Book Wish List

We are all home from church today as Ada is still recovering from her cold, and we wanted to keep her away from the nursery. And Scott and I are now in the thick of what she has been suffering from all week. I finally took Ada to the doctor on Friday morning, mainly for my peace of mind, and she did have an ear infection. She is taking an antibiotic for that, and she seems to be doing much better. I on the other hand will be glad to get to the other side of this thing.

Anyway, as Ada is napping right now, I am resting in bed as well, with the lap top as my companion. Because we are done with Christmas shopping, and Ada's birthday is still months away, I am excited to begin using my swagbucks to purchase books off of Amazon rather than toys. My book list is long, ya'll. So very long. I have my own book list, two of which I already ordered--For The Children's Sake and Let Us Highly Resolve. I plan to do much reading over the next couple of years as we begin to make decisions about Ada's education. I am glad that she is still only two, and I have much time to read and research before I have to put anything into practice.

In the mean time, I also want to choose wisely the books that I read to Ada. I have already surrounded her with her favorite picture books--you know Elmo and Curious George and Dr. Seuss and such. I stock up often from the dollar section at Target and various other places. And I think those books are great, as any time she spends with a book makes me happy. But I also want to be intentional about the books that I choose to purchase and spend time reading aloud to her.

My current list includes the following books

Poems and Prayers for the Very Young
The Complete Poems of Winnie the Pooh
A Family Treasury of Little Golden Books
The Real Mother Goose
The Little House
The Little Red Hen
A Hole is to Dig
Make Way for Ducklings
The Little Engine that Could
Peter Spier's Rain
The Story of Creation

Most of the above titles I can get used for very little money on Amazon. And of course with Swagbucks, I will pay nothing out of pocket. And right now, the 5.00 Amazon gift card only costs 40 swagbucks rather than 45--woo-hoo. I currently have 10.00 worth of gift cards, and I am excited to get our library of "classic children's books" started.

Remember you can also get in on the swagbucks action by signing up here. And of course, if you sign up it benefits me because I earn points for all of my referrals;) We were able to spend less than 50.00 to buy all of Ada's Christmas because of gift cards earned on Swagbucks. I have made over 200.00 so far. It's crazy, ya'll. Really, you should sign up.

On another note--what are your favorite children's books? Ones that you remember reading and loving as a child? I am always up for suggestions.

I made my list from this classical education website--check it out.

p.s. I will be sharing many more thoughts about Classical Education over the next couple of years as we approach the age when Ada will begin school. The whole method fascinates me, and I spend way too much time reading about it and researching it and getting my hands on whatever information I can find. The above website is a wonderful source of information. I can spend hours just on that one site. Do I have any readers out there who were educated classically? I would love to hear your thoughts.

Let the Christmas Shopping Begin

This morning in my pajamas, I picked up these items for Ada's Christmas.All of the above items were completely free to me, thanks to swagbucks. If you want to join me in free amazon shopping, sign up for swagbucks here. I love swagbucks because it has saved our family tons of money.

I still want to buy a few more books, a baby doll and accessories, and an art easel and art supplies. I plan to wait and see if there are any after Thanksgiving baby doll deals, and we have a gift card to Ikea where I will purchase the easel. I hope to keep the money spent on Ada's Christmas under 50.00, and I think it is very possible.

I still want to get Ellie's old doll house from Ann (if it's still available). If it's not, I might scratch some of the above gifts and purchase a doll house off of Amazon.

Moms who have kids a step above Ada, what have been your preschoolers favorite toys? I always feel like it's a gamble. Will she play with what I buy or will it be a waste? I just never know. Last year, I spent about 5.00 each on a toy toaster and microwave, and those have been the biggest hits of all. I never would have guessed. They were spur of the moment deals I found during the morning after Thanksgiving craze, and I threw them in the cart.

Anyway...I am happy to get a jump on Christmas shopping when Halloween has even happened. Woo-hoo!!

Change of Kitchen Plans

As you know, because I keep blogging about it, we are in the process of getting Ada a new wooden kitchen. We had decided on this one, but it looks like plans are changing today.

Well, my friend Kelly (our pastor's wife) called me yesterday to let me know that a local furniture store that sells (used? discount? not sure) furniture has a kids kraft kitchen, still in the box, for 60.00. This one.Well, we are going today to snatch that thing up before anyone else can buy it. I am thrilled because the above kitchen normally sells for about 180, I think. And I don't have to use any of my swagbucks that I have worked so hard to save up. This means, I have about 70.00 worth of Amazon credit to use towards Ada's Christmas present. As always, God provides in the most unusual ways.

I have already been searching through Amazon's vast amount of Melissa and Doug products deciding on what I want to order for Ada's Christmas. And I have several months to earn more swagbucks, so I am hoping that I don't have to pay for any of her Christmas out of pocket. Thank you, Lord. He does provide, doesn't he?

Kitchen Update

Good Morning, ya'll. We are having a lazy morning around our house, and I am thankful for it. Ada is busy watching cartoons and drawing with a pen. Drawing with a pen is a little "treat" that I pull out to buy myself a few minutes. In this case, I was hoping for a few uninterrupted computer minutes before the day gets going.

This past Friday I finally ordered Ada's kitchen off of Amazon using a combination of birthday money, swagbucks, and an Amazon discount code. Between the code and the swagbucks, I thought I was getting 90.00 off!!!!! I was thrilled because the kitchen only cost 40.00 out of pocket, so I planned to use the extra birthday money to buy Ada two good pairs of fall shoes.

