ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, October 30, 1996 TAG: 9610300026
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-5 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: ISLE OF WIGHT (AP)
SOURCE: JENNIFER ANDES (NEWPORT NEWS) DAILY PRESS
A SMITHFIELD DEVELOPER said she would donate a $108,000 house to the family at the break-even cost of $80,000.
Since the Valentine's Day birth of their quadruplets, the Jones family's need for space has soared.
``It's getting tight. It really is,'' said Angela Jones, surrounded by Karon, Kameron, Karlyle and Kahlil, each in his own walker.
The two 8-month-old sets of identical twins crowd the living room, the only open area left in the family's two-bedroom mobile home that also is shared by the couple's elder daughter, 5-year-old Shakeeta.
The Joneses need a house. But with their cleaning business just three years old, any hope for relief seemed years down the road.
Then in July, Smithfield developer Donna Harrah announced she would donate a $108,000 house to the family at the break-even cost of $80,000.
``You can imagine how thankful we are,'' Darin Jones said.
The house comes on top of a host of donations the Joneses never dreamed would come their way: piles of clothes, walkers, strollers, shoes - even a 1995 12-passenger van, donated anonymously.
``It shocked me, I'll be honest,'' Darin said about the community's generosity. ``I didn't expect it all.''
Harrah said the home would be built in Moone Plantation by Christmas. For now, a pile of cinder blocks and a white-and-green sign announcing ``Future Home of the Quads'' mark the lot.
Until then, the family copes with cramped quarters.
The babies sleep in cribs stacked like bunk beds in Shakeeta's room, near their sister's day bed and a baby changing station. An exercise bike and two baby jumpers make maneuvering tricky.
In the kitchen, two high chairs are stacked with papers, phone books and folders, and on the counter at least 12 bottles fill the drain board with another 10 bottles in the sink. The quads go through 16 bottles a day.
Some bottles and boxes are sent off each day to a local day-care center, which started caring for the babies after the Joneses' baby sitter found another job.
That hasn't done much to reduce the workload for Darin and Angela.
Darin recently took a second job as a shipping supervisor, working from 5 p.m. to 3 a.m. He's up again at 8 a.m., after the quads have gone to day care, to operate Jones Cleaning Service out of the couple's Carrollton home.
``I don't do a lot of sleeping,'' Darin said.
Angela does all of what Darin calls the ``ripping and running.'' Her day starts at 4 a.m. with feedings. She's up again at 5:30 a.m. to get herself and the babies dressed. ``It just takes a lot of preparing the night before,'' she said.
She delivers the babies to day care by 7:30 a.m. and is home again within minutes to get Shakeeta on the bus for kindergarten by 8:30.
After carting herself, two employees, vacuums, mops and cleansers to various homes and businesses, Angela is home again by 4 p.m. to meet Shakeeta. She picks up the babies at 5:30.
But, Darin said, once the family is all together, or a long day has ended, ``it's a joy to behold.''
``When I come home, I'm tired,'' he said. ``But it makes my day to look at them and see their faces light up because they know daddy's home.''
LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Angela, left, and Darin Jones have their hands fullby CNBwith their 8-month-old quadruplets. In front are Karon (left) and
Kameron. Little Kahlil is getting his bottle and dad is putting
Karlyle back in his walker.