Please Pray

Please say a prayer for my youngest brother John who had a heart attack tonight. He has a 10 year old son.

for Anika

Anika asked how many children we had and how many had Down Syndrome. Well, we gave birth to three kids and adopted 18 more. Four of those children have died. We disrupted on another child way back in the 80s and had several kids who were here on medical visas from Haiti for a while.

I had to stop and count how many kids with Down Syndrome we've had. Christopher was the first. He was a year old AA baby and had Tetrology of Fallot in addition to Downs. He died after heart surgery. He was a real sweety with a stunning smile.

Matthew was our second DS baby. He came with various holes in his heart, and had been placed with a family who eventually decided they couldn't handle a child dying on them. Having just lost a child, we weren't sure we could either. but we got him at 5 months with all his cardiac problems. But a miracle happened and Matt's cardiac checkup here showed that there never were any holes in his heart. Never mind the conflicting medical evidence. He just got healed.

Caitlyn was our third DS baby. She was 22 months and profoundly mentally handicapped and extremely self abusive. She's been living in a group home for a few years now. She's 24. Gorgeous AA baby girl who ripped her hair out, bit herself and banged her head until it bled.

Jennifer came right out of the hospital. 5 pounds and a very beautiful little DS baby She was born to two Taiwan folks who handed her over in the airport. Really nice, and very short people with an older son. They didn't speak English at all, but I had learned through a translator before placement that in their culture intelligence was everything. Jen at 23 looks a lot like her birth mom, and is just as short.

William was our first adoption after we moved south. Also DS, but he was born with his stomach not connected to his intestines and had surgery after surgery and ended up with a tracheostomy for four year. I got to know his young birth mom, and she visited until she moved away. Still have some contact though. Pictures, etc.

Emily was born the next year to a young mom who wouldn't admit she had been pregnant, and therefore couldn't have delivered a baby, and certainly not one with Down Syndrome. Her birth father was well off, but never heard from him or the mom after placement. She's 19 now and a real joy. Soft spoken and very sweet.

Ethan came the following year. He had DS and a heart condition called AV canal. They surgeons here were just going to let him die, as they felt he was too bad for surgery. But I talked the one guy into doing it anyway. I said I'd rather have him die while giving him a chance at life than not. Ethan lived, but he was plagued with illnesses like pneumonia, and died at the age of 13.

Robin came next. She was the daughter of a navy guy and a Korean woman. Robin was about 4 months old when we got her, and they lied to us to get her placed. Shortly after she came home she started having serious trouble breathing and was hospitalized. Tests show that she had severe broncho pulmonary dysplagia and had had several brain bleeds right after birth. So she went on O2 and was hospitalized at least once a month until she reached about 12-14 months. They had to have known about her condition as we got her when they finally released her from the NICU. Robin is a sweet quiet child who never cries. She says few words, but understand everything said to her. She likes to watch TV, but she isn't into playing games with her siblings. No sweeter child born ever than Robin.

Jeremy came next, right out of the hospital. A big healthy AA DS boy. He's soo athletic but he also has some severe behavior problems. We've had some real lovely times with this kid. But I wouldn't trade him for anything! If he was my first adoption I probably would never have adopted anyone else.

So I guess that's nine of them. They are all growing up and I'm very proud of each of them.

Out of Touch with Reality

Remember when old President Bush visited a super market and was amazed by the scanner? Had never seen it before? How out of touch with real American life was that?

Watch this:

1983 remembering

Just a picture of me way back in 1983 holding Justin. He's 25 now and I'm, well, 61...

I am so blessed

Tonight as I am sitting on my bed reading a novel, my little Emily comes in. She's 19 and has Down Syndrome, and we site on the bed together and talk about the kitties on the bed with us and the horsies at the Special Olympics Equestrian event today, where Em got a blue ribbon riding.

She is absolutely so sweet and loving. When Matt was little and I brought Emily home he touched her hair and said "Kitty cat." Meaning her hair was as soft as a kitty cat. I've been calling her that ever since. And it suits her.

