Helping one of our own!!!!

As Thanksgiving comes we need to think and reflect on what we are thankful for.

For me it is my family and friends who get me through the rough times and celebrate with me during the good. I am thankful for my children and their health.

I feel for those who have children with health issues especially Evelia Perez.

Evelia is the owner and operator of Unique BOWtique. She is a talented seamstress and very crafty lady who works from her home so she can take care of her children during the day, especially her son Sebastion who is 2.5 years old born @ 28 weeks GA and only 2 pounds and 13 inches. When he was 2 weeks old his femure fractured and the doctor said he had Osteogenesis Imperfecta AKA brittle bone. It has been very hard on the family since then. He stayed in the NICU for 5 months with no hope he was going to survive. Up to date he has had 16 fractures and 2 major surgeries to place rods inside his femurs and tibias. Sebastian has Medicaid but not everything is covered. The rest of the family is with out any medical care because they can not pay for it. Evelia is a seamstress and does that to make a living. she started making bows to make extra money to cover Sebastian's medical needs and  just found out that if his tendons do not improve in the next 5 week he is going to need to be in casting for two months. The cast will need to be change every week and it will be very hard for a 2 1/2 year old to have a cast for such a long time and for the family since they will need to drive to Shriners weekly for 2 months and it is not close so travel costs alone will be a burden. Sebastion is also in need of a wheelchair!

With the help of The Blushing Violet, Mommy Do it All, Tazzle Dazzles, Gammianne's Attic, Violet's Bud, and a lot of other wonderful people we are doing our best to help this family this holiday season!

There are FIVE ways to help!!!

1. We are having an auction! Go to The Free Life and check out our Shopping for Sebastion Album and place a bid!!
2. Enter our Raffle!! Great prizes from Violet's Bud, Tazzle Dazzle, Mommy Do It All, The Blushing Violet, and more! In order to be entered in the raffle all you have to do is make a donation here
   
   
   and we will email you your raffle ticket numbers (every $1 gets you one ticket and every $5 gets you 8!!) Lots of great prizes to be had! Also all donations will be sent to the family!
   
3. Shopping for Sebastion Thirty-One party! Go over here and do some some shopping for yourself or cross some people off your holiday shopping list! Proceeds from this party go straight to the family!!
4. Shop Unique BOWtique this holiday season! Give this great woman your business!!
5. Finally a direct donation in any amount can help as well! You can donate directly to her paypal at przmg6@aol.com

With so many ways to help there is a way for everyone to help out!

Thank you so much for your help! You will be blessed as you bless others :)

WAHMmy Finalist!! CAST YOUR VOTES!!

You have spoken and here is your chance to vote!! GOOD LUCK ALL!

March Of Dimes Fundraiser and Giveaway! Opens 10/15!!!

For those of you who do not know I have two children. With both my children I went into labor at 20 weeks!! Thanks to medical advancements (and a lot of patient Drs and support family) I was able to deliver my son full term!! My daughter was not so easy... My littlest pea was born two months early!! Due to a paper work mishap she never went to NICU... She was sent to the hospital at 6 weeks with failure to thrive! they thought she would be brain dead at best!! We went through DNA testing and genetics testing to see if she had any disabilities along with (or causing her) failure to thrive but none came back.

Flash forward 6 years and she is a healthy, active, sweet, and smart 6 year old cheerleading Girl Scout! At this point the only thing we are still working with for specialists are speech therapists!!!

So as you can see March of Dimes is a charity close to my heart!! For the second half of October we will be raising money and awareness for March of Dimes!

There is going to be two baskets given away and one GIANT basket raffled off!! Tickets for the raffle are $1 each or 8 for $5 (if you donate $6 you get 9 tickets and if you donate $10 you get 16 etc etc) After you make your donation you will get an email from me with your raffle ticket #s...

To donate please click here:

Then Halloween night I will post as my status the winning # (don't worry you will get an email as well!) I will also announce the winners of the giveaway as well!! Then on November 1st I will donate all the proceeds of the ticket sales to March of Dimes!

Any questions please feel free to ask :)

Thank you for your support in this cause so close to my heart!







To enter the giveaway please fill out the form below!

