As a mom who works outside the home for 40+ hours per week, I go through a lot of mommy guilt moments. I worry about my boy feeling like he isn’t important enough or that we don’t spend enough time with him. I worry that I will be tired too much in the evenings and won’t focus enough on him. I worry that he will feel more bonded with his teachers at daycare than he will with me.

As a mom who blogs at night and has a strong addiction to social media, I also experience guilt moments there. Sometimes I have work to complete in the evenings and that can interfere with our time together. Sure, he loves the perks of packages at the door, fun days at live events, movie pre-screenings, and the “fun mommy” who likes to craft with him or the “fun daddy” who likes to cook with him, but are we ultimately doing these things because we want to or because we are creating moments for the blog. I think it is a mixture of both and it’s turned us into a fun family, but I still have the guilt.

Last night I was not feeling well (as usual) and while my infections are beginning to heal a little, the antibiotics are kicking my butt. The boy and I were watching cartoons and I was staring at the computer (again, as usual) when he decided to go see what Daddy was doing. I knew Hubby was outside smoking and figured the boy would either find him or come back and ask me where he went. After a few minutes, Hubby came back without the boy. The dogs were running after him and playing and that usually means they have been outside.

I asked Hubby where our boy was and he looked around as if he hadn’t seen him. I think I knew instantly where he was, but I started calling his name and looking around. Hubby knocked on his bedroom door to open it, but we saw the light off so we knew he wasn’t there. As we were both headed out of our bedroom, I asked if Hubby had just let the dogs in and did he see our boy out there. He said the dogs came in, but he didn’t see the boy. Yep, I knew where he was.

Hubby headed straight for the back door and opened it and there was our boy wandering his way up to the door. Locked outside alone. Luckily, he didn’t realize it before we found him and he was in a gated back yard. He might have been out there for one minute…maybe…

We told him to come in and start getting ready for his bath, both of us sighing in relief while the boy wondered why we were acting so strange about bath time. As I was getting his bath ready, I asked the boy why he didn’t tell me that he was going outside with the dogs, and then he said it…

“Because You Were Busy Working”

He might as well have said, “I hate you” or “you are the worst mommy” or “I’m running away” (which he actually says sometimes and it doesn’t phase me because he doesn’t know what it means yet). I was convicted. I was embarrassed. I need to change things. I am guilty.

Do you get mommy guilt or blogger guilt or both?

I know, I know, I’m late on getting my SoFabCon pictures up, but give a girl a break! I’ve been down with ANOTHER staph infection (actually 4 of them right now) but I’m on the mend. And besides, you all know me, I can’t do anything in a timely fashion. I’m just crazy like that! So…enough of the words on a Wordless Wednesday. Here’s my quick and dirty recap!

Oh, and by the way, excuse the quality of some of these, I’m still using a camera phone because I don’t have my dream camera yet. Enjoy!

Before leaving for SoFabCon, I had quite a bit of packing and some bleaching to do. I made this big mess the day before I left. You’ll see…

After dropping off Hubby at work, our boy at daycare, and grabbing a little caffeine for the road, I set out to drive to Arkansas. Seven hours doesn’t sounds so bad, now does it?

Yes, it’s a beautiful drive through Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas, but seven hours in the rain, with stops (and maybe some shopping) turns into nine hours. But…I found some awesome #purplearmy nail polish and Walmart even tweeted with me about it!

Dog tired, but hyped up on caffeine and sugar, I headed to the first event – The SoFabCon Opening Cocktail Party! My roommate, Heather from Acting Balanced, and I posed for a picture in front of the Collective Bias/Social Fabric banner outside the party.

The next morning, we all woke to a shock of snow…in May…in Arkansas!

SoFabCon began with John Andrews and Amy Callahan welcoming us all and telling us about their dream that has become a reality. I met each of them separately throughout the weekend (a story for another day) and they are both so kind and generous.

Down to business, we started with a lesson in SEO from Dan R. Morris and learned how to create our cocoon (again, story for another day).

True story – I tweeted about wanting to take a pic with Ted Rubin and Courtney Velasquez, not necessarily at the same time (because I’m too shy to approach them, ugh) and they found me during a break for a pic!

I also met Courtney from My Crazy Savings who was my inspiration to finally take the plunge and start blogging after her post, Why I Blog. She is so sweet and lives close by. I was psyched that she was as excited to meet me as well!

The second night was all about Collective Bias’ 4th birthday. We had a party! I was in love with these huge balloons and really wanted to take one home to my boy. My roommate even brought one up to the room. But I just couldn’t figure out a way to fit it in the Jeep.

We couldn’t have a birthday party without cake and punch, and this punch was just what I needed to relax and enjoy the evening.

I even played a little peek-a-boo with Rachel from Bubble Nature Creations {the photography queen} at the table (because there was a huge balloon in the middle!).

What an amazing birthday party and what an unforgettable day!

The final day, we started with a keynote from Tiffany Romero from SITSgirls, who talked to us about Power(ing) Down. I needed this, but don’t we all? She is amazing and I would have loved to meet her and talk to her more.

