The Cracks in Our Foundation

     Kate Nash song, Foundations. I recommend it to anyone who likes either:
          a. British Accents
          b. Indie pop (I have no idea what genre she sings, but this is what both ask.com and google told me)
          c. Sassy love songs

     Anyway! About Z. There's HUGE, monumental even, cracks in her foundation. Our [educated] guess is that she has been at the orphanage since she was 6 years old. Z is 8 now. At the orphanage for 2 years. How old is her brother Vanya? Two years old. She was put there soon after her brother was born. Imagine that, you're 6 years old, love your parents, and are looking forward to your new brother coming. When he is born, you are over joyed. But then, your parents put you in an orphanage. When asked about your brother, you STILL say that you love him. This might not be the whole story, but is what we got out of her. If your brother was one of the causes for you to be put in an orphanage, would you still love him? I know I would dislike my brother even more than I do now. When asked "Do you love him", Z responded: "Yes, very much"
     She's such a strong girl. So much hurt packed inside her little body and mind. I simply cannot express how much she needs a home. We have not even STARTED the adoption process. We have completely committed to her, but money locks us up, and is screaming in our face "I'M GONNA STOP YOU IN ANY WAY POSSIBLE!" As the Fab Four said, "Money can't buy me love" It's true. You cannot "buy" love. We've fallen in love, and that part was free. Getting the love home costs twenty thousand dollars. Fair? No. Real?  Yes. Please help us bring her home...I love her, our entire family loves her, and wants nothing more than to have her here. The moment when I can say, "Welcome home, baby girl" I'll know this has all paid off. I hate asking for money. I really do. I'm not good at it either. So far, we've raised approximately $1,900. That's about 1/10 of what we need in total. Please help!
Here are the APPROXIMATE costs of each part of the adoption, as far as I know right now.

• $2,000 to secure the attorney
• $2,000 for the home study
• $1,000 for the post-placement reports (must be paid WITH the home study)
• $11,000 in 3 payments over the course of the process ($3,670 x 3) to attorney for various tasks
• $3,000 First visit airfare & vital expense for one parent
• $6,000 Second visit/courtdate "Gotcha Day" for both parents
• $1,200 One way airfare for a special girl to come HOME

     We are trying to take this one step at a time.  Right now we are working on raising enough for the first 3 items ($5,000)
     A large thank you goes out to all people who have given donations. From $3.16 to $350, all are appreciated.

Rambling

This Thursday at the orphanage where so many live,
Good fortune took hold, with so much to give.
Bringing turkey and cakes and pies to fill
Hungry tummies of orphans, all at a will.
"Yummy Yum Yum!"
"No more chum!"
"Real food today! Hooray! Hooray!"

It's true! On Thursday (2 am our time), at Detsky Dom number 5, they celebrated Russian Christmas (Jan. 7) with a feast provided by caring people world-wide. Such a treat for them! As I said on my last post, their food is, well, a LOT less than fabulous...so getting a celebration that huge, I can't even describe how grateful they must be!

     On another note, I recently saw a video of my sister. I can't imagine all the sad bottled up inside her little 8 year old body. We were "interviewing" her. How old are you Z? What is your favorite color? You know, stuff like that. At one point, we asked if she had any siblings. Affirmative. "Brother or sister?" "Brother." The look on her face then could kill a horse, just so sad and confused. "What is his name?" "Vanya"... "How old is he?" "Dva" (two). "Oh, does he live here too?" "No"...Could he be at the baby home? "Where does he live, Z?" "Home"....I almost died right then. She leaned over onto my lap and closed her eyes. Then a whole slew of girls came in, they found us...Z sat up and looked as happy as ever, and there was no mention of it again.

Detskiy Dom № 5

I miss it so much. I want to be back there so much.
     As you drive up the long, winding road to Visotky Village, you see the bright red roof of the orphanage. You close your eyes, and count to 30, now you hear the giggles of kids, "Amerakanka! Eta Briiid-zheeht! Oo ni yest padarek?"
     You open your eyes and see Toma, swinging on the broken swing, whistling into the wind. Galya running up to you "Briiid-zhyeht!!!! Ya skachayoo po tebya!!!!". You pick her up and carry her piggy-back inside, where you are ushered to a small room, to be welcomed. All the kids are waiting outside the door. As you hear the director go on about something, in a language that you do not know, all you want to do is go and see the kids.
     Z is nowhere to be seen, all the orphans run off with "kitty" to get their presents, while Nastia and I are going to the bathroom. Z begins to walk past us, and then latches onto me from behind. "Prri-zha" (She can't say my name correctly, so, Prizha will do!).


     Now, that was only the first 10 mnutes....But, I will describe to orphanage:
When you walk in, the floor boards are creaky and wet. At lunch, I didn't dare ask what was in my soup...little did I know that it was cow heart. In the bathroom, no toilet paper. BOOK PAGES! On the walls are faded drawings done by the children. When you go upstairs, there are four bedrooms, each with easily 25 kids. They are packed in there like sardines. The beds are not even twin sized beds! Think back to summer camp when you were a kid, how little the beds were. They sleep on those every night. The ground level windows have bars on them. And these kids live here every day of the year.
     What will they get for Christmas? Likely a piece of fruit, and if they're extra lucky, a piece of candy. While kids in America are dreaming of getting a Wii, or a new TV, clothes, books, games, electronics, money. While my sestra is dreaming of a family, or nutritious food.
     On one of my favorite blogs, Last Mom, her daughter was in sunday school and was asked, what are you thankful for. This girl is from the U.S. foster care system, as haD been sience age 4 and was adopted at age 10. One girl says I'm thankful for my dog, a boy says, I'm thankful for my Nintendo. "Princess" said she was thankful for a BED. A BED.
     I almost fell out of my chair with the realization that kids EVEN HERE don't have a safe place to sleep tonight. Or if they do, it's on a cold, hard, floor.
     I will repeat, again and again, please help me bring one little girl home, to be safe, warm, dry, toilet-paper-enabled, loved, cared for and adored.
It costs about $20,000. Think. Twenty-thoudand-dollars. Let that sink in.
And it's me, a thirteen year old girl, trying to raise it....little help here?

