Day 686. Please pray for Randy and me. This new early rise of the kids is simply too much for us physically, shortening our nights by another 2 hours. Last night I went to bed at 12:20 am, and this morning it was only 4:50, when Emmy woke up crying and came into our bedroom, and I picked him up and lay down with him. He slept for another hour, but got up just before 6, and then the others were up as well, and we sat down to breakfast at 6:30. I'm so very tired, once again, I cannot keep my eyes open, so I'll keep writing as long as physically possible and do the pictures tomorrow.
This morning Sammy went to bed just after 9 am and slept for an hour. The other two stayed up until after lunch, but we had lunch at 11 am today. Sonja was so kind to come today. She's now gonna be gone for 8 days, and I honestly don't know how we'll cope without her for that long.
I got to sleep for 90 minutes this morning, as I simply could not go on, but never got another chance later. I put Emmy to bed at noon, but he wasn't ready to sleep, and it took him until 12:30 to fall asleep, which is closer to his regular time. Then I put Tammy to sleep, and some time after 1 pm she fell asleep. I then tried to put Sammy to sleep again, but he did not want to sleep, and so he went back downstairs, where he had Sonja all to himself.
I made their dinner-to-go and got everything ready for church. When Emmy woke up after an hour, Randy sat down with him for a while, then he also went downstairs to be with Sonja. At about 2:15 Randy fed Sammy, and Sonja Emmy, and then we put Sammy to bed, and he slept another hour or so, which he needed. When Tammy woke up, I picked her up and sat in the chair with her. She lay on me for quite a while, and I was very close to falling asleep. Just after 3 pm she went downstairs to be with Sonja, who fed her as well.
Then we started dressing them and left on time at 4 pm to go to church. We took a train, and then a tram, and got to church just before the service started. It was the first time in a very long time that we did not have to wear a mask, but were encouraged to come tested. We already took our test for the swim class on Monday, so that worked out well for us.
Now that we don't have to distance ourselves any more, the rows are tight again with little space, which makes it much harder with the strollers. We went to the side and front, got them out of the strollers, put the ear protectors on them, and went to the front. Some people bring their flags and fabric and let the kids use them. Our three all had fun with them again tonight.
Just after 5:30 I went upstairs to the toddler room with Tammy and Emmy, where we sat down to eat. Emmy refused to eat anything, Tammy ate a little bit and then got busy with all the toys, which allowed me to put food into her mouth. Emmy finally started eating as well. Just berfore 6 pm Randy brought Sammy upstairs, and we sat down on the floor, where the program was gonna start shortly. Everyone sat down in a circle, and then the Mom leading it today did a song greeting each kid. She did some more songs and a teaching, and did a great job. It was the first time Tammy and Emmy actually participated, doing the actions of the songs, and pointing at their nose, for example, when asked to. In the end the leader did some crafts, which was another first for them. They had to tear paper off and put it on another piece of paper that already had glue on it. It was hard for them, but we brought their first artwork home with us.
Then it was playtime. Randy picked up Sammy again, while the others continued playing for a while, having great fun. Then we went back downstairs, where the service ended not long after. Tammy and Emmy were having fun with their friend Anna they hadn't seen in a while, and Sonja also came over one more time to play with them before being gone for 8 days. We exchanged a few words with different people, and left.
We walked to the tram stop and had to wait quite a while for our tram. When we got to the train station, we had once again just missed a train and had to wait for over 20 minutes. Tammy and Emmy came out of the strollers to stand and sit on the bench and have fun. The train that came was one with steps that we had to carry the strollers into together, but at least that train did not stop until we got home. There was another Mom with a stroller, whose daughter was the same age as ours, and they ended up interacting a bit, as well as me talking to her. It was a little one-sided, though, as Tammy and Emmy were trying to interact with the girl who was a little timid and barely reacting.
We were home just after 8 pm, and immediately got them ready for bed. I sat down with them, while we were waiting for our food arrive. The girl got upset, whenever I tried to leave. I was already so very tired. And the food arrived 45 minutes late, which is unheard of. The delivery guy called me three times asking how to find us, when every other delivery guy has found us without any problems, after the restaurant itself had first called me at the time the food should have already been here, asking when we had wanted it.
It was 9:15 pm before we had our food. We sat down by the computer to watch a movie and eat. Unfornuately neither one was that great. I was somewhat bored, and getting so tired that my eyes would not stay open. I'm amazed that I was able to finish my report, but then, I can type blind. :-)
