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Star Wars Epic Adventures!

Abby H.

I just learned about Star Wars Epic Adventures yesterday, and I signed the kids up right away. My kids LOVE Star Wars!

When you subscribe to the Star Wars Epic Adventures for $9.99 (first month only) and receive full-color 96-page storybook, which are not available in retail stores and are exclusive to subscribers.

  • Each monthly package includes a full-color 96-page storybook, a set of 12 collectible cards, one activity book with stickers plus a large vinyl sticker, and an additional premium bonus item such as a poster or T-shirt.
  • Twelve collectible cards that provide an in-depth look at scenes from the films. The cards in the initial “Phantom Menace” package give youngsters a detailed overview of the famous podracing scene from the movie. Each set of cards comes in a unique collector’s case that combine to create a classic “Star Wars” scene when all of the sets are collected
  • A full-color activity book with stickers. Each book takes a deeper dive into the characters of the “Star Wars” universe, starting with a book titled “Jedi vs. Sith.”
  • One additional bonus gift. The first month’s package includes a four-foot poster covering the “Star Wars” adventure timeline. Large-size vinyl stickers that come with each shipment can be used with the poster to track the reader’s progress through the saga. Future gifts include premium items such as T-shirts for both adult and child, and a storage case for the collectible card sets.

 

Screen Shot 2019-06-15 at 9.44.47 AMFuture shipments are just $19.98 + $3.99 Shipping and handling, and you can cancel any time, for whatever reason!

 

Enter to Win $75 Target Gift Card from the Carma Project!

Abby H.

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One lucky Carma Ambassador will win a $75 Target gift card. Enter for a chance to win by helping us raise awareness for National Safety Month by completing the following:

  1. Sign up or be an existing Carma Project Ambassador
  2. Press “Going” on our National Safety Month Facebook event page
  3. Tag your friends in the comment section of our pinned post on Carma’s Facebook page with: Check your vehicle’s recall status for National Safety Month!

This contest will run from 06/10/19 12:00 PM PST to 06/23/19 11:59 PM PST.

Winner will be notified via email on 06/24/19 at 12:00 PM PST.*

*To enter this contest, you must be signed up as an Ambassador at https://www.carmaproject.com, be 18 years or older, and live in the United States. This contest is void where prohibited by law. The name on your Carma Project Ambassador profile should match the name on your Facebook profile in order for your entry to be accepted. The contest prize will be delivered via email. This contest is not sponsored, endorsed, or administered by, or associated with Instagram, and/or Facebook.*

Tea Collections End of Season Sale: Save Up To 60%!

Abby H.

**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.

I love Tea Collection kids clothing.

It’s sturdy, well-made, and super cute. And now, it’s even more affordable!

Starting today, (6/11) through Sunday, (6/16), take an additional 25% off sale styles for savings up to 60%, just use coupon code SP19EOS25 at checkout.

They have tons of cute shirts and leggings for girls under $20.

There are tons of awesome boys shirts with animals on them for less than $20!

I may have already started back to school shopping…

Fine print: 
Enter code SP19EOS25 during checkout to receive an additional 25% off sale styles at Teacollection.com. Offer valid through 6/16/2019 at 11:59 PM PT. Does not apply to Patagonia, Livie & Luca, and Saltwater. Discount taken pre-tax. Cannot be combined with other promotions. No adjustments on previous purchases. Not redeemable for cash. Cannot be combined with other offers. Limited to stock on hand.

 

Please see my Disclosure Page for more information about the use of affiliate links.

New Savingstar Rebates!

Abby H.

Screen Shot 2019-06-09 at 10.00.51 PM.pngSavingStarhas some awesome new rebates available.

If you are new to SavingStar, it’s different from traditional couponing!

What makes SavingStar different is that you don’t receive money off at the register.  The savings in held in your SavingStar account, and once you reach at least $10.00 in savings you can transfer it to your Paypal Account, buy a gift Card, or even donate your savings to charity!

SavingStaris the first national, fully digital, grocery eCoupon service, available for free at www.savingstar.com and on iPhone and Android mobile apps. There’s nothing to clip, nothing to print. Chose offers, shop, and save! SavingStar is currently available at over 100 retailers!

Here are the latest offers:


Save $0.75 when you purchase ANY ONE (1) Bob’s Red Mill Muesli Cups. Any variety..Expires 7/24/2019.Save $0.75.

Save $4.00 when you purchase ANY ONE (1) Bob’s Red Mill Nutritional Boosters. Valid on the 16 oz packages..Expires 7/24/2019.Save $4.00.

