New Stuff Arriving Daily

Wow, has it really been since June that I last blogged? I tell you, that Facebook place has sucked me in. I'm posting there for Lex Fam all the time.

After being out of work for a week dealing with the flu that pummeled our household, I found my chair stacked 2 feet high with boxes and envelopes full of new products. I know for most people this is the start of the fall/Halloween/apple picking season, but for us its the start of Holiday Gift Guide season.

Loads and loads of companies send us press releases and samples of stuff they'd like us to review and we love reviewing it. I'm always amazed at the creativity and ingenuity of people who create stuff for kids.

I can't share with the everything, because then what would be the point of running our Holiday Gift Guide. But I will share with you a few great things that, for one reason or another, won't make the December issue.

The first is the "Shrinky Dinks Halloween Fun" from one of my favorite companies Creativity for Kids (Faber-Castell). This kit includes everything you need to make and decorate the cutest Spooky Tree. You get 30 pre-printed ornaments that kids color and decorate then pop in the oven and watch them shrink down to size! These things are so much fun. My kids love to watch them magically shrivel up in the oven and come out looking perfect and oh so durable.

And when they say it comes with everything, they mean everything, including the colored pencils, the hole punch and a sharpener for the pencils!

The set retails for $16.99. I recommend you buy it now and keep it for that day when your kids get the flu, but they are starting to recover and they are bored and you've run out of ideas!

Remember SPUD? Here are the rules

We lived on the best street growing up. It didn't lead anywhere so it didn't get much traffic and almost every house had a handful of kids living there. That meant many, many hours of outdoor fun. One of our favorite games was SPUD, but I had completely forgotten about it until I saw the new book "Let's Go Outside" by Jennifer Ward.
It's a collection of the rules to your favorite outdoor games, recipes for bubbles, instructions for things like building kites and forts, and suggestions for outdoor activities.
So here are the rules to SPUD as I remember them (assisted a bit by Jennifer Ward). First, gather a group of kids, five or more would be good. Someone is IT. IT whispers a different number to each of the other players. For example, if there are 6 kids total, IT whispers the numbers 1 through 5 to the other kids.
Then IT throws the ball up in the air as high as he can while he yells out a number. The kid who is assigned that number runs to catch the ball while everyone else runs away from the catcher. When he catches it he yells out "SPUD" and everyone else must freeze. The catcher then takes four giant steps toward the nearest player (yelling S-P-U-D) and tries to tag them with the ball. If that player is hit they get an "S".
The catcher then becomes IT and assigns numbers to the other players and it all begins again. Each time a player gets tagged with the ball they get the next letter in the word SPUD. Each player keeps track of the letters he has been "tagged" with. When he gets all four letters to spell out "SPUD" he is out of the game. Or you can forget that rule and just keep playing until the ice cream truck comes by.
"Let's Go Outside" is published by Trumpeter Books, is recommended for ages 8-12, will be available at bookstores in July and retails for $14.00. While you're checking it out, look for her previous book "I Love Dirt." I want that book just for the title, its priceless!

Cell Phones - Love 'em or leave 'em

I have a small vent about cell phones and kids. Please bear with me.

Cell phones have become an issue in our household. One my parents never had to deal with.
Cell phones have made life much easier for us, I have to admit, but they do have a down side as well, or rather several downsides.
I'm not a cell-phone-aholic. I do carry mine in my purse and keep it on all the time, but I rarely text, don't check my e-mail with it, don't have internet access on it.
My kids, on the other hand, LOVE their cell phones and this love has caused our family to reevaluate the rules in our house and the manners we teach our kids.
Rule #1 - we don't answer the phone at dinner time. Not the house phone, not anyone's cell phone and NO, we don't check out text messages while we eat!
Rule #2 - phones are turned off during homework time and at bedtime. I do not want to be hearing that little you've-got-a-text chime at 10:30 at night. Cell phones don't go with us to dinner at Granny's house.
Rule #3 - you do not have unlimited texts. I want my girls to learn limits and to have self control. I do not want them engaging in 50 word e-mail exchanges that amount to nothing more than "did so, did not."
Rule #4 - If you send an inappropriate photo of yourself to someone else you will lose your phone now and forever. The next time you get a cell phone will be when you are financially independent.
Rule #5 - If someone sends you a sexually explicite text you must show it to me immediately. If you do not tell me about it, the consequences of Rule #4 will apply.

