What's In Our Amazon Cart - Part 1

I admit it! I am, unashamedly, an Amazon shopper. Don't get me wrong. I am a strong supporter of others who are in direct sales and for those who work their own small businesses. But... I am a fan of shopping on Amazon. I appreciate the ease of a one stop shop for many of our needs.

Believe it or not, you can support small businesses on Amazon as well. Does Amazon make a profit from them selling on their site? Yes, but honestly, there are very few businesses where there is no cost to you in some shape or form.

So, with that in mind, I decided I would share with you what we have shopped for using Amazon throughout our months. 

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Before I dive too deep in to this, I do have to tell you that this blog post contains affiliate links. If you click on the link and choose to make a purchase from it, then I may make a small little profit from it.

Now, for the good stuff. If you know me at all, you know that I am a nerd and that most of the things I buy for our son are educational toys. I don't mind if he plays with other toys. I just personally prefer toys with a true intent and purpose. This month, thas has been a large part of our purchases. We took full advantage of prime days and I bought a couple of wish list items for our homeschooling adventures while my husband was feeling generous.

First up, was a microscope and some accessories. Though the kit we ordered came with a few things I ordered some extras so that we would be well prepared and for passing the time this winter. I have a feeling it is going to be a long winter.

​Is Joe too young for a microscope? No. I believe when you share a love of learning with kids when they are young, they will grow up thinking that learning is fun. Maybe. It's my theory for now. He's four and loves to learn, so I'm going to hold tight to what I believe at the moment. Maybe in his teenage years I'll change my mind. 

I'm not a total dud of a mom though and I ordered him a couple of fun things as well. One has to do with his love of all things space, the stars and the moon. We lit it up before bedtime in his room and he loved it. He likes that we can change the colors and that it turns so that it moves the picture. I would actually love to have one that shows an actual layout of the stars in our galaxy, but I have a feeling it would cost a whole lot more than what we paid for this.

I also bought him one of those little "dart boards" for kids. It has the little velcro balls. Again, I have a feeling the winter will be long and cold, so I am looking for games and fun things that will keep his body active, but it also hones some of his skills as well. So, I guess I snuck some of that nerd mom in me when making these purchases.

I wasn't 100% sure about this next item that we received, but it arrived tonight and let me tell you... it was a huge hit. We were able to talk about lowercase letters, the pictures, the letters that spell out the name of the picture. It was great. He had a fun time matching up the letters on the card and I enjoyed patting myself on the back for picking out a win.

There was one negative to this and that is the T's curve at the bottom, so there was a lot of confusion about it being a T or a J.

​​This next purchase may seem strange because I did not order it for decor purposes, but I promise you that it is not. I ordered a bag of fake acorn nuts to use as a fall counting activity during our school time. It came with 100 pcs. It will be easy to store and bring out the next couple of years for using during math time.

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The next two things I straight out nerded it up some more with him. The busy board is on back order, but I totally bought this so that he could work on manipulating zippers, buttons, latches, tying a knot, etc. I can't wait for this to come because I think this will be a nice quiet time activity.

The other thing that I ordered was this monkey balance/counting game. It is a scale with a monkey in the middle. You can totally find them with other animals. I deliberated long and hard between this monkey and a duck one I saw. Then it comes with weighted number 1-10 and 19 monkeys. You put one of the numbers on one of the scales and then count out the number of monkeys needed to balance out the scale. It also comes with some cards that you can use to help teach addition later. Long term functionality and use is one of the things that I look for in anything that I buy. Can I use it for the next couple of years?

Also, note, if you search for this on Amazon, it will come up with numerous sellers. They all appeared to be the exact same thing, so I picked the seller that was selling it the cheapest and had great reviews. I will say, that I had no complaints on the shipping or the product.

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The next couple of things were for me and for the house. I bought myself a back brace for posture. I have had a terrible knot in my back by my shoulder. A lot of it is stress, but I also have terrible posture which I know does not help. I was a little skeptical of this brace because it was pretty cheap, but I must admit that it has relieved some of the pain, stiffness and cramps I was feeling. I cannot wear it all day, but I have noticed a decrease in pain from using it periodically throughout the day. I am in no way, a medical expert. So I do not recommend using anything unless you are comfortable with making a decision for yourself or consulting with your doctor. I just know it has helped me.

I also bought a new diffuser. We have had the same diffusers in our house since the beginning of time. Ha ha. Just kidding! But it has been a long time. The diffuser that was in our bedroom was starting to make a high pitched whine that was waking me up in the middle of the night. Because I need something else waking me up in the middle of the night right? So, I bought this cute little guy and moved the one we had in our living room up to our bedroom and gave the old one from our bedroom and nice memorial before I tossed it to the curb. (in the trash can of course). This diffuser does come with some oils. I am a little bit of an oil snob, but I did keep a couple for myself that I do not have in my stash, put a couple aside to go out to my husbands car for his vent diffuser and a few will go to my mom who is not as snobbish as I am.

I feel the need to disclaimer after all of this. Ha. We typically do not spend this much on Amazon in a month, but we did by a large portion of the educational toys this week during the Prime Days. Nonetheless, I hope that you enjoyed what we had in our shopping cart so far this month and that it inspires you.