Prime Day Things

This is the first year I've ever bought anything on Prime Day-- I think. I read lots of blogs about good deals, made lists of what I'd like & what we'd need, and culled and shortened those lists.

I thought about buying Christmas gifts, but the blogs I read from moms who did that kind of stuff highlighted gifts my kids aren't that into and I didn't feel like sorting through the million sales to find things that appealed to my kids. Aaron and I are an odd couple who don't really buy each other gifts, and we're not very much into name brand clothing or skincare/bath products so there weren't many things that I thought were too good of a deal to pass up.  As I perused fashion blogs, I paid attention to items that were only a Prime Day deal.  I saw so many things I liked and had even been on the fence about (we've been on one income for 14 months, so I've been really cautious about purchases), but if it wasn't a Prime day deal then the price should be the same (or quite similar) on any other day. I also paid attention to how much percentage off each item was. If I was only saving a couple dollars, I didn't seriously consider the purchase to be worth it.

I ended up buying 4 things and I kept three of the four.

The first thing was this brown belt with a gold double-circle buckle. I have seen this belt on Cassie from the Hi Sugarplum blog, which I love (especially when she does Amazon, Target, Walmart & LOFT posts!).  In some weird way, I got it in my head that the belt was super pricey but I must have had it mixed up with a belt from a designer store on a prior post. Anyway, this belt was included in Prime day for $10 (initially $14). So yes, it was only a four dollar savings, but the percentage off was pretty good and I thought $10 for a nice neutral belt that I'll wear every other day was a good deal.  I've purchased clothing items from Amazon before (mainly after reading Hi Sugarplum's posts and cross-referencing them on Erika's blog since she is long-waisted like me and sometimes sizes up in clothes because of this) and have ordered one to two sizes up.  I've always felt that the sizing on belts was weird & a little off. I like to have some belt left over to tuck into belt loops and it feels weird to me when the belt just barely barely fits. It's like a little subconscious jab every time I put it on like 'will this even buckle next time?' and I don't need that kind of negativity in my life. :) So I've sized up in belts for years. I read the reviews on this one and debated sizing up two sizes but stuck with sizing up one size. The belt fits great but I surely couldn't have gotten away with my normal size.


The next thing I purchased was this dryer/volumizer. I had read about this tool months ago but couldn't justify it. Since then, my hair straightener went on the fritz and I had priced out new ones but hadn't purchased one yet. I thought if I bought this dryer combo then it would help straighten my hair since it had a brush attached to it.  I also thought it could cut my hair fixing time in half if I didn't have to dry then straighten. It was much larger in person than it looked online. Aaron teased me that it was the type of dryer that Gina Giant from Wallykazam would use. :)  I tried it out the very next morning and it was awful. It took three times longer to dry my hair and left me with a frizzy mess. I knew right then it would not save me any time getting ready in the mornings, so I cleaned the brush and immediately initiated the return process on Amazon. I chose the return option where I could just take the product in its original box to UPS and they'd scan a code on my phone, package the product, and send it back for me. I took it to UPS that very day.  This dryer/volumizer is the same one my mother-in-law uses, I found out and it works well for her and all of the women on the blog posts I read who use it. I'm truly happy it works well for some-- it just didn't work for me.

We also took advantage of this Keurig and this air fryer.  We had replaced our Keurig with a very basic model for $80 a year or so ago when our other Keurig stopped brewing the middle sized cup which is the one I use the most. When I saw this upgraded Keurig for $100 (which was almost half off) I figured that I could take my basic one to my classroom desk and upgrade ours at home. This model can make a shot of coffee which Aaron likes to put in his cold brew iced coffee.  It can also steam & foam milk when we want to be fancy & make cappuccinos and lattes-- which is not often but it might be fun on hot cocoa this winter. :)

We had talked about air fryers in the past and had reconsidered them after Aaron's brother got one. I looked at them in Target and didn't want to justify the price tag.  However, I saw a different brand offered during Prime day and it was so user friendly, almost half off of its original price, and $10 cheaper than the one at Target. I had considered an instant pot because I wanted something to make dinners faster when I get home from work in the fall, but I was still a little skeptical of its safety since it is a pressure cooker.  After researching the air fryer and seeing how it could cook things faster than the oven, I decided to get one and try it out. It arrived on Friday last week and Aaron got home from a trip on Saturday and we tried it out that night and have used it everyday since then. We've made wings, steak, pizza rolls (yes, we're 12), broccoli, popcorn chicken, etc.  I plan to make muffins, mini loaves of banana bread, and even poach an egg in a ramekin soon.

