•                       CHOMP......CHOMP........CHOMP

     There's a new GATOR in Florida!  Megan decided to attend The UNIVERSITY of FLORIDA!  We are so proud of our little Dragonfly.  She has been a wonderful daughter and we are so happy for her.

     Dorm life is a challenge for her, she doesn't like being away from her family, but she is working on it.  Meg is at Windsor Hall and shares a room with another freshman.  The girls are having fun exploring the campus and making new friends.  Meg found a Presby. church close by that makes her feel at home so we are glad of that. 

     She's home this weekend for Paisley's birthday then it's back to school. I'm going to miss her.

     Today turned a little unexpected.  Ethan ( 11) and Meg (18) had  ENT appointments. Ethan has moderate hearing loss in his left ear, something that wasn't mentioned in his Chinese paperwork, although he told the doctor his hearing has always been like this.  Our options were to fit him for a hearing aid TODAY, or see if surgery could help first.  The problem is with his middle ear and the MD would do exploratory surgery but there are no guarantees it will help.  I chose the surgery route. We can always get a hearing aid, but if there is a chance he won't need one, why not take it?  It's out patient surgery and he will only be out of school a few days.  
     Meg was found to have hearing loss in both ears, but not enough to affect her daily living.  It's from EARBUDS! She is losing the high frequency part.  The DR told her if she can't hear Mom calling her with earbuds on THEY ARE TOO LOUD!  She also has mild hearing loss in her left ear that she had surgery on several years ago.  There is scar tissue and he wants to get a CT scan to make sure nothing else is going on.
     Always something going on here :(
     
     

I'M BAACK!

     Hi to all my friends.  I've missed you all.  I've been busy with life and couldn't find time to blog, but I'm planning on keeping up with our life via Blog updates now.  It's a GOOD way to stay in touch with y'all, AND  to keep a virtual journal of my family's daily experiences. 

     Do you have any idea how long it took me to get into BLOGGER today? LOL About an hour!  I couldn't remember the passwords or email addresses I used, then I kept getting error messages and locked out. I am pathetic when it comes to this laptop.  It was tough getting into my blog and I still don't know how I did it.  It just magically appeared so I started this post. I hope I can get back in tomorrow!!

     So, let's get started, shall we...........

     First up, we have 4 graduating this year!  Megan, Holly, Mary, and Emma.  Holly and Mary aren't sure what they want to do, work ( I WISH someone would get a J.O.B.) college, vo-tech. They just have no idea what they want to be as adults.  Their English is still pretty rough and they are clueless as to how to live life outside our home. It's time to give a gentle nudge out of the nest!  Laying on a bed listening to music all day is getting on my nerves!!!  Time to move on to the next chapter of your life girls!  Emma is planning to go to Seminole State in the fall then transfer to UCF and become a teacher. GO EMMA!  Meg, on the other hand is off to FLAGLER College in August.  She was accepted to Flagler, Stetson, UF, and Fl. Gulf Coast. She chose FLAGLER, her dream school.  She fell in love with Flagler when we were in St. Augustine on vacation a few years ago.  Her goal is to be a business attorney. Yes, Stetson is a law school, but at $50,000 a year, even with the $24,000 scholarship they awarded her, it was just out of the question.

     OK, this was a good start, right?  Leave a comment please, I'd like to know SOMEONE is out there :)

     See you tomorrow.....

     

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

 MICHELLE

XOXO

MOM & DAD

It's a wonderful day....peace and quiet....all 14 returned to school Monday.  6 girls in HS and 3 are SENIORS!, 3 in middle school, and 5 in elementary, that would be four 3rd graders and a 2nd grader. 
The countdown is on for graduation and College! I can't wait. It's going to be a busy and exciting year.

GOOD MORNING
     A friend suggested I update my BLOG. I'm going to try. It's been so long I'm not sure I remember how to do it.  Things have changed on blogger and my trusty computer crashed and I am still on a laptop without my photos and familiar things. 
     First things first. We have 14 children at home now.
"19 Kids and NOT Counting" 
     Hailey was our newest during my last post and she is doing fantastic.  She is a beautiful, sweet 16 yr old looking forward to 10th grade. Her English is coming along and she is very outgoing. She has lots of friends and enjoys life to the fullest. 
     July 2013 we added quiet Jennifer, cl/cp, originally from China.  Jennifer is 12 now and we have been playing catch-up with her surgeries.  December she had her bone graft surgery, along with our son Ryan who is 11 and going to MIDDLE SCHOOL this year!!! He grew up so fast, I still remember the day we got him, he was such a little peanut!  Jennifer just had her first nose revision Monday and it's going to be a LONG process.  Jennifer will also be going to middle school this year.
     In June, Ethan, age 10, also from China was adopted.  What a beautiful little boy.  Ethan and Ryan are best buds now.
     We are now in the process of adopting 12 & 14 yr old sisters from Ethiopia. They are here with us now.   They want to change their names, we are discussing that this week before all the paperwork is completed.   We have know the girls for 3 years and I am used to calling them by their American names, BUT, we allowed all the other kids to change their name if they wanted to so I guess I should allow them also. 
     We have 3 seniors this year, 3 to graduate and go on to college. This is going to be an exciting year. 
  

