5 Favorite Things of the Week - 4/12/13

This week has flown by and I haven't gotten nearly as much done as I should have by now. I guess that's just part of being a mom, right? Well, here are my favorite things from this week.

1. Book Bomb success. This week an author I know, Dave Wolverton (who writes under the pseudonym David Farland), had a tragedy in his family. His son was in an accident that caused severe brain trauma. There are sites set up to raise money to pay for medical bills which could easily reach in the millions. On Wednesday, a book bomb was held for Dave's books to help raise money. Another benefit of a book bomb is it raises the book's status so it's more visible on sites like Amazon and Barnes and Noble. By the end, the book, Nightingale, reached #1 in contemporary fantasy for both books and ebooks, #2 for paranormal fantasy books and #84 overall for paid ebooks on Amazon. It's pretty amazing. If you are planning on buying things from Amazon, consider going to the book bomb link and then clicking on the link there for the book. After doing so, anything you buy on Amazon after will also pay back a little money to the Wolvertons. I'm so glad it was a success!
2. School's back in session! This week Alex headed back to preschool after a week off for spring break. He was excited to go back and I was excited to spend some one-on-one time with Micah in the morning and get some stuff done.

3. Fresh fruits and veggies. I've been trying to avoid going to the groceries the last couple weeks because we've been going over our monthly budget for food, but yesterday I headed to the store and got lots of fresh produce, like apples, bananas, strawberries, oranges, onions, sweet peppers, broccoli and spinach. I love having these fresh fruits and veggies around to make smoothies with (and more!). Despite having a completely loaded shopping cart, I also only spent $130 on food. Woohoo! 
4. New smoothie. This week I discovered a killer smoothie combination: peanut butter, bananas and spinach. I'll be telling you all about it next week. Let's just say it's delicious and I think with the protein from the peanut butter, it works as a meal (I know it kept me full from lunch all the way till dinner, no cravings).
5. Easter with family. Yes, this is a little late, but I missed my weekly post after Easter. We had a great time visiting with my hubby's parents over Easter. They also brought treats for us and the boys. I love getting to spend time with family :D.

Have a happy weekend!

Activities for Preschoolers: Scissor Skills

This year, my son is part of the Head Start program, so every Monday through Thursday morning, he has school from 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. It's great because he's learning a lot, not just about typical school stuff (ABCs, writing, numbers, etc.) but he's also learning other skills. They talk about what to do if you're angry, how to wait your turn, sharing, eating healthy, etc. They also serve the kids breakfast and lunch, which is awesome because that's 8 meals a week that I don't have to worry about feeding Alex. It's also great because that's 14 hours a week where he's out of the house and I can get more done without worrying about IBS — I'm Bored Syndrome.

But this week is Spring Break, which means Alex is home all day every day. This is especially hard for me since I'm a work-at-home mom, so it's not like I can just take time off and spend it with him. Still, I am trying to use the time to be with him more and not work the whole day.

Getting Ready for Kindergarten by Teaching Your Preschooler to Use Scissors

Before Alex started at Head Start, I didn't even think about working with him on using scissors. I taught him his letters, shapes, numbers and counting, animals, etc., but scissors never entered into the equation. Then last week the teacher said to me right before leaving on the last day, "Alex really needs help on using scissors. Maybe you could work with him on it over the break." I was thinking, What? Why? Why would being able to use scissors be important? Luckily for me, there's the Internet.

Why Kids Need to Learn to Use Scissors 

• Cutting with scissors builds muscles in the hands needed for fine motor skills like writing and painting — anything that requires a grip. 
• It helps strengthen hand-eye coordination, so your child is more coordinated (like for throwing balls and such). 
• It works on bilateral coordination — two sides of the body work together (for example, holding the paper with one hand while cutting with the other).

Ways to Practice Using Scissors

There are many ways to practice using scissors with your preschooler. The important thing is to not stress about it too much and go with what you're up to doing that day. Here are some ideas:

• Draw shapes on a piece of paper and then have your preschooler cut them out. After, you can decorate the shapes together. We just used scrap paper I had in the recycles bin for this.
• Print out some worksheets, like those found at Kids Learning Station, and have your child cut along the line.
• Create an art project that requires cutting, such as this one from Make and Takes. That way it's fun and your preschooler won't realize that it's practice. If you need inspiration, there are lots of ideas on Pinterest.

