Confident Foundation

Howard B. Wigglebottom Learns To Listen

Howard B. Wigglebottom Learns to Listen

This post has always been one of my most popular on Pinterest, and it’s too perfect for the  summer season not to share again. If you have a little one in PreK or Kindergarten, or if you’re a teacher of young children of any kind you’ll want to own this book! I will say, though, that even my 8 year old still enjoys reading the Howard Series 4 years after we added him into our home library, this lovable little bunny is just a lot of fun!

Here is my original post:

I find that as a parent I try to make sure that most of the shows that my children watch and the books that they reads (or that I read to them) are not only entertaining and wholesome, but also have some type of lesson or learning aspect about them. Fun, silly, “just because” shows definitely have their place–but I want to make sure that we use every opportunity to teach them valuable life skills in a way they don’t even realize that they’re learning!

Howard B. Wigglebottom Learns to Listen couldn’t have come at a better time as Amber has been having a few problems with learning to listen. You know, REALLY listen and obey right away.

In Howard B. Wigglebottom Learns to Listen Howard is having a little problems with listening, to any and everyone including parents, friends, and teachers. Not because he’s purposefully being bad, there is just so much to be distracted by! This book is great because it shows the cause and effect of not listening, such as punishments from teachers, hurting friends or himself, and losing privileges, which are all shown in an engaging writing style. This book is great because it also shows the good things and rewards that good “really listening” bring!

We both loved the fun pictures and the discussion questions at the end of the book too.

This book is absolutely perfect for any pre-k – kindergartner or above who is having a little bit of difficulty in this area! (and don’t they all from time to time??)

Be sure to check out their website We Do Listen Foundation for free lesson plans, read alouds, and more!

If you love this book be sure to check out our reviews of the other Howard B. Wigglebottom books as well!

Howard B. Wigglebottom and the Monkey On His Back (a book about lying)

Howard B. Wigglebottom Learns About Courage

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Superbook – A Christian TV Series for Kids: Thoughts from a Real Mom & Her Kids

Superbook TV Series
Legalese Nonsense: I love quality entertainment for Amber during Tyler’s naps–it helps me be able to work from home! So when CBN and MomSelect offered to send me Superbook to check out of course I said yes! All afternoon snuggles, parent evaluations, and pictures are my own!

Update from 2/7/16

So after having this TV series as a part of our life for several years now I can even more wholeheartedly recommend it! After being given nearly all of season one to review (as shown here) we purchased season 2. At ages 5 & 8 now this is one of the kids favorite shows ever and I love how much of the Bible they’ve taken into heart because of it. Recently several people at church have told us how much both my children know about the Bible, and I know it’s all thanks to Super Book and our huge variety of amazing Children’s Bibles. Hurray for amazing, fun, not corny Christian entertainment! Stay tuned for a post coming very soon about other kid’s entertainment you don’t have to feel guilty about letting them watch!

Original Post:

I’m sure you remember my recent post about Superbook and it’s July airings–were you able to catch any of the series?

I was so excited to get the entire 14 episodes for Amber to watch! The show is recommended for ages 6 and up–if you didn’t realize it the Bible can get a little “adult rated” at times–even in the classic children stories! I appreciate that Superbook recommends itself to an older audience and also that it even goes so far to give you a heads up before any shows that might have more intense scenes in them.

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The Perfect Gift For the Photography Lover In Your Life

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If you’ve been around as a reader for awhile, you know that Brittany of Coast 2 Coast Crafts is totally awesome! Today she’s letting me check out another of her amazing items and give one away to you as well. How cool is that?

Just to jog your memory or for those of you who are new around here, I first introduced Brittany in her guest post on How To Make a Fabric Wreath, which is still one of my top posts through search and on Pinterest! Since then we’ve partnered together to do a few reviews and giveaways, and most recently I shared How To Be The Best Tooth Fairy Ever which included getting her beyond adorable Tooth Pillows for those lost teeth!

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Help For Parents With Bedwetters

I participated in an Influencer Activation on behalf of Influence Central for GoodNites* TRU-FIT*. I received a promotional item to thank me for participating.

