BumpNews

Three brave girls, Two states, Three school discipline fails

Posted on March 27, 2014

This week, we saw news about three cases of school discipline fails, all involving brave and bold girls.

Last Friday, a Virginia Beach, Virginia school suspended a middle school girl who saved a schoolmate from hurting himself by taking away the utility knife he was going to use to cut into his skin the day before. After going home and sharing the story with her mom, Adrionna Harris reported the incident to school the next day. Only, rather than applaud Harris’ heroic act, administrators at Bayside Middle School punished her with a 10-day suspension under the school’s strict zero tolerance weapons policy. Adrionna’s mom Rachael Harris told wonkette.com she was “shocked that a student would get suspended for saving another child…. Under the circumstances, she thought he would bleed out, as he was cutting himself, and there was no teacher in sight. It was a 911 situation, and there wasn’t time to find a teacher.”

A little ways away in Lynchburg, Virginia, a Christian school sent a letter home to an 8-year old girl the school said was behaving and dressing too much like a boy. In a note, school officials at Timberlake Christian School stated Sunnie Kahle‘s boyish dressing were at odds with the school’s Christian teachings and that she confused other students about her gender identity. Sunnie’s grandparents, who have adopted her, put her in a public school where she eventually was teased daily, primarily because of her unconventional dress. Sunnie’s grandmother Doris Thompson told MSN Living that Sunnie would like to return to her old school with her friends but she isn’t interested in sending her back to a school that rejected her for essentially being a tomboy.

Going West, we also learned this week of a 9-year old Colorado girl who was kicked out of school for shaving her head out of solidarity with a classmate and friend battling cancer. School administrators at Caprock Academy in Grand Junction, Colorado said Karmryn Redfro‘s buzzcut violated the school’s dress code. Even after Redfro’s mom, Wendy Campbell, emailed the school to explain the circumstance of her daughter’s haircut and that she was not a Neo-Nazi skinhead which the policy seeks to punish, the school officials still refused to acknowledge it and make an exception.

Redfro’s friend Delaney Clements, who has started chemotherapy, said she appreciated her friend’s goodwill gesture.

“It made me feel very special and that I’m not alone,” Celements told 9 News.

Wendy Campbell added: “For a little girl to be really brave and want to shave her head in support of her friend, I thought that was a huge statement and it builds character in a child.”

What do you think of these three cases? How should each be resolved?

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Kristen Bell: A Hollywood Mom Who Knows the Power of Social Media

Posted on March 27, 2014

So far 2014 has been

quite the year for actress Kristen Bell, and we’re only three months in! In

addition to starring in her passion project, the newly released Veronica

Mars film, she’s also become the face of an ever growing movement to

protect celebrity children from paparazzi. Oh, and she was also a voice actor

in this one movie you may have heard of last year, it’s called Frozen?

Since the birth of her

daughter, Lincoln, in March of 2013, she hasn’t slowed down in the slightest.

That same month she teamed up with writer Rob Thomas to help turn their former

television series Veronica Mars into a film. The two of them were caught in negotiations with

Warner Brothers —who owned the rights to the franchise but didn’t want to put

up cash to make the film— when they decided to start a Kickstarter campaign in order to raise the funds instead. They were

the first group ever to launch a crowdfunding campaign for a film that was

already owned by a major studio, a risk that turned out to be worth taking

considering the campaign managed to raise more than its goal of $2 million in

the first day alone.

Kristen Bell has become

one of the most active and well liked celebrities on social media as well. In

fact, according to social media analysis tools Topsy and ViralHeat, at least 80% of the tweets mentioning the celeb have only positive

things to say. Kristen used this strong media presence while trying to raise

the funds for Veronica Mars, and is now redirecting that power

toward another cause close to her heart – that one of her child, and the

children of other celebrities.

Along with her husband,

Dax Shepard, and other celebrities (including Halle Berry and Jennifer Garner, who helped pass legislation in California protecting the children of celebrities last

year) she’s launched a campaign against the “pedorazzi”, as she calls them. Her

and Shepard argue that while they chose the become famous, their children did

not, and while being photographed by the paparazzi comes with the territory of

what the parents do, their children didn’t ask for it and don’t deserve it.

She’s a Mama Bear on a mission and it appears that nothing will stop her.

Im happy

outlets publicly agreed cuz i think people should be able to know if the media

they consume is safe&healthy for kids everywhere

🙂

— Kristen Bell (@IMKristenBell) February

28, 2014

Her “No Kids Policy,”

which targets media outlets who publish paparazzi photographs of celebrity

children, has been wildly successful since its launch earlier this year. Major

media outlets such as People, Us Weekly, Buzzfeed.com, Entertainment

Tonight, and many other notable current events, news, and entertainment

outlets have all interviewed the star about her cause. She’s also been on a

media blitz, making live appearances to spread her message. She even appeared

alongside her husband on Access Hollywood to debate a few real-life

paparazzi regarding the issue.

