27 months 2 days

Day 825. Last night I was thankful that everybody was sleeping and no one waking up, thank God. We headed to bed just before midnight, and it was a good but short night. Tammy came at some point, and Emmy came in the early morning hours, and then they were up really early today, way too early. Unfortunately they made quite a mess, tearing a lot down in the bathroom, and even getting stuff out of kitchen drawers which they hadn't done before. At 7 am I got up to put an end to it all and make breakfast.

After breakfast we went downstairs, where I got their Bibles out, and we read a few stories. Then I started praying, and Emmy immediately put his arms up so I'd pick him up and pray for him, which I did. Tammy came next. We were interrupted, and Sammy never got his turn. When Randy came, I went upstairs to start working.

I worked until 9:30, and then Randy came up with the kids. We dressed them and got ready to leave. We were about done, when the doorbell rang, and Sonja arrived. Emmy especially was so happy to see her! Together we all left and walked to the bus stop. Emmy was walking with Sonja, and then I got Tammy out of the stroller as well. Yesterday it snowed for the first time this winter, and the snow was still on the grass today, and so they were curious and touched it. Last year they were still pretty small.

We got on the bus, rode a few stops, got off and walked the few steps to the pharmacy where we had registered to take a Covid test - all five of us. Paul let me know that the kids also needed a negative test to enter Mali. They have all taken one before at the pediatrician's, when they were sick. We haven't taken a test at that pharmacy very often, as we usually do it at home, but it was the first time that there was a line, and it's all outside on the street. The wait time was longer than expected, but finally it was our turn. I gave them the papers and our cards and got tested first. We all got throat swabs. Emmy came next, and he did great, then Tammy, then Sammy, and then Randy. Sonja also took advantage of the opportunity. Then we went back to the bus stop to go back home. Once again we were sitting on seats, Tammy, Emmy, Sonja and I, and we got off at the final stop. Tammy and Emmy were walking again. When we reached the big grassy area, they went onto the grass to explore the snow for a few minutes. I made a few balls; it was more frozen water/ice anyway, so easy to make a ball with it. Then Tammy got unhappy; I believe because her hands were so cold from the snow. We walked on to return home.

It was 11 am, and they went downstairs, where they had fun with Sonja. I could hear them laugh and have fun the whole time. As 11:30 was approaching, I started making lunch for us all, and at noon they came upstairs to eat. I was happy to see Emmy eat well, while Tammy barely ate, as usual. Emmy always wants to use the big, adult spoon though, and even put it into Sonja's plate to get food out. As we still had quite a few puddings the day before our last day in Vienna, they both got to eat puddings. Sammy also ate his special pudding - in the bathtub. They were all having fun there.

When we got them out, Emmy immediately started saying "unten" (downstairs). As it was not quite 12:30 yet, I agreed for him to go downstairs for 15 minutes to play with Sonja. At 12:45 Randy went to get him, and he was not happy at all. I sat down by his bed, and he fell asleep right away. At 1 pm it was Tammy's turn, and she also fell asleep quickly.

I went downstairs, after having received some challenging news, and started packing the last two suitcases to do some physical labor and get away from the computer. I don't spend much time in my office downstairs any more, so it was good to get some things done there. I also enjoyed spending time with Sonja and talking to her. Randy had left to run some last errands. Some time after 2 pm I suddenly heard Sammy crying and went upstairs to get him and bring him downstairs. I held him a little bit before Sonja took him. It wasn't long before Emmy got up as well and I went to get him. The first thing he said was to go downstairs to be with Sonja. I took him downstairs and then went back up to return to my computer to work. At 3 pm I stopped the ocean waves and started calling Tammy's name to wake her up. She had already slept 2 hours. After a few minutes she got up and I took her downstairs, together with their afternoon snacks. Sonja got the animal stamps out and the kids started stamping on paper. But not for long. Then they wanted to watch Barbapapa, and I let them and left them with my phone.

I went upstairs and continued working. At 5 pm I started making their food. After half an hour I was done and went downstairs to tidy up with them. However, it was Sonja and I who tidied up as we could not motivate them to help. Once we were done, we went upstairs to eat.

Their plates were already on their place mats. I just had to put the soup into their bowls. Usually they eat their soup right away, but tonight Tammy didn't even eat her soup, nor anything else. Emmy ate his soup and quite a bit from his plate, while Tammy was already running around - naked as she had already taken her diaper off to go into the bathtub. I decided to encourage her to use the potty, and so we went to the bathroom and she sat down. She stayed there a while, but never peed. Maybe we'll try to start potty training after we return from Mali.

It wasn't long before Emmy was also ready to go into the bathtub. Thankfully they do eat a lot more when Sonja feeds them there, than when I do. Sammy did really well eating, eating all his fruit, while having fun with the faucet. Emmy and Tammy were really wild tonight, having fun with Sonja, and my dress was soaked, at least on the side that was facing the bathtub. I was sitting on the edge of it and holding Sammy up, while feeding him.

After a while Sammy came out first, and then the other two, and we got them ready for bed. We put them to bed, and Sonja went downstairs to get her stuff. When she came back upstairs, she walked over to the kids' beds to say good-bye for two months. Emmy ran to her and stretched his arms out to be picked up. She hugged him and put him back down, and then it was Tammy's turn. She put her back to bed, and I got Sammy out of bed to say good-bye. The whole situation was really moving, as they are all so attached to Sonja, and Sonja to them. She told me later that she was holding back tears and cried after leaving our house. The kids waved good-bye to her as she walked away and left. I'm gonna miss her too, and so will the kids.

I sat down with the kids who were rather active, all three of them. Emmy loves talking, especially before falling asleep, and he's been talking about Mali a lot, especially as our departure nears. Tonight he was talking about the sheep and cats in Mali again, and he talks about the kids in Mali being hungry. Tonight he said that he was gonna give them food, and he was all excited about it. It was really touching.

Randy and I switched a few times. Emmy fell asleep first, but Sammy was still doing his thing, making sounds and then laughing at his sister's reaction. Tammy was nearly asleep, while Sammy was still doing this and laughing and laughing. It took a long time before it finally ended and they fell asleep. I had to leave them, so Sammy didn't have me as an audience any more.

I got myself something to eat and went back to work. I've been pretty tired, so I hope to go to bed rather early than late today. Tomorrow is our last day and still plenty of time to finish packing.