children

Holiday Crafting on a Budget with Dollar Tree!

Abby H.

I am a big fan of homemade gifts. This year the kids and I are making most of the gifts we will be giving, and thankfully, Dollar Tree has all sorts of craft supplies to help us out.

Our local Dollar Tree has a great selection of craft supplies: Wooden cut-outs, acrylic paints, decals, stickers, wreath making supplies, glitter paint, gems, beads, you name it.

This week we have been painting Christmas Tree Ornaments.  We’ve got a bunch of acrylic paints in our craft cubby, and I let the kids go wild.

Over the weekend I painted laser-cut pineapples and a laser-cut pineapple light- all from Dollar Tree. As part of our holiday crafting, the kids are I are making a photo frame- We painted it, the next step is to trace and paint their hands on it.

If you are on a budget and wanna get crafty this holiday season either to give as gifts or to decorate your home, check out Dollar Tree either online or in-person (following all social distancing regulations for your area).

11/22/2020 Weekly Meal Plan!

Abby H.

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I did not go grocery shopping for this week over the weekend. The craziness of Thanksgiving shoppers and increased traffic to stores has made me back off a bit. I made a quick trip for bread on Friday night, but that’s it. The store was packed and everyone was too close for my comfort. I grabbed my bread and booked it.

This week focuses a lot on what we already have. I may run to the store to fill in some blanks. We are running low on eggs, coffee creamer, and salad fixings. If we could make it a whole week without a trip to the store, I’d be amazed!

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.

I’ve gotten a pretty good inventory of the pantry, freezer, and the fridge done (I update it after every shopping trip), so I’m able to plan meals and use up what we’ve got with little waste. If you are looking for a kitchen inventory printable, I like the kitchen inventories here. They are great printables.

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

Breakfast: Coffee with 1/2 and 1/2  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. recently the Big Kid has been on a protein shake kick in the AM.

This week is Thanksgiving break- the kids are home all week. Since we are in the Purple Tier as far as the county’s Covid Cases, a lot of the fun things we usually do are off the table. We will probably skip the zoo this week, even though it is open. It’s a holiday week for most of the county’s school districts, and there will be a lot more people out and about. We’ll be doing outdoor stuff where we can socially distance ourselves from others. We’ll be having a lot of leftovers from Thursday onward. Lunches will probably be protein shakes, pasta and veggies, Peanut butter sandwiches, and beans and rice.

Usually, I do a crockpot meal on Mondays, but now that we are home all the time, we’ve been having an odd combination of fully home-cooked, scratch meals, and frozen entrees and veggies. I have been posting our meal plans on Instagram too- As well as pics of stuff we are doing to keep busy.

  • Sunday:  Veggie Soup & Garlic Toast
  • Monday: Baked Sweet Potatoes, Veggies, Grilled Cheese
  • Tuesday: Nuggets and Fruit
  • Wednesday: Mac n’ Cheese and Salad
  • Thursday: Thanksgiving dinner with my parents
  • Friday:  Pizza Night!
  • Saturday: Leftover Shenanigans

Please stay safe you guys! The sooner we flatten the curve, the sooner life can go back to normal- whatever that means.

Talk Back: What are you cooking for dinner this week?

11/16/2020 Weekly Meal Plan

Abby H.

0a5e9dab796cea8a07eabe4eb4795b9e.jpgI wrote up the meal plan for this week last night and posted it on Instagram, but I was too pooped to sit down last night and write this post.

This weekend was busy (like all weekends):

  • Playmobil adventures
  • Lego Building
  • Barbie shenanigans
  • Drawing
  • Writing Practice
  • Shopping for new clothes because a little girl grew overnight

The past few weeks I’ve been cooking larger batches of recipes, and we’ve been relying a lot on them. This week will be a “refill” week for that. A big batch of meaty red sauce, a few batches of soup made directly to go in the freezer, and I’ll be making some mire poix bags up as well. I’ll be posting on Instagram for sure.

If you have kids between 2-18, check with your local school to see if they are offering free lunches and/or breakfasts. You can also check the USDA Website– but it might be a little out of date.

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.

I’ve gotten a pretty good inventory of the pantry, freezer, and fridge done (I update it after every shopping trip), so I’m able to plan meals and use up what we’ve got with little waste. If you are looking for kitchen inventory printable, I like the kitchen inventories here. They are great printables.

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

Breakfast: Coffee with 1/2 and 1/2  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. recently the Big Kid has been on a protein shake kick in the AM.

