Ah, it’s that time of year again.  That time where you hopefully get to spend some quality time with that special person who means the world to you.  That time of year where you’ll probably receive anything from roses to chocolates to cards and even some may receive some jewelry.

Personally, I’ll take chocolate anyday!

Hopefully my special someone will stumble upon this post because I’m about to make his Valentine’s Day shopping a little bit easier.

Because one can never have too many strawberries ... or chocolate!

Because I'm not your traditional "rose" type of gal.

Because you have my heart ... and I have yours!

{If that doesn’t make it clear, I’m not sure what will!}

Shopping for your loved ones shouldn’t be difficult and the convenience of ordering online is always a HUGE plus.

Do you know what your getting that special someone for Valentine’s Day?  If not, I’m going to make it a little bit easier.  All Simply Being Mommy readers can get 20% off at ProFlowers and 20% off at Shari’s Berries!

Exciting, right!  Plus you don’t have to drive to the store, try to find a parking space and deal with those crazy crowds.  It doesn’t get much better than that folks!

Buy:

If you are still in the market for goodies for Valentines or just looking for Valentine’s Flower Discounts, check out ProFlowers and Shari’s Berries!

Giveaway:

One (1) winner will receive a $50 Gift Code to ProFlowers or Shari’s Berries (winners choice)!

How to Enter:

Simply visit ProFlowers or Shari’s Berries and leave me a comment below letting me know something on your Valentine’s Day wish list!

Extra Entries Available:

After you have completed the first entry, you are eligible for additional entries. Make sure you leave a separate comment for EACH entry. Each counts as one extra entry unless noted otherwise.

• Subscribe to Simply Being Mommy by reader or email.
• Follow Simply Being Mommy on Google Friend Connect.
• Add Simply Being Mommy (Crystal Reagan) on Google+.
• Join the Simply Being Mommy Community.
• “Like” Simply Being Mommy, ProFlowers and Shari’s Berries on Facebook.
• Follow Simply Being Mommy, ProFlowers and Shari’s Berries on Twitter AND Tweet about the giveaway. Leave the URL to the Tweet in your comment. You can tweet once a day, but remember to leave the URL to each tweet. You must have at least 50 followers for this extra entry. You can tweet ” #Win a $50 @ProFlowers or @SharisBerries Gift Code from @simplybeingmom for Valentine’s Day! http://bit.ly/xeILS4 #giveaway “

This giveaway will end on February 6th at 10:00 PM Central time. Winner will be chosen via a random number generator. Giveaway is open to US entries. The winner must contact me in 48 hours to claim their prize. Good luck to everyone!

The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely that of the blog owners. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer or provider. I received media samples in order to facilitate this post.

…it is completely embarrassing and heart-wrenching to be slapped in the face with the reality that, in fact, you really haven’t.

This past weekend, we traveled to a park in the Heights area expecting to meet up with the folks at Channel 2 to discuss playground safety.  We weren’t given much information to go on and quite honestly, we had absolutely no idea what to expect.

But what happened on Saturday changed our lives.  Put things into perspective.  Broke our hearts.

It made my husband and I realize that we have failed our children.

It totally opened our eyes and made for a valuable lesson for the whole family.

KPRC Channel 2 is doing a segment on child safety and we are part of the segment along with fellow Houston Blogger, Sara of MommaFindings.com.  My hope is that what you learn from this segment will protect your family in the future.

My middle child (he’s five years old) was the first one to go through the experience.  We were asked to place him on the bench in a crowded park and tell him to stay there no matter what.  I was placed just outside of the park, but where I could see what was going on.  There were multiple cameras and I was confident that my child was not in any type of danger.

We had him there alone for just a minute or so when an older gentleman who was from R.A.D Texas approached him.  The older gentleman proceeded to tell him about his lost dog and had his cell phone out showing him pictures of the lost dog.

What happened next absolutely broke my heart.

My son stood up from the bench and was about to start going with the gentleman.

A woman who was just a bystander in the park happened to witness what was going on and since she was unaware of the segment that was being filmed, she interrupted and with a few choice words, protected my son from the “abductor”.

Talk about a whirlwind of emotions.  I went from completely devastated that my son would have gone, to completely elated that there are other parents who care enough to interrupt shady situations.

Although it was not a “real” situation, I definitely felt real emotion.  Emotion I don’t ever want to feel again.

They decided they wanted to see how my daughter (she is eight) would respond.  I was almost certain that she would not go.  We had taught her that she should never go with anyone she doesn’t know.  If someone approached her, she was to scream as loud as she could.

