Saturday Ramblings

Today we turned in the money we had been raising for St Jude's Children Hospital. Every year they have a picture contest at our local Kmart. Of course it is a penny a vote. Normally I would not participate in something like this, but I think St Jude is an awesome charity so we went for it. I think we collected quite a bit, but we won't know the total until April 5th. I'm just glad to know that we did something to help children and their families in need!

After that we went to a bingo tupperware party. I always have a lot of fun at these and tonight I actually walked out with 2 nice tupperware items! Woohoo! They also auctioned off random items one of which was a turkey baster. Not a big deal except that I watched "Miss Conception" yesterday and now I will never think of a turkey baster the same way again! If you haven't seen the movie yet you should give it a try. It really was pretty good.

I thought my luck was going to hold up, just a little bit ago Brea turned the TV off and said "bed!" Thinking this was really was my lucky night I put her sleeper on, got her some milk, and laid down with her. That lasted about 5 minutes and she had finished her milk and was standing up in the bed saying "up." Oh well one of these days I will get to catch up on sleep!

Your turn: I would love to hear what you have been doing today!

My first giveaway! $10 Amazon Gift Card

Hi everyone I have been wanting to do a giveaway on my site for sometime. Now that my bloggy makeover is complete I think now is the time. I just recently began blogging on a regular basis and have realized that it is a lot of fun!

A little about me:
My name is Sarah also known as Brea's Mommy. I am a single mom of a wonderful 17 month old girl. She is the light of my life. I also work full time at a children's psychiatric hospital, which is very interesting but fulfilling. I enjoy blogging and tweeting in my spare time. Oh yes and I have to say sweeping is fun too. Last year I actually won an Apple MacBook Air, which I love! Now on with the giveaway!

So for my first giveaway I chose a $10 Amazon gift card this way you could pick out whatever you have been eyeing! I love Amazon they have such an array of products to choose from. There is definitely something for everyone.



Rules:
This giveaway will be going on through March 7th and a winner will be chosen on March 8th. I will use a random generator just have to research them a bit!

I will need a way to get in touch with you so please leave a link to your blog or email address!


First entry (this must be done for any extra entries to count) - Please leave a comment with potty training tips or stories. The comment must be related to potty training to count! I plan to start potty training Brea while on my week off, which falls during this giveaway so all ideas are much appreciated!

Extra Entries (Please leave an additional comment for each extra entry)
1. Follow this blog! -
2. Blog about this giveaway with link back to this blog. Please leave link to post in comment
3. Leave a comment on any other post on this blog. Please leave post title in comment.
4. Tweet this giveaway and leave link in comment! feel free to copy and past the following!
$10 Amazon gift card giveaway at http://tinyurl.com/dywzsx Easy entry! @breasmommy

Thank you all for visiting and hope you enjoy your reading! Have a great week. Hope to see you soon.

Say goodbye to dry skin and hello to TC and Company!

I was so pleased to get the opportunity to review TC and Company's bath and body products. I happily received samples of shea butter lotion, shea body butter, and hand and body lotion to try out. They were great!



A little about my experience:

I am a registered nurse, which of course means frequent hand washing. In the winter my hands always get dry and chapped. Most lotions cause my hands to burn and tingle making moisturizing very uncomfortable. I was pleasantly surprised by these products as they made my hands feel soft and smooth without the painful burning! This is an extremely rare find in my experience so this alone won me over.



Now a little about the products:

Pineapple Cake shea butter lotion had a long lasting scent that seemed to ge better with time. I could still smell it on my hands 6 hours later. The amazing part of this is that it was not overly strong at the time of application. The fragrance was somewhat sweet(it actually kind of made me hungry).

Sweet Essence shea body butter was a thicker consistency and would be great for those extra dry spots. While this scent did not last as long as the shea butter lotion it still had a wonderful smell during application.

Black Vanilla Orchid hand and body lotion had a wonderful scent it was actually my favorite. I used this lotion right before bed so I am unable to say how long the scent remained. I can say that the scent was very relaxing and I actually fell asleep much quicker than I usually do. This lotion also did wonders for my skin, making my hands soft and silky.

They also offer other products such as sugar scrubs, balms, natural soaps, baby products and more!



