Celebrate and Earn!

For those of you who do not know, today is Swagbucks’ 5th birthday, and they are having a huge online party!  There are many Swagcodes to be released today, and 5 chances to win $1000 just for participating!  I have a lot going on today, but be assured, I will be checking in regularly to earn my Swagbucks!

If you aren’t a member of Swagbucks yet, you are missing out on a great way to earn lots of wonderful prizes.  Hop on over and join the party!  IF you are a member, be sure to participate and you can earn  lot of bonus Swagbucks today!  Party on! :)

Time to Start Earning

It has been some time since I have mentioned Swagbucks, but be assured, I have not forgotten this awesome earning program.  Swagbucks has paid for a great deal of my gift-giving this year – birthdays, Father’s Day, the occasional purchase, and of course, Christmas! 

To give you an idea of how much I have earned this year I will give you a breakdown of my prize redemptions.

1.  $350 in Amazon gift cards

2.  $35 in Cabelas gift cards

3.  $20 in Bass Pro gift cards

4.  $10 in CVS gift cards

That makes a grand total of $415 in gift cards earned!  All it takes is a little bit of time using Swagbucks each day to earn these rewards and even more!  There are restaurant gift cards, department store gift cards, PayPal gift cards,  Amazon.com gift cards (my personal favorite), and other great prizes!  You can earn by searching with the Swagbucks toolbar, games, shopping online, referrals, coupons, surveys and more!  You determine the amount of rewards you want to earn.

Now that the year is drawing to a close, you should sign up and start earning for next Christmas.  I challenge you to save money by using Swagbucks in 2013!  I know it has been such a help to our finances, especially in this rather depressed economy.  So, if you haven’t already signed up for Swagbucks, do it today and start earning those great rewards!  Sign up by clicking on this link and have a great year of saving!

                                                                   

Like New

Well, the crisis is over, and the newest member of the LFTC has been repaired and made to look just like new!  I was a little nervous, since this was the first time we had ever been to this dentist, having just moved to the area.  However, it was a good experience all around.

The dentist said that the tooth did not seem to be damaged in any way that would cause it to become loose or cause the nerve to die.  He said that the grinding did not even go to the second layer of the tooth, which is great news.  He had a cancellation right after our initial appointment, so he was able to repair the tooth immediately.  I was thrilled!  The Lord worked it all out for us!  Here she is with her new fang—oops, I mean, tooth! :)

 

 

What a relief that the whole ordeal is over.  She will have to be careful about biting into hard foods, but other than that, there is no significant change in habits.  Perhaps a football helmet for when she is riding her bike…

 

Today is Swagbucks’ 4th birthday!  Make sure you head on over and take part in the Birthday Bash!  I know there are tons of fun things going on, not to mention the team contests.  I plan to be a winner!  Who knows, maybe you will be one of the $1000 winners!  Check it out at Swagbucks!

Happy President’s Day!

I have no plans for today – other than school, housework and the usual.  I know today is considered a holiday, but I didn’t tell my kids! Mwahahaha!  I am so motivated to get the school year over that I don’t want to take any extra days of vacation.

 

Last week, I took my girls to the doctor because they both had a rash on their face.  I found out it was scarletina rash due to the fact that they had strep throat!  Neither one of them had complained of feeling badly, nor did they have a fever, sore throat, or any other symptoms.  The doctor told me I had caught it early, and we were able to get them on antibiotics (I don’t usually do antibiotics, but sometimes you have to) right away.  I am so grateful that they didn’t get really sick, or spread it to their brothers.  Now I just have to make sure I don’t forget to give them their medicine every day.

 

For those of you who participate in Swagbucks, this is their birthday month, and there are a lot of special activities going on around the website.  One of the big prizes is that four people will win $1000 cash!  Now is the time to join if you haven’t already!  Check out Swagbucks today!  New members can get an extra 110 Swagbucks for using the Promo code BIRTHDAYBASH12 when you sign up, making a total of 140 Swagbucks on your first day!  What a great deal!

One of Those

This week has been one of those… I was having computer problems on my new laptop earlier this week, and then all of a sudden, I had nothing.  It wouldn’t even turn on.  Wouldn’t you know, it was the week I chose to do my lesson plans early?  I had to call tech support, and after about fifteen minutes of holding, I was able to decipher the instructions that the foreign tech squad gave me.  Zilch.  Nada.  No change whatsoever.

