NO GIFT WRAP CHALLENGE - something to do with all that money you saved!

Now I know all of you have been following my Challenge and therefore you have saved TONS of money by not buying wrapping paper. So take that money and get yourself tickets to the Lexington Children's Theatre's production of The Snow Queen.

I took my daughters to see it this weekend. It is amazing! The costume, the staging, the dancing and the music were all spectacular. Its best for kids over 8, but even my 15-year-old enjoyed it.

So call now - get your tickets! http://www.lctonstage.org/ or 254-4546 ext. 247.

Back to the Challenge. Our lovely neighbors, Mary and Tom, brought us a gift this weekend and they used gift wrap! But they did it in a wonderfully recyclable way. Mary made a "soap opera box." You know, those boxes they use on TV where the bottom is wrapped separately from the top so that you can just lift off the lid? Its beautiful. And you can be sure I immediately recycled that box for a gift to another friend. I think I'm going to use some of last year's leftover wrapping paper to make some of my own "soap opera boxes."

NO GIFT WRAP CHALLENGE - Don't forget you can WIN STUFF!

All ya gotta do is post and you have a chance to win a bunch of cool books (here's a hint: Yum-O) from Lexington Family.

My friend Jill, the scrapbooker, shared a totally cool idea with me. She covered little coin envelopes from the office supply store with scraps of Christmas paper, bits of ribbon and glitter. It took her about 15 minutes this morning to make it and its the perfect size for a gift card and would look so cute stuck on the tree Christmas morning.

A couple of years ago my sister-in-law gave me a Starbucks card. The store was out of the cute little folders for the GC so they stuck it down inside a red Starbucks paper cup with a handful of coffee beans to hold it in place. I loved that idea. All you have to do then is stick a big bow on top of the cup.

I like this idea for kids, too. Buy them a sports bottle, fill it halfway up with wrapped candy, then stick a gift card to their favorite store down in the candy.

NO GIFT WRAP CHALLENGE - Lookee What I Made

I got crafty with some more pretty paper and stickers. These are actually tins that came with something else in them. A friend saved them and passed them on to me. Took me about a half an hour to do all three of them. Inside each tin was a gift card.

You can do this same thing with CD or DVD jewel cases. Just glue some old wrapping paper to the outside and slip your gift card on the inside. Hopefully, whoever you give it to will save it to pass on to someone else.

NO GIFT WRAP CHALLENGE - Drop what you are doing..

Seriously, drop what you are doing right now and run to the Salvation Army's Angel Tree at Fayette Mall. That's the booth where you pick the name of a child and their wish list and you provide holiday gifts for needy kids.

I was there this morning picking out names for our family to buy for and there were HUNDREDS of children's wish lists still waiting for sponsor. One of the volunteers working there told me they had more names this year because of the worsening economy. (Psssst - found loads of clothes at Penneys 50% off which made buying an outfit for these kids pretty easy)

The booth is in the newer part of Fayette Mall, near Dillards and they are open during mall hours. You need to pick out your kids and return the gifts to the booth by Dec. 14.

I also recently had an e-mail from the Bluegrass Domestic Violence Program saying that they were in need of folks to "adopt" families who need help with buying gifts this Christmas. If you can help e-mail marjorie.stanek@bdvp.org.

Now - after that public service announcement we return you to your regularly schedule CHALLENGE!

My first big gift wrap challenge came today as I "wrapped" all the gifts for our Christmas exchange with my sister's family on Saturday. I think I came up with some cute ideas!

The picture above is some old boxes that came with jewelry (yes, I'm a packrat, I save cute boxes). These were the perfect size for the jewelry I'm giving to my niece-in-law (is that a word?) and my great-niece.

The boxes were a little plain so I stuck a big white letter sticker on each box with the lady's first initial and added some little dots of liquid glitter. You could use stick-on bling, or even make dots with a pen or a sharpie. The little holly leaves were leftovers from an old sheet of Christmas stickers.

Now I have re-used an old box, used up some old stickers and didn't use a scrap of wrapping paper. This is an easy craft you could turn your kids loose on to.

