Monday, January 25, 2016

The Kids Answer Questions About our Family

So I saw these questions going around Facebook. The thing was you ask your kids these questions and write down exactly what they say. So I did that tonight during dinner. The kids had a blast.  I thought I would cheat and make a blog post about them. Work Smarter not Harder, right? I also added a few questions as well. Enjoy!


What does dad always say?
Stevie- It’s gonna be a great day today
Neela- Clean your room
Titus- How did you make someone smile today?
Olive- Where’s my Mickey Mouse Toys

What makes you (the kids) happy?
Stevie- I like when people make me happy, because then I make them happy. Then the world is a special place
Neela- Spending time with the Madison (the dog)
Titus- Getting Hershey’s Chocolate
Olive- Fighting a lion.

What makes you (the kids) sad?
Stevie- When my friends don’t want to play with me.
Neela- Nothing.
Titus- Someone biting me.
Olive- (monkey noises)

What makes dad happy?
Stevie-Spending time with us
Neela- Laying with the dog
Titus- Loving people
Olive- Pooping out rainbows

What makes dad sad?
Stevie-Sitting on the toilet.
Neela- People dying.
Titus- People cutting off their skin.
Olive- (lion noises)

How does dad make you laugh?
Stevie-Telling funny stories about goats
Neela- You don’t… No wait… yes you do, when you act like an old lady.
Titus- When you tickle me
Olive- “Suh Suh Suh Suh Suh Suh Suh Piffer”

What was dad like as a child?
Stevie-Pooping in a bucket with diarrhea
Neela- He liked exploring. Wait, where their animals then?
Titus- Slumber Parties with his friends
Olive- Fight.

How old is dad?
Stevie-Zero. Just kidding 31. 31 is right. Isn’t that hilarious?
Neela- 13
Titus- 15
Olive- 6 and 5

How tall is dad?
Stevie-A giant
Neela- 31
Titus- The biggest ever
Olive- “holds up 5 fingers and pokes out her stomach”

What is dad’s favorite thing to do?
Stevie-Playing with his turkey
Neela- Working and loving us
Titus- Laying with people he likes
Olive- Rub my back.

What does dad do at work?
Stevie-Take pictures of belly buttons
Neela- Computers and help people
Titus- Talking to people and go to meetings
Olive- Watch movies

What is dad’s favorite food?
Stevie-Pepperoni and Olive Oil Pizza
Neela- Black Licorice
Titus- Turkey
Olive- Dead Daisy Duck

What’s your favorite thing to do with dad?
Stevie- Play with Bouncy Balls and show him my big poops
Neela- Watching Teen Titans Go together
Titus- Drink Kool-Aid and high five
Olive- Play cheerleaders

What is your favorite part about being in the Megow family?
Stevie-Drawing Pictures. Plus, our family is smart. I like being smart.
Neela- Relaxing and helping people
Titus- Loving my mom and dad
Olive- Treasure Hunts


 Yes. I'm aware Stevie said that dad likes to play with his turkey. We were eating turkey for dinner and I was poking at it with my fork. Hahahaha. I laughed out loud when she said it. 

Be Blessed,
Seth


Saturday, January 23, 2016

Meet the Non-Human Megows

The Megow kids love animals. They have a plan to start hosting “animal birthday parties” at our house. Read more about that here. We have a few little critters in our house, so I wanted to talk about them and show them off.

Tiger Stripes the tarantula:

She is a Mexican Red Knee and very docile. Someone was looking to find him a new home, when I mentioned it to the kids, they pretty much freaked out with excitement. It was love at first sight! They enjoy taking her out from time to time and letting her walk around the living room. Now before we started handling her, we watched and read a lot of movies and literature about having a pet tarantula. We learned when to see if she didn’t want to be bothered and how to pick her up. Mostly though, she stays in her tank and enjoys a steady diet of live crickets. Side note: Neela loves to pick her up and show her to older boys and watch them get scared. She’s so hilarious.