But, much to my dismay, when an older lady who was with R.A.D. approached her with the same scenario as with my son, she got off the bench, turned around to make sure her brothers were swinging away on the swing and proceeded to walk along with the lady in search of her lost dog.

She truly had no idea of the danger she could have been in if it had been a real situation.  She was calling the name of the lost dog and she walked down the path that led out of the park.

Because this wasn’t a real situation, I was waiting for my daughter as she approached the gate to leave the park.  I was able to use this opportunity to explain to her the danger she could have been, reiterate how important it is to scream if an unfamiliar person approaches and tell her how much I love her.

To be honest, I am so thankful to KPRC for giving us this opportunity.  It was a learning experience for us and I hope that everyone who watches the segment on February 6th at 10pm will learn from it as well.  Unfortunately, predators come in all shapes, all sizes and all genders and we have to make sure our children are aware of the danger that is out there.

I took a real quick video right outside the park so please forgive the picture quality and sound.  We were by a busy road and you can definitely hear the road noise.

Please let this be a warning!  Please make sure your children know the dangers that are out there.

A special thanks to KPRC for giving us this opportunity.

I’ll be perfectly honest with you and admit that I have no idea how to pair foods with beverages. So, when I accepted the challenge of pairing the new Lipton Green Tea Superfruit with a dish, I had to do some major research. And I mean major research!

Thanks, Google!

After trying each variety of the new Lipton Green Tea Superfruit (White Mangosteen and Peach, Purple Acai and Blueberry, and Red Goji and Raspberry), I loved the flavor of the Red Goji and Raspberry and decided to find a dish that I could pair with that fragrantly delicious tea.

Like I mentioned earlier, I had to do some research to see what flavors would go well with the raspberry tea. During my research, I learned that desserts and beef are suitable pairings for raspberry tea. But since we rarely eat beef and I wanted to do a main dish rather than a dessert, I decided to keep searching.

And then I found it!

Apparently, buttery seafood such as lobster and shrimp goes quite nicely with raspberry.

Absolutely delicious! Buttery shrimp on top of wild rice — it was a huge hit with the whole family.

Now that I have shared what I would pair with these refreshing Lipton Green Tea Superfruits, I want to know, how do you enjoy your tea?

Share how you enjoy your tea time must haves and you’ll be entered to win a year’s supply of Lipton Tea, a tea kettle, a tea box, a mug/saucer set, a travel tumbler and a $50 gift card to Amazon.com!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Lipton Green Tea Superfruit. The opinions and text are all mine. Official Sweepstakes Rules.

Remember my last trip to New York for the premiere of War Horse?

While I was there, I had some amazing opportunities and the last one I can finally tell you about is the interview we did with Steve Fickinger, VP of Creative Development and Licensing for NEWSIES on Broadway.

The funny thing about this interview was before walking into that room, I had no idea what Newsies was.  I’d never even heard of it before.  But I was quickly intrigued when the first sentences out of Steve’s mouth were “I am thrilled to talk to you all about Newsies for a couple reasons. First of all, I love the show, and second of all, I’ve been working on it for seven years.”

Surely, he didn’t really mean seven years…right?  Um, yep, he did….

I can’t imagine working on something for seven years before seeing the final outcome.  That has to take some incredible patience.

You can tell that he is incredibly proud with what he has done with Newsies and after seeing my first musical, I hope I have the opportunity to see this one too. “I’m really, really proud of the show and in the best sense of the word, I think, an old fashioned musical. It has tap dancing, it has dancing, it has soaring ballets, it’s got toe tapping tunes”, he said during our interview.

With the amazing talent of Alan Menken and Harvey Fierstein, I’m expecting Newsies to be quite a hit.  And since Steve thinks it will come to Houston, I’ll be able to see it practically in my backyard.

Advance tickets go on sale starting January 30th, and opens on Broadway March 29th.  Newsies is currently scheduled to run until June 10th.

And just as a little tease, Steve is working on Alice in Wonderland and Night Before Christmas!

A special thanks to the Disney/DreamWorks team for inviting me to be their guest in New York.

I think I’ve just found a way to save my checkbook while still buying those cute boutique inspired goodies that I’ve become addicted to.

Not that I need another addiction (chocolate and purses is enough) in this economy.

I was just recently introduced to Thirty-One Gifts and I loved reading how it all started.  Thirty-One comes from Proverbs 31, and every day, I strive to be a Proverbs 31 woman.  Just reading why Cindy started Thirty-One, reminds me of why I started this blog.

