Charlie and Trike in the Grand Canyon Adventure Giveaway Winners!!!!

First, I'd like to thank Master Books and New Leaf Publishing Company for the opportunity to review Charlie and Trike in the Grand Canyon Adventure and for allowing me to hold a giveaway of this great book! The four winners where selected with a Random Number Generator. The winners are:

#24 - Sheila from The Cooking Underwriter Find her on Twitter @CookUnderwriter

#15 - Cate from Real Life With Kids Find her on Twitter @ReallifeWkids

#20 - Bonnie from Life as I Know It Find her on Twitter @BonniesBows

# 7 - Mama On Da Go from Mama on Da Go Find her on Twitter @MamaOnDaGo14

Congratulations!!!

For those of you who did not win....

You can buy your copy of  Charlie and Trike in the Grand Canyon Adventure on Amazon

OR

Enter to win from another blog who is still holding a contest!! They are listed here!

Men and Football

What's with men and football?

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy watching the occasionally football game and I follow The Ohio State Buckeyes 1) Because that's how I was raised, 2) Because that's my alma mater, and 3) Because they rock!   

Go Bucks!  

 Still, men get obsessive about their football.

And to be fair I suppose some women do too. 

Why is football so appealing?

Is it because they like to watch grown men tackle each other? Is it because they like the violence of the game? Is it because they like the competition? Seriously, I'd like to know.

How is it that football gets grown men yelling and cussing and throwing the remote and dancing around the living room like and idiot? 

In my house there are "rules" when it comes to football. #1. NO talking while the game is on. #2. The TV will be LOUD - deal with it. #3. Kids, plug your ears because I can't be held accountable for what I might say!

However, I do get quite the kick out of watching my husband either curse or praise the players as they run around in tights slapping each others asses. (Only in football can men get away with slapping each other on the ass and it be a masculine thing.)

My husband has thrown remotes. He has slammed doors. He has yelled so loud the house shakes. Once we had a huge argument because his mood (and the mood of the whole entire house) changed after a bad loss.

Oh, and apparently football takes precedence over kids birthday parties in our house.

On Saturday September 11th we are having Khegan's birthday party. We are a stepfamily and Khegan goes back and forth between our house and his mothers. We do NOT have him that weekend, but it's the weekend before his birthday so I went to great lengths to negotiate with his mother to have him from 4-7 pm on that Saturday for his party.

But, God forbid - that is the day of the OSU vs. Miami game!!!!!

Hubs comes home and says, "Oh, by the way, I invited a few friends over for the Miami game. It's the day of Khegan's party so we need to move his party til noon."

What?!!!!! 

"Hell no!" I say. "I just negotiated the whole thing out with your ex-wife. If you want to change it all around then you call her and fix it!"

And he did. 

Now I have two parties to cook for that day.

I blame football.

Scentsy Product Review & Giveaway

A New Breed of Mom is proud to announce Scentsy Independent Consultant, Sandy Osterday, as our first official site sponsor! Working with Sandy to prepare this product review & giveaway, has been great fun! Scentsy offers a variety of great products you will be sure to love!

What is Scentsy? Scentsy is a direct sales business, meaning it is run buy independent consultants. Scentsy sells flameless candles and a variety of other fun products guaranteed to make your home, car, or office smell great! They offer a variety of warmers so you are sure to find a design that fits your own personal style!

Why I have fallen in love with Scentsy Products: From the minute I opened the box containing my Scentsy products, I was in heaven. The wonderful aroma filled up my kitchen, even before I used my warmer. The scents I have tried are Black Rasberry Vanilla, Sticky Cinnamon Bun, Berry Blush, and Cinnamon Bear. The Black Rasberry Vanilla is my favorite!

I've melted these scents in my Mid-Size Limestone Warmer from the Smooth Stone Collection, which looks great in my living room! The Sweet Pea & Vanilla scented Travel Tin, I tested, is ideal for your office. I also had the chance to test a Mountain Retreat scented Hanging Freshner for my car - LOVED it! In the future, I'd love to try the Room Sprays. Scentsy is definitely giving leading candle companies a run for their money!

In order to get all my readers acquainted with Scentsy, Sandy & I have cooked up an awesome giveaway! 

Here is what you can win! 