When Should You Start Teaching Your Child to Cut with Scissors?

Did you know that you should start having children use scissors as early as 2? I had no idea, but I suspect it's why Alex is so far behind in writing, so it's definitely something we'll be working on, and I'll start working with MW on it sometime in the next year. Here are the recommendations for when you should teach your child what:

• 2 years old: Use scissors to snip the ends off of pieces of paper
• 2.5 years old: Cut through a piece of paper from end to end
• 3 to 3.5 years old: cut along a line that's 1/2 inch thick (should be able to stay within that line without cutting outside of it more than 3 times)
• 3.5 to 4 years old: cut out a circle (should be able to stay close to the line for at least 3/4 of the circle)
• 4.5 to 5 years old: cut out a square

It's also recommended to use a variety of thicknesses, starting with thick paper and working towards thinner paper (which is harder). Materials would include play dough, thick folders, construction paper, regular paper, and then tissue paper.

When choosing scissors, find ones that allow for stability, such as these children's scissors, especially the ones on top from Fiskars. These allow stability, making cutting easier, and they have blunt ends that are rounded.

Alternative Activities to Using Scissors

If your child doesn't have the strength yet to use scissors, there are other activities they can do that use the same muscles so they can build up to using scissors.

• Use tongs to pick up objects and put them in a bucket.
• Cut out pieces of paper and have your child use tweezers to pick up a piece of paper and drop it into a box.
• Have child use a single hole puncher to punch holes in paper.
• Create a race where your child has to pick up an object with tongs and carry it to the other side of the room and drop the object into a tub.

So if you're looking for ways to help your preschooler prepare for kindergarten, don't forget to work on those scissoring skills! What things are you doing to help your preschooler prepare for kindergarten? I'd love to hear it!

7 Reasons Why You Should Be Reading E-Books

So hopefully, I haven't totally confused you with whether or not you should get an e-reader, but I wanted to talk about whether I recommend e-readers in general. I don't know if I recommend an e-book reader per se (it really depends on your situation and your preferences), but I definitely recommend e-books. 

Whether you read them on an ebook reader or on a tablet using an app, I do recommend you getting into the world of electronic books. Here's why:

E-books are often cheaper

First I'd like to say that people seem to have a misconception and believe that e-books should be dirt cheap or they should be free just because you're not buying a physical product. Understand though that the cost of printing and shipping a book is only a small fraction of the cost of producing a book. That said, e-books do tend to be cheaper, especially if the book has been out for a year or more. Once the cost of producing a book has been covered, publishers have more leeway in offering a discount on e-books since they can produce an infinite amount without costing more.

Not only that, but you don't have to pay to have the book shipped and books are instantly delivered to your e-reader or other device, so no waiting for it to reach you. You want to read a new book, you can within seconds.

E-books don't take up space

This last summer I moved two states away and let me tell you, I got rid of a lot of books. You can't sell used books very easily (unless they're expensive, up-to-date text books). I had a bunch at my yard sale and I probably sold five of them, mostly kids' books. They're heavy and once you've read them, you might not read them ever again (or you might read them only every 5 years and in the meantime they're taking up space). E-books on the other hand take up no space, you can have as many as you want (especially with cloud storage) and they weigh nothing.

You can borrow e-books from libraries

Libraries are starting to have e-books as part of their inventory. To borrow one, you just have to have a membership to that library. You don't have to go to the library to get a book; you just need an internet connection. Just like with the regular books, you may have to wait in line till a book is available and the selection may be limited, but there are no worries about losing the book or forgetting to return it and paying a late fee. You also don't have to worry about paying for a new book after your toddler decided to turn it into an art project. 

You can borrow e-books from friends

Just like with regular books, you can borrow books from friends. Unfortunately, there are some restrictions. You can only borrow each book one time. Book lending periods are for 14 days, so only borrow a book when you know you want to read it. Publishers of the book also have to have the option of lending enabled, so not all books are able to be lent. Still, it's a great way to read a book your friend recommended to you, and you don't have to worry about forgetting to return it!

