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.

Anyone who has any sort of computer needs to get one a SimpleTech Mini Drive.  It is small, but it has a big punch.  You can store up to 250 GB of data on this baby.  Now, I have a lot of pictures and music (and trust me, it is more than I even thought!), and it is not taking up even half of the memory on this!  There are several things I love about my SimpleTech Mini Drive.  The first thing would have to be the size.  It truly is small enough to fit in a pocket (not necessarily your jean pocket per say but a bit larger pocket).  It is also made for my house, because it is durable.  It has a velvety smooth texture to help you grip it, and it was made for travel.  If you drop it, it is not end of the world (though I may have to ground you to your room for the rest of your life).  It comes in different colors, so if they bubblegum color that I have is not your cup of tea you have several to choose from like Espresso, Marshmallow, Kiwi, and Cayenne.  You also get a high speed USB 2.0 “Y” cable that provides power without extra cables (love, love, love that!).  It even gives you backup software and you are able to use their Fabrik Ultimate Backup™ online service (2 GB free).

Want to know how easy this is to use?  Just plug one of the Y cord to the mini drive and the other to your computer.  That’s it!  Bill and I will be spending this afternoon taking the rest of the music off our desktop and saving it to the minidrive.  I then will be able to put all our MP3s on my laptop.  We haven’t done it till now, because over our home network, it takes forever!  I am super excited to be able to finally play music on my laptop!

Like I said, if you know anyone who has a computer, they need a SimpleTech Mini Drive.  You never know when your hard drive will decide to crash and take all of your data with it.

Do you hate it when you bend over and your thong (or worse) starts sticking out? No matter what your size, this has happened to you somewhere, sometime. Depending on who sees it, determines your level of embarrassment.  Now, IsABelt has come up with a way for this not to happen! Watch this video to see how it works:

I had my sister in laws this out and they all agreed that they liked it. They liked that if they were wearing a form fitting shirt that this would work perfect. Also, because it is clear, you can’t even see if someone has this on. I love that this comes in several different sizes including junior (which is really cute) and plus size!  This is definitely a must have for all women.

Want a unique piece of art for your house? Want this art to be talked about at all the parties you go to? If you answer yes to either of these questions, you have to get a piece of DNA art. I have to admit, this is one of the coolest things I have seem come out. Here’s how it works:

First, you will receive a sample collection package which includes the tools to swab the inside of the cheek of whoever’s DNA you want as artwork. I personally think I would do my kids, but you really can do anyone who is willing to give you some buccal cells from their cheek. You then send the collector back to the MyGeneImage lab. Once you send it in, it takes about two weeks to create your piece of art.

Now, you can pick from several different styles of how you want the DNA to be displayed. You get to pick which gene sequence they use as well as the design, background color, and size of the artwork. Your first choice is myArtwork which is a reflection of the gene sequence displayed in picturesque art. Then there is myCrystal. This is your DNA sequence engraved inside a crystal structure with the 2D or 3D picture of the individual. Lastly, there is myGenetic ID which is the ultimate identification card with genetic markers.

It is hard to believe what beautiful artwork can be made from our gene sequences. However, myGeneImage has figured it out, and I am impressed. For your kids or the person you never know what to get them, this is the perfect fit.

I recently came across another item that falls along the lines of “why didn’t I think of that?”. The mom who came up with the Parking Pal, in my opinion, is a genius.  The Parking Pal is a circular magnet with a child size hand print in the center.  When you put it on your car/van/vehicle, you child puts they hand on their, and it keeps them safe while you load or unload your vehicle.  Being that I don’t have a driveway and we park on the street a lot with the minivan, I love that this keeps Madison safe.  I’ll be honest, when we first used it, I was completely surprised by something.  Madison knew what I wanted her to do without telling her.  She knew that I wanted her to stand there with her hand on the magnet while I was loading the car.  I love that this is intuitive enough that she just knew what was expected.  This has also been a hit with other moms.  They all wanted to know where I got this from, and all thought it was a great idea.  Now, the Parking Pal does come in several designs to pick from — everything from soccer balls, to fish, to flowers.  There is definitely something for your kids that you can get on there.  The Parking Pal will run you about $7.99.  However, $8 is well worth insuring my daughter’s safety.