She's fearless :) 

Jingle Bells the Bearded Dragon:

Jingle Bells was Neela’s Christmas present from my parents. Actually, he was a replacement bearded dragon named Alabama. (He was Neela’s best little friend. He passed a few months ago and she was so upset L. It was really hard on her, but she handled it well. I wrote a post about Alabama passing, read about it here) Anyways, my parents gave Neela money to go buy another. She loves him and likes to let him walk around the living room (not at the same time as Tiger Stripes). We have a little harness and leash for a bearded dragon that we used with Alabama. The kids can’t wait until he is full size and can go for walks. He loves to eat kale and live crickets/meal-worms. Side note: during the summer it’s surprisingly easy to catch your own crickets, but during the winter we usually just buy them from our local pet store.


The Meal Worms

Catching Crickets

Tina the Turtle:

We were also given Tina. She is a Red Slider Turtle and might be my favorite pet. She loves to walk around outside in the grass; however during the winter its just too cold, so you guessed it. They love to let her walk around the living room. I think she’s my favorite because of her curiosity. Tina is constantly observing things from inside her tank. She will follow you with her eyes as you walk back and forth. She probably requires the most work and upkeep. To be honest, I will a little worried about the kids being about to do the upkeep and remembering to feed her twice a day. Not saying she would be neglected at all. I just figured it would be more work on my part. But the way they remember to care for her as been a pleasant surprise. Each morning before school, they count out 6 little turtle pellets and carefully drop them in one at a time and do the same thing before we eat dinner. They also are good about keeping her tank cleaning on a proper schedule. She has two little feeder fish in her tank; however, Tina has kind of bonded with them and they just all kind of swim around together.


I like to assume that Tina's "spirit human" is Tina from Bob's Burgers.
It just feels right. hahaha

Which brings me to our final pet…

This morning started off like every Saturday morning would. I found Olive on the couch eating a handful of Cookie Crisp cereal. That would be cute except for one thing. We haven’t had Cookie Crisp cereal in our house for months. Hahaha. I promise my kids find the most random snacks ever in our house. I have no idea where they find this stuff. Once Stevie asked me if she could have a snack, I said sure. A few minutes later I walked into the kitchen to find her eating ice cream. I didn’t have any ice cream. Still to this day, I have no idea where it came from. After I gave Olive some real breakfast to eat, I walked to the back room to find this note taped to Titus’s door and laughter coming from inside.
 I peeked into find Titus and Stevie hiding under a clean pile of laundry making fart noises. 
Nothing out of the ordinary there.

However, Neela remembered what made this a “special” Saturday. We was completely dressed and waiting by the door. Today was the day, we were going to adopt a dog. Last night, the kids made a list of all of the things our family was looking for in a rescue dog. They also drew some pictures of what they would like for it to look like. We took that paper with us to the Humane Society adoption event at our local Petsmart.

-Dog that likes kids
-Potty trained
-Not mean
-Not dig
-Playful
-Likes animals
-Cuddle
-Likes the park
-Not too fast

So after Neela’s strong encouragement, we all got dressed and headed out to look for our new family addition. Right when we walked in, they spotted a cute little dog and fell in love. I suggested we keep walking around and see all of the dogs they were available for adoption. 

SO SO EXCITED!!!
Looking at some puppies :)



The workers were so friendly and there were a lot of people there adopting. 
It was a great thing to take the kids to.

So we looked around for a little awhile, but after looking they ran back to the crate of the first little one they ran up to and just kind of laid on the cage. Hahahaha. So that’s the pet we adopted today. So for the first time to hit the internet, let me introduce “Madison Angel Megow”. The kids gave her the middle name J They like to call her Maddie.
It's official!

 
She is a two year old terrier mix

I'm a sucker for a terrier. hahaha

The Humane Society worker gave us some of her backstory. She was owned by a family for about two years and then had her first litter of puppies. Her first family gave away all of the puppies and then decided they didn’t want a dog anymore, so they gave her to the shelter. Of course, upon hearing that little story the kids became super attached. She seems to be adjusting quite well to the overabundance of attention and is quite interested in sniffing and watching the other little Megow critters. Don’t worry their tanks are secured and sturdy. J

The kids wanted to give her a bath, so we did that and they had a blast. After her bath, they all ran around outside in our backyard for about an hour until all just retiring to the couch for a Saturday afternoon nap.




