Day 1095. Last night it was 1:30 before I made it to bed, but then Emmy came, and in the end it was closer to 2 am before I fell asleep. This morning they were up at 7 am as usual, and they all stayed up, including Sammy, while I kept getting up. I made them aware of the birthday balloons lying around, and their birthday t-shirts on their chairs. And I turned a video on for them to watch - something we never do at this time of day, but it was a special day after all. I lay back in bed, on and off, until 8 am. Then I got up to make breakfast.
We were having breakfast, when the doorbell rang, and the cleaning lady arrived who comes about every 3 weeks. I cleaned them up and dressed them, and they went downstairs with Randy, and so I didn't get to see their reaction to the Paw Patrol HAPPY BIRTHDAY sign that we had hung up last night. I then started tidying up, while the cleaning lady started cleaning. It all took me quite some time before I could sit down at the computer to work. At 11 am I called Paul to get an update on what's going on in Mali. I'm already late writing my monthly thank you letter which I hopefully get to do this weekend. It was good catching up with him.
I had asked the kids what they wanted to eat for lunch on their birthday, and the answer was "McDonald's". And so I ordered in from McDonald's. It already arrived at 11:45, and as the cleaning lady had just gone downstairs, Randy and the kids came upstairs to eat. However, this virus we've all had this past week had hit Randy last and today was his worst day. He decided to lie down instead of eating with us. And so the kids ate their fries, and the boys had some hamburger meat with cheese as well, which Tammy even refuses to try. Then they all had icecream. After cleaning them up and dressing them, they all stood in Emmy's bed and watched a video. At 1:15 I put them to bed for their nap.
I had been telling them for the past week that the pacifiers would be gone once they turn 3 years old, and in fact, I had removed them all. I told them they were all going to the new baby in Mali who doesn't have any. Paul's third child is due in about a week. Now that it was time to sleep they couldn't care less about the Malian baby. I let them whine for a while, but then let the boys have one pacifier each (Emmy always needed 3 to sleep). It was the only way to get them to sleep. At 1:30 I was able to walk away and start getting everything ready for their party.
Randy had gotten up as well and went downstairs to blow all the balloons up with helium. However, he could never make it work and so we ended up blowing them all up with air instead. Then I carried the cake downstairs and put it on the table that I had put the Peppa Pig tablecloth on. I got all the Peppa Pig and Paw Patrol figurines I had bought and started putting them on top of the cook. I also had a HAPPY BIRTHDAY sign on a string that I stuck on the cake; it was hanging above the cake, which looked great. I put out the Peppa Pig and Paw Patrols plates and napkins and got all the other stuff needed. Then I heard Emmy on top of the stairs already. It was only 2:15, so he had not slept long. I went upstairs and then heard Sonja arrive downstairs. Great timing! She came upstairs and stayed in the entry with Emmy. I got them a book to read, and turned the coffee on. Sammy then woke up as well, and soon Tammy had joined the others. Just before 3 pm my Mom arrived and completed the number of people present at 3 pm, which was the starting time. She stayed upstairs with them, while I went downstairs to get everything ready for them to come. I lit the candle and the sparklers and called for them to come downstairs. They were staring at the cake, while we were singing HAPPY BIRTHDAY. I had to stop Emmy from blowing out the candle too early, and later he complained that it had been Sammy alone who had blown it out. It wasn't even clear to me on the video who had done it. After we were done singing, the kids immediately started grabbing figurines and removing them from the cake. The cake had turned out really nicely and intrigued them more than anything else. They took some time exploring it, and then exploring the room with all the plain and special balloons. Then Tammy saw the first gift and opened it right away. It was something like a flashlight that you could put different caps on on top that created pictures of Peppa Pig, when you shone the light. Tammy really liked it, but it soon disappeared. Then they opened their uncle's gift who was not coming. Next came Sonja's gift, which was a game they haven't tried out yet. Then they removed the cover of my gift and found a Peppa Pig drumset. Emmy's eyes lit up and he immediately sat down and started playing. And he's really good at it too. Sammy also loved it and played for a while. They were even fighting over it at some point.
Then it was time for the last gift from Grandma. We'd already had it, and Randy had put it together. I then put it into their playpen and covered it up with stuff. I pointed them that direction, and Tammy went to find whatever was under all the stuff. Emmy was still too busy with the drums at that point. But once he saw what Tammy had discovered, he also went over there to get his scooter. Tammy already had hers out and was eager to go outside and try it out. I got their shoes, put their helmets on, and off we went. Sammy also got one, and it was one with a seat that he can sit on. I was really impressed with how well they did using them.
We were all outside watching them, when my friend Charlotte arrived with her son who was asleep in his stroller. She immediately got the gifts out that she had for the kids, handing them a bag each. And she had done an amazing job, giving them exactly what they loved. Tammy got a Peppa Pig towel and drawing board you can erase. Emmy got a Paw Patrol towel and cool cup, and Sammy got a Tiptoi book with songs, which he loves. They played with it all for a while, then we went back inside.
They went back to exploring the cake, and it was time to cut it and eat it. Emmy didn't want any cake. He preferred going back to playing the durms. After a while they went back outside, while Sonja stayed with Sammy who wanted to play the drums and play with his new book. My friend's son wanted to play in the sandbox, and so we opened it up and all three were playing in it for a while.
After two hours my Mom had to leave, then my friend left. I still wanted to take a picture of all three with their birthday t-shirts, but didn't quite get a perfect one. Then it was time for me to go and make their dinner. I had quite a headache and had to take something. Sonja came upstairs, and we talked for a while. Then the kids came upstairs, and she left. We all sat down at the table to eat, they then continued in the bathtub. They wanted to have their cake figurines in the water and put them all into the bathtub and then played with them. It was 8 pm, when they were finally all in bed. I had to give the boys a pacifier again to sleep. It took until 8:30 before I was able to walk away. I got myself something to eat and then started working on the many pictures of the day. Randy was beat and went to bed at 9:30 already. I continued working, cleaned up the kitchen, and then sat down to write this report. It's gonna be 2 am before I'll make it to bed. And tomorrow I have to teach 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the afternoon.
