Today Swagbucks is celebrating their second birthday!

Have you signed up with Swagbucks yet? If you haven’t, what are you waiting for? This is the easiest way to earn free gift cards and other awesome prizes. Plus, if you sign up right now through my link and use the code LORASCODE1 (case sensitive), you will start out with 60 FREE swagbucks (30 for signing up and 30 for using the code)! For more instructions on how to sign up, keep reading.

I wouldn’t share this with you if I didn’t absolutely know it worked….so far I’ve gotten $120 in gift cards just from using Swagbucks. And I’m getting most of Ava’s birthday gifts free with those gift cards.

What is Swagbucks?

Swagbucks is a search engine that rewards you for using it. Every few searches, you’ll be rewarded with swagbucks. The swagbucks build up and you can trade them in for gift cards (to places like Amazon, Target, Starbucks, Barnes & Noble, and Victoria’s Secret to name a few) or other prizes.

How Do I Earn Swagbucks?

It’s easy! Just use it to do your normal searches that you normally use Google, Yahoo or another search engine for. It’s that simple!

You can also make extra swagbucks by referring friends. Whenever your friends earn swagbucks, you earn the same number they do, up to 100. So if you sign up, please go through the links in this post!

Plus, they’re introducing some new ways to win (detailed below).

Until 3/4, Swagbucks is offering my readers a swag bucks code to earn 60 swagbucks right off the bat, just for signing up! The code is: LORASCODE1 (case sensitive). Just click here to go to the registration form. All you have to do is enter that code in the blue box that says SwagCode and you’re ready to start earning!!

To celebrate their birthday, Swagbucks is making a bunch of great changes. Here is what they told me:

1) More ways to earn Swag Bucks every day: With Swabucks.com 3.0 users will be able to earn by having their toolbar visible on their browser (must be logged in) and also by simply viewing our ‘No Obligation’ special offers. This means that in addition to all the regular ways to earn, the more you are engaged with Swagbucks.com, the more you will earn!

2) New look home page and Swag Store & rewards store: Swagbucks.com 3.0 will include a revamped, cleaner interface that will provide a better user experience.

3) Launch of the Swagstakes Portal: As you may know we currently run about a dozen on-going sweepstakes (called Swagstakes) at any given time. With the launch of 3.0 we are going to have a brand new, fully stocked Swagstakes portal in which there will be dozens of Swagstakes running at all times! Some contests will be limited entry (meaning a set number of entries will be offered) so the odds for a user to win are greater. The tentative list of items that will be offered during initial launch should include: $100 Amazon Gift Cards, Sony Bravia 32? TV, Amazon Kindle, Apple iPod Touch, Flip Ultra HD Camera, Panasonic Blu Ray with Remote, Apple iPad, Sopranos Complete Series Box Set, Rachel Ray 10 piece cookware set, Playstation 3 system + games bundle, Canon Powershot Camera, Seinfeld Complete Series DVD box Set, Viziio 22? LCD TV and plenty more!

4) Starting today, you will notice that your Swag Bucks in your account will be multiplied by 10 (as will the prices in the store. So for example, if you had 45 bucks in your account you will now have 450 SB; The Amazon which was 45 SB will now be 450 SB). NO prices are being raised on prizes (it will all be proportional – so have no fear about that), but what this split of the SB will allow us to do is to award bucks to users in ways that were not before imaginable (such as being logged into the toolbar, and viewing our special offers).

Don’t hesitate! With all the free codes they’re giving away right now, this is the best time to sign up! This isn’t complex like choosing life insurance online quotes…just sign up, search and start earning!

Posted: February 25th, 2010 under Random Thoughts.
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Isn’t it funny how our days can be so crazy even when we don’t get out of the house much? I think that’s part of the craziness right now…the kids and I are used to being social butterflies and going to lots of playgroups, MOMS Club events and errands and right now we can’t!

On Saturday, we went to church and were ready for our Growing Kids God’s Way class. But it started to snow during the service and according to the weather scanning software, we were supposed to have a winter storm warning starting in a few hours. We decided we didn’t want two totaled cars and that we were going to just go home and they ended up canceling it because enough families made the same decision. It was definitely a good idea because it was already slippery and the storm warning hadn’t even started yet! So we ended up eating all of the slab apple pie by ourselves! Yikes!

On Sunday we stayed home all day…I couldn’t even run my errands because of the snow. So we baked cookies and watched the Olympics instead.

