Tag-Archive for » Girly-girls «

Sep

Not by the hairs on my chinny-chin-chin…

beard You know – I always liked the story of the 3 Little Pigs. I love the way they strike out on their own, and persist despite adversity. How they all band together in the end to defeat the Big Bad Wolf.

But I’m not here to talk about them or even the Big Bad Wolf.

I’m writing about chin hairs.

You know – the chin hairs that came out of nowhere after I turned 30.

Seriously, my dear readers! Chin hairs are apparently no respector of persons!

I’m a girly-girl. I like soft, fluffy, frilly, girly stuff, even though I don’t actually shave my legs every week day.

And then, I find these WHISKERS on my chin.

Do you know what I’m talking about? more…

Category: Home, Life Tags: aging, chin hair, girls, Girly-girls, hair removal, humor, womanhood, women, women's health, Women's issues, Women's Topics Leave a Comment

Apr

Little Girls Should Have Big Imaginations

queenmommy

I am thrilled to welcome, Alyssa Avant, of Beauty by Design Ministries to The Cafe today, and excited to share this article, from her, with you.

Little girls love to play dress up, dream of being grown up and create tea parties for their teddy bears, or are these activities lost in the new age hustle and bustle and avalanche of technology? Are they being replaced by Wii games, dancing to Ipod music and created dream houses on computer games or hand held Nintendo DS systems?

As good as technology is and as many things as it has allowed us as a society to do, there is a time for it, and then there is a time for letting little girls, be well little girls and there are things that they can learn from good old fashioned activities, such as dress up and tea parties.

As a child the activities I loved the most were the ones that allowed me to use my imagination, from imaginary friends to teaching a room full of imaginary students in my imaginary classroom known as my bedroom I enjoyed every minute of those times where I used my imagination for play. Unfortunately, as our children are growing up in an age of technological advances much of this type play is slowly diminishing.

There is something you can do about this. Limiting your daughter’s time that she uses “technology” to play is important to help her continue to use and grow her imagination. Plus, she will learn to enjoy those activities that don’t involve technology even more.

As mom and daughter you can enjoy these activities together. Invite a few friends and their daughters over for a “mother daughter tea party”, play dress up with your daughter allowing her to try on your clothes and fix her up in your makeup, allow her to enjoy the experience and use it to bond with her.

It is through these special activities that you can get to know your daughter better, that you can see the twinkle in her eyes and you can influence her heart. It is never too early to begin, as you want her to see you as someone she can have fun with, so that later on in life she will look to you for someone that she can truly learn from and share with every activity she enjoys and every dream that lies within her heart.

Alyssa Avant is a Christian writer, speaker and blogger. She created Christian Charm School Workbooks to help moms, youth leaders and lay women in churches to teach girls the graces and charms of times gone by. She is the founder of Beauty by Design Ministries a ministry to girls and their moms whose mission is, “turning the hearts of girls towards God.”

Category: Faith, Family, Life, Writing Tags: Alyssa Avant, Beauty by Design, Christian Resources, Christian websites, Faith, Family, girls, Girly-girls, Guest Blogger, kid-friendly, Kids, Life, little girls, Mommyhood, Moms, motherhood, Mothers, Parenting, spiritual growth, The Princesses, Women's Topics 2 Comments

Jan

Beauty By Design

queenmommy

I am so excited about this. As part of the Moms New Years Bonanza ’09, the free gifts for today come from Alyssa at Beauty By Design online. (You can still sign up for the Mom’s New Year Bonanza here.)

Alyssa is a Christian speaker / author who focuses on Self-Esteem, True Beauty and Mother-Daughter connections (yay!) She has written several e-books, too, and although I got a couple of them free today, I’m definitely considering buying the other ones, too!

You can sign up for FREE for the 7 Day “How to Journal” eCourse and then rediscover yourself through journaling with this, a 30 day personal guide to help you make journaling a habit.

Do you struggle with teaching your daughter to say “no”. Get help with this guide.

On a Side Note – Curly has a SNOW day today. More snow – windy drifting on the roads – so we’re at home. I’ll post pics tomorrow of Curly celebrating her snow day today. We’ve already found Georgie up to her elbows in the peanut butter jar, which Curly assures me she did ALL by herself… Maybe we’ll make some snow ice cream today… I’ll have to do something – I’m desperate – Roy took the only Diet Pepsi to work with him today. I’ve already had 3 cups of coffee and am NOT feeling the buzz yet… Not good.