A Collective Bias/Social Fabric event is never complete without a little awkward stretching. I was sitting with Brandi from The Creative Princess and Kristy from Mommy Hates Cooking during breakfast when this one happened.

Back to business – We learned a lot about making money blogging from these awesome women! Read more about them on the SoFabCon site, but I’ll be posting about the session later as well.

In between sessions, brands had booths set up for us to check out and I took a few minutes to freshen up my hair. With 5 minutes and a flat iron, #ConairDidMyHair!

The ladies of Collective Bias sat down with us during lunch and talked to us about being awesomesauce. They gave us tips on how to work with CB and Social Fabric and how to be authentic when we are creating content. These ladies ARE awesomesauce.

With all the sessions behind us, it was time for another party – 80′s style! I pulled out my hot pink Converse, the bleached pants, and few more neon pieces, while my roommate teased and hairsprayed my hair, and it was time for some 80′s night bowling!

My boy bought me that cute blue polka dot bow so I had to send him a pic to show him that I didn’t forget.

The party was rockin’ and everyone was so fun. I even won a $50 Sears gift card for my smiling socks!

Sunday morning, I was up bright and early and back on the road. The weather was beautiful and the scenery was amazing. It was another nine hour drive, but it seemed to go by faster without the rain.

And I totally had snacks from my swag bag to keep me moving (more on the swag bag coming soon!)

Back from Arkansas and I had to bring my boy home a Razorbacks snout. He loved it…almost as much as he loved hugging on me because he missed me so much!

More on SoFabCon coming soon!

As parents, Hubby and I are always asking for Grace in Parenting. We don’t know what we are doing most of the time and we often ask for forgiveness or simply look to each other, baffled, as to what to do next. Our boy is 5 1/2 now and exercising his own will and independence. Every day there is a new frustration. Today, I’m sharing a guest post with you from a dear friend, Brandi, who has found Grace in her most recent journey in this crazy life of parenting.

Grace Abounds

Is it just me or does the craziness of the days really get to you sometimes? Around here it’s arguing with siblings, not listening, children buried in the mud (really see the picture over there)! I find myself overwhelmed very easily with the small nuances of our home.

I want to write about this topic because I know there are other parents who have the same struggles that we have. We aren’t big spankers because it doesn’t produce effective results with our children. So what do you do to be the most effective parent you can while also teaching your children positive ways to interact and how to one day treat their own children?

A few of my friends and I meet once a week for a devotional and spend some time just talking about our struggles. I mentioned to these friends that I am a mom who yells and I hate that about myself. One friend shared the same struggle and then another, who has children my age, said she could count on her hands the times that she had yelled at her children. Really, I can’t even fathom a number of times I have yelled at my boys. It has become almost instinctual that if they do not do what is asked I yell so they know I mean business but it most often does not produce the kind of results I am hoping for either. Instead it breaks their spirit, damages our relationships with each other and causes me to feel like the worst mother ever at the end of the day when they are in their beds and I am recalling the events of our day. Seriously, as I am writing this, I go to check on my almost 3 year old because it is too quiet in his room. I find him flooding his bathroom by filling his dress shoes up with water and dumping it all over the floor and the counter top.

How do I respond in this situation for him to understand this is not OK and he can not do things like this?

Yelling wont get me anything. I sent him to his bed for his nap early.

After that weekly meeting, I began praying for the Lord to shape me and mold me into the best mom he wanted me to be and help me to find more effective ways to communicate with my children. This would also include a journey into why I act the way I do (a topic completely for another time). I did not mention this discussion with my husband or tell him what I had been praying about. Two days later while we were preparing our house for Easter dinner, my husband came to me and said “We have to stop yelling at our children”. The Lord had been convicting him of the very same thing and he felt that it was time to make a change. He leads me in so many ways and this was just one more example of him leading me as a godly husband which is one of the most amazing feelings!

Grace in Parenting

His first suggestion was that we have a “safe word”. For instance if he sees me getting frustrated or I see him getting frustrated to the point we might yell, we say a word to each other that means walk away, take a minute before you respond. He was clear to lay out the parameters for this word and that it must be something that neither of us finds offensive in the heat of the moment. He also knows me very well and said let’s go ahead and get this out now. If I say the word we come up with, don’t get mad at me, understand that it is needed in that moment. He had no suggestion of what the word should be, but I knew immediately. Grace. I felt that the word we needed to use was Grace because I feel that when we yell at our children we fail to extend the grace to them that is so amazingly extended to us by the Lord.

We also discussed the need to create a safe haven for our children that they are not getting any where else in this world. Our oldest struggles with being bullied at school and he comes home in tears many days because of what he has to deal with. Our home should be the place where no matter what he does he knows love and grace not yelling and feeling like he isn’t good enough. We also have the greatest responsibility of all to raise our boys to be great men for the Lord and to give them the tools to lead their wives and children as a godly husband and how can we do that if we are not demonstrating grace in our home.