You can read ebooks on any device from practically anywhere

Did you know that you can get a program that allows you to read Amazon e-books from your computer? Yep, you can read them right on your desktop ... no e-reader required. There are apps for every mobile and tablet OS (as far as I'm aware) as well as Kindle. Not only that, but if you start reading a book on one device and then switch to another device, the Kindle app will remember where you left off and you can pick up from there on the next device (assuming you're connected to the Internet while you're reading, that is). You can go from reading on your computer to reading on your phone to reading on your table to reading on your e-reader. This makes it great if you were reading on your Kindle at home and then got stuck somewhere without it because you can just continue on your smart phone. Genius!

You can take the reader with you wherever you go

And unlike with real books, you don't have to worry about them being too heavy. By having your e-reader in your purse, you will always have something to do if you find yourself waiting for your car's oil to be changed or waiting at a doctor's office for an appointment.

This shows some of the books I'm borrowing along with The Da Vinci Code I got for free :)

You can get books for free

Despite what I said about how you shouldn't expect to get books for the fraction of the cost, books are still available for free. Typically, these books are ones by self-published authors who are looking to gain a readership, but that's not always the case. Another reason a book might be free is that it's the first book in the series and the publisher is trying to get more readers interested in the other books, and therefore buy them. I've even got big named books for free like The Da Vinci Code and Must Love Dogs. These books are typically not free for long, though, so check back to Amazon often to see what the deals are that day.

So whether or not you've owned an e-reader in the past, dive into the world. If you don't have a lot to spend, start small with a Kindle Touch or something equivalent. For only $69, you really can't go wrong.

*Hot* Insider's Tip

Want an insider's tip. I know how you can keep a library e-book rental (or other rental for that matter whether you're borrowing a book from a friend or from Amazon) longer than the due date. Typically on the due date, the book will automatically be removed from your e-reader and you won't be able to read it again unless you borrow it again or buy it.

However, if you turn off your Wi-Fi on your Touch, so it doesn't connect to the Internet, your book will stay on your Kindle till you connect again. (Shhh, don't tell Amazon we know this!) Of course, this could be problematic on a tablet, which pretty much has to connect to the Internet to function (i.e. there are certain apps that won't work without connecting), but on the Touch, the only reason you'd need to connect would be if you need to download another book onto the device. As long as you don't need to, you can disconnect it from Wi-Fi and finish reading your book. Once you're done, reconnect, say buy to the book, and get new books.

Protecting Your Kindle

And if you do end up getting either the Paperwhite or the Touch, I highly recommend this leather case. I got it for my Kindle and it's been great. Easy to open and close, good quality, and the Kindle fits perfectly. It comes in 8 colors and is only $9.45 to $13, so you really can't go wrong. With it on, I can just throw my Kindle in my purse and go without worrying about the screen getting scratched.

Well, I hope you've enjoyed the series this week on e-readers and e-books. Let me know what you liked about the series and what you didn't :).

I'd also love to hear about your experiences with e-readers and e-books. Do you have any tips or suggestions? Leave them in the comments.

E-Reader Series: Review of Kindle Touch from Amazon

I've mentioned a couple times in the last couple weeks about how I used my downtime to read on my Kindle. As I've been using it more, things came to mind about what I like and what I don't like, so I figured I'd do a review about my Kindle Touch.

What I Like about the Kindle Touch

Let's start off with what I like about the Kindle Touch.

It's easy to use. There are certain parts of the screen that do certain things. While reading a book, you touch the top to bring up the menu, the right side to go forward and the left side to go back. You can also swipe up and down to to move to the next chapter or previous chapter. 

See definitions of words while you read.

You can bring up the dictionary to find out what a word means. Unlike a regular book where you have to physically get out the dictionary or search online to find out the definition of a word, the Touch automatically comes with a dictionary preinstalled. To find out what a word means, just press down on the word for a couple seconds and let go. The definition will pop up in a little window. Click outside of the window to go back to reading.

Battery life. Battery life on the Touch is long, like a month. No need to charge it every day or two like with tablets. 

Read one-handed. Since the Touch is about the same size as a book (it's just a little smaller than 7-inch tablets), you can hold it in one hand to read. It also fits easily into purses, so you can easily take it with you wherever you go.

Read in direct sunlight. This one was a big reason I chose the Kindle Touch over a tablet. Where tablet screens will get washed out in sunlight (such as reading at the park or on the beach), the screen on the Kindle Touch can be read in almost any light level. It's also easier on the eyes with the e-ink display.

What I Don't Like about the Kindle Touch

Though I like it overall, there are things I don't like about the Touch. 

