L’Oreal Paris Celebrates Strong Women Every Year Through Their “Women of Worth” Nominees

Across the globe women are working tirelessly to create change and improve the world in which we live but many of them go unheard of or unrecognized by the public.

L’Oreal Paris is trying to change this reality by publicly recognizing and celebrating these strong women. So each year 10 women are chosen whose causes are creating change in our world and L’Oreal recognizes them for their efforts. The public can then vote on what cause they believe should receive an additional $25,000. The work of the grand prize winner is honored during the annual Winter Gala, which is on December 2nd this year, and the other ten nominees will celebrated for their work as well. 

This year’s nominees for L’Oreal’s 'Women of Worth' are:

1. Corinne Cannon- “D.C. Diaper Bank”

2. Stephanie Decker: “The Stephanie Decker Foundation”

3. Shaaron Funderburk: “Off the Streets Program”

4. Mary K. Hoodhood: “Kids’ Food Basket”

5. Deborah Snyder: “Operation Renewed Hope”

6. Phyllis Sudman: “Simon’s Fund”

7. Brittany Wenger: “Cloud4Cancer”

8. Audra Wilford: “Maxlove Project”

9. Jenny Williamson: “Courage Worldwide”

10. Rachel R. Jackson-Bramwell: “Project Compassion, NFP”

Read more about the nominees and their heroic work in the second part of this two-part blog; “The 10 Women Nominated for This Year’s ‘L’Oreal’s Women of Worth’” 

ONCEKids Publishing is run by literacy advocate and Mompreneur Eileen Wacker.  Click here to find her acclaimed books

Your Guide to Planning a Stress-Free Thanksgiving Dinner

Thanksgiving is the perfect time to relax, watch football, eat till you (almost) feel sick, and just be thankful for what you have- that is if you aren’t hosting Thanksgiving. If you have ever hosted Thanksgiving dinner at your house before you probably know that the experience can be the opposite of relaxing. And if it is your first year hosting the festivities at your house I imagine you are probably already stressing out over the guest list, menu, decorations and everything else that goes into planning a food-abundant party. 

Thankfully (pun completely intended), Meg Galvin from SparkPeople Blogger has created a “Stress-free Thanksgiving Planning Guide” complete with weekly preparation steps to help Thanksgiving dinner hosts enjoy the holiday as much as their guests do. She advices beginning planning three weeks prior to the holiday, so if you haven’t already begun doing so than you should get on that ASAP! 

Here is what you should have already done:

1. Make a guest list of family and friends you wish to include

2. Send invitations and ask people what they plan to/can bring 

3. Once you know how many people will be attending, take an inventory of all the china, glassware, serving dishes, and silverware you own (don’t worry about everything matching!)

4. Choose your decor; including napkins, candles, tablecloths, and fall related decorations.

What you should start doing this week:

1. Finalize your menu

2. Shop for all non-perishable items

3. Pick your turkey (fresh versus frozen)

4. Make and freeze a meal for yourself for the Wednesday before Thanksgiving

Meg’s Turkey tips:

If you plan on buying a frozen turkey, get it now. Avoid buying any turkey over 15 pounds because the bigger the turkey, the older it is*

What to do the week of Thanksgiving:

1. If you bought a frozen turkey, thaw it out. Make sure there is room in your refrigerator and use a large pan to catch any juice that escape as it thaws. For every four pounds the turkey weighs, allow 1 day of thaw time.

2. Clear out or eat any leftovers to make plenty of room in the fridge

3. 2 days ahead: make any desserts and clean the house

4. The day before: 

-Prepare side dishes that can be held over night

-Pick up any last minute items such as rolls or ice

-Figure out how long you’re going to need to cook your turkey for

-Set out all serving dishes and utensils 

-Chill beverages

5. The day of:

-Clean bathrooms

-5 hours before: rinse and pat turkey dry, put the bird in the oven, and run the dishwasher

-3 hours before: begin to assemble side dishes and set up the carving board

-2 hours before: set up dessert table 

-1 hour before: set up beverage table, check turkey

-30 minutes before: bake rolls and make gravy

-15 minutes before: carve your turkey

Then give yourself a pat on the back because you just prepared and cooked an awesome Thanksgiving meal and now it is time to enjoy yourself with your food and guests! Worry about the mess later…

ONCEKids Publishing is run by literacy advocate and Mompreneur Eileen Wacker.  Click here to find her acclaimed books

Comedian Jason Good Puts Together a Hilarious List of the Differences Between Raising Your First and Second Kid

Anyone who has had more than one child can vouch for how differently their approach is to the second child versus the first. Every first time parent admits to being a perfectionist and perhaps just a little uptight when it came to their new baby’s food, clothes, room, and so on. But by the time a second child comes along who really cares…just kidding. But parents have definitely learned a thing or two from the first time around and what is important, so often times the second child is approached with a slightly different, little less uptight attitude! Comedian Jason Good sums it up perfectly with a funny, exaggerated list featured in his book “This is Ridiculous, This is Amazing”. 

“Raising Your First vs. Raising Your Second Child”

By Jason Good, Father of two

1. Food

First child: All homemade in special baby-food processor. Quinoa! Spinach! Sweet potatoes!

Second kid: Crackers.

2. Bed

First kid: Crib that Daddy put together himself while Mommy yelled at him.

Second kid: Mommy’s bed. Daddy now has his own room with a mattress on the floor surrounded by dirty socks.

3. Clothes

First kid: One hundred percent organic cotton. Some even made of bamboo? 

Second kid: His brother’s old clothes.

4. Parties

First kid: In our backyard with a piñata hanging from the Japanese maple.

Second kid: Pizza on the floor.