I did some other cute packaging today too, but you'll have to wait until tomorrow to see them.

Happy Not-Wrapping!

NO GIFT WRAP CHALLENGE - Use what is given to you!

Another great way keep from using gift wrap is to use what the stores give you! If a store offers you a free gift box, TAKE IT! Chances are its a very nice looking box. Talbots has beautiful sturdy red boxes with their logo embosses instead of printed, so its very easy to hide the name with a bow. JC Penney also has pretty red boxes, although they do have their name printed on it, you can cover it with a gift tag if you are clever.
I picked up a gift today for our long-time babysitter, who is retiring from our every-other-Wednesday Date Night gig, now that my oldest is a teen. I bought a box of chocolates to go with the gift card I got her and the store clerk at Godiva put it in a very beautiful off-white bag. No need to wrap this up, I just stuffed the bag with some pretty tissue paper I saved from last Christmas and it looks very pretty. Those pretty gold boxes they use are great to reuse too.
Starbucks packages their coffee and other gifts in really nice reusable gift boxes. If any of you are luck enough to get one this year, SAVE THAT BOX. These things are made to be reused so the Starbucks label is only on the tag.
I've got a challenge coming up. I'm exchanging gift with my sister this weekend and the gift I got her is in a fairly large box (think slightly bigger than a toaster). Its a kitchen item, so I'm trying to come up with a clever way to package it that goes along with the kitchen theme. Its too big to wrap in a pretty dishtowel, so I can't use that idea. Ideas, anyone?

It's the Lexington Family NO GIFT WRAP Challenge

I read somewhere (oh wait, that was in Lexington Family, wasn't it?) recently that we dump something like 4 million TONS of wrapping paper in our landfills during the holidays. Unbelievable! These scraps of paper are going to be hanging around for years!
And we Americans use 38,000 MILES of ribbon each year, also unrecyclable.
So I am presenting to our readers a NO GIFT WRAP Challenge. See if you can get through the holidays without using a single inch of gift wrap. That is my goal for this holiday season and I'm going to try and post a new gift wrap alternative every day for the next two weeks. Follow along here for some great new ideas and PLEASE share your own ideas.
Here's a little motivation for you. Post a comment or suggestion to one of my NO GIFT WRAP Challenge posts in the next two weeks and you will be entered to win a Holiday Prize Package (unwrapped). It includes the book "A Green Christmas" written by Sheherazade Goldsmith.
Isn't that a great name? So cool to be named after an Arabian Princess who kept herself from being beheaded by entertaining her king with a new tale every night for One Thousand and One Nights. Sure hope she doesn't got by something as mundane and Sherry. Surely not.
So my first idea for NO GIFT WRAP is actually something my daughter and I came up with last year. We wrapped up several gifts in little metal lunch boxes that we repurposed. This example actually came from a scrapbook company and had cardboard letters in it, but I've seen little lunch boxes like this at the dollar store too. We glued on some pretty paper scraps and added a few stickers and this made a great container for a gift card, a scarf, jewelry, or any other small gift.
Now show me your cool ideas!

Kid Power Rules!

Here's another great toy I ran across while doing research for our Holiday Gift Guide (see our December issue hitting the streets Wed., Nov. 26). Its a line of trucks made by Sprig Toys that are totally kid powered!

Yes, I said, kid powered! NO BATTERIES!!! Your kids power the energy for the lights and sounds by driving the cars around. Now your kids actally get a reward for being active.

You can find Sprig Toys locally at Toys R Us.

The Space Shuttle Gets Even Cooler!

So I decided I needed to buy the Mega Rig Space Shuttle for my nephew, who is 7. I checked out the price at Amazon.com and was suprised to see an option for "Frustration-Free Packaging" for some of the Mattel toys, including this one.

Frustration-Free? Sounds right up my alley. How many hours have I spent bending those dang wires to free the Polly Pockets from their plastic bondage? How many nails have I broken trying to pick the ultra-sticky tape off the backs of Littlest Pet Shop creatures?

