Auntie Rose and Joy pop in

Her maternity over, Auntie Rose returns to work on Monday.
With so much happening at the Happy House since baby Joy was born in September, Rose called in for a catch up.
And there was a rousing welcome for both her and her beautiful Joy.
Everyone was delighted to see them after so long, they have been in Nairobi with proud husband and daddy, Fred.
Mama is so pleased she will have her righthand woman and very capable administrator back sharing her office again.
Welcome back home, Auntie Rose.

Making a splash

 Our kids had a splashing time when they went on their annual school trip!

Two large buses, hired for the day, transported 125 children and 12 teachers to Wild Waters Adventure Park , near Mombasa.

The long journey was part of the adventure and the  excited children sang all the way.
Mama and Papa joined the family and day pupils and enjoyed watching as the boys and girls had fun trying out the different pools, sliding down the medium and small slides, floating on the giant inflatable ring and just splashing and playing.

There was something for everyone, and our water babies from the playgroup class just had a whale of a time.

Mama said "The babies all had a lovely time splashing around Our Determined David really had fun.

" All the kids had a brilliant time. We had a lovely lunch of chicken and rice.

" They were then taken up a small hill to the Rain Dance area.
" It was great for them, just  like dancing in the shower! 

"We arrived about 9.30 and left at 3.30 with a lot of very tired happy little people."

Shoe bank opens!

Shoe model - Musyoka

 It's the last week of term for our children this week and there's a real buzz of excitement as they look forward to the longest school holiday of the year.

And with the new school year starting in January, it brings with it all those costs faced by parents across the world - we just have to times by 74!

The biggest expense  is uniform and  school shoes. Every child will need new shoes, their feet grow so quickly and whilst they are polished every day and repaired when they need it, and handed down where we can, a year is about as long as they will last!

Last year, some of you who are in our sponsor family sent new shoes, but we are aware that postage costs are so steep.

So we have added shoes to our one-off donations on JustGiving, so you can donate £10 to buy shoes online.

We will buy them locally from shoemaker, Francis, so that we will be helping local business at the same time.

He is a good friend to our family and will carries out repairs when needed in his workshop in the village.

If you would like to help your sponsor child, or any other, by donating £10 to our shoe bank you can do so by following this link: http://www.justgiving.com/childrenofwatamu/Donate
If you are a British taxpayer and can Gift Aid you donation, please do, it means and extra 25 per cent extra from the Government and leave us a message too, if you wish, we love to hear from you!

Thank you, as ever, for always going the extra mile to make a difference to the lives of our very special kids.

Fresh and bright

 With our older kids now in bedrooms upstairs, the downstairs bedrooms, which were looking so tired, are being spruced up.
After three and a half years of constant use, the bedcovers, curtains, sheets and mattresses were just worn out. 
The walls are having a coat of paint, every bed is having a new mattress, new sheets and a new cover, and  matching curtains give the finishing touch they are looking very smart.
The material, bought locally and made up by a local sewing workshop, is a child-friendly black and white animal print.
Our kids take a real pride in their home and are over the moon with their new look rooms.

My giant pumpkin, by Musyoka

A very proud young farmer, Musyoka, was so happy when he received a packet of pumpkin seed from a member  of his sponsor family, Lynn Baya Thoya,

He planted them in the garden, watered and tended them until he proudly harvested the biggest of the crop, weighing an amazing 11kg.

Musyoka. today's blogger, writes:

Just want to tell you about the seeds Aunty Lynn sent, I went to plant them and they grew and grew until the plant it came a very big pumpkin.

 I had to harvest the big pumpkin and we ate it together and we were happy to eat the pumpkin together

And I still have another one in my shamba (plot) I have just planted more  in my garden and I still want to plant more and more.

After we ate it I took the seeds of the plant so that I can even get more seeds to plant but  just want to say thank you to Aunty Lynn for the seeds.

The  pictures are of  the pumpkin and me, and of me, Sifa and the pumpkin,  and I will always make sure that I harvest one pumpkin from my garden and we shall all be happy when we are eating it

From Musyoka

PS: I need more, please.

A place of calm to read and to think

 Relocating the library to our new school resource centre in the grounds gave Mama the idea of using the small banda, right next to it, as a quiet area for our children.
In such a busy, all-action family, it can be hard to find somewhere to sit and read or just to sit and think, so a quiet area was much needed.
It was easily and cheaply achieved. Mama bought some wicker furniture, arranged for our tailor to make some cushions, and the reading room was finished.
It's become an immediate hit. With the library right next door, children can easily borrow a book and our librarian, teacher Catherine, is nearby to keep an eye on it.
There are shelves for newspapers which our kids do love to read.
Mama said that one day this week she looked out and one of the boys was sitting , just like a businessman,  catching up on the news.
It's also a place where Mama or Uncle Billy can sit , in a relaxed atmosphere, to have a chat with a child who needs some help or direction..
An oasis of calm in a very lively household!

David the determined

Just one of the boys! Our David shows that with love, effort and determination anything is possible.
It is just two years since Mama was told David had Down's Syndrome.

Worried that he was not developing as he should be and having taken him for all kinds of medical tests which proved negative, Mama and Uncle Billy turned to a  specialist child development centre where, after examining him, they gave their diagnosis. 
Mama was told he had Down's and  to take him home and to love him. Mama said: "Is that all" and the reply was that there was little else she could do, he was unlikely to amount to much else.

But in our family, if you say something is not possible and we will do all we can to make sure that it is.

Love is never in short supply, nor is determination and focus.

Mama emailed Eliazbeth in the UK who  spent hours talking to the Down's Syndrome Association and researching nformation and advice that could help us to help David to be the best that he can be.

A programme of exercises to stimulate him mentally and physically was devised and undertaken three times as day. The exercises and effort  paid huge dividends for our very special boy. 
He's almost four, walking, trying very hard to talk in sentences and working hard in school.

David is our inspiration. He is a living testimony to our magic at work.

At the Happy House no obstacle is too great to overcome. We have the determination, we have the faith and the courage. If we do not have the knowledge, we will find someone who has.

Our children, like David, are our driving force.

What a child needs to enable them to grow and flourish, to reach their full potential, we will find. Nothing is too much.
Without Mama's own faith and courage, her determination to build her Happy House and change children's lives, where would the vulnerable, disadvantaged kids, like David, be now?

To see him being just "one of the boys" toddling off, after Harry,to school, sitting down to lessons and having fun is the greatest reward in the world.
If you would like to make a donation, knowing that every penny will go directly to supporting our family at the Happy House, please do so now.
We have no middle men, no paid fundraising or publicity machine, so every penny donated  really does change lives.
You can make a donation online by going to: http://www.justgiving.com/childrenofwatamu/Donate
Our children need you.