I made it to bed at 3:30, and we got up at 8 am as usual to feed the kids. Then I cleaned them and dressed them, and Randy took them downstairs. I had Sammy in bed with, as he gets picked up last. It's then that I go back to bed. Today I had less than 2 hours at that point, as my alarm was already set for 10:45. For the simple reason that I was cooking for everyone. It was hard getting up, but I went to work making chicken and rice with vegetables.
Randy brought them upstairs, and we sat down to eat around 11:30 am. They were hungry, and they ate everything on their plate. I had mixed a baby food jar with vegetables under the rice, making it stick together, and so they were able to easily eat it themselves with their spoons, and I was helping them. They especially enjoyed the chicken, so I gave them more of it from my plate. Then I brought out the watermelon, banana and yoghurt. Once they were done, I cleand up Emmy first. For some reason they now scream, when I take them to the sink to clean them up. I have no idea why. I then put his clothes back on and put him to bed. It did not take him long. By the time Tammy was cleaned and dressed, he was already asleep, and I was able to put her to bed without waiting any further. I cleaned up Sammy, and then Randy put him to bed.
Then I cleaned up the dining room and kitchen, as I had already eaten myself, and lay down to rest, first catching up on my phone and the paper, and then closed my eyes for a nap. I was pretty tired. In reality I should sleep the whole time they are sleeping. When they woke up around 2:15, I wasn't quite ready to get up myself, but I had no choice.
We all sat down at the dining room table for the afternoon meal, but they weren't really very hungry. I kept telling them that the dog was about to arrive, and they looked at me with much interest, when I talked about that. Once they were done eating, cleaned up and dressed, Randy took Sammy downstairs, as well as the tablecloth and stuff for cake and coffee for our guests. They were about to arrive, and so I kept Tammy and Emmy upstairs with me, while cleaning up and getting everything ready. Finally the doorbell rang, and I told them the dog was now coming. They always stand right by the door anyway, when somebody comes.
At first they were both a little fearful of the dog who was moving fast with excitement coming in. We then all went downstairs, and they were very interested in the dog. Tammy doesn't usually know fear, and it didn't take long before she touched the dog and did not shrink back. Emmy was a different story, but even he got over it faster than I've seen and ended up petting the dog, if only briefly. Sammy surprised me, when he started crying, whenever the dog was close to him. He hadn't reacted like that to our cats in Mali.
We had cake and coffee, and of course Randy gave them cake again. I could tell that they were less hungry than usual at dinner time.
We all had a great time. I had not seen my friends in over 20 years, but we were so busy with the little ones, we didn't even get to talk as much as I would have liked. They were great with the kids, and the kids loved them. Randy had Sammy for much of the time. One time he put him on his knees on the couch by the bars he has put there, and Sammy pulled himself up into a standing position all by himself. He loves pulling himself up into a standing position, but I have never seen him do it by himself.
Time went by fast. At 5 pm I left them to go upstairs and make their dinner. At 5:30 they all came upstairs, and my friends said their good-byes. They had been lots of fun. I was feeding Tammy and Emmy, or trying to, but we did not get far. I finally took the rest of the food to the bathtub, but it was too much bread for them tonight. They finished most of what was on the plate there, as did Sammy. No poop incident tonight. Sammy came out first, and then the others wanted out to, and so I dressed Sammy on our bed, while Randy had the other two on the changing table. Then they all went to bed, first Sammy, then Emmy, and then Tammy. And they were pretty active again at first. When I returned after a while, the girl had taken her pj's off again. I picked her up, changed her dirty diaper, and put a pj on her that she cannot take off; we had just washed it. When we returned, Emmy was pretty much asleep.
It was Sammy who woke up really early crying. I gave him some milk, and put him back to bed. Not much later he was crying again, and this time he got dental cream. When he cried again, I figured his leg braces were too tight, and I loosened them. He was fine after that.
Tonight I was working at first, and then got my food later, once I was getting hungry, so I ate rather late. Then I continued working. Randy went to bed at 11 pm, and I went upstairs to clean up everything at midnight, before returning to my office to continue working. Last night I was able to finish and send out our English newsletter, but I have not finished the German version of it, and I doubt I'll be able to tonight. Would anyone out there like to translate it from English to German?
