5 Designer Bookmarks Download 5 adorable bookmarks from I Will Make This by clicking on the image to the right → There are a variety of designs in pink, wine and gray colors. You can print out on cardstock and/or laminate them. Pink Bookmark Living Lo Curto has several bookmarks designed for Mother’s Day. You can download their pink bookmark by clicking on the image to the right → 4 Bookmarks This printable by Living Lo Curto has some adorable cream and orange bookmarks with birds and leaves designs. You can download the 4 designs by clicking on the image to the right → Each bookmark has a different title: Mom, Grandma, World’s Best Mom, and Happy Mother’s Day. Bookmarks to Color This printable is a black and white version of the bookmarks above. You can download the 4 designs by clicking on the image to the right → If you’re teaching at home, school or church you can have the kids color and gift them to their mothers and grandmothers. SuperMom List Papers Living Lo Curto has yet again created another awesome and useful printable. This time it’s list paper with the title SuperMom on each page. You can download the printable list paper by clicking on the image to the right → Very cute and can be made into a sweet gift for mom by putting the paper in a box and adding a matching pencil to it. Mother’s Day Party You can download the party printables by clicking on the image to the right → Whether you’re throwing a party at school, church or just with the family, you can always spruce it up with adorable party printables. And that is exactly what Linnette from Paper Glitter did when she created these cute strawberry themed Mother’s Day party printables. The rest of the party’s printables can be seen below: Mother’s Day Party II You can download more party printables by clicking on the image to the right → Ilenia from SimplyNabiki also contributed to the free Mother’s Day party printables and made more resources that combine with the set above. Mother’s Day Party You can download more party printables by clicking on the image to the right → Amanda Parker created some gorgeous party printables. You do have to like her page on Facebook in order to get the link to the free printable.. I did and really liked it: The file is really big so it might take quite a while to download,but it’s worth the wait. Cupcake Toppers You can download Mother’s Day Cupcake Toppers by clicking on the image to the right → These toppers can also be used as favor tags. Party Circles You can download Mother’s Day party circles by clicking on the image to the right → The TomKatStudio created beautiful designs that can be used for a mother’s day party. These circles can be used as cupcake toppers and favor tags. Gift Tags You can download Mother’s Day gift tags by clicking on the image to the right → These gift tags can be used as favor tags and table decoratives. I Love 2 Cut Paper You can download more party printables by clicking on the image to the right → I love 2 cut paper created some Mother’s Day party printables in pink and green. There’s even a cute matchbox album decorative that can be turned into a gift. Mother’s Day Game You can download Mother’s Day game by clicking on the image to the right → Lisa from Over the Big Moon created an awesome game that mom’s and kids can play with M&Ms. It’s really cute and a great opportunity to bond. Mother’s Day Manifesto You can download Mother’s Day Manifesto by clicking on the image to the right → This is a very inspirational poster that you can print out. Mother’s Day Cards You can download Free Mother’s Day Cards by clicking on the image to the right → I created a separate post just for all of the different free printable Mother’s Day cards since there were so many.

Post from: Christian Homemaking and Family Resources, Encouragement and Help at Embracing Home

Mother’s Day Printables : Free Bookmarks, Gift Tags and Other Goodies

Clementine Creative Card Carmia from from Clementine Creative made a free printable Mother’s Day card that you can download by clicking on the image to the right → ‘I Will Make This’ 4 Cards You can find 4 printable Mother’s Day Cards from I Will Make This and you can download by clicking on the image to the right → ‘I Will Make This’ 2 Cards 2 Mother’s Day Cards with birdie designs by I Will Make This and you can download by clicking on the image to the right → Mother’s Day Newspaper Mother’s Day Newspaper PDF from Martha Stewart and you can download by clicking on the image to the right → Mother’s Day Poem Print a sweet poem for your mother download the printable by clicking on the image to the right → Designer Mother’s Day Card Leslie Ann Jones and you can download by clicking on the image to the right → Creative Mamma’s Card Creative Mamma made a beautiful Mother’s Day card that you can download by clicking on the image to the right →

Post from: Christian Homemaking and Family Resources, Encouragement and Help at Embracing Home

Free Printable Mothers Day Cards

Mini Table of Contents

1 – What To Do With the Calendars

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Sometimes people have calendars but they have no clue as to what to use them for. You can use the calendars for your own individual planning but also to organize a group. Whether you are organizing your family members, coworkers or employees, calendars are a way to keep the communication very clear. The further you plan ahead, the less stress you will have.

The following is a list of ideas for information that you can fill into the calendars:

Choosing and Printing

Lots of talented graphic artists have created beautiful calendars for you to download. I suggest choosing the calendars that inspire you the most and bring you that feeling of joy. Ask yourself which of the calendars make you feel happy and then simply save it to your computer and print it out. Also don’t forget to share your thoughts in the comment section at the end of the post.

I have small screenshots as a preview of each one so they are easy for you to find. Clicking on the image will open up a new window and take you directly to the calendar page.

Many of the following calendars are in PDF format and require the free Acrobat Reader. If you don’t have the reader, it can be downloaded free from this link (which is the Adobe Acrobat Reader).

So without further ado, here they are :

2 – Artistic Calendars

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3 – Photo Calendars

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Photo Calendars Vertex has some cool calendars for 2012. For the flowers theme click here or on the flower calendar below. For the seasons theme click here or on the seasons calendar below:

Home Life Photo Calendar Home Life Weekly has a really cool calendar with nature photographs. You can go to the PDF of the calendar page by clicking here or on the image to the right →

4 – Year at a Glance Calendars

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Creative Momma One Page Calendar Creative Momma made a beautiful one page 2012 doodle calendar. You can download the free printable calendar by clicking here or on the calendar image to the right →	Very Merry Vintage Style Calendar Very Merry Vintage Style has a great vintage style calendar. Here’s the link to the printable of the 2012 mini calendar. There’s a step by step photo tutorial. You can make this a gift. You can go to the calendar page by clicking here or on the image to the right →
Clementine Creative Calendar Carmia from Clementine Creative made a year at a glance calendar in 2 pages. Click here for the direct download link to the yearly calendar or simply click the image below:	Home Life Weekly Calendar Home Life Weekly created a single page 2012 calendar. You can go to the yearly calendar by clicking here or on the image to the right →
Kokeshi Dolls Yearly Calendar Creative Mamma made a really adorable 2012 ‘year at a glance’ calendar with Kokeshi Dolls as the theme. The page where she talks about the calendar is here. You can find the direct download link by clicking here or on the image to the right→	Believing Boldly Believing Boldly created 4 year at a glance image calendars for 2012. You can go to the yearly calendar by clicking here or on the image to the right →

5- Daily and Weekly Planners

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Home Life Daily Planning Pages Home Life Weekly created daily planning pages for the whole year (366 pages). You can download the free printable calendar by clicking here or on the calendar image to the right →	I Heart Organizing Daily Goals Page Jen from ‘I Heart Organizing‘ created a beautiful daily goals page. Here’s the link to the printable or you can click on the image to the right →
Weekly Planning by Taylor Gray Designs Taylor Gray Designs created a beautiful weekly planner. You can download the printable by clicking here or on the image to the right→	Weekly Planning by I Heart Organizing Jen from ‘I Heart Organizing‘ created 2 beautiful weekly planning pages. For the Weekly Planning page click here and for the peek at the week printable click here or on the images below:

Post from: Christian Homemaking and Family Resources, Encouragement and Help at Embracing Home

Top 25 Beautiful Free Printable Calendars for 2012

Some of my friends are really wonderful mothers and wives. They work so hard each day doing the best that they can to take care of their families. But somehow they seem to always come back to that gnawing feeling in their gut that they’re simply not good enough.

Is that you? Are you always asking yourself: Am I good enough?
Do you seem to compare yourself and what you do to other people’s lives? Let me tell you right now: this is not something that comes from the heart of God. It’s the enemy’s tactic to never let you be happy no matter how hard you work or try.
The truth is that your value doesn’t come from your accomplishments. Your worth is based on who you are. You have tremendous value to God the Father:

Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are?
Matthew 6:26

Comparing is just an unfair thing to do to your soul. Each person has their own story, past experiences, circumstances, personality type and even DNA. Everyone is special and has a unique mission here on Earth that only they can accomplish.

I remember one day when my son was little. He was very defiant about everything. I tried so hard to teach him right and wrong but it felt like an uphill battle carrying a stubborn donkey.
I called my cousin and told her what was going on. I said to her:

‘I don’t know how to raise boys! I’m not a boy! I’m so girlie there’s not a boy bone in my body and I have no clue how to teach these boys how to behave.’

Her answer to me was:

‘Eren, God gave you these 3 boys. So obviously you are the best equipped person in the world to raise them.’

And in that instant I knew that she was 100 % right on. The Lord is a sovereign God and wouldn’t give me a task without enabling me to complete it. Later on I found out that there’s a verse that confirms this truth.

Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass. ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:24

After she talked to me that day, my confidence as a mother truly grew and I became firmer in my decision making. After that, my boys started to obey me very quickly simply because I believed in my abilities as a mother. They could feel that all of their whining wouldn’t deter me from doing what was the best thing for them in the long run. I became very consistent and their behaviour started to change tremendously.

So what I want to say to you is this:
Don’t ever think that you’re not good enough. Let go of that lie completely and hold on to the truth that you are good enough. Trust God to provide what you will need to achieve your goals.

Don’t compare yourself to others. Just don’t do it! It’s not good for your spirit and it doesn’t honor your true story. Simply embrace who you are and your true calling in life. Be thankful for the path that you are on. Respect where you are right now and trust that at the right time all things will work together to take you where you need to go. Be gentle on yourself.
Thank God for other people’s success and pray that He continue to use them for His purposes. Celebrate each success in your own life. Let pure love inundate your spirit. With this kind of attitude, you will go much further and be much happier in the process.

Wishing you lots of peace, joy and sucess.

Blessings always,

Eren Mckay

P.S. You can find out about the Embracing Home Newsletter by clicking on this link.

Post from: Christian Homemaking and Family Resources, Encouragement and Help at Embracing Home

Am I Good Enough?

I am ready…

I’m ready to release all fears…

Ready to let go..

Of the ifs and the buts

I’m ready to step out of the boat

Yes

I’m ready to walk on water

Not because I trust in my ‘walk on water’ abilities

I’m ready

Because You.. Creator of the water

Are holding me above it all

With Your everlasting power

I trust you Father

I trust you

Post from: Christian Homemaking and Family Resources, Encouragement and Help at Embracing Home

I Am Ready

Thanksgiving is a holiday that never gets old. I believe it has something to do with the food, the family, the friends, and the general love sharing.
If you’re like me, you love to plan ahead as much as possible in order to actually be able to enjoy the festivities.
In this post, you’ll find a cool list of thanksgiving food ideas and also some tips to decorate your thanksgiving dinner. Let’s start off with the pumpkin themed cupcakes. Make the dough out of with pumpkin puree. Once your cupcakes are baked, cover the top with special frosting. Next spread some white and green sprinkles. Use orange and green food coloring in royal icing to make the small pumpkins that will decorate the cupcakes. You’ll need a toothpick to make the details of each pumpkin.