We told our oldest what we had discussed and how we were going to make a effort every single day to not yell at them. I enlisted his help for me and asked him to keep a calender similar to what they do at school. If I have been good that day, I get a check but if I have yelled then I get an X. This child so full of love for his mother always wants to say that I am good but I explained to him that we have to address the days that we do not do our best so that we can continue to get better.

It has not been easy but the results were immediate and astonishing! Our home is over all a much calmer home. It may take me more than one try to get compliance by not yelling and simply using redirection but we saw the fruit of this change immediately in our family. The biggest thing for me was that at the end of the day I could go to bed and not feel like a failure as a mother or feel like the worst mother ever because yet again I yelled at my children. The guilt is gone, at least on the days when I don’t yell. But it has been a habit for me for so long that it will take some time to completely remove this habit from my life.

We are a family that wants to be about faith, fun and making memories. We want to instill the right values in our boys. We want to be the examples of what a godly father looks like, an example of the kind of godly woman they should seek for their lives and the best example of what a godly marriage looks like. We want only the best for them just as most parents do. This requires us to look at our own lives and ask the Lord to find the sins hidden deep in our hearts and bring them to light so that we can become a home where Grace Abounds always!

I challenge you to do the same. If you are a parent who struggles with yelling at your children begin to work on it. Communicate with your spouse or support system if you are a single parent. You will need accountability to stay on the right track. But the rewards of making this change in your life will be evident in your home and in your relationships with your children. Make your home a home where Grace Abounds and your children feel safe to make mistakes.

About Brandi

HI!! I am Brandi Harris! I am a work from home mom of two very silly but amazingly wonderful sons. I also work as an independent consultant with Premier Designs Jewelry which has allowed me  to quit my full time job and be a full time mom and wife! My sweet husband and I will be celebrating 10 years of marriage this year.

I am the wife of a deacon. This is a very important role to me because I get to support my husband and serve him in so many ways. I believe  that moms/wives should make serving their family a priority. I do not mean serving to their every whim, like get up and make me a sandwich, but true servant hood. Doing for them because I love them and out of my love  flows my desire to serve them in the things they need.  I want to fulfill my God given roles to the best of my ability.

I have a degree in communication that I am currently using within the organizations I volunteer. I serve at an after school program and I also serve on the board of directors for our local community center.

My hope and goal in writing is to share perspective with other stay at home and work from home moms. It is my desire to be able to speak  truth into the lives of women, married or not, working or not, about life in general. About our struggles we endure as parents and wives, about how to have a servant’s heart when carrying for our families (that sometimes seem to not notice we’ve done anything at all) but again I say doing so with a servant’s heart.  I hope that I can inspire other women to want more out of their marriages/relationships and relationships with their children and that I may be able to provide practical insight on how to do that. I can be reached on Facebook and you can also reach me by email: brandih89@gmail.com.

Last night was one of those nights. You know the ones, where everyone is a little on edge and Mommy and Daddy are tired, but the boy is ready to play, and things just aren’t going right…and then Mommy completely loses it.

My emotions are on a roller coaster lately and I honestly couldn’t tell you why. I know I struggle with depression and anxiety, but this seems to be different. It could be the need for an adjustment in my medication and I should probably mention that to a doctor. Last night when Hubby asked me one more time “what’s wrong”, I just fell apart.

I’m tired. I’m exhausted (there’s a difference). I’m in pain (still…from another staph infection). I’m overwhelmed with my desire to blog (and work online and at home) full time, but my obligation to work outside the home to help support the family. I look at my house in a mess every day and I know I need to just get up and do something to get it cleaner every day, but I’m exhausted and tired and in pain. I’m not eating right, which makes me feel even worse (physically and about myself). I’m being whiny, which makes me feel like I need to put my big girl panties on and grow up, already!

I’m not really great at asking for (or accepting) what I want and need, so I’m just putting it all there today and telling you all what I really want for Mother’s Day.

What I really want for Mother’s Day

1. A day to rest, peacefully, and not feel guilty about it. I don’t want to go to work, open the laptop, answer emails or phone calls, or really even be awake. I just want to relax, sleep, and be uninterrupted.

2. A day with my boys where we are all in a good mood, happy to be together, and none of us are sneezing our heads off because of this ugly allergy season.

3. A real plan to get my family out of debt and a commitment that we will get it done as fast as possible so I can start toward my work-at-home dream.

4. Family photos – We have never taken professional family photos before and I have some ideas that I want to do with this blog and those photos.

5. Totally selfish Mother’s Day wish here –> I want this camera! No, seriously have you seen this camera?! {and, yes, I totally get the irony in the last two being “expensive” items right after I talk about getting the family out of debt..that’s part of the problem}

So, there it is…what I really want. I know Hubby and my boy have some plans brewing and they always do so great for me on Mother’s Day and my birthday. I love them both so much!

To all the mothers out there, I hope you have a wonderful day on Sunday, and I hope you get what you really want (at least 1 out of 5, maybe).

What do you really want for Mother’s Day? 

Does your family have a history of breast cancer?