 

After another thirty minutes on the phone, they determined that my motherboard was bad.  A tech representative will be coming out to fix it some time next week.  In the meantime, I have to  redo a week’s worth of lesson plans for three kids before Monday.  Why didn’t I print those lesson plans out right away?

 

Due to a meltdown in the electric box, we had no power most of the day on Tuesday.  It was raining, so we sat in the dark, cold trailer all afternoon while the electric box was being rewired.  Interesting.  I found myself wishing I had picked up a few more candles at the Bath and Body Works sale a few months ago. :)

 

All of my piano students had to reschedule for various reasons, too.  My week is all messed up!  I am very grateful, however, that the week is nearly over.  I am hoping to be back on board with my normal blog post schedule next week, but at this point, I am not holding my breath!  Life can be so interesting!

 

Well, the good news is that today is Mega Swagbucks Day again!  Some of you may have seen a few of the collector bills for Valentine’s Day while searching.  I finally got the last of the set, earning a special 14 Swagbuck bonus!  Yay!  There is still time to snag those bills – you have until Tuesday!  Happy Swagging…

Hand-me-downs

I have always been fortunate to be the recipient of hand-me-downs over the years.  I love passing things on to other people in turn.  My kids live in hand-me downs, and frankly, I’m glad that they can appreciate gently used clothing, shoes, and other things.  I love going to Goodwill and finding high quality clothes (although they do not technically count as hand-me-downs, since I have to buy them) for a very low price.

The other day, a friend passed along a bag of hand-me-downs that someone had passed on to her.   I had a lovely time trying on several articles of clothing that I would never buy, for various reasons (okay, leopard print just isn’t quite my thing!).  It was like a one-woman fashion show.  My ever-patient husband just watched, never voicing the thought that I knew was running through his mind: where are you going to store these clothes—your closet is already full!

Guilty!  I guess I am going to have to pass along a few of my own hand-me-downs in order to make room for the newest ones!  Anybody up for a few gently used clothes?  :)

By the way, don’t forget that today is Mega Swagbucks Day!  This month is Swagbucks’ fourth birthday and there are all kinds of special things going on over there.  If you have not signed up for Swagbucks yet, get started now!  You might want to check out the Braggable Bargains section – each day this month they are having a great sale on a different gift card in the Swag Store.  These gift cards are great birthday, anniversary, and even “me time” presents.  I love Swagbucks! Check it out here!

Looking Forward

There is a sense in which I look forward to the weekend, even with all of its busyness.  The main reason – no school!  Now I suppose that some of you are shocked to find that I do not enjoy home-schooling.  Doesn’t every home-schooling mother love teaching school?  Why else would they do it?  Personally, I excessively dislike teaching school.  If there were any other way to educate my children while on the road, I would be all over it like sprinkles on ice cream. 

I was a home-school student myself, and enjoyed school (all except geometric proofs and calculus), so why is it such a chore to teach my children?  I don’t know!  I just do not like it.  I love teaching piano, but teaching school is a whole different ball game.  Right now I am looking at a life sentence of home school – at least another 15 years added to the 6 I have under my belt.  I suppose that is why I am such a school Nazi.  I don’t even give my kids recess (truth be told, most days they waste so much time between subjects, they don’t need recess)!  My kids are wonderful—really.  I just hope they get more enjoyment out of their education than I do! 

This seems like a very negative post,  but how many of you are with me? :)  Yesterday I spent what seemed like hours trying to pound the one-vowel/two-vowel rule into Esther’s head again.  I try so hard to be patient, because I know she is just learning all this new information, but I really think the fastest way to an insane asylum is by teaching your own children.  The rationale behind this statement is as follows.
Teaching your own kids is hard because:
1.  You know the facts.
2.  Your child is very intelligent (obviously, because they are related to you)
3.  I already explained this fifty-eleven times before!
4.  If they still don’t get it, remember it, etc., more volume must be necessary to impart the knowledge.
5.  When you use volume (paired with great frustration), your child might turn on the waterworks (they are frustrated, too)
6.  While you are trying to calmly explain that “cost” is not pronounced “cluck,” (and would you please stop guessing and READ the word?) a fight breaks out behind you over who gets to use the three-hole punch next, and your toddler nags you for a drink.  The phone rings, and you get a text message from your husband asking if you know where some important papers are (maybe those are the ones the kids were coloring earlier).  The dryer buzzes, and the next load of laundry must be transferred from the washer to the dryer, and the dry clothes folded.  As the clock strikes twelve noon, fierce hunger pains stab your pre-teen son with such violence that he begins asking if we are going to eat today (as if eating is optional around our house).  Overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of the whole situation, there are only two options--cry or shout.  I try to choose the latter whenever possible.  My crying would upset the kids.  :)

