23 months 15 days

Day 715. Last night I quit writing before I was done and went to bed at 12:45 am, because I just couldn't go on. Today I've been in really bad shape, and even right now I'm trying to get this done as quickly as possible and head to bed early.

I don't even know how early it was today, when Tammy came, and then Emmy. At some point I get Sammy who is unhappy being the only one in bed and left out, and once Emmy insists on food, I get up to make their breakfast. Then Randy gets up and puts Sammy on the floor near me, and starts changing their diapers and then putting them into their chairs. I gave Emmy and Tammy some milk, and some banana, and then they were already asking for salami and cheese, so I gave them some. Once in their chairs, they did not want to eat cereal or fruit. It wasn't long before I got them out, cleaned them up and dressed them, and we went downstairs.

The internet stopped working last night, when lightning struck very close, and is still not back. So no Alexa is working right now, and so no worship music. I still got the instruments out and just sang myself to worship God. Then I got the Bibles down, and we all looked at them. I had more time with them this morning, as Randy ran to the store to hand in our Corona test kits. After they were done with the Bibles, I lay down on the couch because I was so tired. But it's never long before they need me to do something for them. First they wanted to swing, then they wanted the table and chairs, and then they wanted paper and crayons, but I was too tired for that. It wasn't long after that that Randy returned, and I was able to leave.

It was 8:45, when I went upstairs, cleaned up, and all I wanted to do was sleep. But the Mobile Support Lady comes at 9 am, and so I had to stay awake to open the door for her. I finally lay down, and at 9:15 she was still not here, and I could not stay awake any longer and only had just over an hour left to sleep which was too little. She never came; Randy told me later that she was gonna be on vacation some time in August, but he wasn't aware that it had started. In any case, I slept that hour and had an extremely hard time getting up to cook, but I had no choice. And I could hear Tammy cry and cry downstairs and went to get her as soon as my cooking allowed for it. Of course Emmy had to come as well. They pulled a chair into the kitchen to stand on to watch me cook. After a while Randy and Sammy came upstairs as well, and at 11 am we were ready to sit down to eat.

Tammy and Emmy started well, eating their pasta, but hadn't eaten much, when they were done. They wanted out of their chairs, so I got them out. I let them know there was not gonna be any icecream or other food. I cleaned them up, did NOT put their clothes on, and took them to their beds. Now especially Emmy was not happy about that at all. And suddenly they wanted back into their chairs and continued eating. It was so unexpected that I was taken off guard and was surprised. They ate quite a bit more, and then they got icecream and yoghurt and pudding. Then I cleaned them up again, put their clothes on, and put the boys to bed, and Randy went downstairs with Tammy. It took me a while to get Emmy to sleep, around noon, and then I put Tammy to bed. I asked Randy to sit by her bed to keep her from waking her brothers up. But Daddy fell asleep, when the girl didn't, so it did not work out as planned. She kept talking and moving and playing instead of sleeping, and before I knew it, her brothers were awake after less than an hour, and she hadn't even slept yet. But she was really tired. Randy went downstairs with the boys, and she threw a fit, wanting her Daddy. There was no getting her to sleep now, and she did not want to sleep on me, only on Daddy. We only had an hour left until leaving the house, and she really needed to get some sleep. The only option was to take her downstairs, where she ran to her Daddy and fell asleep on his chest.

Extremely tired or not, I did the cleanup and got everything ready for our departure. Just before 2 pm I went downstairs to get them all to come up, we dressed them, and left the house just after 2 pm. We took the subway and then a train and got to the swimming pool early. Sonja was already waiting for us there. They immediately wanted to play with the water there, so we took their clothes off and let them have fun. Sammy wanted to be a part too, so I finally took his clothes off too and let him stand where he could put his hands into the water, and he greatly enjoyed it. When the swim teacher came outside to check our tests, we gathered them up and went inside. A few minutes later we were in the pool.

It was their last class. Now they have a 2-month break, and early October they start a new swim class at another pool with a new swim school. Emmy surprised me today, when he walked into the water with me and showed no fear whatsoever at first. He also jumped into the water from the side of the pool, no problem at all. But it wasn't long before it changed again. As for Tammy, having only slept half an hour instead of two became an issue, as she was simply tired and therefore not as into it. But they really all did great. This was a class that was more like us just going swimming, no structure or real teaching, so I'm looking forward to a real class in fall. It was still worth it, getting them used to water again.

After we left the pool, we did not put their clothes back on, only the shoes, and then headed to where the water is coming out of the ground, which they love so much. It was their last opportunity to play there. However, when we got there, there was no water coming out anywhere, and they were checking the openings out and were clearly disappointed. We waited a little and then decided to dress them and go home. Sonja was still with us at that point, but had to leave a few minutes later. Just after having taking their swim trunks off, the water came back on. So we decided to just let them play naked, instead of putting them back on, and they had the greatest time, as always. Twice the same dog came to play as well, which amused them. When we finally decided it was time to go home, Sammy was so upset he was screaming again in protest. The others took it better, thankfully. We dried them off and put their clothes back on, and so they could at least go home dry.

We walked to the train station and got on a train. Emmy and Tammy came out of the strollers to sit on a seat. At that point I could not keep my eyes open any longer and was nearly passed out, just barely doing the basic necessities. We got off and took the subway home. They now always want to walk from the subway station home, so I had held their hands, one on each side, and we walked home.

It was nearly 5:30, when we got home. I honestly did not know how I was gonna make their food, as I could not even open my eyes and my head was hurting, but I did it anyway. They again put a chair in the kitchen, and ate the food I put on their plates right away. Once most everything was on their plates, they went into their chairs to eat. But they hardly ate anything more at that point. They were tired and cranky and wanted out. And I felt incapable of going on. I had already told Randy I was not able to do the bathtub with them today. Once it was clear they were not eating anything else, I washed them off in the sink, brushed their teeth, and we put their pj's on and put them to bed. I sat down by their beds, while Randy left to pick up a second-hand item. I was in such bed shape. I closed my eyes and hoped they'd go to sleep easily. Emmy was pretty easy tonight and was asleep by 6:30, which is really early. They're not usually in bed this early. But Tammy was a different story. She was on her feet and active, and continued for quite a long time. Finally she lay down and fell asleep as well, and I walked away.

I was too tired to make myself something to eat, so I just grabbed something easy. I could not take any light, ate, and started feeling a bit better, more able to open my eyes. I still haven't finished the French translation, and I never got to work on it tonight. As time went on the tiredness got worse again, as well as the ability to keep my eyes open. Now I still have to do the dishes, but am just not gonna clean the floors in the dining room tonight, and go to bed instead. Please pray for me.