This is a question that I absolutely hate answering when at a doctor’s office. I’m sure that nobody really loves talking about their family medical history or breast cancer at all, but I absolutely hate it.

One night when I was living in Austin for college I received a call from my mom. She and I were not on talking terms, but she was crying and I talked to her. She told me that she had found a lump in her breast and had a biopsy. She went on to say that her doctor said it was breast cancer and she didn’t know what to do next. She and I cried that night as I sat on the kitchen floor and worried about her and wondered about how I could mend our relationship so that I could be supportive of her.

My mom didn’t have breast cancer.

I’m actually not even sure if she had a lump and biopsy. My mom was sick and there were a lot of things going on. I don’t know if my mom has a history of breast cancer because I don’t know if she ever told anyone the truth. I know she had cysts in her breasts as I was growing up and her doctor would tell her to stop caffeine for a while. She would and they would go away.

My grandmother, my mom’s mom, had similar issues with her breasts. At a very young age, I learned that she had a double mastectomy, but I don’t know any of the circumstances around that or when it happened. There are stories that she may have had breast cancer or she may have had the cysts. Nobody has ever been able to tell me the truth because I’m not sure that anyone knows the truth.

So, when I’m asked the question at every new doctor’s appointment, I simply have to say, “I don’t know”. I give myself regular exams and I am aware of changes in my breasts. I’m almost to an age when I need regular mammograms. I live my life as if I have a family history of breast cancer, just to be on the safe side.

Susan G. Komen is proud to partner with WWE this Mother’s Day by encouraging fans and supporters to Make Mom Proud by doing something meaningful in the fight against breast cancer. WWE Superstars and Divas will encourage fans to either Participate in a Race for the Cure event, Educate themselves or a loved one to know their risk and to get screened, or to Donate so that future generations can live in a world without breast cancer.

I lost my mom 5 1/2 years ago and there are so many things that I wish I could ask her. I have begun reaching out to my sister, aunts, and other family members to help me fill in some blanks in my past. But this Mother’s Day, I’m focusing on my future and being the best mom I can be in every moment of every day.

This morning I woke up to a tweet from a dear friend, Brandi, from Mama Knows it All and my heart just about exploded -

Hey, @janetgoingcrazy! Just wanted to let you know how fabulous I think you are. You inspire me as a mother.

— Brandi J (@BrandiJeter) May 9, 2013

Wow, just wow…

Twitter Party Alert

This Sunday, May 12, is Mother’s Day. Susan G.Komen and WWE have teamed up for Make Mom Proud, an awareness campaign urging moms to educate themselves about breast cancer and support Komen, the world’s largest nonprofit funder of breast cancer research and community outreach programs.

WWE  is urging fans to support moms by taking steps to educate themselves about the disease, participate in local Susan G. Komen Races in their communities, and donate to Komen, the world’s largest nonprofit funder of breast cancer research and community outreach programs.

Join @WWEmoms and @KomenForTheCure as we learn more about Make Mom Proud!

Who: Follow these twitter handles to party with us!

@WWEmoms, @Skconcepts, @JanetGoingCrazy

@TheOnlineMom, @MommyJenna, @RachelFerrucci,

@wrestlingaddict, @SoberJulie, and @lisasamples

What: Twitter Party with #WWEmoms hashtag

Where: Twitter – follow along on tweet grid or tweet chat!

When: May 9th at 7pm EST

Why: Join us as we talk about WWE, Susan G. Komen Foundation, and the Make Mom Proud movement

Prizes: Samsung Pocket Camcorder, a wine chiller, and Beats by Dr. Dre headphones!

To RSVP:

1. Email WWE@theonlinemom.com subject line: WWEmoms – include your Twitter handle.
2. Spread the word and RT this post to your Twitter Followers
3. Join us on Tweetchat or Tweetgrid (#WWEmoms) this Thursday between 7 and 8pm ET

*You must RSVP in order to be eligible to win prizes*

How will you honor the mothers and YOURSELF this Mother’s Day?

Disclosure: I have been compensated for this post and participating in the WWEmoms campaign by The Online Mom – all stories and opinions expressed here are my own.

This past weekend, I attended a blogging conference with 300+ of my closest friends. Ha! No, really, this was an amazing conference and it felt like I knew so many people from talking to them and being a part of this community for over a year.

SoFabCon was the first blogging conference by Collective Bias for their community, Social Fabric. As enlightening as Blissdom was for me and the direction for my blog, this conference was for my self, my ME…and how I think about myself as a person, how I portray my life to others, and how I portray myself (and my family) on this blog.

I’m going all out of order today by starting with the closing keynote, given (on last minute notice) by Jasmine Banks from Just Jasmine. She talked about her past and the shame she had about it and how she has come around to be just as she is… She issued a challenge to us all to write about ourselves in an authentic and genuine way and just be proud that #ThisIsMe.

