Swagbucks: My Verdict

Okay kids. Here's what I've discovered in playing around with Swagbucks. I've been signed up for almost two weeks and I'm almost to a $5 Amazon card and I've hardly done anything. 2-3 times a day, I use Swagbucks to search for the usual websites I visit: email, facebook, blogger, banks. Once I win, I stop. (The Swagbucks search engine is terrible unless you're looking for specific websites. It's designed to trick you into clicking sponsored links so it's really hard to find any information unless you search for something as obvious as "facebook" or "key bank"). They don't give you multiple wins. You have to come back later and try again. If I don't win within my usual websites, I try again later. You can only get search wins 2-3 times a day. You're apparently gauranteed a search win if you do it around midnight central time (which happens to be a convenient 9PM for me). And I answer the daily poll everyday for 1 point. I "liked" swagbucks on facebook and have managed to come across two codes through their facebook feed. And that's it. That's all I've done. And I'm pretty close to getting a free $5 for that.

My verdict: I've made it a point that Swagbucks not take up more of my time than I already spend on the computer. I just use the Swagbucks search engine to do my regular computer checking of emails and blogs and such. So, it's possible to get free stuff without hardly doing anything.

Apparently if you install the toolbar (not compatible with my fabulous Google chrome), you get points just for having it when you go to their website and you get secret codes daily (another good way to get bucks without doing anything). If you've got more time, there are other ways to win: surveys, coupons, watching video clips, etc. I haven't explored any of these options. But it seems if you had a lot of time to kill on the computer (which I really don't), you could be getting gift cards a lot faster. I just like that I can get the occasional freebie for doing nothing more than I usually do.

If you want to sign up, you get 30 points to start out if someone refers you. The links in this blog post will refer you from my account (no idea what having a referral does for me... but you get the introductory 30 points) and you get an extra 30 points if you sign up before Saturday and enter "JoinIn2010" when you sign up.

So that's the info I was hoping someone would give me 2 weeks ago. And now you have it. Whether you wanted it or not.

Five Years

Tom and I were married five years ago today. In five years, we've collectively:

- obtained 3 degrees (BA, BS, MA)

- held 9 jobs (not including our year as "antiques dealers" on ebay)

- lived in 3 states (Utah, Oregon, Alaska)

- had 2 kids

- purchased 1 house

- been to DisneyWorld 3 times, Cambodia 2 times, Chicago 1 time, and Washington and Oregon countless times

Take that people who asked me why I wanted to get married so young because I had so much to do... I've done them!

And as a bonus Celia Daily: Tom went to get Celia from her bed this morning and Celia said: "That's Bullseye. He's a bed toy." Tom said: "But he doesn't have to stay in your bed." Celia responded with: "But he can. That's the problem. Horsies have to stay in beds all the times!"

Christmas

Yes, Celia made out like a bandit on Christmas.

Celia was so excited to see that Santa brought Bullseye to go with her Jessie doll:

Nana and Papa gave her this sweet mixer board/keyboard concoction (which was loved by adults as well at Christmas dinner. Mostly Travis.) As you can see, Sabrina enjoyed it too... from afar.

Celia also got a sweet Toy Story play tent from Grandma and Grandpa. We told her to look out the window for a picture. This is her saying: "No no no. This is not a window. Just a door!"

And Celia got a ribbon dancer from Nana and Papa. This is something I wanted my whole life (I can still sing the commercial word for word), so when Celia went to bed, I had a blast with the Christmas music and the ribbon dancer (unfortunately, not pictured).

And... Sabrina liked her new clothes (and watching her sister open presents... she was awake for a full hour longer than usual before her first nap because she was loving all the action):

This morning before Church, Celia discovered the headphone feature on the keyboard. She didn't fully understand it though because she would say: "it works" and then push the keys on her little kid piano (pictured to her side) and say: "it works too" because she could still hear the keys on it while wearing the headphones.

Yes, Celia did pretty well on Christmas. And the rest of us got a few things too.

Merry Celia Dailies: The Nativity

We got Celia a nativity set this Christmas so she could really get into the whole Jesus' birthday thing. Not sure if it helped that. Though since we set it up for her after Thanksgiving, the nativity has been in several different set-ups.

"They're in a Parade!"

"They all went nigh-night!"

"They wake up!"

"I laying down with them."

And then, just on Christmas Eve, she may have figured it out. Maybe (what's the donkey doing?)

Celia has rocked baby Jesus several times.

Also, the other day, Celia put baby Jesus in the highchair. I said: "Is Jesus hungry? Does He want to eat some food?" She looked at me and said: "no no no no. He's a baby. He only eats Knuckle food." (Remember that she calls "Nipples" "Knuckles"... this will continue for as long as humanly possible.)

Celia Dailies: Baby Sister

As we all know, Celia LOVES Sabrina. She's so great with her. She either has a strange twin connection with Sabrina or (more likely) she pretends she has one. She ALWAYS knows what Sabrina wants. It's her personal mission to save Sabrina from all the terrors we submit her to (ie: eating, sleeping...).

