Starting with spring 2011, Seasonal Heirloom and Seasonal collections styles will have standardized fit and updated measurements with the exception of Traditional Heirloom styles. Traditional Heirloom styles will have the fit of previous seasons.

The Merchandising Team has worked meticulously on fit and pattern measurements that are in accordance with ASTM Standards. ASTM stands for the American Society for Testing and Materials. The majority of the apparel industry uses these standards. Each year tests, manuals, and procedures are updates so the most up to date information is given. The charts come from the National Center for Health Statistics. As children grow the average measurement of 50 percentile increases or decreases based off the measurements.

Strasburg’s reasoning’s for standardizing our measurements so they are in accordance with industry standards include efficiency, modern fit, help with cost savings for customers, and consistency in fit from one style to the next and to be competitive with other fits.

I’ve included the size charts below, but you can find them in the left hand navigation of our web site. As long as you know your child’s height and weight, it will be easy for you to find the true fit.

Happy spring!

Strasburg Merchandising Team

Shop in-store and get that warm, fuzzy, springtime feeling when you…

Buy One – Get One at 50% off!

Our Spring Ahead sale starts today and is giving you 50% off your second regular-price item, with a purchase of a first regular-price item.

Click here to find your nearest store location.

Do you shop online at StrasburgChildren.com? Starting today you can take 25% off your entire purchase.  Please remember that the prices shown are the discount price…we always like to do the math for you in advance!

Buy one get one 50% off sale runs in-store only from 3/10/11 – 3/21/11. 50% discount only applies when a first full-price item is purchase along with a second full-price item.  Discount will be taken on the lesser-priced item(s).  Online 25% off your entire purchase offer runs from 3/10/11 – 3/21/11 with discount already reflected in online prices.  Shoes, accessories, jewelry, promotional priced items, and Clearance are all excluded from both sale formats.

The alligators are awake. They disappear in the winter perhaps napping somewhere close by.   We have water right behind our yard and the golf course is on the other side of the water.  This beautiful picture of wildlife is in our view from the back yard.  We highly respect this creature.  He likes to sit on the edge of the golf course everyday sunning himself.  We have been doing a lot of spring work in our yard.  He will slink into the water trolling up and down the water way watching us, perhaps wondering what we are doing.  Glancing in the water, only 2 eyes and a nose will be sticking out.  He can move very fast.  We do not have any problems coexisting with these creatures as long as no one has fed them.  Once people start feeding them, the alligators lose their fear of people which is not good.  We have lived here for eight years, and I am still as amazed by these creatures as when I saw the first one eight years ago.  Absolutely Breathtaking!!!

Diane

We follow the safety guidelines around the house to protect our little one from dangers: electrical outlet covers, gates to block doorways, covering sharp corners, etc. All these safety devices have only caused pain for the adults of the household! Our little guy learned how to take off the outlet covers, but my husband however has the hardest time removing them. I have tripped over our baby gates at least three times now (I blame that on me being too short, and not due to being clumsy of course). And what adult can easily open a bottle of medicine these days? Thankfully, all these devices have protected our child, but man will I be glad when baby gates are gone!

-Courtney

Do you ever worry, when your children paint, about them getting paint in their mouths? And what exactly is in that paint? You need to check out Wee Can Too then. They have fantastic art supplies for babies and young children that parents can feel safe about. Wee Can Too is an all natural, organic, vegetable and plant powder based art product that is edible for your wee artists. Wee Can Too offers finger paints, chalk, and crayons for babies and toddlers.

Wee Can Too was started by a young Mom who had a passion for organics, cooking, and the safety of her children. While there are many products on the market that say “non toxic”, a quick glance at the ingredient list can reveal lots of dyes that are a unsettling. Wee Can Too is without a doubt something you can feel feel comfortable with your kids using. Wee Can Too organic all natural finger paints have a tactile texture that’s very stimulating for young children and is great art therapy for autistic children.