Teaching other people’s kids is easy because:
1.  You know the facts.
2.  If they don’t understand, it must be stupid genes.  Some people just can’t be taught!  No sweat.
3.  You can send them home after a few hours and give yourself a break!

While this is a rather facetious way of saying it, being a home-schooling mother is hard work!  My hat is off to all of you who are where I am (evangelist’s wives are even more so, due to the ministry deadlines every day/weekend).  To those of you who truly enjoy home-schooling—you amaze me!  When I grow up, I want to be just like you! For the rest of us, just relax – we all have those moments, those days, and those weeks. You are not perfect, but neither are you alone!  Make the best of it and keep looking forward to the weekend!

P.S.  Don’t forget that today is Mega Swagbucks Day!  If you haven’t signed up for Swagbucks yet, get started today!  I am finding better ways to earn all the time, and I am hoping to fund all my birthday and Christmas shopping through Swagbucks this year.  I just found a great way to save myself time and money – the SBTV Mobile app for my phone.  I can earn 100 Swagbucks each day just by letting it play while I do my work.  For those of you that do SBTV on the computer, it is very similar, but even better.  I simply mute my volume, and push play.  It automatically goes to the next clip, without you having to sit and watch it.  Great feature!  I can get all my housework done and still earn Swagbucks while I am doing it!  It might be best to make sure you have an unlimited plan first, though! :)

Disappointments

Have you ever been disappointed?  Perhaps it was by a friend, a family member, a lost opportunity, or things just not working out like you had expected.  Life is full of disappointments, both small and great, but how do you handle those let-downs? 

This week, I received a package in the mail – something I had ordered.  When I saw the box, I was at first puzzled – what was this?!  I had ordered something, but I had expected it to be a lot bigger package, since there were two items in the box.  Upon opening the package, my eyes nearly bugged out – in fact, I think they were bigger than the items I had ordered!  I had planned to give them as birthday gifts to my girls, but after seeing them, decided they would make better stocking stuffers.  I was rather disappointed.  The promised goods did not meet my expectations.  However, I figured it would be easier to just keep the gifts and learn my lesson, than to try to return them and get a refund.  At this point, I am all about what is going to be easiest for me!  :)

The reality is, we get disappointed many times.  I can think of several situations in which I am perpetually disappointed – things beyond my control.  The good news is, Jesus Christ never disappoints me.  He is always what He says He will be.  He will never let me down, or leave me in the lurch.  He always exceeds my expectations.  So when I am facing disappointment, I need to go to Him.  Reading God’s Word and praying help to alleviate the pain of human disappointments.  Does the situation change?  Not necessarily, but my perspective changes, and I know that with Christ beside me, I can survive anything that comes my way.  So, take those disappointments to God, and allow Him to carry you through the less-than-ideal situations of life.

                                                     

By the way, today is Mega Swagbucks Day – an awesome opportunity to earn rewards!  If you haven’t signed up for Swagbucks yet, you are missing out on a great way to save money!  I earned a lot of Amazon gift cards this year, and paid for most of my Christmas gifts with them!  All at no cost to me! If you want to save money and earn great rewards, sign up for Swagbucks today!

Shop ‘Til You Drop!

Yes.  Shameless promotion of materialism coming right up!  I look forward all year to this day -

                        Black Friday

I love shopping for the best deals of the year, planning my strategy, hoarding my pennies, and gathering my coupons.  I am going with my mom again this year.  We always have such a good time!  I am hoping to score some really good bargains this year.  I have been using a lot of Amazon gift cards that I have earned through Swagbucks to buy Christmas gifts.  I love not having to spend out-of pocket money for my gifts!  If you haven’t signed up for Swagbucks yet, start today and start saving!

Well, by the time you read this, I will have been out for several hours, and hopefully I will still have all my skin and will not have been trampled or bitten or stabbed by the frenzied shoppers.  (Usually, the worst incidents seem to happen at Walmart, so be careful!) 