A little about TC and Company

TC and Company is a family run business right here in the USA (middle Tennessee to be exact). The products are made by Thad and Cassandra Stanley and their three children. They made their first products when they were unable to find commercial products that did not cause skin irritation. Cassandra Stanley decided to take matters into her own hands and began to look up ways to make her own soaps. Eventually they began making more and more products, forming the product line for TC and Company!

Their products are "Cruelty free," "soothing and natural," and "non toxic," which are all awesome attributes. The company also states that all products have been tried and tested by their family with satisfaction. Since Cassandra and her children suffered from skin irritation using commercial products this says a lot to me about their products.

Please take the time to visit TC and Company to check out their great products!

No she didn't!

Okay so I am sitting on the couch reading a couple blogs while Brea is watching "Word World," the next thing I know she has pulled her diaper off and climbed on the couch. I figure I can finish reading the post I was in the middle of then get another diaper on her.

Yeah I thought I had plenty of time! Boy was I wrong. The next thing I knew there was something warm flowing across my foot. Sadly it took me a second to realize it was pee. Yep she just peed all over me and the couch! Next time I will definitely put the diaper on before finishing the post!

So this brings up another dilemma I plan to start potty training in the next couple of weeks. Most people have suggested that the best way is to let her run around the house without a diaper and when she starts to pee put her on the potty. Well this sounded simple enough that is until tonight! How in the world am I going to keep her from peeing on my furniture. Even if I could keep her off of the furniture my floors are carpeted. I'm pretty sure this could be a big problem.

Please Help: Leave a comment telling me how you potty trained your children. Any and all tips and tricks would be much appreciated. Thanks!

So sad, but so beautiful!

This headline just caught my eye and I wanted to post it for others to read "9-year-old bride walks down aisle in Texas" on CNN. This is a beautiful story of parents making their dying daughter's dream come true.

Every little girl dreams of her wedding! Sadly some times tragedy hits and there does not seem to be enough time for dreams to come true. This is an instance where 2 parents have made it possible for their little girl to have the wedding of a lifetime at 9 years old! She has been diagnosed with terminal leukemia and only has a few weeks to live. I can not imagine what her parents are going through during this tragic time and hope that I will never be able to.

Please keep this family in your prayers, I am sure they will need all the support they can get in the up coming weeks.

I am so jealous!

Tonight Brea's dad came up to the house with his niece to visit. While he was here I was able to cook dinner and take a nice hot relaxing bath! Brea was occupied the whole time and never even missed me!

Usually I take a quick shower in the morning before she wakes up or during her nap time. The only time I get one of those relaxing baths is when she stays at grandma's, which isn't very often. As for dinner Brea is always underfoot while I am trying to cook. For awhile we lived off of convenience food just because it was easier. Now I am trying to stay away from that. I want to feed my daughter healthy foods! So in the evening I just juggle watching Brea and making dinner. While it usually turns out good it takes a lot longer then it should.

So back to why I am jealous. . . this was the first time I had any insight into two parent homes. Wow what a great help having someone to help while you do your cooking and cleaning. Maybe one day I will have this luxury, but for now Brea and I will continue to do it our way and make the best of it!

Please don't take this as complaining. I love my life with my daughter. Being a single mom is hard work, but also very rewarding. I just never realized how much difference a second person could make!

Join the WAT-AAH Challenge

Do your children always want soda or juice?
Always something with lots of sugar or the dreaded caffeine?
Would you like your children to drink more water?

If you answered yes to these questions then please consider taking the WAT-AAH challenge. What is WAT-AAH? You say. WAT-AAH is purified water with young children in mind. WAT-AAH is not flavored, but has electrolytes needed for adequate hydration.
You can find more information at www.drinkwataah.com and http://www.wat-aah.blogspot.com/.

Christine is looking for honest feedback on WAT-AAH. All she asks is that you set WAT-AAH in the fridge beside the regular soda or juice and see what your child chooses. Then post pictures or video showing your childs reaction!

If you are interested feel free to get in touch with Christine through the WAT-AAH blog or just send me your information and I will gladly forward it!

Stay tuned for Brea's reaction! Will it be juice or WAT-AAH?

Your turn: What do your children drink?