Save $2.50 when you purchase ANY TWO (2) Buy 2: Select Oral-B® Toothbrushes. Excludes Healthy Clean, Cavity Defense, and Kids varieties. Items must appear on the same receipt. .Expires 6/26/2019.Save $2.50.

Save $2.00 when you purchase ANY ONE (1) Dymatize 100% Whey Isolate Protein Powder 1.76 lbs. Valid only on 25 servings product..Expires 9/12/2019.Save $2.00.

Save $3.00 when you purchase ANY ONE (1) Culturelle® Kids Daily Probiotic Chewables. Valid on 30 ct or 50 ct..Expires 9/26/2019.Save $3.00.

Save $3.00 when you purchase ANY ONE (1) Culturelle® Kids Daily Probiotic Packets. Valid on 30 ct or 50 ct..Expires 9/26/2019.Save $3.00.

Save $3.00 when you purchase ANY ONE (1) Culturelle® Kids Complete Multivitamin + Probiotic. Valid on 30 ct and 50 ct..Expires 9/26/2019.Save $3.00.

Save $3.00 when you purchase ANY ONE (1) Culturelle® Baby Probiotics. Valid on .29 fl oz, .30 fl oz, 30 ct..Expires 9/26/2019.Save $3.00.

Save $0.55 when you purchase ANY ONE (1) Straight Up Tea Singles. Valid on 18.5 oz single bottles..Expires 7/31/2019.Save $0.55.

Save $1.00 when you purchase ANY ONE (1) Straight Up Tea 6-packs. Valid only on 6-packs..Expires 7/31/2019.Save $1.00.

And don’t forget, my complete list of rebate/money making Smartphone Apps can be found here.

2019 Free Meals this Summer for Kids!

Abby H.3 Comments

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Like last year, I’m still pulling together resources at the time that this is published, and I’ll be adding additional sites as soon as I can.

School will be out within a month for most kids in San Diego, and that means there are some parents (and kids) who usually rely on free or subsidized school lunches may find themselves wondering what to do.

Thankfully, a lot of great organizations have stepped up and partnered with local area schools, libraries, rec centers, and civic organizations to provide free breakfasts, lunches, and snacks for al kids 18 and under this summer.

For any of these opportunities, there is NO PROOF OF INCOME OR PROOF OF NEED REQUIRED. You take your kiddos, show up at a location near you during the lunch period (each location sets its own hours), and the kids get a yummy, healthy lunch for free. Menus vary, but all lunches meet USDA guidelines for a healthy lunch (think of the food pyramid).

You can search here for a list of California Department of Education sites that offer free meals (some sites offer breakfast, lunch, and/or snacks).

Screen Shot 2019-06-01 at 1.52.03 PM.pngFor those of us in Eastern San Diego County, Cajon Valley School District sponsors free lunches!

Menus will probably be available in the next few weeks. Last Summer every Friday was pizza day! And there are usually vegetarian options daily for those of you who have meat-free kiddos (previous options included bean, rice, and cheese burritos, hard boiled eggs, string cheese, cheese sandwiches, nut butter sandwiches, or Uncrustables)!

Last summer The El Cajon Library had lunch and activities (crafts, story time, etc) each day (Monday -Friday).

Screen Shot 2019-06-01 at 2.03.13 PM.pngSan Diego Unified School District has partnered with some awesome sponsors to host the Summer Fun Cafe 2019 all over San Diego County! Lunch will be served at over 30 locations all summer for kids 18 and under! The kick-off Summer BBQ (with free lunch for adults too) at Penn Athletic Field on 6/20/19 10:30am-2:00pm! There are all kinds of activities, community resources, and even free produce for families to take home!

Most locations will be serving lunch on June 17-August 16, 2019.

What I love about this program is that there are tons of rec centers hosting these lunches and they are usually adjacent to a playground, which means after a long morning of playing, the kids don’t have long to wait to get a yummy lunch!

Looking for a few ideas of summer fun with a nearby lunch?

  • There is a lunch location down at the Waterfront Park- which is also free (You have to pay to park at the meters)! It has a great playground and a splash area.
  • The Tierrasanta Rec Center has a cool kids splash ground that’s open early in the day. It’s not free, but it’s pretty cheap ($2/ kid, $4/adult).

If you know of more summer lunch programs for kids in San Diego County, I’d love to hear about them! Please leave a comment!

If you aren’t in the immediate San Diego area, text FOOD  (Or COMIDA for a list in Spanish) to 877-877, or call 211 and you can find a list of free summer lunch locations near you.

 

FREE Credit Score and Savings Advice from Credit Sesame!

Abby H.

