Day 1171. This morning I had to set my alarm for 8 am. It was really tough getting up. After breakfast I cleaned them up and dressed them and then took them down to read a Bible story with them, as we still had a few minutes until 9 am. We were downstairs, when the doorbell rang, and then the Mobile Support lady came downstairs to play with the kids. Emmy was excited, but Sammy was not at all, which surprised me. Deborah is a Christian, and I thought he liked her.
I went upstairs to make good use of my morning and work. We've been getting up later, when there are no commitments, so it was unusual to have this much time to work, even more so as we were eating leftovers, so that I did not have to go to the kitchen early to cook. Randy and the kids came upstairs before noon, and the kids were then watching videos until the food was ready. It was after noon before we sat down. Tammy didn't want to eat the food at all and threw a fit that landed a third of her food on the floor. In the end she ate it with us feeding her. All kids had some icecream. After cleaning them up and dressing them, there were no videos today as we had to leave the house early. And so they went straight to bed around 1 pm. I had to encourage them somewhat to fall asleep. The boys fell asleep first, and Tammy needed a little more time. With only her still awake, Randy took my place, while I returned to my computer. I took a few minutes to prepare my 8 pm class, and then I just continued on so that I ended up not sleeping, even though I would have really needed it.
With 2 pm approaching I got up to get ready and woke everyone else up to get them ready. It was after 2 pm before we left the house. We took the subway to the end and walked to the school, where their exercise class was starting at 2:30 pm. It had been three weeks since the last class because of holidays. The kids were excited to be back. The teacher started with the greeting song, then did a warmup, then they were free to roam around the "race track" she had set up. Sammy wanted to be with me the whole time, and he was most of the time, even though he's getting heavy, and my arms start hurting pretty bad after a while. He was most excited about the trampolin and wanted to be on it all the time, but there were other kids too that wanted to jump. A few times Randy relieved me and took him, but never for long.
The teacher got ropes out, and Tammy ended up being a horse that Daddy had on a leash, and I had her once took. I was surprised how fast she was and really had to run to keep up with her. Randy then had both her and her brother on a leash.
Then we did some action songs, sitting down and walking around. With one song Emmy stood right next to the teacher, and it was really funny to see him stand there as if he was the teacher, singing and doing the movements.
Next she got big and small balls out and poured them out on the floor. The kids had to pick them up and put them back into the box. Randy helped Sammy do so. Then we did more action songs. We were walking in a circle, when Emmy walked up to the girl and took her hand. He had already befriended her last time. They then continued walking hand-in-hand, which was just the cutest thing. Tammy then joined them, and the three of them were holding hands and dancing in a circle. It looked like Emmy was having his first crush! When we sat down for more songs, they were sitting next to each other. And when the teacher did the caroussel song, she actually lifted all three up! But then Tammy came running to me as she knows Mommy will be a fast caroussel. After that song we did the goodbye song, and then the class was over.
We put their socks and shoes back on and found out that the girl's name is Luisa. We said goodbye and left the building to walk back to the subway.
Normally we go home, sometimes stopping at the playground or the grocery store, but today we had other plans. I had registered them for a puppet performance. The location was across town, but we had 90 minutes until it was gonna start, so there was no rush. We had to take the subway from one end to the other, which was a pretty long ride. When we got on, there was a Mom with her son who had just been in the class with us. The boy who was younger than hours was crying. I was sitting right next to them, with Sammy's stroller next to the boy's. Sammy was eating some snacks like pretzels, and when he saw the boy crying, he took his pretzel and offered it to him. It was so sweet! The boy didn't want it, but Sammy kept trying to give it to him, looking at him with compassionate eyes. They soon got off, and I let Tammy and Emmy watch videos, while Sammy was rather cranky, especially as time went on. After we got off the subway, we bought some fresh chestnuts, and then got on the tram for two stops. It was rush hour, and the tram was crammed full. After we got off, we still had to walk a little bit. I was pushing cranky Sammy.
We got to the neighborhood center 25 minutes before the beginning of the performance and were therefore one of the first ones to arrive, which ended up being an advantage. I paid and sat down in the first row with the boys, while Tammy went straight to the front to sit on the floor. First Randy stayed in the back, but he then joined us up front, standing along the wall. The place filled up more and more, until the puppet performance started at 5 pm. Soon Emmy also joined his sister up front. At first he had wanted to stay with me in case he'd get scared, but it was a very harmless show, and the kids all enjoyed it. However, it's not something Sammy is interested in, and so I had to keep moving him around to keep him happy.
After half an hour the show was over. The puppeteers then came out with their puppets, and both Tammy and Emmy came to us with one in their hands. They were really excited about that. After they had explored them, we told them it was time to leave. We put their coats back on and started walking back to the tram stop. We rode the tram for two stops and then got off and crossed the road to walk to McDonald's.
This was gonna be this week's McDonald's visit. We had somewhat of a rough start, as I needed to use the bathroom, but you have to pay for it. It finally worked out, and then I ordered our food. The kids already had their balloons. As I was gonna use the coupons from having used the bathroom, I paid at the register. Then we sat down with our number and waited for them to bring us the food. The lady had walked through the whole restaurant before finding us, even though we sat right near where you order. The kids had been impatient for their food. Randy got a high chair for Sammy from downstairs as the one there was in use. Then we started eating. Tammy still refuses to eat the hamburger meat, and tonight she did not want a bite of the chicken strip either. They were enjoying their Smurfs and balloons. After we were done eating, we put their coats back on and left to go home.
We had to take the subway, where the kids were watching videos again. We got home around 7 pm, so just at the right time for the bathtub. They were having fun in there, then we got them ready for bed. At about 8 pm we sat down for their bedtime story, then I prayed for them and they went to bed. I sat down by them. They seemed tired, and I was very tired myself. Tammy asked to hold my hand, which she hadn't done in a while. And once I did, she soon fell asleep, so fast that I was surprised. By 8:20 they were all asleep already, which never happens.
As I didn't need to spend all that time making and eating a salad, I went straight to work. My 8 pm class had once again been cancelled, which I didn't mind. I made good use of my time, and now it's already 1 am. Time to clean up the kitchen and then go to bed. 2 am is becoming my typical bedtime.