5. Bathing

First kid: Every night in a special bathtub that’s just the right size. Hand-washed with a soft or silky sponge. 

Second kid: Twice a week. Swimming pools count.

6. Nighttime routine

First kid: Swaddled in a Miracle Blanket. “Baby Beluga” sung to him. Asleep by 7:30pm.

Second kid: Falls asleep on the sofa with mom’s breast in his mouth at 10:30pm.

7. Friends

First kid: Playgroups, mommy and baby get-togethers in the park!

Second kid: His brother’s friends.

8. Toys

First kid: All handmade out of wood. Mostly Swedish.

Second kid: The boxes his brother’s toys came out of.

9. Shoes

First kid: Something European with an umlaut in its name.

Second kid: Old muddy shoes with faded umlaut and missing sole insert.

10. Potty training

First kid: Diapers, then some kind of training underwear, then underwear.

Second kid: Might wear a diaper till college.

11. Babysitter

First kid: A wonderful woman named Sarah, whom he loves and will cherish for the rest of his life.

Second kid: Doesn’t have one. We never go out.

ONCEKids Publishing is run by literacy advocate and Mompreneur Eileen Wacker.  Click here to find her acclaimed books

Kevin Spacey Impresses Everyone On Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show With His Awesome Celebrity Impressions

Clearly we are big fans of Jimmy Fallon and The Tonight Show here at ONCEkids but nothing makes me laugh like his game, “Wheel of Impressions” and teaming up with Kevin Spacey to duke it out for best impressionist, was no exception. The hilarious duo put their impression skills to the test for a halloween themed Wheel of Impressions, voicing celebrities including Christopher Walken and Johnny Carson. And I must say, Kevin Spacey was pretty impressive. 

Click below to watch the hilarious segment from The Tonight Show:

ONCEKids Publishing is run by literacy advocate and Mompreneur Eileen Wacker.  Click here to find her acclaimed books

Teacher Asks Her 1st Graders to Complete Well-Known Proverbs and the Results Are Hysterical and Surprisingly Insightful

Often children can be full of surprises when it comes to how witty and insightful they are. And when a first grade teacher asks her 26 students to make a list of well-known proverbs, their insightful nature really shows! She presented her class with a list of incomplete, well-known proverbs and asks them to finish the second half on their own- and the results are awesome, hilarious, and surprisingly insightful! As you read these, keep in mind that they were written by 6 and 7 year olds!

1. Strike while the: bug is close

2. It’s always darkest before: Daylight Savings Time

3. Never underestimate the power of: Termites

4. You can lead a horse to water but: How?

5. Don’t bite the hand that: Looks dirty

6. No news is: Impossible.

7. A miss is as good as a: Mr.

8. You can’t teach an old dog new: Math

9. If you lie down with dogs you’ll: Stink in the morning

10. Love all, trust: Me.

11. The pen is mightier than the: Pigs

12. An idle mind is: The best way to relax.

13. Where there is smoke there’s: Pollution

14. Happy the bride who: Gets all the presents

15. Two’s company, three’s: The Musketeers

16. Don’t put off till tomorrow what: You put on to go to bed

17. Laugh and the whole world laughs with you, cry: And you’ll have to blow your nose.

18. There are none so blind as: Stevie Wonder

19. Children should be seen and not: Spanked and grounded

20. At first if you don’t succeed: Get new batteries

21. You get out of something only what you: See in the picture on the box

22. When the blind lead the blind: Get out of the way

23. A bird in the hand: Is going to poop on you

24. Better late than: Pregnant

ONCEKids Publishing is run by literacy advocate and Mompreneur Eileen Wacker.  Click here to find her acclaimed books

Pixar Has Officially Announced the Production of a Toy Story 4

My whole week has been made. It has just been announced that John Lasseter, who serves as the chief creative officer at Pixar, will be directing a Toy Story 4! The fourth installment of the beloved films is set to be released in 2017. 

Not many details other than the release date and director have been revealed to the public but just knowing another Toy Story is coming was enough to generate a nation-wide buzz. And the buzz is not limited to kids! Since the first Toy Story movie came out nearly 20 years ago (wow I feel old), people of all ages love and remember the the films. 

The announcement of a fourth movie comes as even more of a surprise than the third, which was released in 2010. Toy Story 3, directed by Lee Unkrich, earned almost $1.1 billion at the worldwide box office. But director Lasseter makes sure to emphasize that a fourth film isn’t about the money but comes from their passion for the movies and the characters. He adds that it was never something they had planned until an idea popped into Pixar writers’ heads that they just couldn’t shake. I think I can speak for most people when I say that no matter what the reason, we are just happy another Toy Story will be hitting the theaters!

ONCEKids Publishing is run by literacy advocate and Mompreneur Eileen Wacker.  Click here to find her acclaimed books

Jimmy Kimmel Makes Kids Cry (Again) With This Year's Hilarious Halloween Candy Prank

One of my favorite parts about Halloween comes after the holiday has already passed. It’s the YouTube challenge known as “Hey Jimmy Kimmel I ate all my kids’ Halloween candy.”

 Every year Jimmy Kimmel makes kids around the country cry by challenging parents to tell the poor candy lovers that all of their hard work has been for nothing because they have eaten every last piece of their beloved Halloween candy. Of course this is not true, but the kids don’t know that. Witness crying, tantrums, knocking over chairs, and the adorable but heart breaking “oh, it’s okay” during this hilarious segment. Even after its fourth year, the prank hasn’t gotten any less funny- at least for the adults anyway. 

Click below to watch the hilarious 2014 segment of "Jimmy Kimmel I Ate All My Kids' Halloween Candy":

ONCEKids Publishing is run by literacy advocate and Mompreneur Eileen Wacker.  Click here to find her acclaimed books