Room Re-Do!

I've been laying low for the past week.  Still not feeling too well.  Seems like it will never end! 

We did manage to get Ava's room switched over, it's all painted and pink and girly now.  My parents had the girls for a sleepover while we worked on it, and I had hinted to her that I was going to paint her room and make it pretty.  I didn't come right out and tell her I was going to switch it, because I'd asked her how she felt about it before and she said no way...but she's five years old, and she doesn't like change, of any kind.  At least, at first.  She warms up to it, and then she's fine.

So, she got home and immediately ran upstairs to check it out.  She ran into her "old" room first, which is now the play room.  I'm not finished with it yet so I didn't take pictures, it's done enough that the girls can play in it, but I still have a few more things to do.  Anyway, she was hysterical, crying and just...inconsolable.  I ruined her whole little life!  But then she went to see her new room, and after a few minutes in there things weren't so bad anymore.  After an hour or so, she was loving it.  She even gave me thumbs up and told me it was "cool."  :o)  

I'm still not quiiiiite finished with her room yet either, but the only things left to do are to re-paint the ceiling, get a lamp shade, and fix a dresser drawer that broke.  I took some pictures anyway.  Let me know if you have any other decorating ideas!  There is a LOT of pink, but that's what Ava likes.  She's a total girly girl and loves pink.


Heading in to her room.

So, there you have it!  :o)  I think it's cute.  Super girly, and fit for a little princess!  Like I said, the drawer is being fixed, and I need a lamp shade...thinking maybe green to tie into the green on her bedding and the greenery around the room.  I don't know.  Break up the pink a little.  I can't decide if I want to paint the lamp base or leave it cream, her blinds are cream and so are the lampshades on her little chandelier.  Also, I replaced the little babydoll cradle with a basket bassinet...the cradle was missing a part that I couldn't find.  I have no idea why, but Blogger isn't letting me add captions to the pictures except for the first one. 

Next up, Charlotte's room.  She wants her room painted purple so I picked out a lilac color.  I wanted to start working on it earlier this week, but you know, life happens.  It will probably wait until next week.  I'm still working on painting some end tables for her, I'm almost finished with them.  I finished that book case I was working on last week, except for that I decided I wanted to put some trim around the bottom.  I have to figure out how to cut it and get the angles right, I'm soooo not a tool using kinda gal.  I want to be, I'm just...not, haha. 

In other news...I just got an email about a wind advisory, up to 57mph winds, right about the time I have to pick Ava up from the bus.  That oughta be fun!  :o)  Mike said to tie Charlotte to a rope so she doesn't blow away, hehe.  I will just carry her. 

I *love* this deal!

LOVE when they offer free 8x10 photo canvases!  The others are a great deal too!  I really need to get a move on with decorating the new house.  There is nothing on the walls in the living room, family room, kitchen, hallway...and I could go on, haha.  With re-decorating and updating my style, it's going slowwwwwly, but this is an awesome deal and some black and white or sepia canvases would be timeless.

FREE 8x10 photo canvas (Just pay shipping!) or $35 off larger canvases.

11x14 photo canvas for just $27, shipped!

16x20 photo canvas for just $37, shipped!

What a great deal!

Gift Ideas!

I shop for the holidays all year round. It's the only way to go, so I don't totally irritate my hubby with massive spending, hehe! A little here, a little there, finding great deals, and Christmas (or Easter) is a breeze!

 

Right now Vistaprint is offering six free items to help you showcase your most important photographs.  All you have to pay for is, is shipping.  Not bad!

Shipping Starting Prices:

Calendar- $5.67
T-Shirt- $4.86
Magnet- $4.52
Mouse Pad- $4.41
Mug- $5.67
Photo Book- $5.83

What a Week!

Weeks like this, make me absolutely LOVE being a firefighter's wife.  The schedule is absolutely amazing.  Handsome Hubby had the entire week off, thanks to a trade he made a couple months ago.  He didn't have to work his second job either thanks to him finishing his "training" and having to wait for the new schedule to come out unless someone called in...and no one did.  It's also been a sloowwwww week for volunteer calls too.  He got up with the girls every day this week and was on bus stop duty.  With my not feeling well lately, this has been so nice for me.  I'm so lucky to have a husband who takes such good care of his family.  He only ran out to go to the gym (he does Cross Fit) and to do some training at the volunteer house.  Such a nice week of him being home so much. 

