Sugar Plum Fairies is a book the will resonate with little kids of all ages. It is about a little girl named Alexandrea Petrakova Johnson. She does not want to be a beautiful ballerina, and she does not want to leave her friends in Apple Creek. However, her mother feels differently and moves them to Harlem and enrolls her at the Nutcracker School of Ballet. Once at the school, she gets picked as the the Sugar Plum Fairy in the school recital! She’s a terrible dancer and has stage frights, so you will have to read the book to see how it ends!  Having moved 8 times before I was in second grade, I call tell you that this story is believable.  The illustrations are great too.  They truly add to the story.  This is the first book out of a series, and the author, Whoopi Goldberg, did a great job, because I want to read more!  This book is great for anyone who has moved around a lot (or is going to) and really any kids that are just trying to fit in.

With the new Tinkerbell movie that has come out, fairies are now very popular again. Madison’s room is actually Tinkerbell themed, so we are all about fairies here. This is one of the most unique books out there. It is written along the lines of it being a journal rather than a book. This isn’t Tinkerbell’s journal either — this is Wendy’s.  This is about Wendy’s journey to Pixie Hollow (which is where the fairies live).   On one page of the journal, there is a popout that is the map of Pixie Hollow.  Throughout the journal, we get to learn about all different kinds of fairies, and we also learn that each fairy has a different kind of magic.  Almost every page has something for the reader to do.  The Hidden World Of Fairies is a book that is great for any little (or even older) girl who likes fairies.

I remember K’NEX from when I was a child. I am so glad to see that my kids will actually be able to enjoy their toys too! They have expanded the ages that their toys are for, so I am excited to be able to show you (and review) some of their new product lines.

The Abby Cadabby Building Set is designed for kids two to five years old. It is a 30 piece building set. It also comes with a play and learn activity sheet.  This set has everything a little girl needs for for Abby. There is a tulle skirt and pink fairy wings. There is also a flowery wand and a pigtails.  I love the size of the pieces in here; I don’t have to worry about Madison’s little brother getting into this and trying to eat it.  Madison could easily put the set together.  This is very reasonably priced too — only $14.99.  This building set also teaches hand eye coordination, role playing, and cognitive skills.

This Elmo Building Set is super cute too. It’s for ages two to five. This is a 14-15 piece set that also comes with a sticker and activity sheet.  Though I have to admit,  my favorite piece of this kit is the fishtank.  I can’t get over how cute it is!  This is available in four fun sets:  Elmo with Dorothy, Ernie with his rubber duckie, Cookie Monster, and Oscar with Slimey the Worm.   What I love the best about this is that the packaging looks like Elmo too, and the pieces all fit back into it.  You don’t have to worry about losing pieces.  Pricewise, this building set is $10.99.

You now can also build a fleet of trucks or even an amusement park too! The Road Rig series has four separate models that you can get:  Semi Truck, Pick-Up Truck, Dump Truck, and Tow Trick.  You even get a guy to drive the truck too!  Now, you can combines sets to create new and bigger trucks.  If you combine all four, you can make a ten wheeled hauler!  The semi truck building set has a motor, so it does require 2 AA batteries.  This is for kids five and up.  I love that it comes with instructions and shows you how to build all these cool things.  This set will run your about $19.99.

This DoubleDare Dueling Coaster, I swear, was making my husband salivate. It is for 9 year olds and up, and I will even admit it is really cool. The set is over 950 pieces and even has a motorized chain lift! Two chrome cars and 32 feet of track are included too.  You basically build two seperate tracks with this kit and then you can race them.  This does take a bit of time to get set up.  However, when you do, it is worth every minutes.  This should be about $39.99 which is an excellent price for this.

K’NEX is one of those brands that we know and that we love.  I am so glad to see that they are still around for my children to enjoy them.  They truly have something for every age group now, and it really doesn’t matter if you are a boy or a girl.  You just need to have an imagination and be willing to have fun.

I See Me! are some the best personalized books out there on the market.  I was able to look at a couple of samples, and I am impressed.  My kids love the sample books, so I am seriously considering getting them their own.  There have several different books to pick from, but I am just going to review the two that I received.

The first thing that jumps out at you is the illustrations in this book.  They are some of the most detailed I have seen in a kids book ever.  My Very Own Name has each page spelling out your child’s name. They also have a cute saying to go with it.  Being that we are working on letter sounds and spelling with Madison, this is something very helpful to us.  When you get to the end of the book, your child’s name will be completely spelled out (first and last).  There also is an animal encyclopedia.  It tells you about each animal in the book.  For example, an elephant can weigh up to 13,000 lbs and a daddy emus sit on the eggs to keep them warm! This book also includes your child’s birthday and a dedication from the sender. This is definitely for both boys and girls from 0 – 8 years old.

My Very Own Fairy Tale is for girls ages 0 – 12 years old. This book has fairies spelling your little girls first and last name in rhyme.  The illustrations in this book too are awesome.  You just don’t see this in kids books.  At the end of this book, there is “The Fairy Patch”.  It is a listing of all the fairies in the book.  Each fairy is named after a plant, so they is also a little bit about each plant.  For example, we learned that growers harvest cranberries by flooding their fields with water and iris is the Greek word for rainbow.  This too has a personal dedication in it from the sender.

Both of these books are a hit in my house.  This is definitely a great gift for not only your children, but for that kid in your life that seems to have everything.  These books have already gotten hours of use at  my house.

Can you believe that Halloween is less than a month away? I know I can’t. Madison wanted to be a fairy with wings or a princess. My mother in law has a princess costume that we can use, so she was easy. However, I had no idea what to make Will. He is in a weird size this year, and it is really hard to find costumes for him. However, I did find a some Halloween costumes at the Halloween Party Store that were super cute and that would fit him.

(Ignore the mess in the background and the pearl necklace he’s holding too).  I just ordered this for him and it came within a couple of days!  It is tad long but besides that it fits awesome.  I love that the toolbelt is attached to the costume, so you don’t have to worry about losing it.  You can also adjust the belt in back and make it tighter too!  This does come with a cute little red hat too, but there is no way I can keep that on a 16 month olds head!  I am impressed with the quality and service from the Halloween Party Store and highly recommend you use them for your Halloween costume needs!