As a mommy of two it’s amazing to me how totally different my children are from one another! One loves to sit and do “school” for fun and was writing out the alphabet by age 2, the other has to be bribed into sitting still long enough to go over the ABCs–although he could tell you all about different animals habitats, features, and what predators they have to watch out for.

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How To Be the Best Tooth Fairy Ever

Ever since Amber first announced, in a slightly freaked out voice, that one of her teeth was wiggling I’ve been in full on tooth fairy mode! It seems like since the first one fell out there has been a non-stop procession of one tooth or another who is hanging on by a thread or popping out, and in Amber’s case it’s nearly every time been in some weird location and in some weird way! She lost one by spitting it out into the sink while brushing, another while biting into a hot dog in a restaurant and another in pancakes at a restaurant!

Through all these teeth adventures I’ve learned that being a tooth fairy is a bit more tricky than it might first seem. In fact I made this confession to you once before in The Tooth Fairy Is Tired. I’ve learned a few tricks along the way, though, and so today I wanted to share them with you!

How To Be The Best Tooth Fairy Ever

Get an Extra Special Tooth Fairy Pillow

As I mentioned I had a very special Tooth Fairy Pillow growing up that I tucked my teeth away in for the fairy to find them. I actually still have it! Before your kids teeth even start wiggling it’s a great idea to give them their very own adorable tooth pillow to let them know what’s coming up and help them to be excited about it. I recently fell totally in love with Tommy The Tooth Fairy and his buddy Sparkles The Tooth Fairy. At 10 inches they’re big and soft enough to be used as a stuffed animal while your little one is anxiously awaiting their teeth falling out.

No Tooth Fairy Pillow is complete without a pocket for little teeth, and the pocket on the back of each is generous (no squeezing your fingers in tight little spaces in the dark!!) without adding bulk to the Tooth Fairies and still leaving them totally huggable! Since they’re handmade you can even personalize the color of the tutu or the tie! I picked out purple for Amber and Spiderman for Tyler.

These are perfect Easter Basket stuffers and that’s what I’ll be using mine for this year!

Get Books & Items to Make The Experience Fun

In addition to the necessary pillow, there are a bunch of other fun, tooth losing related products out there. You probably remember The Real Tooth Fairies but if you missed it be sure to go check them out! The books and fun games on the website are perfect for little girls with wiggly teeth and also perfect Easter basket ideas!

 

Get a Change Purse

So the second that first wiggly tooth arrives you need to prepare! I don’t often carry around cash, but I’m pretty sure that my 6 year old doesn’t have a debit card machine (I hope not, at least). As soon as a tooth starts to wiggle make sure you have a stash of ones, quarters, or whatever amount your tooth fairy deems appropriate. I keep mine in this totally adorable little coin purse, but that step is optional. I’d explain this point further, but I think this sums it all up for me:

Marre was thrilled in the morning when she lifted her pillow to see George Washington frowning up at her. However when she returned from school that afternoon, she was devastated. What had happened? Through her tears Marre chocked out, “The Tooth Fairy hates my tooth! Why did Nellie get twenty dollars for her tooth?!” Because Nellie’s parents didn’t have any change, that’s why. ~ Jim Gaffigan, Dad is Fat

Have a Contingency Plan

Teeth don’t often fall out in nice, orderly ways. I remember tying a string around a wiggly tooth and having a sibling yank at it, but if you have a tender hearted (and tender every where else) child like my daughter it’s more likely it’ll hang on until it is forced out by some mean hot dog or tooth brush, as I described before. Fortunately we have always been able to recover the escaping teeth, just barely. Many of my friends children have had teeth fly down the drain, or been swallowed. So what happens in this plan? Why you whip out the back up of course! In the event of a lost tooth the Mommy, or child (depending on their age), just writes a note to the Tooth Fairy explaining what happens. You tuck this letter into the pocket and Voila! One of the awesome things about Tommy  and  Sparkles The Tooth Fairy  is that their pockets are the perfect size for little note holding!