As for her acting work,

she’s currently starring in the critically acclaimed House of Lies on Showtime and reprised

her cameo role as the vapid and catty Ingrid de Forest on NBC’s Parks and

Recreation earlier this year.

Kristen Bell as Jeannie Van Der Hooven in House of Lies

She’s also rumored to have a role in the recently greenlighted, online spin-off

of Veronica Mars for The CW’s website. If the rest of the year is going

to be like the first few months of it has been for her, 2014 is going to be one

heck of a year for Kristen Bell.

Spencer Blohm is a freelance entertainment, pop culture, and lifestyle blogger. When he’s not busy working he can usually be found at the movies or planted in front of his T.V. He lives and works in Chicago where the winters only encourage such behavior.

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Ten New Jersey cities are on Top 25 Cities for Renters Raising Families list

Posted on March 26, 2014

Traditionally, one assumes the Midwest is the best place to raise children but if you’re a renter, you may want to go east! Ten of the Top 25 Cities for Renters Raising Families are in New Jersey and 15 of the top 25 are in the Northeast US.

With help of Onboard Informatics, Rent.com analyzed rental housing prices, crime rates, high school school test scores in cities and towns with over 10,000 and a median household of $50,000.

It came up with a top 25 listing of some of the most affluent and kid-friendly cities to rent in. The South is known for its hospitality but only 3 cities were on the list out of 25. And speaking of Midwest, Highlands Ranch, Colorado was the sole Midwestern city in the top 25 list. California came in 2nd to New Jersey with 5 cities on the top 25 list.

Livingston, New Jersey with nearly 30,000 population and with a median household income of $134,358 was number one. Median rent for a 2 bedroom home there is $2,338 and 84% of the population is families.

The Township is located 27 miles from Manhattan, has 600 acres of parkland, including the 65-acre Memorial Park in the center of town. It even has schools build in the middle of parks.

If you are Jewish, it’s an even better place to raise your family. Livingston has the highest percentage of Jewish residents than any American municipality with 6 synagogues and 22 houses of worship. Perfect!

Here is how the rest of the list breaks down:

1. Livingston, NJ

2. Ladera Ranch, CA

3. Tenafly, NJ

4. Millburn, NJ

5. Yorba Linda, CA

6. Darien, CT

7. El Dorado Hills, CA

8. Evans, GA

9. Ridgewood, NJ

10. Mount Juliet, TN

11. Westfield, NJ

12. Wilton, CT

13. Rancho Palos Verdes, CA

14. Los Altos, CA

15. New Providence, NJ

16. Peachtree City, GA

17. Highlands Ranch, CO

18. New Canaan, CT

19. Bedford, NH

20. Smithtown, NY

21. River Edge, NJ

22. Scotch Plains, NJ

23. Olive Branch, MS

24. Ridgefield, CT

25. Wellesley, MA

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Couple spoofs Kim Kardashian/Kanye West Vogue cover for their pregnancy announcmenet

Posted on March 26, 2014

It’s been less than a week since the Kim Kardashian and Kanye West Vogue cover was released and we’ve already seen a few parodies but we seem to have our first pregnancy related parody already!

Maggie and Gennady Borukhovich replicated the now much talked about cover and used it to announce tha that they are expecting their first child together.

Including the hashtag #WorldsMostHashtaggedBaby and with Maggie in what looks to be her wedding dress, hubby Gennady stands behind her mimicking West’s positioning but holding a sonogram of their soon-to-be born child.

The articles featured in the mock magazine’s cover include is personalized to them: “Maggie & Gennady: Their Fun Life and Pregnant Times”; “Fall Baby 2014: Cuddly, Active, Adorable”; “And For Mom: Flats With Everything.”

So creative! Do you love it?

photo: courtesy The Borukhovich’s

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Woman with phantom quintuplets discovered after 9 months of non-pregnancy is getting psychiatric evaluation (VIDEO)

Posted on March 25, 2014

Paul Sevat in empty nursery with 5 cribs.- courtesy: Camile Laurin-Desjardins/Le Journal De Montral/Agence QMI

A Canadian woman is the latest to experience a very public case of phantom pregnancy or pseudocyesis, a very rare disorder in which a woman experiences all the symptoms of pregnancy, but is not pregnant.

Barbara Bienvenue told her boyfriend and town that she was expecting quintuplets and even collected cribs and loads of gear for the babies right up to she was supposed to be 37 weeks pregnant and due to deliver the babies.

That is when doctors told her boyfriend Paul Servat that Bienvenue was not pregnant and never once. She is currently undergoing psychiatric evaluation as Servant works to repay some of the associations and groups that donated for the babies.

“I lost everything, it was my whole life,” Servat told the Toronto Sun adding that Bienvenue told him she was expecting twins, then triplets, then quadruplets, then quintuplets. He said her belly grew, and she experienced morning sickness and lactation.

