First of all, remember how my home went from eight kids to 20, and now to 21? Well, it has been good, and I have no idea how I felt inadequate as a mom with only eight when I look at my life now! I had 12 kids in my top apartment, and 8 (then 9) kids in my downstairs apartment. The problem? That is a LOT of kids in either apartment. Especially when the kids are all the kind that run around, get into everything, need to be entertained with dance parties or puzzles or play kitchen sets all day, beg for bike rides and walks, etc. I was also continually shorted on staff. I think the office saw as "well, you have one ayah in each apartment at least," forgetting that I had 8 or 12 kids in a single apartment, and that one poor ayah was in charge of them ALL.
So, we changed things around this week! Now, we have moved and adjusted things in the building so I have 3 different apartments for all my schoolgirls:
Grace Purple, on the first floor, has Paula, Stephanie, & Naomi as the bigs, and Heidi, Angel, and Chelsea, my 3 littlest. These girls are probably going to be the easiest bunch of all as the bigger ones are the easiest to entertain, and the littles just haven't picked up on too many bad habits from the older kids. The first three I mentioned tend to not get as much attention from volunteers, so I'm really excited to have them be in a home where there's less competition, and less craziness. Also--PAULA IS GETTING HER WHEELCHAIR THIS COMING WEEK!!!! :D
Grace Blue, on the second floor, has Victoria, Genevieve, Esther, Zinnia, Jackie, Rebekah, & Jeanette. Spunky, energetic, ornery, and adorable are probably the words I'd use to describe this home. Haha, Lord, bless those ayahs! Really though, I have been amazed at just how well these girls have gotten along with each other and how well behaved they have been since they moved. Always the last ones ready for school, their ayahs have some sort of God-given ability to have the last one bathed & dressed AND no school shoes lost by 7 a.m. Miracles do happen.
Grace Yellow has all of the other "bigs," who have been together in a foster home setting for 2+ years: Nora, Honor, Hannah, Alesa, Rachel, Phoebe, Stacy, and Christina. The change happened FAST for these girls. Not only does their apartment seem a thousand times bigger with 3 beds removed, but I never realized how much they had had to play a mothering role. Now, these teens and preteens get to actually act their ages, get to be kids. They aren't trying to keep the littles from losing things or breaking things or tying their pillowcase dresses for the 43rd time--they just get to enjoy life. I love just sitting on the couch with them at the end of the night, listening to music, dancing with them, watching them act like they're six again and just spin in circles for ten minutes at a time until they get dizzy enough to fall over.
The apartment changes have made being a mom way easier, and it's nice to not feel overwhelmed by walking into the apartments. The kids are all with their best friends for the most part, so they're happy, and I'm happy. However, the apartments look a little empty since we've moved furniture around. Would you help us furnish them a little better and make them seem like a home?
Here's a bit of a breakdown of what I'd like to get:
-Couches/loveseats for Purple (1), Blue (2), and Yellow (1)
-TV/DVD players for Purple & Blue
-A simple table and chairs set for Yellow
-A picnic table or other outdoor-durable set of table and chairs for the roof. We have a section of the roof that is covered by an awning, where 3 of my kids have school all day, and where the others have tutoring in the evenings.
-An inverter (aka generator) for Blue. Starting next month, temps are going to be rising like crazy, and this summer is supposed to be especially brutal (read: 110-115+*F). We have doable scheduled power cuts, and lovely unscheduled power cuts in our fun little town. Will you please help us be able to keep the fans on in the sweltering heat during those power cuts?
-A second, bigger, kiddie pool that my non-toddlers could maybe fit in. (See above information about sweltering heat, and roof.)
My goal is to raise $1000, and I have faith that that's not going to be hard to do. Anything that is left over after furnishing the apartments, and any money over this $1k goal will go towards these items:
-A tricycle for my 5 littles (cost $10, already purchased, as I'm trying to get them more active even if it's just riding around the roof.)
-A medium-sized bicycle with training wheels for my 6 kids aged 7-10. (We don't have yards here in India, but I want my kids to be able to get out of the house. I already purchased this for $50 because the weather is just too gorgeous to pass up, and their month long summer vacation in May is coming up quickly!) When they're pretty good at it, they can ride through the neighborhood or around the schoolyard with their big sisters who already have bikes.
-A trip to the Passion conference in Hyderabad for 6 of my big girls, escorted by myself and one of their teachers. I want them to experience worship in a whole new way, and with my blind girls' love for music, I can't think of a better gift for them! Also, I won't mind being able to experience English worship with the other volunteers! The tickets range from about $2-18 each, so the main cost will be transportation and food/activities while we're in the city.
-Summer trips. (Did I mention that May is coming up?) You think you have it bad when your THREE children are home with their big yards, swimming pools, swingsets, free parks and libraries, Wii, iPads, etc. all summer long? PLEASE have pity on me. PLEASE, please, please, help me take my kids to the beach (about 20 minutes away). Please help me take my littles to the waterpark one day. Please help me pay for the 100 times I have to go to the bikeshop to fix the handlebars and training wheels on the bikes as my kids have very terrible balance skills :)
-Air conditioners for each apartment. Necessity? No, but I may be the only American who feels this way while living in Andhra Pradesh! My kids are Indian and have grown up Indian, and they will be fine without an air conditioner. HOWEVER, I'll let you imagine living in 115 degree temperatures for about 3 seconds, and then you'll realize a/c's aren't such exactly a waste of money here.