Knowing your credit score is important. Having good credit can help you in several aspects of life:

Good credit gives you better access to better APR’s for credit cards, mortgages, car loans, lines of credit.

Credit Sesame is so much better than some of the other credit report services.

  • You can get your credit score for FREE each month.
  • No credit card required – ever.
  • Personalized savings advice!

Getting started with Credit Sesame is easy- just click here! We’ve been using Credit Sesame for over 5 years!

My Favorite Things- Spring/Summer Edition

Abby H.

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It’s Springtime! Time for renewal, getting outdoors, and fun adventures. Here are a few of the things that have been making life easier for me as of late…

Screen Shot 2019-05-21 at 3.54.00 PM.pngThis cute 5×8 Notebook from Shutterfly.  Mine says, “Plots, Schemes, & Misc. Shenanigans”.  It fits into my purse and It’s big enough to where I can actually write and sketch. It’s got lined paper, which is great since I usually draw patterns for upcoming projects.

And what good is a notebook without a pen? This Click Six Gel Pen from Ooly is my favorite pen, and have been for a while. I scored one at Influential Summit in Carlsbad back in February.

Most of ya’ll know that I’m a frugal dame, and that means using tech until it reaches the end of it’s useful life. For me, that means I’m rocking an Apple iPhone 5S. Yeah, yeah, stop laughing. Anyway, one of the things that happens when smartphones get old is that battery life goes poof. To make up for that, I keep a zipper pouch in my purse with a plug (like this), charging cables (including one that is 6 foot long), and a couple external batteries/chargers.  It sounds like a lot, but it’s not.

And the Pouch? It’s one of these cute ZipIt pouches. the best part is that it’s 100% zipper and it unzips into one, long zipper.

Ok, getting out of my purse, and getting back to the house, a few things that I’m digging to help me stay organized at home include:

Screen Shot 2019-05-21 at 4.20.30 PM.pngThis rad Meal Planner! It comes in a 5×7 pad, I just peel one off, fill it out, and stick it on the fridge (using one of the many free fridge magnets from Shutterfly- seriously, they have free codes all the time!).

For those of you that are new to meal planning, I’ve got an easy 101 style post here with super easy tips and steps. After you get that down, here is info about batch or freezer cooking.

And it’s now a lot easier to get the kids to do their chores with this cool chore/reward chart.

I got it from Wal-mart.com, but Amazon sells it too (and it was cheaper). You choose which chores are appropriate for your kids. I don’t use the little round magnets with stars, I just mark them off with a whiteboard marker.

And personal health-wise, I’ve been digging a few new products:

Diva Cup– Scored it at MommyCon last fall. It is easy to use and clean. I will warn you ladies, it’s not for those of you who are squeamish. But, most moms have seen some shit (literally and figuratively), so it’s no problem.

Hot Sticks– I’ve had these things for YEARS, but only recently have I truly appreciated how awesome they are. I have a lot of very fine hair, so a curling iron doesn’t work- my hair doesn’t stay curly, but hot sticks stay in your hair for 45 minutes to an hour. That amount of time with the heat really locks the curl into my hair. and even without mousse or hairspray, my hair will stay curly for a whole day. I have two sets. I’m wearing them as I type.

Talk Back: So I wanna hear from you… What are some of your favorite things?

 

 

Weekly Meal Plan!

Abby H.

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The kids and I are going camping this weekend, so I’m only meal planning through Thursday! We’ll be going to a Society for Creative Anachronism Event, Potrero War. The kids are looking forward to playing with friends, making s’mores, doing crafts, and the big kid is really looking forward to participating in Thrown Weapons with his Grandpa.

For those of you that are new to meal planning, I’ve got an easy 101 style post here with super easy tips and steps. After you get that down, here is info about batch or freezer cooking.

This weeks meal planning goal is to eat up what we’ve got on hand that will spoil first. I’m not going to the grocery store to buy anything but milk and butter (oh no, we’re almost out!).

You may notice a lot of plant-based meals- We are not vegetarian, but I am trying to get more veggies into our diet. I do a lot of cooking from scratch- I find it easier to get veggies and fruit into recipes that I can have 100% control over.

I only post our dinner plans for the week, because our other meals are usually the same each day:

Breakfast: Coffee with heavy cream for me, and pancakes or something along those lines for the kids.  I also keep sandwich Ziploc bags of other frozen fruit on hand to make the kids smoothies when they request them (a few times per week). Berries, peaches, and mangos are pretty popular.

Lunches are leftovers, salads, or soups for me and the Little Bit, and The Big Kid has a specially packed lunch of whatever he’s into at the time (which changes frequently).

