Everything is Awesome! The LEGO® MOVIE™ WORLD Opening on May 27, 2021

My kids are going to lose their MINDS when I tell them about this! One of the places they have been missing over the past 13 months is Legoland.

THE LEGO® MOVIE™ WORLD is opening on May 27, 2021. It brings the streets of Bricksburg and experience the Park’s newest and biggest adventure which brings the blockbuster films THE LEGO® MOVIE™ and THE LEGO® MOVIE™ 2: The Second Part, to life.

This new land features six interactive attractions for all to enjoy.

  • Emmet’s Flying Adventure
  • Unikitty’s Disco Drop
  • Benny’s Play Ship
  • Queen Watevra’s Carousel
  • Build Watevra You Wa’Na Build zone,
  • Meet Emmet and all his friends in Emmet’s Super Suite
  • Enjoy tasty themed treats such as Cloud Cuckoo Crepes throughout the land.

I’m excited to take the kids to Legoland this summer! They are both itching to visit the new LEGO MOVIE WORLD and of course, the Legoland water park!

The LEGO MOVIE WORLD will be included in the price of admission to LEGOLAND California Resort. Guests can purchase tickets and reserve their spot through LEGOLAND California’s reservation system for their desired Park visit. For more Resort information, operating schedule and to make reservations, visit the Legoland Website here.

And if you are looking for some money savings hacks for Legoland, check out my post here.

Review of Everything’s a Deal (2 Locations in San Diego)

If you’re like me, you’ve been socially isolated/staying home for the better part of a year, wearing the same clothes, and it’s getting a little repetitive.

But at the same time, you don’t want to go to the mall. And as much fun as shopping on Amazon is, it’s hard to buy clothes on Amazon sometimes.

Last week, after I dropped the kids off at school and ran a couple errands, I found myself in South Bay. I remember that there used to be a discount/mark-down clothing store off of Palomar Road and interstate five, so I decided to drive down and see if it was still there. It is! And it’s even better than I remembered. It’s called Everything’s A Deal (it used to be Everything’s $5.00) and they’ve changed their store again.

The address is: 1141 Bay Blvd, Chula Vista, CA 91911

In a true wholesale try store the more you buy the cheaper the price per item becomes. If you buy between five and 10 items it’s $27.50+ tax for all 5 to 9 items. And the prices go down from there. Unlike a lot of discount clothing stores (I’m looking at a Ross) it’s not mostly trash/fast fashion/awful sweatshop crap.

Originally $44, marked down to $5.99!
I love this brand! They make such cozy sweaters and jackets. Originally sold at Nordstrom’s Rack.

Everything’s A Deal buys lots from well-known retailers (Sears, JCPenney, Nordstrom‘s Rack, or fifth Avenue, just to name a few) and they have a large warehouse-style store where everything is separated by size. All the plus sizes are together, all the small, medium, large, etc.

The nice thing is that the sale prices are for everything. Shoes, accessories, purses, close. They have kids’ clothes in men’s clothes too. So conceivably you could read your entire family there and some really cute outfits and not break the bank. Everything is new with tags. I bought five items and spent $29.99 after tax out the door. I got a jacket, address, two new T-shirts, and a really cute vest that I’m going to tie-dye.

All five items are name brand, and the jacket is a brand that is sold at Nordstrom rack. I googled the RN number and discovered that the original price of my brand new coat was $89.99. My two shirts had the tags still attached, my vest is from a brand I remember seeing at Macy’s, and my new dress, which is adorable, is from a brand that target sells.

Super Cute Sweater from A.N.A. a JCPenney Brand
This sweater, originally from JCPenney started out life at $47, and is now $5.00! Such an amazing deal!

There’s another location on Broadway in Lemon Grove (7696 Broadway Lemon Grove, CA) if South Bay is too far of a jog for you. Honestly, the stores are a great help for us, they help me stretch our clothing budget for new items. I’m able to afford better quality items for the same price that I would be paying at Walmart. And because the clothing swaps are going to be not happening for probably the next year or two, we won’t be able to pick up hand-me-downs or other secondhand clothing and household goods.

