My Little Girl Turns "9" This Week

Oh my where as the time went!  Sahara turns 9 in less then a week and I can't believe it.  She has been my shinning light ever since she was born.  She keeps me going every day that's for sure.

The day she was born was very emotional for all of us.  It was a planned C-section so we knew when she was coming but we didn't know she would be born with two extreme clubfeet.  The first day of her life she was put in casts- from top of legs to her toes.  This was very emotional and we had no idea what to expect. The Dr told us she might not walk because of how extreme her feet were turned in.  So the next 2-3 years were a lot of casting, couple surgeries, a lot of Dr Appt's, braces, and a lot of tears.  We do physical therapy now. Today she still has a bit of a pigeon toe run and can't put down one of her feet all the way but she is not letting anything stop her.  So proud of her and her determination.

She loves to DANCE~

I'm so proud of my almost 9 year old she ROCKS and I'm looking forward to what she is going to do in the years to come.

Lil Mama Dancing to Suit and Tie- Cute Video

Of course I had to find a CLEAN version and she did an awesome job.  She loves dancing and takes Hip Hop classes 2 x a week.  If you don't know Lil Mama was born with SEVERE Club Feet.  The Dr said on her first day on this earth, he didn't know if she would ever walk.  He had never seen such an extreme case.  Well 2 surgeries, braces, special shoes, physical therapy and a lot love she is DANCING her little heart out!

Mean Girls Video- LOVE IT!

My little girl was born with extreme clubfeet (dr said she probably wouldn't walk) but she fought all odds and she is doing more than just walking- she is dancing.  She joined a dance class this year at Destiny Arts in Oakland and LOVES it!  She practices every day and is doing an awesome job.   

This year she is going to a new school and having a hard time fitting in with the other kids.  She has never been a social butterfly but she cares about what other people think about her, of course.  She has been picked on about her feet because when she runs she is pigeon toed and so kids laugh at her but it doesn't stop her one bit. She really doesn't let it bother her too much.  I love her strong will and her motivation.  She won't let this disability get the best of her.   So when I heard this song she was dancing to for the dance class I feel in love with it.  But when I saw who sang it was even more in love with the song.  Rachel Crow from The Voice, I loved her on that show.  

Here is my little girls dance routine she learned:

I hope you enjoy it!  I smile every time I watch it.  

A 3rd Grader Told Lil Mama She Was Annoying.

Little Mama came in after school and said "This girl says I'm annoying.  I've never heard that one before".  Really because I swear I've heard Lil Man tell her that on a daily basis but yes girls at school are different. I explained to her that not everyone is going to like her and it's OK!  She is at a new school this year and it's been rough for her but I do hope she opens up a bit more. Of course this hurt her feelings and pouted for about an hour. I went to a lot of schools growing up so I know how much she wants to be accepted and make friends.  She also told me the couple other girls told her that is is fine because they like her and not to worry about what the other girl said. It warmed my heart that she does have a support system there.  

I hope I dealt with that situation the way I needed to make her feel better about herself.  I grew up with low self esteem (let's be honest-still do a little) so I don't want her to doubt herself.  I want to raise a confident girl.  

How would you deal with this situation?  

My Baby is 8- What am I going to do NOW?

I know my body is not going to produce anymore babies (boohoo but that is another post on another day)so it hits me the other day like "smack in the face" that that Lil Mama is no longer my little baby! She can't really fit in my lap anymore, she is so independent, and it seems like the less she needs me. I felt a bit sad for a...... second! But then I remember back when they were babies and I think I like the path we are going- forward!

I love my sleep and when I had babies in the house I never slept sound. I always anticipated them waking up so I never allowed myself to really fall in that deep sleep. But NOW wow I sleep like a baby...LOL! That's been happening for about 3 years now.

I love reading ADULT books (no not porn- something other Dr. Seuss)and enjoy them. We always have reading going on in our house but now I can read my books while they are reading their books.

I have other kid smells and things to deal with but I can at least get their help cleaning the mess, babies not so much help! Plus dirty diapers were gross and I'm being honest that I'm so happy that is not been on the daily agenda for a long time- don't miss that!