Friday the 13th the remake

I have always been a "horror" movie fan. Ever since I was a teenager I could not wait for the next "Friday the 13th", "Nightmare on Elm Street", or "Halloween." The thrill was lost in some of the later sequels, but the first few rocked! I love the feeling of a good scary movie. . . waiting for the next frightening moment. Jumping out of my chair when it finally came! Most "horror" movies today have lost that touch. It seems that they focus more on the gore and grossing people out. That is not what I am looking for I still want the thrill of that jump! It has been a long time since I have found a movie that gave me that feeling.

Tonight I went to watch Friday the 13th! This is it people. I loved this movie. I will not go into detail because I definitely don't want to write a spoiler. With that said this movie will give you lots of jumps and leave you feeling a little on edge as you leave the theater!

Do you watch scary movies for the thrill?
Do you like movies that make you jump?

If you answered yes to these questions then take the time to watch this movie! If you are all about the gore in the new "horror movies" then this may not be for you.

Your turn: Can you tell me the name of your favorite horror movie? I would love to check it out!

I so cheated! And it was so good!

Okay! Okay! I took Brea to Outback and it was delicious!

As you can see Brea loved the food especially the bread. Although to be honest she appeared to enjoy the butter more than the bread! She licked the butter off the bread first. It doesn't sound very appetizing to me, but to each their own.

I on the other hand I had a sirloin with french fries and mashed potatoes. I know two potatoes, but I was sharing with Brea! The food was great and so was the service. For dessert Brea and I shared the peanut butter pie! It was the best I have ever had.

I fell off the menu plan wagon today. Tomorrow is a new day and we will start again. I do have to admit that it was truly worth it! Once in awhile you just have enjoy life and be spontaneous!

Your turn:  Where do you like to eat out and what is your favorite entree?

I just had the best dinner!

I made philly cheesesteak hoagies. They were awesome and so easy to make!

All you need is a fajita kit cook the peppers, onions, and beef strips as directed

Put dijonaisse on the top and bottom of hoagie

Spoon beef mixture onto hoagie and top with shredded mozzarella cheese.

Wrap hoagie in aluminum foil

Bake for about 5 minutes at 350

If was so yummy! Hope you like it. 

Menu Plan Monday!

Its that time again. Last week I my menu plan totally went out the window. I have decided that this is due to it being all convience food. From now on I am going to try to only do 1-2 convience entrees a week! That should be a lot healthier too!

Oh and if you want to join us for Menu Plan Monday link up at I'm an Organizing Junkie

Monday: Philly Steak Hoagie with corn on the cob and buttery snow peas

Tuesday: Chicken with buttery snow peas and broccoli casserole

Wednesday - Leftovers

Thursday - Pecan Encrusted Tilipia (yep boxed) with broccoli casserole and roasted asparagus

Friday - Chili Corn Bread Pie with roasted asparagus and squash and zucchini

Saturday- Balsalmic Pork Chops with squash and zucchini and mashed potatoes

Sunday- Leftovers

Giveaways Galore!

Mama Makes Money is hosting a giveaway for $25 gc to Layered Clothing

Tanya Peila is hosting a giveaway for a Flip and Tumble 24/7 bag

Everyday Celebrating is hosting a giveaway for a $25 gc to favor affair.

Little Kiwi is hosting a giveaway for a $75 gc to Ape to Zebra!

Mommies with cents is hosting a giveaway for The No-Cry Nap Solution Book.

Ecolibris is hosting a giveaway for 4 green children's books!

Go Natural Baby is hosting a giveaway for $50 gc at Mountains of the Moon

The Beauty Counter is hosting a giveaway for lots of healing seeds products!

Fractured toy is hosting a 2009 Farmers Almanac and cookbook giveaway!

Momma Findings is hosting a giveaway for a huge Kiss My Face giftbasket!

Amanda is hosting a giveaway that includes 5 Baby Einstein Books!

To date or not to date. . .

That is the question.

I am a single mother who is completely happy with her life just the way it is. Well most of the time.

Then comes a holiday like Valentines day. Along with all the wonderful stories about soul mates and intimate relationships. It makes me think . . . Wow! I would love to experience that. 

The problem is that I have always been attracted to the wrong type of guys. It never fails I meet this guy who seems perfect. He does all the right things. Then once I have fallen it all crashes! Although I have to admit looking back that I always overlooked a lot from the get go.

So now I have my beautiful daughter who I only want expose to the best. I have to admit that those guys from the past wouldn't stand a chance now. I wouldn't want them around Brea! Sounds awful, but it is true.

