Giving thanks and saving money

Today, I'm very thankful for all the retailers that are offering great sales on their websites, so I can rack up the savings without leaving my house! Waiting in line in freezing rain? Not for me! Here's a roundup of some of the deals I appreciate most!

I'm also grateful for my family, including my two wonderful (at the moment) kiddos. I'm especially enjoying Gator's recent surge in communication ability at 18 months and my heart still swells with love watching him and his sister interact. I've been slacking on sharing photos lately, so I'll intersperse a few from fall so it's not all deal links!

Amazon MP3 Download Credit - $3  My husband has been using Amazon's mp3 store a lot lately. He says the prices are often better than iTunes, and he can still listen to the music on his ipod, smartphone, etc. Amazon also has a lot of Black Friday deals. Today you can get five albums for $1.99 each. We're getting the Interpol album.

Many other retailers have specials on their websites, and I suggest checking your favorites to see what kind of specials you can find. Old Navy is one of those retailers. But before you go straight to their website...are you using Swagbucks?

I've been using Swagbucks.com for a few months and have earned $20 in Amazon reward certificates so far. You can use the points toward other things, but as you may have noticed, I shop on Amazon, so it's the closest thing to getting a cash reward for me. I use swagbucks when I'd be doing searches anyhow, and I randomly get points for searches. You trade those points in for rewards. I was racking up the points when I was being more intentional about doing my searches through the site. They have a toolbar as well, but I'm a creature of habit with my Google toolbar...

Old Navy has been running some great promos lately and I needed to pick up some more wardrobe basics. I'm so glad I checked Swagbucks before I did. They are offering a chunk of swagbucks (reward points) if you make a $50 Old Navy order through their link. So I made my order, got my savings, plus cashed my swagbucks in for a $5 Amazon reward card.

Do you cloth diaper? Nicki's Diapers is offering 10% off of everything except Bum Genius. Nicki's offers free shipping on most diapering items, so it's a nice opportunity to get a discount on items that rarely are. I'm thinking about getting some cloth trainers for Violet. When she gets to the point when her Pull-Up is dry most nights, I'd much rather have something reusable and washable on her.


There is much more I'd like to share, but motherhood calls! I hope to add to this post or add more as I find more links that I think will be of special interest to my readers.

Full disclosure: A lot of the links on my blog are affiliate links. That means you supplement my income in a small way when you purchase those items or others after clicking on my link, or sign up for a site I've referred you to. Thank you for your clicks...every little bit helps!

Hooking

I haven't been spending very much time knitting and crocheting due to using my rare free time for other things and being less inspired to do it in warmer weather. We're enjoying some wonderful unseasonably warm weather right now, but it will be cold and time for hats and scarves soon!

I learned to crochet when I was young, and I've relearned a few times over the years. It always comes back to me, but I need some guidance. For the longest time, i didn't know what dc and sc and whatnot meant and so couldn't take advantage of the patterns that are out there. Thanks to Stitch 'N Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker I have a fun reference that teaches and reteaches what I need and helps with all those pattern abbreviations.

I participate in my local Stitch N Bitch group when time allows, which isn't often these days. It's a wonderful group of creative, talented women who inspire me to do so much more with yarn. Debbie Stoller's Stitch 'N Bitch books are a great source of information, inspiration, and patterns. I have a knitting one as well as the crochet one.

I started a hat for Gator maybe a month ago and it's still sitting on my needles, a few inches into the project. I was so excited to find some yarn I loved and got to work on a pattern of my own design that I hope will live up to my expectations. I just need to sit down and finish it! Knitting children's hats is relatively fast and relaxing for me.

Next up will be tackling crochet again. I have some adorable hat patterns from The Inner Hooker that I'm looking forward to making. First up is the owl hat. Gator has such a big head that he and Violet should be able to wear the same size. I'm planning on making my first one gender-neutral and hopefully one of them will be able to wear it. Especially since I'm not sure what my crochet gauge is like and I'm not planning on swatching. It's wonderful when hats can stretch and there are two little heads in the house to put hats on.