Chocolate Covered Turkey Cupcakes

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The next idea is to make chocolate cupcakes that look just like turkeys. Flower shaped cookies and candy corn can make the details of the turkey tails. You’ll need some 12 ” disposable bags and #1 to # 3 tips for all of the icing details. Use round chocolate candy as the turkey head and make the eyes out of royal icing. The cupcakes that you make should be placed on 3 tiered silver or porcelain trays. It’s essential to have this type of tray to display all of your hard work.

Thanksgiving Sugar Cookie Ideas

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Let’s cover another sweet part of the event: the cookies. Make sugar cookies out of different thanksgiving shapes with cookie cutters and then decorate them with royal icing. Your sugar cookies could be shaped as acorns, leaves, pumpkins, squirrels, racoons, pilgrims or even turkeys. The pictures to the right will give some ideas as to how your pumpkin sugar cookies should turn out. Rember that the key to creating cool designs is practice and using toothpicks for the details.


Alternatives to Traditional Turkey Baking

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If you have ever searched for a turkey recipe, you know there are thousands of them out there, and most of them are good. The only problem is they tend to take a lot of time, days even. So although it’s not the healthiest route a yummy alternative is to deep fry the bird. Yes, deep fry. If you’ve never done it before you don’t need to worry: it’s not that difficult. What I like about this method of cooking the turkey, is that the bird stays incredibly moist, assuming of course that you don’t overcook it.
For a hot and healthy dish, to counteract the deep fried turkey, prepare some cream of carrot soup. It makes for a great appetizer for hungry guests as the food is being prepared. Another great soup you might want to try is pumpkin soup. Keep in mind that the best thing about soup is that it can be prepared ahead of time, and reheated.

Thanksgiving Decorating Ideas

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Make an event out of decorating your table and home. The decorating process is a great opportunity to get everyone involved, especially the little ones. One of my favorite ideas is to make place cards for each person out of little paper hand turkeys.
If you live in an area that has lots of nature around you go out together with other family members and collect leaves that have changed to the beautiful colors of fall. Nicely textured sticks and twigs can also be arranged in such a way that makes a lovely centerpiece for the table such as the picture to the right.
As for activities that the family can do at the event, check out these pumpkin painting ideas.
At the end of the day even if the turkey is dry, the mac and cheese burnt, and the pie stuck to the pan, Thanksgiving isn’t really about any of that. Remember, it’s about the people that you love: sharing, laughing, and just being together. Take this occasion as a time to really bond with your family, and of course, be thankful .


I hope these you enjoyed these ideas for a Thanksgiving food ideas.

Blessings always,

Eren Mckay

P.S. You can find out about the Embracing Home Newsletter by clicking on this link or you can just fill in the form below.

Post from: Christian Homemaking and Family Resources, Encouragement and Help at Embracing Home

Thanksgiving Food Ideas

One of my all-time favorite movies when I was a kid was the Lion King. As an adult, it continues to be one of my favorite movies. That’s probably why I think it’s an excellent choice for a kid’s party. If you’ve decided to throw a Lion King birthday party, then you’ll love the ideas that you’ll find here. A great color palette for this event is green, orange, and different brownish tones. Purchase lots of balloons to decorate. Here’s a cool article that will help you with tips on how to decorate your kids party with balloons. To get inspired for the rest of the decor, let’s think about the movie:
In the beginning, Mufasa and Simba have a conversation about the food chain:

“When we die, our bodies become the grass, and the antelope eat the grass. And so we’re all connected in the great Circle of Life.”

Lion King Birthday Invitations

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This is gold! There’s so much we can extract from this sentence and put to use throughout the entire party and especially in the invitations.
For example: you can cut out construction paper in circles to remember the ‘circle of life’ and paste that quote inside the invite. You could even say something like: Let’s celebrate the circle of life! Come join us for (name os child’s) birthday party!
Another idea is to make paper lion faces and glue yarn to resemble the lion’s mane. Craft stores sell eyes that you can glue onto the lion and make it even cuter. Print out the main information about the party such as location, date and time so that you don’t have to fill in those details in by hand. For an even cooler effect, use stick glue and glitter powder on the outside of the invite.
Of course you can always purchase ready made invites, but you already know that . Now onto the yummiest part: the food!

Lion King Party Food

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Since food is a paramount part of Simba’s growth process, you can play off of some cool things that he loved to eat: Bugs, grass, and meat. Sounds yummy right? Worms or beetles anyone? Of course I’m not suggesting you serve worms to your guests but gummy worms are always a welcome treat to little kids. Another all around favorite plate for children is mud pie.(I’ll soon be posting my famous mud pie recipe so stay tuned.)
Lion cupcakes are delicious and adorably cute. So definitely plan on having them at your party. The picture to the right will give you an idea on how to decorate a lion cupcake. Use royal icing and candies to create the details.
Some other cool plates are pesto pasta salad to represent the green grass, hot dogs and hamburgers for the meat, and homemade lemonade for the beverages.


Entertainment for Your Lion Party

For the younger kids, making animal masks of the characters from the movie is a great way to keep everyone entertained. After the masks are made it’s also fun to have them play out classic parts of the movie; the reenactments of Pumbaa are priceless.
One of the greatest parts of this movie is the music. It had four Academy Award nominations and two wins. So don’t be afraid to center a large part of the entertainment on the music. Play musical chairs to start off the fun and make sure to have a cool prize (like a lion stuffed animal) for the winner.
Another great idea is to play freeze dance. In case you don’t know how to play freeze dance, it goes a little something like this: Turn on a song of your choice, in this case, a song from the movie. I would choose something more upbeat, like Hakuna Matata. While the music is playing, the children dance, but when you pause the song everyone has to freeze. Whoever is caught dancing or moving after the music stops is out. You do this until there’s only one child left standing. This lucky kid is then declared the winner, and receives a fun prize.

Keep in mind that there are three Lion King movies to play with here. This theme is great for just that reason. It doesn’t have to be a party for a certain age group and that’s it. You can adapt this theme for any age from 3 to 13. Sometimes even older (I wouldn’t mind having a Lion King party!). Have fun with it. Oh wait… now I feel a song coming on, ♬ In the jungle, the mighty jungle… ♬

I hope these you enjoyed these ideas for a Lion King birthday party.

Blessings always,

Eren Mckay

P.S. You can find out about the Embracing Home Newsletter by clicking on this link.

Post from: Christian Homemaking and Family Resources, Encouragement and Help at Embracing Home

Lion King Birthday Party Supplies

With Mother’s Day just around the corner, I thought I’d share a recipe that’s sure to put a smile on that wonderful woman’s face. It’s a relatively simple recipe for the most amazing breakfast buns you’ve ever had. I made these a couple of years ago, and they were a big success. Give your mom a huge treat by serving her some breakfast in bed. Moms work so hard for us and it’s essential to show our appreciation with personal gestures like these.

Mother’s Day Breakfast Ideas – Breakfast Buns Recipe

Serve some homemade breakfast buns, scrambled eggs, bacon and orange juice on a beautiful tray for Mother’s Day!
Another idea is to serve use this awesome fresh lemonade recipe instead of making regular orange juice. Organize everything on some porcelain dishes and nice silverware. If you’re a Christian, then you can print out this free Christian poem for Mother’s Day and tie it with a satin ribbon. Place the poem next on the tray with a single pink rose next to it. You can also buy some cool gifts that you know she’ll like and gift her at this time too.
So without further ado,here’s the delicious breakfast buns recipe for you to make:

Prep Time: 1 hour and 10 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour and 35 minutes
Yield: 15 servings

* Ingredients that you’ll need for the breakfast buns:

• 2 cups flour
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1 tsp. salt
• ½ cup milk
• ¾ ounce fresh yeast
• 3 eggs
• 3 tbs. butter
• Extra ¼ cup butter

*Instructions: How to make the breakfast buns:

Sift flour and salt into a large bowl, stir in the sugar, and make a well in the center. Next, in a separate bowl, melt the butter and stir in the milk. When this mixture has cooled to a lukewarm temperature dissolve the yeast into it. Pour this into the well that you made in the flour mixture. Also add your eggs to this and form a soft dough with it. You don’t want the dough to be so soft that it’s sticky, but also not dry. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes.(Note: really beat this dough a lot. Truly beaten dough makes for heavenly soft bread)
Leave it to rise for about an hour or until it has doubled in bulk.

After it has risen, turn it out and punch it down. Divide it into equal pieces to shape into balls. I usually get about 15 pieces out of this dough. Roll the balls in melted butter and place them in a small (about 8 to 9 inches) round or square pan. Preheat the oven to 400°F now. While it’s preheating you need to let the dough rise one more time, this time in the pan so that they start growing and becoming all family-like and squished together. Bake it for about 20-25 min or until golden brown.

Side Note: For those of you who don’t already know, when you tap the bottom of your baking dish and it sounds hollow, that means the bread is finished.

* Ingredients you’ll need for the Glaze:

• ¼ cup butter
• 3 tbs. honey


* Instructions: How to Make the Glaze

In a small pan melt your butter. Add the honey and then pour over finished rolls (you can break the dough into individual rolls if you prefer). Serve warm. Enjoy!


I hope these you enjoyed these ideas for Mother’s Day breakfast ideas.

Blessings always,

Eren Mckay

P.S. You can find out about the Embracing Home Newsletter by clicking on this link or just fill in the form below .

Post from: Christian Homemaking and Family Resources, Encouragement and Help at Embracing Home

Mother’s Day Breakfast Ideas

The other day I was talking to a dear friend of mine who is a developer and I told him that I had decided to challenge myself to write 80 articles of at least 500 words each in the time frame of 30 days. If there are more words, that’s okay, but the articles should be at least 500 words. I signed up for Victoria Cook’s 30 day business challenge and I’m loving it! Then he proceeded to ask me: “Okay so where is your blog post that says that you are doing a 30 day challenge?” And I was like hmmmmm… he DOES have a point- LOL!


When I started doing this challenge, I noticed that a lot of things changed inside of me. I have grown tremendously in a very short period of time: internally and also in my knowledge of the process and what it takes to achieve a goal.
What I’ve come to realize in such a short period of time will certainly help you in reaching your goals too! If you want to know how to set and achieve goals then read on for the top 6 things that I learned while achieving my goals.


