Day 1636. This morning my alarm went off at 8:15. Of course Sammy was up early, as usual, then Emmy was up, and Tammy last. Eventually Randy got up and made breakfast for them. Then I got up and got ready for my 9 am student. Randy took the kids downstairs before then and returned upstairs with them just as I was finishing my lesson at 9:50. Then we got ready to leave the house and left at 10 am.
We took the subway, then walked to their music school. It was raining a little bit. There were lots of children inside the music school, as we made our way to the classroom. It was the first session of the second semester, a new class, the continuation of the last one, with the same teacher, but mostly other kids. Today there were three other children in the class. We sat down in the back, and the teacher did the greeting song, going from child to child. Then she asked the kids to come to the front, where she did a little play with the mouse and the lion, with each one representing one hand. Then they sat back down, and she had them play low, middle or high tones on the piano. Next she gave them the finger tappers and did her usual song with it to practice using each finger of the hand. Then she had them put different colored stickers on Do-Re and Mi on their pianos, and then play them. Everyone went back to the front, where she did a song and dance with them. I had Sammy every time they went forward, as Randy also went forward, just like the other parents did. Sammy wanted to see pictures of his favorite teacher at kindergarten who I had two pictures of. And so he looked at those pictures the whole time.
In the end they sat down in the front to listen to a story the teacher was telling. Then she did the good-bye song, and the kids grabbed their sticker book and lined up to get their sticker of the week. Then we put their shoes and coats back on and left the music school.
We walked back to the subway, rode it for three stops, and got off the walk the short distance to McDonald's for our weekly meal there. I placed the order on the screen, then Randy picked it up. We sat down and had a good time eating. Then we walked back to the subway and rode it home. By 12:45 we were back home. I was really tired. I made the room dark and asked the kids to lie down in their beds - with their tablets, of course. Eventually I got to lie down as well and fell asleep. After half an hour the alarm woke me up. It was time to get up and put their costumes on. Our goal was to leave at 2:15 pm, and we left just a few minutes later than that.
We walked to the subway and had to discover that both elevators were not working. That was just what we needed! We had to walk all the way to the other end of the train station, where there was another elevator. In the end we had missed two subways because of it, and now it was way later than I had wanted to leave. We rode the subway to the end, then got on a tram that thankfully arrived right away. After getting off, it was just a short walk to where the party was taking place. We were only 5 minutes late, which was less than I had expected. However, there was a line of people outside the building, and the doors were closed. This party had no online pre-registration as do others, and they had warned online that they would close the doors once their capacity was reached. And that was the case now. They were full; there was no more room for anybody else. There was just a bunch of upset parents standing outside because they wouldn't let them in. We had no choice but to leave. The kids were not happy, especially Emmy. We then made the decision to go to church instead. We hadn't been there in way too long anyway because of sickness, vacation and events. And so we took the tram to the subway, then rode the subway to another subway, and got to church perfectly on time. The service was starting at 4 pm.
We enjoyed worship for a few songs. I was holding Sammy, who was moving his arms with the music, which was fun to watch. Then the teachers who were doing the kids' program that day took Tammy and Emmy to the back and gave them fabric to wave. I followed with Sammy. And then it was already time to go to the kids' room for the program. The five of us followed them there; there was only one other kid there today, in this group from age 4 to 10.
The lady in charge started with the Bible story teaching right away. Sammy wanted to have the little horse he can sit on, and so I left to get a key to go get it out of the other kids' room. After giving it to Sammy, I returned the key and sat down in the sanctuary to be a part of the service. I occasionally checked my phone, as Sammy usually calls for me, when I'm not there. And then Randy called me for that very reason. And so I left the sanctuary and returned to the kids' room.
The teaching part was over, and they were just starting to give the kids something to eat. Then they got a puzzle out that they did together, which was actually a game they played for a a little while. Then the teacher showed them a short video on the Bible story of the day. Next came the part that Tammy was excited about - coloring. Emmy, however, does not like to color at all and got up to play with something else. They left and got some lego for them to play with, and Tammy joined him after she was done coloring. Sammy also ended up coloring.
At 6 pm we left the room to return to the sanctuary. The service went on for a few more minutes, then we finally got to say hello to a few people that were coming out. We didn't talk or stay long, but said our good-byes and left.
We walked back to the subway and rode it to the train station. We were lucky, as we only had about 10 minutes to wait for our train. At first we stayed down by the subway, where it's warmer, and played together. The kids tried to catch me, and had me catch them. Then we went to the platform and rode the 7 pm train home. A few minutes later we were home.
I warmed up some food for the kids right away, then made them bread with salami and cut up some fruit. They ate at the table, then we gave them a quick wash and put their pj's on. Sammy quickly fell asleep, as it was already 8 pm. The other two were tired as well, but insisted on a Bible story, and so I read them one. Then I prayed for them and lay down with them in my bed for a few minutes. Emmy then went to his own bed, while Tammy stayed. After a few more minutes I got up to go to the kitchen to make my salad. Once I was done, I carried Tammy to her bed and sat down to eat. After having eaten, I started working on today's pictures. Now it's 1:40 am and time for bed. Thank God we're not going anywhere in the morning.
