5 years 1 month 18 days

Day 1875. Yesterday was a very long day for us. We all left the house together at 10 am and took the subway downtown, then walked to the kids' music school. Their class started at 10:30 am. Two kids were missing, so there were only 4 of them, plus Sammy and the parents. The teacher did the greeting song, then they went straight to work and worked until the end of the lesson. No more dances and singing and fun like last semester, with their previous teacher. It's also a shame that this new teacher does not give them a chance to show off what they've practiced all week. I think that would be valuable for the kids. He only comments on when he looks at their assignment books at how many minutes they've practiced this past week and says "amazing".

They did a few new things again. They learned to play the song "Hot Cross Buns" with the left hand as well, after having practiced it with the right hand. And they learned what stepping and what skipping is, even though it was hard for them to grasp. At home I was able to explain it to them in such a way that they could understand it.

Randy and Sammy left the room rather early and stayed outside where they have some children's books to look at. Before the story that ends the class, the teacher had them sing the song we've been practicing for a few weeks already. After the teacher had done the story, the class was over, and the kids received their sticers of the week and stamps for the assignment book.

We left the school and took the tram for two stops, then got on a different subway line that we rode for a few stops.  Then we walked to McDonald's for our weekly meal there.

After we'd had a good time at McDonald's, we left there rather early to cross the square to the swimming pool. We paid and walked around the building to the door for those in wheelchairs. We changed and walked into the pool area to sit down near where the previous class was having their lesson. As we were earlier than usual, we still had about 20 minutes before our class was to start. I saw a beach bed there and as I was very tired, I lay down on it. Emmy then joined me, and so did Sammy. Then I realized they hadn't practiced their leg movements all week, and so we did a quick round of reviewing them.

At 1:30 pm their swim class started. The water was as cold as ever. I actually bought Sammy some neoprene socks/shoes for his feet to keep him even warmer.

First, after the greeting song, they had to swim, with a noodle, picking up balls and taking them to a bowl. They were supposed to do the leg movements, but didn't. Then she already took the whole class to the warm-water kids' pool. She said she was going to teach them diving today. That's something our kids already really good at, including Sammy, so it was easy and fun for them. In the end she did the good-bye song, and we left right away as our day was not over yet.

We changed into our clothes again and left the building to walk to the subway and go home. By 3:10 pm we were back home. I was so very tired I couldn't even keep my eyes open. But we only had just under an hour at home, which was very little. I still lay down for twenty minutes, at the expense of being able to make them some dinner to take to church with us. I had just enough time to get them all dressed and get us ready to leave the house on time. I also had to grab our Mali bag for the table we were going to set up at church.

We took the 4:20 pm train and then the subway, then walked to church, where we arrived early for the 5 pm service. That was perfect, as they had to set up a table for me, where I could put all our Mali staff. I also had to give the tech guy my pictures and explain to her what I was going to do with them. Then the service started.

We were sitting in the first row to the side. At first only Tammy and Sammy were on the floor having fun during worship, while Emmy was sitting on a chair. Later he also joined them. I greatly enjoyed watching Tammy and Sammy interact with each other and having fun. Sammy really has a special connection with Tammy, and Tammy loves playing with him.

After worship and some other stuff, it was time for the kids to leave to go to their kids' program. Randy left with the children, while I stayed in the sanctuary. It didn't take long until it was my turn to go up front and give an update on Mali.

I talked about the flooding, and the jihadist attack, all the repair we've got to do, and the school expenses, all while the pictures were being shown on the big screen. I had a good time. At the end, the pastor prayed for Mali, and I sat back down.

I sat down in the back by my table, which was perfect, as I was too tired to keep my eyes open. The previous senior pastor preached, and I enjoyed it. Close to the end of the service, Randy and Sammy walked in and came to me, but they didn't stay long. When the service actually ended, I was by the table on my own for a while before my little helpers arrived. I gave them a stack of brochures to hand out each, and they did a great job, as always. I talked to a few people, then we packed up and left to go home. It was already 7:30 pm.

We walked through the mall and took the subway to the train station, then took the train. Thankfully we didn't have to wait long anywhere, and so we were already home by 8:15 pm. Still, it was past their bedtime, so we got them ready for bed as quickly as possible.

Today it was finally Sunday, our day of rest, at least compared to the rest of the week. Even Randy gets up later than usual, though the kids get up as early as always. After they'd had breakfast, he took them downstairs to play, while I finally had some quiet to sleep a little longer. I never heard the little concerrt they played downstairs. Tammy wanted to have the instruments, and then all three played as many instruments as possible at the same time. The video is hilarious.

Eventually I also got up and went straight to the kitchen to make lunch. I could hear Randy teach the boys how to play baseball downstairs, but he had his hands full so that he could not take any pictures. I could hear that he was saying how great their were throwing or hitting the ball.

At noon we sat down to eat, then Randy and Tammy got ready to leave the house and did so at 1 pm. He took her to her climbing class. She greatly enjoys climbing and has fun at the class. The boys had fun staying home with Mommy, and they both stayed close to me. I put a comforter down on the floor that Sammy wanted to lie on, and then he wanted Emmy to lie right next to him, which he did. Often Emmy does not want to play with his brother, but when he does, he's very sweet with him, and I love watching them together.

It was amazing that Sammy never had the need to call Daddy, which he usually does. Randy and Tammy returned earlier than usual at 3 pm. I had already done piano practice with Emmy, while they were gone, but now it was Tammy's turn. And so we did part 1 upstairs, then went downstairs to the piano, where Tammy did that part. Then she went to play, just like her brothers were doing, while I returned to my computer to do some office work for Mali.

After a while I remembered that I still had a box with three experiments for them waiting to be done. So I grabbed it and took it downstairs. Tammy and Emmy were very excited, when they saw it. We sat down and did one experiment after another. Emmy got really upset, when he did something wrong so that the experiment wasn't working any more.

After we were done, I went back upstairs again to continue working on the computer. Some time after 5 pm they also came upstairs. At 6 pm I started making their food, which starts our evening routine. Tonight they ended up in bed a little earlier than usual, which was okay.