About a week before prime day, I was pricing the dvd box set of The Office. If you haven't heard, it's leaving Netflix in 2020 or 2021 so I felt compelled to get it on dvd. Initially, the series was divided in two dvd sets (seasons 1-5 and seasons 6-9). Total, it would be $85. I chose to wait. A few days later, I checked again and it was $55 for the complete 9 seasons so I jumped at it. HOWEVER, I learned my lesson about buying things before prime day.  It's like buying yourself a present the week before Christmas or your birthday. Aaron's cousin got it for $35 on prime day and I'm kicking myself for spending $20 more than I had to! Lesson learned. Wait for prime day.  (Also, I see that it's offered for $49.99 right now, so I missed out on multiple fronts.  Such is life.)  :)

Did you buy anything on prime day?


Until Next Time,
Much Love, Reba

Sayings of My Children

The boys & I read back through little snippets of conversations I've written down over the years and it was so funny to see their expressions as we talked about what they said as toddlers and preschoolers.  I've still kept record of funny quips they make and here's the latest edition.

For reference, Michael is 6 (nearly 7) and Noah is 5.


Noah: (singing) I'm so skinny! You can see my skin!


Michael: Mario has a hundred and one. Luigi has a hundred and one too. Not a hundred and twelve.
Noah: we know that. Everyone knows that.

When Noah talks about kickstands, etc, he says "stable riders" instead of stabilizers. It's so cute and I'll miss this when he pronounces this correctly.

Watching a show about a rhino who needs glasses and Gideon (my 6 y.o.nephew) tells me that this rhino is "ear sighted, which means he can't see."

Noah: (came in from playing outside) mom, do you have a metal detector? Michael can't find his dime.

Noah: I want to watch them go through the cold-desac. But is it actually cold there?

Noah: (playing with a cowboy outfit) I had to get a bear.
Me: (gasp) what kind?
Noah: a grizzle bear


(On May 4th)
Michael: Happy graduation day, Mom!
Noah: Happy Easter, Mom!

Noah: Akuna is wet
Me: Akuna, how did you get wet?
Noah: He doesn't know; he can't talk!

Noah: (pretending to be a dump truck by laying on the floor and pressing the couch cushions up with his feet-- he accidentally toots while doing this)
Me: Uh-oh. Sounds like you have engine trouble.
Noah: No, that was just my Jake-brake

Noah: is Mickey Mouse real?
Me: he's just a character.
Noah: well, I think he IS real because he's in the movies. Does he live in Disney World?
Me: yes. I think in the castle.
Noah: I think he lives in the clubhouse because he's in the clubhouse in the movies. Does he have a garage?
Me: I think so.
Noah: he does. It's in the boot of the clubhouse. It's called a boot garage.

Michael: dad, name 5 Italian foods
Aaron: pizza, spaghetti, linguine, rigatoni, ice cream
Michael: you lose. I said Italian!
Me: those are Italian
Michael: ice cream & pizza are not Italian!

Michael: my favorite color is red.
Noah: I like red, white, AND blue
Michael: oh, you will LOVE the American flag

(I told Noah he could have cheez-its after breakfast.)
Noah: remember about my cheez-it cheez-its?
Me: yep. Do you remember?
Noah: nope.

Avery: (puts toy vacuum partially under yoga mat, then runs through the room and trips on it)
Me: Noah, could you pick up the vacuum under the yoga mat?
Noah: Yeah. Why is it called a yogurt mat?

Noah: (shows me his paper plate butterfly he made in Vacation Bible School crafts) I made this today in Craps class

Noah: what do you call a horse that drinks from a swimming pool?
Me: I'm not sure
Noah: a drinking swimming pool horse

Noah: (as I pour orange juice) Orange! That's actually juices squirted from an orange. I wonder if that's why they call it orange juice.