Clothing swaps are one of the ways that we are able to save a lot of money and keep the kids’ clothes. The kids are starting to grow out of the clothing that they have been wearing, and because there’s been no clothing swap this year, I don’t have clothing in the next size ready. I am going to have to purchase clothes.

I have been doing buying clothes and replacing our wardrobes little by little when I find stuff on sale and clearance that kids and I will like. This is mostly through jcp.com because they have such great sales and coupons. And I can combine those with cashback deals from online aggregators like top cashback, MyPoints, and Honey.

4/26/2021 Weekly Meal Plan

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The CSA emails us in advance to give us a heads up as to what may be in our boxes each week, and that really gives me an upper hand when it comes to meal planning for the week.

Veggies and fruit are delivered each Monday by Yasukochi Family Farms CSA. For $25, it’s a great deal. I don’t have to pick anything, go to the store, or carry it upstairs. I can’t go to the store and get the same amount we get weekly for $25. Seriously. It’s a deal. I spend about an hour on Monday afternoon cleaning and prepping veggies for the rest of the week.

Over the weekend, I did some meal prep: I made a batch of potato cheese soup on Saturday evening, and yesterday I cooked rice, made a big salad, cooked marinated chicken thighs, and refilled the snack/school lunch box to make morning lunch prep even easier.

I’m planning on making a couple batches of soup today or tomorrow. I’ll freeze half, and the other half will go into the fridge for my lunch throughout the week. Broccoli Cheese Soup and Copycat Zuppa Toscana are planned (most of the ingredients will be coming in the CSA box today).

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 try to 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.  The kids are nuts about pancakes. The Big Kid has been on a protein shake kick in the AM.

Lunch: Kids take lunch to school. I eat leftovers. Everyone rejoices.

Dinner: 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 and roasted veggies (it was Brussels Sprouts and onions with bacon)
  • Monday:  Chef Salad, Grilled Croissants (halved, buttered and cooked on the flat top), smoothies
  • Tuesday:   Steak, Potatoes, Fruit, Roasted Veggies (probably broccoli)
  • Wednesday:  Nugget night (nuggets, fruit, crackers, milk)
  • Thursday: Dream Dinners and Roasted Veg
  • Friday:  Pizza/Takeout Night
  • Saturday: Meal o’ Snacks and /or leftovers

Please stay safe you guys!

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

4/18/2021 Weekly Meal Plan

0a5e9dab796cea8a07eabe4eb4795b9e.jpgThe CSA emails us in advance to give us a heads up as to what may be in our boxes on Monday, so that’s helped me be able to meal prep.

The kids and I went to the store this morning and picked up milk and some stuff for their school lunches. OH YEAH- School starts full-time TOMORROW!!!

This past week we didn’t follow the meal plan because a mystery illness swept the household. Everyone is better, so hopefully, this week will easier. and also now with 50% more SCHOOL!

Veggies and fruit are delivered each Monday by Yasukochi Family Farms CSA. For $25, it’s a great deal. I don’t have to pick anything, go to the store, or carry it upstairs. I can’t go to the store and get the same amount we get weekly for $25. Seriously. It’s a deal. I spend about an hour on Monday afternoon cleaning and prepping veggies for the rest of the week.

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 try to 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.  The kids are nuts about pancakes. The Big Kid has been on a protein shake kick in the AM.

Lunch: Kids take lunch to school. I eat leftovers. Everyone rejoices.

Dinner: 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 and roasted veggies
  • Monday:  Breakfast for Dinner (Sausage, eggs, pancakes)
  • Tuesday:   Dream Dinners Meal and Salad
  • Wednesday:  Soup and Snacks!
  • Thursday: Dream Dinners and veggies
  • Friday:  Pizza/Takeout Night
  • Saturday: Meal o’ Snacks and Protein Shakes

Please stay safe you guys!

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

4/12/2021: Weekly Meal Plan!

