3 years 10 months 22 days

Day 1421. We did not set an alarm this morning, and as the kids had gone to bed late, I was hoping they'd sleep longer. At 7 am Paul called because of an urgent matter and woke us all up. I had only gone to bed at 3 am and was extremely tired. We went downstairs for breakfast, then back upstairs. I got them all dressed and then left to go downstairs for my 9 am student. When it was time for the lesson, it was not on the schedule. It turned out there were some issues with his account so that we could not do the lesson today. And so I turned the computer off and went back upstairs.

As I had to act to help Paul in Mali, I didn't mind having the extra time to get it done. We also have to take the rental car to have it serviced because it had reached a certain mileage. We got everything and everyone ready and left the house to first go to the bank. They had only one teller, and so it took quite long. Then we drove just across the street to the big grocery store, where we estimated that Western Union was located. They had these really cool grocery carts that looked like cars with wheels. The kids were all excited and got in. We then went to the counter to make the wire transfer to Mali. The lady had never heard of Mali and could not find it in her list of countries at first. Then she did not accept my Austrian ID and Randy had to do it. All the while the kids in their carts were loud and bored and giving us some trouble. After everything was done, she said that they were not sending the money until we had called their customer service to answer a few questions. So we pulled aside to do just that. The first time we called, the call was dropped right in the middle of the conversation, so we had to call again. This time we waited longer for a person to take our call. The kids were causing more and more trouble and were at times so loud that we could not hear the person on the phone. We were standing right by the balls, and they wanted them. I gave one to each one of them, but Sammy kept throwing his out and he greatly enjoyed that the people passing by would always pick it up and give it back to him, as his parents were obviously busy on the phone. It was really hard taking this phone call taken care of in these circumstances. In any case, we got it all sorted out. They had just wanted to make sure we were not the victims of fraud, sending money to such an obscure nation.

All that had taken so much time, that we had to leave right away to make it to our lunch appointment at noon, and we actually arrived a few minutes late. It takes some time to buckle all three kids in, as the three seats next to each other are so tight, making it hard to snap the seat belts in.

We reached the restaurant and got them out of the car, putting Sammy into his wheelchair, and went inside where my friend and former board member was already waiting with two other people also working for the network we're a part of. It was great to see them, and we all sat down for lunch. Sammy was extremely cranky, as he was tired but also VERY hungry. It made it a little hard to have a conversation. Also, Tammy and Emmy were not sitting still but running around and being loud. I was glad, when the food came, so they could all fill heir hungry mouths. And the food was really good. We also enjoyed talking. Sammy was very cranky again after having eaten, and then the guy from the network took him, and Sammy immediately connecting with him, stopping the whining and starting to smile. The other lady from the network took Tammy and Emmy outside, where we found them drawing on the ground with stones, when we were done eating and went outside. We then asked someone to take a picture of all of us. Then we loaded the kids into the car and followed the others just down the road to the office. My friend kindly agreed to print out an important paper for us, so we all went inside the lobby to wait for her there. Once she had returned with the paper, they all prayed for us briefly, then we said our good-byes.

We loaded the kids back into the car to head back to the house for their overdue nap. Randy stopped for gas on the way. By 2:15 we were back at the house, and I put them straight to bed. Sammy had been playing with his new ball, and he loves playing with balls. When I took it away to put him to bed, he was crying hard, so I lay down next to him and started singing their going-to-bed songs. He was so tired that it did not take him long to fall asleep. I stayed a little longer for the other two, then lay down myself.

At 4 o'clock we were woken up and all got up. It was time to go run a few errands. It took us until 5 pm to leave the house. We then drove back to the mall, where we had been in the morning, and went into an office shop, where I bought a clipboard. Tammy and Emmy both wanted to be in the cart, so one was in the seat and the other inside. Then we went to another store there, but didn't buy anything, and then we finally went to the grocery store to buy some much-needed groceries. Once again they were sitting in their cars that were the carts. The boys were together again, but at some point Emmy had enough of being scratched by his brother and moved to his sister's cart, where he was much happier. We walked through the store buying food for the week, and once again the kids were loud. I was tired and was not enjoying my time there. I just wanted to get everything and go home, but it took quite some time, and we still didn't get a few items. And Sammy was really cranky again, like he's been all day. I was glad, when we finally checked out and paid. As had been the case at lunch time, Sammy was really hungry again, and so I opened a pack of cookies and all three had some. It was enough to hold them over until we'd be back at the house and have dinner.

Just after 7 pm we were back. We went straight to the kitchen and I got them some food right away, while Randy was unloading the car. Then our friend came over and brought us the leftover pizza from yesterday. She stayed while we were eating, then said her good-byes, when it was time to take them upstairs to get them to bed. Sammy was obviously tired, and not even our friend could get him to stop whining and start smiling.

We got them ready for bed, and by 8:45 they were all in bed. I read them a bed-time story, prayed for them and put them to bed. Sammy fell asleep rather quickly, then I sat by Tammy who was also tired and did not take long to stop moving. It was Emmy who was still playing with his stuffed animal for a while, and I walked away before he was asleep. I turned my computer on to go to work, and tonight it's only just after midnight as I finish this, and I'll be going to bed soon.