Amazon Mom = Amazing Savings!

I was pricing Pull-Ups on Amazon today and saw a blurb about Amazon Mom. I had to check it out, and I'm glad I did!




Here's how it works. Amazon already offers a 15% discount when you Subscribe and Save on items you use regularly. I've used this both on a repeating basis and with no intention of continuing the subscription. You can cancel or change your delivery frequency at any time.

With Amazon Mom, you get an additional 15% off on many baby items, including diapers, for a total of 30% savings. AND it's delivered free right to your door, with free two-day shipping! I love coupons, but I was able to order some Pull-Ups and Pampers Baby Dry Diapers for less than I would have paid at the store with coupons and shopping sales. And did I mention they will just show up at my door, and I don't have to listen to whiney kids in a shopping cart or chase a toddler all over the baby department?

As an added bonus, Amazon Mom gives you three months of a free Amazon Prime membership and lets you earn additional months with your baby purchases. I've used a free trial of Prime and like it, but I could never justify the annual subscription fee. Prime gives you free two-day shipping on anything shipped by Amazon, whether it's sold by Amazon themselves or a seller using Amazon fulfillment. Next-day shipping is available for just $3.99. No more waiting until I have $25.00 worth of little items to get so I receive free super-saver shipping, and it arrives oh so much faster.

(Isn't that little bear hat on the baby in the Amazon banner cute? I hope to crochet one for Gator this winter. One of many to-do projects!)

Preschool Premiere

Today, my big little girl started school. It's just preschool, but she's attending a program at the public school, and that makes it feel so much more like real school.

She was having second thoughts about it until she met her teacher and saw her classroom yesterday. Then she was so excited and couldn't wait to go back. I hoped she'd wake up easily because she was excited to go, but she's just like me in the mornings. NOT a morning person and she'll go back to sleep if at all possible.

I could tell she was a little unsure about things at times, but for the most part she was excited about this new experience. When it was finally time for her class to walk from the lobby to their classroom, she practically bolted through the door. Her teacher had to take her hand to hold her back. Some of the other kids were crying or reluctant to leave their parents. Mine couldn't wait. It made me a little sad that I was more emotional about this than she was, but I was also proud. I raised her to be an independent, capable young woman and she proved it today.

I'm proud that my sometimes tempermental little girl impressed the preschool screeners enough that she was selected to be a typical peer role model for the integrated preschool program. I'm excited for all the lessons she'll learn there, whether they are typical preschool experiences or the result of attending school with children with special needs.

I hope she's still excited to go after the novelty wears off. I need all the help I can get with her in the mornings!

Favorite sounds

Before I had children, my favorite sound to hear was a cat purring. It was such a peaceful and relaxing sound, and I still love hearing it.

After my daughter was born, the sound of my child laughing with delight became my favorite sound. I still love that sound oh so much, especially when it's a sweet little baby giggle.

There's another sound that I treasure and will miss when my baby is weaned. It's the peaceful, contented sound of my baby breathing restful breaths while taking soft rhythmic swallows. The attitude and sounds of pure contentment in my child helps me relax even after the most frustrating of days. Nursing gives us both an opportunity to step back from the world and relax and reconnect...at least when the baby is sleepy.

World Breastfeeding Week is coming up soon. This may be my last chance to celebrate it with a nursling and I'm a jumble of emotions when I think about the day my baby weans. And yes, he's my baby. At the same age, my daughter was a little girl, a toddler, etc. But her even more active little brother is probably my last baby and will remain my baby in my mind for some time.

Walking Tall

Summer 2008

Summer 2010

Shoe deal!

If you don't mind paying this way, this is a great opportunity to get shoes for cheap! Shoebuy gives free shipping, free returns, and they have more than just shoes. Offer expires July 4.