Did you know kids are making money off playing video games? From participating in tournaments to growing up to be programmers, all those hours spent tackling the latest quest might actually pay off. If your kids are into the gaming world, enter our latest contest for your chance to win the Ice Age 3 game, where Sid and his friends face adventures in a world of dinosaurs.

But does this mean kids should have unlimited time on games? As a parent, my instincts still scream "no!" The AAP recommends only 2 hours a day of screen time for kids, and they have done studies that show more than that can have detrimental effects on kids' performance in school. And personally, I like to see my kids playing with toys and using their imagination at least some times during the day. But at least we don't have to feel guilty about the time they do spend on the games! There are plenty of benefits to playing, including social and educational. It might even serve them well in their future careers.

More good news for parents: the prices of those consoles might just be coming down. As much as we love our video games, people just haven't been buying new games as much this summer, probably thanks to the bad news from the economy and the tightening of budgets. But some gamers say it's also from a lack of really good new games coming out. While there's been no new Grand Theft Auto like last summer, there were some good family games from Wii.

Believe it or not, it's already time to start thinking about buying those soccer cleats and signing up for Pop Warner football. Yes, it's barely even back to school time, but the registration for some fall sports has already started, and many will be getting underway during the first few weeks of August.

We've made it easy for you to find a good sports league for your kids in our Sports Directory. Whether you're looking for something convenient to your home, or searching for a particular sport, we've got a great list of organizations in the area that have opportunities for the kids.

One of the popular sports for our area is soccer. Even though it can be a challenging sport, I think the appeal to very young kids is you can simplify it enough to a run and kick type of game. Never played as an adult? Check out this soccer primer before you sign up your little one this fall.

Organized sports are good for kids of all ages. It gives them a chance to exercise on a regular basis, introduces them to the concept of working on a team and even provides a social outlet. Wondering how young to start getting your kids into sports? Even preschoolers are doing it these days, but for those young ones make sure you keep it simple and fun. As kids get older they tend to drop out of organized sports for a variety of reasons. FamilyEducation.com has some good ways to keep kids interested in sports even as they get older and the landscape of the competition changes.

A new study has again found that happily married people live longer and have healthier lives. This time the report delves into the differences between lasting marriages, single people and divorced or widowed people. It turns out the stress from a divorce or losing a spouse can have a lasting effect. One thing this study lacked was a look at marital quality, but that's been done before. A stressful marriage can be bad for your health, for women even more than men, leading to heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

Add to that the fact that having kids can be one of the biggest stressors on a marriage, and now we parents are stressed out about trying to keep our marriage strong for our mental sanity but also our own health! Luckily there are plenty of resources to help, if you're already facing some struggles in your marriage or just want to strengthen the bond you already have.

Babyzone.com offers some tips for working on your marriage during those tense months and years right after the birth of a new baby. The Family Life Council of Greensboro has a lot of great resources through its Guilford County Marriage Enrichment Center, including a resource library and a variety of classes such as "Divorce Proof Your Marriage" and "Marriage Enrichment." And Winston-Salem is lucky to be the headquarters of the Association for Couples in Marriage Enrichment, which hosts conferences and creates support groups regionally and nationally.

MSNBC.com has a story today written by a woman who claims to feed her family on $100 a week. All I have to say is, she must not have a teenager in the family! But no matter what your family make up, it seems we're all trying to find ways to cut that grocery budget these days. The article has a few good tips, including doctoring up cheap meat and buying frozen instead of fresh when vegetables are out of season.

For some other tips, and interesting meal ideas, check out the new blog $50 Bucks a Week. It's an experiment by three writers trying to stick to a budget. They rarely do, but their attempts at trying are interesting and sometimes educational.

We also have a great resource here in North Carolina, the Coupon Lady. Faye Prosser has made a name for herself with her Smart Spending Workshops, where she talks about how she saves 50-95% each time she visits the store.

For a little help getting started cutting your own grocery bills, check out what's going on at local stores.

Aldi and Save-A-Lot might be good options for budget-conscious grocery shoppers.

Harris Teeter has Super Double coupons through Tuesday this week.

Lowes Foods has some online discounts available.

Looking for something to do this weekend? After reading the reviews of the new movies coming out (see links below) my advice is to stay away from the movie theaters, unless you're going to see one that's been out, like Harry Potter or The Proposal. Why don't you switch it up and go see some live theater? Our blogger Renee's son is in the Winston Salem Little Theatre production of Rent, playing all weekend.

Or just rent a movie and stay home with the kids. Coraline is out on DVD and Blu-Ray this week. Which brings up a whole new set of issues. Kids will be clamoring to watch it, but should they? It's gotten great reviews, but the parent review says it might be too scary for young children.

When is it okay to let kids watch scary movies? And what movies are scary? A lot of it depends on the child. Some children are able to watch something scary and forget about it afterward so they can still sleep at night. Other kids immerse themselves in the movie so completely that they're thinking about it for days and even weeks to come. For a brief primer on different ages and how they view scary movies, check out Commen Sense Media. But when it comes down to it, the real decision is up to you, the parent. You know your child best. Talk to other parents, see what the movie is about, and then make the decision.