So I clicked on the Frustration-Free option and sure enough, when the Mega Rig Space Shuttle showed up at my door is was efficiently packed in a single brown cardboard box. No clamshell plastic containers, no wires, no rubberbands, not a strip of sticky tape in sight.

Now my nephew (sssshhhh, don't tell him) can play with his toy the minute he opens it and not 20 minutes later when Aunt Laurie finally gets all the wires off. And ALL of the packaging can go in the recylcing bin. And the dog won't get hold of any of those little plastic pieces that fall off when you remove the rubber bands. He'll be so disappointed. He lives for plastic. He thinks Polly Pocket shoes are bubble gum for dogs.

I snagged these photos off the Amazon site so you can see how much less packaging is used. On the left is the toy, the center is the traditional packaging, and the right shows you what I received.

Coolest idea ever! All toy companies should do this. Are you listening Polly Pocket?

Right now this is only featured on 19 of the top selling products. Send an e-mail to your favorite toy company this week demanding more packaging that is environmentally-friendly and Mommy-friendly.

Totally Cool Space Shuttle

More cool stuff is arriving every day in our office. Did I mention that some lucky readers will be winning all these cool Holiday Gift Guide products? More on that in December.

I love the line of toys that Mattel has come out with this fall. I'm not going to show you the one that made the Gift Guide but this Matchbox® Mega Rig® Shuttle Mission is a close second.
The best part of this building system is that it starts as one gigantic space ship and but then it breaks down to 30 different combinations of space vehicles for kids to create. Its got cool accessories, like a space arm to grab things, an ATV and a UFO with a space alien inside.

I wish I had a little boy! Do you suppose my 15-year-old daughter would get mad if I bought her this?

It retails for around $45 at most major retailers.

Really Cool Green Toys

In my search for great stuff for our Holiday Gift Guide I have come across another company I really like - Plan Toys. This company takes their commitment to the environment very seriously. The wood comes from organically-grown rubber trees that can no longer produce latex. Their glues and dyes are non-toxic and child-safe. The packaging that the toys come in is recycled and recyclable.

I have a favorite toy that I'm hoping will make our Holiday Gift Guide in Dec., but there are loads of others from this company that I wish my girls had not grown out of. The doll house above is one of those favorites.

The cool thing about this doll house is that not only can the kids move furniture around but they can also reposition the 2 halves of the house and the staircases, very helpful when you have more than one kid playing.

You can see all the great Plan Toys at http://www.plantoysusa.com/ and you can purchase Plan Toys at loads of on-line sites including 2 of my favorites: http://www.iqkids.com/ and http://www.reallygreattoys.com/.

Stay tuned - more boxes are arriving daily (think dinosaurs)!

More packages at my door!

It's Holiday Gift Guide time around here! More and more packages arriving every day with samples of products that might just make it in our December issue. While I can't show you everything that has arrived (that would ruin the suprise) and can show you some of the other cool products that these companies make.

One of my favorite new finds is a company called Boon. They make really slick looking, innovative baby and child products and toys. My favorite product (shhhhh, its a secret!) will probably make a debut in our Gift Guide, but the photo above is one of my other favorites from their line.

These Odd Ducks are just so fun! So much more unique than your average Joe Duck. These ducks are called Squish, Bob, Jane and Slim.

They are also BpA-free, Phthalate-free and PVC-free so you don't need to worry when Junior gnaws on Bob's head.

Check out the whole line of products at http://www.booninc.com/.

We Have a Winner!!!

UTE! You are the winner of this fabulous scooter. Send me an e-mail at events@lexingtonfamily.com and I will tell you where you can pick up the scooter!

Win This Scooter!!!

Well, here it is finally - the Fuzion Electron Scooter. The kind folks at Nextsport sent me one of these and asked if I could find some young scooter pros to try it out. Honestly, did they not think that *I* am young enough to scooter? Fortunately, I do have a scooter pro at home and she has loads of scooter pro friends. So one day last month I took this scooter home and had my 10-year-old daughter and a few of her friends compare it to her old Razor scooter. That's Melissa and one of her friends demonstrating it for us.