Can't read in no light or very low light. Just like a regular book, you can't read on the Touch if you don't have much light or any light. This typically isn't a problem, but every once in awhile it can be. This is what Paperwhite tries to eliminate. It's supposed to work in any light level from direct sunlight to no light. Of course it wasn't around when I got my Touch, or I'm sure I would have gotten it.

Not very responsive. When you're reading a book and turning from one page to the next, it works great. However, trying to get to the home screen and searching around for books, it takes quite a lot of time to think about what it wants to do. This can get annoying if you're trying to organize your book collection or are browsing around trying to decide what to read. Luckily, it doesn't affect use of the Kindle too much.

List of books. No book covers.

Not high def screen. When you use the Kindle app on your tablet or smartphone and are browsing through your library, you see these beautiful book covers that help you find something you're looking for and help you decide what to read. On the Touch, all you see are book titles, which isn't always helpful in trying to find stuff. Obviously, the Touch can't give you beautiful color pictures, but if it had a faster processor, it could probably give you at least gray scale pictures of the books, which still might help you figure out what you want to read. You pretty much have to know what you're looking for or go onto your computer or other device to find what to read and then get it on your device. 

It only comes with a charger cable that connects to your computer. This isn't huge deal because you can charge it, but if you've ever had a tablet, smartphone or other device, you know that it will charge a lot faster if it has a wall charger. You can a wall charger for your Kindle but it will cost extra ($20). 

Operating system. I am not happy with the operating system on the Kindle at all. Besides being really slow, it's really kludgy. For example, sometimes I'll be searching for a book and will search for the title. It will bring up a search results that shows all the books with those words, including the book I want. So I tap on the title, but instead of taking me to the book, it just takes me to where in the book those words are found and I have to fumble around trying to find the beginning of the book.

So am I happy with my Kindle? Would I choose it again if I did it all over again? Tune in tomorrow for a continuation of As the Kindle Turns ... I mean the continuation of my e-reader series ;).

E-Reader Series: All about the Kindle Touch

This week I've decided to focus my articles on e-books and e-readers. Today, I'm going to talk a little about the Kindle Touch and then tomorrow, I'll have a review on the Kindle Touch. Later in the week, I'll talk about e-book readers vs. tablets and then whether I'd recommend getting an e-book reader. I hope you'll join me in this e-book adventure!

What Kindle Do I Own?

First, let's clarify which Kindle I own, since there are so many models out there now that it's been on the market so long. I have a first generation Kindle Touch, which I got for Christmas 2011. When I got it, it was $99 and now it's only $69 regular price. I have to say, I wish I'd waited! The reason for the price drop is that the Kindle Paperwhite came out . You can get the Paperwhite for only $119 with Special Offers and $139. Mine has special offers as well.

What Does It Mean to Get a Kindle with Special Offers?

Example ad shown with my Kindle locked.

If you're considering getting a Kindle, you may wonder what it means to have special offers on it, how that affects using the Kindle, and whether it's worth paying extra for one without.

In my opinion, get the one with special offers. If later you don't want them, you can always pay the extra cost and have them removed, but here's why the special offers is not a bad thing:

• It never interrupts reading books. You will never have a pop-up window with a special offer. You will never see an ad at the bottom, top or side of the screen while reading books. 
• When do you see them? There are two times that you'll see the ads: When the Kindle is locked and when you're on the home screen searching through your library (it's a small bar at the bottom of the screen). I've never been annoyed by them.
• Sometimes the ads are good deals that you would want to know about, such as a book that's on sale for only $2.99 or a buy one get one free deal. For this reason, it might be helpful to see the ads.

What Can You Do If You Don't Want to See the Special Offers on the Kindle?

Click to enlarge. Ad is on the bottom there.

Because the ads are so easy to ignore, and they don't interrupt me while I'm reading, I just don't see them as much of a bother. As I mentioned, if they do become annoying, you can always pay for them to be turned off.

Another option is to turn off the Wi-Fi. This option will also save you on battery life. Without Wi-Fi to receive the offers, you'll just shown a generic wallpaper when you lock the Kindle and as long as you don't need to download a book from the library or Amazon, you don't need Wi-Fi to be turned on. (Note: This may take some time after you turn it off for the ads to stop coming.)

Since it saves on battery life, it might be worth doing just for that reason alone. Unless you're actually searching for books on Amazon or looking at books you have saved to the cloud, you really have no reason to have it connected to Wi-Fi anyway.