I don’t think that I am overly positive about my life here and I try to stay as true as I can to you all. I’ve written about how I feel like I fail as a mother and a wife regularly, but I’m sure that you don’t know the “real” me completely yet. I’m going to fix that. I’m going to be writing about my life in the coming weeks and tell you my story. I’ll fill in the blanks of my family story and I can promise from now on that my life will not be “stylized” as Jasmine would say.

What you see is what you get with us – be afraid, be very afraid (I mean, there’s a reason I named this blog the way I did…)

This Is Me

I am an adult child of alcoholics. My relationship with my mom was completely strained when she passed away (due to alcoholism). My relationship with my dad was never strained and he’s been sober since 1995, so things are good, but not as I wish they could be. I’ve learned a lot about adult children of alcoholics and although I am my own adult, I do know that my path is different because of my past.

I was sexually abused when I was a child. I don’t know how old I was or how old he was or if anyone really knew. I haven’t ever told my parents and I think I’ve told my older sister, maybe. I have issues from it, but I just gloss over them because I don’t feel like there is anything I can do about it now. What’s the point?

I am painfully shy and that stems from my insecurity with who I am. I am socially awkward and I don’t know how to have a normal “get to know ya” or “shoot the breeze” conversation. Here’s an example: I met Mel from MamaBzz at Blissdom and again at SoFabCon. I work with her through Social Fabric. I read her blog and I KNOW that we have a lot in common. During Blissdom, I learned (through Twitter) that we are alike in how we view our friendships. Do you think that I struck up a conversation during SoFabCon with her? Nope! In fact, I was sitting at a table with her and Kim from Crafty Mama of 4 and when someone asked me to come to their table (someone I was more “comfortable” with because I had been talking to throughout the weekend) I got up! Seriously, who freaking does that? Me! Ugh!

Here’s another example and this one makes me ill.

I have gotten to know several people with Social Fabric who have become really close friends. I have cried to them and they have comforted me, supported me, encouraged me in so many ways. I tell these girls about my frustrations in life, when my boy won’t poop or when my husband is being a “man”. These friends were at SoFabCon and they were having a blast. They said “hi” to me, but they didn’t ask me to come hang with them. They didn’t hold my shy little hand and make me go around with them to socialize with the Collective Bias employees that I should have been meeting and getting to know better. So, what did I do? I didn’t approach them…much. I mean, I wasn’t rude (at least I hope not) but I would go up to them from time to time and then go on to something else.

Why is this socialization thing so difficult for me?

I am chronically depressed. I take a lot of antidepressant medication, but I am always sad, angry, depressed about something. I cry when I’m tired. I’m tired often.

I have a low frustration tolerance and I am never really happy. When I’m frustrated with my husband, I want to leave. I’m frustrated often, and usually for unreasonable reasons. I don’t know how to fight – or disagree – with my husband in a way that we can communicate and move past things. I either hold it in and say “nothing” when he asks what’s wrong or I blow up and huff and puff over everything. You know, like when he lays crooked in the bed on his day off and the sheet comes off my corner of the bed.

Yeah…I think some people call that a “nagging wife”.

I don’t know anything about discipline or routine with my boy. This leads to a lot of confusion on his part and frustration on my part. When I’m frustrated with my son, I yell and threaten. Sometimes when I’m tired, I get overly frustrated with my boy. I’m tired all the time.

I would rather be a full time blogger, but when I sit down to write, I end up on social media or reading other’s blogs for hours at a time.

I procrastinate everything and often am late on deadlines. When I’m running late, I get frustrated at my husband for not watching our boy while I work.

This post is over 1000 words and I’ve only barely scratched the surface. Wow… so, my question to you is this…

How do you define you?

(and I would love some advice on this whole shyness thing, seriously!)

It’s Monday night and we all need ideas for something quick and easy for dinner. Where do you turn when you need inspiration? I was out of town this weekend at a blogging conference and one of the messages that I heard {LOUD and CLEAR} was from Tiffany Romero, from The SITS Girls:

“Live the Life You Want for Your Children”

Tiffany’s keynote speech was titled, “Power Down” and she talked about spending more time with your children, your husband, and yourself. It’s not okay for me to be online all of the time, telling my boy “one more minute” and sacrificing my time and attention for my online presence. I use the excuse that I am providing more for my family, but what good does it do to make more money if you don’t have a life to spend it on, having fun with your family? There is a lot more to this message that what I’m going to share right here, right now, but my inspiration to be a better mom, a better wife, and a better me is starting right now with a Quick & Easy Dinner Inspiration.

I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias® and Tyson #MealsTogether #cbias #SocialFabric. All stories and opinions are my own.

When I left for SoFabCon on Thursday morning, my boy was very sad. He has never minded leaving me or when I go out of town on a trip. He is always very excited when I return, but he never gets sad about me leaving. This was my first hint that maybe I’m not spending enough quality time with him.

After three intense days of meeting new people, learning all kinds of new blogging tips, and partying late into the night, I knew that I wanted to return and spend more time with my family. On my way back from Arkansas, I stopped by Sam’s Club and picked up a few essentials for a quick and easy Monday night dinner.