If anyone wants to come and meet any of our little critters, let me know and I’m sure the kids would love to take them out and show them to you. J

Be Blessed,
Seth

Thursday, January 21, 2016

The Single in "Single Dad"

So… This is probably the most awkward thing I have ever done in my entire life. Well, actually that honor goes to the time that Neela asked why those two cheetahs were dancing funny on that National Geographic Documentary.

“Uuuhhhh, I don’t know Neela. I think he’s trying to get a flea off of her neck with his tongue.”

Sorry, I gotta go back to the cheetah one more time. That picture reminded me of this scene from Lion King. I didn’t really notice it as a kid, but when I watched it as an adult with my children, I just stared at the screen and looked over at my sweet little innocent girls in horror at what they were viewing.

“Dang Nala, slow your roll kid....Wait, what the heck is this movie rated?!”

So now that I have officially covered my little kids watching cartoon animals about to have sex and real animals actually having sex, let’s segue into the most appropriate topic of all… my love life. HAHAHAHAHA

Apparently, there’s this singles thing on a blog where people can nominate or enter you for other people to look at. My friend Emily (my self-appointed matchmaker) signed me up. She asked me if I wanted to write and talk about myself. I laughed out loud. That would probably sound like this:

“Hi, I’m Seth. I have kids who like to make fart sounds with their apple sauce at dinner. I enjoy saying complete random things to strangers in elevators and public speaking (well, the speaking part would probably turn into impressions and then that would just turn into some song I would make up about a stain on the carpet). Speaking of interesting stains, at work there was a coffee stain in the back stairwell of my building. I named him Brian. Unfortunately after some time, a custodian saw him and wiped him up. Then out of some miracle a new stain appeared. I named this one Francisco. Pet floor stains are like pets. You can’t replace one after it passes, but getting a new one can help with the grieving process. Anyways, I keep Francisco covered up with a leaf to avoid prying eyes looking to remove him from my life. Oh yeah and I am 6’2.”

So yeah, the idea of my promoting myself on any kind of romantic thing would be a disaster. But Emily took it on herself to write something up and post it. I’m not really sharing it for any reason other than say thanks to my friend for thinking enough of me to be concerned with me being a 72 year old bachelor purposely spilling my coffee in the nursing home with my left hand while reading through a list of choices for my new friend out of the baby names book in my right hand.  


Now another reason I wanted to talk about this is because I have quite a few single friends and thought they might like to do the same thing as well. I’m really not the best at explaining things, but pretty much this blog hosts it every year around Valentine’s Day. People just enter their family/friends/themselves (I guess) and apparently like a crazy amount of people look at it. I’m not exactly sure of the rules, but here is the site that it’s all hosted on. Check it out if you want to put a profile up yourself. It all explained pretty simple and seems pretty well organized. 

You’ll see a bunch of pictures of people. Those people each have little write-ups linked to their pictures (like the one Emily did for me). If anything else, it’s fun knowing that we aren’t the only single people in the world, right? I’m sure we’ll all meet someone one day J Don’t worry; have faith! If you doubt that it might not happen, just take a peek at one of the classic romances of our time for true love's inspiration.

1) Boy meets girl by chatting online with hot babes all day


2) True love starts to bloom


3) He learns sometimes you have to wait...

4) The first meeting. Love at first sight.


5) She opens his heart and mind to his true potential


6) Wedded Bliss


Finally, if you are one of the people that got sent here from Emily’s write up about me, Welcome! Me and the blog readers here are pretty cool. You’ll catch on pretty quick to phrases like “Nature Neela”, "Friday Fun Facts" and “Poop”.

Be Blessed

-Seth

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

(Ex)changes

This post isn’t specifically for divorced people; it’s for pretty much anyone who has had a serious relationship end. However, I’m going to give me take on this topic (which is having a divorced ex and kids with that person).