So if my tastes have changed the question would be. . .

What is the problem? 

Where in the world do you find the good ones? 

If you have any ideas please leave me a comment. . . Who knows maybe I will have my Valentine by next year!

You know your busy when

You know your busy when you forget to eat lunch!
Your turn. . .

http://ordinaryandawesome.blogspot.com/2009/02/you-know-youre-busy-when.html

Thankful on Thursday

Today I want to say how thankful I am to be Brea's Mommy! 

Prior to having Brea I was quite the wild child! I know that I was very selfish and only cared about having fun. Or at least I thought that the things I did were fun at that time. Then fun usually equaled party and of course alcohol

Post Brea I know that I was living foolishly. I do not party anymore. Although I do still go out for drinks occasionally with friends. I always try to put my daughter first. 

There is one question that I always try to judge things from. . . 

Is this something that I would be okay with Brea doing when she gets older?

NO: then I know that I should make the choice to avoid this activity also.

YES: then dive right in and have fun!

I think that people should remember that our children are always watching us! Not only will they mimic our good behaviors, but also our bad. We as parents should try our best to be the best role models our children can ask for.

YOUR TURN: These decisions are not always easy and there is always room for improvement. I would love to hear how you can be a better role model for your child?

Me first I really need to quit smoking. It is definitely something that I do not want Brea to do, but such a hard habit to break. I am happy to say that I do not smoke inside or in the car or to close to Brea. To me this is not good enough and I really need to just quit. That is easy to say, but not as easy to carry out. I'm trying!

Wordless Wednesday!- Oh my! Look at the bear!

Sorry didn't mean to post it twice and can't figure out how to remove the bottom pic.
Would love some advice for next time!

What about the children?

I agree with the many posts out there regarding the outrage that Nadya Suleman was allowed to continue receiving IVF treatments after having 6 children and being unable to financially provide for them. This is a woman who was still living with her mother, currently on food stamps, and she was unemployed and she already had 6 children!

Personally I think that people are focusing on the woman far too much when we really need to focus on these 14 children. Sadly these children are going to be the ones who suffer. What can we do to make the childrens lives better? One of the first things I would like to see happen is a psychiatric evaluation for mom. Is mom truly up for the job? If not (which I'm sure is the case) what happens to the children? Can the government find homes for these children where they can receive the love and support that all children deserve? I hope so.

I hope that people remember that their is much more to raising a child then providing shelter, clothing, and other material neccessities. Children need love and attention! How can a single mother of 14 children possibly provide all of this to each child!

Menu Plan Monday

Last week was my first menu plan post and it worked wonderfully (for the most part). My grandmother decided to cook dinner on Thursday and Friday so I got a little break. Although I have to say overall this is a great plan. I managed to not eat out at all this week and even skipped the planned Outback meal! So now its time to try again.

This week will be a little different. I have lots of boxed and frozen food in my house. My plan is to try and use some of that this week so I can go back to more healthy recipes next week. I have to admit that I still have some really good boxed stuff though.

If you would like to join me please visit I'm an organizing junkie.

Your turn: What is your favorite entree?

Monday - garlic shrimp, vegetable pesto medley, classic pasta salad

Tuesday - left over monterey chicken pesto medley and classic pasta salad

Wednesday - Bertolli pasta dinner, broiled red potato

Thursday - Grilled cheese and italian vegetable soup

Friday - Chicken with italian dressing, tucsan vegetable mix, baked potato

Saturday - pecan encrusted tiliapia, parmesean pasta roni, vegetable mix

Sunday - leftover chicken, baked potato, dill green beans

What a weekend

Brea and I had a wonderful weekend. Its been beautiful here, warm enough for t-shirts! On Saturday we went to a friends daughter's birthday party. Then left there and went to the park. I had planned to snap a few pics at the park to post, but forgot the camera. Sorry guys I will try to do better next time. The important thing is that Brea had fun and that she did! Then last night she stayed at grandma's house. Today we took a long walk around the neighborhood and then relaxed. I want to get some more posts up and will work on that this week. Thanks for stopping by. 

Hope to see you again soon!

Join the pound for pound challenge with me!