1- Your happiness level will rise – a LOT!

It’s the number one thing that I’ve learned so far. I’m a happiness junkie so when I find something that brings joy to my life, I’m all over it . The feeling of joy that comes when you achieve a goal that you have set for yourself is simply wonderful.

2- Your self confidence will grow.

So many times we put off doing things that we’ve always wanted to do. But most of the time, they seem to be some far off distant idea that MAYBE someday will happen. When we take action and say: ok that’s it ~I’m doing this! That distant idea leaves the distant realm and comes to the here and NOW..
Things begin to change internally. We realize that we ARE capable of doing something and with this confidence growth, our happiness grows. So back to my number one lesson learned. I think that one of the biggest reasons why I got happier was because my confidence level rose. So both of these things are closely related.

3- The world will not end if you ignore certain tasks.

Of course I don’t suggest that you ignore taking a shower, drinking water and going to the bathroom; but other things can be ignored- really! They can! If you don’t believe me then try it! Ask yourself the following question: if a certain task or thing that takes up your time is ignored, what’s the worst thing that can happen? If the answer to that question is not: ‘all the world will come falling down on my head’, then by all means, eliminate it. I mean it’s just for 30 days anyways. So you can always pick up what you missed after the 30 days are over.

4- Inspirational things are not time wasters and

they should not be eliminated.

You need to take breaks between working and the things that keep your spirits up should continue being a part of your daily life. This will keep you jazzed up enough to keep working. I’m reading everyone one of Victoria’s emails that she sends out to those who sign up to the 30 day challenge. I also go back and listen to her videos when I need a quick ‘pick me up’. The key is inspiration. Keep your inner inspiration going high enough and BOOM you can do it!


5- Your self awareness will grow.

You will be very mindful of anything that can hinder you from achieving your goal. You don’t want that deadline coming up and not reaching what you set out to do. Your time gets treated like a valuable treasure chest that needs to be protected. Positivity becomes essential since you know that anything negative can get you off course and waste a huge amount of your time. You have to let go of certain tasks to be able to prioritize. Delegating becomes a necessity and not just a future possibility so that you’ll have the time to reach your goal.

Also… you begin to notice how your brain works: the kinds of things that trigger your mind into productivity. You start to see a pattern on what will make you passionate and end up discovering that this pattern makes up your core values. For example I have discovered that one of my main motivators is helping other people. If I think that something I’m doing will help someone else – I become a firecracker. Helping others is what makes up one of my core values. Tapping into that idea will get me working much harder. What are some of your core values that will ignite your fire? In Victoria Cook’s 30 day challenge, she gives you an inner strength assessment sheet and a core values sheet for you to evaluate where you are. This will help you understand what you need to work on emotionally to be able to move forward.

6- You’ll learn innovative ways to optimize your work.

When you need to get things done in a short amount of time, you end up trying new methods and tweaking your systems so that it all runs like a well oiled machine. One of the biggest things that have helped me in moving forward is not looking at the huge goal but just focusing on the next step that I have in front of me. I’m a visual tactile learner and I take advantage of that in assisting me to move forward.

For example: I know that I have to write an article about baby shower games. (By the way I know that most of you reading this probably won’t be writing about baby shower games.. however the process to be able to achieve my article can be replicated into whatever task you want to get done.) So I need a 500 word article about baby shower games written and I may not be in the ‘mood’ to think about that let alone write about it. Being an artistic person, I know that certain simple things can be done to get me in the mood. One of the things that I did was take out my neon colored markers and draw out cute shapes and write the main ideas for each paragraph in each shape. Then I cut it out and placed it on my ‘to do tree’. I did this with several articles that I wrote. Many times, just the simple act of looking at it on my tree got me back to writing. This was just one example of something I did to help keep me going. There were many, many more things. I’ll write bout them in the future- promise

So those are the top 6 things that I learned doing the 30 day challenge.
If you for some reason don’t feel up to a big challenge, why not just set a smaller one? It’s better to reach for something small in the next 30 days than nothing at all. If you’d like to take the free 30 day business challenge you can go sign up here.
Also, Matt Cutts – head of Google’s web spam team gave an inspiring speech about his 30 day challenge to write a novel. I admit I went back and watched his 3 and half minute speech more than once. His presentation got me as jived as drawing, coloring and pasting (kudos to you Matt )
Don’t forget to tell me your thoughts in the comment section.


I hope you enjoyed this article on how to set and achieve goals.

Blessings always,

Eren Mckay

P.S. You can find out about the Embracing Home Newsletter by clicking on this link.


P.S. By the way I started writing an e-course a while ago about reaching goals and am still working out the finishing touches. As soon as I finish the whole course, I’ll be sending it out to my subscribers. So if you’d like to receive it when it comes out, you might want to sign up to my newsletter in the form below.

P.P.S Here’s the motivating Matt Cutts’ video from TED

Post from: Christian Homemaking and Family Resources, Encouragement and Help at Embracing Home

How to Set and Achieve Goals

Since it’s Valentines Day today, I thought you all would like some ‘enlightenment’ on what your significant other is doing… about hygiene . I found this informative and funny infographic on just how dirty women and men are. Surprisingly women are dirtier in some aspects but in most cases men are dirtier.. sorry guys- you lose LOL!

I mean seriously… 22% of men don’t change their underwear daily? eeeeeewww! That’s sooo gross. There are other juicy statistics so by all means read on and enjoy!

© 2012 Keeping it Kleen


I hope you enjoyed these hand washing facts and hygiene statistics.

Blessings always,

Eren Mckay

P.S. You can find out about the Embracing Home Newsletter by clicking on this link.

Post from: Christian Homemaking and Family Resources, Encouragement and Help at Embracing Home

Hand Washing Facts and Other Hygiene Statistics ~ Men vs. Women

Anger takes up a lot of emotional space. It stops us from experiencing peace, happiness and love. It’s amazing how we think that we’re ‘getting back’ at someone else or defending ourselves in some way when we hold onto anger. In reality we’re actually the ones getting hurt.

The really bad aspect of anger is that it spills over on to our other relationships. If anger remains in our hearts it can quickly turn into bitterness and eat away at our lives for years. Finding ways to let go of anger will allow you to experience more joy and create a better environment for your life.

Now I’m Not Saying That It’s Easy to Let Go of Anger.

In fact, when the wound is very deep, it’s extremely difficult to let go. In this fallen world, we go through many injustices. People lie, cheat, steal, betray and do several other evil things. You might be going through life feeling like you’re emotionally tossed to and fro because of incorrect actions of those surrounding you. It’s hard to suffer from other people’s wrong doings and not get angry.

Your Immediate Reactions

Sometimes it’s quite impossible to not get mad immediately after being stabbed in the back (so to speak). However you can choose if you will hold on to that anger or whether you will release it. Make the choice to not be angry. There’s a really cool verse that goes like this:

Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity. ~ Ephesians 4:26-27

So according that verse, how long should we hold on to anger? Not more than one day. If we decide we will hold onto anger, we are opening the door to our worse enemy; the devil. If you’re so inclined to welcome Satan into your life, then by all means, hold on to anger. Personally I don’t like being tormented by devils, so I try getting rid of any anger as soon as I realize that it started in my heart.


The First Step to Overcome Anger

The first thing to do is to allow your subconscious thoughts to surface to your conscious mind. Doing this will enable you to deal with them. There are a variety of ways to shift your thinking from subconscious to conscious. Sometimes the anger is so strong that we need to release it through other means. Here are some healthy methods for you to try out:

• Dump your thoughts onto paper without worrying about rhyme or reason.

• Talk them out with a balanced friend or therapist.

• Draw or paint whatever you feel like at that moment.

• Rip up pieces of paper.

• Dance to music with a strong beat.

• Cry.

Here’s an article with more things you can do to release your emotions.

When talking or writing out your feelings, it’s essential to understand that there will be all kinds of misconceptions coming out of your mind. This occurs because often times feelings fog our vision giving us a distorted understanding of reality. It’s normal to be disoriented for a while. You shouldn’t trust everything that comes out of you at that moment. Those thoughts are just a part of the practice of releasing, and not to be taken as absolute truth. I’ve seen people attempt to vent and end up more angry than when they started. The reason this happened is because they were adding fuel to the fire and believing every word they were saying to themselves.

Overcome Anger by Discovering a New Perspective

Once you have let out that initial steam, the next step is to try to look at the situation from another perspective. Write out your thoughts as a mind map or diagram. Analyze what happened and consider other factors that might not have been at the front of your mind before.

Many times I do a Before and After exercise. You can do this by taking a blank sheet of paper and dividing it in half. At the top of each column write out Before and After. In the Before column, write out the way you see things right now and how you’re feeling about it all.

Now ask yourself questions such as:

• Is this really true?

• What kinds of things was this person going through all of his or her life to influence him/her to act that way?

• Could it be that this person was going through an extremely stressful moment and has personal problems that you are presently unaware of?

• Was there any kind of miscommunication that led to this disagreement?

• Were there spiritual influences (such as demonic oppression) that led him/her to act in that way?

Prayer works miracles.

When thinking about these questions, ask God to help you discover any wrong thought that may be keeping you in an angry state. Scripture tells us that God will always give us wisdom if we ask with faith. This is one of those cases where the answer is always YES! How cool is that? There are several things in life that God may answer no to but wisdom is not one of them if we believe. Here’s the verse for that promise:

If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. ~ James 1:5

Isn’t that awesome? That means that any time you need insight about anything in your life you can go to God and ask Him and He will show you the answer. Especially if your request is to take anger out of your heart. Remember that the condition for this promise is that you have to have faith. (* see James 1:6 -8)

So pray for Him to open your vision and allow forgiveness to flow into your heart. Remember that forgiving will clear your life spiritually and not hinder your relationship with God.

For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. ~ Matthew 6:14

Answer the Questions.

Expect God to speak to you about everything that is going on and write out all of your answers in the After column. The After column is your new perspective. Read and meditate on the truths that assist you in overcoming your anger. Let all thoughts that were generating negative emotions out of my system completely. It may be hard to shift at first but this exercise invariably works in getting me out of the anger state.

I hope this article on how to overcome anger has helped you.

Blessings always,

Eren Mckay

P.S. You can find out about the Embracing Home Newsletter by clicking on this link.

Post from: Christian Homemaking and Family Resources, Encouragement and Help at Embracing Home

How to Overcome Anger

Have you been putting off decluttering your life? The more objects you keep that you don’t need, the more stress you will have. If you want to know how to declutter your life, you need to recognize that you’ll have to get rid of a lot of stuff that you absolutely don’t use. As much as you may know this, you might find yourself procrastinating in actually taking some time to sit down and sort though it all. It might be that you need to do some decluttering inside your mind before you tackle the physical decluttering. Certain issues might be emotionally blocking you from getting rid of useless stuff. Here in this article we’ll see 2 of these issues that might be stopping you.

