I love my husband!

For those that don't know, I'm a homeschooling mom. My son, Keegan is just about to turn 7 years old and I've been homeschooling him since he was around 3 years old and I love it...most of the time! LOL We're involved in a christian homeschool co-op that meets 3 Fridays a month and has field trips the last week of the month. The great thing about the co-op is that not only do our kids get a chance to take "classes" with other kids from christian homes, us moms get a chance to visit and learn too! An amazing lady named Rebeca leads a Moms Encouragement Class for the moms that are interested in it. This semester we're reading a book called: Becoming the Woman of His Dreams by Sharon Jaynes. I haven't been able to read much of it because of how busy life has been but I did read the first part of it and I listen to Rebeca talk about sections in the book and it's just awesome! I've really been feeling the Lord pushing me to keep learning and growing in my job as a mom & wife and this study has just really helped me to stop and think about how I react to things and how I treat my husband! I feel like I've hit the spouse jackpot and married the most amazing man in the entire world. Josh is loving, caring, funny, handsome, a great father, patient, even-tempered, selfless, compassionate, adoring....I could go on and on! He's not perfect but let me tell you, he's pretty darn close in my book! Sure, there's things he does that bug me and I don't agree with the way he handles some situations in our lives but I adore that man more than he could ever know! Now, I feel like my poor husband didn't even come close to hitting the spouse jackpot! I'm so not the great spouse that he is to me and that breaks my heart! I want to be that loving, doting wife that never nags, never overreacts, is patient and kind and is always smitten with my husband but I'm sooooo not!!! I'm quick to critisize, ungrateful at times, easily annoyed/stressed...on and on! The crazy thing is that even though I'm like that, Josh really makes me feel like he adores me! WHAT?!?! It's nuts! The Lord really, really, really blessed me with such a great husband! I'm hoping that since the kids & I are going to take it easy today that I'll get a chance to read some of the book. My personal goal is to do something nice for my hubby everyday and really keep pushing myself to work on being a better wife! I want Josh to be able to feel as lucky and blessed and spoiled as I do!!!

What's cookin, good lookin???

Well, tonight we're going to use one of our freezer meals for dinner! When I cook something the family really likes I usually make at least a double batch or use a recipe that makes a lot of food so I can put enough away for 1-2 other meals! Chicken Pot Pie is one of our family favorites and I think I have enough out in the freezer for like 4 pies and since we had co-op today I don't feel much like cooking so freezer meals are a lifesaver!

Here is the recipe I use for Chicken Pot Pie:
Ingredients--
2 C diced peeled potatoes
1 3/4 C sliced carrots
2/3 C chopped onion
1 C butter, cubed
1 C flour
1 3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp dried thyme
3/4 tsp pepper
3 C chicken broth
1 1/2 C milk
4 C cubed cooked chicken
1 C frozen peas
1 C frozen corn
pastry for two double-crust pies (9")

Directions:
1. Place potatoes and carrots in a large saucepan; cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 8-10 minutes or until crisp-tender. Drain and set aside.
2. In a large skillet, saute onion in butter until tender. Stir in the flour, salt, thyme and pepper until blended. Gradually stir in broth and milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Add teh chicken, peas, corn, potatoes and carrots; remove from heat.

Now, for our family this usually makes enough for 2-3 pies and we only need one. At this point I spray non-stick cooking spray in a pie pan and line it with one of the pastry crusts, fill it with the chicken mixture, cover it with the 2nd pastry crust. I use a fork and poke a few holes around the top and seal the edges shut with the crust. Bake at 425* for 35-40 minutes or until crust is lightly browned.

I then let the rest of the chicken mixture that is left in the pan cool down and then label a ziploc freezer (gallon size) bag with the name of the dish and date, fill it up and seal it and toss it in my freezer for another day. You can freeze it for up to 3 months! When you're ready to use the freezer meal, pull it out and let it thaw out and there you have your chicken mixture! It's soooooooo good! I'm really looking forward to dinner tonight!

First post...

Alright, so I have a blog for my paper crafting obsession and figured it was due time for me to make a blog for my other obsession...my desire to be a domestic diva! I want so much to be like the woman described in Proverbs 31 and I know it will be a work that will last me a lifetime but I'm up for the challenge! I'm pretty positive that I was born in the wrong decade! LOL My ideal decade would be the 50's. I picture myself like a Joan Cleaver or something! I love their dresses, they're all dressed up and pretty and dinner is cooking when the hubby gets home and the family is all loving and wonderful!

This blog will be where I post recipes that I come across that my family loves, tips that I learn for living frugally, fun things I do with my kiddos, info about books I'm reading and so on and so forth! I'll even add my Weight Watcher stuff and use my other blog: (christinathesassyscrapper.blogspot.com) strictly for my paper crafting.

I'm always looking for sites or blogs that have tips or advice for any area of being a good christian wife or mother so if you have any suggestions, be it your own or someone elses, feel free to leave me a comment with the web address and I'd love to check it out!

I guess to kick off my blog I'll post the recipe I'm using for dinner tonight. We're having BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches!! This recipe is a favorite in our house and anyone that has been over & eaten dinner with us had loved it too!
The recipe goes as follows:
Prep Time: 15-20 minutes
Cook Time: 12-14 hours on Low or 6-7 hours on High

Ingredients:
1 pork shoulder roast (about 2 1/2 lbs---I haven't found any that small so the one I'm cooking right now is 6 lbs so I adjust the ingredients for that big of a roast)
1 bottle (14 oz) BBQ sauce
1 Tbs fresh lemon juice
1 tsp brown sugar
1 medium onion, chopped
8 hamburger buns or rolls---hoagie rolls are delightful with this!

Directions:
1. Place pork roast in crockpot. Cover; cook on low for 10-12 hours or on high for 5-6 hours.
2. Remove pork; shred meat with 2 forks. Discard any liquid in slow cooker. Return pork to slow cooker; add bbq sauce, lemon juice, brown sugar, and onion. Cover; cook on low for 2 hours or on high for 1 hour longer.
3. Serve on buns/rolls.

ENJOY!!!