Their products make for great arts and crafts play  and make a creative, fun and safe birthday present for infants and toddlers. You can learn more about Wee Can too on their website: www.weecantooart.com and purchase them there, or from our friends at Vanny Bean.

Just for you (so don’t tell the general public just yet)…
Shop our Spring Ahead sale 6 days sooner than everyone else!

Starting today through Wednesday, March 9, when you shop in-store and buy one regular price Strasburg item, you’ll get your second at 50% off!

Simply print out this blog post and present it at checkout.

Everyone else will be extended this offer starting next Thursday, March 10, so shop early for the best selection. This is an in store only promotion (there will be a web related sale starting March 10th)!  Click here to find your nearest store location.

Regular price item must be purchased to use 50% off discount on second full-price item.  Not valid on Clearance, shoes, accessories, or promotional priced items.  This e-mail must be shown at time of purchase in order to have discount before March 10, 2011.  Store promotion code is:  Sooner11

This past weekend, we ventured to the coast for my "little" sister’s wedding! It doesn’t matter that she is 23 years old and married; I will always call her my little sister! My sister, Kylie, and I are seven years apart in age but have always been extremely close. There have certainly been times when we struggled to understand exactly what the other one is going through just because we were frequently in different life stages. She wasn’t even old enough to drive when she was the maid of honor in my wedding!

It was so exciting for me to stand up as her matron of honor (and, boy, did I feel like a "matron" compared to her young sorority sisters!) and see her take this all-important next step in her life as an adult. She married her junior high sweetheart, so it truly was something she had been waiting for all her life! They had planned a beautiful ceremony and an incredibly fun reception! I was lucky that my in-laws came to help with the kids, so my sweet husband and I could actually enjoy the band and all of the yummy food…think shrimp and grits, macaroni and cheese hushpuppies, mesquite grilled beef tenderloin…mouthwatering!

Kylie asked my daughter, Anna Kate, to be her flower girl and my son, Connor, and our cousin, Miles, to be her ringbearers. As a sister, I was completely honored that my little family was going to be so highly involved in this momentous occasion. As a mother, I was just keeping my fingers crossed that the kids would all just walk down the aisle and make their exit as they were supposed to! Anna Kate is potty training, so I kept imagining her getting halfway down the aisle and deciding it was time for a potty break. Connor gives new meaning to the term "mama’s boy", so I thought he may throw a complete fit when he saw my husband coming to get him after he had made is grand entrance. Rehearsal went beautifully! All three kids walked in a single file line down the aisle (which was way longer than I had pictured) and were all smiles and surprisingly, quiet. Rehearsal dinner was lovely, but all of the kids ended up going to bed after 11:00 that night which made me very nervous about what was in store for the wedding day!

My precious husband, Brent, had the kids all by himself on the actual wedding day while I participated in bridesmaids’ activities. What a great man to take a 2 1/2-year-old girl and 17-month-old boy to the beach, to lunch, to the restroom, and get them down for naps. He did every single bit of it without calling me and without complaining! While he was doing all of that, I was steaming their adorable Strasburg outfits for the wedding and anticipating how adorable they would all look!

Finally, it was time to wake them from their naps and get them ready for the big event! My husband took Connor for pictures with the guys while I took Anna Kate for the girls’ pictures. We met up afterwards to get a few more photos of the kids. By the time 7:00 rolled around and the wedding was starting, I was becoming more anxious about the kids’ big walk. As I took my place next to my future brother-in-law, I turned to face the congregation. Shortly after, I heard a collective gasp from everyone and saw three perfect angels making their way down the aisle just as they had rehearsed. Connor, our son, was leading the group carrying a small white Bible and began waving and saying "Mama" as he approached. Our daughter, Anna Kate was next carrying her kissing ball of flowers looking like she was born to be in front of an audience, and precious Miles, our cousin, was last, but certainly not least, carrying the ringbearer pillow. As soon as he saw his mom, Miles, tossed her the pillow and shouted, "Mommy!" They did a magnificent job, and their entrance was priceless!

