Archive for the Category »Favorites «

Feb

Do you gotta Latte stuff to do?

Well, then you need to visit this blog post at Skip to My Lou and download the “Mom’s Got a Latte Do today” printable. It’s a really cute and practical list (2 per 8.5×11″ page) that can be printed as often as you want, or printed in bulk and turned into a magnetic notepad for your refrigerator!

SCORE!

What a perfect gift for a teacher. Or a friend. Or a mom.

I love these little half page note sizes, and I can just print a bunch off, cut them up, and leave them in my desk drawer to use. I LOVE them… And just had to share.

Category: Favorites, Home, Women's Topics, blogging Leave a Comment

Feb

My Best Lasagna

queenmommy

I just threw it together the other night – and it was SOOOO good. I’m all for fast and easy, and this did the trick!

My Best Lasagna

1-16 oz box lasagna noodles, uncooked
1 jar Spaghetti sauce
1 lb ground beef, cooked and drained
1-15 oz. can tomato sauce
1 16 oz container ricotta cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan romano cheese blend
2 tsp. garlic & herb seasoning
3 cups shredded mozzarella

1/2 cup water (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray 9×13 pan with fat-free cooking spray.

In medium bowl stir together spaghetti sauce, tomato sauce, and ground beef. In another medium bowl, blend together ricotta cheese, parmesan and garlic & herb seasoning.

Spoon about 1/2 cup of beef mixture and spread in bottom of plan. Place first layer of uncooked noodles to cover bottom of pan. Spread with 1/3 of ricotta cheese mixture, then 1/3 of remaining beef mixture, and 1 cup mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers twice. Pour 1/2 cup of water around edges of pan. You can sprinkle on extra parmesan if you’d like.

Cover with aluminum foil (spray lightly with cooking spray to avoid sticking), and bake for 45 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 10-15 minutes (depending on how well you like your noodles & cheese done).

Allow to sit for at least 5 minutes before cutting into portions.

*FYI – you can use whole wheat noodles, ground turkey (or skip the meat altogether if you want) to improve some of the nutritional value. If I’d thought about it, I would have thawed out some frozen spinach yesterday and added it to the ricotta cheese mixture, but didn’t have time when I came to putting it together…

Category: Family, Favorites, Food Tags: cooking, Recipes One Comment

Jan

Homeschool! Who, Me? You’ve Got to Be Kidding!

queenmommy

Our girls, Curly & Georgie, are 4 and 2. Curly is in Christian PreK right now and she loves it. Both girls enjoy being read to and Curly & I have recently made a game of writing her letters or numbers, identifying them, trying to sound them out and more on the big Magna Doodles she got for Christmas.

So when I felt like God was saying that as part of the Mothering experience for me may include homeschooling, I laughed. (Yep, call me Sarah.)

Who, ME? God – do you know who you are talking to here? Me? Miss Love it for 3 weeks and then lose it somewhere in the house? Me – miss plant the garden (late) and not reap all the goodies. Me – miss fall in love with a product only to toss it out 6 weeks later.

Me – Miss Love The Thrill of the New Experience, Tolerate It Until Its Gone. Really, Me? Every single semester with Liberty University Online I’ve threatened to quit. Seriously.

So I’ve been investigating, asking questions, reading curriculum reviews, and talking to some homeschool moms. In fact, I’ll be meeting with some next week, and have some interviews prepared for blog posts to come. I know my nature – I know my inclination to jump in full swing and then lose steam…

So when my husband mentioned his concern that I would follow my pattern with homeschooling – well, it hurt my feelings. But only for a minute. He wasn’t being mean – it’s a valid concern and he did everything he could to be gentle about it.

But it’s true. I am that way.

Sometimes.

While I do threaten to quit going to school every semester since I started my Bachelor’s – I haven’t yet. And I’m mapping out the next few semesters to see how and when I will complete my degree. Despite last semester’s difficulties with Algebra (which I will get to retake) and the miscarriage.