I don’t think anyone would deny the concept of having an Ex is just freaking weird. No matter your current relationship with that person, it’s just a little strange. Not only do they know pretty much everything good about you, but since you’ve broken up, it’s pretty evident that things went south and they’ve pretty seen the worst of you. I think that’s why I wanted to post this. I’ve seen people that have wonderful (as much as possible) relationships with their ex; on the contrast, I’ve seen others that literally terrify me. Hahahaha.

Ok. I'm going to leave to get some coffee....
You guys want some coffee?
Will both of you be alive when I get back?

As an Ex, you pretty much have as much ammo you could ever want to destroy each other. You know the inner workings of each other. You know how each other’s minds work. You know what makes each other tick. However, on the flip side, you know how to calm them down. You know what makes them happy. You have mutual happy memories together. (Again, this is for me mostly and I know every situation is different. I’m talking in general here. If it was a serious domestic abuse case or something serious, please know I’m not referring to those types of situations).   I’m just saying in general, there are good and bad things we can focus on.

There just seems to be two ways of handling things here. Use the bad for hate or use the good for love. Especially, if there are children involved. When I look at my kids, I can kind of gauge how I’m treating Crissy. They need to see their dad treat their mom with love, respect, and honoring her position as their mother. I mean, she’s not my spouse anymore, but she will always be their mom. Seeing my kids loving their mom and keeping that relationship as tight as possible is one of my main goals. I wanted to just kind of share what I do to keep as much peace as possible in that relationship and those interactions. Now, I screw it up from time to time just like anyone would. These are just my tips for myself that I have found produce the healthiest (ex) relationship and mental state for myself.


1) Think about my kids.

That’s pretty much always at the top. As I said earlier, kids should never hear anything negatively slung around about either of their parents. My kids are pretty uniformed about the situation and I tend to always keep it that way. As they grow older and begin to ask questions about what happened between mom and dad, I will probably mostly touch on things I could have done better. If they want to know specifics about things from mom’s view point, I will provide short, brief answers, but encourage them to talk to their mom. I really don’t want my kids to ever hear me talk about their mom. Even if they might not know all the facts, they will know that dad and mom freaking love the crap out of them.  It’s our job as parents to make sure that is clearly evident. Also, how refreshing must it be to be able to share a fun story about mom or dad with the other parent and have it received with equal joy? Kids shouldn’t be scared to talk about their parents.


2) Don’t harp on bad memories or regrets

The kids of course are my number one reason to keep things friendly. However, this tactic is probably my best way of ensuring we look forward. Now, let me just say this. I know some of you might be thinking that you have memories so bad you could never move past them. I get that. I still wake up sometimes from dreams that I’m reliving certain events. There are horrible. But it’s our choice to allow those things to shape and define the relationship we choose to make. Even if there is no relationship or communication at all, I think it’s so healthy to find some kind of peace in your mind about whatever happened.  It’s like that little life lesson.



Whatever you do, make sure right now that you do NOT think of a blue rubber duck.
Don’t think about that little blue rubber duck.

It’s pretty much impossible to do that. Just to shut off thoughts entirely; however, it is possible (for me anyway) to change my pattern of thinking.

Let’s think about a delicious taco.
See how yummy that looks. J

Whenever, I have negative thoughts pop into my head about Crissy, I immediately try to pray and replace those with some positive ones. At first, there was so much negative, it seemed almost impossible to replace bad memories with good ones. I kept at it. I thought about funny stories and little things like that. Granted, I don’t advise doing this if you are still in love with this person. If you haven’t moved on, you might be torturing yourself. Hahahaha. This stuff is just for couples that are clearly not in love any longer.  Also, I don’t try to “love” memories of us as a couple. I try to replace bad things with memories of her being a good mom and a good friend. That really helped me move her in my mind from “my ex who drove me crazy” to “the mom of my kids and one of the best friends I have ever had”.


3) Just accept that sometimes it’s a one way street

Fortunately for me, Crissy and I have found a bit of common ground and some of our friendship back. It’s not like it was and never will be. But it’s nice being able to work together for the kids and for our own emotions. But that was not always the case. There were times I felt I was forgiving and fighting to keep peace by myself. That junk sucks. Seriously, it is the worst.  