"Oh, honey pie, you are making me crazy.........so wont you please come home."
-The Beatles

The 15 days of Christmas

Alright. Fine. It's the twelve days of Christmas. But in this caase, 15. Okay? This is a challenge. I want to raise enough money to get her home!!!!!
Here are the rules:
Today is December 10. I want to raise $10 today. Tomorrow is the eleventh, I want to raise $11 tomorrow.
Everyday, I want to at least raise the amount of the date. (Dec. 25= $25)
It's the Christmas season! Or Hannukah. Or Kwanza. Or Diwali. Whatever holiday you celebrate, this time of year is full of giving! I know a lot of families have many, many, many gifts to buy, for children and aunts and uncles and nieces and nephews and cousins and grandparents galore! And I understand if you don't have the money to give, but if you do, please? For Z?
     If this challenge goes succefully, we should have about $250 by the end of December. Maybe more. Please?
---------------->>>>>>>>>>>>>>???????????

♥

Merry Christmahannakwanzawali!

Much much love this holiday season!!!

-Bridget

♥

Busy Bee Bridget

Woomph!

A weekend, what a relief! I've been really busy the past two days! Ok, I know thats not an excuse to not be blogging, but, I have.

GOOD NEWS (Okay, maybe just to me, but still...) I AM LOUISA!!!!!! GO TO THE LAST POST IF YOU HAVE NOT HEARD ABOUT THE SOUND OF MUSIC YET!!!!!! Wow, but the rehursals are Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Fridays until March...Oh boy...

     Thursday I had play practice until 4:30 (school is from 8 until 2:45) and then girlscouts until 6. Then a 5 paragraph thematic essay, some math homework and SLEEP.

      Today was play practice until 3:30, and then piano lessons until 5. Less crazy, yes. But it's my dad's birthday, so no relaxing here! I got home, and a best friend of mine has had a very bad week, so I'm going and sleeping over her house to comfort her in a few minutes.

      All that on top of trying to keep up in real life, I am exausted!

 AND A HUMUNGOUS THANK YOU TO ALL WHO HAVE DONATED!!!!!!! ---------->

We're getting closer to out goal, but still need donations!!!!!! And if you do want a bracelet, email ,e at beadingzhome@aol.com THANK YOU!
Z will be so happy!!!!!!! I would say she thanks you, but she doesn't even know she's being adopted yet!

-Much Love

Bridget

p.s. Merry Christmas!

The Hills are Alive ♪♫♪♫♪

Mmmph. School Musicals..... Sound of Music......... I want to be Loiusa... But in order to audition for any of the girl parts, even if you don't want to be Maria, you must sing the "Sound of Music"...

     Would somone like to explain how a girl like ME is going to be able to pull of OPERA?!?!
Or if you would like to offer help....
     And donations for Z are still being accepted. And they are still greatly needed. So, over there ------->>>

Rambling

How I wish the song "Price Tag" was true (go here if you have not heard the song yet). Or at least the part that goes:

The big Jug that we keep the adoption money in

"It's not about the money, money, money
We don't need your money, money, money
We just wanna make the world dance,
Forget about the price tag
Ain't about the (uh) Cha-Ching Cha-Ching
Ain't about the (yeah) Ba-Bling Ba-Bling
Wanna make the world dance,
Forget about the price tag."

It would be SO amazing if the cost of adoption was even 3/4 the price it is.

                             $20,000

     (In the font that I used, it looks like 20.000, no, twenty thousand dollars.....)
We need to raise that to get her here.... That IS including air-fare. A few generous people have already donated. But we DO need more! I personally do NOT like to ask for money, with no product in return. BUT if you do want a product, leave a comment saying what color bracelet (you can do multiple colors). You can choose out of red, green, blue, purple, orange, yellow, pink, or turquoise. :)

     On a different-but-same note, Z MIGHT be elligable for a "speacial needs" grant. But, we have not found one that works with indepentant adoptions. Yes, she does have "speacial needs", but not in the way most people think of them. Her condtion is very serious. Statistics show that if she is left in Russia with her condition, she will probably only live until age 19. GIVE HER A CHANCE AT A FULL LIFE! Maybe that will motivate you? Or not, because no matter what, any orphaned child deserves a home.

      Z's lucky, and so are lots of others, but what about the others? Are they gotting adopted? No. Do they know that someone on the other side of the world cares about them? Think about Lira, she was so amazingly adorable, but we cannot take them all. She would LOVE to have a home. A family. A mother to call her own. But I can almost guaruntee that she wont get one this year. Galya? Will she get a family? Unlikely.

     November is Adoption Awareness Month. If we can get $2,000 by November 30th, we can start on her adoption. Right now, it still is simply a "We will do it." Not "We did it" yet. Okay? Thats 22 days. So if I get $100 a day, we can do it.

     I'm going to be a combined Bob The Builder and Barack Obama here:

Bob, the builder

CAN WE DO IT?

Obama

YES WE CAN!