General Mills has teamed up with the biggest loser to promote healthy weight loss while providing food to those in need! For every pound we lose General Mills will donate 10 cents to Feeding America. Some people may say 10 cents what is that going to buy, but apparently it is "enough to provide one pound of groceries to a local food bank. Now we know where they get the pound for pound. The minimum donation will be $100,000, which is equivilent to 1,000,000 pounds of food. The maximum donation will be $500,000, which is equivilent to 5,000,000 pounds of food. Please join us in this challenge! In this case more people means more food!

You can also mail participating seals and lids from many of General Mills products. For each lid or seal they receive they will donate 10 cent to Feeding America. For a total up to $275,000, which is equivilent to 2,750,000 pounds of food! Just think if everybody joins in on this we could help provide fellow americans in need with up to 7,750,000 pounds of food! Now thats alot of food.

Click here for more about Feeding America

I for one had been planning to lose some weight before this summer anyway. This is a great way to help others while I help myself. My pledge is 14 pounds, but I hope to lose quite a bit more. I have some size 9 jeans that I just can't bring myself to get rid of. Maybe just maybe this will be the motivation I need to get back into them.

Now its your turn: Please let me know if you signed up for the challenge. Do you have any weight loss ideas? If so I would love to hear them!

Wordless Wednesday

Brea's first snow experience!

It snowed! This was Brea's first experience with snow. She absolutely loved it! Sadly we didn't invest in a snowsuit this year so the experience was a little short lived. We managed to stay outside for about an hour, but her pants were so soaked I didn't feel comfortable keeping her out any longer. She really loved putting her hands(yes they were gloved) in the snow. We were out long enough to get some good pictures(see above) and a little video. Lesson learned next year a snowsuit is definitely on the must have list!

It is snowing!

We are getting ready for bath and bedtime, but I had to take a minute to say it is snowing. I just made a post earlier today about not liking winter except for the snow. This is the first snow that we have had this year(at least with any accumulation). I can not wait to take Brea out to play in it tommorrow! The only bad thing is that we only get inclement weather on Tuesdays(same day as Brea's tumbling class). This will be the second week in a row closed. Okay little one is fussy have to go.

Menu Plan Monday

I have been considering starting a meal plan for some time now, but keep putting it off. Over at I'm an organizing junkie they started weekly menu plan monday posts. All you have to do is post your meal plan on your blog and link to her site. Maybe this is my way to keep those menu plans coming. Some of the posts even have links to the recipes that are being used so if you don't want to make your own menu you can get some ideas from the other posts.
Now remember that I am a single mom of a 17 month old (who doesn't eat much) so that is why I have leftovers a few times a week. I want to make sure not to be wasteful.
So here is my menu plan:

Monday: Chicken Enchiladas with some mexican rice

Tuesday: Filet Mignon, corn on the cob, and Asparagus with Balsamic Butter (ww easy weeknight favorites page 158

Wednesday: Left overs from Monday

Thursday: Monterey Chicken and pesto vegetable medley

Friday: Pecan encrusted Tilipia(frozen food) with green giant frozen vegetables

Saturday: Left overs from Thursday and Friday

Sunday: Using Christmas giftcard to go to Outback!

Oh no!

The groundhog saw his shadow. I don't know about you, but I am not a winter person. I hate the cold. I hate being cold. I hate the increased electric bill. The only thing I do like about winter is snow. I love watching the snow sparkle in the sunlight and can not wait to take my daughter out to play in it. Problem being I live in one of those places that gets pretty cold in the winter, but we don't usually see much snow. So the forecast is 6 more weeks of COLD!

I would love comments on what things you and your family do to make the cold days more fun.

Jessica Simpson's weight gain

I can't believe all the fuss about Jessica Simpson's weight gain.
You can see the story by fox news at http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,483204,00.html

Yes she is a "star" and for some reason people always like to point out when the "stars" get fat. Guess what first and foremost she is a person. People should treat her like a person. She is also someone that many teenagers and young adults look up to. Making a big deal about her weight gain can make a big impression on these people. We wonder why there are so many people with eating disorders well now we know at least part of the problem. This is not a new issue and has been going on for years. One day maybe someone will become aware of the added stressors placed on young people by these types of comments.

Here is a what Jessica's brother in law had to say
http://www.nme.com/news/various-artists/42446
and her sister
http://www.theage.com.au/news/lifeandstyle/people/ashlee-blasts-weight-critics/2009/01/29/1232818588248.html
these people have the right idea