Thirty-One Gifts is currently running a promotion on two styles of their Thermal Totes. They are currently on sale for $10 and $15 but this price is only good until January 31st.

Although I’ve never personally used one of the Thirty-One Totes, I’ve read some good reviews of them online.  After spending too much time looking through the online catalogue, my wish list is longer than it probably should be.

But hey, my birthday is coming up in a few months…okay, more like six months — but still!

In addition to offering boutique inspired products, Thirty-One also provides women the opportunity to become a Thirty-One consultant. For just $99, you can start your own Thirty-One success story.

I’m so happy to announce that I get to give one lucky reader a $100 gift card to be spent at Thirty-One Gifts.

Giveaway:

One (1) winner will receive a $100 Thirty-One Gifts Gift Card!

How to Enter:

Simply visit Thirty-One Gifts and leave me a comment below letting me know how you would spend your $100 bucks!

Extra Entries Available:

After you have completed the first entry, you are eligible for additional entries. Make sure you leave a separate comment for EACH entry. Each counts as one extra entry unless noted otherwise.

• Subscribe to Simply Being Mommy by reader or email.
• Follow Simply Being Mommy on Google Friend Connect.
• Add Simply Being Mommy (Crystal Reagan) on Google+.
• Join the Simply Being Mommy Community.
• “Like” Simply Being Mommy and Thirty-One Gifts on Facebook.
• Follow Simply Being Mommy and Thirty-One on Twitter AND Tweet about the giveaway. Leave the URL to the Tweet in your comment. You can tweet once a day, but remember to leave the URL to each tweet. You must have at least 50 followers for this extra entry. You can tweet ” Enter to win a $100 Gift Card to @ThirtyOne from @simplybeingmom http://bit.ly/zr3eqA #giveaway “

This giveaway will end on February 10th at 10:00 PM Central time. Winner will be chosen via a random number generator. Giveaway is open to US entries. The winner must contact me in 48 hours to claim their prize. Good luck to everyone!

The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely that of the blog owners. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer or provider. I received compensation for my time and effort in facilitating this post.

If you could see my grocery shopping list each week, there are some things that are weekly needs and Cuties are always on the list.  Not only do I love them for a quick and easy snack, the kids eat them up like candy.

Cuties has recently introduced a new website that was created especially for the little ones. The site will feature videos and pictures that have been uploaded by proud parents, featuring all the fun, silly and cute things that kids do best.  But it doesn’t end with bragging rights — Cuties is giving away a college scholarship worth $150,000 to the star of the cutest kid video.

Cuties has also teamed up with DonorsChoose.org, a not-for-profit organization which lets donors across the country help public school teachers fund classroom projects.  When you upload a video, you will receive a $10 Donors Choose.org gift card to use towards any classroom project of your choice.

In addition, Cuties will award daily and weekly prizes for the first 18 weeks, leading up to one grand prize winner. Once participants have uploaded a video, they will then have the opportunity to share the video using their social network platforms.   The winners will be determined by the number of online votes.

Giveaway:

Ten (10) winners will receive a free product coupon good for one (1) 3lb bag or 5lb box of Cuties Clementines!

How to Enter:

Simply leave me a comment below letting me know something funny your child did recently, something cute your child did recently or something silly your child did recently!

Extra Entries Available:

After you have completed the first entry, you are eligible for additional entries. Make sure you leave a separate comment for EACH entry. Each counts as one extra entry unless noted otherwise.

• Subscribe to Simply Being Mommy by reader or email.
• Follow Simply Being Mommy on Google Friend Connect.
• Add Simply Being Mommy (Crystal Reagan) on Google+.
• Join the Simply Being Mommy Community.
• “Like” Simply Being Mommy and Cutie’s on Facebook.
• Follow Simply Being Mommy on Twitter AND Tweet about the giveaway. Leave the URL to the Tweet in your comment. You can tweet once a day, but remember to leave the URL to each tweet. You must have at least 50 followers for this extra entry. You can tweet ” Want some Cuties? You can win a free product coupon for Cuties from @simplybeingmom 10 Winners! http://bit.ly/wb5AWN #giveaway “

This giveaway will end on February 9th at 10:00 PM Central time. Winner will be chosen via a random number generator. Giveaway is open to US entries. The winner must contact me in 48 hours to claim their prize. Good luck to everyone!

The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely that of the blog owners. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer or provider. I received media samples in order to facilitate this post.

As all moms know, once you bring home that little munchkin from the hospital, nothing is ever the same.

Remember when you used to have time to fix your husband an elaborate dinner that looked like it came out of the kitchen of a five star restaurant?