While it is sometimes challenging, I’ve been a pretty committed blogger for 4 years now – and love it. That may not seem like much to some people – but it’s a big deal for me. Blogging is hard work some times – and building a blog with good content challenges me – even if its not the most popular blog out there or if I don’t always do everything right all the time.

My husband’s comment hurt because I believed the worst about myself – for just a moment. He didn’t say it’s what WOULD happen, he was just concerned it might.

I laughed at the first notion of homeschooling BECAUSE I know myself and my tendencies. It’s not a small thing to take your child’s education into your own hands – when it can be so easy to relinquish it to “trained professionals” and just do my part when she’s home. Of course, I want the best education for each of my children, and of course I have questions and concerns about homeschooling myself.

But I do think God challenged me – whatever the outcome – because He wants me to EMBRACE my role as Mother to my children. It is as much about committing to raise them up in a way that honors God as they learn and grow – whether they continue with their Christian education outside the home – or not. And even if my husband leads us in a different direction, I will trust that He is following God – even if it’s a different path than I might have chosen.

That does not make him the bad guy – it makes him the Husband & Father he is called to be – and my role is to be the Wife & Mother I am called to be – whether my children get their education at home or in school.

Homeschooling is a challenge to consider – given my current “plate”. It’s a challenge to consider – given my Sanguine penchant for fun. It’s a challenge to consider – given the strong (my husband calls it “dominant”) natures of each of my very different girls. and their mother who is much the same.

But it’s not an impossible challenge given my faith in God, my husband’s feet planted in practical reality, and my love for my children.

And maybe God just wants me to trust Him more – wherever He leads us…

More to come…

To see what’s going on with the other Company Girls this week, visit Home Sanctuary by clicking the pretty link below:

Category: Family, Favorites, Home, Life, Parenting Tags: homeschool, homeschooling 19 Comments

Dec

Happy Birthday to you, Roy!

queenmommy

Hello Coffee Gals. Welcome to the Queen Mommys Cafe today. Have a piece of birthday cake with your coffee or tea this morning! We are celebrating my husband, Roy’s 40TH birthday today! Okay – let’s be honest – I’M celebrating – he’s not quite sure whether he can celebrate turning 40 or not.

So I thought I would do a tribute of FORTY THINGS about Roy today in honor of this grand occasion!

1. He has the best salt & pepper hair! (I would post a photo, but he doesn’t like that… Sorry ladies.)

2. He loves the Cleveland Browns. He bleeds orange (really) and any teasing or name calling (except by him) is met with immediate disapproval. He’s a die hard – loyal fan. Admirable.

3. He loves hot dogs. He shares this in common with my dad.

4. He hates green beans. The very first time he visited my parents when he & I were getting “serious” I told my mom to fix green beans – knowing he hated them – and HE STILL ATE THEM CHOKED THEM DOWN cuz he loves me that much. That’s love, people.

5. He loves to make me laugh. It’s one of the first things I noticed about him. While I love to laugh and laugh at many things – he has a real knack for saying or doing something that just makes me laugh until my stomach hurts.

6. He is so tall and handsome. ’nuff said.

7. He has graceful hands with long fingers. Georgie inherited them…

8. He has a southern twang sometimes despite his denial otherwise. His parents are from Kentucky, and there are words & phrases that really make it stand out. Love it!

9. He is incredibly smart. So smart! He can analyze things in an instant while others take several minutes (or day or months even)…

10. He yearns for knowledge. Hence his 3 degrees – an Associates, a Bachelors and a Masters.

11. He hates Math. We share this in common. It means he can’t help me with my Algebra II. bummer…

12. He listens to me. Really. And I talk a lot – but he still listens for the most part. Impressive.

13. He loves his girls SO much. Really. He loves to be their daddy and let them be princess girls. Sweet!

14. He lets me cuddle. Even though he is a “personal space” kinda guy, he lets me snuggle and even loves it now. =)

15. He buys me the best stuff. Like my sapphire pendant a couple of years ago and my Keurig Platinum Brewer (which is on its way to my house as you read this!)

16. He doesn’t coddle me. He’s not mean about it, but he doesn’t always let me get away with my drama.

17. He hates it when I cry. But he lets me and usually asks if he can do anything to help. Sometimes he just lets me cry and hugs me later.