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The CSA emails us in advance to give us a heads up as to what may be in our boxes on Monday, so that’s helped me be able to meal prep and write up this post last night.. But I went to bed early and forgot to hit POST.

I picked up a full order from Dream Dinners on Friday afternoon, and I’ve got three DD meals planned for this week. I’m working through the freezer too, and I’m planning on making vegetable soup with some homemade stock in the freezer and some freshly frozen veggies. I freeze fresh veggies towards the end of the week so that we have room in the fridge for all of the new CSA goodies.

Veggies and fruit are delivered each Monday by Yasukochi Family Farms CSA. For $25, it’s a great deal. I don’t have to pick anything, go to the store, or carry it upstairs. I can’t go to the store and get the same amount we get weekly for $25. Seriously. It’s a deal. I spend about an hour on Monday afternoon cleaning and prepping veggies for the rest of the week.

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 try to 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.  The kids are nuts about pancakes. The Big Kid has been on a protein shake kick in the AM.

Lunch: The little kiddo and I usually have something quick and filling, lately it’s been sandwiches on croissants, and strawberry yogurt.  Big kid takes his lunch to school.

Dinner: 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: Roasted loaded cauliflower, Salad, Garlic Baguettes
  • Monday:  Orange ginger chicken, rice, roasted veggies
  • Tuesday:   Vegetable Soup and Cheddar Biscuits
  • Wednesday:  Meal o’ Snacks!
  • Thursday: Chicken tikka Masala, rice, salad or veggies
  • Friday:  Pizza/Takeout Night
  • Saturday: Breakfast for Dinner (Pancakes, Eggs, Fruit)

Please stay safe you guys!

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

Tryazon: Host a Spin Master RC Race Party

There is a new Tryazon Party opportunity!

Get ready to race with this Tryazon Featured Party opportunity, from Spin Master,  featuring the BIGGEST RC Grave Digger ever – The Monster Jam, Official MEGA Grave Digger – measuring at over 2 feet long! This opportunity also includes the gravity defying Air Hogs Zero Gravity Laser race car, and the Monster Jam, Official Grave Digger Remote Control Truck with a range of up to 250 feet!

They have 100 hosting spots open for this opportunity! Those selected get to receive a party pack with a variety of Spin Master RC cars and other extras to share with friends and family! Learn more and apply here.

If you’ve never heard of Tryazon (pronounced Try-uh-zon ☺), Tryazon is a service dedicated to getting innovative products into people’s hands and mouths, in fun settings like the party we had today. They offer excellent product samples and savings for all who participate.

We’ve had so many Tryazon sampling events and parties in the past two years.

Virtual Parent Workshop: Self-Monitoring Tools in the Home

This flyer showed up in my email inbox this morning and is a great opportunity to learn and help support your kids. My son’s class does Self & Match and it’s a great way to help kids learn about personal responsibility.

This Self & Match Virtual Parent Workshop takes place on May 11, 2021 at 9:00-10:30 am.

This interactive and hands-on workshop will provide an opportunity for parents and home providers to learn a well-defined, systematic self-monitoring intervention and motivational system to use in the home and school settings. A discussion of self-monitoring procedures incorporating a “match” component will be presented with a specific focus on Self & Match, a user-friendly, easy to implement.

Parents will be shared practice tools and tips that can be implemented immediately. Great workshop for individuals and/or teams (parents and in-home behavior analysts).

Make a note on your calendar and add this link to your online calendar.

Free Food Resources for April 2021 (San Diego County)

A new month means that it’s time for the monthly update of free food resources in San Diego.

You can still find resources here for Central and East County, and Here for North County.

Neighborhood Distributions for April 2021:

These Distributions are primarily fruits & veg, however, some locations may also distribute canned goods, dairy, and bread.

Super Pantry Locations can be found here (this listing is countywide). The San Diego Foodbank website also has resources for Diaper banks, free food resources for seniors, and more.

If you know of other resources, please leave a comment! And feel free to share this post with anyone you may know in need.