The first thing we all noticed was that this scooter stands up on its own. No more tossing it onto the grass when you hop off. The four wheels give the scooter a more stable base and the handlebar in the front can twist quite a way to either side while the front wheels stay flat on the ground. This gave the kids way more maneuverability on tight turns.

So what was the girls' opinion of this scooter:

MJ - "Much better for tricks. You can tip it without worrying"

SH - "Not as fast as my old Razor"

MW - "Much funner, much cooler name, and cooler shape!"

MJ - "Can I keep it?"

No sorry, you can't keep it (guess I know what she'll be asking for this Christmas)

This scooter really is slick and I am giving it away this month. All you have to do is leave a comment here on my blog (please don't post anonymously or I won't be able to pick you) and on October 20th I'll pick a name and post the winner.

I'll warn you now, this scooter isn't new in the box. It has made at least 20 big circles of my driveway, but it is like new and your kids WILL love it. So tell me what you think and you might win.

If you want to learn more about the Fuzion Scooters check here: http://www.fuzionscooter.com/

Are You Looking for the Scooter?

Have you found this month's issue yet? The one with the cute little Indiana Jones on the cover? If so, you came here to find the scoooter, didn't you?
It'll be up here soon, with instructions on how you can enter to win one! Keep checking back.

Whose Meebas? MyMeebas!

A rather interesting little product crossed my desk this week. When it arrived I had no idea what it could be. It was a pink cylinder with a cap on one end and a tiny little electronic screen sticking out of one side. It was called MyMeeba. I played around with the buttons, but I had no luck at all figuring it out.

So, I took it to the experts - my kids. We were driving to one of their 1500 weekly events, classes, programs and I tossed the game into the back seat to my daughters. My 10-year-old dove right into it and had the toy up and running in seconds. For the next 15 minutes all I heard beeps and bubbles and "This is so cool," "Oh look at this," "Let me try."

The goal of MyMeeba is to play video game on the side of the cylinder until you have conquered all 7 levels. Then the cap on the top of the cylinder pops open and out comes your Meeba. I little stuffed critter (not sure what to describe it as, its certainly not an animal). My 10-year-old LOVES this thing! And even though the stuffed critter is not very big, or even very stuffed, it has earned a coveted spot on her pillow, edging out several Webkinz.

She asked for more of MyMeebas for her birthday in Sept., but Target was sold out! So keep your eyes open, they might make a nice stocking stuffer.

Campy Invitations

It's not a new product, you can't buy it anywhere, but I just had to share. My youngest daughter's 10th birthday is coming up and we got all crafty this weekend and made her invitations by hand. What do you think?

A Great New Book

Whoops! Looks like its been over a month since I've posted to my blog. You can tell I'm over 40, can't you? Just can't get into that blog rhythm. I'll try to be better.

There is so much great stuff coming into my office these days. I was out of town for a few days and when I got back I found a big red backpack from the folks at General Mills with boxes of cereal, Lucky Charms and Trix.

I also got a very big and very beautiful book called "Hubble: Imagining Space and Time from the folks at National Geographic. What a gorgeous book! It would make a wonderful Christmas gift for the scientist in your family ($50.00).

We also got some new board games - the Party version of Apples to Apples and the newest version of Clue with updated locations, characters and murder weapons.

One the best finds, however, was a new book by Meg Cabot, the author of the Princess Diaries books. It's called "Allie Finkel's Rules for Girls: The New Girl." Its actually the second in a series and I passed it on to my 9-year-old daughter Melissa to review.

Here's what she had to say:

This is the second book about the new girl in school. She’s coming in the middle of November and has a little fit with her mom about what she can wear and her little brother wants to wear his pirate costume. When she goes into the class the teacher wants her to talk to people about herself. At first, she’s not sure what to say, but then she tells them about the new kitten she is getting. A girl named Rosemary is the one who has a question. She really rudely goes “You might want to tell your brother that Halloween is over.”

Rosemary doesn’t seem like a nice girl and she makes fun of Allie and threatens to beat her up. Allie gets to be in the final two of the school spelling bee and Rosemary really puts pressure on her to win.

I don’t want to spoil the book for you so I won’t tell you much else.