On Monday I ran an errand and today I took all of our tax stuff to our CPA, so I am getting out of the house, it’s just kind of a pain having to schedule it to make sure that Chad will be home. We’re hoping to have our van back by the end of the week though! Yay!

This week I started ordering Ava’s birthday stuff and I still can’t believe she’s going to be THREE! Where did the time go?! I’m really excited that Daniel, Jessica and Madison will be able to be with us for her birthday this year. Daniel’s spring break is that week and they were already planning to come see us during that time, but I didn’t realize it would be on her birthday until a few weeks ago. We’re all looking forward to getting to spend more time with them and show them where we live.

Posted: February 23rd, 2010 under Random Thoughts.
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This week for Ava’s homeschooling, we’ve been focusing on the Letter A (I’ll be doing a post about all of the activities we did over at Motherhood Moments soon). I figured the perfect ending to this week would be making apple pie, especially since the theme for the potluck at Growing Kids God’s Way tomorrow is American food! I love it when I can share the fattening food I make with other people so I don’t end up eating it all myself…thus the reason I don’t need phentermine! LOL

So that’s what we did. The first twenty minutes or so went great. First the kids helped me mix up the crusts (we made two). I decided to make slab apple pie so that the kids could help and I wouldn’t be worried about making it look pretty. This was a very good decision, considering that Kelvin insisted on gouging the crust with anything he could get his hands on….spoons, forks, measuring cups, etc.

We finally got the crusts done and safely hidden away on the kitchen counter (we were cooking in the dining room so that the kids could reach better). Thankfully, the apple slicing went much more smoothly. I sliced up one apple for them to eat and then they helped by dumping the other apples I was slicing into the bowl.

And then things went downhill. We started the topping by putting the flour in the bowl. While I went to the kitchen for butter, Kelvin took a spoon and sprinkled all of the flour all over himself. When I got back in there, he was completely white and so was the table and chairs. I was not impressed and Ava told him he could not be “Chef Babycakes” anymore.

But we got through it…cleaned up the mess, stripped the baby down to his diaper, finished the topping, and baked the pies without burning them!

Posted: February 19th, 2010 under Random Thoughts.
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Is anyone else getting a little antsy for spring? I know I am!

I know it’s only February, but I’m already wanting to get started buying the kids’ spring and summer clothes. I’m trying to restrain myself and wait a little longer, but it’s hard! LOL

I’m also making lists of fun activities we can do once the weather warms up….both “field trips” and things we can do in our own backyard. I’m thinking about getting some play equipment like slides for the yard to make it a little more fun for the kids. We have balls, sandbox toys, ride-on toys, and things like that, but I think they would really enjoy some bigger equipment now that they’re getting bigger. It might also buy me some time to mop the floor or do my workout (no weight loss product for me!) while they’re out there. We have a fenced backyard and the gate has a lock on the outside so I know there’s no way they could possibly get out and I plan to take full advantage of that this year! LOL Of course, I’m sure we’ll spend lots of time at the park too since it’s right across the street.

I’m sure in a few months I’ll be whining about how hot it is, but right now I’m ready for the gray, dreary winter to be OVER!

Posted: February 19th, 2010 under Random Thoughts.
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This morning was just one of those mornings. The kids both woke up in sour moods which turned mine sour pretty quickly. They were whiny, fussy and arguing with each other pretty much non-stop. Not fun to deal with, especially when it starts before the coffee kicks in! LOL Leaves you wishing you could escape for awhile and do something, anything else…even something like researching differin!

I checked my email from my phone during one of the very few quiet moments and found this email from my grandma. It put a smile back on my face and when I read it to Chad he said I should email it to all the parents I know. LOL So I’m putting it here instead:

Whenever your children are out of control, you can take comfort from the thought that even God’s omnipotence did not extend to His own children.

If God had trouble raising children, what makes you think it would be a piece of cake for you?

Posted: February 17th, 2010 under Random Thoughts.
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I can NOT believe that it’s only a little more than a month until Ava’s birthday! And can you believe she’s going to be 3? I can’t believe that either! It’s time for the birthday party planning to begin!

I think this is the first year that she really “gets” what a birthday party is and she’s really excited about it. Much to my dismay, she decided she wants a Dora the Explorer party theme. I’m not Dora’s biggest fan, but we’re going with it. Plus, Dora’s really popular right now, which should make it really easy to find all the party supplies we need.

Frugal zealot that I am, I was really excited to find a coupon for Birthday Express! Who says birthday parties have to break the bank?!