We haven't really done too much this week, despite his time off.  I fully intended to get some painting done, but all I've done is work on painting a bookshelf for Ava's room.  That's something, at least, right?  I just get worn out so easily (and yes, I have been working on this shelf all week...it's COLD outside and in the garage).  I spent lots of time on the couch snuggling.  We are watching How I Met Your Mother from the beginning on Netflix and we got through Season 1 and most of Season 2.  We did go out on Thursday to take the girls to the library, and I needed to run into the grocery store.  I told hubby I was in the mood for a nice big salad, so he took us out to dinner.  It ended up being Family Night where we went, and the girls had a blast.  They had balloons and fun headbands/hats for the kids, plus a cotton candy machine.  We had a really nice time and my salad was delicious.  We haven't done a mid-week dinner out for awhile since Ava's been in school, and usually we don't do much of it on the weekends because everything is packed.

Today I'm planning to finish up painting that book shelf.  The girls are going to my parents for a sleepover tomorrow, and I asked the husband if he would help me switch Ava's room, with the playroom.  The girls picked their rooms before we moved in, and Ava picked the what seems like the biggest room upstairs (well, the master bedroom is bigger, but you know, the biggest other room, haha).  It's pretty comparable in size to the room Charlotte picked, but it's a bit longer and narrower, so it does feel bigger.

This is only part of the room, it's long... big enough for two beds...bigger than the room that the girls shared in our old house.

It is painted blue with clouds and glow in the dark painted stars on the ceiling and it has decals of trees and butterflies and stuff... and Ava wants to paint it pink.  I am fine with that (though everyone else I mention it too seems to protest), but, the fourth bedroom is the playroom and the layout is just not working out for the amout of toys and big stuff that the girls have.  They keep some toys in their rooms, but most of them stay in the playroom so they can share.  So this weekend while the girls are at my parents, I'm going to switch the rooms.  And paint the current playroom/Ava's new room the color pink that she wants, and have it set up really nice for her when they get back.  She doesn't like change, so I'm hoping she likes this (and the more pink and girly, the more chance she will, haha)...if not, I guess I'll have to consider switching it back, but really, I think they'll love it and having room for all their toys since some are still packed.  And this way, we'll get to keep the pretty walls and not paint over them since they'll look great for a playroom.  At least for now, until we maybe decide to have baby number three...  which won't be for probably at least two years with my health issues.  At that point, we'd just have to move the playroom down to the basement.  Maybe we should just do that in the first place...but the basement is still unfinished. 

I should probably go ahead and paint Charlotte's room too so she doesn't feel left out.  She wants purple.  Bright purple, but I'm thinking more of a lilac. 

So, yeah, kind of a lazy day today.  The girls got me up at about 8:30, and I made them waffles, hashbrowns, and scrambled eggs for breakfast.  They're watching Tinkerbell right now and I'm waiting for the last coat of paint I put on the bookshelf to dry before I add another coat.  I plan to enjoy being lazy today since it will be crazy here tomorrow with painting and rearranging.  Fun, fun! 

Just a note, don't be alarmed by the crazy posts today.  I decided I wanted to switch over the personal posts over at The Coupon Wars, to here and keep that strictly for shopping and coupons talk. 

Fairy Gardens

http://kellishouse.blogspot.com/2009/04/fairy-gardens.html

How cute is that idea??? I am so getting some bigger pots to sit outside...probably one for out back and one for the front... I know I would have loved that as a little girl so I am sure that the girls will like it now and really grow to enjoy it as they get older and more imaginative.

And, I will have fun picking stuff out at the craft store because I'm totally girly like that... :o)

Earn Cash and Prizes. Seriously! :o)

As I'm sure you all know, I *love* taking surveys and earning rewards.  It's not really a great way to make a living, but it is a great way to supplement and earn some fun things in your spare time.  I earn gift cards to treat my family to a nice dinner out every now and then, or I'm able to select prizes or gift cards I can use towards making the holidays special.  It really helps at Christmas!  I even earn checks that I can put into savings as well.

 

MyView is a global community of expert individuals who express their open, honest, and valid opinions on a wide range of topics.