I really like this book because Allie is about my age and I like all the silly rules she makes up.

Keep your eyes open for more reviews from Melissa! I've just gotten a couple of new toys in the office that I think she might have strong opinions about.

Smelly Pencils

Say "smelly" and "pencils" really fast and what do you get? That's right "Smencils." Why is this important? Because Smencils really do exist! I know, because there was a package of them waiting for me on my chair when I got to work today.

They sound silly but these really are cool. Made of recycled newspapers (save a tree!) these Gourmet Scented pencils really do smell. And they smell good. My particular favorite is the chocolate scented pencil, but they also come in loads of smells like cotton candy, root beer, bubble gum, and grape.

You can buy regular #2 Smencils and colored Smencils, tool.

PTA fundraising Moms - check this out - The Smencils Company offers fundraising packages, too. I mean, who really wants another bucket of frozen cookie dough when you can have really cool recycled smelly pencils.

Check them out at http://www.smencils.com/

Have you seen the Sea Pals Friends that we are giving away in the magazine this month? These things are so stinkin' cute!

So I was a marine biology major in college so I have a soft spot for ocean critters, but I think my kids are gonna love these too.

What you get is a little stuffed sea creature (kinda like a webkinz) in a plastic package that looks like a squished fish bowl. There is an Angelfish, a Clownfish (Nemo!), a Sea Turtle, my favorite, the Blue Lobster, a Shark and several more. You scratch off the secret code on the inside and log on to http://www.seapalsworld.com/. When you register your critter it shows up in your on-line virtual aquarium.

You can feed your pet and add decorative items to your aquarium. Now this is where I found it confusing. There are games to play, but its not easy to find. You have to scroll down to the bottom of the screen where you see your pet and underneath it will be a small button that reads "Take me to my secret world." Click that and you find your fish's "home" with furniture (can a fish sleep in a bed?) and the Tube Station. Click on that to go to special worlds where you can play games and interact with other creatures. Kids are limited to stock phrases so there its quite safe. Play the games and you can win points to buy cool stuff in the store.

Sea Pals is still adding games, and there are still just a limited number of users, but I'll bet this place is as hoppin' as Club Penguin soon.

I just got the COOLEST book from Silver Dolphin books today. It's called "Explore Within a Medieval Castle." The book itself has a big window in the front that shows an intricate model of a castle. As you open each heavy page a piece of the castle moves with the page, revealing another layer of the castle.

Kids will learn how to become a knight, what a trebuchet is (do you know?), how the castle kitchen is run, even how waste is disposed of.

It's a gorgeous book, recommended for ages 8 and up. I'd stick to those guidelines as the castle itself is very fragile and requires careful handling. It retails for $21.95.

It Happens Every Time I Take Vacation.

My chair fills up with boxes and packages. I can't sit down the first hour I get back into the office because I've got to open all the boxes and padded envelopes.

We took the kids to our favorite vacation spot - the Sea Pines Plantation in Hilton Head - and spent a week riding bikes, swimming, jumping in the waves, waving at the dolpins, and eating seafood.

My chair full of goodies was waiting for me when I got back. Just take a look at what was inside all these packages!

Disney sent me their latest 'tweener CD, the soundtrack from "Camp Rock." My 9-year-old is dying to see that movie, I'm sure she'll be saving her allowance for the CD, too!

Next I found a couple of Advanced Reader's Copies of two new books from Thomas Nelson Publishing. I love the one titled "Boomtown" cuz its author is listed at Nowen N. Particular. This action/adventure novel for kids is set in Boomtown, home to Chang's Famous Fireworks factory, the Slush Olympics and the "Fighting Slugs" football team. Hmmmm, could be an interesting read.

One really cute book I received is "Ugly," billed as "a classic fairy tale retold." Its the ugly duckling story retold as a witty and entertaining novel. I really like this one.

My favorite find in this stash of stuff is "America's Best Zoos" a travel guide for zoo fans everywhere. This would be a great resource book to keep on hand. Going to Fort Wayne, Indiana for a family reunion? Check out this guide to see what they say about the local zoo (they like it!). One weird thing about this book though, the forward is written by Newt Gingrich, of all people. Didn't realize he was such a zoo aficianado. Turns out his childhood dream was to be a zookeeper.