Grand Prize

Mid-size Enchanted Warmer and 2 Scentsy Bars (your choice of scents)

2nd Prize

Scentsy Buddy (your choice)

 3rd and 4th Prize 

Sandy's Mystery Scentsy Package - Contains a Variety of Scentsy Items for On-the-Go!

Contest Rules:

The contest is open to both U.S. and Canada residents. The Giveaway will run the entire month of September and winners will be announced on October 1st. To enter, you must follow A New Breed of Mom with Google Friend Connect, and enter a SEPARATE COMMENT for EACH entry. Winners will be determined by a random number generator. First number wins the Grand Prize, 2nd number wins the 2nd Prize, etc.

Mandatory Entry: Go to Sandy's Scentsy Site and tell me what your favorite products are, what scents you would choose if you won the Grand Prize, and/or what Scentsy Buddy you would choose.

Additional Entries:

Follow Sandy on Twitter @SDScentGal 

Follow Me on Facebook

Follow Me on Twitter @NewBreedMama

Tweet about this contest! "Enter to win great Scentsy Products from @SDScentGal & @NewBreedMama! http://bit.ly/cdSV7R" You can tweet up to 3 times a day for additional entries - please link to your tweet in your comment so I can verify it.

Remember to log a SEPARATE COMMENT for EACH entry!

Can't Wait to Buy Scentsy Products? Order here!

Interested in becoming a Scentsy Independent Consultant? Click here!

Julie Sancken Photography Giveaway

In honor of Wordless Wednesday, I am excited to announce the Julie Sancken Photography Giveaway! Julie and I first met through Twitter. She is a great friend and I love reading her personal blog, Back to the Basics. Julie is not only a fun person to follow on Twitter (@basicallyjulie) but she is also an awesome photographer! Check out the Julie Sancken Photography blog!

Giveaway: Win a 5'7 of one of the great photos below. Contest will be held from Wednesday September 1st through Sunday September 5th. Winner will be announced on Monday September 6th. There will be two winners chosen by a random number generator. Random #1 will receive Photo #1 and Random #2 will receive Photo #2.

Photo #1

Photo #2

Mandatory Entry: 
Follow Julie's Photography Blog with GFC, look around, and tell me what you like about her photography!

Additional Entries:
Follow Back to the Basics Blog with GFC
Follow Julie on Twitter @basicallyjulie
Tweet about this giveaway! "I want to win the Julie Sancken Photography Giveaway on A New Breed of Mom! http://bit.ly/aCxCax"

You must enter a SEPARATE COMMENT for EACH entry! Good Luck!

Stuffed Green Peppers

Everyone is interested in the Stuffed Peppers recipe I used the other night! I was originally going to blog about making them and the recipe I used, but thought no one would be interested! Guess I was wrong! Here is the recipe I used. Given to me by co-workers - thanks Angie and Timyra!

1/2 cup instant rice
1/2 pound ground beef
1/2 onion (I used a full cup)
Large Can of Tomato Sauce
Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
Seasoning to Taste (salt, pepper, garlic powder, hot shot, Tabasco)
Fills 4-6 Large Green Peppers

Brown the ground beef and added the onions, seasoning, and a little later about 1/2 the can of tomato sauce.

Then microwave the Green Peppers in hot water for 2 minutes each.

Mix the rice and the ground beef/onion/tomato sauce with the rice and stuffed the peppers. Add the left-over stuffing to the bottom of the baking dish. Top with the rest of the tomato sauce. Bake 25 minutes, remove from oven and top with shredded mozzarella, then bake 5 more minutes.

They were delish!

Back in the Swing of Things! Sort of...

A Nice Family - Not Mine!

This week is the first full week of school. That means re-adjusting to the school year routine. Homework, dinner, football practice on Tuesday nights, shower, reading, and bedtime by nine. We are back in the swing of things.

Sort of.

The boys are getting used to their earlier bed time. They are waking up just a few minutes earlier than in the summer time, but it seems like a lot earlier to them.

And to me.

I am NOT a morning person. That extra thirty minutes that we need to make sure the boys have plenty of time to get dressed and to the bus stop - it's a killer! Although, I feel especially tired this week. Maybe the busy summer is finally catching up with me. 