1 – How to declutter your life by letting go of phases

Sometimes we hold onto things because we subconsciously tie them to certain phases of our lives. Our perception is that letting go of those objects would be like relinquishing pieces of who we are. The problem consists in believing that material things are connected to stages of our lives. Stuff isn’t what defines your identity. If you can realize this, it will be much easier to let go. Understand that certain objects may be extremely useful in a certain period of time but completely useless at another point. If you really want to keep the memories, then take pictures of the special moments in your life.

For a long time I held onto a trophy that I won when I was 13 in a rap dance contest. But living in a very small apartment with 3 boys, a husband and a cat makes you think again about how much value something really has. The trophy was all battered up and old. Too ugly to display anywhere so I had it in storage. I realized that the trophy was tied up to something I love to do which was dance. I don’t need the object .. I just need to know that it happened. So I took a picture of it and let it go.
You can do the same thing: photograph your trophies and memoirs. But then release everything that takes up space and drains your energy. Every useless object you keep is actually hindering you from living your present fully and achieving your brilliant future. Do this and you will allow your real self to shine.

2 – How to declutter your life by letting go of the false

notion that having more gives you more value.

In today’s materialistic society, things have been connected to the value of a person. We’re taught that the people who have more somehow mean more. Of course this is a complete and utter lie. However many times our conscious mind may rationally understand that something isn’t true but our subconscious mind still believes that lie.

There’s nothing wrong with having things that actually serve a purpose in your life. If that object is being used and makes your life better or easier, then definitely keep it. But if you are keeping a completely useless object because deep down you want to prove that you are worthy, you need to address that false notion. Your value is not determined by how much stuff you have. Your value is determined by who you are – your character, your heart. Make that shift inside of you. Understand that giving things that you don’t use to people that can make good use of it will add far more value to you as a person than keeping it all for yourself.


I hope you enjoyed this article on how to declutter your life.

Blessings always,

Eren Mckay

P.S. You can find out about the Embracing Home Newsletter by clicking on this link.

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Post from: Christian Homemaking and Family Resources, Encouragement and Help at Embracing Home

How to Declutter Your Life

Are you stuck in the awful cycle of guilt? Do you want to know how to deal with guilt once and for all? Guilt is a negative self defeating emotion. If you find yourself feeling guilty on a regular basis, then you really need to stop and address this issue. Guilt will steal your joy and productivity. It’ll make you miserable and consequently affect every area of your life: your relationships, your spirituality, your health, and even your career.

How to deal with warranted guilt.

Now to make things clear here, I want you to understand that there’s a difference between warranted and unwarranted guilt. For example, if you lied and felt guilty about it then you would have a valid reason to feel guilt. This kind of warranted guilt is only legitimate to show you the error and help you change.

See where you’ve gone wrong and honestly do your best to make a transformation. Once you make the decision to modify your behavior, then you should let go of the guilt. After all you’ve changed, so why keep beating yourself up for things you’ve done in your past and carry that dead weight around? It doesn’t do anyone any good.

How to deal with false guilt.

Are you requiring more than you should from yourself? Maybe you’re taking on more projects than you’re physically able to handle. Or maybe you’re living under the false notion that things should run smoothly at all times. If you try to take on the responsibility of everything that might come up you’ll soon drop the ball in several areas. And of course that nasty guilty feeling will creep up on you. Don’t allow that to happen. This kind of guilt is created by your own perfectionism. Stop trying to be perfect in this imperfect world. The truth is that life is messy and many times unpredictable. Accept that fact and allow things to flow naturally.

False Guilt Caused by Listening to Unempathetic Clueless Accusers

It’s amazing how people believe that they have a right to judge and point the finger at others. There’s always someone to criticize and point out your flaws. The real question is: are you going to allow their accusations to find a way into your heart? It’s one thing to listen to constructive criticism; it’s quite different to give permission to others to bring you down.

It never ceases to astound me that people that have never gone through a circumstance try to ‘give advice’ by talking down on those who have gone through great difficulty. One time I had someone who never had any children try to tell me how to raise my 3 boys when I hadn’t asked for her help. She learned really quickly where to put that piece ‘advice’. It’s so easy for people to judge when they’ve never walked in your shoes.

So what should you do?

Tell the guilt to take a hike! Accusatory voices whether they come from your own soul or from other people won’t set you free. Anytime an accusatory thought comes your way, just tell it to go away because this is your time to feel happiness.
When I feel guilt, demands and emotional ties on me (as I like to call them), I make sure I stop everything and just say: “Hey! Give yourself a break!”
Do you need to do that? Take a mini vacation from all those “shoulds”.

Your soul needs time to just BE… Lay down, smell soap, look at art, watch a movie, draw, paint, or just don’t do anything at all! This concept is so foreign in today’s society. Emphasis is placed so much on doing that deciding that you don’t have to do anything seems odd. Allow empowering thoughts to flow into your mind and assist you in feeling great. Practice giving yourself this permission slip. It’ll soon become a habit and you’ll discover the joy of living a guilt free life!

I hope you enjoyed this article on how to deal with guilt.

Blessings always,

Eren Mckay

P.S. You can find out about the Embracing Home Newsletter by clicking on this link.

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Post from: Christian Homemaking and Family Resources, Encouragement and Help at Embracing Home

How to Deal With Guilt

Don’t you just love the thought of opening gifts Christmas morning? There’s something so whimsical about Christmas. My best childhood memories happened during this time of year. Even as an adult, any time I’m feeling blue, I just reminisce and think of Christmas and I’m happy again. Not only because my childhood was great, but because I can create that same exact feeling for my kids now that I’m a mom. If you want to see a huge smile on your kids’ faces, then start thinking of some cool christmas gifts for kids so that you can surprise them. In our home, we have our boys pick out what they want every year giving them that ‘freedom’. However I’ve found that this also takes away the joy of the ‘surprise factor’.

So if possible, have both kinds of gifts: the one that they choose and the one that you surprise them with. Of course you want to be sure that they will love your surprise gift, so I’ve created a list of ideas that will be sure to delight your kiddos.

A Cool Tent or Tepee as a Gift

Children love the feeling of being inside a tent. It’s like they have the chance to have their own ‘private home’. They can just zip up the tent or tepee and play away. If you had a tent or created one with sheets when you were little, then you know the cozy and at the same time adventurous feeling that a tent can give. Boys can go ‘camping’ in their own backyard with the tent. Girls can have a tea party in theirs. Even if you don’t have a back yard, you can set the tent up in your living room or anywhere that there’s space in your home. The best kinds of tents are the ones that you can easily set up and don’t take up too much storage space.

A Cool Christmas Bike or Anything With Wheels

A bicycle is a gift that your kids will treasure. It provides hours of fun and is great exercise too! This gift is perfect if your family lives near safe areas to ride bikes. If they already have bikes, then you might consider getting a skateboard, roller skates, or a scooter. Neighbors and friends can get together and race each other. Of course you want to make sure you have all of the safety equipment such as helmets, knee and elbow pads. These kinds of gifts are unforgettable.

Cool Christmas Gifts for Kids ~ Life Sized Dolls

This last idea is very specific if you have a girl. There’s something magical about life sized dolls. I’ve never met a little girl who doesn’t absolutely adore them. The fact that they are life sized makes it easy for little girls to identify with them. They can even play ‘dress up’ with their doll friend using clothes out of their own wardrobe. The ones that come with ‘brushable’ hair are the best ones to get. Life sized doll are perfect for pretend tea parties too. Your little girl will play for hours.

So those were my top 3 cool christmas gifts for kids.

Blessings always,

Eren Mckay

P.S. You can find out about the Embracing Home Newsletter by clicking on this link.

Post from: Christian Homemaking and Family Resources, Encouragement and Help at Embracing Home

Cool Christmas Gifts for Kids

The first step for you to learn how to apply blush properly is finding the right color that matches your skin tone. If you have fair skin, you don’t want to pick bright strong colors such as red. It would be too artificial looking. A softer color such a rose or peach would be better.
If you have darker skin, certain oranges and stronger pink and red tones will look good. Even if you think you’ve found a great color there’s still some more things that you should do.

Even if you find a color, it’s best to ask others what they think. There are several colors that may look good on one person and awful on someone else’s skin tone. If you’re not certain about a color shade that you’re using, ask other people’s opinions.

There’s a saying that goes… “There’s wisdom in the council of many”. Basically if everyone around you agrees that something looks bad, then you should definitely ditch it. In the same way, if lots of people are saying it looks great, then you can feel confident that it’s the right color.

You can also self-evaluate by taking pictures of yourself using different shades of blush and compare to see which one looks better. Show the pictures to your friends and ask for feedback. Once you discover what particularly makes you stand out, then consistently apply that blush to your daily make up routine.

How to apply blush properly according to your face shape.

Is your face very wide? You can create the illusion of a narrow face by not applying blush to the apples of your cheeks. Instead, pucker up and make a fish face. Then make sweep like brush strokes from the deeper center of your ‘puckered up’ cheeks until your temples.

Is your face very narrow? Then make your face look rounder by smiling and applying blush from the apples of your cheeks to your temples. Smiling will enhance the apples of your cheeks.

How to apply blush properly using cream and powder

When choosing your blush, it doesn’t have to be an either or situation. You can use cream and powdered blush. In fact many people even use their lipstick as blush so that it matches the lip tone.
One thing you can do in order to make your blush look more natural is to apply it even before your foundation powder. If you have very oily skin, definitely use a powder blush on top of the cream blush. Make sure to tap off the excess powder before applying it to your cheeks. The last step in is to brush some translucent powder over it.


The key to having stunning make up is to always practice. Find the little details that bring that special touch and discover a systematic way to apply your blush. You might also enjoy this article about celebrity makeup secrets.


I hope you enjoyed these tips on how to apply blush properly.

Blessings always,

Eren Mckay

P.S. You can find out about the Embracing Home Newsletter by clicking on this link.

Post from: Christian Homemaking and Family Resources, Encouragement and Help at Embracing Home

How to apply blush properly

Foundations come in liquid and powder format. Some people use both, while others choose to only use one type. If you want to know how to choose foundation, my advice would be to first identify your skin type before deciding what to do. Having the right foundation is one of the celebrity makeup secrets to look stunning.
If you have very oily skin, a powdered foundation might be the best option. Those with dry skin will do better with liquid oil free foundation. Make sure that the bottle says “oil free” or “mattifying”.