It took me a long time to learn that I’m just responsible for myself. As long as I was doing the best I honestly can, I felt peace. If I said something rude or lost my temper, I apologized. If I felt hurt or betrayed, I just forgave her. Some things, I might never receive a specific apology for. That’s totally fine with me, because how the heck I am not for forgive. Everyone has done crap to other people. True forgiveness is refreshing to the forgiver. That won’t erase the scars, but it can erase the bitterness. Ask me how I know.

I remember one day a year or two ago, I was super hurt and upset about something that had happened. I was talking to my friend Nicole and she gave me an analogy that I think about quite often to this day. I was describing a particular incident and how much of a gaping hole I felt from it. She told me this little story about a tree. When it was younger, it got cut up and damaged. At the time, the scars took up a huge part of the little tree; however as the tree kept growing the scars never shrank, but they seemed smaller and smaller compared to the massive and healthy size of the tree. I try not to let things in the past stump my growth. Really personal, spiritual, and emotional growth is one of the best things I’ve found to make those scars seem smaller in my life. That, in turn, results in a better outlook on the relationship with Crissy and a brighter hope for the future as we continue to co-parent our children.


Be blessed and know you're awesome!
Seth  

Thursday, January 14, 2016

Friday Fun Facts 1/15/16



-Neela learned the word inappropriate.
"Dad. Giving us black eyed peas for dinner is inappropriate."

-My favorite item of winter clothing is a jacket. It's about four sizes too small and ripped in 3 places. I call it my "homeless jacket". One time in college I was sleeping on a bench waiting for someone to get out of class. I woke up to find some canned food placed beside me.

I can't find any pictures of the jacket at the moment, 
so here's some old pictures I found in exchange :)

-We are getting a new dog tomorrow named Wendy. Olive insists she is going to marry it.

-Stevie keeps watching the music video to "Eye of the Tiger" on repeat.

-The other day I was at the car wash. After the wash, I was vacuuming out the car. I accidentally sucked up the little bag of kidney stones I was supposed to take back to the urologist to send off for examination. I'm tempted to just give my doctor some dried up boogers in a bag to send off and see what the lab says. 

-Neela has her first loose tooth. She is beyond excited. Her logic is "chinchillas aren't going to pay for themselves."


-We enjoy eating at Chick-fil-a on kids nights. The other night we went and it was mostly just a typical visit. Neela and Titus told me they were going to play "kitties" in the play place. I agreed and continued to eat and talk with the other two. It was really a pretty low key evening until another parent told me that my kids were teaching the other children in the play place how to clean their bodies with their tongue like a cat. 

-Stevie came up with the idea of hosting a "Valentine's Day Farty. It's like a party. But with farts." 

-Speaking of V-Day, Titus said this at dinner... "Valentine's Day is the day that I kiss all the girls in my class."

-The other day Olive walked up to me and handed me a cup of warm liquid. I just stared at her blankly and she responded "I peed in a cup. Like it?"



Be blessed and hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!
Seth


Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Learn about the Megow Kids’ Names

Recently, I was hanging out with some of my favorite people Zach and Emily Parker (http://www.journeyofparenthood.com), and they suggested I do a post about my kids’ names. At church the following Sunday, we talked a little about the names of God and the meaning behind the names. So given both of those things, I figured it would be a great time to talk about their names. I’ll just go chronologically.