For dinner, when we’ve got busy days (like Mondays), I’ll try and put something in the crockpot in the morning, or pull something I’ve already prepped out that can be quickly cooked.

  • Monday: Leftover homemade pizza and strawberries
  • Tuesday: Spaghetti (I’ve been buying this kind because it’s high in protein) with red sauce loaded with veggies
  • Wednesday: Madras Lentils, white rice, and steamed veggies
  • Thursday: Grilled cheese sandwiches and soup (I’ve got a couple batches of soup in the freezer, so I’ll grab one and defrost it the night before. It’ll probably be Veggie Tuscan Soup).

When Life Gets Crazy…

Abby H.

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Oh, God.. I won’t lie. I had this entire post written, hit save, and it disappeared. Further proof that life is totally crazy right now.

I’ve got 3 weeks left of school, then (fingers crossed), I will graduate from college after a 17-year hiatus. So, I’ve got a lot of stress right now, between my regular responsibilities, studying, and getting ready for a huge almost weeklong camping event with my friends and a lot of my family.

I wanted to share some tips for how I keep it together when life is just crazy. These may not all apply to you, but they definitely help me.

Ask for help. I’ve been relying a lot on family, friends, and our respite hours through San Diego Regional Center so I can get out of the house without the kids to get stuff done. I love them, but sometimes shopping without them is just easier. Having a few hours alone to study in the library is nice. It’s hard to study when Legos are being played with right next to you.

Keeping to our schedule. Granted, there have been some changes to accommodate my schooling, but we are trying to get the kids to bed at night on time (sometimes that doesn’t happen), and out the door in the morning for school.  This includes my visits to the YMCA 4-5 times a week. I really believe that exercise helps me maintain a positive attitude and helps me manage my stress. I also have been continuing to meal plan, even though I sometimes forget to post it.

Be Flexible. This is a tough one for some of us (myself included). Sometimes life gets crazy, and you need to go with the flow. Sometimes that means cereal for dinner, sometimes it means going to bed the same time the kids do because everyone is tired.

Give Yourself Grace. Remember that this portion of your life won’t last forever. It won’t always be stressful, busy, or this hard.

Do What is Right for Your Family. This one can be hard, especially since we live in the era of Pinterest worthy, social media one-upmanship. I’m a fucking hot mess and I’ll admit it. As long as my family is loved and cared for- that’s all that matters. And sometimes that means cereal for dinner!

 

Talk Back: What do you do when life gets busy/crazy/unpredictable? 

 

Detective Pikachu Review

Abby H.
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Henry enjoying the movie stand-up in the lobby

My Big Guy LOVES Pokémon. The cartoons, the card game, and when he found out there was going to be a live-action movie he begged me (and his dad) to take him. Thanks to my awesome PR friend Risa, we were able to check out a sneak preview on Monday.

 

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Pika Pika!!

So my review comes from the angle of a mom with an autistic kid who doesn’t do well with lots of fast movement, loud sounds (like explosions) in movies.

IT WAS PERFECT! Visually, the insertion of the Pokémon was seamless, it wasn’t ever too loud, too fast, and the special effects were just enough. Kiddo watched in fascination for the entire movie! The movie run time is 1 hour, 44 minutes. A great length for a kids movie (although it is rated PG- Pikachu says “hell” at one point).

For those not in the know… The story begins when ace detective Harry Goodman goes mysteriously missing, prompting his 21-year-old son Tim to find out what happened. Aiding in the investigation is Harry’s former Pokémon partner, Detective Pikachu: a hilariously wise-cracking, adorable super-sleuth who is a puzzlement even to himself. Finding that they are uniquely equipped to work together, as Tim is the only human who can talk with Detective Pikachu, they join forces on a thrilling adventure to unravel the tangled mystery. Chasing clues together through the neon-lit streets of Ryme City—a sprawling, modern metropolis where humans and Pokémon live side by side in a hyper-realistic live-action world—they encounter a diverse cast of Pokémon and uncover a shocking plot that could destroy this peaceful co-existence and threaten the whole Pokémon universe.

Oh, and Ryan Reynolds voices Pikachu. So there is that too. There is really something for everyone.

Did you know that the creator of Pokémon, Satoshi Taiji is autistic? It’s true! The Art of Autism has a really great article about him and Pokémon.

We didn’t take the Itty Bitty kiddo, but she’s not really into going to the movies (except for the snacks). If your littler kiddos like going to the movies, I’d recommend it for them too.

Detective Pikachu opens on Friday, May 10th.

 

Talk Back: Do your kids love Pokémon? Who is their favorite? 

 

 

#DetectivePikachu