Posted: February 17th, 2010 under Random Thoughts.
Comments: 1

Whew! Today has been crazy already and it’s only 2:00! Where’s my eye cream? LOL

This morning, I had to take Kelvin back in to the doctor to get his ears checked (he had a double ear infection a couple weeks ago). Since I needed the car to do that, Chad stayed home with Ava and I was able to take Kelvin all by himself for a change. Both ears are clear and everything looks good now!

While Kelvin and I were at the doctor, our Parents as Teachers educator came a little bit early for our appointment and she was able to work with Ava one-on-one with using scissors (something we just started working on). When Kelvin and I got home, we all made playdough and then she read to the kids while I cleaned up the horrible making-playdough mess!

We got some good news, too. Each PAT educator is only allowed to work with each family for three years total (regardless of how many kids they have or what ages they are). That meant we only have about 6 more months with her, which was a big bummer. But today she told us about a new program they’re starting for 3-to-5-year-olds. It’s basically the same as what we have now, except they aren’t paid for it so they can only do it with 20 families. She said she was certain she’d be able to get Ava in since we’ve never missed an appointment and are very involved with the playgroups and other PAT events. I’m so excited that we’ll probably be able to continue having her come out until Ava is 5 (and hopefully she’ll be able to do Kelvin when he’s old enough, too!).

Anyway, back to today. This afternoon, we’re taking Chad’s van in to the mechanic (see previous post) and then tonight I have my monthly Moms Night Out! This month, we’re going to paint pottery. I’m not a very creative person when it comes to stuff like that, but I am looking forward to a break!

Posted: February 16th, 2010 under Random Thoughts.
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One thing I’ve noticed since we became a temporarily one-car family is that the car isn’t here much anymore. LOL

Chad uses it for work all day and then when he’s home for lunch or at the end of the day, I usually have to take it to run errands or do shopping that I couldn’t do online (I don’t buy diet pills online, but sometimes I buy kids’ clothes that way).

As soon as the kids get up from their naps today, we’re going to take Chad’s van up to the mechanic and get that going. He wanted us to pay him before he started the work and we finally got our insurance check today, so that’s why it took so long. It’s going to take the mechanic another 2 weeks to get all the work done, so I’m sure I’ll be completely crazy (instead of just the little bit that I am now) by the end of this. We’ve definitely been getting creative in ways to keep the kids busy inside the house! Too bad this didn’t happen in the spring or summer when we could get out for walks and trips to the park. Oh well. *sigh*

Posted: February 16th, 2010 under Random Thoughts.
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I hope all my readers are having a good weekend!

We’re having a pretty lazy one. Last night, we enjoyed watching the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics. I wanted the kids to be able to watch it, but it didn’t start until 8 and Kelvin was exhausted by 7:30. He probably wouldn’t have paid much attention to it anyway, though. Ava lasted through the Parade of Nations, but she wasn’t paying much attention either. Oh well. Next time I bet they’ll be more interested. I enjoyed watching it, though. I thought it was pretty lame at first, but it got a lot better after the Parade of Nations. I still think Beijing’s ceremony was the best, though! Getting back on track tomorrow!

Today we were planning on going to church until we realized how hard that would be, with us temporarily being a one-car family. Chad has all of his Aire-Master stuff in my car since he’s been using it for work, so we would have to take all of it out (and there’s quite a bit), install the car seats and then load all the Aire-Master stuff back up after church so he can work tomorrow. Ugh. I can’t wait until we’re a two-car family again! I’ve been trying to keep a positive attitude about this whole thing, but it kind of went downhill today. I tend to break out when I get stressed, so before long I’m going to need an acne face wash! LOL

Before I go catch up on some of my TV shows that I missed last week, I want to direct your attention to Help Haiti Live, a benefit concert to help the victims of the Haiti earthquake last month. It will be in Los Angeles and Nashville and will also be streamed live from their site. There are still so many needs in that country and this is a great way to help out and see a fabulous concert featuring great artists!

Posted: February 13th, 2010 under Random Thoughts.
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We are finally home! I’m going to do a full update with pictures over at Motherhood Moments because I don’t like the way the template on this blog posts pictures. I can’t post them next to particular paragraphs or in any certain order. So if you have a second, click over and see where we spent the last few days!

We are very, very happy to be home and ready to get back into our groove as much as we can with only one vehicle (for now)! It was really nice to get a jump-start on settling in by getting home early this afternoon, too!

Posted: February 12th, 2010 under Random Thoughts.
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