Free Food Resources for March 2021 (San Diego County)

I’m sorry this is a little late coming for March. Fear not, you haven’t missed out! There are still many free Neighborhood Distributions for this month!

You can still find resources here for Central and East County, and Here for North County.

Neighborhood Distributions for March 2021:

These Distributions are primarily produce/fruits & veg, however, some locations may also distribute canned goods, dairy, and bread.

Super Pantry Locations can be found here (this listing is countywide).

If you have a child attending public school in San Diego County, check to see if your school distributes free lunches daily.

In Eastern San Diego County, Grossmont Union High School District schools are distributing lunches to kids ages 2-18, Monday through Friday at various times  (Check your closest school to find out exact times and locations within each school). They also do Pizza Fridays, where each kid receives a pizza, drink, salad, plus food to be eaten over the weekend. It is definitely more than enough food to keep kids fed over the weekend.

Forgive the blurriness of this picture, but Grossmont Union High School District will be giving out two family meals over their Spring Break. Monday, March 15, 2021 and Monday March 22, 2021. The offers vary by week, but it’s a great chance to pick up some extra food to feed the kiddos. Yes, I know it says March 2020, but it is for this year.

If you know of other resources, please leave a comment! And feel free to share this post with anyone you may know in need.

2/26/2021 Friday Freebies and Deals

bright boxes

This week was chill compared to the last three weeks. I’m looking forward to a slow, quiet weekend full of play time and naps (at least for me).

My birthday was earlier this month and I rocked a bunch of freebies. Wanna check out my list of goodies? Check it out here.

Most of these freebies and deals are online. I am not encouraging anyone to go into stores or go out into public. Mask up, wash your paws, stay socially distanced!

Freebies:

Free Cool Beans Frozen Wrap
Free Philips Products
Free Subscription to Men’s Health Magazine
Old Orchard Fan Club – Earn Free Juice, Gifts & More
Free Bitsy’s Good Cookies
Free Best Face and ClarityRX Day Creams
Free Sample of Alia Superfood Energy Powder
Free SOS Hydration Electrolyte Drink Mix
Free Ananda Hemp CBD Full Spectrum Softgels Samples
Free Goodnites Underwear Sample
Free Parks & Nash Bone Broth Soup
8 Free Jade Bloom Essential Oils
Free Autographed Holly Clark Hero Card
Free Coffee Wednesdays at Dunkin
Free Danodan Hemp Flower CBD Shot Samples
Free Innisfree My Real Squeeze Masks
Free PetSafe Pet Products
Free Morning Brew Rise & Grind Swag
Free Febreze Plug-In at Kroger & Affiliates

Deals:

3 Layer Freshwater Pearl Necklace ONLY $1.40 Shipped
Ecovacs Robot Vacuum ONLY $169 Shipped (Reg $550)
Toddler 3-Piece Pajama Sets ONLY $6.49 at Walmart (Reg $13)
Adventure Academy 62% Off – ONLY $3.75 per Month
Sargent Art 400-Count ONLY $17.34 (Reg $37)
Gibson Home Bakeware Set 5-Piece ONLY $22.49 (Reg $30)
Ultrean 4.2-Quart Air Fryer ONLY $59.49 Shipped (Reg $96)
Aukey Wireless Earbuds ONLY $23.79 (Reg $34)
Two Months of ABCmouse ONLY $5.00 (Reg. $20)
Nuby Floating Purple Octopus ONLY $6.89 on Amazon
My First Library Board Book Block 12-Book Set $9.59 (Reg. $16)
Disney Electronic Reader Hardcover ONLY $19.00 (Reg. $33)
3-Piece Husky 144-Tooth Ratchet Set ONLY $49.97 (Reg $70)
Atomic Marvel Crisis Protocol Game ONLY $68 (Reg $100)
Nature’s Miracle Litter Box Odor Destroyer ONLY $3.99 (Reg. $12)
Melissa & Doug Mega Race-Car Carrier $16.60 (Reg. $30)
Disney Princess Sing & Shimmer Ariel Doll $19.10 (Reg. $30)