Lunches will be whatever the kids want for the time being. The big kid has lunch at school, so it’s whatever he chooses from the lunch box in the cupboard, plus some fruit and juice or milk. Since the little girl is in the morning cohort at school, she has lunch at home. Buttered noodles, yogurt, apple slices, and a popsicle are her go-to lunch.

Usually, I do a crockpot meal on Mondays, but now that we are home all the time, we’ve been having an odd combination of fully home-cooked, scratch meals, and frozen entrees and veggies. I have been posting our meal plans on Instagram too- As well as pics of stuff we are doing to keep busy.

  • Sunday:  Leftovers/Fend for yo’ self
  • Monday:  Shakshuka, Salad, and Salad
  • Tuesday: Pasta with Meat Sauce, Salad, Garlic Bread
  • Wednesday: Veggie Nuggets, Fish Sticks, Veggie Fries, and Salad
  • Thursday: Breakfast (Most likely Pancakes, Eggs, and Fruit)
  • Friday:  Pizza Night!
  • Saturday: Leftover Shenanigans

Please stay safe you guys! The sooner we flatten the curve, the sooner life can go back to normal- whatever that means.

Talk Back: What are you cooking for dinner this week?

11/10/2020 Weekly Meal Plan!

Abby H.

0a5e9dab796cea8a07eabe4eb4795b9e.jpgI’ve been trying to meal plan on Sundays, but this weekend got away from me. It was raining, so we spent a lot of time playing indoors: Playmobils, Legos, drawing and doing crafts. Not a lot of time to sit down at in front of the computer.

The past few weeks I’ve been cooking larger batches of recipes, so this week we’re pulling out a batch of Salsa chicken from the freezer. I found a batch of veggie red sauce in the freezer too. I’m hoping to put together some soups this week for lunches and stash some in the freezer. I love making soup- It’s easy and frugal. and sooo tasty.

If you have kids between 2-18, check with your local school to see if they are offering free lunches and/or breakfasts. You can also check the USDA Website– but it might be a little out of date.

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.

I’ve gotten a pretty good inventory of the pantry, freezer, and fridge done (I update it after every shopping trip), so I’m able to plan meals and use up what we’ve got with little waste. If you are looking for kitchen inventory printable, I like the kitchen inventories here. They are great printables.

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

Breakfast: Coffee with 1/2 and 1/2  for me, and pancakes or something along those lines for the kids (they love the Kodiak Cakes Mix).  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. recently the Big Kid has been on a protein shake kick in the AM.

Lunches will be whatever the kids want for the time being. The big kid has lunch at school, so it’s whatever he chooses from the lunch box in the cupboard, plus some fruit and juice or milk. Since the little girl is in the morning cohort at school, she has lunch at home. Buttered noodles, yogurt, apple slices, and a popsicle are her go-to lunch.

Usually, I do a crockpot meal on Mondays, but now that we are home all the time, we’ve been having an odd combination of fully home-cooked, scratch meals, and frozen entrees and veggies. I have been posting our meal plans on Instagram too- As well as pics of stuff we are doing to keep busy.

  • Sunday:  Leftovers
  • Monday:  Soup, veggies/fruit, and garlic bread
  • Tuesday: Veggie Nuggets and Fruit (Big kid has OT in the late afternoon, so it’s always a quick dinner on Tuesday)
  • Wednesday:  Salsa Chicken, Rice, and steamed veggies
  • Thursday: Spaghetti with veggie red sauce, salad, and garlic bread
  • Friday:  Pizza Night!
  • Saturday: Leftovers

Please stay safe you guys! The sooner we flatten the curve, the sooner life can go back to normal- whatever that means.

Talk Back: What are you cooking for dinner this week?

11/2/2020 Weekly Meal Plan

Abby H.

0a5e9dab796cea8a07eabe4eb4795b9e.jpgI’ve started doing weekly meal planning on Sundays. It’s easier to do it while I’m writing up the weekly calendar/schedule and prepping the snack box for the week. I didn’t get a chance to type this up last night. The time change kinda kicked all of our butts, combined with all of the Halloween shenanigans. Socially distanced shenanigans!

The kids and I hit up the grocery store yesterday afternoon and picked up some stuff that we were out of and are consume daily.

Last week I made soup twice, so we’ve got some leftovers in the freezer. I’ll be dipping into the stash for dinner one night this week for soup. And I made a frittata late last week for lunch, so we’ve got leftovers of that for dinner tonight!

Thanks to some local deals, offers, and the school lunches the kids bring home, I have been able to keep our grocery budget to $60 per week for the past MONTH! It’s amazing. The extra money is going into our holiday savings account.

If you have kids between 2-18, check with your local school to see if they are offering free lunches and/or breakfasts. You can also check the USDA Website– but it might be a little out of date.