ASK AWAY FRIDAY!! 10/7/11

This question comes from Amy:

Amy asks:

How do I get my kids' teachers to listen to me? I am a young mom and have a child in 1st and one in K and I have concerns but the teachers just push them aside and talk down to me. I think it is because of my age (I had my lids at 16 and 17). How can I get them to listen to me and not treat me like a kid??

GREAT QUESTION AMY!!!!

First if it is because of your age than what they are doing is wrong!! I sometimes find that I am over sensitive sometimes and think people hate me or ignore me when they don't and it is just that their personality is a bit edgy. Either way of they are not listening to your concerns that is not only morally wrong but could also harm your children and be a violation of school policies.

The first thing you need to know and remember is (and this may sound mean but it is not) the teachers work for you! You are the one paying their paycheck so in essence you are their boss! They have a responsibility to listen to your concerns! I would first write a note and if no response send and email and then call! Most schools now have a 24 hour policy (if they do not respond in 24 hours or whatever time frame they give them, excluding weekend and holidays, they are in violation of school policy) If you get a I will get back to you and still nothing you are in your right to call the school guidance counciler or principal for a meeting.

I say these in extreme circumstances but I find just being open and comfortable with the teacher opens doors much quicker! It sounds like you may have some insecurities when it comes to the teachers. I know that a lot of time when our kids first go to school it is intimidating for us too but remember you are the mom, the boss, and the one in control!! Stay strong, confident, and in control and you will do great! It is obvious you are a loving mother who wants the best for your babies and they will get that if you just stick to your guns :)





What do you all think... Any other suggestions for Amy... Let us know!

And as always if you have any question please feel free to ASK AWAY and you may be our next ASK AWAY FRIDAY question!

Ask Away Friday!

Welcome to our first edition of "Ask away Friday"!

This weeks question comes from Hannah in Montana (no lie really her name and where she lives!)


Hannah asked if I circumcised my son and if so why...

Hannah that's a great question!

I want to start out by saying that I am not a Dr and refuse to give medical advise but I will let you know what my husband and I did do and why :)

The decision to circumcise is, in my opinion, not that big a deal anymore. There used to be reasons people did it (religious is the main and original, for a while people were concerned about health reasons, and personal choice) but unless your religious or spiritual preference dictates something in my opinion it is up to you!

One trend (that I disagree with) is letting the child decide when they are old enough so they don't grow to resent you for making important decisions for them. I disagree for many reasons!  Here are just two:

1. As parents we need to take the bull by its horns and be parents! Being a parent means making choices for your child and they are not always going to like them but we need to make them and not try to be their friends!
2. If the circumcision is going to be done it is better to do it at a young age when they won't remember it ;)

This topic is totally up to personal choice and personally we chose to circumcise! I feel in the end that you should go with whatever the dad has... That way the son feels like he is like his dad and not different (if their is no dad in the picture to go by then go by your gut instinct!) That is what my opinion is and that is what we did with my son ;)

Thanks Hannah for being our first Ask Away Friday question!

If you have a question you want answered or would like advice on anything at all please let us know and you may just see your question here next week!!

THE WAHMmy AWARDS!!!!

Doing something new for the Month of October!!

Instead of WAHM Wednesday in October we are having the 1st annual WAHMmy awards!!

Here are the categories:

Favorite Jewelry

Favorite Kids items

Favorite Mommy items

Favorite Housewares

Favorite Clothes

Most Unique Items

The WAHMmy contributing most to their community as a whole

Favorite Eco Friendly WAHMmy

Get your suggestions in by 10/15 and then we will take the top 3 in each category and we will have a vote!! The winners will be announced on Halloween!!

You can get your suggestions in by either commenting on here or using the contact tab on the FB page or the blog!!

Can't wait to see your suggestions!!

Crazy Helicopter Mom!!

So I have been called a Crazy helicopter Mom on more than one occasion and I have a feeling today may be one of those days... But honestly I DON'T CARE!!!

One thing that should never be tolerated is bullying in any form! And it especially should not be tolerated in a school district... What am I talking about you ask... One hint!!!

Yes the big yellow twinkie, the cheese box, what ever you call it its something most kids ride and honestly it should be a place of safety not bullying!!!

