The Megows: A-Z

A - Awesomest Kids on the Planet

It's no secret that I think my kids are legit the coolest humans on the planet, but I wanted to talk about this more in depth. It's hard to put into words how awesome they are because sometimes they literally leave me speechless. hahahaha. For example, tonight after dinner I walked into the kitchen to find Titus and Olive sitting on the floor, randomly wearing swimsuits and googles, and both chugging ice water out of sand bucket pails. Meanwhile, Neela was laying on the couch with her bearded dragon on her chest watching How to Train Your Dragon because "she needs to learn more about her own kind". Finally, Stevie was sitting in her room drawing little pictures to give our friends at school and singing "Strawberry Fields Forever" quietly to herself.

They are just all so unique and full of life. I love how they randomly pair up sometimes and at other instances, they sit by themselves to dive into something that interests them. They are the most kind, helpful, hilarious, cheerful, and loving humans that I have ever met. I freaking love those four little people :)

B - Birthdays

With four kids, there's always a birthday around the corner. And that's pretty ok with me. We love us some birthdays. From the planning to the actual event, there's just so much to enjoy. I love putting in time to make them feel special. As my kids get older, they are all chipping it in help with each others' parties as well. It melts my heart to see them get genuinely excited about making their siblings feel special. It's hard to do big things for just one kid with the way our family is setup, but birthdays are the perfect opportunity for that. I've written some posts about all of our past birthday parties. You can read about them here! 

C - Cats

 

Because... Duh. Cats

D -Dirty kids

I love when my kids come in muddy and their clothes are just so filthy from exploring, playing, and experimenting. This is a good thing since they seem to stay coated in an exoskeleton of dirt.

E - Excitable

Seth: "Hey guys. Do you want me to hook up the sprinkler and fill up th..."
Kids *before I can finish*: "AAAAHHHH  YYEESSS!!" (as they sprint to the backyard stripping off their clothes)

F - Frog Hunts

Maybe we've just got frog huntin' on our brains because the season to catch our favorite amphibians is approaching fast. If you visit our house on a steaming hot South GA summer night, there's a high likely hood that you'll catch us in the ditch.

"Prepping for a hunt"

"One of our frogs.

Dont worry we catch and release :) "

G - Good Lookin'

Not trying to brag but Geez Louise do I have some good looking youngins.

H - How did you make someone smile today?

This one might be my favorite. For a few years now, we go around the dinner table and we each have to say "How did you make someone smile today?" It's just one of those little things I love about my family so much.


I - It's gonna be a great day

Our family song. I made it up one morning a few years ago. It's now just become a normal part of our mornings :)

J - Jokes

All of us love to tell a good joke. Olive will tell you an endless amount of nonsense Knock Knock Joke, while Stevie might go with her staple "Why can't you get Elsa a balloon?" - "Because she will let it go." :D I prefer to embrace my role as a father by annoying everyone around me with classic dad jokes.

K - Kids

I love kids. They are so much cooler than adults. We have sleepovers and friends over quite frequently. In my opinion, once you are quadruple outnumbered, who's even counting anymore :)

L - Lunch trays

School lunch trays are served about every night at dinner. It helps me remember to fill each slot with healthy foods. Plus, aren't they just so fun! :D

M - Mr Rogers

Duh. M would be Mr. Rogers. If you follow my instagram or facebook, I'm constantly sharing Mr. Rogers quotes. He's my personal hero. I simply loved his view on life. I've even wrote a post specifically about why I love him so much.

N - Nature

Yay for outside, bugs, hiking, rainstorms, camping, critters, mud, climbing trees, exploring, flowers, clouds, and adventures!!

O - Odor

I'm not gonna lie. My kids can do activities and have fun that produce smells that are undescribable. Just imagine "little kid after playing outside for a few hours" mixed with farts and hummus breathe. I love these kids, but wow. Two words: Bath Time ;)

P - Parks

My crew are park connoisseurs. We know about every park within 20 miles. I mean why wouldn't we? It's free fun, and I hate the idea of getting into a rut of activities... For instance going to the same park over and over and over and doing the same things time and time again. I like that my kids love to switch it up. However, they each have their own favorites.

Q - Quiet Time

Wait... What's quiet time?

R - Rambunctious

This Megow characteristic is why I never get the "Quiet Time" previously mentioned... :)

Hahaha. Side note: My kids love Frozen Yogurt.