For the past few weeks anytime we ask our boy what he wants for dinner, he says “chicken and broccoli” or “chicken salad”. I’m not sure that he even knows what chicken salad is… In any case, I knew the dinner had to have chicken and Tyson always has something to make dinner yummy.

I picked up the new Tyson Crispy Chicken Bites because they are made from 100% All Natural chicken breast. They are extra crispy and hand breaded so the breading is not as thick as regular chicken nuggets and the taste is more of a “grown-up” nugget. I knew that my boy would like them because they are chicken and that hubby and I would like them because of their restaurant quality.

The boy was especially excited to help with dinner and spend more time with me. He first helped lay out the Chicken Bites on a sheet pan for them to cook in the oven. Since the Chicken Bites are fully cooked (in peanut oil), they only take 15-20 minutes to cook.

While we waited, I heated up some instant rice and the boy scooped it into some colorful sweet peppers.

Quick & Easy Dinner Inspiration

Tyson Crispy Chicken Bites with Rice and Sweet Peppers

I fixed up his plate with a few Crispy Chicken Bites, some grapes, and his pepper bowls of rice. He was so excited and said it looked “very like a rainbow”!

Next, I made up my plate with some rice, sweet peppers, a few grapes, and some Chicken Bites as well. I may have bit into a few of the chicken bites along the way and I may have thought they were very yummy.

Hubby said he would pass on the grapes so I made him a festive plate with slices of sweet peppers, rice, and Chicken Bites. He was impressed with the sweeter flavor of the breading and already has some ideas for more dinners. (Remember, he IS the chef around here)

The Tyson Crispy Chicken Bites are extra crispy on the outside and super moist on the inside. When you bite into, or tear one open, you can see the real chicken breast strands. I’ve requested some Honey Chicken and fried rice and Hubby says he wants to try Curry Chicken next. I think these Chicken Bites are going to become a regular item around our house.

So, now you have a little quick and easy dinner inspiration and I’m going to play with my boy and watch some WWE Raw with my boys! Learn more from Tyson by checking out Club Tyson on Facebook and by following @ClubTysonLive on Twitter.

What are your go-to Quick and Easy Dinners?

I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias® and Tyson. #MealsTogether #cbias #SocialFabric All stories and opinions are my own.

BlissDom 2013 was my first blogging conference, my first experience with meeting people in person who I’ve talked to for over a year, my first experience with meeting brands and PR people in person, and my first time to be so completely overwhelmed about what to write and when to write it…but here goes!

And, yes, I realize it’s been a month and guess what? I’m headed to another conference tomorrow so this whole cycle is behind again! My life is a series of being behind so this is normal to me.

My BlissDom Experience

To be honest, I had not considered going to Blissdom (well, briefly last year when it was announced for Dallas, but then I figured I couldn’t afford it so I gave up) until I heard about a sponsorship from Petit Jean Meats. I’m a member of the PJM Blue Diamond Club so I hear about things like this and other promotions. Even then, I thought I haven’t been a member very long so there was really not much of a chance that I would get a sponsorship. At the last minute, I decided to throw my name in the hat and was SHOCKED when they picked me!

I’ve worked with Petit Jean Meats before through my affiliation with Collective Bias and I loved making them a part of my Easter dinner, as well as making an amazing dessert with PJM bacon. I was thrilled to join their Blue Diamond Club, so this was just mayo on the BLT to be able to represent them at Blissdom. (<– did you get that icing on the cake reference, but turned into PJM products with the mayo and the BLT…okay, sorry, I’m amusing myself today)

Headed to Blissdom

I made arrangements with my family to help watch my boy and some transportation for Hubby since we only have one vehicle and I would be driving it. I also asked my aunt and Granny if I could stay with them to reduce the cost of lodging. I thought briefly about trying to find a roommate, but since this was my first conference and I found out about it so close to time to go, I didn’t want to room with someone I didn’t know and cause more anxiety, plus most people already had roommates. And, well, I just wanted to save some money.

On the day I was going to leave for the conference, I started feeling sick. Yeah, I’ve told my staph infection story, and I just really thought that I was over-excited (that happens to me) and maybe because I didn’t sleep well the night before. By the time I got to the Gaylord, I was exhausted, but ready to do this. I walked in, registered with confidence, and started looking around for signs of someone I knew.

Before the Conference – Dallas Cowboys Stadium!

As if I didn’t think Petit Jean Meats was already awesome (because I love their bacon and ham) and I was super excited to represent them at the conference, they also arranged for a few of us bloggers to tour the Dallas Cowboys Stadium before the conference. That is totally another post of its own, but let me just say – AWESOME!

Newcomer’s Meeting

After putting on my name badge, I noticed that several people kept coming up to me like they knew me and talking to me about the conference, welcoming me, and being so friendly. I didn’t know any of them, but everyone was so nice. It wasn’t until I made it to the Newcomer’s Meeting when someone mentioned the punch on my name badge. She may have let it slip that she knew I was a “first-timer” because of that punch…and then it all made much more sense.