18. Sometimes, he lets me have the remote control. On our honeymoon, he watched “When Harry Met Sally” with me because it reminded me so much of our stop & start relationship before we got married.

19. He is very literal. Requires thoughtful communication.

20. He is color blind.

21. He is dyslexic.

22. He is the tallest member of his immediate family – he’s 6’4″ (to my 5’4″).

23. He’s got incredible athletic ability. I’ve seen him in action – and hear stories about his high school and college ability. He has explained to me that very often when he was playing quarterback in football, things around him would move in slow motion and he could see everything that everybody else was doing. I admire that so much.

24. He’s the ONLY guy I’ve ever fallen for. Okay – I had other boyfriends, but Roy is the only one that I’ve literally fallen in front of. Flat on my face. On the ground. THREE different times. (He didn’t even trip me!)

25. He’s not embarrassed by WOMAN stuff. Even though he didn’t have sisters, he’s not embarrassed to buy feminine hygiene products or talk about my personal female issues and circumstances. Awesome news for our girls!!!

26. He’s really praying for one more child for us. I am, too, and our recent miscarriage has been pretty difficult for him to deal with, too.

27. He tries to be as supportive as he can. Whether its me or our girls or a family member – he can be very compassionate and caring.

28. In his former life (haha), he was a farmer. Hence his love for working outside and for animals of all kinds, but especially chickens. HE is the animal lover in our house. I like dogs. We have a cat. =)

29. He caught a snake with a butterfly net and a pillowcase. A (probably pregnant) garter snake was sunning itself in my backyard garden – and when our niece & nephew came running in to tell us – he calmly grabbed one of their butterfly nets, caught it up Steve Irwin style, and neatly dropped it into a pillowcase.

30. We celebrated our 30th birthday together.

31. He’s sentimental. Especially about family. and his tshirts. and the Cleveland Browns.

32. He loves my cooking. And will try anything I make.

33. He loves sweet coffee. Makes for great date nights!

34. I’ve known him for almost HALF my life!

35. He reads my blog.

36. He laughs with me. Especially when I take myself too seriously. That’s a good thing.

37. He’s a phenomenal kisser. Yay for me!

38. He’s not a Buckeye fan. But I can forgive him that.

39. He does not Facebook. seriously.

40. He is the ONLY one for me – I know it today as much as before I married him. There’s nobody else like Roy – no one who fills my heart and breaks it at the same time. He’s the very best and exactly who God planned for me. So really, on Roy’s 40th birthday – I am the one who has great reason to celebrate!

Happy Birthday Roy – may you have 40 more – and may they be twice blessed as the first 40!!!

Category: Family, Favorites, Life, Relationships, The King Tags: Birthday, King Roy 12 Comments

Nov

Singing about Winter!

queenmommy

I’ll admit it. I LOVE SNOW. I don’t like the bitter cold. But I love snow in winter.

I was spoiled, you see, because I lived in Alaska as a child. Alaska was full of mystery and adventure for me. I had the opportunity to attend a public school on the base my dad was stationed for my 1st Grade year.

It was WONDERFUL!

I learned so much about the native Eskimo and indigenous Indian people and culture in that one year. It absolutely fired all of my Imagination neuro-circuitry and fed my love for mythology of all types.

I developed a HUGE fondness for snow.

HUGE.

We built snow forts and had snowball fights and went sledding & tubing until we couldn’t feel our faces anymore. We ate snow ice cream and ice skated – although I never really mastered skating – and the snow always looked like glitter in the moonlight.

We were excited to visit the exhibits and watch the games of the Fur Rendezvous – an annual festival that celebrates the beginning of the end of winter! Snow sculptures – even a snow castle that had 2 real, usable childrens slides made out of snow – local artist exhibits, Eskimo and Native American games and culture exhibitions – it was amazing!

One of the BEST parts of winter and snow – were the Northern Lights, or the Aurora Borealis. Imagine a dark night full of stars, and all of a sudden, there is the invisible hand of God painting neon colors in bright, broad strokes across the sky – and you’re watching it as it happens!

