Day 1552. Randy and Sammy always leave the house at about 8:15 for Sammy to go to kindergarten. On Wednesday I already had a student at 8:30, which is the earliest I had ever done a lesson. In the afternoon, Randy left with Tammy and Emmy just after 3 pm to take them to their exercise class. It was time to return the mascot that had spent the previous two weeks with them. The teacher always sends a report and pictures later, which is why you get to see these pictures from the class. The kids are really enjoying the class.
I stayed home with Sammy, which works well. We were having fun together, and Sammy can occupy himself for short periods of time. Unfortunately it does not work for Randy to stay at home with him; all he does is cry for me. But it works great, when I stay home with him.
Randy and the other two returned just before 5:30. At 5:30 I had a student for one hour, then I made their dinner. At bedtime at 8 pm I had to rush, as I had an 8 pm student, which is rare.
Thursday is our day at home, except for Sammy who has his weekly physiotherapy session. I taught from 4 to 7 pm, and then again at 9:30 pm.
Friday ended up being another day at home, as their dance class in the afternoon was canceled. I had a lesson at 9 am and 5 pm and worked the rest of the day, but I was extremely tired all day.
On Saturday the kids have their piano class. I try to go every other week so I know what they're learning, and I was thankful that it was a day at home with Sammy today, as I was still very tired. At 11:30 the two of us also left the house and took the subway to meet up with the others at McDonald's. When we left the house, I was surprised to see that it was snowing. The first snow of this winter! But it was still too warm for it to stay on the ground.
We had a good time at McDonald's, watching it snow outside while eating, then returned home. Recently the boys have really gone to sleep during nap time. Emmy does really well without a nap, but Sammy gets very tired in the late afternoon and then falls asleep immediately at night. Tammy still sleeps at nap time and has both bad and good days, when she does not get a nap. Today we decided not to put them down for a nap, as it's always such a struggle that leaves me even more tired and unable to get a nap myself. However, I still did not get a nap in, but was getting everything ready for church.
At 3 pm we left the house to take the 3:20 train; it was still snowing. After the train we took the subway and got to church before the service started. I set up our Mali table and gave my flashdrive to the person by the computer. The kids were playing with some friends who arrived, then the service started.
We sat in the very back. Tammy and Emmy were running around and playing, partily too loud and too wild, while I had Sammy. I went a little forward and to the side with Sammy, and Emmy followed me there. For a few minutes it looked like he was worshiping on his own, dancing, raising his hands to the Lord and closing his eyes. Then he left again. Randy went outside with Tammy or both of them a few times, when he thought they were too disruptive.
After the announcements, it was my turn to go on stage and share a few testimonies from Mali. All the kids were still in the room. After I was done telling the stories, the pastor's wife prayed for Mali, then all the kids left the room to go to kids' church, and so we left as well.
All the kids - 7 including ours - sat down by a table, and a lady started doing a teaching on love. I was surprised at how well Emmy was listening the whole time, while Tammy was the one who was not. She was constantly moving and kept saying it was too long and that she wanted to do crafts. The teacher let her draw, while she was still speaking, so that Tammy kept quiet. As for Sammy, Randy got some toys from another room and then a little horse that he could ride to keep him happy. After the teaching, the kids were doing crafts, and they were also hungry. There were some snacks there for them.
Just before 6 pm, the end of the service, I left the room to go to our Mali table to be ready once the doors open. The pastor then came out and wanted to do a short video to thank and encourage Paul. Paul really appreciated it. Once people started coming out, I got to talk to a few. The kids soon returned and started playing with a few people they know. After some time we decided it was time to pack our stuff and go home.
We took the subway and then the train. When we got to the train platform, it was snowing really hard, much to the kids' delight. They were loving it. It soon became very visible how tired Tammy was. She started crying and just repeated saying she wanted to sleep. Just after 7:35 pm we were back home, so not really that late. We immediately started getting Tammy ready for bed, and she was the first one in bed after having prayed for her. No story tonight. Soon the others were in bed as well and asleep quickly. It was time to get something to eat and then start working on today's pictures.