Come back tomorrow to find out what I think of my Touch. I'll talk about the good and the bad. Questions? Comments? Feel free to ask below and I will answer them :).

5 Favorite Things of the Week - 3/22/13

I know you're all dying in anticipation of what my favorite things are this week, right? ... *crickets chirping* ... *crickets chirping* ... Well, settle down because I will now reveal to you what made me happy this week. :D 

Scramble with Friends

1. Amazon Kindle. I mentioned on Monday that I've been sick. I thought I was almost over it on Sunday, but apparently it's decided to linger. So all last weekend I spent reading books on my Kindle and it's made me very happy. No need to drive to the bookstore or library (especially awesome when you're feeling sick). What's my favorite genre? I admit that it's YA fantasy. Can't get enough of it.
2. Scramble with Friends. Another fun thing that I've been doing with my downtime is playing Scramble with Friends. It's a variation of the game Boggle where the tiles have point values like in Scrabble. There are three rounds of play and in the second round, there are double word and double letter values for some letters and in the third round there are triple word and triple letter values. You can play with friend or random players through Smart Match (so hopefully you don't play people who are amazing. If you want to know what amazing is, search on YouTube. It's crazy).
3. Tax Returns. This week our tax return was deposited into our bank account. I turned it in two weeks ago. How cool is it that we can do our taxes online and then have it deposited directly into our accounts two weeks later. Plus it's nice to have that cushion so I can pay bills without worrying about whether there's enough in there. Yay for tax returns :D.
4. Nasal strips. Since I've been sick, and stuffed up, it's harder to breathe at night (which makes it harder to sleep. To help with that, I've been using these Nasal Strips by Clear Passage. I think that they do a good job and help open your nose so you can breathe easier. Plus these are cheaper than a lot of ones I've seen. I don't use them all the time; just when I'm sick (or if my husband complains that I'm snoring).
   


5. My Wedding Anniversary. Today I've been married 11 years! It's crazy how fast time goes by and how things have changed in 11 years. When we got married, we got a digital camera as a gift and it was the hot new thing. Everyone who took pictures at the wedding used film. Also, I don't even think that phones had cameras back then (or at least not that common) let alone anything like the smartphones we use today. If things can change that much in 11 years, it makes me wonder what will happen in the next 11.

So that's my list of favorite things this week. What did you like about this week? I'd love to hear about it!

MW Gets a New 'Do

So my freelancing gig is crushing me (that plus I'm still getting over being sick) so I've been a bit behind on my Mommy Hints tasks, that's for sure. I have plenty of ideas for posts, it's just about having the time to write the danged things!

Anyway, for whatever reason, I finally got around to giving MW a hair cut. Being almost 2 years old, the idea of trying to wrangle him while holding scissors wasn't one that I was looking forward to. Alex didn't have enough hair to cut till he was much older (like 3 as I recall), so I never had to deal with this before. My sister recommended cutting his hair in his sleep. Yeah, that wouldn't work with MW. He wakes up when I just go in to check on him before I go to bed (one little movement and he shoots up).

But I decided to go for it, and to help keep him somewhat immobilized, I stuck him in his high chair. At least he couldn't run off.

I don't have a great picture of his hair before the hair cut, so I just spent the last hour or two putting together this little video for you. Not only does it have cute little MW, but you can see how scraggly his hair was before:

And here he is now:

Have I mentioned he's a cutie? Look at that face!

This was definitely a challenge and more than likely I missed some spots, but at least he's not so shaggy :D. 

Where Did the Weekend Go?

I'm not sure how productive I'm going to be for the next few days. I started feeling sick Thursday night and then woke up Friday with a full-blown head cold. Ugh. So I spent the weekend mostly relaxing. I did have to take Alex to ballet on Saturday and we stopped on the way home to get some essentials (milk, eggs, bread, etc.) but other than that, I pretty much chilled.

So there are good things and bad things to that. On the plus side, it was kind of fun to do nothing. On the not-so-plus side, my house is now a disaster and I'm not quite fully recovered. Luckily, my husband and I dug into the kitchen yesterday so at least that is respectable. I think the burst of energy did us in, though, because we're feeling a big worse to day. :(

So what did I do all weekend? I chilled and read on my Kindle. Lucky for me, I have access to an online library which allows me to borrow ebooks (though just like a real library, they only have so many copies and sometimes there are like 70 people on the waiting list). So I got some books on there to read and read all weekend. I can't tell you the last time I did that. It's times like this I'm so glad to have a Kindle!