What am I going to do now..... I'm going to enjoy 8-16 (or 13 with Lil Mama) because I know after that I'm going to have real problems and WISH I had a baby not a teenager!

 Love my kids! They keep me going and striving forward everyday!

Legos for Girls- Friends

Lil Mama has a new hobby~ LEGOS!  Her brother loves his Legos and she wanted to start doing Legos too but it was always BOY STUFF.  She hated that but now she found GIRL LEGOS!

She saved up her chorepad points and got a TRIP TO TARGET and bought herself some Legos- Friends.  She is super excited and now wants the HOUSE for her birthday.  She wants me to find a table so she can set up her Heartlake City.  She wants to build all the sets.  She is super excited to have Legos just for her- not her brother BOY LEGOS!  

I highly recommend getting your girl the Lego Friends http://friends.lego.com/en-us/Default.aspx

Here she is with the start of her city:

I have my VERY OWN Punky Brewster!

My lil Mama has her very own style.   She has never been a girly girl, even as much as I tried to dress her in dresses she refused.  Which now is fine but back when she was a toddler I wanted to dress her from head to toe in PINK GIRLY GIRL gear and she would take it off.  She didn't play with dolls and I so wanted to play dress up in princess dresses but she would tell me no.  I guess I should have seen this coming huh! 

She now wears mix matched socks and these leg warmers she got- I need to get her more!  She also LOVES skinny jeans and when I mean LOVE that is ALL I can get her to wear.  She does throw in a lot colors and designs and pulls it off!  She also has colored hair pieces for example in above pic she has only one side with her purple braids. 

She also LOVES shoes or boots. With her Xmas money she went to the Van store and bought her own high tops: 

Everything matches her personality that is for sure!  She doesn't know who Punky Brewster is but I do and she is one of kind just like my Lil Mama!

Here is a video she made this morning~ She LOVES Justin Bieber 

Never Say Never- Sahara Rae

Lil Man- he is whole other Post!!!

Bullied into going to the Pumpkin Patch

When I got home from working HARD on my feet for 8 hrs dealing with cafe customers on a Sunday the last thing I wanted to do is go anywhere.  But Lil Mama had other plans!

I came home and started to take off my shoes but Lil Mama says "Umm what are you doing?" I responded back " going to relax" she informed me "No you are not- we are going to the Pumpkin Patch- NO EXCUSES" and looked at me like I was the child and she was the mom.  I felt like I needed to give her the puppy dog look she always gives me and I got back from her "NOT GOING TO WORK"  wow did this little 7 yr old just used my words/actions against me?  She bullied us into going I swear!

Now this Pumpkin Patch is SAD:  where are all the pumpkins???












Also cost me $10 for 15 minutes of FUN for the kids to go on the slide.  Plus $10 for a small a** pumpkin.  They had pony rides ($7 per kid), face painting ($7 per kid), Jumper ($5 for 10 minutes) but who can afford all that??? 

But in the long run Lil Mama had a blast and that's what it is all about.  Next time though I'm finding a REAL pumpkin patch and it will be FUN for everyone. 

My Lil CowGirl

Look at my lil COWGIRL!  I wasn't able to go to her very 1st Parade but Daddy went and so that's all good.  Lucky for him he took some pics.  Her Brownie Troop/Girl Scouts were in the Black Cowboy Parade that Oakland has every year.  Lil Man didn't want to go at first but when he got there and saw all the cool cars, horses, fun stuff to do his frown turned into a smile (daddy said that).  My babies are growing up and enjoying LIFE~ got to love that!

This reminds me I need to get her a sash. 

Back To School 2011

My little buggers are enjoying their first week of the school year.  Hearing them talk about what they are learning and going to learn is exciting for all us.  Dinner time is full of conversation now. 

I enjoyed the 1st day way too much I think because 3pm came very quick and I almost forgot to get them.  I was about 10 minutes late.  Last year school ended at 3:15 and this year it's 3pm so I blame it on the time change, not that I was enjoying the quiet so much.  The past 3 days have been very nice!  I get up early and do the housework while I'm juiced up on coffee then I have the day to do work online and other projects. 
My Lil Mama is in a split 1st/2nd grade class and at first I was WTF....no that's not going to work.  She is way too smart to do 1st grade over again.  She was top of her class in 1st grade and I just don't want her to be bored.  Lil Mama and boredom doesn't mix at all!   Her teacher and principal reassured me that it will be fine and she will be challenged.  Okay, I hope so! 

