3 years 2 months 17 days

Day 1173. Today I had set an alarm, as I had a 10 am lesson to teach. Emmy, of course, was already up early. I finally crawled out of bed, we had breakfast, and then I cleaned them up and dressed them, but there was no time to take them downstairs and read a Bible story today. I had only a few minutes until my lesson and still had to get ready for it. After the lesson, I went to the kitchen to make the lentil soup. Then I returned to my computer, but the kids soon came upstairs. They wanted to watch videos. Just after noon we all sat down to eat.

Tammy ate everything, while Emmy didn't want to eat at all. We got him to eat a little bit, and then everyone had icecream. I cleaned them up and dressed them, and they continued with the videos, while Sammy was in his bed playing. At 1:15 I put them to bed for their nap. I sat down by them. Soon the boys were asleep, and then the girl as well, and I was able to leave them.

I returned to my computer. I was really tired and would have loved a nap, but there were only 20 minutes until 2 pm, when Christine was supposed to arrive. Christine is a Caritas family helper, and we've had her help us every year since the kids were born. The last time was early in 2021, so it had been quite a long time. She arrived on time, and we went downstairs together to catch up. It was so great to see her again, as we had become friends early on. We were catching up, when Randy heard Sammy and went to get him. Usually Emmy is up first. Randy returned with Sammy, who was very skeptical, when he saw Christine. It's often a doctor, when there is a new person, so his suspicion was understandable. But it subsided pretty quickly. Randy got the teddy bears out that Christine had made for them early on, and she was slowly approaching Sammy and soon made him smile.

Then Emmy joined us. He held my hand and just looked at her. When she asked, whether he remembered her, he said yes. Later Tammy answered that question with no. A few minutes after Emmy Tammy also came downstairs and looked at Christine. They kept their distance at first, but then she showed them her dog on her phone, and that started breaking the ice. Soon they were having lots of fun with her, as they used to have.

With 3 pm approaching I had to go upstairs for my lesson. However, the student didn't show up, and so I went back downstairs after 15 minutes of not hearing from him. I was happy to spend more time with Christine. Randy took advantage of the situation and made a grocery store run. I stayed and had fun with Christine and the kids until I had to go upstairs for my 4 pm lesson. I then taught from 4 to 6 pm. Just after I was finished, Randy, Christine and the kids came upstairs. Christine said her good-byes, and both kids asked whether she was coming back and were excited, when we said yes.

The kids started watching Superbook, and I went to the kitchen to start making their dinner. Just after 6:30 we sat down at the table to eat, then they continued eating in the bathtub. After they came out, we got them ready for bed, and then we sat down for their bedtime story. It was 8 pm. Then I prayed for them and put them to bed. I sat down by them until Randy came to take my place. Then I went to the kitchen to start making my salad. After I was done eating it, I started working on today's pictures. Now it's nearly midnight and time to clean the kitchen and go to bed.