Category: Family Tags: Faith, Family, Girly-girls, kid-friendly, Mommyhood, Parenting, Relationships 2 Comments

Jan

A Few of My Favorite Things

queenmommy

So we’re under a Winter Storm Warning – predicting 8-14″ of snow for us. I can’t complain, though. My dear friend, Dawn, who lives in Idaho told me this week they’ve had 70″ of snow since December 17. Almost SIX FEET of snow in 3 weeks. So, no complaining here. Curly has decided she wants to go sledding – we’ll see what happens…

On days like these, when going outside for anything other than shoveling snow is just NOT an option, I like to put on a big pot of potato soup, get some coffee brewing or hot water for tea, and take a hot soak in the tub. I used to do this much more often before I became a mom, but I’m making time to enjoy bubble baths again and WOW does it feel great!

I have always ritualized baths. It was one room in the house that I could tune everything out. Lock the door. Turn the vent/fan on. Fill the tub until the mirror fogs up and sink into a tub that sometimes overflows with bubbles. Yep – I’m a girly-girl when it comes to baths. Warm Vanilla Sugar scented bubbles relax but don’t overpower. And always – always – always – my favorite magazine or a good book. I like to read long enough to go way beyond “pruney” – sometimes even til the water is cool.

This is usually when I pay attention to things – pamper myself – deep conditioning for my hair (1/2 cup mayonnaise, or 2 beaten eggs, or 2 Tbsp Olive oil – wrapped up in plastic wrap for the duration of the bath), special foot treatments (a good foot scrub followed by a cracked heel treatment), and of course, a manicure & pedicure.

A deep moisturizing hand cream is really essential for me – being a stay at home mom with my hands in soapy water, cleaning, even baby wipes – I can get some really rough skin. So using a good night hand cream after a bath and before bed is one way to battle that. (So is soaking my fingers in some olive oil when I don’t have any hand cream.) This goes for foot creams, too! Slather on some thick foot cream or heel treatment and put on some thick socks, or even wrap in plastic wrap underneat the socks for 15 minutes for extra conditioning.

Keeping my toenails polished is something I do – especially during winter when only Roy sees them… (And in the summer, wearing an especially bright or funky color just lifts my mood. Usually I stick with pinks & mauves, and more recently burgundies. We do have a bottle of blue frost and one shimmery glitter in our current collection of colors.

Slathering on a nice night-time lotion or body cream is an extra bonus. Aromatherapy is not just a pretty word. Bath & Body Works Aromatherapy Sleep Lavendar Vanilla is one of the best I’ve ever used, and I honestly wake up after a more restful night’s sleep when I’ve used it.

Drinking a cup of herbal night-time tea is always nice, too. I enjoy Celestial Seasonings Sleepytime tea or Bigelow’s Sweet Dreams tea (chamomile being the primary ingredient in each). It doesn’t have to be a “night time” tea, but any blend that soothes and relaxes.

So Be Kind in 2009 – and be kind to yourself. Spend an hour using your favorite products either to refresh or relax you. If you don’t have any particular favorites – try one or two of these suggestions and let me know what you think!

Category: Family, Favorites Tags: Be Kind in 2009, Girly-girls, Life, The Queen 2 Comments

Dec

Freaky Friday!

queenmommy

Was Santa good to you this year??? Last year Roy & I enjoyed being Santa, and this year it was even more fun because Georgie is older and can enjoy the festivities more. And both girls had a really good morning.

Well, except for the fact that Roy was so excited about Santa leaving presents he decided to wake Curly up (NEVER a good idea) and for awhile, we paid dearly. But after a fantastic breakfast with Queen Mamaw & King Papaw, opening gifts with Roy’s family, and just having a nice PEACEFUL Christmas, both girls got a GOOD nap and we had a great day together.

FREAKY FRIDAY, IT IS!!!

Okay, so it’s not so much that Curly & I have traded bodies, as it is that she is just the little spitting image of me far too often for my comfort! OF COURSE she received a dozen princess dolls, 8 prs of princess shoes, a whole set of princess dressup goodies for Christmas – and she pranced through the house loaded up to the max… The only thing she wanted from Santa was a pink dress & blue shoes…

Pink Princess

The ONLY blue shoes "Santa" could find!!! The ONLY blue shoes “Santa” could find!!!

This morning she dressed up and when Roy saw her, he said, “Oh my word! You look so beautiful.” She puts her hand to her face and tilts her head as if to say, “awwww….” As I took her picture, she demanded requested that I make sure to include her shoes in the picture…

In all Her Glory!

Georgie on the other hand, got a bunch of animal toys. Georgie is going to be my “pet” lover – you know – the kind of kid who finds all the wounded or lost neighborhood animals and wants to adopt them.