Lil Man well he feels all grown now...4th grade and all!  He asked the teacher if he could sit up in front because he wants to LEARN a lot this year.  Let's see how long that will last.  Lil Man is also in a split 4th/5 class but with 2 teachers.  I wasn't as worried because I want him to learn UP.  I know double standard. LOL! He is very excited to have 2 teachers and new school subjects.  He said today..it feels like I'm in Middle School- not sure I how he knows how that feels but I'll give it to him.

So Cheers to 2011-2012 School Year! 

Thanks to Facebook I have a NEW NICKNAME

ShortStack and guess who is having so much fun calling me it....yep Lil Mama!  Then guess who told her to call me that...ummm my mom!  Thanks Mom!  But really I have Facebook to blame for this.

Last week I was working on fan landing pages for PinkMama's Place and Mr Airbrush Hands and I was using the site Shortstack to design them (which BTW the site ROCKS).  I "liked" the Shortstack site and it posted it on Facebook and my mom had so much fun with that one. 

Last night my daughter comes in room after calling me Shortstack for the 20th time ( and after having a conversation with my mom on the phone) and says " Mom your short and your stacked"  Ummm okay how she said it was fricken funny but she didn't realize exactly what she said because right after she said that she says "You stack books, clothes, and all kinds of things"  well you know what my hubby and I thought, right.  I am stacked! 

So thanks Facebook for the new nickname and the laugh.  At least my nickname from Lil Mama isn't as bad as what she calls her daddy "panties" I'm not sure how she came up with that name but I do know why...because it bothers him and she LOVES to pick on him. 

Goldfish DIED

Lil Mama goes to feed the fish a minute before her ride is here for school and guess what....yep we have a floater.  UGH!  The tears and I couldn't comfort her the way I wanted too because we hear the HONK HONK of her ride to school.  She got in the car with tears and my heart was hurting for her.  I texted her teacher to give her the HEADS UP on the tears.  I really hope she will be okay.  We have had them for almost 2 months.  Well let's hope she can get thru the day and see what she wants to do...bury or flush?

Lil Mama Singing GroundHog Song I

She is so damn cute too! They are performing in front of the school tomorrow morning.

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Halloween Over....WOOHOO!

Don't get me wrong Halloween is fun but a lot of work!  This weekend I was non-stop to create a wonderful weekend for the kids.  Halloween arts n crafts, parties, sleep-overs, trick/treating....we were busy ALL weekend.  Then on top of it I had to work too.  I'm exhausted! 

We have the excited princess and the cool SWAT officer!

I was so busy I didn't take that many pictures....bad mom!  Today I am dragging and just want to crawl back into bed!  Not going to happen but hey its all good, my family had a awesome time.

This morning though Lil Man was very difficult to get out of the house to school.  He didn't want to go to school because "he didn't get to relax all weekend".....translation " I didn't get to play video games"  Oh cry me a river dude, like I'm going to let you stay home so you can play video games- NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!  He didn't want to walk with me and told me not to talk to him.  He is sooooo lucky I didn't have all my coffee in my system because it might have gone bad!  LOL...big bad momma that I am :)

Decorations coming down tonight.  Lil Mama wants to help. 

I Love My Hair Video

A friend sent this to me and I fell in love with it! My daughter who is 6 (going on 16) has very beautiful curly hair and we go around and around almost every day on how we are going to do her hair.

I love her hair down and free.  Some days she does too but other days I know she hates it when I have to comb thru it.  My hubby's side of the family loves braiding it and that works too.  No matter how she wears her hair- she is too cute!

She got her hair braided (sat for 5 hrs) into tiny braids because she going up to grandma's for a couple weeks and I didn't want my mom to have to do her hair everyday so this helped out so much.

This is how I LOVE her hair!  This was her 1st Day of Kindergarten

When we don't do anything to her hair she looks like this:

Which one is STITCH?

I love Lil Mama- she is such a character and this made my day.  Last week I was cooking and I asked her to get plates out and she says "Mom LOOK"  I just about died!  She is goofy . 