Matching the Foundation with Your Skin Tone

The most awful and artificial thing you can do is use foundation and powder that clashes with the actual tone of your skin. The tone that you pick should perfectly match your skin color. Stroke a bit of the foundation on your cheek. If it creates a lighter or darker line on your cheek, you will know that it’s not the right color. Keep trying different shades until you find the one that is just right.

Some people believe that the best place to put the foundation is on your wrist. The truth is that the color of your wrist may vary from the skin tone of your face so this is really not the best way to choose. If for some reason you buy a powder that is not your skin tone, you can also use it as blush.

Sunscreen in the Foundation

The best foundations already have sunscreen in them. Some people apply sunscreen before the foundation. The thing is that sunscreen often times is very oily, smelly and heavy for the daily grind. Another thing that could happen is that the sun screen might chemically react to your foundation giving you an allergic reaction. Each product on its own may not give you any problems but together they might react. So when you’re looking for foundation, be sure that it already has suncreen with an SPF 30.

Other Ingredients in the Foundation

Another aspect to look for when deciding on a foundation is if it has ingredients that help diminish and prevent wrinkles. A few years from now the “older you” will thank yourself for finding foundation with this additional benefit. Look for words like “wrinkle free” on the bottle.

Natural mineral make up is always better because it doesn’t contain oils, perfume or wax. For those who have acne problems, mineral make up is a life saver since it doesn’t obstruct pores. Whatever you do, don’t use low quality foundation. It’s better to not use any foundation than to apply cheap stuff and ruin your skin; especially if you put it on every day.


I hope you enjoyed these tips on how to choose foundation.

Blessings always,

Eren Mckay

P.S. You can find out about the Embracing Home Newsletter by clicking on this link.

Post from: Christian Homemaking and Family Resources, Encouragement and Help at Embracing Home

How to Choose Foundation

Have you ever seen celebrities on the red carpet and wondered why most of them appear to be like real life Barbies and Kens? (I say ‘most’ because we all know the ones that look awful ~ LOL.) The secret to their awesomeness is making their skin silky smooth. They achieve this with a variety of concealer, base and powdered foundations.
What about you? Do you want to look dazzling at your next dinner party or outing? With these celebrity makeup secrets and tips, you’ll be able to impress everyone you meet.

The First Celebrity Makeup Secret

If you want to have beautiful skin, you should start off by making sure that your skin is clean and hydrated. Before applying the make up, wash your face with quality facial soap.

Use cold water to wash because it helps close the pores. Next apply toner to your face (but not around your eyes) with cotton swabs and spread a light day time moisturizer. (Night time moisturizers make it difficult to spread make up.) The next step is to use your fingers to spread foundation primer on your cheeks, nose, forehead and chin.

Apply Concealer and Foundation

Once you have the cleaning and moisturizing steps done, you can then begin creating your celebrity look by applying concealer with a brush. Your fingers may not reach all of the irregularities of a blemish like the fibers of a brush can. Use a sheer concealer around your eyes to brighten that area. Then cover it with a thin layer of foundation. Spread foundation evenly on your face with your fingers by using circular motions. The nose, cheeks and any blemishes are the most important to get coverage and don’t forget your neck too. Use Kleenex to blot out any excess and create an even look.

Apply the Powder

The next step is to brush only one layer of powdered foundation. Don’t put too much of it on or else you will get a cakey look. Some people prefer using Translucent Powder instead for a softer appearance. This step will make your skin look matted and flawless.
To finish off your celebrity look and provide that glowing effect to your skin, brush a layer of Illuminator powder. This will create the same shimmering look that celebrities display on the red carpet.

Applying Blush

Before applying blush to your face, tap 2 or 3 times to get the excess blush powder off. When you’ve finished applying the blush, check to see if you put too much on. If so, you can pat your cheeks with Kleenex. Too much blush will make you look like a clown. Make sure to have enough light around you when applying blush. The lighting will allow you to see if you put on too much or too little.

Good common sense goes a long way.

The most important quality to have when applying make up is good common sense. We’ve all seen those women with their bright tacky blue eye shadow walking around and wondered: “What in the world was she thinking?” I’ve asked myself several times if some people actually have a mirror and check it out before leaving their homes. Here’s a tutorial that will help you learn how to do smokey eyes step by step. Here are also general tips on how to do eye make up for this step.

Balance is Key

Have you ever seen a woman and kind of cringe because of the amount of makeup she had on? Instead of her makeup making her look great she looked quite the opposite right? Many people make the mistake of not understanding color scheme when applying make up. I’ve heard many people say the expression: “She put too much make up on.” The truth is that it wasn’t the quantity of make up that made her look bad it was how she applied it.

The Overall Aspect

Think about that when you’re choosing your lipstick color. These tips on how to apply lipstick will also help you. When you’re deciding on a certain style of make up, you need to think of the overall aspect. For example: if you’re using a strong color on your lips such as red, you won’t want to do the smokey eye look. The key is if you are emphasizing your lips, then you should have more natural eye make up on. In the same way, if you are making your eyes stand out, then choose lighter tones for your lips. It’s all about balance. You may have spent 3 hours to put your make up on, but you want it to look effortless.

I hope you enjoyed these celebrity makeup secrets.

Blessings always,

Eren Mckay

P.S. You can find out about the Embracing Home Newsletter by clicking on this link.

Post from: Christian Homemaking and Family Resources, Encouragement and Help at Embracing Home

Celebrity makeup secrets

If you want to learn how to do smokey eyes step by step, then the first thing that you’ll need is eye liner. It’s one of the most important parts of applying makeup because it defines and delineates the eyes making them stand out. There are lots of little details that make a big difference in the end result. In this smokey eye makeup tutorial, I’ll give you some tips that will make you look so good that you’ll be turning heads .

Pencil sharpeners are a must.

Make sure to always sharpen your eyeliners before you start. It’s a lot more work to fix the smudge. A non sharpened pencil won’t be able to produce the results that a sharpened pencil will. Use pencil sharpeners specifically made for make-up. Regular sharpeners might work but the pencil will break more. Clean the eye pencil after you’re done with tissue paper.

Prevent eye infections.

This may seem like an obvious tip however I have found that many people forget to put the lid on after using eye pencils. Wipe the pencil and keep it protected so that it doesn’t pick up any bacteria and cause eye infections. Before you start working on your eyes make sure to use eye drops. This will help them not get irritated.

Get noticed by creating that striking look.

For a smokey look use black eyeliner. If you want to make your eyes stand out, but feel like black is too dark, then use dark brown pencil. The dark color on your upper lid and under your lashes will make your eyes ‘pop’.

How do you make that perfect ‘under the eye’ line?

Make sure to have quality eye pencils. Many cheap eye pencils look good when you start using it and 2 hours later it fades out or melts away. The first thing to do is draw the line with a pencil. Make two dots: one where you will be starting and one where you’ll be ending the line. Warm the tip of the pencil by rubbing with your thumb and finger. This will make the pencil move more smoothly. Support your elbow and hand where it’s more convenient for you for a straighter line. For a stronger line, go back and cover the pencil line with liquid eyeliner.

How do you solve thick lines?

If the line that you created underneath your lower eyelashes is too thick, you can make it thinner by sliding a Q-tip (that has makeup remover and a bit of water) on the excess part. Use another dry Q-tip to dry that part of your skin when you’re done. Sometimes you don’t even need to put make up removal n the Q-tip to be able to get rid of pesky stains.

Don’t make your eyes look tiny.

I’ve seen many girls put black eyeliner on the inside of their inferior eyelid. Doing that will make your eyes look smaller. Using black eyeliner on the upper lid won’t make your eyes look so tiny, but the lower lid is not a good move, especially if you have small eyes. The best shades of pencils to use on the inner lids to widen the size of the eyes are lighter tones. White eyeliner does a great job of giving that open appearance. A softer option is using beige eye liner. You might also want to check out these other tips on how to do eye make up.


I hope you enjoyed these tips on how to do smokey eyes step by step.

Blessings always,

Eren Mckay

P.S. You can find out about the Embracing Home Newsletter by clicking on this link.

Post from: Christian Homemaking and Family Resources, Encouragement and Help at Embracing Home

How to do smokey eyes step by step

Who doesn’t want full luscious lips? If you’re like me, you’ve gotten pretty frustrated trying to find a way to make your lipstick last longer. After all the work putting on your lipstick, you’d think it would last at least 3 hours. The fact is that most of the time half an hour after you put your lipstick on, it’s all gone. It’s kind of tiresome to have to keep reapplying lipstick every 30 minutes.

Extra Steps

Taking certain extra steps will help reduce the amount of reapplications, but I still suggest taking your lipstick with you to touch up. It’s an essential item for every woman to have in her purse. In this article I’ll give you some tips on how to apply lipstick that will add color and pizzazz to your overall look and make your lipstick last longer.

Take Care of Your Lips

Embellishing chapped lips is difficult; so make sure to take care of your lips previously. Keep them hydrated during the day with cocoa butter so that when it’s make-up time, it’ll be easier to create the luscious lips look.

How to apply lip liner

First, find a quality lip liner. It should be about the same shade as your lipstick. Most people use lip liner only surrounding the lips. The best way to use it is covering all of your lips. If you have trouble creating a smooth line, then add support to your hand by resting your pinkie finger on your chin. I usually start the line at one end of the lips and continue on until the other side. Try not to apply lip liner outside your natural lip line or else you’ll run the risk of looking artificial. Apply some cocoa butter before putting on a second layer of lip liner.

How to apply lipstick

Now it’s time to apply the lipstick. The key is to have long lasting lipstick so be sure to research before purchasing. Use a lip brush and begin by making a contour surrounding the lips. Don’t forget to delineate your Cupid’s bow (the little curve in the center of your lips). Then fill in the color with vertical sweeps. This will create a uniform look.

Are your lips very thin?

You can make them look larger with a few tricks. When people think of enhancing the size of lips, they usually think of what they can actually do to the lips and forget about the skin surrounding them. Have some good foundation and base powder applied to your skin before you start working on your lips. Make your lips look big by adding a soft light powder to the space between the middle curvature of the upper lip and your nose. You can do this with a light shimmer powder or a flesh tone eye shadow. Darker colored lipstick with luminescence will increase the appearance of your lip size. Lip gloss always helps too so don’t forget to keep one always handy since it usually fades away an hour after you put it on.

Make your lipstick last longer by applying powder

You would think that by now this process would be done right? Wrong; you’re still going to have to do more.
Gently pat tissue over the layer of lipstick to remove the excess. Now use a Q-tip to put some quality facial powder on your lips. You can also use eye shadow or blush in a close tone of the lipstick. Powder is one of the key aspects of making the lipstick last longer. Some people have suggested using hairspray to fixate the color. I don’t recommend doing that simply because there are many chemicals that are not healthy to be spraying on your lips.