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.

I’ve gotten a pretty good inventory of the pantry, freezer, and fridge done (I update it after every shopping trip), so I’m able to plan meals and use up what we’ve got with little waste. If you are looking for kitchen inventory printable, I like the kitchen inventories here. They are great printables.

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

Breakfast: Coffee with 1/2 and 1/2  for me, and pancakes or something along those lines for the kids (they love the Kodiak Cakes Mix).  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. recently the Big Kid has been on a protein shake kick in the AM. I’ll be posting the recipe for his current favorite this coming week.

Lunches will be whatever the kids want for the time being. The big kid has lunch at school, so it’s whatever he chooses from the lunch box in the cupboard, plus some fruit and juice or milk. Since the little girl is in the morning cohort at school, she has lunch at home. Buttered noodles, yogurt, apple slices, and a popsicle are her go-to lunch.

Usually, I do a crockpot meal on Mondays, but now that we are home all the time, we’ve been having an odd combination of fully home-cooked, scratch meals, and frozen entrees and veggies. I have been posting our meal plans on Instagram too- As well as pics of stuff we are doing to keep busy.

  • Sunday:  Leftovers
  • Monday:  Salad and leftover veggie and cheese fritatta
  • Tuesday: Veggie Nuggets, Wings, and Fruit (Big kid has OT in the late afternoon, so it’s always a quick dinner on Tuesday)
  • Wednesday:  Beans, Rice, Veggies, & Quesadillas
  • Thursday: Veggie Soup & Garlic Bread
  • Friday:  Pizza Night!
  • Saturday: Pancakes, Eggs, & Fruit

Please stay safe you guys! The sooner we flatten the curve, the sooner life can go back to normal- whatever that means.

Talk Back: What are you cooking for dinner this week?

Giveaway: 30 days Unlimited Art Lessons with Young Art!

Abby H.10 Comments

One thing that my kids miss is art. Going to art classes, craft meetups, being creative, and learning new techniques.

 

I was so excited when Young Art reached out to me with an incredible offer for my readers! I am able to give away 25 memberships for 30 days of unlimited art classes with Young Art! WOW!

With 25 memberships so many of you will be able to share the love of art and creating with your kiddos!

 

What is Young Art? Young Art is on a mission to serve students, families, and the community by providing meaningful learning experiences through the virtual classroom. You can learn more here.

And the part I like the most is that not only do they do individual lessons, but they also offer family lessons, and even instruction for schools too!

Entering the giveaway is easy peasy! Leave a comment on this post letting me know what your kiddos favorite art or craft is. I’ll choose 25 winners on October 6th, 2020. I’ll contact winners via email.

Exploring Free Play- Fostering Imagination and Growth

Abby H.

As a Gen X parent, I never quite understood why we “had” to fill our kids afternoons and free time with 10,000 activities (sports, club meetings, scouting, etc.). My brother and I didn’t have tons of stuff each day after school. By the time I was in the 5th grade, both my parents worked, and frequently we were left home alone for a few hours after school a couple times a week.

We did our homework, played, read, and did chores. Even before that, there were plenty of times where we were home without structured activities. We still had scouts, soccer (my brother did AYSO for one season and decided it wasn’t for him), Key Club, Choir, JV Football. Many kids in my generation were latchkey kids and filled their afternoons with free and imaginative play.

Free play is an incredible learning tool for kids. It fosters imagination and gives kids opportunities to discover and explore. There are all sorts of toys that encourage free play- dolls, food toys, blocks, legos, to name a few.

My two love Playmobil. Playmobil is a German company that has been around since the 1970’s. They have so many different sets and types of toys- everything from princesses and fairies to knights and safari sets.

A jungle adventure after preschool. Complete with a feast

Recently, my son and daughter started pulling out some of their people as well as some of the animals and created their own adventure. Enter Carl the Mongoose and Mr. Chicken. Carl is a Meerkat, and Mr. Chicken is a Bald Eagle, but the names have stuck.  Other characters include The Birdkeeper and The Man with the Gray Hat, and Cleopatrick (my daughter named her). All of these people are from various sets, Cleo was the only one that sort of resembles her name, as she came from an awesome set of Cleopatra and Julius Caesar.

The animals and their people have all sorts of adventures. They have run a food truck, run a zoo, been on a cruise, gone on safari, hunted for wild animals, opened an iron and gold mine, run an orphanage (we have a lot of little kid Playmobil people), gone to college, gone to preschool, and taken a road trip to the “ocean” in Ohio. We paused the game for a bit to look at the US map to discover there is no ocean in Ohio, but they could go to Lake Erie instead. It was deemed the “Lake Erie ocean beach” adventure.