Anyway, I may be slow in getting posts out this week, so sorry about that. But thanks for your loyal support :D. And as a reward for reading this, a cute picture of my youngest, who rocked himself to sleep on the arm chair:

What was the funnest thing you did this weekend?

5 Favorite Things of the Week - 3/15/13

Ugh. I woke up sick today. It's not all that bad, but I worry about how bad it will get before I get better. Plus, you know how it is when you're a mom: you don't get a day off. It doesn't matter that I'm sick. I still have to feed the boys, make sure they're not destroying the house, etc. I don't get a "day off" (unless maybe I'm lucky enough to have the grandparents take the boys for a day, which is wonderful when that happens).

So anyway, here are my favorite things of the week:

1. Papa Murphy's Pizza. So I think in the past I was not all that interested in Papa Murphy's Pizza, but lately, because of circumstances, we've been having it more often. Since we've been going more, I've noticed some advantages:
• You can pick up hours before you plan on eating (assuming you can stick it in the fridge in the meantime). This is great if I'm out and about in the afternoon and I don't want to run out right before dinner. And we're just too cheap to have pizza delivered because we don't want to pay the tip :P.
• You don't have to worry about the pizza getting cold before you eat it.
• Every time you order (at least for our local Papa Murphy's), the instructions sheet comes with a coupon to upgrade a medium to a family size free (which is like $3 off). 
• They have dessert pizzas (so good!) that are only $3 (at least here locally).
• Since they aren't cooking the pizza, it doesn't take more than 5 minutes for them to make the pizza, assuming it's not overly busy when I go.
2. My new HP laptop. This year we got a decent tax return and I decided to replace my laptop. The monitor had gone out on it and it was really huge and bulky. I wanted a smaller one that was more portable, so I got an HP laptop from Best Buy. It's been a great investment and it's so light, I can take it with me anywhere (right now I'm typing from the living room arm chair instead of my desk). Oh, and did I mention the battery lasts about 4 hours? My last laptop only lasted 1.5 hours or thereabouts.
   
3. Having two awesome sisters. I was lucky enough to grow up having two sisters 6 and 8 years older. They've always watched out for me and are there for me. When I was younger, they would often take me out to lunch or buy me candy. Despite the difference in age, we're close and even now, they call and see how I'm doing and help whenever they can.
4. Warm weather. Today it's supposed to get up to 70 and even when I've had to slip out at night to slip something into the garbage can, it's been so warm. I haven't needed to rush back in because of the cold air. The boys have been playing outside a lot and we've all enjoyed going places without having to bundle up. It's supposed to cool down this next week (highs in the 50s), but it's been so nice enjoying the warmer, sunnier weather.
5. White noise machines. Earlier in the week I wrote an article all about white noise machines. These really are awesome, whether for you so you're not woken up by other members of your household or whether for your kids so they can sleep undisturbed (especially for naps). We use ours every day!

What were your favorite things about this week?

5 Favorite Things of the Week - 3/8/13

Wow, is it just me or did this week go by fast. I feel like I've barely had any time to think or breathe. So now that it's Friday once again, here are my favorite things of the week:

Via MarieClaire.com

1. Warmer, sunny weather: Woohoo! Who's with me? It feels like spring is just around the corner and I'm ready for it. I wouldn't say that this winter was especially cold, but it's been so cloudy and going outside today and finding the bright sun was so rejuvenating. Where have you been all winter, my friend Sun?
2. As mentioned earlier in the week, I love Pandora. It's an awesome way to get your jam on, have a dance party with your kids, or provide soft music while relaxing. 
3. Karrie, from HappyMoneySaver.com. She's a great friend of mine and came over this week to help me learn more about this blogging thing. Maybe one of these days, I'll get the hang of it. If you haven't checked out her blog, head on over there and see how she can help save you money.
4. 
   Cuddling with my 22-month-old. I think that me and MW have a lot of things in common, and wanting to cuddle is definitely one of them. He's such a sweetie and will often ask me to pick him up and hold him. Gotta take the time to cuddle now before he finds out it's not "cool." :P
5. Friends who are in your heart no matter the distance. There's something special about a friend who continues to think about you and wants to know how you're doing even when it's been months since you've seen each other. I have a few friends like that right now, including one who is halfway around the world and one who I left behind last year when I moved. I'm so glad that with the way technology is, we can keep in touch.