S - Single parenting

Yup. Just me and my kiddos. They are why I smile. They are my drive to succeed. They are the reason I'm happy to lose sleep. They are the joy in my heart.

T - Talented

Whether it's art, magic tricks, talking to "aminals", or fashion. Each of them shines in their own special talents.

My gorgeous little artist lost in thought...  

U - Untidy

Megows are a naturally untidy people. My office desk is a wreck and our house is usually not much better. HOWEVER!! Me and the kids have been trying ultra hard lately to turn this around!! I must say I'm pretty proud of the progress we have made. :)

The Patented Megow Mopping Method

V - VSU 

My job... Valdosta State University. My co-workers have pretty much adopted my kids as part of our team up there. I can't say it enough how grateful I am for my job, bosses, and co-workers.

My kids are PROFESSIONALS at sitting quietly and ultra well behaved at college events :)

W - Waffles

Because Waffles is the most important word to start with "w"

X - X marks the spot

Treasure Hunts! Scavenger Hunts! Clue Hunts! Challenge Hunts! My kids love looking for treasure, and I love to plan them out! :)

Y - Yes!!

I hear it all the time. "People need to learn to say No". While that can be good advice, I try to instill the desire to say "Yes!". When people are in need, just help! If you have a neat idea on how to bless someone, just do it! We stay pretty busy, but I pray that when my kids get older they will always remember their childhood was spent serving others.

Z - Zelda 

Each of my kids have special time with dad at various nights of the week. We call this alone time. It's so hard to get these one on one moments. The kids and I thoroughly enjoy it. And it all started with Stevie's love of Zelda. We started carving out time for us to sit alone and play her favorite game of all time. Zelda. I love how those few minutes playing that game (I don't really play video games btw) turned into such a rich tradition for our family.

My princess Zelda :)

Well that's the Megows A-Z. Hope you enjoyed and have a great day!

Be Blessed and Be a Blessing,

Seth 

Late Summer Nuggets

-We went to the beach. PS. I peed in the ocean every day. Ahhhhhh. Refreshing :)

  

We caught like a million hermit crabs, a starfish, blue crabs, and saw a sting ray.

 -Neela and Titus both had mini birthday parties at the beach condo

Two separate parties and reused decorations ;)

 - Titus learned to swim with no floaties. He’s ultra proud of this. So am I :)

 -Olive’s current favorite toy is a calculator. She’s been playing with this thing almost daily for two months.

- I learned the only thing worse than having diarrhea in July in a portapotty is having diarrhea in a portapotty in July in a portapotty with no toilet paper.

-Stevie’s big teeth grew in. She’s growing up so fast.

-The following conversation occurred on a ride home from work/daycare

Titus: I don’t want to grow up. I want to be a kid forever

Seth: Why buddy?

Titus: When you are grown up, you are old and you are about to die.

Seth: (laughing) Do you think I’m old?

Stevie: Yes. You are 32. That means you are an old man.

Seth: (still laughing) Stevie. I’m only 31.

Stevie: Oh Sorry. You are almost old.

Neela: Dad, can we have my birthday party before you turn 32?.... Just in case…

- We have a new(ish) cat. Neela rescued her from the woods a month or two ago at my parents’ house in Alabama. The kids have taken great care of her. Actually, they have already thrown her two parties. One of them was a small affair with presents and snacks, however, the other one they made invitations and passed them out door to door in the neighborhood. Stevie made up games and activities. Neela and Titus made cat masks for all of the party attendees. They actually had like 7-8 kids come over for the party. It was super cute.

-Titus is dead set on getting a pair of Hearing Aids for his birthday. I tried to explain that he has perfect hearing and does not need them, but this only increases his desire to have them. He believes they will give him a “hearing superpower”. Also, he can “turn them off when he doesn’t want to hear his sisters”. He’s dead serious. He wants hearing aids and a snow cone maker. Haha

- Sometimes my kids come to work with me. They have their little space they hang out in that is the room right next to mine. For the most part, they are extremely self-sufficient. However, occasionally there is a disagreement or something. So I said up a little chat window so we can talk without me having to walk away from my desk if I’m on the phone or something. It’s supposed to be for emergencies, this is our chat from the last time they were at work.

I still have no clue where they got cheese from at work.