The strangest find in my mountain of mail was a book entitled "Go Team! Mascots of the SEC." This pamphlet-sized book is aimed at kids and details the history of the mascots of all SEC teams including a message to kids from each mascot. The UK Wildcats message - "Exercise to stay healthy. Try something new every day." Not a bad idea at all.

The last box I opened this morning held new DVD from New Line called "The Business of Being Born." From producer Ricki Lake and director Abby Epstein, this DVD "provides a nation of mothers-to-be with insight into the process of childbirth and the various options available when preparing for life's most special event." Hey, where was this 15 years ago when I needed it!

Tune in next week for more Fabulous Finds from Laurie's Chair.

Hey, want a sneak peek into what I'm working on for the July issue? It's a guide to some of the coolest new products on the market for traveling with kids.

One of my favorite finds is the cute little Wildebeest pictured above. He's a Zoobie - a combination backpack, travel pillow and super-soft blanket. These Zoobies come in a huge variety of animals - many of them much more realistic than your average animal backpack. Pick something common like a monkey or a giraffe or something a little more unique like the Wildebeest, the Water Buffalo or the Babboon (love his cute little face).

You can see all the Zoobies at http://www.zoobies.com/ and you can buy them locally at Baby's Room & Kids Too on Nicholasville Rd. next to Gattitown.

Make sure you check out page 3 of the July issue (hits the streets June 26th) because we'll be giving away some cool new products for summer.

I just got the coolest new game in the mail. It's called Think-Ets and its a teeny-tiny game you can stick in your pocket or throw in your purse. It's a tiny little mesh bag filled with 15 little tiny trinkets, so of like the accessories you'd find in a dollhouse.

My little bag included things like a tiny child's letter block, a fake gold ring, an eensy, little horse, a jade pebble, a tiny version of Hamlet, doll-sized scissors.

So what do you do with this stuff? Well, my recommendation is that you just hand it to your kids an see what they come up with, but Think-ets does come with game ideas. For example, Isabella could spread out all the trinkets on a table and have Eduardo look them over. Then Eduardo shuts his eyes, Isabella removes one trinket, and challenges Eduardo to figure out what's left.

Or ask Jedediah to choose one Think-et at random and tell a story about it. I know how my kids would play with them - each little piece would become characters in their imaginary worlds.

The coolest thing about the game is that it's tiny! You can literally play it anywhere - the dentist's waiting room, on an airplane, waiting for food in a restaurant, riding in the car.

The game is only $9.99, and there are many different sets each with a unique set of Think-ets. You can buy them on-line at http://www.think-a-lot.com/. I've e-mailed them to find local retailers.

Were You There?

I have a favorite image from our Camp Fair on April 12. The Sho Stoppas, this amazing group of hip hop dancers from Lexington, performed on our stage during the Fair. They were just unbelievable! These girls won a competition in New York on the BET network and actually got to perform for Janet Jackson.

After they performed for the Fair visitors I sent these beautiful girls over to our Cover Model Search booth to have their photos taken by the Portrait Shoppe. They were all dressed in black Janet Jackson t-shirts and jeans with chains hanging from their waists.

After they got their pictures made the girls met the staff at the Kentucky DanceSport booth which was right across from the photographer. This is a new dance studio in Lexington where they teach latin and ballroom dancing to families, adults and kids alike. They had set up a mini dance floor and were teaching folks to dance. These ladies were dressed in these gorgeous sequined ballgowns. I'm not sure how it happened but all of a sudden the Sho Stoppas were doing their dance routine again just for the Kentucky DanceSport folks. It was so cool to see these two completely diverse dance groups make a connection. And our visitors to the Fair just loved it.

Do you have a favorite memory from the Fair? Leave a comment for me here on my blog and I'll pick my favorite story and send you a special prize.

I Sure Hope You Didn't Miss It!

I sure hope you made it to our Summer Camps & Activities Fair! It was such a blast from beginning to end.