There’s something about having children that sucks up all your time and your left with like five minutes to fix dinner.

I’m not the only one — right?

I was recently introduced to Ronzoni Quick Cook pasta that takes only three minutes to cook.  Perfectly cooked pasta in three minutes is pretty much a life saver most nights around here.  Between basketball, piano, church and all our other extracurricular activities, we simply just don’t have time.

We made a quick and easy dinner using Ronzoni Quick Cook pasta, ready-to-eat bacon, alfredo sauce and canned chicken breast.  While it definitely wasn’t the healthiest of meals, it was quick, it was tasty and the whole family LOVED it!

My hubby took a video of me preparing the meal between taking the kids here and there, so please ignore the wet hair and the lack of makeup.

I’m busy y’all — I can’t help it.

Giveaway:

One (1) winner will receive a “Countdown to Dinner” Kit which includes a box of Ronzoni Quick Cook, $100 Walmart Gift Card and a kitchen timer.

How to Enter:

Simply leave a comment below sharing details about a quick, three-minute, homemade meal you would whip up for your family when crunched for time!

Extra Entries Available:

After you have completed the first entry, you are eligible for additional entries. Make sure you leave a separate comment for EACH entry. Each counts as one extra entry unless noted otherwise.

• Subscribe to Simply Being Mommy by reader or email.
• Follow Simply Being Mommy on Google Friend Connect.
• Add Simply Being Mommy (Crystal Reagan) on Google+.
• Join the Simply Being Mommy Community.
• “Like” Simply Being Mommy and Ronzoni on Facebook.
• Follow Simply Being Mommy on Twitter AND Tweet about the giveaway. Leave the URL to the Tweet in your comment. You can tweet once a day, but remember to leave the URL to each tweet. You must have at least 50 followers for this extra entry. You can tweet ” Win a Ronzoni “Coundown to Dinner” Kit which includes a $100 Walmart GC from @simplybeingmom http://bit.ly/wFiaS2 #giveaway “

This giveaway will end on February 8th at 10:00 PM Central time. Winner will be chosen via a random number generator. Giveaway is open to US entries. The winner must contact me in 48 hours to claim their prize. Good luck to everyone!

The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely that of the blog owners. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer or provider. I received media samples in order to facilitate this post.

I remember when I first heard about Genghis Grill from my mom.  She was immediately sold and explained to me that when you go to Genghis Grill, you get to build your own stir-fry.

Good thing there was one close by because I had to get in on this action.

On February 1st, Genghis Grill will launch Health Kwest, which is a health-inspired campaign that will last 60 days. During this 60 day campaign, “Khantestants” will dedicate themselves by eating Genghis Grill’s healthier meal options everyday, for FREE and have a chance to win $10,000.  You will be able to follow the khantestants journey online as they blog about their day to day progress, while also utilizing social media channels like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to gain popularity. The public will be able to participate by voting for their favorite.

The winner will be chosen based on the percentage of weight loss, amount of social activity and most public votes.  As I mentioned earlier, the winner will receive $10,000 but most importantly, a healthier lifestyle.

If you’ve never experienced Genghis Grill, I highly recommend you give it a try!

Giveaway:

One (1) winner will receive two (2) $10 Genghis Grill Gift Cards!

How to Enter:

Simply visit the Genghis Grill website and after browsing the bowl selections, leave a comment below letting me know which one sounds good to you!

Extra Entries Available:

After you have completed the first entry, you are eligible for additional entries. Make sure you leave a separate comment for EACH entry. Each counts as one extra entry unless noted otherwise.

• Subscribe to Simply Being Mommy by reader or email.
• Follow Simply Being Mommy on Google Friend Connect.
• Add Simply Being Mommy (Crystal Reagan) on Google+.
• Join the Simply Being Mommy Community.
• “Like” Simply Being Mommy and Genghis Grill on Facebook.
• Follow Simply Being Mommy and Genghis Grill on Twitter AND Tweet about the giveaway. Leave the URL to the Tweet in your comment. You can tweet once a day, but remember to leave the URL to each tweet. You must have at least 50 followers for this extra entry. You can tweet ” Win gift cards to @GenghisGrill simply by sharing your favorite bowl! http://bit.ly/w7DA0e #giveaway @simplybeingmom “

This giveaway will end on February 6th at 10:00 PM Central time. Winner will be chosen via a random number generator. Giveaway is open to US entries. The winner must contact me in 48 hours to claim their prize. Good luck to everyone!

The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely that of the blog owners. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer or provider. I received media samples in order to facilitate this post.