Well...I got an e-mail yesterday telling me that the Amazon code was a mistake, and my order was cancelled. Bummer. Scott and I are now waiting for about 25.00 worth of swagbucks to go through, and then I will order again. I should still have some left over birthday money for at least one good pair of shoes.

I don't usually invest in shoes because we tend to misplace them (I am probably one of the most scatterbrained people in all the land), but I think Ada needs a quality pair. She is constantly running and wearing her shoes out, so I need to step it up and buy some nice ones that will last all season.

Give us a week or two and the kitchen should finally be on its way. I can't wait because I think Ada is going to love it.

Remember, you can get in on all the swagbucks fun by clicking here (and you'll be helping me out in the process!!)

Ada's birthday gift

We are closing in on Ada's second birthday, which I can't believe, and I have plans going in my head. I am not planning anything big because she will still be excited over balloons and elmo, and that's all we need really.

I will actually be in Alabama for the last of my dental work (had to put it off while I made my way through first trimester), so I think we might do a little party at my parents' house and then at Scott's parents' house, and that will be enough celebrating for us.

The big birthday hoopla is the gift.

We bought Ada a tiny little kitchen for Christmas, and it's a sad, pitiful excuse for a kitchen. We like to think of it as her starter kitchen. We decided that if she played with it, we would upgrade for her second birthday. Well, she does play with it. And she plays with other friends' toy kitchens when she has the chance, so we do think we need to invest in a good one. I had my heart set on a cute, wooden kitchen so that it would look good in her room and be more than just another plastic toy.



Well, here is what I have my eye on.

I thought that red was very gender neutral in case any brothers come along in the future. Plus, red is just so darn cute, I think.

Well, this wooden kitchen is 125.00 on Amazon, plus 10.00 shipping. Already a good price for a wooden kitchen. But, I plan to use swagbucks to get quite the discount. So far, I can take 35.00 off the price, so that gets us down to 100.00. Well, I really don't have to order until August 1st, so I have a month left to collect those "bucks."

And you can help me. Go here to sign up for swagbucks. Use the swagbucks page just like you use google, and you can win points for doing everyday stuff. Then you can trade your points in for gifts cards to places such as Amazon, Target, or Starbucks. Plus, if you sign up under me, I win points when you win points.

So, start searching!!

One step closer to Ada's toy kitchen

I have now earned 30.00 towards a kitchen for Ada's birthday. How? Through swagbucks. And remember, you can help me earn even more by signing up here.

All you have to do is make swagbucks your home page, and then use it as you would use Google. You will earn swagbucks just for searching the internet. Once you have earned enough swagbucks, you can trade them in for fun things like Amazon or Starbucks gift cards. Why not earn prizes for something you are already doing?

How does this help me? If you sign up under me, then I will win points when you win points. See how great this is? It works out for everyone.

Ask the Reader: Swagbucks Update

I am back to talk about Swagbucks, and I will most likely talk about it a lot between now and August.

Here's the deal with Swagbucks. Swagbucks is a search engine which allows you to win points for doing things that you normally do--"googling," shopping, etc.

I have set Swagbucks as my homepage, and every time that I log on, I am automatically taken to my Swagbucks page, and I search from there, even if I know the address. For example, if I want to check my hotmail, I type the word hotmail into the search bar, rather than actually typing in the address. You see? The point is that the more I search the more points I win, and I can trade those points for great prizes such as amazon or Starbucks gift cards.

You can also win Swagbucks by referring friends. Here is where you come in. I am trying to win enough Swagbucks to buy Ada a wooden kitchen for her second birthday in August. So far I have earned 20.00 worth of Amazon gift cards, and I am well on my way to another 5.00. The kitchen costs 90.00 total (an amazing price for a wooden kitchen), so I am thinking that I can get this thing done by August. If you want to help me out, here is what you do. Sign up here. Set Swagbucks as your homepage, and use it in the same way that you would use Google. Each time that you win points, I will win points, so we both are working our way to free stuff from Amazon or Starbucks or even Target.

Who doesn't want a free coffee or book every now and then? That's what I thought;)

Swagbucks

I am back to talk a bit more about Swagbucks, my new favorite way to earn "freebies." You can go here to sign up for Swagbucks. I found out about this from my friend Jessica, who is attempting to pay for her son's first birthday present with amazon gift cards earned through swagbucks. I loved that idea, and now I am trying to earn enough Swagbucks for Ada's second birthday present. I have my eye on a very cute, wooden kitchen that would look great in her "big girl" room that she will most likely be moving into this summer. The kitchen is 90.00, and I have 10.00 in giftcards so far, but I am well on my way to another 5.00 gift card. I also signed Scott up for Swagbucks, so that he can start earning points as well. I think we might just make it happen. And if I don't end up getting enough for the kitchen, I will get a huge discount; I am already down to 80.00 for a wooden kitchen, which is a phenomenal price!

Here is how it works. I signed up for Swagbucks, downloaded the tool bar, made Swagbucks my homepage, and now anytime I do an internet search, I use Swagbucks rather than google or yahoo or any other site. Then, as you search, you will randomly "win" a point or two points or sometimes even ten points at a time. I always win at least one point a day, but I usually earn more than that. Then, as your points add up, you can trade them in for prizes. For example, it "costs" 45 swagbucks to get a 5.00 Amazon gift card. There are other ways to win, such as referring friends, or buying things online through their website, but the main way that you win is just by doing internet searches that you would be doing anyway. It really is a fabulous tool, and I love that it is yet another way that I can save our family money.