I have not had a fresh piece of bread in over 5 months, this is one of the foods that I have been missing terribly.  I decided enough was enough and I asked my husband for a bread machine for my birthday.  Mark read a lot of reviews and found the West Bend Hi-Rise Breadmaker at Walmart.com for $83.94, it had great reviews and also has a Gluten Free bread setting to use!  I got a recommendation from a few other Gluten Free friends that I should try Pamela’s ProductsBread Mix, and it was so EASY ….. I checked the directions 10 times while I was making it.

I checked the directions so much because I have tried so many times to make bread, rolls, or anything that has to rise…and every time that I try I fail miserably…I thought for sure I could mess it up even making it in a bread machine.  Yes, this is me at 7am, freshly out of bed, no makeup, making my fresh bread….I was praying that it turned out alright!

And Alright it did!  I ate a piece and was in heaven, you don’t know what your missing until you can’t eat it anymore.  NEVER again will I buy a $6 loaf of bread that can also be used as a hockey puck during family free time  If I can do this, anyone can, just ask my husband how many times dinner has been ruined because the rolls, or pizza dough didn’t turn out right…

I guess someone else is watching my spending habits – Hopefully he will say ‘You have done good Lauren ”

Thanks Dad for sending this to me!

From my kids to you – Happy Valentine’s Day ‘I am THAT lady’ Readers!

I know this can frequently be a hard holiday for many, whether you are single, widowed, or have a spouse overseas.  I just wanted to take the time to tell you, you are loved, you are special, and you are beautiful!  I appreciate all of you so much, and this website would not be around with out all of you reading it, so thank you

And now….Yes I did make this Valentine’s Day card for my husband  :)  I got this one for FREE when Tiny Prints ran their Free card promotion, he loved it

So these past week I have been potty training my 2 1/2 year old daughter, and I Thought I would give you some tips on how we potty train in our house.  A few months before I know I will start potty training I am always looking for a good deal on the essentials, I have listed the ones that are essential for me, so I am not cleaning up ‘messes’ all day long

I use the book Toilet Training in Less Than A Day - you can find it here on Amazon for around $7.00.  It is a fabulous resource which gives you a step by step guide on how to potty train your children quickly and successfully.  I used this method with my son, and it worked beautifully and now that my daughter is fully potty trained in a week, I would say it has been a successfully method with both of my children.

I saved up my Pampers Gifts to Grow points and cashed them in to get a FREE Dora Potty Seat.

I also found a Dora Potty Chair on zulily.com for under $10!  We put the Dora Potty Chair in the main living space for a week, until she starts to recognize the urge to go to the bathroom.  She now uses the big girl potty with the Dora Potty Seat.

I stocked up on Baby Legs – because they are perfect for potty training. I find that if I start them off in underwear, they don’t train as quickly, so she wore a dress and baby legs all day for a week.  Today is the first day that she has been back in regular clothes, we haven’t left the house with her in a week and hopefully we will be able to transition into leaving the house by the end of the week.

I am one proud mommy, she has done such a great job

Do you have any tips for potty training your children?  

I have had quite a crazy week around here, here is a peak into my life this week as a busy mommy of 3 and blogger .

I celebrated my 31st birthday on Saturday with family and friends.  Yes, I am sitting at my kids Cars Table with my birthday cake with a glass of wine

I have been potty training my 2 1/2 year old this week, so if I seem a little pre-occupied…I am busy cleaning up ‘messes’ all day long.  We obviously love Dora in our house!

I started off the week with a BANG -literally!  I managed to back my van into my husbands car on Monday morning – $1300 worth of damage later I am very thankful for a good insurance policy!

This little girl seems happy here – but she is getting in her top 2 teeth – so she has required a lot of extra special snuggle time.

My son learned how to take pictures of himself with the camera

I have been working very late at night trying to finish up my business taxes this week, our tax appt. is next weekend.  Yes, I do make money blogging!

Last but not least – I was invited to speak at the Fulton Lions Club which met this week, which was a fun event for me to do.  Thanks for inviting me

So it has been a very eventful week for us, I can’t promise all my weeks are like this but I thought I would give you a behind the scenes look at what goes on beyond the computer.

How has your week been?  Anything fun happen?