Noah: (pretending to be a dog) what if I scratch off all this stuff covering my bones?
Michael: you mean skin?

Note: When Noah says "L" words, it sounds exactly like how his "W" sounds. I'm typing this how it sounded in conversation.
Noah: mom, how do you spell wait?
Me: wait or late?
Noah: wait
Me: w-a-i-t
Noah: oh, I thought it had an "L"

(Michael was up late watching "Forged in Fire: Knife or Death" with Aaron and myself, and the competitor did something so fast)
Me: oh my gosh!
TV host: oh my G**!
Michael: (gasps) that should say "oh my boop!"

Noah: I love you so much that I'm going to hug you everyday and every mother's day

Michael: we're playing "family." I'm the dad & avery's the mom.
Noah: I'm the grandpa and you can have whatever chocolate bar you like.
Michael: what kind of grandpa is that?
Noah: a working grandpa.

Me: tomorrow we have a birthday party to go to at 4 o'clock.
Noah: is it America's?

Michael: akuna (our dog), you stink. Take a bath.
Noah: cake a bath! You know? Because we're having cake at the party later?
Michael: (laughs) oh yeah, that's funny! Cake a bath.
Noah: (proceeds to repeat his joke about 6 more times, looking at Michael to see if the laugh will continue to be reciprocated).

Noah: (still not able to say the "L" and "R" sounds) Have you seen the white ball?
Me: White ball? No.
Noah: Not white ball! White ball!
Me: (remembering the red & blue markers Noah stuck together to make a police car) You mean light bar?
Noah: Yes, I just can't say those words so I can just say white ball. 

(Noah sits in the way back of our van and he likes to make up songs as we drive.  Here is what I heard to and from church this past Sunday:)
Noah:  (on the way to church) we love Jesus even though He is invisible!
(on the way home) Michael, Michael! You love me and I love you!

Oh, it's so fun to read through what they've said.  These are memories being made and they're good reminders about what precious gifts our children are.


Until Next Time,
Much Love, Reba

Brushing Teeth

Avery has recently discovered the joy of brushing her teeth. Now we can hardly walk past the hall bathroom without her saying "teeth, teeth."  So we oblige and enter the bathroom. 

She climbs up the step stool, I hand her her My Little Pony training toothbrush & she brushes her teeth! I don't put her training toothpaste on the brush every time-- sometimes I just get the brush a little wet from the sink and hand it to her. She doesn't care at the moment.

As I hand her the toothbrush, I'll say "here you go" and she responds by handing me the soap dispenser and saying "go."

I'll let her brush for a minute or so. While she's brushing her teeth, I'll comb her hair.

If I lean in toward the mirror to look at my eyes or hair, etc. then Avery will also lean in toward the mirror. :)

When her minute isup, I'll hold out my hand wide and I'll count down from five and then point at her toothbrush. I take it, rinse it, and put it away and Avery proceeds to fake cry for 1.3 seconds until we leave the bathroom and then she's fine!

Until Next Time,
Much Love, Reba

Family Ice Cream Outing

Last week, we went to a local ice cream stand with my parents.  This is almost like a three-tiered park in a way.  The upper level is a playground and lighthouse fountain that the kids always throw a penny in (and Michael's wish is always that Pokemon were real), the mid-level is a farmer's market, restaurant, and ice cream stand with covered porches and rocking chairs, and the lowest level is a park with walking paths and a man-made small pond and some porch swings.  Here's some photos from our trip after dinner one night last week!

We tried out pig tails on Avery before we left.  They didn't last the 20 minute drive.

There was a big sand pile at the playground and of course all three kids thought it was the best thing ever.  Avery kept sliding down it an inch at a time saying "wheee!" Michael is the ever present encourager of other people doing hard things-- like small Avery climbing the pile.  You can catch a bit of Noah's facial expression as he jumps (another Noah behavioral-constant) and shouts in glee.

When I went down below with Avery, Aaron, and Michael after ice-cream, my parents sat in rocking chairs and watched Noah play on the vintage tractor that's cemented in front of the ice-cream stand.

Avery will get herself into all sorts of dangerous positions like crawling under moving swings.  She's certainly not shy about potential hazards.

Until Next Time,
Much Love, Reba