And here is Laurie's List of Cell Phone Etiquette:
If you call a # that you are just SURE belongs to that cute boy you met last summer and the person answering it says you have the wrong number, do NOT send 10 text messages to that number. ITS A WRONG NUMBER!
Do not hit the resend button 75 times when you text doesn't go through. The person you are texting may have turned their phone off and when they turn it back on they'll have to deal with your 75 messages.
Edit your texts before you send them. Think carefully about what you say, because the recipients mother may just read that text and she may be calling your mother about the mean and nasty thing you just texted.
In our house cell phones are a privilege, not a right. I wish more kids would realize that and more parents would enforce it.
Vent over!

Keeping Busy

Things have been quiet here on my blog, mostly because I've discovered Facebook and started a Lexington Family Magazine Facebook page. So easy to update! Join us there so keep up with what's going on with Lex Fam. You don't even have to join Facebook to see our page. Just go to http://www.facebook.com/ and search for Lexington Family Magazine. If you already have an account be sure to become a fan! We'll be doing some giveaways there now and then.
While things may have been quiet on the blog, they are most definately NOT quiet here at the magazine. The May issue is out with loads of info on the best camps, dealing with aging parenting, and of course, great giveaways.
We are also just now going to print with our annual Field Trip and Activities Guide. It's geared toward teachers, homeschoolers and youth leaders, but moms and dads love it too. It will be out in about a week and you'll be able to request a copy on our website: http://www.lexingtonfamily.com/

CAMP FAIR***CAMP FAIR***CAMP FAIR

THE CAMP FAIR IS THIS SATURDAY!!!!!
You do not want to miss this event. In addition to over 60 booths full of camps, camps, camps and more camps you'll find booths representing activites, classes, dentists, pediatricians, churches, daycares, schools and learning programs.
Every booth has something fun for the kids to do while Mom and Dad are checking out the details, speaking to the camps directors, owners, school and health professionals. There will be hair painting and face painting, washable tattoos, arts and crafts, toss games and bowling, stick horse races and corn hole. And don't miss the giant slide!
Want to see your kids adorable face on the cover of Lexington Family Magazine? Then don't miss your chance to have their photographs made at the Portrait Shoppe booth for our annual Cover Model Search. We'll pick 4 kids who'll show up on our covers in the next year.
We've got live performances all day long from some of the most talented dancers, gymnastics, models and martial artists in the Bluegrass.
At 1 p.m. we'll be presenting the awards to the winners of our 5th Annual Writing Contest.
And don't miss the giveaways! We're giving something away every half hour including a bunkbed from Baby's Room & Kids, Too, the newest American Girl doll, Cranium games, Breyer horses, CDs, DVDs, books and toys. PLUS the first 25 families in the door get a 3-disc Combo Pack of "Bedtime Stories." This includes the DVD, the blu-ray disc and a digital copy for your mobile devices.
Whew! That's a lot of stuff! Don't miss this Fair!

Overwhelming Response to the Writing Contest

I'm so blown away right now. I've got One Thousand and Twenty-Four (that's 1,024) entries to our 5th Annual Writing Contest! That's over 350 more than we've ever had before.
Over 50 teachers entered their classes including all 27 classes at Garden Springs Elementary. We also had dozens of kids who entered on their own.
The biggest surprise were the entries from homeschoolers in 12 states outside of Kentucky!
Now comes the fun part - reading all the entries! You would not believe how funny some of these kids are, like the little guy who wanted to ask Abraham Lincoln how heavy his cannon balls are or the girl who things President Obama is incredible because it takes incredibility to be a President.
The contest is closed now, but rest assured we will hold the 6th annual Writing Contest next year! I am looking for suggestions for a topic for next year. If you have an idea for me, please drop me a line: events@lexingtonfamily.com or leave a comment here.

Writing Contest Goes Nationwide!!

The entries to Lexington Family Magazine's Writing Contest are starting to flow in. We're up to 93 entries now, with another 350 promised from local classrooms that I've visited. That's not counting the classes I haven't heard from. I'm thinking we'll beat our record high of 657 entries from 2007.
One thing that has surprised me is the entries from outside of Kentucky. We've had an entry from a school in Louisiana, 2 from South Carolina, and 3 from Pennsylvania. How are these people hearing about us? On-line, of course. Perhaps they read about the contest here on our blog, or maybe on our website (www.lexingtonfamily.com) or maybe they've found us on Facebook.
Wherever they found us, we welcome them to the Writing Contest.
There's still time for your kids to enter. Just find all the info here (just scroll down) or on the website. Write 100 words by March 27 and your child could win!