The after school homework routine was not that bad tonight. Reading only. The boys did a pretty good job getting home and getting their homework finished. Only a minimal amount of sass, which I promptly nipped in the bud.

We had a nice dinner (stuffed green peppers - yum!) and a nice dinner conversation about how the boys day went. We heard about who they sat by in class, at lunch, and who they played with at recess. I have always been a firm believer in family dinner. It's a great way to spend quality time as a family.

Tomorrow is the second football practice of the season. A few more weeks of practice and then we will add a game once a week. The boys' enjoy it and we love to watch them play! I think it's important to get kids involved in sports and extra-curricular activities this day in age. It helps to keep them off the couch! :)

All in all we are back in the swing of things. We will have to make a few minor adjustments over the course of the next few weeks - still, it's back to the same old routine.  

Are you back in the swing of things since school resumed? How are you helping your kiddos to adjust? How are you adjusting? I'd love to hear you comments!

Charlie & Trike in the Grand Canyon Adventure: Review and Giveaway

Charlie and Trike in the Grand Canyon Adventure is the first book in the Green Notebook Series and is a fun adventure book for children from ages four to eight. The main character is Charlie, an adventurous little monkey who's not so sure he believes in God. His partner in crime is Trike the triceratops, who's constantly keeping Charlie out of trouble while teaching him that God is real and to trust the Bible.

In Charlie and Trike in the Grand Canyon Adventure the twosome sets off with their tour guide, Captain Wes, who's a large, burly man with one eye. This intimates Charlie who is very skeptical of the captain and has convinced himself that the captain is stealing his food. It doesn't take long after Captain Wes helps Charlie out of a jam, for Charlie to realize who the real culprit is!

As Charlie and Trike tour the Grand Canyon, Trike explains to Charlie about Noah and the Great Worldwide Flood from the Bible. Trike is a smart triceratops who uses clues about fossils and rock patterns to teach Charlie about the Flood. While examining fossils in the Grand Canyon, Charlie takes notes in his special green notebook.

Since receiving our copy of Charlie and Trike in the Grand Canyon Adventure, I've read it with my boys several times. They love hearing about the adventures of this curious little monkey and friendly triceratops. I love it that they are having fun learning about God! This book also has held there attention because it is full of flip-the-flap books, maps, green notebook entries, and clues!

Charlie and Trike in the Grand Canyon Adventure can be purchased on Amazon. Normally priced at $15.99, this book is now available for $12.47.

ENTER TO WIN YOUR OWN COPY
The folks from Masters Books have given me FOUR copies of Charlie and Trike in the Grand Canyon Adventure to give away to four lucky readers! That means that there are FOUR different "Adventures" or ways that you can enter to win your very own copy of this book!

Contest runs from Monday August 30 through Thursday September 2nd and is open to people who live in the U.S. only. A random number generator will be used to pick the four winners. Winners will be announced on Friday September 3rd. Remember, you must enter a separate comment on this blog post for EACH separate entry!

Adventure #1: Creative Comments
This one's easy! All you have to do is follow A New Breed of Mom with Google Friend Connect and then comment on this post and tell me why you MUST have your own copy of Charlie and Trike in the Grand Canyon Adventure to read to your kids. Be creative with your comments! You can continue to come back and add one comment per day for additional entries! Easy, right?!

Adventure #2: All Things Facebook
Like Masters Books on Facebook and comment on their page that you want to win your very own copy of  Charlie and Trike in the Grand Canyon Adventure from A New Breed of Mom! Then comment here to tell me you did!

You can gain another entry by Liking A New Breed of Mom on Facebook, commenting on my page to tell me you want to win, and then commenting here to tell me you did!

Adventure #3: All Things Twitter
Follow me on Twitter and Tweet this: "I want to win a #C&Trike book from A New Breed of Mom! You can win too! http://bit.ly/bdktla" You can tweet up to three times per day - just remember to come back and comment on this post for each entry!

Advetnure #4: Find Charlie and Trike
Each day the Charlie and Trike blog button will be displayed at a different spot on the home page of A New Breed of Mom with a different caption. Find the blog button and comment here listing what the caption says for that day.

Want to better your odds of winning? Click here to go to follow Charlie and Trike to other blogs holding similar contests!