Stevie Joy Megow

Stevie- She was named Stevie after her granddad Steve Weldon (Crissy’s dad). He and her mom Karen are simply fantastic people. They are both very sacrificing and humble. Stevie’s gender was kept a surprise, so we didn’t know if we were going to have a “Titus” or “Stevie” until the moment she came out. Fun side note, the day Crissy went into labor I had a mega zit on my face. This thing was pretty much Mount Olympus. She was in labor for a few hours and Stevie got stuck, so it was kind of a waiting game for the birthing process. I knew that since this was the first kid there were going to be a ton of pictures. I don’t remember much about that day, it was crazy. I think I just kind of zoned out and felt like I was in the way since there were about 3 nurses, a midwife, and the doctor all in the room. So during the break between contractions and prepping for the c-section, I snuck off to the bathroom to get rid of this thing. Anyways, I just remember everyone was like “Where the heck is Seth?!” and I peeked out of the bathroom and said “We are both trying to give birth here” and pointed to my pimple. Hahaha. It clearly wasn’t the best time to make a joke. Crissy did great and Stevie was born happy and healthy (and I just left the volcanic eruption to take place later that day). 
So back to Stevie’s name… It was also just kind of symbolic. Crissy was the first born of her siblings and Steve pretty much raised her by himself for the first few years of her life (before he met Karen and they got married). It was just a way of give honor to a man that gave up pretty much all of his teenage years to work hard and raise a little girl by himself.

Joy – All of my girls were named after some aspect of God.

 
Stevie’s first nursery. So thankful for friends who helped do this!
 Autumn Orozco (who did the tree) & Felicia Love (who did the calligraphy)
I loved this room and truly miss this little room.

The reason the name “Joy” was chosen was the honor my Nana “Joye Megow”. I remember her telling me that she wanted to meet one of my babies before she passed. When she told me that, I remember that was the moment her not being with me really set in. I truly loved her and my Papa so much. (I actually talked a little about my papa on the blog, read it here). After my Papa died, me and my Nana became really close. I used to go over there as much as possible and she would just make me laugh so hard. She was also the sweetest person ever, but had a bit of feistiness in her that I loved. Gosh, I have so many stories about my Nana that I might just a post about her someday. However, one of my favorite things about her is she always drank Lemon Lime Gatorade. Sometimes, she would cook this extravagant 3 course fancy dinner and would serve it with a bottle of Gatorade J It’s little things like that, that make me miss her so much. I wanted to carry on her legacy, so hence the name Joy (although it’s spelled different and Joye wasn’t my Nanas given name). Her real name was Gertrude which she apparently hated hahahaha. Ok. I will stop talking about my Nana or I will probably just keep going on and on with funny little tidbits I loved about her. I did share one hilarious story about her and Facebook awhile back (check it out here).

 
Fun Fact: My nana got to meet and get to know all four of my kids J

The name Joy is so well suited for her. My Stevie is such a JOY. She constantly is doing the most kind and generous acts. Plus, I love her sense of humor. I could listen to her tell fart jokes and make up silly songs all freaking day. Everyone that spends time with her will definitely pick that up. (Duh, I think my kids are the coolest). Hahahaha.

Neela Grace
 

Neela – Truthfully, the name Neela just popped in my head one day when I was thinking about my great-grandmother, Leila (pronounced the same as Neela except for the first letter). I called her “Mamaw”. (I don’t have any pictures digitalized :/ )  Anyways, my Mamaw was just so awesome. She was constantly doing something and was so sweet. I used to love spending the night over there, because she would order just me a Pizza Hut “Bigfoot” pizza and laugh as I attempted to eat the whole thing. She also used to live close to us growing up, I remember me and my older brother, Thad, walking through the woods to go to her house. Once we got there, I would climb up in her trees and eat apples and pears. She would always bring me out something to drink. It’s actually one of those childhood feelings that are super heartwarming. I picture that’s what Heaven feels like, but like a million times more intensely better. Also, she gave me my first bible (that I still have)! Considering how much I loved her and how much I loved the name Neela when I thought of it, I was pretty persistent that was going to be her name. As Neela gets older, she actually reminds me so much of the great woman she is named after. They are both busy bodies and ALWAYS outside. I remember my Mamaw being like 87 years old and out there picking weeds. Hahaha. Neela is pretty much always on her hands and needs outside as well, but instead of gardening, she is usually digging for bugs or critters. J

I also love that Neela pretty much cares nothing about what she wears.
She just wants to get out and learn about some nature!