Swagbucks Extravaganza!

I have mentioned Swagbucks from time to time in my posts, and several of you are already on board, having fun and earning rewards.  One of the ways to earn Swagbucks is by finding Swag Codes.  This Monday is what they have termed Swagbucks Extravaganza.  They will be releasing codes throughout the day worth 60 Swagbucks!  The Swag Code Hunt is sort of like a Scavenger hunt where you find clues and discover the codes through searching the site.  It can take a little time, while others are just “gimmes.” 

I am already mourning because I will probably not get to participate, due to a home school field trip all day Monday!  So, all of you get busy and prepare to find those codes Monday!  If you haven’t already signed up for Swagbucks, now is a great time to do it – they are offering a 100 Swagbucks bonus for signing up this week with the promo code BIGTIMEBUCKS.  Start earning  Swagbucks to redeem gift cards for the holidays!

Morning Tea

Last winter, I got into the habit of having hot tea on a cold morning.  I will say that I would prefer hot chocolate to tea, but as a concession to the condition of my post-children waistline, I have decided to take the high road in warm beverages.  Now that the days are getting cooler again, the tea is calling.  I haven't experimented with a whole lot of different blends and flavors, because I found that I really like Lipton green tea with a little bit of mint.  It is so refreshing!  I also use stevia to sweeten it just enough and it is perfectly guilt-free!  Now, don't get me wrong - I will have hot chocolate some mornings (you can't really see it, but the mug in the photo - my favorite - says Chocolate on it), but for now it's tea time. If I could only find a good recipe for crumpets!

Don't forget that today is Mega Swagbucks Day!  I haven't said a whole lot about Swagbucks recently, but I have been busy working and collecting Swagbucks in preparation for the upcoming holidays.  If you have not yet set up your account yet, do it today and start earning tons of great rewards!

Tips for Swagbuck Success

Some of you have been asking how I earn my Swagbucks.  This year, starting in January, I gave myself a personal goal of earning $25 in Amazon gift cards each month.  Now, I haven't made my goal every month, but I have come close.  In any case, I am earning a lot of credit that I wouldn't otherwise have just by using Swagbucks.  Here is my strategy:

1.  Use the toolbar - it is easily downloaded and I earn 1 SB every day just for using the toolbar.
2.  Daily Poll - under the Earn tab on the SB home page.  Silly polls, but you earn 1 SB for each current poll.
3.  Trusted Surveys - under the Earn tabon the SB home page.  I earn 1 SB each day just for visiting the survey section.  In the rare event that I actually qualify for a survey (seeing that I have no life-threatening diseases and don't watch TV), I can earn anywhere from 25-200 SB for COMPLETING a survey.  Usually I get booted off halfway through for a disqualifying answer! :)
4.  Swag Codes - These are codes to enter in the "Gimme" box on the SB home page.  They are usually given in the blog posts throughout the day and have an expiration within a few hours of being posted.  There is a whole science to this, but I don't devote lots of time to it on a general basis.  Right now they are doing a Mom contest that gives you 6 SB for giving your opinion on who's the best mom.
5.  Searches - Instead of typing in a specific website, I will type the company name or website logo into my SB search box.  I earn SB at random intervals for this, and it is by far the most profitable way of earning SB.
6.  Games - under the Earn tab on the SB home page.  For those of you who like to play games, this is your way to earn.  You can earn up to 10 SB per day just playing games for free.  That is an average of 300 SB each month!
7.  SBTV - Under the Earn tab on the SB home page.  These are short video clips of different types - celebrity news, cooking shows, home improvement, etc.  Watching 10 videos will earn you 3 SB, and I don't know the limit on how many you can earn in a day.  If i choose to use this feature, it is usually while I am working on the computer, doing lesson plans or e-mail.  I let the SBTV run while I do my important work.  My kids love to watch the cooking shows (anything to do with food), so on rainy afternoons, I will put them in charge of "earning SB for Mama!"  They love it!
8.  Coupons - probably my favorite.  Under the Earn tab on the SB home page.  I am a dedicated coupon fanatic.  Each coupon that I print and redeem earns me 10 SB.  It takes several weeks to show on my account, but if I use them consistently, the flow of SB, once started, is consistent as well.  If you print a coupon you aren't going to use, put it next to the product in the store, and if someone else uses it, you will still earn the SB!  It is a great deal to save money and earn money at the same time!
9.  Referrals - these are harder to come by, since it depends upon others to take a leap of faith upon your enthusiastic reference.  Every referral gives you matching SB (for searches) up to 1000 SB.  So, if your friend earns 20 SB, you get a matching 20 SB!  I love that!  This is especially great on Mega SB Day, which falls on every Friday.  You can earn up to 10x the amount of SB doing your normal searches.
10.  Shop and Earn - under the More tab on the SB home page.  If you buy a lot of things online, this is a big one.  You earn 2SB for every dollar you spend when you shop through SB.  They have tons of stores and sites that qualify.