When the Fair opened at 10 a.m. there were 400 people lined up at the door! We were giving away 4 chances to win 4 tickets to High School Musical: The Ice Tour, which was quite an incentive to get people out on a chilly morning. But that wasn't the only thing we gave away - we had a bunkbed from Baby's Room & Kids, Too, and all the stuff you've seen in my previous blog entries PLUS 25 cases of Ale-8 One and loads of giveaways from our booths.

The performances by kids groups were amazing. I hope you saw the Sho Stoppas. They are an amazing group of hip hop dancers who actually won a competition in New York on the BET Network. We also had some beautiful models from Images, gymnasts from Legacy Gymnastics, cheerleaders from Jessamine Ice All-Stars and ballerinas from the Kentucky Ballet Theatre.

Lexington Gymnastics brought a HUGE and I mean gigantic inflatable slide. One of my interns and I had to try it out before the Fair started - what a hoot. You should have seen this 47-year-old sliding down this giant slide. I'm sure I looked ridiculous, but man, was it fun.

We held a Best Booth Contest this year. It was so hard to choose between all the great booths that were set up, but Central Baptist Church's PowerLab 2008 took home 1st prize! There booth looked like a giant mad scientst's lab and it was just as much fun. Gattitown won second prize with a luau theme including inflatable monkeys and palm trees, video games and grass skirts. Kentucky DanceSport was our third winner. Their staff wore gorgeous sequined gowns and spent the whole Fair teaching moms, dads and kids how to dance.

Well, that's all I have time to blog about now. I'll be back later to give you more details.

I CAN'T GET INTO MY OFFICE!

The Camp Fair prizes are flooding our offices. I can reach my desk, my computer is lost in the pile.

You wouldn't believe all the things we have to give away at the Camp Fair (April 12!!!). We've got the newest American Girl doll, Mia, and she is gorgeous. You should see her cute purple tennis shoes. Then there is the huge pile of games from Hasbro, another HUGE pile of collectible model horses from Breyerfest. Then more games and more games, and books and CDs and DVDs and did I mention books?

It's all gotta go! I've got to find families to give these prizes to. So be there on April 12 from 1o a.m. to 2 p.m. at Kentucky Indoor Soccer and Sports just off Reynolds Rd. near Meijer.

Oh, and don't forget! The first 100 kids in the door will get a chance to win one of 4 sets of 4 tickets to see High Shool Musical - The Ice Tour in Rupp Arena on April 17.

See you there!

The Breyer Horses Are Here!!!!

The horses are here! The horses are here! All the beautiful Breyer collectible horses from Breyerfest have arrived in our offices. Some of these will be prizes for our 4-5th grade girls category in our Writing Contest. Others will be given away in drawings at our Summer Camps & Activities Fair. Make sure you visit us there at Kentucky Indoor Soccer & Sports on Saturday, April 12 from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. We'll be drawing for prizes every half hour. See you there!

Here is a sneak peek of this month's cover. A group called KICK (Kitefliers in Central Kentucky) loaned us some HUGE kites and I'm going this afternoon to shoot our cover with one of them.

This photo is a close-up of a 6-foot star-shaped kite. The tail on this thing is 50 feet long!

Keep an eye out for the April issue. It hits the streets on March 27 and its our CAMP ISSUE!!!! Your going to find hundreds of camp options for your kids for this summer.

Which DVDs Do Your Kids Want

Each month we give away two different DVDs on our website and in the magazine. This month its "Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium" and "BEE Movie." I know these are going to be a big hit as well as April's giveaway (give you a hint: it has singing rodents). Go sign up right now at our website http://www.lexingtonfamily.com/.

But I'm never sure what is going to be a big hit for our readers and what won't. Pre-teen movies like "High School Musical" always score big and "The Prince and the Pauper" that we gave away in Feb. was a huge hit. It stars those cutie-patooties from "Suite Life of Zack and Cody."

But that large purple extinct creature DVDs we gave away a few months ago were not particularly popular. Go figure!