These adventures give the kids a chance to explore themselves and work on interpersonal relationships, even if it’s as a talking Bald Eagle and his keeper.

Even in these crazy times where nothing is certain, give your kids some time to play and explore. Taking a “brain break” (which is what the big kiddos teacher calls them) throughout the day for some playtime may help your kids more than you think.

Right now we are all home together, trying to scramble into some sort of routine of distance learning, being quiet while we all learn/work, breaks, and trying to play after school is over without making too much noise while grown ups work. It’s tough. It’s crazy. The house is messy, we’re frazzled, and we weren’t “with it” last week to follow our meal plan. But we got through it, and we’re trying again this week.

We’re all learning. And that means we should grant ourselves grace.

Be kind to yourself. Wash your paws, wear a mask, flatten the curve. Have a good week!

 

Tryazon: Apply to Host A CurliGirls Hair Styling Party

Abby H.

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Tryazon has a new party that is accepting applications!

Straight or curly? CurliGirls don’t have to choose! Brand new CurliGirls dolls feature MagiCurl hair that curls instantly when you pull it. The longer you pull, the tighter the curl – it’s so easy! Curl with your fingers, or easy styling tools, then accessorize with hair clips and beads. Ready to change it up? Dip hair in warm water and watch it magically straighten! Then style and restyle over and over again. The styling possibilities are endless.

Get to know each of the CurliGirls! Charli, the Pop Star, is pretty quiet – except when she’s rocking out on stage! She’s a rebel with a heart of gold. Hayli, the Ballerina, is always on pointe – a poised, ladylike ballerina who is all sugarplums…with just the right amount of spice!! Bayli, the Birthday Girl, is the life of the party! This giggly girl is super organized and loves to plan the perfect celebration for her friends. No matter which doll you choose, you can express your CURL power, with CurliGirls!

Tryazon will select 100 hosts for this opportunity. Those chosen will receive a party pack with a variety of CurliGirls products to showcase with friends and family!

To apply or learn more about what each Party Pack includes, click here.

We’ve done several Tryazon parties- it’s a great way to try and share new products!

2020 Summer Lunch Programs for Kids (And Other Free Food Resources in San Diego)

Abby H.

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I am usually sooo much more on top of these free lunch posts, but…well, life has been a little crazy around here, and all over the world.

Better late than never, so, here we go. In past years schools, libraries, and community centers have hosted these free lunches, this year, however, the list of facilities has decreased.

GUHSDIf you don’t find any facilities near you offering free lunches, I recommend contacting 211, they may have more updated information.

table of hopeAnd if you are in need of food for your entire family, but you find yourself not qualifying for P-EBT or other social services, I recommend that you check out Facebook. There are tons of local groups of neighbors getting together setting up Tables of Hope. In San Diego, there are several. Tables of Hope are small groups of neighbors that have set up food distribution tables within neighborhoods to help those who might be experiencing food insecurity.

Churches and community organizations are offering free food distributions that require no proof of need, like Faith Chapel in Spring Valley. They are offering free produce each Friday through mid-August. You can find out more info here.

And the San Diego Food Bank is continuing their neighborhood distributions– Lots of produce and goodies are available each week. No proof of need or residency requirements.

There are all sorts of organizations looking to help families in need.

Even if you are not in dire need, if you need help stretching your budget, these resources are here for you!

Talk Back: How are you stretching your food budget this summer?

2 Free Books from I Can Read Book Club!

Abby H.

I love I Can Read! books. I remember reading them when I was a kid, and I think that my parents still have some of them!

I took advantage of this deal- My kids are going through books so quickly right now with the library being closed and all.

Right now receive your first two books in the I Can Read! Book Club absolutely FREE! You pay just $1.00 for shipping and handling.

If you wish to continue receiving shipments from the I Can Read! Book Club, do nothing. Starting in about two weeks, and every month thereafter, you will receive five paperback books from the I Can Read! Book Club at $3.99 each plus $4.99 shipping and handling per shipment, plus sales tax (a total of $24.94), charged to the credit card that you provided. There is never an obligation to purchase additional books, and you may cancel at any time. Simply call  1-888-965-8737.

Our 100% Guarantee. Every shipment in the I Can Read! Book Club is guaranteed to meet your standards for quality. If any shipment doesn’t meet your expectations, you may return it within 30 days from receipt for a full refund of the purchase price less shipping and handling. There are no purchase commitments to meet, and you’re under no obligation to continue in the program. You may cancel at any time by notifying calling 1-888-965-8737 or emailing us at ICanRead@bookclub.harpercollins.com.