- Yesterday morning, Sabrina started complaining. It was the usual time... about 1.5 hours after she woke up. I said: Oh, Sabrina, do you want to go to bed? Celia, who was in her high chair got really upset: "No! She's not tired! She just woke up. She doesn't want to go to bed. She's not so, so mad. She's just talking."

- Sometimes when I say: Sabrina wants to eat some food. She's hungry. Celia will respond with something like: "She's not hungry. She wants to watch me dance."

- She's always telling us what Sabrina wants: "She wants to sit in her bouncer, not on the floor." "Sabrina wants to watch me eat food." "She wants her blankie." OR she tells us: "GO! Change her RIGHT NOW! She needs a new diaper!"

And she always gives her very careful, gentle kisses on her head. And when we say: "Aw, Celia. You're such a good sister." She says: "Yup! I'm sure I am!"

Celia Dailies: Clappy Dance

Celia and I were dancing downstairs. Then she said: "Mommy, you do a clappy dance." So I clapped and danced. She shook her head and said: "No, no no. When you fly in the air, it is a clappy dance. When you jump like a frog, it is a clappy dance. Like this (she did a lovely frog jump here). I do a clappy dance."

So that, my friends, is the definition of a "clappy dance." You can try this one at home.

Solstice in Alaska

We saw part of the special solstice lunar eclipse last night... until some clouds rolled over it and it looked like a full one before it actually was. But still, we were there for the historic event.

And today is the solstice. Shortest day of the year. It's a good thing we got several inches of snow and the moon is so big because it's beautiful out there.

Official daylight for today: 10:14 AM - 3:42 PM.

How are we celebrating? No, we're not going into town to party with the locals all night in the 5 degree weather. We're staying in, turning on all the lights, and getting the chocolate fountain running. It'll be a great solstice, I'm sure of it.

Christmas Sunday pics

Right before the girls went to bed, we took a few pics.

Sabrina Dailies: Shots

Back story (sorry Sabrina, your whole life will involve a back story that involves Celia... but I think you'll like this one): When Celia went to get her first vaccinations at two months old, we went to the Utah Health Clinic. I imagine they've seen A LOT of babies. We were new parents and had never been through the shots thing with a baby. One of the vaccines was a liquid they have the babies drink. For Celia, she kept spitting it out (again, she was a baby that had only tasted breast milk and maybe Tylenol). So, they had us blow in her face so she couldn't breathe and so that she would have to swallow (choke on) some of the vaccine. They told us she was the worst baby they had ever seen (is it really our fault that our two-month-old keeps spitting it out? Not a good indicator of bad parenting, I think). Then they gave Celia the shots and I was seriously worried she might be epileptic because for the next hour she cried so violently, I though she was having a seizure (her stomach was convulsing). I had to nurse her immediately and it only helped a little. Anyway... now to Sabrina:

Sabrina got her shots yesterday at the free clinic at the hospital. They started with the mouth vaccine. She happily sucked it all gone (Sabrina is already a foody... she loves the taste of anything. Gripe water. Gas drops. Motrin. And now, apparently, vaccines). The nurses told us that Sabrina was the best baby they ever had with that vaccine (yes, we're good parents). Then she got three shots. She cried, then she stopped. She happily got in her car seat and slept while we went grocery shopping.

Sabrina is the happiest baby. She eats, smiles, and then sleeps. A couple of weeks ago, she started cooing (more like saying: "Oh!" and "Ooooo"). And now she's just starting to laugh. It's really funny. She'll do a little throat giggle if you make funny faces at her. And if you stick your finger in her armpit, she does a really strained cackle (like she's enjoying it, but it's really hard work to laugh so heartily). We just love her!

(Boy, blogs get really hard to read after the bloggers have kids. Now all I talk about is how great my kids are. Well... can you blame me?)

Swagbucks?

Do you use Swag Bucks? (Here's the link):


If so, tell me about it. Free Amazon gift cards for using the Swag Bucks search engine? Sounds sweet. Is it?

Blessing: Belated

Sabrina was blessed on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. It was a small affair. Just Tom, his dad, and the bishopric. Since our daylight is quickly diminishing (only about 5 hours a day) and because Sabrina pooped in her dress, most of the pictures we took of Sabrina the day off turned out blurry. And we didn't get any pics of our family or anything. So, last weekend, we just dressed her back up, got some extra lights from the garage, and did a photo shoot. Still no pics of the family. Oh well.

Celia Dailies: The Clean Freak

- Yes, Celia is a little OCD. Very clean. Today at breakfast she dribbled a little milk on her high chair table. She said: "I need a rag to clean up this mess. If I spill one more time, you have to take it away."

Celia Dailies: "sure am"

- Celia tries to use the phrase "sure am" or "sure does" when I say something like: "You're so cute" or "it's so snowy out there." Instead, she says: "I'm sure I am" or "I'm sure it is." It's pretty funny because she says it very confidently and in the same way you would just say: "sure am."

- On the monitor this morning, I heard that Celia's stick horse was up to no good again. She said: "Hey! Don't tickle me again Horsey!"

- Oh, and at breakfast, she told me that she just had a "hippy hiccup." I said: "Was that a hiccup?" And she said: "no, just a hippy hiccup."