Day 852. Last night I went to bed at midnight. Unfortunately the girl decided to move into our bed the same time I went to bed, and not long after Emmy came as well. But it was still a good night considering, as they did not wake up much, and Emmy was lying by my feet next to Randy, and so the space in our bed was used well.
We got up at 7 am this morning and went through our usual routine. Feeding the cat, then me making breakfast, and Tammy throwing a fit wanting to sit on my lap to eat. She ate watermelon and my oatmeal with milk, while Emmy also ate some omelet, and Sammy had his baby cereal. After breakfast I cleaned them up and dressed them, and we went to the living room, where we read a Bible story and then opened the last doors in the advent calendars. The Playmobil nativity one had baby Jesus in it today, completing the nativity, the Christmas song one played "Silent Night", and the book one had a little book of people celebrating Christmas. I don't think they really grasp the concept of Christmas yet, and that this is such a special day, but they do know that we're celebrating Jesus's birthday today. I'm looking forward to how they react to all that's gonna go on tonight.
I had brought Tammy's Christmas dress from last year with us and put it on this morning. She wore it for a while, but it's really too hot for Mali. We'll put our new Christmas clothes (pj's) on tonight, but they're also long-sleeved, which only works for the night really. They did all wear their Christmas hats, including me.
I didn't go straight to the back, as I still had to wrap a few Christmas presents. Randy salvaged some melted tea lights, as Paul was not able to find sparklers in Bamako. We'll use the candles instead tonight.
All three were pretty cranky this morning. They all went to see the sheep, and Emmy fell and scraped his knee. We then called Grandma and had a good time with her, and then called my brother, but by then they were not interested in sitting on my lap any more.
I went to the kitchen just after 10 am to make a big pot of soup for lunch that we'll also be able to eat tomorrow. I got it done by 11 and then let it cook until noon, which allowed me to go to work on the computer. I still had the French translation of our newsletter to finish, which I was only able to do while they were all asleep at nap time. They came to sit on my lap and watch a Veggie tale Christmas episode, while I was translating and then left again. It was a constant coming and going. Paul also came by, and we discussed the situation that was brought to my attention yesterday. We'll be praying the next few days and start addressing it on Monday.
Just before noon I poured the soup into their bowls to let it cool for a few minutes, before we sat down to eat. They all ate pretty well today and had yoghurt as well. Then we cleaned them and dressed them, and by 12:40 we put them down for their nap. But of course that's when the fight started. Every day it's a struggle to get them to lie down and sleep. Except for Sammy who usually falls asleep quickly. It was 1:15 before Emmy was asleep, and 1:30 before Tammy fell asleep. I cautiously got up from between them and off the bed. I still had too much to do to take a nap, even though I sure needed one.
I went back to doing office work. At 3:15 Tammy woke up, and with her Sammy. I took them to the living room. Soon Tammy returned, sat on my lap, and was watching animal videos, while I was working. At 4 pm Emmy was STILL asleep, after nearly 3 hours. So I finally woke him up a few minutes later. He stayed on my shoulder for a while, resting, before he finally raised up and woke up all the way.
By then it was 4:30, and we had 90 minutes left until our chicken dinner with everyone. We started moving the furniture around in our living room to make room for the dozens of people joining us tonight. And we had a couple of other preparations to make. The kids were eager to get dressed and leave the house. Just before 6 pm we locked our house to walk over to the dining hall.
Before we could even reach it, the car arrived with all the chicken dinners - 44 in total. Many children had arrived, but not all of them as the kids all had school in the afternoon and could not get to our center that quickly. Amadou had decorated the dining hall earlier in the week - all by himself - and had done an outstanding job. Today they had set up several tables and all our chairs, and we had carried the high chairs over from our house for our children. We took their Christmas clothes off and put them into the chairs. They were asking for food, as it was their regular meal time. The chickens from the restaurant were huge, more than anyone could eat. I gave the kids some fries and chicken meat. Tammy ate the chicken but didn't care much for the fries. For Emmy it was the opposite. Sammy only ate a little and stopped once Daddy got a coke and wouldn't give him any. I didn't want the kids to have coke. All three begged for so long that I finally gave in. I wished I had a picture of the face Sammy made when he tried coke for the first time! It was priceless! Then the others tried, and they also made faces. In spite of that, all three wanted more.