 

Set An Alarm.

You guys, this one is soooo important, for real! I mentioned how “traumatized” (yes using that word extremely loosely and tongue in cheek) I was about the tooth fairy forgetting to be the tooth fairy! This is the one area you really don’t want to mess up on, and with our handy dandy smart phones there’s no excuse to. The day your child looses a tooth set a one time alarm for 9 pm. When it goes off you can pop in, wiggle your wings, and go to bed knowing that you are, indeed, the best tooth fairy ever!

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Become Even More Gorgeous by Adding These 4 Steps to Your Beauty Routine (that have nothing to do with makeup!)

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser, Colgate-Palmolive. All opinions are mine alone. #OpticSmiles #CollectiveBias.

I think that every woman is beautiful in her own way and for her own reasons. I also think, however, that we can and should enhance every bit of that! You already know what a huge fan I am of makeup, but I know many women aren’t, and I do think that many times some of our most powerful ways of playing up our beauty have nothing to do with makeup, so today I wanted to share with you some of my “secret weapons” that I use to help play up my own version of beauty!

Become Even More Gorgeous by Adding These 4 Steps to Your Beauty Routine (that have nothing to do with makeup!)

1. Get Your Teeth Sparkling White As an avid coffee drinker I’m always battling stains and yellowing on my teeth. There’s no way I’m giving up my four cups a day, however, and so the best option for me is to use other methods to get my smile looking gorgeous.

While I was perusing the toothpaste aisle to stock up lately my eye was caught by the pretty, red boxes of all the Colgate® Optic White® toothpastes. While many of them looked great the Colgate® Optic White® Express White Toothpaste caught my eye because it promised whiter teeth in just 3 days*, just by brushing (perfect for this busy mom who has no time to hassle with the other whitening treatments out there). When I picked up the box I learned that it has 2 times more of the professionally recommended whitening ingredient (vs. Optic White Sparkling Mint TP). That sounded great to me, and I’m so happy with the results!

2. Keep Your Lips Smooth & Soft I often play up my eyes and skip lipstick, but even if you’re not using makeup on your lips they’re a part of your face you should never neglect! Especially once your teeth will be gorgeous and white with your new toothpaste and this part of your face will be getting a lot more attention!

I take care of my lips by using a chap stick daily, especially during the winter when it’s a lot dryer and with all the indoor heat. To combat any chapped lips that you do end up with you should “exfoliate” your lips about once a week either with an old toothbrush or a washcloth–just wet and rub all over your lips–it’ll gently peel off old skin and leave you with gorgeous, soft, supple lips!

3. Curl Your Eyelashes! This is another step that you might do in conjunction with makeup–but don’t have to! Eyelash curlers are inexpensive and instantly make your eyes look larger and wide open! They’re one of those things that if I could only bring a few things with me to a deserted island, I’d pick!

4. Wax & Tweeze Your Eyebrows (and possibly the rest of your face, too). Part of my beauty is my super thick, pretty hair. However when you are blessed with super thick, coarse hair it isn’t *just* your head that’s “blessed” with it! If you have light, thin hair waxing or tweezing might be something that you don’t even have to think about, however, if you’re like me it is something that you absolutely should do! I used to have big, thick, “caterpillar” eyebrows and fuzz everywhere else all over my face. No good! Thankfully I discovered the wonder that is getting my face waxed at a Spa or Nail Salon. Just about any of them offers the service and trust me–one “big” hurt with waxing beats a million little “ouches” with tweezing at home (though I do tweeze in between visits). I’ve actually gotten tons of compliments on my gorgeous eyebrows, thanks to taking care of them!

There you go–my 4 best Beauty Tips that don’t involve makeup! What secret weapons are in your Beauty Arsenal that have nothing to do with makeup? Let me know in a comment!

 *For best results, use as directed for 4 weeks.

