4 years 3 months 21 days

 Day 1573. It was the second night in a row, where Tammy did not join us in bed during the night. Emmy only came once he was up. Of course it was Sammy who was up first.  Emmy just wanted to open his advent calendars, so we opened them all together. They had some breakfast, then I got them ready, and at 10 am we all left the house together.

Sammy wasn't very lucky today, as we had several old subway trains in a row, making him cry each time. After we got off, we walked to the music school and got to class 2 minutes late. The teacher was just doing the greeting song, and our kids still got the song sung to them. The kids then sat down in the front and did a song with her. Then they sat down and had to put a red sticker on the do key, and a yellow sticker on the re key. Then they did a tapping song. They then went to the front and did a dance; Randy joined them for that. Then they sat down and she drew a do and a re on the board. The kids had to name them and put red or yellow magnets on the correct notes. Then they sat down and colored do and re notes in their books. They were doing a great job. Sammy was with Randy in the beginning, but then with me. He wanted to look at pictures on my phone.
Before we knew it, it was time for the final story. I decided to let Sammy join the other kids up front and put him by his brother. I sat down with him at first, but then left and returned to the back of the room. Sammy listened to the story, and Emmy hugged his brother. When they did the good-bye song, Emmy was dancing with his brother. Then it was time for their weekly sticker. And today they also got a Christmas cookie, as it was the last class of the year. Then we left and walked back to the subway.

We rode it for a few stops, then walked to the McDonald's there for our weekly M.D. meal. We had a good time, then walked back to the subway. We were all really tired, especially we adults, but we were not going home yet. Tammy was adamant that we were going to buy our Christmas tree before going home, as that had been the plan, while I was so tired that I suggested we'd do it on Monday. We did not get off at our subway stop, but rode it for three more stops. Then we got off and walked to the store where Randy said they had cheap trees. However, there were only three little trees, all wrapped up, left. We still went into the grocery store and bought a few items.

When the kids saw the little kids' carts, they wanted one. Randy gave Emmy a 50 cent coin to put into the cart to get it out, but he didn't have any other for Tammy. Tammy started crying as she also wanted to have a cart. Then we suddenly saw a coin lie there on the floor. Tammy picked it up and used it to get a cart out. I told her that Jesus had heard her and provided the coin for her.

From the grocery store we went home, still debating whether to wait until Monday to buy the tree. Tammy was so tired that she started crying at the thought. She wanted to go buy it right away. And so we gave in. After putting the groceries up, we all left the house again and rode the subway the few stops to where we had bought our tree last year. And still no new subway train for Sammy.

The tree seller was in the same spot as last year. We started walking around and looking at trees. It was Tammy who ended up choosing the tree, and we all liked it and bought it. The seller asked Randy to help him put the net around it. He was having a hard time getting the tree through the machine. We paid and walked back to the subway. Finally it was a new train that came, but then the ride was too short for Sammy, so that he cried again, when we got off the subway train.

By 2:15 pm we were finally home, but I realized that we had less than an hour before we had to leave again. All five of us were really tired, so I told the kids that we were all gonna lie down for a nap. Of course they protested, especially Tammy. I closed all the curtains so that the room was dark and lay down on the top bunk bed with Tammy and Emmy. Tammy was crying and did not want to lie down at first, but eventually did. Emmy was constantly moving and not lying still. Sammy was asking for Daddy, but constantly got up as well. I asked the kids to just lie down and be still and rest, even if they didn't want to sleep, and told them that the alarm was gonna go off really soon anyway. We only had 20-25 minutes to lie down. Tammy had gotten pretty quiet next to me, but all three were happy, when the alarm went off. Needless to say, I had not had even a minute of rest myself.

We all got dressed and left the house at 3 pm to catch the 3:20 train, which we did. We got some chestnuts and then took the subway for three stops before walking through the mall to get to church. We arrived there before the Christmas concert had started. We saw our friend right away, then walked into the sanctuary. It was already really full, and so we walked to the side and the front, where we used to sit, as there was still room there. Then the concert started.

We got Sammy out of his chair, and then Tammy sat in it for a while. Sammy was on the floor, and so was Emmy, and they were all dancing to the song. I got to do a little video clip, where you can see Sammy dancing as well. There was a man from church sitting near us, and he picked up Sammy a few times during the 2-hour concert and just held him. One time he actually fell asleep, but woke up, when he handed Sammy to Randy. Tammy and Emmy were playing with the candy that was on every chair, and I had to tell them a few times to be more quiet.

After an hour, Emmy lay down on the chairs and fell asleep. Especially Tammy had been asking to go to kids' program, but I kept telling her that there was no kids' program today. Sammy then also asked to go to the baby room, so eventually Randy left with the two of them, as they were bored and whining. I stayed with sleeping Emmy. I then got to close my eyes while listening to the concert, without anyone bothering me. I was very tired. It ended, when Tammy was suddenly standing in front of me. Randy, Sammy and Tammy were back; the concert was about over. When it ended, Emmy woke up, as if he had known it was over now. I took him into my arms, where he continued resting, as he was not quite awake yet. The pastor needed me, so we ended up walking to the room where he was, and Tammy followed us as well. Eventually Randy and Sammy came as well. Emmy finally started waking up and was back on his feet.

Then we returned to the lobby/café, where we bought some Christmas cookies that we ate together. There was an old friend there that I hadn't seen in years and just talked briefly with before the concert. I wanted to talk to him and waited for him to be available, but finally gave up, and we all left together. Tammy was crying that her leg was hurting, and so I put her on my shoulders and carried her. But she's sure gotten heavy now! We had quite a long walk through the mall, and at some point I had to put her back down on the ground.

We had just reached the exit, when Emmy said that he need a bathroom. And so we left the others there and walked to the mall's bathroom. However, the women's bathroom was locked and only the men's bathroom open. What was I to do? There were lots of people there, and lots of men in the bathroom. I asked Emmy whether he thought he could go use the toilet by himself, and he said yes. And so I let him go inside. A man saw the situation and led Emmy to a stall. However, I was not comfortable leaving Emmy alone in there and simply walked in. I found Emmy by the toilet, a little lost, and the man who was trying to help was a little lost too and relieved to see me. I then helped Emmy use the toilet, and we left the restroom as quickly as possible. Thankfully nobody had said anything.

We had lost some valuable time, and it looked like we were not gonna make the 7:01 pm train. We had to wait for the subway and then ride it for three stops. I kept looking at the time, and it looked less and less likely that we'd make the train. We ran to the elevator and pushed the button to the train platform, but then another lady came in and pushed the street level exit. It was already the time that the train was leaving, and now the elevator had an additional stop. It was 2 minutes after the train's departure, so I told Randy it was too late. I was then really surprised to find out that the train was delayed, as that is rare for that particular train. And so we waited two minutes and then got on the train we thought we had missed. Praise God!

By 7:20 pm we were back home. It was pretty late for dinner, and everyone was tired. I went straight to the kitchen to make bread with salami and cut up some fruit, then they went straight into the bathtub to eat there. After they were out, we went through our typical rituals. Sammy fell asleep really quickly. I myself was not only really tired but also really hungry and just wanted the kids to go to bed, but it always takes some time to get everything done. Then they were finally in bed, and Randy sat down with them. I got some leftovers that I warmed up and ate, finally getting to sit down and relax a little. However, I knew I had lots of pictures to go through and a lot to tell about today, and so it's 2 am now and high time to go to bed. It's another long day tomorrow.