Day 1153. I did not want to be in the situation I was in yesterday and set an alarm for 8:45 today. Of course Emmy had been up since just after 7 am, and since Tammy was sleeping in our bed at that time, he soon had her up as well. And then there was already a package delivery at 7:30 am. After breakfast, they asked me to read a Bible story with them, but I only had about 15 minutes left until my 10 am lesson, so there was no time. I did take Sammy and the kids downstairs and then returned to get ready.
I finished my lesson just before 11 am. Then I decided it should be omelet day today, and so I went downstairs so that Randy could go to the kitchen to cook. I found Sammy strapped into his walker and standing by a crib with a baby in it. He was able to rock the baby that way. However, I soon got him out and let him play the piano, which is what he wanted. Tammy came to me and wanted to do some of the kindergarten teaching books I had bought a while back and that were lying on my desk. I try some of those exercises with them from time to time, and every time they can do a little more. Today they did really well with finding objects in pictures, there were able to find identical pictures, and even recognize objects by there shadows. We also did a few counting exercises (to the number 5). Some of the stuff in there is still too difficult for them. I let them both draw lines; the circling was a little too hard for them.
Time went by fast doing all that, and at noon we finally went upstairs to eat, even though the food wasn't quite ready yet. And so I let them watch the videos they wanted to watch. At 12:15 we sat down to eat. The omelet was very filling, and so they didn't eat that much of it, but they did eat quite a bit of the bacon. They all had icecream, then they continued watching videos for a little bit, while Randy left to go to the grocery store. It's so nice that we can turn the light in the kitchen off again, after it had been on constantly for 4 months. Yesterday IKEA finally came to fix it under the warranty. And so it was completely dark for them to sleep, when they lay down at 1:15. It was after 1:30 before they were all asleep, and I could walk away.
Even though I was tired, I never got to sleep. Just after Randy had returned, they all started waking up one after another at 2:30. I started putting their church clothes on, and just after 3 pm we all left to make the 3:20 train, which we did. Once we got off, we bought some chestnuts, then got on the subway to continue on to church. We walked through the mall and then into the entertainment area, where we had to go to the elevator to go to the top level, where the church is located.
Just before we reached the elevator, we noticed a new game room that was set up for children. The kids immediately went inside, with Emmy taking the lead, who went straight to a car to sit in it. The cars were operated by putting coins in, but they were still too young to be able to steer it in circles. That obviously did not satisfy Emmy who wanted to ride the car, and he was not happy, when I walked away to take the elevator.
We got to church just as the service was starting. And today was not a regular service, but a special family service. They had set up little chairs in the front, where two "clowns" and the pastors' daughters were dancing. At first Emmy was terrified of the clowns, but he soon got over it, and they ended up sitting on the chairs. I had Sammy for most of the service, trying to keep him occupied and happy. Emmy was participating just a little bit during worship, clapping and trying to make some movements. After worship and the greetings and announcements, two puppets came on and had a short conversation as an introduction to the preaching. Then the former senior pastor's wife came to do her message that was geared towards kids, but was also great for adults. Tammy listened the most intently. They also had pictures on the screen most of the time, which helped to keep their attention.
After 75 minutes the service was already over. The kids had asked throughout the whole service to have one of the balloons in the front. Now it was finally time. They said that all the kids would get a balloon, when exiting the sanctuary. I walked out with Sammy who was the first to get one. The others were behind me and then got one each as well. Emmy was especially happy to get a captain's balloon, as there was an anchor on it, which is the symbol for a captain for him. Tammy was disappointed that there was nothing drawn on her balloon.
We then found a table to sit down at, and I bought some sandwiches and a salad for the kids and Randy. They ate some and rejected other stuff. A few people said hello, and Emmy had some interactions of his own with people, including with both clowns. And then both of them let go of their balloons that went straight to the ceiling. I don't think that it was an accident. Emmy got his replaced with the same, while Tammy got a balloon with a drawing on it, a whale. I then tied them both to the stroller, and we left.
We walked through the mall again to get to the subway and bought a Happy Meal on the way out. They all ate some of the familiar food, and got a Smurf figurine in addition. Getting off the subway, we went straight up to the train platform and only had a few minutes to wait for our 6:30 train. The kids were watching an episode of the Smurfs, all the way home, where we arrived at about 6:45.
Given the early time, we put them all into the bathtub, where they were having fun. Before it was 8 pm, they were all in bed. But unfortunately not falling asleep. All three stayed up for a long time; Tammy was the first one to fall asleep. I left them to make my salad, and Randy took my place, but Emmy did not like that and kept crying. I finally returned to his side instead of eating, and left only after he had fallen asleep. Then I could finally sit down to eat my salad.
After having eaten, I started working on the many pictures of today. Now it's 1:30 am, and all that's left to do is to go to bed.