There are other ways to earn as well and special promotionals throughout the year.  They try to keep things interesting.  It all depends on how much time you want to spend working at it.  I hope these tips are helpful and that you can maximize your Swagbucks experience!

Romantic Remembrance

My husband has been planning a "secret" date for us all of last week.  The date is planned for tomorrow, the anniversary of a very memorable event.  Eleven years ago, Paul asked me to be his wife, and, of course, I accepted.  I think it very romantic that he has planned such a special event for this normally little-celebrated milestone.  I don't know what all he has in store, but I do know there is babysitting (a must for any romantic date), dinner, and an ocean sunset in the works.  Sigh... How romantic!  Anyway, I know we will have a good time together, just the two of us!

I also have practical plans for tomorrow.  Since we are going to be out of the trailer most of the day, I am having the carpet cleaned.  It really is disgraceful how awful it looks.  There is not really a good way to keep off-white carpet looking nice when you have four kids tracking dirt, spilling drinks, dumping plates, having various and sundry "accidents," in addition to the wear of normal use.  This also means that I have to do some major house cleaning just so the cleaners can get to the carpet.  All the furniture has to be moved out, and the kid's belongings have to be stacked, piled, shoved, and hidden in various places.  Ugh.  I will need a romantic evening after all that! :)  I will be so glad to have clean carpet once again - it will be almost like having a new trailer!

I redeemed my Swagbucks today for another Amazon gift card. I love earning rewards!  My Amazon account is slowly growing, and I am hoping by the end of the year to have a lot of Christmas shopping paid for through Swagbucks!  Sign up today for great savings!

Here it is- the picture you've all been waiting for! I finally got the program to upload, and this is our most recent, unedited, candid, family photo!  Left to right: Esther, me (Sarah), Paul, Daniel, Abigail, & Josiah.  In the background, you can see the Pacific Ocean.  I love it!  Wish you all were here!

Crow Family - February 2011

Weekly To-do's

I know everyone has their weekly list of things to do, but sometimes, it seems as if the week between goes so quickly, and BANG - it's time to do those things again.  That is what I am thinking as I sit here laboring over my home school lesson plans.  Already?!?!?  I must say, though, that my week goes so much more smoothly when I get my lesson plans done on Friday.  There is also a huge stack of papers to grade and record.  I was amazed this week to find that the approximately 100 pens and pencils I placed in the pencil box before leaving Indiana have all disappeared, along with my two really nice red pens and a red pencil.  Of course, no one knows what happened to all of the writing utensils... We don't even have a dog, so we can't blame him for eating them.

I have a lot on my plate right now, but I think most mothers of young children do.  I actually got a decent night's sleep last night, in spite of the fact that I had terrible dreams from which I woke trembling with fear.  That is unusual for me, but when it happens, it takes me forever to get back to sleep.  Perhaps it was the apple soda for lunch - I tried something new! :) The kids are all pretty much over whatever they had last week, thank the Lord!  I hope we can all stay well for at least a few weeks.

I enrolled in a new company today.  It is Paybox.me  a site similar to Paypal for online buying and selling.  They are offering $25 to everyone who signs up for their Early-bird program .  The best part about this is that you do not have to enter any personal information - just your email along with a password and user name.  I signed up, and already have $25 in my account.  You will be paid for referrals and feedback as the company develops.  So, check it out today and get $25 free!

Today is Mega Swag Bucks day, too! I love getting Swagbucks for doing searches, playing games, and printing/ redeeming coupons.  Every redeemed coupon earns me 10 Swagbucks in addition to saving me money on my grocery bill!  Start today!