Merrill and Roberta Simon and Family

These three little words that I posted on Facebook evoked a lot of emotions. Jericho's life matters. Why did I post those words?? Reality, Jericho had emergency surgery on July 8th. As I am writing this, he is still in PICU on a vent with no end in near sight. He is one sick boy, not a little boy, but soon to be an 18 year old man. I felt that the ones who should care about Jericho, did not. I felt that the ones that should be visiting Jericho were not. Bottom line, I spoke out as a mom in pain, hurting and tired. But you know what, God is in control. A wonderful person reminded me not to let negative thoughts enter my mind. She was and is right, but still, Jericho's life matters. Jericho has Cornelia de Lange. He also has PICA. PICA is what put him here. It is the uncontrolled need to eat things that are non food items. We spend each and every day pulling things out of Jericho's mouth. Even the younger kids know to holler when they see Jericho trying to eat something. It i...

June 30, 2015  It has taken 37 years to arrive at this special day. I find it amazing that we have been married this long. I can't imagine being with anyone else but Merrill. Merrill has a new to him trike. It is not the right time to post a picture of it as he has a few people he wants to show it to first. He is so excited about it. Anyway, he took the day off and planned a ride for just the two of us to go to Sacramento to eat at Joe's Crab Shack. It is one of our favorite places to eat.  We left the house so excited. It was our day, just the two of us. As we were leaving town, we stopped at Walmart.....we always stop at Walmart. It is just what we do....LOL. We loved the ride up to Lake Tahoe. There are parts of it that just take your breath away. We really enjoy those places. As we were enjoying the ride, I felt a strange heating sensation on my leg,,,,,well it actually felt as if my leg was going to flat out burn up. We had to make a stop to figure this all ...

My Mama passed away so many years ago, in 1986 to be exact. I have been missing her a lot lately. As I have gotten older, I understand the life she lived more than ever. I have a deeper understanding of what she really went through and who she really was. To be totally honest, she was just beyond amazing. You see, all my life I have been told that I am just like my daddy, but I know I am not. I am just like my mama, misunderstood on so many levels. My mama had a strong sense of right and wrong. She always believed in the underdog and would help others without question. She was very intelligent and way ahead of her time. She was successful in the work force in a day and age when women were still at home. When people hurt, she hurt. She was tough as nails and yet tender at the same time. She stood up for what she believed even when people did not agree with her. She was proud and I do not think that is wrong. She had an unstoppable work ethic and cared about the people that worked f...

The past few weeks have been one heck of an emotional roller coaster ride. Joey has been in  residential treatment since August. It has been so hard on him as it is his third go around. Mental health issues in children are just devastating for all involved. My heart breaks for him more than most will ever know. Well, as part of his plan, he was to go into a step down type of program this time. This is to help to insure his chance at being successful coming home. We had waited, we had planned, we had it all worked out. Then there was no bed. So his "team" decided he was just going to once again discharge to home. Really!!! So what in their wildest dreams made them think he was going to find success this go around? How was it to be any different than the other two times?? Why were they playing with a child's life?? Thank goodness for people who have traveled this road before us. Thank goodness for the parents who refuse against all who have an opinion, to give up...

This life of ours....it is just nuts at times....I mean nuts by our normal standards. To be honest, that is crazy. We have been trying to find out a better way to help the children. We have done counseling for so many and to be honest, it does not work. We mostly deal with major behavior issues and that is not something that seems to work itself out while in a counselors office. So after many years of knowing that something out there had to be better, we managed to find a great team approach. Now a therapist comes into our home for about 8 to 10 hours a week. She works with the kids and Merrill and I in our real and natural environment. There is no hiding what is going on. She sees the good, the bad and the downright ugly. She has worked with Merrill and I to learn how to take care of ourselves so we can be there for the children. We now have a date night about 3 times a month. With her encouragement, I have taken on CURVES...one baby step at a time there. She is a real bless...

So here I sit with a new program and trying to see if I can actually figure this out. Everyone who knows me, knows that I am not all that computer literate, so I stumble my way around and figure things out. This blog is important to me. It is my way of sharing my family….the good, the bad and the ugly. It is a way to show that adopting 21 children is nuts, but it what we have done and we are proud of who we are and we are willing to put ourselves out there so others can share this journey with us. That brings me back to this new program. I just need things to be a bit easier. So this is my first attempt at using it. We shall see.   ..

I love Walmart. Really, I do love Walmart. When I go there it seems like I know more people than I don't know. The cashiers asked me about the kids when they are not with me and when they are, they know a lot of their names. It is just like an extension of our family. Merrill and I talked about how much easier our life would be if he just has direct deposit to Walmart. When McClain was little, he always said he wished his bedroom was Walmart. You see, we really do love Walmart. So, that brings me to today. Joey and I had had a really long day. We left the house at 8:30 am with the entire family. We did a few bigger things with everyone like speech and OT, then Mordachi's birthday partly at Roundtable....which by the way was a ton of fun with family and friends. Then Joey and I had to go our own way. Off to Reno we went. Counseling, shopping, gas and last but not least the Walmart run through. We were doing great. We were going fast. It was all good. Then it hit me....I had to g...