3 years 2 months 16 days

Day 1172. No alarm clocks this morning, besides Emmy who is the first one up at 7 am every morning. I was really tired this morning and had a very hard time getting up, even though it was already approaching 9 am, when Randy got up first. After breakfast I cleaned them up and dressed them and took them downstairs, where we read a Bible story together. Then I left them and went upstairs to work. However, I was hurting and debating whether I should go see my doctor instead of working. Weeks ago a test had shown that I had an infection, but as I had no symptoms then, I did not get medication. But it had gotten worse and today was the worst yet. I could not ignore it any more and had to act. So tired or not, work to do or not, cooking to do or not, I knew I had to go there as it would be another week before I was free to go there again.

I left the house at 10:20, took the subway and then walked and got there just before 11 am. I had never seen the waiting room this full before. I even had to wait long to register. The lady then told me to pee in a cup, and then I waited to be called. I was lucky to get the last seat, while others were even standing. But things move pretty fast there. And once they had my test result, I was called in to see the doctor. She gave me a prescription, and I left again. It was really quick. I started walking back to the subway and picked up the medication at a pharmacy on the way. It was exactly noon by the time I was back home.

I found Randy and the kids upstairs, waiting for me. I immediately went to the kitchen and started making omelets which is relatively fast. It still took until nearly 12:30 before we could start eating. The kids ate really well, and they all had icecream. They were watching videos until it was nap time at 1:15 pm. I sat down by them, and soon the boys were asleep first, and then the girl as she was holding hands with me. I left them and went to my computer. I ended up working instead of getting the nap I would have needed very much.

At 2:30 I got up to get ready, and then opened the curtains which woke them up. We put socks and shoes and jackets on them and left the house on time at 2:45 pm. We took the subway, and then waited for the bus. There were already a lot of people waiting there, and they were making announcements that the bus was coming in irregular intervals. It finally arrived, and everyone wanted to get on. I got on in the front, and Randy in the back. However, Tammy and Emmy wanted to join me, and so they came to sit with me and Sammy. The bus was full and moving slowly, and I soon knew that we would not make it there in time. The kids didn't like how crammed it all was and were asking to get off, which we finally did. We walked the rest of the way, checked in, and then I made my way upstairs with all three kids. However, the room they always had their Tuesday class in was dark and empty. Somebody told me that we had to go up another level, and so we did. And then we already saw the class in progress. It was the teacher who had been our favorite substitute teacher in the Tuesday class. Great! Especially as we're gonna stick with Thursday now instead of Tuesday.

We went in and immediately joined the dance in progress. She did a great job motivating, even though the kids were not as motivated as they've recently been. They still enjoyed the class and the dances, and we liked it much better than the last two Tuesday classes, when the teacher kept telling the kids to do magic and transform all the kids into the animals they wanted them to be. I had Sammy for much of the time who was also enjoying himself.

After 50 minutes the class was over, and we left. We walked to the bus stop, where we had to wait rather long for our bus to arrive. The kids started watching videos, and Sammy wanted to be with me, so I took him. He loves pushing buttons and soon found the door button for strollers right there that he kept pushing. At least that kept him happy. After we got off, we took the subway home. It had all taken some time so that it was already 5:20 by the time we got home.

Randy and the kids went downstairs, and before it was 5:45 I already went to the kitchen to start making dinner. Then they came upstairs and kept coming to me for food until they sat down at the table to eat. They then continued eating in the bathtub while having fun. Then we got them ready for bed, and they were already asking for their bedtime story. I sat down with them with a kid on each knee and Sammy already in his bed and read the next story in the book. Then I prayed for them and they went to bed. As we had eaten earlier tonight, it was still earlier than usual, so that I was still able to sit with them for another 10+ minutes. Then Randy took my place, and I left to get ready for my 8 pm class. I took my computer and went downstairs and taught until just before 9 pm. Then I returned upstairs and started making my salad. It was 9:40 before I was able to sit down to eat. After I was done, I started working on today's pictures. Now it's going on 1 am, and it's time to clean up the kitchen and then go to bed.