The finishing touches for your lisptick

Now you will go back to applying the lipstick with a lip brush. Remove the excess with tissue and finish the look by applying a thin layer of lip gloss. Do you want to prevent those pesky lipstick smudges on your teeth? Simply pucker your lips with your mouth open and wipe the inside of them after applying lipstick.

There you have it!

I hope you enjoyed these tips on how to apply lipstick.

Blessings always,

Eren Mckay

P.S. You can find out about the Embracing Home Newsletter by clicking on this link.

Post from: Christian Homemaking and Family Resources, Encouragement and Help at Embracing Home

How to apply lipstick

Eyes are a main focal point in make up. You can create an unforgettable look by enhancing your eyes. In this article we will look over some insider tricks to help you learn how to do eye make up and make an impact.

Prepare your canvas

I often view applying eye make up kind of like an artist views a fresh canvas. You’ll want to create a smooth clean basis to start off with. Blot some dots of foundation to cover the upper lids of your eyes and blend it in creating a uniform look. Some people put a lot of concealer under the eyes.

Many times this will look artificial and other times it enhances any signs of lines that might have started to appear. The best option is to put some eye cream, a very small quantity of concealer and then lightly tap a bit of translucent powder under your eyes.

How to apply eye liner

The next step is to use the eye liner. The secret is to use dark colored eye liner on the outer edges of the eye and lighter colors inside the eye to open the look. Sharpen your eye pencil and heat the tip of it by rubbing it with your finger. Then gently glide the pencil from extremity to the next. If you want a bolder look you can use a liquid eye liner on top of the eye pencil that you just used.

How to do eye shadow

To create a sultry look, smudge some dark eye shadow on the top of the eye liner that you just used. Compact eye shadows are much better than powdered ones because they don’t flake or melt as easily. Every time I’ve used a powdered eye shadow, it has fallen on other parts of my face creating a mess. Of course there’s always make-up removal and water to clean everything up. However this takes up too much time and forces you to re-do some of the make up steps.

Use darker shades in the outer corners of your eyes until the creases. The inner parts can have medium, flesh toned and bronze colors. Navy blue shadow that shines can replace the use of black eye shadow and enhance the natural beauty of blue eyes. Brown eye shadow can also be used to delineate your eyebrows. Brush your eyebrows and spray a tad bit of hairspray so it won’t move out of place. To illuminate the whole look use shiny white eye shadow in the inner parts of your eye, on the arch and the ends of your eyebrows.

How to do your eye lashes

First, comb your eye lashes with a clean regular toothbrush. Use an eyelash curler to make your eye lashes curve up really high. The key is to heat the curler up for a few seconds with a hair dryer before applying it to your eye lashes. Be careful not to let it touch and burn your skin. After you have curled your lashes, you can apply the mascara. The best mascara that I’ve found has the first coat of micro fibers. This first coat is usually white. When you’re done applying that, cover it with the black mascara. For a more natural look only apply mascara to the top lashes. By following each of these tips you will have gorgeous eyes. You might also want to check out this tutorial on how to do smokey eyes step by step.


I hope you enjoyed these tips on how to do eye make up.

Blessings always,

Eren Mckay

P.S. You can find out about the Embracing Home Newsletter by clicking on this link.

image credits:

Post from: Christian Homemaking and Family Resources, Encouragement and Help at Embracing Home

How To Do Eye Make Up

Family Game Night Ideas

These are a Few of My Favorite Things

“Rain drops on roses….” That’s the way one of my favorite songs starts. As I was thinking up family game night ideas, I wanted to add a positive and joyful touch. So I thought of getting elements from several different games that I’ve played in my life and put it all together.
The basis of this family game idea is to get to know what each family member’s favorite things are. That way it’s not just a game, but an opportunity to get to know each person on a deeper level. Of course you can always watch children’s and family entertainment movies but games are so much more interactive.

This is how you play:

One of the family members will think of his or her favorite item. ( At the end of this post I have a list of favorite ideas that can be asked.) Players take turns asking questions to that family member and he or she can only answer yes or no to the questions. Each time a player asks a question he or she also gets to guess what the favorite thing is. If the person asking the question doesn’t guess right thing, anyone else can guess the favorite thing. Everyone takes turns asking the questions. You can also have a talking stick that can be passed around the circle to indicate who is now asking the question. The first person that guesses the favorite thing correctly wins a token. At the end of the game, the person with the most tokens wins.

Another Variance of this Game

You can play win lose or draw with it. To play this way there should be a stack of cards with the favorite thing written on each one. The first person that will to draw picks out a “favorite card”, reads what is asked to the group, and starts drawing on a white board (or large sheet of paper) what their favorite thing is. All of the other players gather around and shout out their guesses while the person is drawing. The first person that guesses correctly wins a point and gets to keep a token to keep track of how many correct guesses he or she had. The person drawing picks out the next card. Each player gets to pick out 3 or 4 cards (depending on the amount of players). In the end, the person with the most correct guesses, wins a prize. If you go through 20 of the following questions, this game will last about an hour. You don’t have to use all of the questions and if someone feels the questioon is too hard, they can choose another one. It’s more about everyone having a fun time.

Here’s a list of ideas for favorite things

that you can use to play this game:

• Your favorite sweet food

• Your favorite beverage

• Your favorite fast food sandwich

• Your favorite lunch plate

• Your favorite type of ice cream

• Your favorite fruit

• Your favorite vegetable

• Your favorite birthday party that you’ve ever had

• Your favorite shopping center to go to

• Your favorite restaurant

• Your favorite color

• Your favorite comedy movie

• Your favorite romantic movie

• Your favorite adventure movie

• Your favorite drama movie

• Your all time favorite movie

• Your favorite TV show

• Your favorite cartoon character

• Your favorite actor/actress

• Your favorite animal

• Your favorite thing to do

• Your favorite Bible hero – other than Jesus

• Your favorite Bible story

• Your favorite Bible verse

• Your favorite toy when you were little

• Your favorite flower

• Your favorite (physical) part of yourself. (The part that you think is most good looking. This can be eyes, hair, etc.)

• Your favorite place to go on vacation

• Your favorite book


For more ideas, check out this article family bonding activities that you can do.


I hope you enjoyed these family game night ideas.

Blessings always,

Eren Mckay

P.S. You can find out about the Embracing Home Newsletter by clicking on this link.

Post from: Christian Homemaking and Family Resources, Encouragement and Help at Embracing Home

Family Game Night Ideas

Often times I wonder why we fall into sin even when we know for a fact that it is a sin. I mean we should always really want to do the right thing… right? Then why don’t we?
Even if we’re trying to understand how to overcome sin and act correctly on the outside, why does our heart not line up to what we’re doing?
As I’m laying here .. I’m thinking about how intricately our thought life and actions are intertwined with our emotions. We are emotional beings.

And often times actions are in tune with what we are feeling a lack of in our lives. Sin is an attempt to fulfill an emptiness that we have. Sin seems so pretty and attractive but those are empty “promises” because ultimately sin separates us from God and doesn’t fulfill us at all.

I have read many books and listened to many sermons about sin and holiness. It seems that many people think that if they just obey some “rules” that they will know how to overcome sin. The fact is that if rules (the law) freed us from sin then Jesus wouldn’t have had to have died for us. The old covenant wouldn’t have had to be replaced with the new covenant. Personally I don’t delude myself into thinking that I can find some magic rule equation that will make me stop sinning at the mind level. Yeah I’m talking our most inner thoughts. That’s the area that Jesus addressed in the “sermon on the mount”.

Legalist Christians tend to believe that the more rules that they can create, the “safer” they’ll be to not sin. The fact is that the pharisees of Jesus’ time were filled with rules but they were rotten on the inside. God has worked in my life to help me see very clearly that legalism is nothing more than a carnal way of trying to reach spiritual goals. It never has worked nor will it ever. There’s a big difference between religion and a relationship with God. Legalism is birthed out of pride which is the exact opposite of God’s humble character. It also helps the nasty sin of pride grow each day more and more. The result is that there are lots of religiously proud people that are many times more sinful than those that don’t even claim to have a relationship with God.

This morning while I was praying, I asked God what I could do in overcoming sin and stop doing things that I knew for a fact were wrong… And I felt Him answer me in my heart. He said to me: Love me more…
It seems like such a simple answer but so filled with empowering truth.

If I can love God more and more, then I won’t want to do anything that wouldn’t please Him. Loving Him more would inspire me to do the right thing in every area of my life.
And that’s exactly what I need to do each day: I need to wake up with a burning desire to love Him more. Not just to hear His voice lead me because it’s the “right thing to do” in theory. I need to want to hear His voice because I love Him so much.

The biggest hurdle is not if God will speak to us.. He always does when our heart is in the right place.
The largest obstacle is truly loving Him and desiring to be led by Him. It’s our own sinful heart getting in the way of our relationship with the Lord.

So what are you going to do to love God more and get closer to Him today? You could write an inspirational poem prayer or just learn how to practice the presence of God. I personally plan on meditating on all of the great things He has done for me and filling my heart with gratitude. I plan on reading more about Him and who He is in Scripture too. And when I feel my heart overflow this joyful love and gratefulness, I’ll sing to Him too so that I can feel His presence all around me.

I hope you can carve out some time for Him too this week.

Blessings always,

Eren Mckay

P.S. You can find out about the Embracing Home Newsletter by clicking on this link.

Post from: Christian Homemaking and Family Resources, Encouragement and Help at Embracing Home

How to Overcome Sin

If you’re looking for some really fun Noah’s ark games for kids and even adults to play, you’ll love the 3 games ideas in this article. You can play these games in preschool classrooms, during sunday school lessons, family time, a kid’s birthday party or even if you’re throwing a noah’s ark baby shower. In any case, the instructions in this article will help you get started.

Noah’s Ark Game

Pass the Stuffed Animal

Pin It

To play this game, guests will sit in a circle and someone will be in charge of the music. If you have any upbeat Noah’s ark themed songs, then use them. If you don’t have any, then choose whatever song you feel will bring happiness to the moment. When the music starts, players will pass the stuffed animal from hand to hand quickly. When the music stops, the person holding the stuffed animal is ‘out’. No one wants to be stuck with the animal so that’s what makes this game fun. The last player left is the winner and gets to keep the stuffed animal as a prize. There are many animals you can choose to be your ‘stuffed animal’: a lion, a giraffe, an elephant, a zebra or even a teddy bear. This Noah’s ark game takes about 10 minutes to play so if you want it to last longer you can have more stuffed animals and play it over again.