What were your favorite things about this week? Did it go as fast for you as it did for me? All I can say is TGIF! Thank goodness it's finished. LOL!

Amazon Baby Deals for Moms, 3/5/13

There are some great deals on baby items going on at Amazon.com. Whether you need a baby shower gift or are getting ready for your little one to arrive, here are some items you won't want to miss.

The Fisher-Price Luv U Zoo Crib 'N Go Projector Soother gets 4.5/5 stars from users and is now on sale for $19 (regularly $38). This soother plays soothing music while rotating images that are projected onto the ceiling.

Needing a diaper bag? Check out the Carter's Fashion Tote diaper bag, which right now is on sale for 25% off. Users approve with a 4.4 star rating, and having a bag to carry all your gear in makes trips with the baby so much easier.

The Britax B-Agile Stroller in red is on sale right now for $80 off, making it only $168. Rated at 4.6 stars, this is a great stroller that will last you for years. If you need it to be compatible with infant car seats, a separate adapter can be purchased and works with many brands of car seats. This stroller holds children up to 55 pounds and features a one-hand quick-fold design.

Having a cradle swing is so wonderful when you have a newborn. It saves your arms from doing the swinging and will keep your baby asleep longer so you can take a nap or do some cleaning. The Fisher-Price Cradle 'N Swing is on sale right now for $127, down from $170. Included is an AC adapter so you can plug it in rather than using batteries. Rated at 4.3 stars, you know you're getting a quality swing at a great price.

Remember, prices can change quickly and without notice, so take advantage of these deals while they last. Have you seen any great deals for baby items? Share in the comments.

Why All Moms Should Be Listening to Pandora

I love music. Which is funny because I wouldn't say I'm a music aficionado. I don't know who the best bands are and I mostly listen to pop music, but I love having music playing whether I'm working, cleaning, driving or playing with my kids.

But I'm a cheapskate who gets tired of listening to the same thing over and over. That's why I LOVE Pandora.

Pandora is a free service (paid if you don't want ads) that allows you to create your own radio station. All you have to do is put in one artist you like, and Pandora will create a radio station based on that artist. If you like a variety of music, you can add more, whether it's an artist, album or song.

Here are some of the reasons I love Pandora:

• It's free. Sure there are ads, but they only come up every few songs for like 10 seconds. Not a big deal.



What I was listening to when writing this post :D

• You can listen to the music you like and nothing else. If a song or artist comes up that you don't like, you can give it a thumb's down and Pandora won't play it again and will skip the song.
• You can have multiple stations. I have a station for Christmas music, soft music (great for if I'm working and want some background "noise"), pop music, Disney (for the kids), and worship music for Sundays. Whatever I'm in the mood for, I have a radio station to match.
• I never get bored. Back when I used to buy CDs and had a collection of music on my iPod, I would get bored listening to the same songs over and over. It didn't matter that I had hundreds of songs (I know, my collection was pretty small). I like variety. Not only does Pandora play the music that you say you prefer, but it will also bring up music similar to your preferences. It's a great way to find new artists!
• It has just about every artist and music genre you can think of from indie rock to Irish folk to Broadway musicals. Whatever you like to listen to, they're sure to have that type of music available. Try to get that from radio stations.
• You can have it wherever you go ... as long as you have a device for it. You can listen to Pandora on computers, smart devices (phones, DVD players, TVs), and tablets. As long as you have internet access or cell phone network available, you can have streaming music.
• This means it's great for road trips — no trying to find a new station in every new area you reach.
• And my favorite thing about Pandora is ... no DJs! I don't know about you but to me radio stations are filled too much by talking, contests, ads, etc. With Pandora it's almost all music!

Music is good for the soul. It lifts your spirits when you're blue. It makes you want to dance and sing (all good things). It can put you in a better mood. If you haven't checked Pandora out, do so!

(And if you're wondering, no this is not a sponsored post. Just getting out the word because I love Pandora that much!)

Do you have a music app that you love? Tell me all about it. I'd love to find out what other music streaming apps are out there!

