Owner: Mega Family Living URL:megafamilyliving2.blogspot.com Join Date: Thu, 04 Jan 2007 19:24:19 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: Everyday life in a very large family of 34 biological and adopted children. We are a multicultural family whose children have joined us from around the world. Just to make life more interesting we also home educate. Drop by and say hello. I love to hear f Site statistics:Click here
He Made My Day 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Tonight I found this homemade card sitting on my night table when I was going to bed. It was from Max.Dear Mom and Dad,"thank you mom and dad for adopting me and thank you for all the Christmas presents.thank you for all of these things. Thank you for adopting everyone here. " I Love You , MaxMax came to the USA at age 6 from Russia. He has Osteogenesis Imperfecta and has only been in our family for one year. He is 10 now. It's little things like finding this special card from him that bring me joy and happiness.
Brrrrr.... 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Another really cold day here today. What is up with this weather ? All my little tomato seedlings in the little hobby greenhouse were looking cold too and since this year we are trying out new tomatoes from around the world such as Ethiopian , Russian and Germany I hate to even think of loosing them so we came up the idea of setting the hotplate out there with a pot of water on medium heat in an attempt to keep them warm overnight. The wind blowing off the lake is making it much colder than it actually is. Catherine and Tommys' first adoptive family came to pick them up yesterday and take them out for the day. They had a really good time. Timmy, Scooter and Asia were a little at a lost for what to do with themselves. The five of them are usually always together playing. We have a big meeting tomorrow with the residential center Ebony is in. She was not allowed visits for the first 30 days so we only learned on Friday that in the one month she has been there she has lost 35 pound
Playing in the Dirt 1970-01-01 00:59:59 With a break in the weather; which around here lately means it got above 50 , I headed outside to play in the dirt. I was surprised to see that by placing the hotplate with a pot of simmering water in the greenhouse it raised the temperature just enough to help all my seeds sprout. I was greeted by pot after pot of tiny seedlings. Usually I'm lucky if I get a 60% germination but with this new trick I got 100% so I guess this year we double the garden space as I now have over 100 tomato plants of 16 different varieties , 6 varieties of lettuce , radishes , 3 varieties of carrots , 3 varieties of hot peppers and 3 varieties of sweet peppers. Since I'm still not even done sowing seeds I'm figuring that in the end I'll have over 500 plants to put in the ground. Now that should keep me happy and busy during the long hot days of summer. The kids got so excited over dissecting the owl pellets that they want more to do in this field of study so they have been leafing through the s
Yes I Can 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Scooter feeling a little left out when all the other littles put on rollerblades and rollerskates and took off on the lakefront decided he would give it a try. He came back with Tommys skates on his hands and gave it a try. After telling him he couldn't skate he looked at me and said , Yes , I can ! He is certainly one amazing young boy.
Matthew 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Matthew proving he has finally gained the trust of the birds. Read more:Matthew
Tiffany 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Tiffany finally got her wish to not only have shorter hair but to also donate what she had cut off to Locks Of Love an organization that turns it into wigs for children who lost their hair to chemo treatments or alopecia. She got the idea after seeing Locks of Love on a TV talk show and wanted her baby brother Scott who has Alopecia to have some hair. Good idea Tiff but , I just can't picture Scott agreeing to a wig on his head at 3 years old. He'd probably just run around the house with it in his hand or throw it at people. Read more:Tiffany
Weekend Catch 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Asia , Max and Catherine showing off the weekend catch. Get a load of Catherine actually touching the fish by herself this time. A few weeks ago she wouldn't even touch a fish. She was happy just holding onto the pole and reeling one in but touching one....no way ! ====================================== Read more:Weekend
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Science 1970-01-01 00:59:59 The kids didn't have to look around too hard for ideas on where to find germs/bacteria to incubate in their petri dishes. Now they are grossed out by what they are growing. This could be good...I may not have to run around so much saying wash your hands....wash your hands....wash your hands. Read more:Science