I found a place to sit at a table and kept looking around while random people came up and talked to me and then I finally saw TWO familiar faces! Darcy from Tales from the Nursery and Maureen from Wisconsin Mommy found me and I instantly felt more relaxed. I ended up spending a lot of time with these two, but also met quite a few other great people.

I’m usually not a huge fan of the “ice breaker” games, but I did meet a couple of fun bloggers during this “trade business cards” task. I expected a little bit of advice or a few tips for newcomers, but this meet-up was just about networking with first timers.

The Conference

You know, I think I’m going to make separate posts for all of the sponsors and sessions and other events that went on at the conference. There was just so much to do and so much to talk about that I can’t do it all in one post.

My Favorite Parts of Blissdom

1. Meeting Darcy and Maureen, as well as several other great bloggers, some of whom I’ve talked to online for over a year, some new to me.

2. Being inspired by the Keynote speakers and sessions I attended.

3. Meeting some fun sponsors – I especially love the GoGoSqueez room and the One to One brand salon!

4. Representing a brand that I know and love – Petit Jean Meats

5. Validating for myself that I can do this blogging thing, I can make a career out of it (even if I do have to keep my day job a little longer), and loving what I learned that encouraged me to do better!

Have you attended Blissdom? What did you think?

The Back Story

I need to tell you all a story about a young girl in Northampton, England. She was the youngest of four siblings and her name was Grace. Her only brother went away during World War II and when he returned, he found that Grace was the happiest little girl and loved playing with her sisters, cousins, and the American soldiers, so he nicknamed her Gay.

Gay began working in a small restaurant called Wedgwood Cafe when she was 14 years old. With her first paycheck, she bought her mother a set of glass bowls, which were kept in the family, and ultimately returned to Gay just a few years ago.

During World War II, Gay met a young soldier from America in the restaurant and they were instantly smitten. They began spending a lot of time together and as some teens do, they became very close very fast. The two were married and Gay became pregnant, but the young man had to go back to America soon after, leaving his new bride behind.

Gay gave birth to their beautiful red-headed baby girl in England and then boarded the Queen Mary for a week-long journey to join her groom on his parents’ cotton farm in Texas. The couple were happy together and continued to build a family, eventually having five children and settling in a small house in Fort Worth, Texas. Those five children grew up to give them six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren (with one on the way).

In 2004, the young soldier passed away, leaving his bride to finish her days in America. She was sad and she misses him, but she continues to live her life and enjoy her family and she claims that although she misses her family in England, she loves America and would much rather be here.

That young beautiful lady is my Granny, my dad’s mother, and she is my inspiration for wanting to visit London, at least one more time.

A New Generation

Now, let me tell you another story about a young girl. She was born the middle child of three girls in Irving, Texas. She didn’t have a brother until she was 18 when her dad married her stepmom and her only nickname was Porcupine when she was a baby because her hair stuck up straight.

Her first job (at 16) was a jeans inspector in her mom’s jeans factory, but within days of starting, she also began working as a clerk in a movie rental store. She worked two jobs for the summer and then had to quit the factory when school started up.

This girl has somewhat of a pattern of holding down two jobs. She has always either worked full time and gone to school full time or worked a full time job and a part time job simultaneously.

When she was 18 years old, she saved up her own money and traveled to England with a friend in hopes of connecting with some of her roots. Instead of taking in the sights and learning about the country, she slept, shopped, ate at McDonalds, and ran up a ridiculous overseas phone bill.

In May 2007, she was 30 years old and living the single life and she met a man online. They began spending a lot of time together and as some teens thirty-somethings do, they became very close very fast. They were married and the girl gave birth to their first son and now she is working hard to create a fun family and has unrealistic dreams of having five children like her Granny.

Yeah, that’s me I’m talking about up there…

My Granny is a beautiful woman and she has so many wonderful stories to tell about her childhood in Northampton, England. I wish I had the time, and she had the energy, to travel to England again so she could tell me all of her stories. I wish I could write it all down and share it all with you and preserve it all for myself.

Heading back to my roots to kickstart my future

Along with my dreams of fully knowing my roots, visiting England again, and the whole five children thing is another dream to create a future for myself and my family in which I am more present. I want to be home for my boy when he gets off the bus from school. I want to be available for class trips and treats during the day. I want to (gasp!) have dinner for my husband when he gets home from work.

I want to be a Work At Home Mom

There, I said it. It’s on the internet now so it must be true. I want to be a blogger, social media manager, virtual assistant, WRITER, and I’m taking the steps to do that.

You see my posts about shopping and the crafts, donations, gifts, and more and I’ve told you about my love affair with Social Fabric. Because of these opportunities that Collective Bias has given me, I am able to see what a fun family is like. I am able to picture myself writing and blogging full time. I am able to envision myself as a WAHM. And now, I have the opportunity to visit England again and learn about blogging in the UK through Cybher conference in London.

Collective Bias™ is heading to London on June 1 for Cybher and they are sponsoring one blogger to join them! I want to be that one blogger!

Update: I did not win the trip, bummer!

