August 7th, 2011

Phillip asked last night why God made everyone's lips pink. I told him I didn't really know for sure. Then he said, "Well mom, I wanted GREEN lips!" ;-)

Pinecone Research

For those of you who have attempted to make money with paid surveys, you know that many of the survey sites are a joke. Pinecone Research is one I have found that is not. While I have not gotten an overload of surveys, they do pay $3 per survey and generally take anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes. Go ahead and check them out here.

Finding Deals

Although I have many sites that I frequent to find good deals, my favorite as of late is Time 2 Save. If you're interested in finding out what coupons you can match with different store's sales, be sure to check them out. They also have lots of interesting information on other savings as well.
Also, I have learned a lot from the Yahoo group howtoshopforfree about the general ins and outs of couponing. They also have a group on BigTent, but you do have to pay $1 to join that group - the dollar is to prevent the group from being hit by a lot of spammers.

Bye-Bye Sippy Cup

Peter is finally making a switch that he has wanted to make for quite some time now. Several months ago, he noticed that everyone else drank from cups without lids and he would get upset when I gave him his sippy cup. We've tried switching to a big boy cup several times off and on over that time period, but with no luck. Everything in the cup would always end up in a puddle in his seat.
A few days ago, he managed to get Alex's cup that still had some water left in it. He drank it and only spilled a few drops on his shirt. Ever since, I have just let him use a regular cup. It's been a few days now and he still isn't drinking without getting anything on himself, but he'll learn. And he's so excited to finally feel like he's joined the rest of the family in this aspect!

Daily Quiet Time

Up until recently, I have never been a schedule mommy. While I still don't do schedules for many things, there are a few we have added, one of those being nap time / quiet time. Alex quit taking naps some time ago, and Peter and Phillip were not taking their nap at the same time. I have started making Peter stay up a little bit later, putting Phillip down a bit earlier and Alex has to at least lay down and be quiet. He may look at a book if he likes, as long as he is quiet. This way mommy can either have a break or some time to clean in the middle of her day, depending on which is needed most.
It took a few days, but the boys have adjusted to the new routine fairly well. Alex will generally remain quiet for at least an hour and both of the other two go down close to the same time. I do generally put Peter down about 15-20 minutes before Phillip because Peter just can't make it any longer without sleep and Phillip usually isn't finished with lunch yet.
My hardest challenge in all of this, surprisingly, has been keeping Peter awake. Ever since I moved him out of the crib and into a toddler bed, he has put himself down when he wants a nap. That's right, he disappears to his bed and goes to sleep - 100% completely on his own. This is normally an hour or so before I want him to go to sleep. I have to keep an eye on him and if I notice he's left the room, go get him out of his bed.
Now to figure out what to do with my free hour... ;-)

Lessons from Life

The strawberry patch we are working on is providing many opportunities for learning. Just the other day, I walked out to see the boys watering the plants after 2 days of solid rain. When I asked what they were doing, they replied that the plants had not grown any strawberries yet, so obviously they needed more water. I think there will definitely be some patience learned from this, especially since I don't plan on letting the plants produce the first year so they can become well established. ;-)

Free Digital Photo Prints

Just thought I'd take a moment to tell everyone about a new photo printing site I found - and it's completely free! Visit hotprints.com, sign up, and every month you get a credit for a free "hotbook". Yes, I said FREE - this includes free shipping. In my experience, a hotbook normally includes up to 14 photo prints. What's the catch? In the middle of each hotbook, is an 'offer' - an advertisement of some kind. The hotbooks are paid for by these advertisers to get the ads into your hands. Since they are in the middle of the book, they're easily removed, though and then you have 14 free digital prints! How's that for a freebie?