More Tough Love 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Three teens have really outdone themselves this time. One would think they would learn from their past mistakes but they never do. Instead they just keep making their lives more and more miserable. Two detectives spent today entering items into evidence and speaking with the boys only to walk away shaking their heads and letting us know those boys need attitude adjustments. No kidding , you think so ? Two are trying to convince the cops that all of their problems are because they are black. Never mind that they commited a crime or several crimes and now its time to pay the piper. Never mind that you just told the nice officer that nobody is going to be the boss of him. All three did just as bad yesterday dealing with a female police officer. I mean really how dare they send a mere female to question them. Oh boy , they have really cooked their goose this time. Tonight we sat them down and still got no where with them. We can talk til we are blue in the face about being responsibl Read more:Tough
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Glo Germ Project 1970-01-01 00:59:59 The littles had a great time using this neat little product along with a black light to learn about germs and how they are spread. The best part to them was turning off all the lights in the evening and shining the black light around to find all the simulated germ handprints and smudges that they had transferred all day long after putting the lotion on. The part they didn't like was of course having to wash all the handprints off the walls and furniture. Read more:Project
Hoodlums and Criminals 1970-01-01 00:59:59 My problem teens are still feeling rather smug today. They are still under the assumption that they are going to get off on everything because they are underage. they seem to think that because they admitted to stealing from stores in town and underage drinking it will keep them out of court. Not very bright are they ? Faulty thinking skills are still causing the dumb as a bag of rocks mentality. Now they are furious with Bob and I for turning them in. Were they expecting that we would sit back and allow stolen merchandise in our home and turn a blind eye ? We have always told all of our kids that if they are in the right we will always go to bat for them but if they are wrong then we will help to nail them to the wall. We are not raising hoodlums and criminals here. In all our years of parenting every child has turned out as adults to be law abiding citizens who are contributing to society but these last three teens have this air of entitlement to them with attitudes that the Read more:Criminals
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Valentines Day 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Kids had a great day today. All the girls received a yellow rose from Dad and a small box of chocolates from Mom. Between all the bags of valentines candy we went through here today and the party at youth group tonight some here are still on a sugar rush. Read more:Valentines
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Brrrrr....another cold one 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Gearing up for another cold night here. We are under freeze warning so I had to run out to the greenhouse and set up the hot plate with a big pot of water to simmer for the night. This weather stuff is getting ridiculous. Warm days then sudden drops over night , then several cold days followed by warm weather again. Please.....I just want to play in the gardens.Max had his pre-physical for his rodding surgery on his left leg and is set to go this week. That means 8 more weeks in a cast. Four weeks in the wheelchair and then four weeks in a walking cast. At least he should be totally healed by the time the very warm weather hits although, he needs to have both arms rodded next. My three wayward teens are beginning to realize what a mess they have made of their lives. It may take up to a year before they learn the final outcome of their case. They are not going to take to being punished down the road in fact they want it done and over with now. Sorry sons , but I don't have
Symphony on the Beach 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Another rather cold day here again. If it was a whole lot more warmer we probably would have taken a lot more of the kids to the symphony but it was just too cold. I stayed home in the warmth while Bob bundled up a few of the younger ones to go to the symphony on the beach. They were not impressed with it at all. Guess they were a tad bit too young to appreciate good music. It was even way too cold to fish so my brother set up the poles in the sand and ran home. He keeps checking the lines and when something is on it he calls the kids to come reel it in. Every now and then we keep a few fish to clean and eat but mostly they catch and release. We may try something new this year and instead of just catching and releasing them we will attempt tagging them so we can identify any fish they have caught before. We may write it into our science program and log the fish as to where it was caught , where it was released and just where they ended up catching it again. It may prove to be ra Read more:Symphony
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A Really Big One 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Frank had to real this grandpa fish in. It was just too big for Catherine or Timmy. We gave him a reprieve and released him til another day.
More Big Ones 1970-01-01 00:59:59 These guys just never tire of fishing. Though that one Asia has is beginning to look rather familiar.