5 Favorite Things of the Week - 3/1/13

So what are my favorite things for this week? Well, here you go:

1. Scout app for my iPhone. So I moved to Eastern Washington about 7 months ago from out of state and I'm still getting to know the area. The Scout app is free and gives voice turn-by-turn directions to wherever you need to go. This has been great, especially when my husband has a job at a new school and doesn't know how to get there. I've used it to get all over, and it's especially helpful when I need to go from point B to point C and I'm used to getting to point C from point A (i.e. my house) so I don't know how to get there from somewhere else. Other GPS apps often cost money for voice turn-by-turn directions, as well, which means you're constantly checking the screen to see where to turn. Voice directions help reduce distractions while driving. And no one will disagree with free. Definitely awesome.
   
   
2. Having two monitors on my computer. Last July/August, the monitor on my laptop went out and the easiest fix was to get an external monitor. Luckily my step-dad had an extra one lying around that he didn't need. This was great and essential so I could keep working. Then recently I decided to use my tax refund to upgrade my laptop to a new one. Well, guess what? Now I have two working monitors, and having two monitors is AWESOME! I'm often switching between different windows in order to research and write articles, so having the info on one screen and where I'm writing on another is really great.
   
   
3. Ghirardelli Triple Chocolate Brownie mix. If you are looking for the best brownie mix, it's this one right here. We get this at Costco (it has like 6 bags of mix in it. LOL), and it's just the best brownie mix I've ever had -- even better than my homemade brownies. It's so moist and fluffy and it has chocolate chips in there, which means melted pieces of chocolate within the brownie goodness. Yep, I'm pretty much addicted.
   
   
4. 
   Online Netflix. When you live on a tight budget, you look for anything you can cut to save money. One way we save is through not having cable TV. Instead we have the online service from Netflix. For only $8 a month, we have TV shows for the kids and entertainment for us. Sure, it'd be fun to have regular TV too, but for now it works for us and saves us money.
   
   
5. My son, Alex, turning 5! Here's Alex with a bouquet of balloons from his awesome grandma :D. Look at that goofy grin. Who couldn't love that boy! I can't believe I've been a mom for a whole half of a decade now. This will be a year of firsts, including his first day of kindergarten. 

What things did you like from this week? Please share in the comments!

Free ebook: I Love Green Smoothies

Well, I've mentioned before that I love smoothies, and I add organic baby spinach to pretty much every one of my smoothies because really you can't taste it and it's always good to get more dark leafy green veggies.

These smoothies of course always end up looking a little "green." Someone once suggested that they were Shrek smoothies, so if you need a way for your kids to think it's cool that they're green, that's one way. My two kids have liked all the smoothies I've made, pretty much (MW doesn't seem to like blueberries, of all things, so isn't as interested in those ones).

So you can bet I was pretty excited about the ebook that is free today: I Love Green Smoothies - 50 Recipes To Get You Started Drinking Your Way to a Sexy, Slim, Youthful You!.

As I've mentioned before, you don't need a Kindle to get these ebooks. You can read them with the Desktop app or app for Android or IOS. Get it now even if you might not use it right away. You don't want to miss out!

Amazon Deals for Mom, 2/25/13

Amazon is running another 15% sale on select baby items. All you need to do is select items from the sale and enter in 15BABY15 when you check out. There are some great items, some of which aren't often on sale.



One of the most popular car seats around is the Chicco Keyfit 30 Car Seat. This is a great deal at only $166 after the discount and free shipping.

It's easy to install and one of the highest rated for safety. Also, it can hold a child up to 30 pounds. Now that the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends keeping your child rear-facing till two years old, a seat like this prevents the need for another seat before they're ready to go front facing.


I know some parents would say, "But the baby gets too heavy to use the carrier by the time they're 9 months old!" This is true, but you don't actually have to use the carrier. Just leave the carrier in the car attached to the base once they're too big to be carried around. Problem solved.

Need a stroller/car seat system? Consider the Chicco Cortina KeyFit 30 Travel System. This is also part of the sale and is available in five colors.



If you need a convertible seats (seats that can be rear facing or front facing) and are interested in top of the line, the Peg Perego Convertible Car Seat is a great choice and you'll save big if you're not picky on color. The beige seat with the discount saves you $50! It must be well liked, since 57 out of 61 reviewers gave it 5 stars (and it has an overall rating of 4.9).

There are tons more baby stuff on sale as well, including many strollers and car seats, so if you're needing any baby stuff, now's the time.