So, I need your opinion before our next giveaway. I've got a contact who can get me "Care Bears" DVDs for our readers. My kids are too old for Care Bears so I'm clueless! So give me some feedback, Moms (and Dads). Should I give away Care Bears DVDs? Is this what your kids are wanting? I'll pick one name from all the commentors and send an RAK your way.

The Prizes Are Rolling In!!!!!!

The first batch of prizes for our Writing Contest have started to arrive in the office. It's a huge box of games from Hasbro. They are so kewl!

Piled up around my desk are Pictureka!, CandyLand Castle Game, Electronic Monopoly and Life, Connect 4, No Brainer, Operation Rescue Kit, Chutes and Ladders, and Sorry Express.

My favorite game is the Electronic Banking Monopoly. You use credit cards instead of Monopoly money and the game pieces are things like a Segway and Space Shuttle instead of a train and plane, a little doggy in a handbag instead of the old scottie dog. It's a hoot.

These prizes are for the three boy's categories in our Writing Contest (deadline March 28 so get working on your entries, guys). Each winner will win almost $100 worth of board games donated by the wonderful folks at Hasbro (Thanks, Rebecca!)

We'll be handing these prizes out to the winners at our Summer Camps & Activities Fair (it's FREE FREE FREE) on Saturday, April 12 from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at Kentucky Indoor Soccer & Sports.

See you there!

Camp Fair Prizes Coming In!!!!!!

The prizes are pouring in for our upcoming Summer Camps & Activities Fair. This dragon is from Manhattan Toy Company and he is gorgeous IRL. He's big enough to ride on and sooooo incredibly soft. Glenda (one of our sales reps) keeps trying to take him home.

This is just one of dozens of prizes we'll be giving away. Our biggest is the bunkbed donated by Baby's Room & Kids Too! I'll have photos of that one up soon. But we also will have Mia, the newest American Girl doll (see her below), PLUS dozens of CDs, DVDs, video games (got a couple of Wii games!), books, games, toys and more, more, more, more!!! I'm serious folks this is a serious load of things we giveaway. I'm am literally giving out stuff almost every minute of the Fair!!!

So you know where you are going to be April 12 (from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at Kentucky Indoor Soccer). Look for me - I'll be wearing a bright yellow t-shirt that says "Lexington Family Magazine" and Dana, our publisher, will probably make me wear some silly hat. I'll be the one with the microphone, yelling out prize winners names.

The Writing Contest is Officially LAUNCHED!!!

Whooo Hooo! Our 4th Annual Writing Contest is officially launched and I am really pumped. We've got great prizes lined up, teachers are already e-mailing us for more details and I can't wait to get the first entry. (check out our website http://www.lexingtonfamily.com/ for the details)

In 2005 when we launced the first Writing Contest we received 125 entries from kids in grades K-5. The next year we more than doubled that with over 300 entries. Last year we were overwhelmed by over 650 entries. If we double again this year I am in deep trouble - I might be reading 1,200 entries! Just in case, I've lined up several elementary school teachers to help me read them.

The American Girl Company is on board with us this year providing 2 of their newest Girl of the Year doll, Mia, as prizes. Mia is an adorable, freckle-faced ice skater, who comes with a beautiful skating costume and a book about her life.

Check back here soon for photos and details on our other great prizes.......

Welcome to Lexington Family's First Blog!!

We did it! Lexington Family finally took the plunge into Blog-dom.

I have the coolest job in town. Every week I get packages and envelopes with the newest toys, books, CDs and DVDs that kids and their parents would love to have. We get so much stuff that we can't possibly review it all in the pages of Lexington Family MagazineWe get so many cool things in our office every week that we want to share with you.

Check here every week for the latest and greatest products, toys, music and movies for your family.

This spring is a particularly exciting time because we are leading up to our SIXTH annual Summer Camps & Activities Fair. It is scheduled for Saturday, April 12, from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at Kentucky Indoor Soccer. If you haven't been before, make sure you click on the Camp Fair button on the website and learn about all the fun we had last year. Then keep checking in here as we lock down all the details on camps, giveaways, performances and the Cover Model Search.

Check back here later this week because some of the prizes will start rolling in and I can show you pictures of them.