Speed Stack 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Kids got this great game for Christmas but we never did get a chance to watch the video to learn how to use them. Today they did watch it and have been practicing the moves all day. I really should hide this away for rainy day fun. Read more:Speed
, Stack
Police Explorers and Opportunities 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Johnny in uniform heading off to his police explorers meeting. I really like this program and wish I can get some of my other teens interested in joining but sadly the others are more interested in being on the opposite side of the law. I have offered Matthew voice lessons since he has a beautiful voice but he took it as an insult. I offered Joseph keyboard lessons at our local music center in town but he too balked at the idea. So , tell me...why did he want a keyboard for his birthday ? Sometimes these kids make no sense but all I can do is keep putting opportunities out there for them whether or not they grasp hold of them is their business. We have a great school of the arts that I thought both boys would be interested in as they want to be "actors"....did I laugh, no. I offered them an opportunity to attend the school of the arts but nah...they have this idea in their heads that opportunity is going to discover them and come knocking on their door. Dreamers. Real fantasy land Read more:Police
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It's a Dogs Life 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Is this what they mean by "it's a dogs life" ? I sure wish I could sleep like this but sometimes life gets in the way here and the only time I get to think is when I lay down to go to sleep. My wayward teens are now banned from entering four stores in town complete with their photos posted behind counters and with security. Guess that means there is no way they'd ever get hired in any of those stores. How embarrassing but it's more embarrassing to us then it is to them since they plain don't care. Their mentality is still that "one is not a black man until they have served time behind bars." Guess they are getting closer and closer to their wish. Where they have picked up this mentality I have no idea and it seems to be such a deeply held belief in their minds that even the adult black community who have tried talking to them walk away shaking their head and telling them that they are a disgrace to the black community. Ouch ! Did that bother them ? Nope not at all. Breaks m Read more:Dogs Life
Communication Breakdown ? 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Today was Ash Wednesday and this evening some of the kids attended youth group. After returning home with the customary ashes on their foreheads we somehow ended up in a discussion with Lyosha about this custom that he just totally doesn't get. I know he has A Christian background going back to Russia but his first adoptive family he tells us were Buddhist.Bob somehow got to talking about Palm Sunday and palm fronds and that's where the language breakdown went downhill.....Bob : You mean you never saw crosses made of palm fronds ?Lyosha : Tampons ? They make crosses out of tampons ? Who would wear that ?Phew......I had to leave the room. I was cracking up too much to continue a religious discussion.
Busy Weekend 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Yesterday Max had his surgery on his leg. All went well but he is still in a lot of pain and they haven't found the right combination of medications to relieve it. He is such a brave little boy.Last night Michael took most of the littles to a see a movie on the lake front. Once a month they show a movie for children. Last night the movie was "Open Season." All of them had a great time but two had to be taken home before the movie even started do to behavior. Meltdowns in public are not tolerated at all and dealt with swiftly.The photo above shows one end of our back yard before we started working on it. We have 3/4 of an acre fenced in and have done nothing with it since we bought the property and combined it with the rest of our land. Yesterday morning we started putting in multiple tropical garden beds. The kids helped me and my brother do all the digging and planting. I taught them the names of the different plants and which loved shade and which needed full sun. They actu Read more:Weekend
There's a Man Where ???? 1970-01-01 00:59:59 " Theres a man in a sleeping bag under the statue of Liberty in the yard !"....the kids came screaming into the house the house this morning. Bob and I looked at them a little dumbfounded for a second or two.....There's a man where ??Sure enough there really was an old man sleeping in our front yard. Usually every winter we have a problem with homeless people sleeping on the lake front. The majority of them are never from around here but migrate from the steets of New York to spend the winter here in the south. This gentlemens story was way different though. He looked about 70 years old but we learned he is actually 50. He could walk slowly with much deliberation with the help of a cane. We would soon learn his walking problems were due to shrapnel in his legs from war. Yes , he was a veteran but his story was much more profound than a homeless war veteran. This mans' name was Buck and he lived with family until they up and sold their house and kicked him to the streets where h
What If ? 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Sometimes I wonder what kids would eat if peanut butter and jelly wasn't invented ? During the peanut butter recall about a week and a half ago I thought Timmy was just about going to die without access to his beloved peanut butter. He just could not grasp the reason we would not buy peanut butter.
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