Sorry about the large gap of time between posts. I know it's been almost 4 years with no update but as most of you know, the world went a a little crazy between Covid, the Presidency and just in general.
Obviously, the world changed drastically after Covid. No more 24 hour Wal-Mart's, Drive thru movie theaters are back in full force and Door Dash along with grocery deliveries are almost essential ways of handling the world these days.
I still collected however, I just couldn't find the time to come here and update everything for everyone else and I apologize for that but I finally found some time, and the energy to write up a post here and update both the collection and check list page.
Long story - short, their father was abused himself as a child but the very person who was also abusing his eldest son, his adoptive mother. When he tried to tell people, she began making up accusations of child abuse and calling child services. It was the 33rd call that finally broke him and attempted suicide by cop.
I know this may come as a shock to many, as most of my posts are trying to remain positive, but we've found the truth, all cards on the table, is the best method to deal with this situation.
Basically what he did was he told the police that he was a child abuser in an attempt to get them to harm him. They did end up cracking his skull open and by a miracle, he survived (a guard bashed his head off the wall) Staples in his head and myself and our children being interrogated, we told the truth, but the detective who wrote up that affidavit was accusing us of lying because, at the time, his eldest son was accusing him of abuse. No one wants to believe a child can lie about those things. It is not common, but it sadly does happen and this is one of those times unfortunately.
Under the threat of having myself or our children gone after by police, he signed a deal so they'd leave his family alone. He said he would do anything to protect us and he basically gave his life.
3 Years later in 2022, after their mother had been gone over a year, my eldest stepson turned 18 and came running to my house. He explained to us that he was told over the years that his father was a bad man and that lying about abuse, would protect his siblings, and this is why he did it, because he thought the lies would protect his siblings. It wasn't until he was older that he realized his father wasn't what the 'adoptive' grandmother was telling him, and that she was the actual abuser. She had abused him too over the years the same as she did his father. She encouraged and used drugs with him, would threaten him, take everything away and gas light him. She'd tell him that if he told anyone that he'd lie, that he'd be going to jail as well, so he was scared into silence. Even the day he was to testify against his father, the District Attorney couldn't get him to come out of the car to go into the courtroom. The DA stated the judge he believed he was afraid of his father. He has since relieved that he was actually afraid of the grandmother. He stated that the entire ride to the court house she was instructing him on what to say. He became very frustrated with her because he was trying to get his own story straight in his head and he felt she was going to confuse him with adding more to this story. He said he had yelled at her "I will say what I'm going to say!" But when he got there, he realized he wasn't going to be able to pull off the story he'd made up and stated to me and other officers and child service agents "I wouldn't go in because I knew I was going to mess up the story and I was afraid, when I did that, I wasn't going to make it home alive. I thought she was going to kill me,"
His father is now in with Project Innocence and is going through the Appeals.
This was extremely traumatizing to all the children, especially my step children. Not only did they have this monster of a grandmother, but their biological mother was also incredibly abusive to them to the point where they have C-PTSD and Reactive Attachment Disorder along with Borderline Personality Disorder. For those who know the severity of those conditions, they are very hard to break. My youngest stepson I had to have committed to a treatment facility that specializes in trauma care because he reacts violently to almost anything. On top of covid and all of this, my hand was broken and my nose when I'd step between him and the other children so I've had surgeries and needed time to heal.
I also am best friends with the aunt of Pauly Likens Jr, who was brutally and sensely murdered this past June. Despite what you may have read in the papers, Pauly was actually a Gay teenager who was very feminine. Most people jumped to calling him a transgender girl but Pauly said he was just gay and liked girl things, not that he identified as a girl. It's sad because he was 14 years old and many people made assumptions about the murder including calling it a hate crime. In truth Dashawn Watkins was nothing more than a pedophile who used the app Grindr to lure little Pauly out to the boat docks to assault and then kill him, so I've been staying close with the family, as they are very good people, and trying to help them through this emotionally, especially my friend and her brother, who was the father of Pauly. I've also attended the murderer's preliminary hearing and directly know all of this to be truth of what I'm sharing, from the DA herself (Acker is not he lead DA in this case despite his statements, it is a woman leading the prosecution).
Through all of these things going on, it inspired my daughter in a way that I am very proud of her, where she wants to do some good an help families out with getting the truth of what happened with their loved ones and get justice - the right way - through the truth and nothing but the truth.
And brings up my next point - getting back to the Barbies from 2021 to 2024 - You may notice that in the updates the Barbies are no longer labeled as "AA" or African America / Auburn or Latino. Mattel has decided label the barbies based on their face designs, which have names.
So the Blonde barbie is now called "Millie"
The African American barbie is called "Desiree or Adria"
The Latino barbie kept the name "Teresa"
The Asian or Brunette was given the name "Crystal"
And finally the Auburn version, which has been the exclusive one released for the last decade it feels, doesn't have a name. She's simply labeled as "New Generation Girl" But that's not to say that she won't eventually have a name as well, I'm sure she will after some time.
But if you go through the updated list, you will notice that that is how they are listed now.
Prices also haven't changed for the majority of them. Now with easy access on Amazon, you can still get the older versions. How long they'll keep them selling I guess depends on what is available. I'm sure one day they'll stop but for now, you can still look for them on Amazon at about the same price they were when they were on the shop years ago :)
I hope this update helps, I apologize if it wasn't as pleasant as my normal updates are, but again, honestly is best.
My business, "Little Home Mades" is still up and running and on top of the Baby Shower items, now we have many custom plaques for families and ornaments as well as everyday fun decor items! Feel free to message me anytime there as well!
Thank you for taking the time to read our update here! Much appreciated to those who keep checking up on us! You inspired us to make this update and keep things rolling!
