Baby Wipes: Amazon vs. Costco

I am a huge fan of Amazon (as most of you know). Did you know that they have a free program you can sign up for called Amazon Mom? This gives you free 2-day shipping on most things from their websites, not just baby items! I went shopping for baby wipes this afternoon and just want to share this deal as an example of why I prefer to shop on Amazon!



Pampers Soft Care Wipes (720 count): $17.93 (works out to be 2.5 cents per wipe)
However, sign up for Amazon Mom and use the Subscribe and Save option to save an additional 30%, making these wipes now $12.55 for the box (1.7 cents per wipe). These wipes are delivered straight to your door by your friendly UPS man...saving you time, gas money, effort of packing everyone into the car for a run to the store, etc.

Now, if you went to Costco and bought your baby wipes, you would pay $26.99 for a box of 1000 wipes (making them 2.7 cents per wipe). You also have spent time and gas money, may have succumbed to impulse purchases, possibly interrupted the baby's nap, and put unnecessary stress upon yourself! ;-)

Have I convinced you yet? I plan to do more comparisons in the future, showing you WHY I buy many things on Amazon and what deals I have found. If you already shop on Amazon regularly for certain items, please share what you buy there.

Sarah's Sound Poem

Whoosh! the wind is so crazy!
And I feel so lazy.
The sky is so dark!
Especially above the park.
I'm glad I have my umbrella handy!

Splish! Sploosh! Splash!
See the lightning flash!
The raindrops tumble.
Pitter! Patter! Splatter! Drip!

Large Family Logistics

Does your life need some restructuring? Do you have areas in your home that aren't getting clean? Do you go to bed stressed about all the work that never gets done? If so, this book may help!

You could win a copy here on this blog (click the link). Check it out!

Making Your Own Baby Food

Recently I have been making my own baby food. It is SO easy! Too bad it took me 4 children to figure this out. I'm starting basic and so far have made carrots and sweet potatoes. With sweet potatoes, peel them and cut them in pieces. Then place them in a pot with some water. I added about a teaspoon of sugar (to a big pot) as well just to draw out the natural sweetness. Bring to a boil and simmer until they are fork tender. Drain excess water. The key to making good baby food purees is a good hand blender. The one at the bottom of this post is the one I have and it works perfectly. Puree vegetables completely. It took me less than 30 seconds to puree a big pot of sweet potatoes. After pureeing, spoon into ice cube trays and freeze overnight. The next morning, remove vegetables from trays and put the cubes in a big freezer-safe ziploc bag. It is so simple and easy to do this...not to mention it is better for our babies!

If you try making your own baby food (or have in the past), please leave comments with things you've tried or tips you gave for others!

Sarah's Book Report

"The Two Princesses of Bamarre"
By: Gail Carson Levine

Princess Addie and Princess Meryl are sisters and best of friends. When brave Princess Meryl catches the Gray Death, shy and fearful Addie sets out on a quest for the cure for this nasty disease. Addie receives special gifts from Meryl and other friends. First, Addie heads toward Mulee Forest to find and capture a specter hoping it would tell her the cure. On the way, Addie runs into an ogre. Eventually, Addie gets captured by Vollys, the dragon. Finally, Addie gets Vollys to tell her the cure and manages to sneak away and use this new information to help her sister back at home.

This book is very exciting because Addie sets out on a mission to save Meryl, even though she is very afraid.

$20 Amazon Gift Card for Only $10!

Wow, what a deal! I know lots of you out there order from Amazon. We order books, DVDs, diapers, laundry detergent, baby food, and lots of other things from Amazon. Well, today only, you can get a $20 Amazon gift certificate for only $10. Living Social is a "deal of the day" site so this great deal is available for today only.

She Loves Bouncing!

Sorry this video is sideways. I took it on my phone, not thinking about putting it on my blog later. In other news...Ruth is now crawling FORWARDS (she's been going backwards for a while) and pulling herself up onto her feet while holding onto things. I will try to get a video of that and post it here soon.

Redone

Picked up this chair for $5 at a garage sale last summer. Benjamin and Rachel helped me sand it down.



With a little paint, it is now a fun little chair! Thanks, Fur, for helping with the polka dots!

Christmas Day 2010

The kids were up bright and early! We opened stockings before breakfast while the kids were still in their new pajamas.











Then we read some Scripture and talked about why we give/get gifts. After a breakfast of scrambled eggs and cinnamon rolls, we relaxed and played some games together. After naps we continued the tradition of having Chinese food for Christmas dinner! The day was very restful and relaxing, a change from the last few weeks. We all enjoyed the family time. Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve 2010

After a delicious brunch of homemade Christmas tree rolls and various breakfast casseroles, we gathered together and Dad read the Christmas story.



The kids took turns passing gifts out to each person.



We enjoyed seeing my brother and his family at Christmas. They flew in from Alaska for several days.





Rachel loves Christmas and doesn't understand why it can't be Christmas EVERY day! My mom made each of the granddaughters a hat.



My sister gave Benjamin some army men. He could hardly wait to get them all set up and have a battle. We were still opening gifts and he was already playing in the other room.








Here is Sarah's hat that Grandma made for her. We were getting ready to play Apples to Apples.



Fur flew in from South Carolina to spend her Christmas break with us. She peeled the apples for our apple pie...which was quite tasty!!



Benjamin watched some Three Stooges that afternoon while we played Apples to Apples. This must have been one of the more serious moments! ;-)