 

Why I Broke Up With My Contract Cell Phone Company After 12 Years

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser who offers Unlimited Talk Text and Data/Web. All opinions are mine alone. #MaxYourTax #CollectiveBias

Dear Contract Cell Phone Company,

I’m sorry to do this to you, I really am. The truth is, I have a feeling that you knew that this was coming for awhile now. I mean, my hubby already broke up with you awhile ago, and I even encouraged my sister to dump you. Since then I talked my younger brother and sister-in-law to cut ties as well. In spite of this I’ve held out, the longest, clinging on to the good times and memories of what we once shared together; but now it’s time that we have to call it for what it is, and let each other go our separate ways.

To be quite honest, it’s not me, it’s you, but as you might have guessed the main reason is that I’ve met someone new. Just like my husband I met Walmart Family Mobile and the  ZTE ZMAX phablet in, well, Walmart (what can I say? It seems to be where I fall in love). With their good looks and flashy low prices I couldn’t help but stopping and gazing into their options for awhile. You know you just haven’t been meeting my needs lately–all those high prices and a glitchy phone far before my “free” upgrade rolled around (Oh yeah, something I’ve been wanting to tell you for awhile–calling an upgrade “free” and then charging me an activation fee is kind of a jerk move, I’m just saying. Walmart Family Mobile requires a $25 activation card, but at least they’re honest about it).

These guys looked like everything I’d ever dreamed of–ridiculously better on my wallet than you, and a whole lot bigger and stronger than you, too. When I gazed into the super big screen of the ZTE ZMAX  on roll back for $179.00** that offers Walmart Family Mobile’s new 4G LTE Speeds at just $29.88/month (for the first line) which gives me Unlimited Talk, Text & Data service plan which includes up to 500MB, I began to compose this Dear John letter to you in my mind. If I hadn’t been wanting a tablet lately I might have considered the ZTE Zinger which made my penny pinching heart pitter-patter just a wee bit with it’s crazy low rollback price of $19.84**. But I knew that I would be happier with the ZTE ZMAX in a long term relationship, and so picked him and and took him home (just to get acquainted, you know I’m a proper lady).

You see, the timing is really perfect, I wanted to wait till after Valentine’s Day to dump you (because I’m not that heartless) and, well, to be honest now it’s Tax Return season and what could be more perfect than to use my return from last year for a perfect tax write off for next year? You’ve been with me so long that you must know how I reason by now.

Sure enough Walmart Family Mobile was a perfect gentleman when I got them home, and activating my new relationship err, phone was easy as can be, no waiting in long lines and haggling with salesmen while children bounced off the walls like what you subjected me to every time we got an upgrade together.

The better we got to know each other the more compatible I could see we would be–my new phone is big, bright, and beautiful, and the fact that it’s Android and plugged in with Google (which my life revolves around on a continual basis right now) was just one more reason to get serious with him, and to dump you along with my non-android-several-models-back-phone that the top button hasn’t worked on forever.

I guess I’m just saying all of this because I want you to be happy for me, and for you to go on and live your life and be happy with those poor customer’s you’re still duping. I know you’ll be seeing me around with my new partner, and as you see me tapping the screen and smiling I just want you to know–this was best for both of us.

Ok, ok so it’s the best for just me, but I’m alright with that.

Sincerely,

Your Ex Customer Nicole

**Disclaimer: All prices for phones and plans included in this post are accurate as of the date of this posting; however, these prices are subject to change. Please refer to http://cbi.as/aafid or your local Walmart for current pricing.

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Give the Best Back to College Gift Ever: Unlimited Talk Text and Data/Web

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser Walmart Best Plans who have the Lowest Priced Unlimited Plans with Unlimited Talk Text and Data/Web. All opinions are mine alone. #Phones4School #CollectiveBias

As you know there are four kids in my family–the youngest of which is my “baby” sister Hannah. Even though she’s 8 years younger than I am, as fate would have it both she and my hubby are starting their Junior year of college this year–they’re planning on graduating in Spring 2016. It sounds like this year is going to be a CRAZY one for both of them, as well! She’s over at Bob Jones University in South Carolina, so she’s far away from us here in Texas, and also the rest of my family who are all still in Wyoming. Because of that having a great way to keep in communication with all the rest of us is super important for her!

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