I'm a Blubbering Idiot sometimes!

My kids have been gone for over a week to their grandma's house up in Wash state and we live in Cali! This has been the longest I've been away from them and yes I do admit it was very nice the first couple days but now.....

Today the kids called and I can tell they are tired. I asked Lil Mama if she is tired and she started crying....ugh that was the wrong move because I was trying to be strong all week and now we are both crying together on the phone. Not a good move. Hopefully Grandma can help her on her end and hubby can help me get it together-NO CRYING on the phone.

Doesn't help a lil pmsing going on too...really not the best week.

I'll write more about the kids being gone later.

Growing up fast!

My babies are doing their STEP-UP Ceremony on Monday and I am so proud of them.

Lil Mama....wow she sure has grown up over the year. She started Kindergarten in September and that was her first time in school. I kept her home because I loved being a mom and loved being at home with her and she was my last baby. I know I should have put her in school just to get that "social" aspect but of course my selfish reasons come first. LOL! She lasted a couple months in her first class but she was not liking school. She came to me and said "Mom I can't focus in my class, can I change classes." Well as a mom I was torn because I LOVE her teacher but my daughter was struggling with other students. The class had some very loud kids. Well it all worked out and my daughter flourished when she went to the other class. Lil Mama LOVES to read. As a reader you know I was happy to hear that she is reading now at a end of 1st grade level. She is looking forward to 1st grade.

Lil Man....wow he has found the love of reading in the 2nd grade. He has some wonderful friends that are really good readers and I think he wanted to keep up with them so he pushed himself. He was into reading the Wimpy Kid series and now loves the Percy Jackson books. He also loves to draw a lot and I find his drawings on papers everywhere. Artist like his Daddy-love that! He is looking forward to 3rd grade and a certain teacher so we are keeping our fingers crossed he gets him. Next year will be hard on him because his 2 close friends are going to a different schools. I'm hoping he will connect with others and not be sad. He has been at the school for 3 yrs and I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure my kids stay in one school.

Lil Mama needs to learn how to play by herself.

I can't be her 24hr play buddy.  I have things to do!  She is 5 1/2 and never plays by herself and if she does someone has to be in the same room.  Never plays in her bedroom

So the whining started at 8am...someone please play with me, I have no one to play with, I'm bored.  All day I've been hearing this in between the fighting and the crying.  It is raining so I can't take them outside.  The kids have been fighting ALL DAY. 

I've set her up with many different things to do all day...nothing works!  She wants someone right there by her side.  Can you tell I'm a bit stressed.  Yesterday, I spent all day with her- we played monopoly 2x, art stuff, movie-2 of them, and 2 walks.  Today I had house stuff to do and she complained all day and had to be everywhere I went.  I tried to take a shower by myself and she had to sit on the toilet the whole time.  Lil Man he plays very well by himself why can't Lil Mama.  I'm not asking all the time because I enjoy her but somedays I have things I need to do. When do they go back to school????  1 more week.  Ok rant over!

My Sweet Lil Girl

Lil Mama is a trip most of the time. She is my lil diva and VERY HIGH MAINTENANCE. She works me everyday. It's my fault because I fall for that big smile of hers. She is totally different when we go out in public. She even told me the other day that she will be very good at school and bad only at home. Well gee thanks! I can handle that, lol!

The other day I was scolding her and said "Sahara Rae" she looked at me with the straightest face said "I don't know any Sahara Rae, my name is Sahara" First, I was like oh no I'm doing what my mom did to me...Pamela Jean was always my name when I was in trouble. Then I was like oh no you didn't say that to me little girl. I know I'm going to be shaking my head and rolling my eyes a lot with this girl.

But the BEST love is a child's love and she shows me love everyday in many different ways. Last night she showed me pure love. It was a little chilly last night so I mentioned I was cold. This little girl went over to our heater and stood in front of of it then came over and sat on my lap. At first I was like wow she is warm then I noticed she would get up after a couple minutes and go back to the heater then back to my lap. I looked at her and asked her what she was doing she said "Mommy I'm heating you up, you said you were cold" awwww that warmed my heart soooooo much.