Monday my son got of the bus saying his best buddy (who is smaller than the rest and kinda quiet) was punched and made fun of... Yes I was upset but knowing the two kids involved I knew there must be a bit more behind it. What really upset me though was the bus driver let it happen!! So I was stewing a bit and spoke with his buddy's mom...

The next day my son's teacher emailed me to let me know that there was an incident on the playground where my son was punched. It turns out some of the problem children on the bus were making fun of my daughter for the way she talks and my son was defending his little sister. He never laid a finger on them but ended up at the nurses station because he was repeatedly punched by these kids.

If you have been following my blog (or know me) you would know that my daughter was born two months early with failure to thrive and we were told if she would live past three months she would be brain dead for the rest of her life. Well fast forward six years and I have a beautiful, smart. athletic, Daisy Scout Cheerleader who is a bit shy because of her speech issues. She did not start talking until she was almost 4. She has caught up a lot and has a bigger vocabulary than most kids her age but she is shy to use it because a lot of people do not understand her (even teachers). So yes my son is very VERY protective of his baby sister!! BUT not only that... THEY GO TO DIFFERENT SCHOOLS!!!

In our town we have three k-2 schools and then one 3-5 and one middle and one high school. They do this because we have a small (to most standards) town and they like the kids to have a small school feel so they get more individual attention. Even in the 3-5 school they have three wings. Two wings are for 3&4th grade and the third wing is for 5th. Each wing is like it's own little school and you stay within your wing unless you have an out class (art, music, library, computer, or gym) and the out classes are in their own wing.

So basically these 3rd grade kids in my son's wing (who live on our street) were making fun of my daughter in 1st grade in another school.  So when I got an email about this from his teacher he informed me this was the second time this year (we have had like 8 school days at most!) my son was in the nurses office and the first time was the day before because on the way to school a child had pinched him repeatedly. This was the same boy who had punched my son's friend and is a year older than the boys. This was the first I had heard about the incident and was eager to find out more!!

Yesterday also happened to be open house so I was able to meet with his teacher and speak to him about it face to face. It turns out that they are looking into it at school and trying to pin point the children involved.

So this morning my kids did not want to take the bus. It was so bad my daughter was so stressed her stomach ached! I understood my son but was confused by my daughter! I had asked her what was wrong and she would not tell me...

She normally sits with the same boy (my son's buddy's little brother... they grew up playing together because of their brothers) but the little boy is in Kindergarten and the bus driver makes the kindergarteners sit in the front on the way to school (but not on the way back). She never has anyone to sit with on the way to school because of this and it depresses her!! She is new to the school (we lived in TX last year just for a year and she went to Kindergarten there and then we moved back to the same street that we lived in before when we moved back) and the kids are not used to her speech so she has been having trouble making friends.

She knew she couldn't sit with him on the way to school so she sat behind him and then it happened...

The bus driver YELLED at my baby girl!! That is a no go for me! He YELLED at her and told her to move to the back of the bus!! I went to the grocery store after getting her on the bus (same bus, same bus driver, different times) and was next to the bus at the red light (only one between the house and school) and it happened I was right next to her window...

All I saw was a full head of blonde curls with her head down and the saddest look on her face! I mean really!! It broke my heart! So between the kids being bullied on the Intermediate School bus and now my daughter crying because the bus driver yelled at her I had had it! So I did what any helicopter mom would o in this situation...

I called the bus department to complain!! I was AMAZED! I was the first person to complain to them about this route! She was in shock and upset and promised to look into it so we will see what happens...

My husband wants me to drive the kids and pick them up everyday but honestly I have issues with that:

1. The bullies win and are left to bully the other kids (including my son's buddy)
2. That takes time and money from my day (extra gas and with the prices the way they are its a lot right now!! but that is the least of the reasons)
3. The kids need to learn how to handle situations like this.

Not everyone will get a long all the time and I feel the kids need to learn how to handle these situations. I feel in this situation it is the bus driver's fault for letting this take place!!

Bullying is big in the news (FINALLY) and people are speaking out! I feel as a school employee (which bus drivers are) they are responsible for keeping the kids safe. Not only safe on the road but safe from being hit, made fun of, or alienated!!!

So what are your opinions and what would you have done...

I would love a nice conversation on here but please...

No bullying!