Seconds later, the big double doors in the back of the church opened to reveal the most beautiful bride I have ever seen in my life! I couldn’t take my eyes off of her except to look at her adorable love to see his reaction to the beauty making her way toward him. When I look at them, I sometimes see the eighth graders that they were when their love first began. Seeing her walk down the aisle, I saw no eighth grader; I saw an incredibly strong and loving woman who was about to become someone’s wife! I looked at him and saw a man who was going to make a wonderful husband and who loves my baby sister more than anything in the world! This man was finally going to be "Uncle Clay" to my babies after my husband had always jokingly insisted that he be "Just Clay" until they were married!

Within minutes, I had seen those sweet babies walk down the aisle, watched my dad give my sister away, heard her take her sacred vows, heard my mom sniffling a little on the front row as she tried to hold back the tears, and thought of all of the special moments that had led to this occasion. A quote by Gail Lumet Buckley came to mind, "Family faces are magic mirrors. Looking at people who belong to us, we see the past, present, and future." The future is bright, and life is good!

In Stores
We think everyone is in need of some sunshine this weekend, so…
Get ready to dress the light of your life with 30% off one regular price item!* Don’t delay, this offer lasts this Friday through Monday only (2/25 – 2/28).

This offer is valid only in our stores, so be sure to print out this page and show it to the cashier at checkout.

Online
So you only shop at StrasburgChildren.com?  We’ve got you covered – enjoy FREE SHIPPING on a minimum $30 purchase this Friday though Monday.  We want everyone to have a little piece of sunshine!

*Valid in-store only February 25-28, 2011.  Must be presented as printed hard-copy version or via screen on a smart-phone.  Not valid online or on shoes, jewelry, accessories, or promotional priced items.  Can not be combined with any other offers, coupons or sales.  StrasburgChildren.com free shipping offer valid on regular/ground shipping only with a minimum $30 purchase.

Our Spring Catalog will be arriving any day now! So be sure to request a catalog. I just put a sneak peek up our facebook page, so jump over there to get a look.

Our family has a long tradition of scouting including Boys Scouts, Cub Scouts, Girl Scouts and Brownies. Mother was a Girl Scout leader and my sister and I were both active in troops. My Father was a Boy Scout leader, my brother; sons and husband all participated in Boy Scouts over the years. My two sons started out as Cub Scouts and I was a Den Mother. They moved on to Boy Scouts and both earned the rank of Eagle Scout. They have many fond memories of backpacking thru Land Between the Lakes in Western Kentucky and along the Appalachian Trail. They both had summer jobs at Roy C. Manchester Boy Scout Camp when they were old enough to become counselors. They went white water rafting on the Ocoee in Tennessee and both went hiking at Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico with their father. Camp outs in the hot summer and coldest days in the winter made memories to last their entire lives. Our younger son has been a Cub Scout Master and involved in the leadership of his sons’ Boy Scout troops. Our older son also went to the Scout Sea Base in Florida. He later became a member of the US Coast Guard and I will always believe scouting has helped him and continues to help him in his military career.

Last Sunday was Boy Scout Sunday and two of our grandsons are members of Troop 1, sponsored by the local Episcopal Church. This year marks the 100th anniversary of Boy Scouting and it is also the 100th anniversary of Troop 1. Grace Episcopal Church has been the sponsor of this troop for all of those 100 years. I believe there are only 5 troops in the country who have been chartered for the entire 100 years. To mark this anniversary, several people in our community sponsored a mural to be painted on our floodwall. We have several murals sponsored by individuals and businesses that portray different important events in the history of our community. It is something we are very proud of and honored that this last mural was for the Boys Scout Troop. Our two grandsons were fortunate enough to be in the mural and we will be able to drive by it for years to come and remember the day they and a few of their friends posed for the artist. Our community and visitors to our city will enjoy the mural dedicated last week for many, many years. We will continue to celebrate a long and rich heritage of Boy Scouts in Paducah, Kentucky as we move into the next 100 years!

Janet