Kennedy Krieger Institute , a hospital in Baltimore that specializes in treating children with special needs, is working with the Parents' Choice Foundation to set up a national resource for testing, certification and labeling of toys for children of different abilities.

Growing dahlias for show is a fine hobby, but the practice of devoting whole beds to jumbo-size blooms has grated against those who see a gentler and more integrated role for this tender New World perennial.

A mild and wet November prompted the rapid germination and flowering of persistent winter weeds that will soon set seed unless they are removed.

Whether you're just starting or just finishing your holiday shopping, we've got you covered. Here are our picks for some of the best gift ideas in town.

Nobody wants to unwrap a book about dieting, right?

Cranium Hullabaloo. Sharpen listening as well as motor skills with the game that comes with pads of different shapes, colors and themes that you scatter around the room. A voice module then calls out instructions (spin to a musical instrument, for example) and tells you to freeze when the round is...

This walking tour takes you through woods decorated with a bevy of light arrangements and light sculptures that are hand-crafted to look like animals, pirates and works of art. For those concerned about the cold, don't worry: Lights can also be seen from inside Annmarie Garden's Arts Building. On...

This is the time of year to overwinter favorite varieties of dahlia. The tubers are lifted after the frost kills the top growth, but take care not to nick or bruise them.

Q: For the past two summers I've been dealing with cicada-killer wasps. I discovered that they almost never sting and all they want to do is catch cicadas, and they really don't know they're scaring the pants off you.

These were among sales recorded recently in Anne Arundel County and supplied to The Washington Post by Spatial Systems Associates, the Maryland Office of Assessments and Taxation and the Maryland Office of Planning. To find sale and assessment records for homes in Anne Arundel and elsewhere in the...

"This space needs to remain functional, but needs to be brightened up and beautified."

G Street Fabrics is holding its annual holiday sale at its stores in Centreville and Falls Church and at its new flagship location in Rockville.

Aleader in the national effort to raise the achievement of low-income children once told me how she became, to her amused surprise, one of those rare suburban Washington parents who pay tuition to send their children to D.C. public schools.

Here is an edited excerpt from The Post's On Parenting blog. Read the latest posts at http://voices.washingtonpost.com/parenting.

These sales were recorded in Howard County and supplied to The Washington Post by Spatial Systems Associates, the Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation and the Maryland Office of Planning. To find sale and assessment records for homes in Howard and other Washington areas, visit...

These were among incidents reported by the Howard County Police Department. For information, call 410-313-2236.

These were among incidents reported by the Anne Arundel County Police Department. For information, call 410-222-8050.

Spread healthy holiday cheer with exercise gear. Here are goodies for every active elf on your shopping list.

With childhood obesity rates nearly tripling in the past 30 years, many parents are wondering what they can do to inspire their kids to be more active, especially during the winter.

You don't often think of air as fertilizer, but I recently opened a book called "Soil Aeration and Its Role for Plants," by Jan Glinski and Witold Stepniewski, and this was its first line:

Q: My antique bed, which I really love, needs a new mattress. I can remember when there were several local companies that made mattresses to order. Now I can't find one. Can you help?

Dear Dr. Fox: We have lost two precious, beautiful German shepherds. Both had crippling hind-leg deterioration. The strength in their hind legs and lower back appeared to simply give out. One of them finally couldn't walk at all.

These food establishments were closed because of health code violations. The list, compiled from health department reports, reflects actions taken by the departments.

Three St. John's College High School girls' basketball players entered a campus dining room on a recent afternoon for a mock college signing, each in a school-sanctioned skirt but one wearing a Harvard sweat shirt, one a Dartmouth sweat shirt and one a Cornell sweat shirt.

You survived the Thanksgiving trek. Now it's time to get ready for the December holidays. Traffic history tells us this month's getaways will not match November's road agony. Only at Thanksgiving do so many pack so much travel into so few days.

Their most recent adoption was in June. That's when Gary and Vickie Ferko officially brought their 14-year-old son, Jesse, into the family fold. The teen had been living with them as a foster child for five years.