  the filling for a custard pie in no time and it baked while I got the dishes from the day caught up.  In the morning when I have a little more energy, I will make an apple and be done baking till Monday I hope!

Country Blessings,

Marilyn~at Heritage Hill Homestead

We had such a nice day today.  We did not get up early and put the turkey in the oven........no, not us.........DIL  Edye had to do that this year!  Just had to do chores, get cleaned up and go to their house.  I am happy to report that DIL did a wonderful job of cooking, the food was very good!  We have a thing about dressing (stuffing some call it), we really like good dressing.  The first bite I took was of the dressing, and it was great!!  Here are some pictures of our day.

The cook of the day and Maddie.

Son, Ryan and my Mom.

Nick and Hubby.

Granddaughter, Lexi.

This is my Aunt Ernie, she just celebrated her 90th birthday last month.  She is amazing for 90!

Country Blessings,

Marilyn~at Heritage Hill Homestead

Wishing you a blessed Thanksgiving!

"Over the river and through the woods
Trot fast my dapple gray.
Spring over the ground
Like a hunting hound
On this Thanksgiving Day, Hey!
Over the river and through the woods
Now Grandmother's face I spy.
Hurrah for the fun,
Is the pudding done?
Hurrah for the pumpkin pie."
- English folksong

In just an hour or so, we'll pack up our baskets of goodies and indeed be heading "through the woods" to Grandmother's house. Of course, it's now my sister's house, but it still brings those wonderful memories of gatherings and meals that Gram prepared for us. We have much to be thankful for, as always. Thank you for your visits, your sweet comments, friendship and prayers. I count you among my blessings!

To each and every one,
Happy Thanksgiving from our homestead to yours!
May God bless you today and always.
My Cup Runneth Over...
~Chas~
Chasity L. Burrell
Senior Editor Homesteadblogger
Heritage Acres Farm

Hubby took pictures of the pies I baked today.  I had orders for 10 and also made 2 for our dinner tomorrow.  Peach, apple, cherry, strawberry/rhubarb, pecan, 2 coconut creme, and 5 pumpkin.

There was a pecan in the oven when this was taken and I made 3 more pumpkin after that.  Some of these had to be delivered so I couldn't wait until they were all done to get the picture.

We are going to son, Ryan's and family tomorrow!  I have almost always cooked Thanksgiving dinner.........I enjoy it and love to have family at our house, but this year it will be nice to go and relax a little bit. 

I am tired and calling it a night.........I wish everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving Day filled with family, friends and Country Blessings!

Marilyn~at Heritage Hill Homestead

As I'm sure most of you know, I love The Old Schoolhouse Magazine. For homeschooling families, it is a must have resource. If you have always wanted to try it, now is the time! Of course, if you already subscribe, it's also a great time to renew because...

The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine is having an amazing sale on subscriptions during their annual Black Friday Sale November 26 – 30. For those 5 days only, they are drastically reducing their one-year subscription price to $7.95! That's the price you would usually pay for just one issue at a bookstore!

This is their lowest price ever on the magazine and they want all of you to take advantage of this offer and share the info with your friends. Please don't miss out. Your one-year subscription will pay for itself time and time again as you receive practical tips and Biblical encouragement to keep going strong in your commitment to homeschooling and to the Lord. Since it's a quarterly magazine, they even have a monthly subscriber's only E-Newsletter called Teacher's Toolbox that will give you seasonal teaching ideas and a free E-Book download! It's like joining a unit study of the month club! The free E-Books alone are valued at almost $250/year. It's really perfect for people who are homeschooling on a shoestring or just wanting to add in some little extras to your teaching.

Plus during the Black Friday Sale, they have all kind of bonus gifts when you spend $50, $75, $100, or $150. Some are electronic downloads that you can download immediately, while other are physical products mailed from various vendors directly to your home.

AND, their Win Big contest is going on so if you just happen to be customer 67,000, you will receive a prize package valued at almost $500 which includes a $150 gift certificate to the Schoolhouse Store! Who couldn't use that? And you can qualify to win it no matter how much or how little you spend!

Mark your calendars for November 26 - 30th and do a little shopping from your seat, not your feet at the Schoolhouse Store's Black Friday Sale!

www.TheOldSchoolhouseStore.com