Breathtaking.

Imagine the BEST Christmas light display you’ve ever seen in your life – and magnify it 100x. That’s how awesome the Northern Lights are.

As winter settles in – and we have our first dusting of snow – I get the itch to start making all of my favorite hot drink mixes and cuddle up my girls before we bundle up to go make snow angels.

Maybe I’m not singing INSIDE my house today, but my heart is full of the wondrous majesty of God’s creation – and I hope to bring that to my home & family as we enjoy the coming wintry season…

I will be writing more posts about Alaska in December – so stay tuned!!!

P.S. – if you have some shopping to do or love to decorate for Christmas – DaySpring has some lovely options you might want to consider. Click my affiliate link below for more details!

Category: Family, Favorites, Home, blogging Tags: Making Home Sing meme, making memories, Making Your Home Sing 3 Comments

Nov

Making My Home Sing Monday

queenmommy

I’ve done just enough this weekend to get a few things caught up – dishes and laundry. The two never-ending household chores that can’t be left to chance…

But it felt good. Its nice to have cleaned off counters and full dressers. Other chores will get taken care of this week as my energy comes back – and I’m really trying to “take it easy” the way that I should.

Honestly, there have been really sweet moments with my family this weekend – and really sorrowful moments, too. I’m one to want to “mark” milestones in my life, so my husband and I are talking about ways to have a simple memorial service of sorts to commemorate the loss of our baby. Maybe we’re going to plant something to keep – we haven’t talked it all out yet – but I need something.

I had a memorial service as part of my recovery from my abortion and have a small child’s New Testament with my baby’s name inscribed on it. I don’t want to do the same thing here, but I want it to be something memorable and sweet. I know it won’t always hurt so bad – so I want something tangible like that. If any of you have any suggestions – we are definitely open to them.

If you have experienced or know someone who has experienced miscarriage or pregnancy loss and memorialized it in some sweet way, please feel free to share it.

In the meantime, I am making my home sing today by playing the Twila Paris CDs I copied to my iTunes on my computer. I can turn it on and it plays in the background while we do what needs done. Click the link below to hear the song that really speaks to me right now.

Do I Trust You Lord

Maybe it will speak to you, too.

Category: Cleaning, Faith, Family, Favorites, Friends, Home, Life, Management, Organization Tags: Making Home Sing meme, Making My Home Sing, Making Your Home Sing 4 Comments

Nov

Freaky Friday – Decaffeinated!

queenmommy

So I’m adjusting to the decaf coffee this week – and not feeling the lack of caffeine too much. Fatigue is just part of my pregnancies, so I’m happy with 1 cup of good decaf in the morning. =)

My girls & I watched the movie, Freaky Friday, last week. Although Curly is only 4, she totally understood the concept and we have been pretending to switch bodies sometimes. It’s been pretty funny. She likes to be bossy (can’t figure out where she gets that), and I’ve been imitating some of her behaviors, too. We’ve had fun.

Curly got her ears pierced middle of last week, and it seems like she’s grown up all of a sudden. She decided to go for it after talking about it – backing out of it at the last second before – and seeing her friends at school with earrings. Georgie already has pierced ears, so she decided to go for it and did GREAT! She picked out her purple heart earrings and sat on my lap while the 2 ladies explained what they were doing. She jumped a little and said, “Ow” but then she kinda sat up and said, “Oh Cool!” before she even saw them. After that we rode an escalator – which was another big “Fear Factor” for her and since then, she’s just been more confident and less fearful.

She still climbed into bed with us in the middle of the night last night – she mumbled something about “trees” and hid her face, so we cuddled for a bit before I tucked her back into bed.

Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to switch bodies with someone and live their experiences for 24 hours. And have them live mine. Like walking a mile in someone else’s shoes, it’s a good practice that I need to consider more often.

So today – Friday the 13th – that is my goal: To think about how OTHERS might be feeling and what they might be experiencing before I get upset or bent out of shape. I’m going to practice walking a mile in their shoes.

After I finish my coffee. =)