Grace- Hahahaha. When Neela was around two, the common Megow joke was the Neela needed so much Grace, it is was in her name. Not only was she about the clumsiest kid you had ever seen, but she was known to be fairly difficult to manage ;)  However as she has grown, she has really started to exhibit a real grace in her life. Neela is in the one in our house that NEVER holds a grudge. The other kids at times tend to harp on past grievances against their brother or sisters, but Neela hardly ever does. She is just so quick to forgive and truly let go of any anger or mean spirit. Her outlook is so positive and delightful. I love seeing her always wanting to be first to forgive and hug. Really that extends way past just our home life. Neela is constantly walking up to people in public and telling them nice things or giving them hugs. It’s a great reminder that God’s grace for my and everyone’s crap to see this little girl just loving people. I absolutely love it about her :D


Titus Robert

Titus- I remember being about 16 years old living with my parents and thinking “When I have a son, I’m going to name him Titus.” And I did. Hahahaha. Actually, as I got older one of my favorite Bible verses in found in Titus.


Titus someone who I think naturally gets this concept. He knows God loves him so much. Instead of giving and serving others to benefit himself or to look kind to others, he really has grasped the idea of living an unselfish life and pointing the reason to Jesus. Titus seriously is the most giving individual I have ever met. I’ve told this story before, but one time at his birthday party after unwrapping presents, he starting giving his unopened presents to his friends. He loves finding money, just so he can give it away. I honestly think it’s a spiritual concept he can’t understand at his young age. It’s the concept of acknowledging that God is so abundantly merciful and gracious that pretty much all of our good deeds aren’t worth anything to save ourselves. Once we grasp this and accept this, we want to just draw into this Amazing Goodness. Maybe it’s just me, but when I draw close to God, I just want to serve, give, and help. I see my Father give and love, and I want to make him proud by being as close to him as I can be. I believe Titus innately has this sense of humility in him. As a father of a son, it’s pretty much the best thing I can imagine to see in my boy. He makes me so proud and I learn so much about God’s desire to bless us just watching him. He’s my little buddy J

Robert - Besides being named after a one of the early founders of the church, his name Robert is a family name that runs pretty deep in my family. My granddad’s name was “Robert S. Megow”. My dad’s name is “T. Robert Megow”. My name is “Robert S. Megow”. I wanted to keep this going with my son, so I named him “T. Robert Megow”. It’s a great way to acknowledge my lineage and also to honor my dad. My dad is awesome. He’s pretty much great at everything he does and is also so giving and self-sacrificing. My dad is always putting himself last to help people. The more I see Titus more and become more humble, the more I see my dad in him. It makes me really excited to see that. My dad is awesome and my hero.

Titus with his Paw (my dad)
Side note: I really hope Titus names his son “Robert S. Megow”. To me that would just be so neat.


Olive Hope

Olive – Last but not least is my little baby girl Olive. Honestly, by now you’re probably suspecting some amazing story about how Olive’s name was chosen. Well truthfully, after watching the movie “Little Miss Sunshine” and we just fell in love with that name.

If you haven’t seen this movie, watch it. It’s hilarious.
Just a warning, it’s not really appropriate for children at all. Hahahaha.
Congratulations Olive, you’re named after a movie not appropriate for children. :)

Really though, I love the way her name was created. It’s so spontaneous and fun; like “Hey, let’s name our kid that!”  When I think about it, it reminds me not to over think things and to look for God is the little places you wouldn’t think to look. Olive definitely does not overthink. At all. That girl is pretty much spur of the moment. She loves to be spontaneous and do things on a whim. I love that about her. As long as we are going, she usually has a big cheesy grin :) Seriously, all of my other kids like to specifically plan what they are going to do and how they are going to do it. Not Olive, she just goes and plans later. In a 30 minute window, she has seriously done the following: Ride her bike in a Minnie Mouse costume barefoot, took a bubble bath in said costume, played with the tarantula, made up a song on the piano, and ended by eating a can of green peas. She just kind of does what she wants, when she wants to do it. I know she’s younger, but I can already see this little trait in her. She’s definitely her own person and my first and only “Diva”. Hahahaha. I secretly love it…

Hope – I absolutely love that my last child was given the name “Hope”. It’s after my favorite scripture and probably a lot of you guys’ favorite too.


