Day 1862. I was surprised how extremely tired I was all day today - after a long weekend and another short night. I dressed the kids for kindergarten in the morning, then lay down for more sleep, after Randy left with them. I had a phone call that interrupted my sleep, but continued sleeping until my alarm woke me at 9:30 am. I got up to get ready for my 10 am student and taught until 11 am. All I wanted to do was to lie back down. I put a pizza into the oven to share with Randy, which was all the energy I had to "cook". I stayed in bed, my eyes closed, even until after Randy left to go pick up Sammy. A few minutes later I actually ate my pizza.
At 12:40 Sammy came home, and Randy left again to go pick up the other kids. Sammy loves playing with his toy vaccuum cleaner and played with it for quite a long time. I talked with him all the time and was glad that I didn't have to get up for the longest time. Until I did. I gave Sammy some food, and had some more fun with him, making him laugh and giggle. I also prepared for my 2:30 pm student, and I made their bread with salami for dinner, so we could take it with us.
At about 2:20 pm Randy and the kids came home, and they soon all went downstairs to play.
I finished teaching at 3:20 pm and went downstairs so the kids could do their piano practice. After they had each done about 5 minutes, I dressed both Tammy and Emmy for their classes - Tammy for ballet and Emmy for soccer. Then Tammy and I went upstairs to get ready to leave the house together.
At about 3:50 pm we left the house. It wasn't as cold as yesterday with the sun shining strong, but we had our winter coats on. We took the subway, then the bus, and got to dance school plenty early. I got her clothes and shoes off and put her dancing shoes on. The previous class was not over yet. Once it was and the people had left, we went inside.
Tammy had been at that class once a month ago, but the kids' schedule has had a lot of movement since then. The way this school works, you can always join in in the first week of the month, and that was today, so it was her second time at a ballet class ever. Tammy had a new dress on and was very excited. After a few more minutes, more children had arrived, and the class started at 4:30 pm.
There were about two three-year-olds who were clearly too young for the class, some four and some five-year-olds like Tammy. There was another girl who had a dress that was nearly identical to Tammy's. She was also five years old, and Tammy immediately connected with her, and the two girls stayed together the whole time.
The teacher was Ukranian and was doing an excellent job teaching the kids. It was playful, but she also got a lot of teaching of positions done, and it was still interesting and fun for the kids. Of course it was all new to Tammy, but she did a remarkable job learning fast. And she had fun the whole time. I enjoyed watching her joy and watching her dance. I'm glad the parents were allowed to stay in the room. There was even a one-year-old sibling running around the whole room, which makes me hope that Sammy can also be there and have fun.
The class ended just before 5:30, which was when Emmy's soccer class started. Randy left with both boys just before 5 pm. They took the subway, then walked a little to the school where the soccer class was taking place. The class only started today, and Emmy had been looking forward to it for a long time. He's really passionate about soccer and plays at home all the time as well. He also plays a soccer game on his tablet and talks about soccer all the time. As you can imagine, he was really excited about the class starting.
It was a small group of kids with several trainers, and Emmy had lots of fun. He even scored a goal. It was Sammy who did not have any fun. Somehow he couldn't play with any balls on the side, and he was crying because he couldn't be with Emmy. Randy called me just before the class was over because Sammy was crying so hard, but even I couldn't calm him down on the video call.
Tammy and I got home at about 6 pm. She had eaten her bread on the way home and had some chicken soup at home. I then cut up fruit for her and the boys. The boys returned home at 7 pm, and the kids all went into the bathtub right away, where they ate their fuit. I was time-conscious as I had an 8 pm student, so I tried to keep the bathtub shorter than usual. That way there was still enough time for a short story, then I prayed for them and put them to bed.
At 8 pm I sat down at my computer to teach until 9 pm. Then I got myself something to eat. After I was done, I started working on today's pictures. Now it's nearly 1 am and I still have to take care of the kitchen before going to bed.
