Day 1643. I haven't written an update since Monday. It was just a typical week of kindergarten for Sammy, classes in the afternoon, and me teaching in between.
On Tuesday they had their ice-skating class. Sammy and I left to go home half-way through again, when they took their break.
On Wednesday they had their exercise class again, for the first time in a month. They had really been looking forward to it. They had lots of fun doing all kinds of activities. Randy took them there, while I stayed home with Sammy.
On Thursday they had their new dance class for the second time. I like that we get to stay and watch, and so the five of us went there. Sammy was with Randy and me on the side. However, he wanted to be a part of the group of kids and went to them several times to join them. It was really cute. And at one point it looked like he was part of the group, when they all sat on the floor, and one girl was talking to him. She then came to me and asked why he couldn't walk. As for the class itself, they did pretty much what they had done the first class. They did some dancing, some jumping, some stretching, and practiced the somersault and the cartwheel. They had lots of fun, even though they didn't do quite everything. At the end of the semester, they are going to have a performance.
On Friday they did not have any classes, even though the dance class they did last semester is supposed to start again next week - if they have enough kids by then. For me it was the most intense teaching day, teaching an hour in the morning and from 2 to 6 pm in the afternoon.
And today also started with an hour of teaching from 9 to 10 am for me, which was mighty early. I've been going to bed rather late and have enjoyed being able to get some extra sleep on some mornings, even though I then miss that time I could have done office work. Having gone to bed late last night, I knew today was gonna be hard, given what an intense day we were going to have.
After I was done teaching, I helped get the kids ready to leave the house, and at 10 am Randy left with Tammy and Emmy to take them to piano class, while Sammy and I stayed home. I did some scanning for my French students with Sammy constantly needing me, which is why I can't teach, when it's just the two of us at home. Just before noon Randy and the other two kids returned, and a few minutes later we sat down to eat.
Time was short, as we had to leave the house at 1 pm, which we pretty much did. We took the 1:20 pm train, then a tram and reached the church at 1:50 pm. A friend from outside of Vienna had invited us to come to this "Family Encouragement Day", organized by a church we have never yet visited, and we had decided to go. We signed in, paid, and all got name tags. Then we took the elevator up to the top floor.
We all gathered in a big room, where they had put pillows on the floor to sit on. We recognized two other families that we know from other churches. We sat down and waited for the event to start. It started at 2 pm. They greeted us, then told us to pick up the numbers that were under our pillows. There were 60 numbers, representing the seconds of a minute. They then asked us to line up in order of our numbers. Tammy had number 1, Randy 4, then we had a number close to that and one over 20. I switched with Emmy, so he could be near his siblings, while I went to the back of the line with my higher number. Then a young man hit a drum every second, and we had to put our numbers into a box one second at the time. Then we sat back down on our pillows.
But it was time to worship. We did some action songs. Emmy did not want to participate, even though I tried to dance with him. I did some dancing with the other two. Then they did a sketch, showing how hard it is to organize your time correctly, allocating more time to what's important. They did some more talking, which was boring to our kids. Then we were supposed to do some crafts, creating a weekly planner. Tammy was excited about that. We got some paper, stickers, scissors and tape and sat down on the floor to make it. Tammy and Emmy especially enjoyed putting stickers on the paper.
Then it was break time from 3:30 to 4 pm. We took the elevator down to the ground floor, where they had set up some snacks, coffee and drinks. We were among the first ones there. The kids were ready for snacks for sure! We sat down at a table, and they all enjoyed their snacks.
At 4 pm the program continued. They had set up 10 stations around the building for us to do. Each station was a different task, and we ended up doing 9 out of the 10. We started right there on the ground floor, where there were two stations in the sanctuary. Our first task was to put the kids in a wheel barrow and run them through the cones that were set up. I went first, putting Tammy into the wheelbarrow and ran to the end and back. Then we put the boys into the wheelbarrow, and Randy ran them to the end and back.
At the next station we all had to jump as far as possible and had to estimate beforehand what the total would be. I estimated 6 meters. Tammy then jumped first, then Emmy, then I did, and then Randy. We had jumped 5 meters altogether and received a certificate for it.
We went up one floor and to the next station. It was a station to have a fun picture taken of us. They had all kinds of props for us to disguise ourselves with, and I believe it's a great picture that they took of us.
At the next station we were given ropes. We had to hold the ends and make a knot into the ropes without letting go of them. I went over and under a few times, and so did Randy and the kids. Then we had a knot. While we were doing that, Sammy was enjoying the toy kitchen right there.
At the next station we were given long sticks that you could use to grab things with, and we had to lay a table with them. The kids were doing pretty well. In the end she gave us a bottle with water, and we had to open the lid, which is what I did. Then Randy and Emmy poured some water into a cup with it.
Next to that station they had set up a table with blank postcards, and we were supposed to create an encouraging postcard for another family. Since we didn't know anyone there, we made a generic card for any family. It was mainly Tammy and I who made the card.
We had completed all three stations in that room. On the way out, the kids noticed the hammock swings and all three ended up in them swinging for a little bit. It was fun.
Then we headed back up to the top floor, where we had started. Our next task there was to sort playing cards, putting the numbers in order. I pretty much did that all by myself, with a little help from Tammy.
Then we went to a small room, where a lady was waiting for us. She had a table full of cards with Bible verses and words of encouragement, and we were to draw one. We ended up with two. Then she asked what she could pray for us and then she prayed for us.
In the next room they had set up a wellness oasis. A lady led me to a chair, where they had a bowl with warm water set up for foot washing. I sat down, and Tammy said she'd wash my feet. She greatly enjoyed it. After washing them, she dried them, then she applied lotion. Then we switched places, and I washed her feet. Emmy came next, and then Sammy.
Tammy and I sat down so I could paint her nails next - that was the first time ever she got her nails painted. The boys were more interested in the basketball game that was set up and were playing that with Daddy. Tammy chose a pink color and some glitter, then I sat down to paint her nails. She was so happy about i!
We returned to the initial room, where they had the last station that we had not done yet. However, it was something the kids couldn't do yet, and Randy didn't want to do it. And then the time was up anyway. Everyone gathered again for final words and another action song. This time Emmy participated, and I danced with him. What the kids were most excited about was the balloons that they received. But they had really enjoyed all the activitites of the afternoon. It was 6 pm and time to go home.
By 7:10 pm we were back home. It was later than usual, so I warmed up some leftovers for them, then they had their fruit in the bathtub. We got them ready for bed, and even though I was completely beat, I still read them a Bible story, as they cry if I don't. It was a little later than usual by the time they were in bed. Sammy was asleep before I could brush his teeth.
I myself was so tired that I lay down together with Tammy. She was asleep really quickly. After about half an hour I got up and went to the kitchen to start cutting up my salad, which takes half an hour. And so it was nearly 10 pm before I started eating. Starting so late meant that it was 1:30 am before I was done with the pictures and had to leave my report for the next day.