-Speaking of work, the kids found some old poster boards that I was about to throw away & made a sweet fort out of some duct tape I had in my office. They even colored it and gave it a sunroof 

-Stevie still makes me lay with her and sing Goodnight God before bed. Every night. :)

- Olive is convinced that she has a baby in her belly. I told her that you have to be married and grown up before you can have a baby. Her response “I ate a flower. Now I’m growing a baby. I’m naming her Flower.” Fun Fact: Apparently, her baby’s favorite song is “I Love Rock and Roll” by Joan Jett. She insists that I play it constantly J

- Titus is really into the color baby blue lately. Most of his outfits resemble something like this.

- I surprised Stevie with a new remote so we can play Zelda together again. This is her favorite time together. She always picks this activity for her “alone time with Dad”. Normally, we sit together and I play while she keeps a journal full of notes and drawings about the game. It’s one of my favorite things in the entire world.

- We are having our first campout for Neela’s real birthday party.  We are making smores, frog hunting, tell stories, and sleeping in our tent in our back yard. I’m super excited because for her birthday, she wants a “kid frog hunting” kit. Last year, she wanted an animal finder kit. So for this year’s kit, I’m getting Neela her own net, some nice boots, and a head mounted flashlight.

She's getting so good at catching the big ones!

- My dad bod kinda snuck up on me. They are trendy now right? ;)

- We had Christmas in July with some friends.

 - Titus figured out to snap. Stevie learned how to make realistic fart noises.

- I found my brother Graham’s twin in Iowa.

Graham is on the left.

 - I’ve adopted a new method of mopping my floor.

Be Blessed and Be a Blessing,

Seth

Nature Treasure Hunt

Each weekend, I try to do something fun and creative with the kiddos. We've done scavenger hunts, treasure hunts, clue hunts, bug hunts, frog hunts, etc. Do you see a pattern ;) ? They love the idea of finding things. The weather was supposed to be so pretty, so I wanted to do something outside. But wanted to do something we'd never done before. I ran across this and thought it would be a fun idea so I planned it out.

However one thing about me is I go full in on pretty much everything I think is fun or interesting. Whether it be birthday party planning, some kids' crafts, or costumes, I just feel the need to go all out. One time I was making a costume and I needed some type of color fabric, so I just cut up and used my favorite shirt since it was the color I was looking for. Hahaha. It's not always the best trait. So I was reading the little sheet I found online and I was kind of driving me crazy how plain and pixelated it looked. So I stayed up the night before redoing the sheet in Photoshop. Here's the one we used (full resolution) in case anyone wants to print and use it for yourself.

Feel free to share it as well. I like when people are outside :)

Also, I know this is a scavenger hunt not a treasure hunt. 

I'm normally very particular about the names of activities, but I thought this just sounded funner.

So I didn't tell my kids what we were doing. I just told them we had a surprise activity we would be doing Saturday. Clearly Olive was too excited because she woke up first thing that morning. 

In case you didn't know, 

Minnie Mouse stickers are the best type of alarm clock

Also, that morning I was a message from a friend that they wanted to treat my kids to lunch. This isn't the first time they've blessed us. They would probably kill me for mentioning them publicly but wanted to say thank you to Michael and Kori Smith. 

So we went to Cici's Pizza for lunch before we went out on the hunt. The kids still didn't know, so the whole meal, they were guessing what the activity was going to be. I jotted some of my favorite guesses:

Tie a rope to the fan and fly around the living room?

Meet the president?

Eat so much ice cream I throw up?

Buy a Daisy Duck face?

Since we live in the city, my friend said we could come out to their land and do it out there. When we got there, we got a surprise and got to have a friend come with us. Neela of course so pumped that we were doing something with "Nature" in the title.  So we all looked over the list and headed off on the hunt. 

The crew 

Something fuzzy

A bug chewed leaf

Exploring a deer stand

 

Pinecone

And... his shirt comes off (just like his daddy)

 

Small red leaf

Big green leaf

A puddle of water

Something smooth 

Also, don't love when kids have dirty little hands :)

An old toilet (not on the list :D )

Stick shaped like a letter

Big and small acorns

Plant with thorns

Something slimy

Creepy Crawly (she named the worm Sparkles)

Giant tree

  

Took a break to play at the river

 

Three colors of dirt

A plant with thorns

Plant with berries

Circle shaped rock

 

 

"Daddy, wanna meet Hampton?"

We found a cocoon.

Complete!

It was really such a fun little day. Plus, the kids were pretty worn out and super dirty by the end of it all. That's kind of how I gauge the success of a Saturday activity. :)

Be Blessed,

Seth