Once the kids were done eating and getting antsy, wanting out of their chairs, we knew it was time to go back to our house. It was about 6:30, and Paul suggested by 7:30 everyone should be able to gather in our living room. We returned to our house, and a few minutes later the non-resident kids that needed to return home all came over at once to pick up their Christmas gifts. I greeted them all and then one after another came up to pick up their goody bag we put together for them in the name of their sponsors. Actually, it was Tammy and Emmy who handed them the bags. Then they all got to pick a chocolate off the Christmas tree, I said good-bye to them all, and they left.
It wasn't long, at 7:15, when everybody else came to our house and filled our living room. Paul's family had finally arrived, and so had Joseph, my prodigal son who surprised me yesterday and who had decided to accept my invitation to join us for Christmas. I was so happy to see him! Paul had left to change into nice clothes and was the last one to join us.
Sammy was also pretty tired and cranky and hard to keep happy. So I told everyone that we would give Sammy his present so he could go to bed, and then we would do our regular program. A smile replaced his crying, when he received his gift, and I helped him open it up. It was a drum! Emmy was immediately at his side wanting to take it. Sammy hit the drum for a while, having fun, and then Randy left with him to put him to bed.
Tammy and Emmy were having fun with the kids, and sitting with different children at different times, when they were not running around. We got started with the program with me asking questions about Christmas. We sang Happy Birthday to Jesus in French and English, and then I talked about Jesus, the light, and us being the light. We could not get sparklers this year, but I still had some melted little tea lights that Randy fixed to the point that you could light them. I lit the first candle, and Paul got the fire from me, and then we all passed the light on from person to person, until every person had a lit candle in their hand. Paul sang a Christmas song, while we did all that. Then we prayed together, expressing our gratefullness to God. I had it on my heart to pray for my returned prodigal Joseph and asked him to come forward. We all laid hands on him, including Emmy who was in my arm, and everyone prayed for him at once. Then I prayed for him and was translated, and then Randy prayed.
Then it was time for the gifts. As it was getting late, the triplets came first so they could go to bed. Emmy went first. He eagerly opened his gift, and his eyes lit up when he saw the Malian guitar, a kita. Paul showed him how to play it. He was so excited! Then it was Tammy's turn. She also opened her present with my help and found some clothes in there. Now that they had opened their gifts they could go to bed, but they had no intention. They wanted to stay and continue having fun. And so we continued on. Every person who was up front opening his present could then choose a chocolate off the Christmas tree. Then that person chose the next gift to hand out, and that new person would come forward to open it. And so everyone got to watch everyone open their gifts. It's so much fun! Every child also received a bag full of goodies in the name of their sponsor. It all takes time, but it's a wonderful time of sharing joy with each other. In fact, we finished earlier tonight than usual, as it was only 9 pm. I prayed a closing prayer and wished everyone a good trip home. Everyone left our house at once and left the mess in our house behind.
We took Emmy and Tammy to the bedroom, where we put them straight to bed. They were pretty active at first, but then it took no time at all to get them to fall asleep. I immediately went to work, knowing I had hundreds of pictures (nearly 500) today, so that I could get as much done tonight as possible. Obviously I cannot get all the pictures done tonight, but at least I've written my report. When Randy went to bed around 11 pm, we moved Tammy and Emmy from our bed to their bed. Tammy soon woke up and climbed back into our bed, where she's now lying in my spot, next to Daddy. It's after midnight, so high time for Mommy to also get some sleep.