     I just realized I never updated Hailey's surgery.  On Monday the 11th Hailey had her spinal fusion and pernament rods put in place.  She was fused from T-2 to L-5 and the rods were anchored in her pelvic bones because her curve started there.  Hailey will never be able to bend forward or twist at the waist.  She will be learning a new way of  doing everything now.  Hailey went from an 87 degree curve, actually she had other curves too, to perfectly straight. She is also about 4 inches taller than when she went into surgery.   Her surgeon, Dr. Woo, is a miracle man!
       Sometime this summer Hailey will be having surgery on her hips/legs.  My sweet girl isn't looking forward to that, but in the end she will be able to stand, walk, and RUN ( has never done that) like every other teen and she is looking forward to that day.

Hailey is home and doing pretty darn good. She is using a walker to get around and a wheel chair.  Slow and Steady is our motto this week. Sorry no pics, my computer crashed and I am on the laptop till Mike has a day off and can fix the old dinosaur. Things are slowly getting back to normal now that I'm finally home.  2 weeks of laundry and cleaning are getting caught up.  I will say, the teens did a fantastic job in keeping things straightened up and the kids fed. THANKS GIRLS.

ANOTHER SURGERY

Hailey was taken back to surgery yesterday afternoon.  Her incision started to open and she was leaking copious amounts of fluid. It's nothing the surgeon did, it has to do with Hailey's body make-up. She also got 2 units of blood.  Today she's feeling much better and is in the chair. The hospital is providing her with a translator ( you can see her in the pics) and that's making Hailey so much more at ease.  Her English isn't so great.  This morning the hospital gave her an I-Pad to use while she is here so she's a happy girl now!

HAILEY~DAY 1 POST OP

Our sweet girl today. 

 She's doing great!  Here she is out of bed and look how straight and flat her back is ;)

One down and one more to go. 

 Monday permanent rods will be put in place, today's are temporary internal traction rods.  What a difference, you would never know her spine stuck out the size of a soccer ball yesterday morning. 

IS IT 2013 ALREADY?

     I can't believe it's been 3 months since I've posted. 
     I needed to take a break and regroup ( I even turned off my yahoo! adoption groups)  but I didn't think it would take me this long to get back to blogging.
     Our family has been so busy since summer.  9 10 kids in school this year, spending Thanksgiving in Denver, Christmas, adding our last little "NUT", and lots of birthdays, homework, Dr. & dentist visits, & SHOPPING! you get the picture.  I have been BUSY!
    But, I'm back, I even turned on my adoption groups again. I'm so ready to get back to the Magical Moments of The Poko Pack. It's now a 10 pack!  We added Hailey Oct. 11, 2012.  Hailey is 14 and from China. 
     Gotta run, lots of hungry kids need breakfast then we are off to WDW today so Hailey can experience roller coasters for the first and last time in her life.  More on Hailey later.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN MONTH

My girls were born in a country where the government does not allow freedom of speech or religious beliefs. Today my girls celebrated the freedom they now have as American citizens, they went to CHIK FIL A in support of the right of every American to have their own beliefs and not be controlled by the government.

IT FINALLY HAPPENED!!

OMGoodness!
 After 2 + years of unemployment, and THOUSANDS of resumes' being sent out without a nibble, Daddy GOT A JOB!  And not just ANY job, oh no, he got his DREAM JOB!  The one he has dreamed about for over 30 years, the one he thought he would never be lucky enough to get. The job he always said.."someday I would love to ~~~~~". 
 Well, it happened and we know it was meant to be.  He applied for job "X"  but during the interview, they said.. you know, I think "~~~~" would be perfect for you!  And that was it. One resume', one face to face interview, and he got the job..... Daddy is on cloud nine... he said he would have paid THEM to do this job...Now don't get carried away daddy, we like the idea of a paycheck again!
Anyhow... here's Daddy's new job...
 He's working for THE MOUSE! 
 He's "Captain Mike" and will be driving the boats!  What an ideal job for an ex-NAVY man, ex-boat owner, and retired daddy.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HANNAH