If you are able to donate, please do. This link is through SCH so is tax-deductible for you! http://tinyurl.com/MarlasDaughters
And, since some of you have asked how you can help with my personal expenses, here is a Paypal link, if you would like to help with that. My rent from Feb-June is $750, so I wouldn't mind if that were covered, keeping me a little less out of debt when I come home and have to be responsible and buy back my car and all that stuff again.
http://tinyurl.com/HelpMarlaPayRent
So, we changed things around this week! Now, we have moved and adjusted things in the building so I have 3 different apartments for all my schoolgirls:
Grace Purple, on the first floor, has Paula, Stephanie, & Naomi as the bigs, and Heidi, Angel, and Chelsea, my 3 littlest. These girls are probably going to be the easiest bunch of all as the bigger ones are the easiest to entertain, and the littles just haven't picked up on too many bad habits from the older kids. The first three I mentioned tend to not get as much attention from volunteers, so I'm really excited to have them be in a home where there's less competition, and less craziness. Also--PAULA IS GETTING HER WHEELCHAIR THIS COMING WEEK!!!! :D
Grace Blue, on the second floor, has Victoria, Genevieve, Esther, Zinnia, Jackie, Rebekah, & Jeanette. Spunky, energetic, ornery, and adorable are probably the words I'd use to describe this home. Haha, Lord, bless those ayahs! Really though, I have been amazed at just how well these girls have gotten along with each other and how well behaved they have been since they moved. Always the last ones ready for school, their ayahs have some sort of God-given ability to have the last one bathed & dressed AND no school shoes lost by 7 a.m. Miracles do happen.
Grace Yellow has all of the other "bigs," who have been together in a foster home setting for 2+ years: Nora, Honor, Hannah, Alesa, Rachel, Phoebe, Stacy, and Christina. The change happened FAST for these girls. Not only does their apartment seem a thousand times bigger with 3 beds removed, but I never realized how much they had had to play a mothering role. Now, these teens and preteens get to actually act their ages, get to be kids. They aren't trying to keep the littles from losing things or breaking things or tying their pillowcase dresses for the 43rd time--they just get to enjoy life. I love just sitting on the couch with them at the end of the night, listening to music, dancing with them, watching them act like they're six again and just spin in circles for ten minutes at a time until they get dizzy enough to fall over.
The apartment changes have made being a mom way easier, and it's nice to not feel overwhelmed by walking into the apartments. The kids are all with their best friends for the most part, so they're happy, and I'm happy. However, the apartments look a little empty since we've moved furniture around. Would you help us furnish them a little better and make them seem like a home?
Here's a bit of a breakdown of what I'd like to get:
-Couches/loveseats for Purple (1), Blue (2), and Yellow (1)
-TV/DVD players for Purple & Blue
-A simple table and chairs set for Yellow
-A picnic table or other outdoor-durable set of table and chairs for the roof. We have a section of the roof that is covered by an awning, where 3 of my kids have school all day, and where the others have tutoring in the evenings.
-An inverter (aka generator) for Blue. Starting next month, temps are going to be rising like crazy, and this summer is supposed to be especially brutal (read: 110-115+*F). We have doable scheduled power cuts, and lovely unscheduled power cuts in our fun little town. Will you please help us be able to keep the fans on in the sweltering heat during those power cuts?
-A second, bigger, kiddie pool that my non-toddlers could maybe fit in. (See above information about sweltering heat, and roof.)
My goal is to raise $1000, and I have faith that that's not going to be hard to do. Anything that is left over after furnishing the apartments, and any money over this $1k goal will go towards these items:
-A tricycle for my 5 littles (cost $10, already purchased, as I'm trying to get them more active even if it's just riding around the roof.)
-A medium-sized bicycle with training wheels for my 6 kids aged 7-10. (We don't have yards here in India, but I want my kids to be able to get out of the house. I already purchased this for $50 because the weather is just too gorgeous to pass up, and their month long summer vacation in May is coming up quickly!) When they're pretty good at it, they can ride through the neighborhood or around the schoolyard with their big sisters who already have bikes.
-A trip to the Passion conference in Hyderabad for 6 of my big girls, escorted by myself and one of their teachers. I want them to experience worship in a whole new way, and with my blind girls' love for music, I can't think of a better gift for them! Also, I won't mind being able to experience English worship with the other volunteers! The tickets range from about $2-18 each, so the main cost will be transportation and food/activities while we're in the city.
-Summer trips. (Did I mention that May is coming up?) You think you have it bad when your THREE children are home with their big yards, swimming pools, swingsets, free parks and libraries, Wii, iPads, etc. all summer long? PLEASE have pity on me. PLEASE, please, please, help me take my kids to the beach (about 20 minutes away). Please help me take my littles to the waterpark one day. Please help me pay for the 100 times I have to go to the bikeshop to fix the handlebars and training wheels on the bikes as my kids have very terrible balance skills :)
-Air conditioners for each apartment. Necessity? No, but I may be the only American who feels this way while living in Andhra Pradesh! My kids are Indian and have grown up Indian, and they will be fine without an air conditioner. HOWEVER, I'll let you imagine living in 115 degree temperatures for about 3 seconds, and then you'll realize a/c's aren't such exactly a waste of money here.
If you are able to donate, please do. This link is through SCH so is tax-deductible for you! http://tinyurl.com/MarlasDaughters
And, since some of you have asked how you can help with my personal expenses, here is a Paypal link, if you would like to help with that. My rent from Feb-June is $750, so I wouldn't mind if that were covered, keeping me a little less out of debt when I come home and have to be responsible and buy back my car and all that stuff again.
http://tinyurl.com/HelpMarlaPayRent
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