Oh, she has a stubborn streak, as all kids do, but for the most part she is just adorable. I love being her mom.

I look at all the children I still have at home, every one with developmental delays due to Down Syndrome, Spina Bifida or crack cocaine...Whose parents didn't want the "burden" of raising them...

Dear Lord, what they have missed! And what an incredible blessing I have received from the love of these beautiful children, God's perfect children.

Has it been easy? No way! Has it been miserable at times? Sure it has! But more than anything else, has been the amazing love that they give us. What a wonderful blessing. Three wonderful intelligent loving and responsible birth kids who love their adopted siblings so much. Tremendously amazing adult adopted children, who have a love of their siblings like no other. And sixteen developmentally delayed kids who are closer to God's meaning of Love than anything else on earth.

And add my one true love, my husband to the mix, and what more could I possibly ask? I am so blessed. Thank you, God for all my blessings!

Making Extra Money with Surveys

I guess a year or so ago I had tried those paid online surveys. They took a lot of effort and time and there were hoops to jump through and other things to buy to get paid for taking the survey. I'd start one survey and it would be endless and extremely frustrating. I gave up. It seemed too hard for a Mom of 17 to make money this way.

A friend, S, however, set me straight. She is making about $600 a month with paid surveys. And she has a couple dozen kids. She told me that I was simply not finding the RIGHT surveys. That the ones I had been trying were complete scams. (I had figured that out...)

There really ARE a bunch of easy surveys that pay you a lot of money (well $5-75 is about tops) for filling out surveys. Legitimate companies looking for market research. They only take about 15-20 minutes to complete and people ARE making a good income with it.

I ran across a group that gives you everything you need to get started. And they have so much help for you. They make finding good paid surveys simple. They also tell you about local surveys and focus groups and Secret Shopper opportunities you can join to make money.

You MUST check it out. I was amazed. I think I finally found out how to make that extra $1000 a month so that my husband doesn't have to bag groceries anymore!

If you have an hour or two a day you could be bringing in more than you would be making at a part time minimum wage job every month. And if you are up in the middle of the night with a kid or if there's nothing on TV, use your time to make some cash.

Click on the banner to the right and then click on the "Watch Video" image on the left as soon as the page opens. I just started early this AM and I've made $25 already. OK, so I skipped cleaning and doing the dishes...that doesn't pay me.

They have about 750 survey programs available, but I only joined the ones that pay cash, and only the ones that pay well. Some of them are contests, and sweepstakes. I won't waste my time there. I want CASH.

Thanks, S !

The Polygamists' Children and CPS

I guess most of you have read the story of the 400+children removed by CPS amidst charges of child abuse. If not, read it here.

I think this case shows the absolute stupidity of the system. Even if there are cases of child abuse that can be sustained, do they not even give one thought to the welfare of these kids?

And what is the state going to do with 400+ kids suddenly thrown into the system? Put up a tent city? Thrust the children into foster homes? I don't think so, these homes are already overcrowded.

And what about the little people? So Daddy abused a kid. Yes, that's horrible, but I have to think that in a polygamist marriage the mom would have been brainwashed or afraid to argue with the husband. Why not just leave the children with their moms? And work with them on unbrainwashing them? Provide supervision, even pay for staff to stay there and help them and report back. Make them attend their so called "parenting classes." Whatever, but FIRST do no harm.

Yes, physical and sexual abuse are HORRIBLE...but removing a child from the mother he is bonded to and throwing him into a home with strangers WILL CHANGE THAT CHILD FOR LIFE. CPS is once again destroying kids. Think of your own child and how terrible it would be for him/her to be forcibly removed from your home and stuck in foster care. How much pain does that give you? Well the pain the child feels is 100% worse.

I can't help but think that some of this has to be the prejudice against large families. You and I know that large families work and work well. But large families are targeted by CPS as abnormal, just based upon size.

I can't believe that all of the moms involved participated in the abuse. I have to think that leaving the kids where they were and working with the moms would have been a MUCH better thing to do.

Your comments?