Our little cutie turned 7 today.  She's been home almost 2 years and has changed so much. We'll celebrate at the Magic Kingdom on Sunday, but for tonight, we had her favorite food..Chinese of course. She loved her butterfly cake and her LEGO FRIENDS which she has been wanting since Christmas.
  Ryan took over and built them for her and then the boys brought their Star Wars Legos into the girls room and they all played together. I'll bet you didn't know that Darth Vader and Darth Mull liked the pet beauty shop did you?
Here are some pics we took tonight, but please don't notice the boxes still needing unpacked, and the grill that was just assembled and still in the family room in the background. I don't know why it's taking me so long to unpack :(

Saturday Fun

Between LOWES and HOME DEPOT the Littles keep dad pretty busy on Saturday mornings.  Austin doesn't always like to go so he was missing for this project.  The kids brought one home for him to build with dad later.

TEA with "The Queen"

Pre-school had "Tea with the Queen" last week.  Paisley was so excited and was looking forward to meeting the queen, she even wore her church hat with her easter dress. The class had to dress in the finest for the event.
  Paisley was very disappointed.  She came home and reported to us "It wasn't tea! It was JUICE! and crackers!  And it wasn't the REAL Queen it was a FAKE Queen!
Then they went out to play.

These are our morning and evening neighbors...sometimes they visit in the afternoon too!  Yes, those are Cranes, boy are they LOUD!  Paisley wants me to call Santa to let him know the reindeer are here and come get them.

Little Ducks all in a row

Waiting for the new school bus :) 
 Oh HAPPY DAY!!!

EMMA'S EPCOT BIRTHDAY PARTY

 Emma turned  15  today!  We celebrated at EPCOT.  

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

xoxo

Mom & Dad

Good Morning!
It's been too long since I have posted but I have been swamped by this move.  I have lots to talk about and hopefully have some photos I can post too, WHEN I find the cords to the cameras. 
We got here MARCH 4th, then had 2 weekend weddings in South Fl. to attend and helped our friend move the following weekend, then we had Easter so this is actually the first weekend in the house and I am determined to get everything ubnpacked!
We still have about 60 boxes to unpack and furniture to buy.  The little girls still don't have their toys unpacked.  We didn't bring most of our furniture and storage shelves with us so there is no place to put them but the floor..and that's not gonna fly here!  
The kids all love the house, it's HUGE by our standards, 4300 sq. ft.  Austin and Hannah tell me everyday "Mommy, I love this new house, can we stay here forever"?  
School is good. ALL the kids like it better than their old schools, and they LOVED their old schools (except Meg, she misses her friends and teachers terribly). 
Mike has the littles at LOWES this morning building something.  We are TRYING to get back to a normal routine and the kids loved building on Sat. mornings with Mike.
I found my boxes of stuff for the top of my kitchen cabinets yesterday and Mike and I put them up.  Austin saw them after school and said " hmmm  this looks just like HOME"! Made me feel good, like I was acomplishing something. 
 So far it feels like living in a hotel to me.
Every morning I have been digging thru boxes looking for the little kids clothes for school, no uniforms here :(  I had to buy Amy clothes for school because she only had play, church, and school uniforms.  I finally got all the kids clothes unpacked last night. They have too many undies and sox (the girls have at least 50 pr. each)
Our school is out the end of May. We are in Seminole County FL. Great schools!!
I still need to find a cleft team for Ryan, I hope the one I am choosing takes our health ins.
Sorry this is long, I have lots to catch up on.  If you're still reading, thanks for hanging around. Leave a comment, I love reading them and it's nice to know someone is out there..........
this is the ONLY pic on my computer right now, Paisley hunting easter eggs in the back yard.

GOSH

It's feast or famine around here isn't it?  Either there's lots of posts or none for weeks... We're off to Orlando tomorrow afternoon to house hunt.  Of course we'll be staying on property at WDW...I guess it'll be our last hotel stay since we'll be living there :(  That's a depressing thought, the hotel is my fav. part of the vacation!

COMMENTS

I wondered why no one was leaving comments, especially my fav. followers.  My sister told me tonight she wasn't able to leave a comment.  I went in and checked... Somehow I had made a big boo-boo and shut off the comment part of my blog.  It's fixed now. Please, comment away, I love, love, love knowing somone is reading this stuff!

In case you wondered

Why the OLDEST DRAGONFLY comment... Our 2004 DTC group was called the Dragonflys and Meg was the oldest child referred, she was 8.  Our 7 year adoption anniversary is coming up so I posted her pic.  Isn't she lovely?  Inside and out.  She is such a treasure.

the OLDEST DRAGONFLY