By experts, they mean folks just like you who are knowledgeable or passionate about almost any topic. Gaming. Business. Family. Movies. TV. Books. Technology. You name it.

It's pretty simple. You tell them what you think about stuff like:

• Never-before-seen movie trailers
• New tools and solutions for IT Professionals
• Cutting edge tools and solutions for IT pros
• The latest fashion trends
• New video games
• Health topics
• Business issues, large and small
• And much, much more

In return, you earn valuable rewards that you can spend all over the web.  Sounds good to me!

You might also like to check out the Join Nielsen Home Scan Consumer Panel - Earn valuable points, which are redeemable for electronics, household items, jewelry, toy, gift cards, and more. If they are accepting panelists in your area, you'll receive a price gun that you scan your groceries and coupons to earn points. This is a fun activity for kids to do while you're putting groceries away and the longer you're a panelist, the better the prizes get.

I get asked all the time what survey companies I use, so here are a couple that I work with:

Global Test Market

Focus Forward Online

Click IQ

MindField Online

Opinion Square

Toluna

Opinion Outpost

MySurvey

Valued Opinions

American Consumer Opinion Panel

Clear Voice Surveys

Surveyhead

Brand Institute
MintVine

This is a check I got from Global Test Market!

I also recommend YouData, where you get paid to view ads.  They PayPal you payment every week!

Another option is Pinecone Surveys, and they are fantastic but very selective about who they allow to participate in their surveys.  

And don't forget about Swagbucks!  Not only can you earn points for searching with them, but also for watching videos and completing surveys as well.  They are in my top 3 for earning!  Next two being Global Test Market and Opinion Outpost, as linked above.  On a lazy month I earn at least a $25 Amazon gift card from Swagbucks just from hitting the daily goal, but if I actually put more time into it I can earn $50-100.

Also, if you'd like to earn a little extra cash for shopping, be sure to load a few apps on your phone like Receipt Hog, Checkout 51, Mobisave ( use code GEZYTEXC to let them know I sent you! ;)  ), and iBotta (my referral code is z3kypw if you want to be on my team!  The more team members you have, the more bonus cash you can earn!).  I've had great results with all of those.

Are there any that you have had good results with?  I'd love to hear about them!

Happy Valentine's Day!

How has your day been today?  We don't really go all out celebrating Valentine's Day.  We just never have.  Sometimes we do flowers and cards, every once in awhile we'll go to dinner.  Usually it's just a low key day at home for us, though.  I got the girls a few little trinkets, and of course we did cards for the kids in my little Kindergartener's class.  I bought a bunch of cute cards a couple years ago, on clearance at Target.  I think I paid maybe .10-.20 a box.  They all have pencils, stickers, or tattoos.  She picked out Hello Kitty cards with pencils.  We also sent in some Hershey's Kisses to pass out as well.
She brought home sooooo much candy!  I'm glad I didn't send in more than the Kisses.  My youngest and I made cupcakes today so she had something fun to do too.  Yummy!  We also had a special dessert tonight after dinner.  I put a couple scoops of vanilla frozen yogurt, with some sugared strawberries and a half a cupcake in a little bowl for the girls.  We don't normally have dessert, so it's a treat when we do. 

They're going to be heading to bed soon and then it's mommy and daddy time.  I got my handsome hubby a personalized card with milk and cookies on it.  It says "We're way better when we're together!"  So true!  I was going to make him some cookies to go with it, but since I made cupcakes already today...and our cookie jar is full (that wasn't expected, usually the cookies go quick!), I opted out...haha!  I did get a box of yummy chocolates for us to share though, and I'll be sure to give him a nice massage later. 
I've been in a bit of pain today.  Still dealing with the cramps and of course, everything else.  Pretty sucky on Valentine's Day...I'm hoping the new med kicks in soon.  I can tell things are getting better...it's just slowwww.  And I get so tired.  Just cleaning the downstairs leaves me exhausted.  I have to rest a lot, and I feel like I'm being a lazy bum, but if I over-do it, I will pay for it and I know it.  I push myself a lot because I feel so bad...you can't really tell just by looking at me that I'm in pain or what I'm dealing with, and I just feel like no one really understands, so I just look, well, lazy.

Okay, gotta go get the kiddos to bed.