I still want to be a WAHM and still want to go to London. In the meantime, I think I’ll try to learn more stories about my grandmother’s childhood!

Where would you travel to head back to your roots?

I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This post is an entry for a chance to win a ticket to Cybher in London through Collective Bias®. #cbias #SocialFabric All stories and opinions are my own.

My sister just hit her third trimester this week and we are all talking baby talk right about now. My son is really getting interested in his new cousin and he is talking to my sister’s tummy and asking when she is coming. He has hit a bit of a baby streak at home and wants to be cuddled and patted to go to sleep. It seems that my sister and I both need to learn how to get our children to sleep like a baby now!

Of course, if you have children, you know that the phrase “sleep like a baby” is quite deceiving. Babies are not known for being the best sleepers, but there are tips that many moms will give you to have a happy baby sleeper. I would love to hear some of your tips for having a great sleeper!

The Happiest Baby Guide to Great Sleep

Simple Solutions for kids from birth to 5 years

Review:

Did you know that sleep struggles are the number one behavioral complaint from parents? Did you know that one-third of toddlers fight bedtime and half still get up once a night?

A 2004 National Sleep Foundation poll found that millions of parents get less than 6 hours of sleep a night (1 in 5 of those with infants and 1 in 8 with toddler and preschoolers)!

Are you tired yet?! If you’re looking to learn more about sleep in general, sleep for your baby, how to improve sleep, this book can definitely help.

I learned about The Happiest Baby through my work with Child Protective Services. We have studied this series of books in terms of relieving crying and safe sleep. I knew that I would be interested to read what Dr. Karp had to say about sleep techniques so I was happy to review the book.

This book starts with the mechanics of sleep and lots of science. I have to say that I learned a lot about my own sleep habits from this, but I was happy to jump right from the science to the section of one to five year old sleep. Of course, I returned to the other sections to read them as well because (1) I’m still hoping to have another baby and (2) I’m planning to gift this book on to my little sister. She’s in momma reading mode right now so giving her a head start on the baby sleep techniques will be great for her!

Each section of the book has a list of Key Points at the beginning, preparing the reader for what they should learn through the reading. In the chapters are ideas and tips for better sleep, as well as facts to back it all up. There are also lists of myths and truths for the reader because we all know that when parenting questions come along, there are way too many answers from way too many sources. At the end of each section, there are also review points to remind the reader of the points made and make it simple in case the reader got lost in the details.

From the Publisher: 

Finally, kids do come with instructions! Surprisingly simple steps to boost your little child’s sleep fast!

Dr. Harvey Karp made doctors applaud and parents cheer with his brilliant solutions to centuries-old problems such as colic and tantrums. Now, in The Happiest Baby Guide to Great Sleep: Simple Solutions for Kids from Birth to 5 Years, Dr. Karp stuns the world again by solving the #1 problem plaguing new parents: exhaustion. Dr. Karp’s surprising insights include:

How to train brand new babies to sleep better: Infants can be taught to sleep at least one extra hour from the first weeks of life! Dr. Karp shows how to safely boost baby sleep in just days.

What’s the best white noise (and which ones worsen sleep): The right white noise (low pitched and rumbling) is the key to good sleep—even through teething—for all babies. Plus, it even gives parents a more restful sleep

Why parents should always wake a sleeping baby: For good sleep, babies must learn how to self-soothe. The best way to teach babies how to fall back to sleep—when they rouse in the middle of the night—is to wake them just as they’re being put into bed.

How to enjoy the benefits – and avoid the risks – of swaddling: Swaddling dramatically improves a new baby’s sleep. Yet, many states are shockingly banning this ancient parenting tool. Smart moms should do it and Dr. Karp will teach them how to do it properly and safely.

The importance of powering down: Staring at bright screens at night (TVs, computers, phones) can wreak a toddler and a parent’s sleep.

Easy “no-cry” tips that end infant and toddler bedtime struggles in just days!

With THE HAPPIEST BABY GUIDE TO GREAT SLEEP, no longer will new parent have to suffer months of sleep deprivation and no longer will babies have to cry themselves to sleep. Backed by compelling science, common sense and decades of experience, Dr. Karp’s landmark guide will revolutionize how millions of children drift off to dreamland.

 Harvey Karp, M.D., is a nationally celebrated pediatrician, child development specialist, and children’s environmental health advocate. He is on the faculty of the USC School of Medicine and a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Dr. Karp’s books and DVDs, The Happiest Baby on the Block, The Happiest Toddler on the Block, and The Happiest Baby Guide to Great Sleep, teach parents breakthrough techniques to reduce infant crying, boost sleep, build toddler patience, and stop tantrums. Millions of parents have benefited from his advice, including celebrities such as Madonna, Michelle Pfeiffer, Larry David, Jewel, and Pierce Brosnan. 

What tips do you have for parents to help their children “sleep like a baby”?

I am participating in a book review campaign with One2One Network. I received this book from Harper Collins for the purposes of reviewing it. I have not received compensation.  All opinions stated are my own.