5 years 2 months 8 days

Day 1895. Yesterday was a holiday, but the kids are always up early, and they make it very difficult to sleep, as they keep coming and keep complaining about each other. Eventually Randy took them downstairs, and I was finally able to sleep. I was surprised, when I heard them come back upstairs and it was already noon. I went to the kitchen right away to make the lentil soup I had planned. And so it was close to one pm before we sat down to eat.

After lunch I did piano practice with Emmy after having prepared for my afternoon students. I then taught from 3 to 4 pm, then went downstairs to do piano practice with Tammy. At 4:30 pm I had my next student. After I was done, I went to the kitchen to make dinner for the kids, which started our evening routine.

This morning Sammy was up early as usual, around 6 am. Emmy then got up as well, and soon Tammy joined them. Randy and I stayed in bed for a while before Randy got up as well to make breakfast for them. I wanted to get more sleep, but the kids kept coming to me for various reasons. Only once Randy took them downstairs did I get some more sleep. But I was up earlier today, already at 9:30 am. I then went downstairs to practice piano with the kids, while Randy went to the grocery store. I then stayed downstairs with them, and Tammy wanted to look at the very first photobook of my pregnancy and their first weeks on earth. I ended up reading what was written, which they had not heard before, and especially Tammy really enjoyed it. Sammy preferred looking at the January photobook of our winter vacation.

Once Randy came home, we went upstairs, and I warmed up yesterday's soup. After we were done eating, I sat down at the computer to prepare for my 1 pm student. I then taught until just before 2 pm, then we started getting ready to leave the house at 2:15 pm.

We then took the subway downtown and had to get off at the final stop. And then something happened I had never seen my whole life. The subway driver went too far so that the first one and a half cars were inside the tunnel, past the subway stop. We sat there for a few minutes before the driver finally made an announcement that he would let us get off in a few minutes. Tammy started panicking and crying. I tried to calm her down, telling her the driver was just gonna go to the other end of the train and drive it a few meters back into the station. But she would not be comforted and continued crying. The driver finally got off and walked by us, then continued on to the other end of the train. But it took a long time before the train started moving. It stopped in the station, and we were able to open the doors and get off. Only then did Tammy stop crying. 

We went to the tram and rode it for a few stops. There was a demonstration going on right there, when we got off the tram. It was against fur coats. We started walking in the direction of the icecream shop, where we were gonna meet with our friends. It was quite the walk, and I was getting tired. We were late because of the subway, but so were our friends, so it worked out perfectly. We were lucky to get two tables, as we were quite a big group. Tammy and Emmy sat with our friends' son and had lots of fun with him. They chose children's icecream compositions, while Sammy got three different flaviors that he shared with Daddy. I had sugar for the first time in three weeks, since I got sick, eating my favorite composition that I hadn't had in at least two years, and I enjoyed it. And I enjoyed catching up with my friend.

We were done, but we still had some time before having to go to church. So we decided to walk together in the direction of a different subway stop that we needed. Then we said our good-byes.

We got on the subway and rode it for quite some time. Then we got off, walked through the mall, and got to church just after the service had started at 5 pm. We were lucky to get some seats in the first row to the side. I was enjoying the time of worship, but I was also gonna do something I had never done before. They have cards where you can write prayer requests and praise reports that you then put into a box. Later in the service they get the cards out and pray or share the praise reports. For the first time I got a card and wrote on it my need for healing. Tammy then dropped the card into the box for me.

After some time of worship, the pastor's wife asked those who had a need for healing or other stuff to come forward, so I went to the front. Emmy and Sammy were already standing in the front, to the side of the stage. The pastors' Mom came to stand with me and pray for me, and her husband also prayed for a few minutes. Tammy came and sat down by my feet and put her hands on me to also pray for me. Emmy then also came and did the same. And God touched me.

Then I sat back down. I was extremely tired. Once the time of worship ended after about an hour, Randy and the kids left to go to the kids' program. I stayed in my seat and had to close my eyes during preaching, struggling with falling asleep.

The service ended just before 7 pm. I stayed in my seat and got to talk to a few people, which was nice. Then the kids returned and shared what they had learned. Finally it was time to leave, as it was late for the kids. While they'd had some snacks, the kids were saying that they were still hungry. I was tired and did not want to sit down at the McDonald's we passed. So we ordered some food and took it with us. The kids started eating right away, as we were walking to the subway. After we got off the subway, we sat down on the steps there and finished the food. We still had 20 minutes before the train was leaving.  After we were done, we went up to the platform and then took the 7:57 pm train to go home. I had started reading the McDonald's storybook to them on the platform and continued on the train.

Just before 8:15 pm we were back home. Tammy was so tired she started crying and wouldn't stop. We were getting them ready for bed as quickly as possible. I prayed for them and put them to bed. I stayed with Tammy for a while to comfort her. Randy then sat down with the kids.I turned my computer on, worked on today's pictures, and then started writing my report. I still have to do the dishes before going to bed.

At midnight Randy went to bed, and I decided to look for the kids' birthday T-shirts as we need them for the yearly photoshoot tomorrow morning. I ended up sorting clothes until 1 am, but I found all three shirts. Then I finally went to the kitchen to load the dishwasher before going to bed.