Noahs Ark Game

Imitate the Animals Fast

This game is fairly simple and it’s more about having quick reflexes. Have someone be in charge of taking the lead in this game. The leader will shout out names of animals and so the players must immediately start imitating the animal that the leader just shouted out. For example, if the leader says frog, then the player will crouch down and start jumping. Or if the animal is an elephant, then everyone can ‘imitate’ the elephant’s trump, etc. That seems simple enough, except the leader will start to change from one animal to the next very quickly. The person who takes too long to start imitating the next animal is ‘out’. The last player standing in this Noah’s ark game wins a special gift.

Noah’s Ark Games

Hangman Word Fun

To play this game with a lot of people you can set up a large white board where you will draw the hangman. Separate players into two separate teams. Each team sits on their own side of the room. Have a previous list of Noah’s Ark related words written on small sheets of paper. To make this game harder use words that may be a bit more difficult to guess such as the names of Noah’s children. It’s fun to make things hard LOL !!!
Players of both teams will take turns on who will be up to lead the game. The leader picks one of the words from the hat and writes the amount of spaces of the letters in that word on the white board.
Each team will have a separate hangman and will take turns guessing the letters to fill in the word. If they guessed the letter correctly, the leader fills in where that letter is. If the team guessed incorrectly, then they get a part of the body drawn on the hangman. At any moment, anyone can shout out their guess of the word. However if they guess the word incorrectly they get one more piece to the hangman put on. Whichever team guesses the word correctly first wins. The team with the most words guessed wins the grand prize which can be several Noah’s ark gifts.

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Post from: Christian Homemaking and Family Resources, Encouragement and Help at Embracing Home

Noah’s Ark Games for Kids

The Trade-in Stores Can be a Good Way to Make Money Online

Everyday thousands, probably hundreds of thousands of people search the Internet for ways to make money online from home. It’s a common question on message forums, countless people create
blogs about it, and unfortunately, far too many people fall victim to the ever increasing number of scams and bad money-making ideas being advertised.

The other day I came upon a new way to make money online by getting rid of unused stuff that’s gathering dust at home. I discovered Amazon.com’s Trade-In Stores.

I’ve sold used books and music CDs through Amazon before, and in fact I was looking at prices with the intention of selling a textbook when I discovered trade-ins. I searched for the book by its ISBN number and when I clicked through to the page, I saw the link reading, "Sell this back for an Amazon.com Gift Card."

Apparently the Textbook Trade-in Program has been around for a couple of years. More recently Amazon added trade-in programs for electronics, video games, and movies and TV. Items in these categories that meet specific criteria can be exchanged for a gift card which will be deposited onto your Amazon account.

Here’s how it works:

1 – On the main trade-in page search for the item you want to trade-in. For books the ISBN is the easiest way to search. For electronics try the model number and for video game and DVDs you can use the ASIN.

2 – When there is an exact match you’ll see the item and the trade-in value on the next screen.

3 – If the value is acceptable to you, click the trade in button and on the next screen check the criteria for the trade.

To be eligible for trade-in each item must be an exact match. If you have an older version or different model number the item won’t be accepted.

4 – Once you’ve added all your trade-ins to the list, click the "continue" button to proceed to the shipping page. UPS shipping is free. You can choose a different method, but you’ll have to pay the shipping cost for other carriers.

You will also indicate whether or not to have them returned to you if it’s not in good condition or is unacceptable for any reason.

5 – Print the packing list and shipping label, pack up your item(s) and ship them within 7 days. I shipped two books on a Friday, they reached the trade-in center (just a couple states away) on Tuesday, and the gift card was in my account on Wednesday.

What I like about the trade-in program:

1. It feels like free money. The items might otherwise sit around my house for years before they are donated or discarded.
2. It’s easy. Just search, click, pack, and ship.
3. I don’t have to list the items, compete with other sellers, and wait to see if someone will buy. And I don’t have to worry about customer service or returns.
4. I purchase from Amazon regularly so the gift card is a nice benefit for me (others may prefer cash to spend anywhere).
5. It’s fun. It’s a little like a treasure hunt, going around the house looking for unused items to trade.
6. It’s green. Many of the trade-ins would otherwise end up dumped in landfills.
7. It’s fairly quick. If you need something Amazon sells but you don’t have the cash for it, you can turn around a trade-in and have your purchase delivered within about ten days to two weeks.
8. It’s good motivation for clearing out some of the clutter in your house.

What’s not as likable about the trade-in program:

1. Delayed gratification because of shipping time. Local stores such as BestBuy and GameStop offer immediate rewards.
2. You’ll have to spend some time searching for your items, packing, and delivering the box to the shipper, and you’ll need boxes and packing fillers to protect the items during shipping.
3. You might be able to get more for the item if you sell it through Amazon Marketplace or an online auction site.
4. You can only use your proceeds to shop at Amazon and the gift cards are not transferable.
5. Limits. Only certain items can be traded and there is a $750 limit per transaction. However, there is no limit to the number of transactions.
6. It’s not a steady income. As much stuff as we all accumulate over the years, you will run out of items to trade in.

Trading in the stuff you no longer need can be profitable. Uncluttering your surroundings has other, non-financial benefits as well. You’ll have a better organized and cleaner home, the things you keep will be more valuable to you, and you’ll gain a sense of freedom from feeling tied down by too much stuff.

Interested in blogging as a way to make money? Linda Stacy offers tips and resources on how to start a blog and where to find professional PLR articles.

Post from: Christian Homemaking and Family Resources, Encouragement and Help at Embracing Home

Amazon trade in program ~ text book, movies and electronics

Blessings always,

Eren Mckay

Post from: Christian Homemaking and Family Resources, Encouragement and Help at Embracing Home

You Never Lose ~ A Great Way to Save Money and Have Fun

Fear can stop you from feeling joy. Are you experiencing joy in your daily life?
When you wake up do you say to yourself: Oh yay – what a great day I have ahead of me!
Or do get up you dragging your feet and wondering why each day seems to be a boring repetition of the previous day?

I’ve been studying ways to elevate joy in my life… Some people call this raising your happiness level. I always tell everyone that happiness is a decision. I decided a while ago that I wanted to be happy every single day of my life. I want to wake up and feel joy not just when I achieve the goals that I have set for myself, but also during the journey of reaching them. I want to always be joyful. I truly believe that this is possible.

Recently I came to an understanding about one of the biggest obstacles that gets in the way of experiencing joy every day of my life. And that obstacle is the fear of losing the people that I love. A few years ago I lost 8 people in my family in the time frame of 6 months. They all died from various causes. I am a very emotional and attached person. When I love someone, I love them for life. Losing that many people to death was traumatic to say the least. I also had other circumstances in my life where I ended up losing contact with friends that I really cared about. Several things started to show me very clearly just how fragile life is and how things happen that can separate us physically from the people that we love the most. When I lost everyone, I was so sad I could barely function. Getting up to take a shower and even drinking water were huge tasks for me. It was so painful to love deeply and lose that I never wanted to go through that pain again. So I started to spend more and more time working. Boy did I work a lot. In an attempt to ‘protect’ myself from the pain of losing anyone else, I dove into work. I was subconscioulsy trying to get detached from others in my daily experiences. If somehow I could find a way to not feel so strongly maybe it wouldn’t hurt so much in the future. What I’ve discovered is that I truly can’t be happy and fulfilled with just ‘work’ or a career. It doesn’t fill me emotionally. It doesn’t bring me joy. In fact if you gave me a huge mansion to live in with everything that money could buy.. it would be nice.. but it still wouldn’t make me happy. If you gave me lots of medals and awards it wouldn’t mean a thing without the people that I love and that I know love me. Pin It I have found that having deep relationships is the number one thing that makes me happy. I love my friends and my family. Love is the real meaning of life. Work, a job, a career.. those are just means to an end. I want to help the people that I love. I want to make their lives better. The fear of getting attached because they may die, or move or something else may take them away from me is not a good thing. It’s not healthy to feed a fear like that. Yes life happens…People die, move… things get messed up. But we aren’t truly protecting ourselves when we try to detach. We end up digging a deeper hole in our souls. We kill the very fire that moves us to be able to work, make a career, study or achieve any goal. Detaching kills the essence of life. Without love anything in this world is just empty.We should choose love not fear. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. 1 John 4:18 Pin It So what do we do? We embrace love and cast out any fear that might try to grab us. Love to the max. Love with all of your might and soul. Love with all of your strength. Be the best friend, daughter, son, sister, parent, or spouse that you can be. And when the crap hits the fan and your loved one dies or goes away for some reason, just keep loving. Know that one day you will reunite with them. Roll with the punches. Adapt to the changes… Don’t ever try to ‘protect’ yourself by not loving. Love even if it hurts. It’s your core motivation. It’s what will keep you going through thick and thin. If you make the decision to love no matter what, you will always be inspired and consequently you’ll always be happy no matter what’s going on in your life.

Have you ever been afraid to love? Do you find yourself

running from deep relationships?

Feel free to share in the comment section below.

Post from: Christian Homemaking and Family Resources, Encouragement and Help at Embracing Home

Choose love not fear in 2012

Pin It

Have you

willfully given

those keys

over to someone

less than worthy?


Are you certain

that this power

won’t be

misused?


Some people twist

things for their own advantage…

Beware my friend.

Beware.

Your mind… your heart… your soul

They’re too precious to lose.

So keep them safe.

Watch who you give access to the essence of you.

Hold and protect your heart.

Love and respect yourself.

Trust is earned … not freely given away.



Have you ever given the keys to your heart to the wrong

person? Feel free to share in the comment section below.

image credits:

http://www.fotopedia.com/items/flickr-220224419

Post from: Christian Homemaking and Family Resources, Encouragement and Help at Embracing Home

Key to My Heart Poem

A lot has changed in parenting in very few years due to technology. A mom’s daily life wasn’t as fast paced as nowadays. Although in some ways this isn’t the best thing, there are certainly a lot of awesome gadgets that have been created and has made life easier for a mother.
I found a cool infographic about how technology has changed raising children.

There’s some interesting information such as the fact that you can bullet proof your child’s stroller.. now how cool is that?
Anyways, you can see it full screened at this link here or just scroll to see it below.
Enjoy!

I really loved this infographic. Personally I have found that there are pros and cons to technology when parenting.

It’s all about finding out what works in each specific family situation. I’ll be writing about this soon.

Blessings always,

Eren Mckay

Post from: Christian Homemaking and Family Resources, Encouragement and Help at Embracing Home

How Technology Has Changed Raising Children

There are so many wonderful sites for little ones out there. I have created a list of toddler websites with online games to play that will not only entertain your toddler but also teach them certain skills.These sites cover lots of different skills such as eye hand coordination, sound identification, vocabulary, shape sorting and more.
Here at the top you will find a clickable table of contents to make things easier for you to navigate. You can also simply scroll if you prefer.