Kaity and her new pet, "Doggy"

Georgie got a new dress, which she is wearing now, but since Santa FORGOT to bring the dozen and a half batteries (All “AA” at least) we need, my camera is out of commission for the moment… (I use rechargeables, but have nothing to replace them with…)

NEW BEGINNINGS

The girls also received a play tea set – we’ve already had our first tea party – and plan to have many more. We are going to practice with the set before I take Curly to our first tea room for a REAL tea party… With my break from blogging recently and some time to just reflect on life, I rediscovered how much I love tea and coffee! I’ve been drinking a LOT of hot tea lately (mostly Bigelow Earl Gray), but my intentions for the New Year include trying many new teas & coffees, purchasing some old favorites, and having a little “Tea Time for Me” – even if it’s only 5 minutes a day!!! I’m even working on a new blog, CuppaLove, where I can really explore my affection for coffee & tea! The blog will highlight coffee / tea shopping sites to and I will be giving tea & coffee reviews, sharing pictures of my teapot / teacup collections, book reviews, recipes, etc.

So be sure to return here and visit my new blog, Cuppa Love, if you too are a Coffee / Tea addict lover!

Category: Family, Holidays, Kids, Pictures Tags: Christmas, Family, Girly-girls, Pictures, The Queen Leave a Comment

Feb

Princess Tater & Guardian Angels

queenmommy

Princess Tater is a tough girl. I think it must have something to do with how many times she’s already been dropped on her head (accidentally of course).

Exhibit A: The first night after Tater was born she was dropped from the hospital bed onto the floor, because the Queen Mommy fell into an exhausted sleep before thinking about putting her back into the bassinet. That was the most horrendous feeling in the world and I was convinced they would not let me take her home because I was an unfit mother. Actually – she was perfectly fine. Not a scratch, bump, or bruise on her. I get sick to my stomach when I think about it…

Exhibit B: Then there was the time that we were leaving to go somewhere and I told King Roy I had to buckle Tater into the carseat, and he thought I said I HAD buckled her into the carseat and proceeded to pick her up – and out she rolled in a perfect little somersault onto the floor. The word “to” can be critical to a successful conversation. Again – she was fine.

Exhibit C: The baby swing. I left Curly watching her favorite morning show and Tater swinging quietly while I ran to blow dry my hair in about 2 minutes (I have very fine, very thin hair, but that’s another story…) I heard Tater kinda fussing, so I popped my head out of the bathroom to look into the living room and there she was on her belly on the floor, the swing moving back & forth a little “wildly.” Apparently Curly thought she should be unbuckled AND pushed waaay high, so out she went. SIGH!!!

Then there was last night… Tater has been sleeping in a bassinet in our room, or in our bed next to me when she was inconsolable and the Queen was too tired to deal with it. (Amazing how I could rock her for 30 minutes without resolution, but lay her on her side in my bed and she’s DOWN for the count!) So, in order to make the transition to the crib, and because I stayed home from work yesterday due to icy roads in our area, I washed her new, unused bedding and got the crib ready to go. It looks so pretty with the pink rosebuds and fluffy coverlet! The crib is still located in Curly’s room, and has to be fully taken apart to be moved into Tater’s room and I was NOT feeling that ambitious, so for now, the thought was to let them sleep in the same room and maybe Tater would not have to sleep right next to anyone. So I got the mattress height reset, and after she’d drifted off to sleep I put her in the crib and she settled in for the night. Not a peep from her or her big sister.

Until 3:30 am, when I awoke to a loud crash and Tater crying. Not screaming, but crying. Yep – the crib bottom fell through. OH MY WORD!!! I wasn’t sure I could manage to get her out the way she was wedged, so I hollered at Roy a few times (who has a sleep disorder and when he sleeps, sleeps VERY soundly) - and got no response, so trying not to panic, I managed to pull her out – NOT A SCRATCH ON HER!!!

Immediately, I got the impression that she has a team of guardian angels watching over her. Not one – Not two, more like a starting lineup with reserves on the bench. I thanked GOD that she wasn’t hurt and wondered out loud what kind of plan God must have for this little princess… (Psalm 91:11 – For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.)

And I held her just a bit tighter while I rocked her back to sleep…

Today – we went to get little ears pierced. Curly was somewhat hesitant, but had her ears cleaned & prepped & marked, but once the “gun” came at her – she was through. (Besides that, the “manager” who did the piercing was very intolerant, impatient and uninspiring AND they were out of Curly’s birthstone, so we’ll try again later. Seriously – I expected some difficulty with Curly, but she was really good for the most part, and I actually saw the gal tighten her hand into a fist asking Curly to sit still. I’LL SHOW YOU SIT STILL, MISSY!) So Roy got Curly out of the store and we worked on Tater, who had been sleeping, but woke up when I got her out of the carseat and cried only a little after each ear was pierced. She was singing on her way home in the car… Even though they hurt for just a little bit – that girl DESERVED those earrings today. Don’t worry, Curly ended up with some lip balm and a coloring book, so she’s quite a happy camper herself…

Category: Life Tags: Girly-girls, The Princesses Leave a Comment