God has a plan to give us HOPE and a future. Olive was a little tiny when stuff started going down in my life. I will never forget the night, I was sleeping alone in the bed and just prayed out loud for God to show me some sort of physical affection. I promise a few minutes later I heard the door open, Olive climbing up next to me in my bed, giving me sweet kiss on the lips, and going back to her room. I know it sounds like I just make that stuff up, but it actually happened exactly like that. Immediately, I thought of that verse. Sometimes, I just love to look at her sweet little bucktoothed face and be reminded that God does have plans for me. They are filled with Hope and a Future :)

Be Blessed,
Seth



Tuesday, January 5, 2016

Megow Goals for 2016

I don’t really do New Year’s Resolutions. To me they just kind of fizzle out, but I do like setting goals for myself and to teach the kids to make and work for goals. So I sat down with the kids and asked what goals they would like to set for themselves. (I typed their responses verbatim). So here’s what each individual Megow is shooting to accomplish this year, plus my goals for the Megows as a family unit.

Seth:
-Start to wear my suspenders and knit ties more frequently
-Buy more suspenders and knit ties
-Eat more raw vegetables
-Start writing my first book
-Accept the fact that I have a patch of back hair
-Speaking of hair, I want to start sculping my chest hair into fun shapes
-Start playing the piano publicly again
-Soup
-Write more hand written letters (in pencil of course)
-Let the kids all come up with the idea for and design my next tattoo
-Promote my blog
-Put money (in random denominations of bills) in various pockets of my clothes
I’m so forgetful that it will be a fun surprise when I get dressed or do laundry
 -Find out why the heck I have so much belly button lint at the end of the day


Stevie:
-Learn to Beatbox with my mouth
-Find daddy someone to marry
-Lose more teeth
-Give people more hugs
-Tell people about Jesus and pray for sick people
-See Mrs. Lewis again
-Learn how to tie my shoes
-Be a Dragon City/Dragon Vale Master
-Read all the books in the library
-Be with my family forever
-See Heaven in my dreams
-Be the best artist and learn to draw animals


Neela:
-I want to learn about a lot about nature, and a lot about God, and a lot about “aminals”, and a lot about plants, and a lot about bugs, and a lot trees, and a lot about heaven.
-Go on a mountain hike
-Give dad’s hair more cat baths
-Learn how to sneak
-Sleep on daddy’s legs
-Live in the wild


Titus:
-Become a spy
-Brush my teeth the most than anyone in the entire world
-Be the most handsome boy
-Find my Power Megazord pieces (He got them for Christmas and has already lost them)
-Teach myself how to make a Mohawk
-Act like a Power Ranger
-Jump the highest in my class
-Touch Heaven on the trampoline
-Give my toys to my friends


Olive:
-Play with Stevie
-Learn the computer
-Eat all the snacks
-Write the letter “m”
-Turn on the TV
-Sing Frozen songs
-Hide under the bed
-Sleep all day
-Wear Minnie Mouse clothes


Megow Family Goals:
-Start a Free Pet Party Service. 
We will have a wide variety of animals and have groups of people over to the house. The kids will take the animals out of the tanks and teach people about them (care, diet, fun facts, etc.). Each pet party recipient will have the chance of look at (and touch if they like) each of the animals.
So far we have a Red Knee Tarantula, a Bearded Dragon, and a Red Earred Slider Turtle. We plan on getting at least 2 more exotic animals (and a dog). Neela says the dog is for little kids and adults that are too scared of the fun animals. 
-See REAL Snow
-Host a giant Karaoke night. The winner will receive the chance to comb Seth’s patch of back hair
-Find the perfect mixture of Kool-Aid flavors.
The current favorite is Tropical Punch/Watermelon
-Use our outside fire pit more
 -Have a “free” yard sale
 -Figure out how my children can go through an entire roll of toilet paper easier than breathing in oxygen
 -Get a new family car
-Be the "Best Family Ever" (Stevie's family goal for 2016)

Be Blessed,
Seth