Clickable Table of Contents

ღ Toddler Sites with the Largest Amount of Games Back to Table of Contents Top Some toddlers have been able to play the preschool games.. It really depends on each child and each specific situation. So I have included some preschool links in this list too. All links to outside websites on this page will automatically open in a new tab so that you don’t lose your place. Remember that most of these sites have have sounds. Enjoy! 1) Sesame Street This site is my favorite for toddlers. It is so much fun, interactive and also has such a huge selection of activities. Your little one will spend hours here. Click here for Sesame street games 2) Baby TV This site has easy navigation and is perfect for little ones. Click here for Baby TV. 3) Fisher Price Fisher Price has a big array of fun games and activities.. For the Toddler Game Selection (orange tab) click here For the Infant Game Selection (purple tab) click here For the Preschool Game Selection (green tab) click here 4) Up To Ten Click here for Up to Ten 5) ABC for Kids this site has such a huge collection of different games it can sometimes get overwhelming. However it is a great site and your kids will love playing the games. Click here for ABC Kids ღ Other Toddler Educational Sites ღ Back to Table of Contents Top 6) StoryPlace StoryPlace has preschool stories and activities organized by theme that toddler will love to hear and do. They are also interactive. Includes Bath Time, Colors, Crocodiles, Firefighters, Music, Shapes and more… Click here for Story Place 7) Fun with Spot Fun with Spot has an introductory story and then more games and activities to choose from. Click here for Fun with Spot 8 ) Bembos Zoo Bembos Zoo where letters turn into animals and characters when the child click on the letter. There is sound when you land on the page. Click here for Bembos Zoo 9) Peekuboo Click the orange try it now it`s free button and a story will start. After your child plays that story other free activities will be given. I really liked Peekuboo because the activities were simple enough for wee ones to feel comfortable and not get lost. Click here for Peekuboo 10) KneeBouncers They give 4 free games for toddlers. The rest of the them are a payed subscription .. so personally I would just use the 4 free games Click here for kneebouncers 11) Go Baby Story Go baby – help baby find items story book Click here for this cute storybook 12) Fungooms Click here for Fungooms 13) Julia’s Rainbow Corner Click here for Julia’s Rainbow Corner ღ Famous Characters Sites ღ Back to Table of Contents Top 14) Teletubbies Teletubbies activities like hide and seek, peek a boo, a shapes game Click here for Teletubbies 15) Clifford Click here for Clifford 16) The Berenstain Bears Click here for the Berenstain Bears 17) Angelina Ballerina Click here for Angelina Ballerina 18) Thomas the Tank Engine Click here for Thomas the Tank Engine 19) Bob the Builder Click here for Bob the Builder 20) Strawberry Shortcake Click here for Strawberry Shortcake games More posts that your children will enjoy: Alphabet Online Activities Easter Bunny Online Games Easter Egg Hunt Stories Thanksgiving Online Activities Bible ABC Poem Gingerbread Man Fun There`s also this article about Children’s & family entertainment that has some great ideas on learning family values while having fun.

Post from: Christian Homemaking and Family Resources, Encouragement and Help at Embracing Home

Play toddler games online

Don’t worry about

me…


I like it when you

worry about me…


Don’t trouble yourself

with me…


I love it when you take

care of me.


No I don’t need

anything…


Yes I need you to

notice me.


I’m fine…


I’m hurting…


Oh all is well…


…..


…..


I’m so very strong…


My frailty is killing me.


Words will never hurt me…


Your words have made me vulnerable.


Broken shattered heart


Scrambling to find the pieces of me


And put myself together again


Concealed.


by Eren Mckay




What did this poem mean to you?

Feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section below.

Post from: Christian Homemaking and Family Resources, Encouragement and Help at Embracing Home

Short Broken Heart Poems

I hope you enjoyed this infographic on cell phone bacteria.

Blessings always,

Eren Mckay

P.S. You can find out about the Embracing Home Newsletter by clicking on this link.

Post from: Christian Homemaking and Family Resources, Encouragement and Help at Embracing Home

How Dangerous is Cell Phone Bacteria?

The other day I found a really cool cartoon ( Mike da Mustang ) that teaches family values and decided to share it with my readers.
I have found that watching great movies and cartoons has been one of the best ways to have fun during family get togethers. And FUN is the word to think of when planning family time. Research has shown that bonding happens when people laugh together. And as parents, we want to form that special bond and also create memories that bring smiles to our kids` faces in the years to come.


How do we pick the best cartoons or movies to watch?

There`s a lot of entertainment out there but, unfortunately, we haven`t seen many ~values based~ cartoons lately. I always prefer to choose shows that teach values giving us the opportunity to have conversations with our kids about various important topics.
Make sure to ask questions to your children that will spark conversation after watching. You can talk about right and wrong, relationships and also discuss feelings.

If you have small children, you should choose a show that is age appropriate and still entertaining. Since I have 3 boys, I know that they especially love any transportation themed topics, like cars, planes, trains, etc. So when I saw Mike da Mustang I immediately knew that it was a cartoon that would appeal especially to boys. Of course some little girls will like it too .

There have been times when I picked a cartoon for family time and my kids completely ignored the show within a few minutes. That`s why its so important to pick a show that also is engaging.

I found a video of the Mike da Mustang

You can show it to your kids. The lessons in it can serve for us as parents too. The thing I really like about it is that it teaches us to be more understanding and grateful, and to not be afraid to take a walk in someone else’s shoes – or tires

You can talk about this with your kids in a very natural way.
Here`s a link to the full Mike da Mustang cartoon video (will open in a new window and start to play automatically). Right here below you can watch a smaller trailer. I also included a summary of the show after the video. You can also like Mike da Mustang on Facebook.. I already have. Enjoy! And also let me know what you think in the comment section below.

Summary of the show

Mike Da Mustang, created by Air Show Buzz, is like a modern day Little Engine That Could with a Pixar-esque quality. What began as a small sketch has become a story of friendship and never giving up on your dreams. When Mike, the P-51 Mustang, becomes grounded after he clips his wing, he spends his time with the heart-warming Axel the truck, who is a huge fan of Mike and dreams of flying.
When Mike loses himself in the kind, humbleness of Axel and his friends he learns to appreciate those who are different and even be grateful for his own abilities that he may have been taking for granted. The show is a favorite among the children and a real home run for Air Show Buzz.

image credit

Post from: Christian Homemaking and Family Resources, Encouragement and Help at Embracing Home

Children’s & family entertainment – Mike da Mustang

Recently I came across the study of color and what each color conveys in the human mind.
It`s amazing to study subjective things like this. Ultimately when you delve into the human psyche, you end up discovering so much about your own self. One color may really bother me and the same color may energize you. What motivates me, may not motivate you.. it`s all about perspective. And who we are depends a lot on how we have interpreted all that has happened in our lives.
Color affects our mood and our perspective as does music. By the way.. if you would like to listen to background calm music while reading this post, you can click on the arrow below.

Click this Pink Play Button to Hear Calm Music:

Music by Christopher Lloyd Clarke



(I personally listen to calm instrumental music almost all day long while I work and it has really transformed my daily experience. I recommend you try it sometime. Here`s a post that you may enjoy that talks about how to calm down while being productive.)

Many people have no idea how color is affecting them. They go through getting tasks done each day without thinking about what is happening in their minds. The truth is that we have the power to choose our perspective on things. We can not control all that happens to us.. only how we look at it. The more in tune we are to who we are, the easier for us to take control of our thought life and consequent actions and truly find inner peace.

Studying colors not only helps you grow personally but also is a great asset when developing true genuine relationships.

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When you understand who you are, you are able to also identify and understand who other people are and consequently form a deep bond.
Speaking of deep bonds, let`s talk a little bit about the meaning of the color pink. Pink is a color many times associated with what is feminine and even girlie. Pink is a mixture of two colors: red and white. Red is a color tied to passion and white is linked to purity and peace. When mixed together the balance comes out as love. Pink is the color of compassion and empathy. Maybe this is why it is so associated to the feminine: because women are often times much more in tune to their feelings and expressing them.

Pink is associated to being able to feel what others feel. It also expresses an open heart. When someone wears the color pink it is an unconscious sign that they want to feel connected to others and approachable.

Studies have been done to understand how color impacts our emotions.

An online test has been created based on the research by Dr. Max Lascher that can indicate your current emotional state. I personally took this test and the results were spot on 100% in my case. If you would like more insight about how you are feeling at this current moment you can take this free test by clicking here. (Will open in a new window.)
Of course this test is based on your current emotional state and since your emotions change from time to time, the test will give different results if you take it at different times. Still, it is worth taking in my opinion.
Understanding colors can also give you an idea as to how to go about decorating the environment you live in for a better emotional experience. It can also convey feelings when you give gifts and flowers to other people.

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What do pink roses mean?

It depends on the shade of pink. For example a deep shade of pink will signify gratitude and thanks. A lighter shade of pink can mean sympathy, sweetness and gentleness. A medium shade of pink portrays happiness and admiration. If you would like to send more of a romantic feel then mix dark shades with light shades of pink in the flowers you give… Of course you can give pink flowers and not have any kind of romantic connotation to it. Sometimes light pink flowers are given to those in grief.


Pink has been my favorite color ever since I can remember.

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Pink is not only a color I really like, it`s almost a passion of mine. My mom said that I used to always choose my pink outfits when I wanted to go out as a little girl. I only found out recently what the color pink meant. And I was shocked at how it really described my personality. Pink is the color where the person is open and approachable and I have always been open and trusting to the point of being naïve and gullible. If you really truly have a color that you are passionate about, it might be describing something deeper about you.
Do you like pink? Why or why not? Think about what this means to you and share in the comment section below. And if you`re not signed up to my newsletter, you may do so by filling in your name and email at the bottom of the post or by going to this page and filling in the form. (I send special freebies that I find to my subscribers.)

The following photographs that emphasize the color pink might bring out certain feelings, sensations and memories in you… I put them in the post for you to reflect and maybe even write out what feelings come to mind when looking at them. When you find a certain image or color tone makes you feel happier.. then you can also think about how you can incorporate that color into your daily routine for a better quality life. Color can be added to several aspects of our lives and it makes all the difference in the world.

ღ Pink Cupcake Collection ღ




ღ Pretty in Pink Trees ღ




ღ Wondrous Tulips that Rise in the Spring ღ




ღ Pink Childhood Memories ღ




ღ Pink Automobile ღ




ღ Gorgeous Deep Pink ღ

I will be writing about what other colors mean and how they influence the human mind in future posts. I hope this helped you in some way.

Blessings always,

Eren Mckay