Who are the these cute dolls sitting on my couch?  These are the Groovy Girl Dolls.  They are a huge hit in my house, and they will be in yours too!  I personally like dolls that look like a little girl.  I don’t need my daughter to grow up any faster than she already is.  The Groovy Girls Dolls fits that bill and are super cute.  I love that my son (who is one) can also play with them.  There is nothing on them that he can rip off and stick in his mouth (for example, a lot of dolls and stuffed animals have eyes that I have to worry about).  These dolls are super soft, so if your kids whack each other with them, no worries.  They are also small enough to be easily put into a suitcase for a trip to Grandma’s house.  The Groovy Girl Dolls come in several different nationalities too, so your child will easily find one that she can relate too.  The Groovy Girl Pets are so soft that I wouldn’t mind sleeping with them.  I also think they are super cute too. My son loves to walk around hugging them.

As you can see from the picture above, each doll and pet comes with a tag on them.  Now, on the tag, there is a code you can use on the Groovy Girls website, so the fun doesn’t end with just the doll:

As an RSVP member, your child will:

* Receive access to exclusive online RSVP Parties and games
* Use the Creation Station to create hundreds of new outfits
* Get extra Groovy Girls Tunes to play - and download!
* Be able to earn Party Points - and receive digital rewards!

With an RSVP Doll, she’ll also get:

* Her Doll’s outfit added to her Closet, Creation Station and Dance Floor,
* Additional items added to her Creation Station per doll
* A song from her Doll added to her Mod Pod and Dance Floor,
* And, she can chat with her Doll on her Groovy Girls Laptop-what fun!

With an RSVP Pet, your child can also:

* Call her pet to her Mod Pod any time,
* Play with her pet and show off super-cool tricks,
* Mix and match a t-shirt from her pet in the Creation Station - and wear it wherever!

I love that everything related to these dolls is all about promoting age-appropriate values and attitudes. Moms, there is even a place on the site for you too! Madison has had a blast with these, and I know other girls will too (though my one year old boy loves them just as much). The ages for this are 4-9, and these will make any little girl happy come Christmas or her birthday.

Wipe Clean Letters is a must have book for any preschool aged children you have in your house.  This book comes with its own dry erase marker (and a place to keep it too!).  The book is made of cardboard, and you are able to wipe clean any work your children do in the book.  Each page has a litter of the alphabet on it.  it also has words that start with that letter or have that letter in it (example:  for s, you would see sinks on the page.) It has the uppercase and the lowercase letters on each page to trace.  Some of the pages even have a small activity to do on them.  Madison can spend hours with this book.  I love that it is teaching her picture and word recognition, and that it is still fun for her.  If you want a great interactive book, this is what you should get!

My favorite store ever online (the one that I order everything from for my businesses) is now selling t-shirts!  I wish they were doing that when I was selling lia sophia, because I would have been a huge customer for that.

However, enough about why I think this is cool.  Let me tell you why you want to use VistaPrint.  First, they are cheap.  I order my business cards from them, because I only have to pay for shipping.  If you want a custom picture on your cards, it is an extra $5.  Another thing I love about Vista Print is that they have anything and everything you need for a business from t-shirts I mentioned before to business cards to stampers.  They are always have sales.  Once you get on their email lists, you will find that whatever you need to order is usually on some sort of sale.  For example, if you use TShirts25 you can get 25% off any T-shirts that you order!  I have also always been impressed with the quality of their products.  I have yet to receive a product that I did not like!

I can only say lots of good things about Vistaprint.  I would highly recommend them for all your personal and business needs.

Teddy Bear’s Fun to Learn First 1000 Words is book that is great for all little ones. My 4 year old enjoys it just as much as my 1 year old. Granted, you won’t find las vegas hotels in here. However, there is pretty much everything else. Each page in the book has a theme (like the beach). It lists the theme and a ton of items to go with it (for example, the beach pages show things like sunscreen, water wings, sailboat, beachball, etc). There is also a picture in the center of the page with all the miscellaneous items.  There is also a short poem asking you questions about the theme.  Will (my one year old) just likes to look at everything and go “ohhhh”.  Madison (my 4 year old) enjoys looking at the pictures and telling us what each thing is.  She likes to answer the questions for us too.  My only complaint is that the pages are paper which are a little to easy for Will to rip.

This book is great because your little ones can use it as they grow older.  I would definitely purchase it a birthday, baby shower, and/or Christmas gift.  The little ones who you are getting for will get a lot of use out of it!

Do you recognize the two people to the left?  Look very close.  That is what Stephanie and Sportacus from LazyTown really look like!  Hard to believe, I know!  Lazytown is a show on Noggin and Nick Jr. that encourages your kids to get off their butts and be more active!  When asked about the inspiration for the show, Magnus (the shows creator and Sportacus) answered:

Really, when you get down to it, LazyTown is a state of mind. We’ve all been to LazyTown. When we decide to go “veg-out” on the couch, you could say you’re “in LazyTown.” Even me. It’s a place we all go.

In a funny way, LazyTown reflects characteristics that you see in yourself or in people around you. These characteristics are universal: It’s that dynamic of opposites.

For instance, in the show, Sportacus is a driving force. He’s fit, agile, and an amazing athlete who’s patient, kind, and understanding. He encourages kids through example. He doesn’t take the low road. Conversely, his adversary, Robbie Rotten, is all about easy solutions and pulling the group down to his level. Then there’s Stephanie, the lead kid character, a wide-eyed optimist who believes she can make a real difference; while Pixel, a boy character, can conquer every video game, but when the situations are real, he has a harder time.

Just like in real life, nobody’s perfect and LazyTowners are constantly trying to find ways to understand and improve themselves. I guess that you could say that LazyTown explores the opposing forces that we encounter in our own daily lives.

How is that for teaching your children? Most moms and kids that I have talked to like this show. Magnus knows what he is talking about too — he was the Icelandic Men’s Individual Champion in Aerobic Gymnastics in 1992. In 1993, he became the Scandinavian champion, and was the European champion twice in 1994 and 1995. He was voted Athlete of the Year by Iceland in 1994. Adding superhero to that resume just makes it twice as nice (and you know is his shape he doesn’t have to worry about getting term life insurance quotes).

Now, why should you and your children watch this?  It does get them off their butts.  I find Madison and Will dancing and singing with the show when its on.  It has taught my children that there is nothing wrong with going outside and playing.  On top of the activity lessons, there are moral lessons too.  Check your local schedule and see when you can watch it at your place.  You won’t be disappointed!

Happy baby colors is a book that gets a lot of use in our house.  Since it is made out of cardboard, both Will (my one year old) and Madison (my four year old) can enjoy it.  Each page of the book lists a color.  Everything on that page is that color and there is a baby dressed in that color.  For example, on the purple page, there is baby dressed in purple pajamas and there is purple on that page too.  Under brown, my husband was a little disappointed to not see home theater seating (though there was chocolate). I had to remind him that this was a little kid book.  This book is a great way to introduce new items to your kids that you may not have in your house.  Its a fun a way to have them learn and they enjoy the book.  Right now, Madison is on the couch across from me reading the book to me!