Very unfortunate. Watch an ABC News video about the story:

ABC US News | ABC Business News

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BumpNews

Kendra Wilkinson’s Red Carpet Maternity Style

Posted on March 25, 2014

Reality TV star Kendra Wilkinson is another mom-to-be on our bumpwatch list who has been having a pretty chic pregnancy…and carrying baby only in the belly! Lucky gals.

And even though Wilkinson, who is expecting her second child with ex NFL player husband Hank Baskett Jr, suffered with extreme morning sickness and other pregnancy ailments, she’s managed to get out at red carpet events this second pregnancy.

Last month, she and hubby hit the screening of the comedy the ‘The Hungover Games’ which stars Baskett at TCL Chinese 6 Theaters on February 11, 2014 in Hollywood, California

The previous month, she was near the ski slopes (not on it while preggers) while attending the Brownie Brittle and Prefunc NFL playoff party at Rock & Reilly‘s on January 19, 2014 in Park City, Utah.

Early in her pregnancy, the former star of Kendra On Top and The Girls Next Door on E! looked trendy while attending the premiere of Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Frozen at the El Capitan Theatre on November 19, 2013 in Hollywood, California.

Finally, she went bright and colorful most recently at the QVC 5th annual Red Carpet Style event at The Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Friday, February 28.

The exercise DVD creator and event hostess and hubby are parents to the adorable Hank Jr who we’ve seen grow up on TV on mom’s reality TV shows. The couple shared news of the second pregnancy last October.

photos: Zimbio

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5 Tips to help your teen manage homework stress

Posted on March 25, 2014

A recent study by the American Pediatric Association found that teens are more stressed than adults and their levels of stress tend to peak during the school year. Of the teens surveyed, 42% said they felt they didn’t do enough to manage their stress. Mandy Ginsberg, CEO of Tutor.com has tips to help teens experience less stress at school and during homework time after school. Here are some of Mandy’s tips.

1. Schedule homework time. Just like you schedule time for soccer practice or dance lessons, schedule in homework time for your child every night to form a routine. It should be at a time that fits both of your schedules. The best time is right before or after dinner—early enough to stay focused on tackling tough subjects like algebra or chemistry.

2. Create a homework zone. Set aside a space in your home where your child can work on homework without major distractions (i.e. TV, video games and siblings who may already be done with their homework.) A comfortable spot for both of you is best, that way you can catch up on your own reading or work and still be available to answer questions your child may have.

3. Set goals and prioritize. Your child probably has assignments in different subjects from different teachers each night. Have your son or daughter review their list of assignments (if they don’t usually write them down, now is a good time to start) and estimate how long each will take. Then, help them prioritize which ones to do first. There’s no right or wrong order to completing homework assignments, but having an action plan can help your child stay focused.

4. Know when to get help. If your child is taking longer than expected to finish one problem or is getting frustrated, encourage them to take a break by working on something else for a while. If they come back to the problem and still can’t figure things out, don’t stay confused–Tutor.com can help get them back on track in just a few minutes.

5. Wrap things up each night. At the end of each homework session, have your child walk you through their completed assignments. Acknowledge the small accomplishments they made to keep them motivated.

Good luck parents!

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Evelyn Lozada welcomes son, Carl Leo Crawford

Posted on March 24, 2014

Congratulations to VH1 Basketball Wives reality TV star Evelyn Lozada on the birth of her second child, a son, on Saturday, March 22.

She and fiancé LA Dodgers Major League Baseball player Carl Crawford named their first child together, Carl Leo Crawford after dad (Carl Sr) and his astrological sign.

Very cute!!

Crawford has a son and daughter from a previous relationahip and Lozada, who previously owned a shoe boutique in Miami, Florida, has a gorgeous 20-year old daughter named Shaneice also from a previous relationship.

“Mom is sooooo happy!” a rep told ABC News.

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Veronica Mars DVD winner announced!

Posted on March 24, 2014

Congratulations to

Eric Starker

He wins a High Definition copy of the new Veronica Mars Movie DVD when it is released in May! The movie which stars our Bellyitch Bumpwatch alum Kristin Bell is out now in select theaters (AMC) nationwide.

Thanks to all who entered!

Stay tuned for some more amazing giveaways coming up! We’re getting some amazing offers from various products!

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Report: Mila Kunis and Asthton Kutcher are expecting their first child

Posted on March 24, 2014

Less than 6 months after his divorce from ex Demi Moore was finalized and a month after his engagement to co-That 70s Show alum Mila Kunis, actor Ashton Kutcher is reportedly expecting his first child with Kunis.

Apparently the news was unplanned, sources tell OK! magazine. The couple has dated for two years and Kunis was reportedly seen attending a pre-natal yoga class in Hollywood, California, E!Online reports.

“It was a total shock for both of them, but they feel up for the challenge,” the friend told OK “It didn’t seem like it was possible for them to fall any deeper in love, but the prospect of raising an insta-family together has solidified their commitment to each other.”

Interesting too is that Kunis was recently named as a spokesperson for Jim Bean liquor. We’ll assume it will be apple juice in the glass in the campaign.

photo:starcast

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Jeneba Jalloh Ghatt