Day 1203. It's after 1 am, and we had a very long day, so that I am really tired, but here we go.
I had to set an alarm for 8:15 this morning. Of course the kids were up before then, and I let them watch an episode of Kasperl, which gave us another 20 minutes of sleeping time. It ended just before it was time to get up. The first thing they want is to open their advent calendars, and they bring the 3 of them to me in bed, where Tammy opens the one with candy, Emmy the one with Paw Patrol figurines, and Sammy the one with the Tiptoi booklets. At the same time Randy is making his oatmeal and then changing their diapers one after another.
After breakfast we cleaned them up and dressed them. Since we were going to a Christmas party, I thought it would be nice for them to wear Christmas shirts, and I got the pj tops out we used for our photoshoot. However, Tammy also wanted to wear the pants, while I had planned to put jeans on them, and so they all wore the full Christmas pj and looked like real triplets.
We left the house at 9:20 and walked to the subway. It was a very cold - the coldest yet - and windy day. The kids had wanted to wear their Christmas hats. After we got off the subway, we still had a little walk left to get to their music school. We got their 10 minutes before the official start of the Christmas Party.
The school was actually doing two parties that day, and we had registered for the first one. Still, there were a lot of people already there. We took their coats and shoes off and gave the administrator our tickets. The kids were excited to be there, only Sammy was a little suspicious of where we were and seemingly wondering what was going on. We walked into the biggest room, where there were lots of foam cubes for people to sit on. Someone was playing Christmas songs on the piano, and some parents and children were sitting around. We stayed there a little bit until we found out that they had set up different things in different classrooms for us to participate in. The kids got some Christmas cookies on the way, and Randy got some kids' punch to share with the kids.
The first room we went to had a "pin the tail" game set up, just that it was a "pin the nose on Rudolph" game. Tammy went first, but did not close her eyes. She turned around once and then put the nose on Rudolph. Emmy went next. Randy pulled his hat over his eyes so he could not see, spun him around, and then Emmy put the nose on. They both got a sticker, and so did Sammy.
We went on to the next room, where there were crafts set up. We all sat down, and they started putting glitter glue on cut out Christmas trees, as well as gluing different things on top. I then sat down with Sammy and gave him a paper plate and crayon to draw on with. After they were all done, we moved on to the next room. In that room they were playing musical chairs with a lady sitting at the piano and playing Christmas songs. The kids had never played it before but joined in and were having great fun. At first there were enough chairs for everyone and none of them were removed. But then the teacher started removing them. Tammy was the first one out, and then Emmy. All the other kids left, and Tammy and Emmy got to play it by themselves - with enough chairs to sit on.
Then we left and walked back to the big room, where we had been at first, as there were no other activities for them. Again they got some cookies on the way. Once inside the room, Tammy started organizing and stacking the foam cubes, and Emmy started climbing on top and over them. Another little girl - a few years older than them - started making a tall tower, but Tammy kept taking cubes off, and Emmy kept making it fall over and having fun doing so. The girl was not amused and complained to her Mom, while I told her that the cubes were for everyone to play with.
The kids soon ended up on the stage, as they had seen other kids go up there, and found the boxes with bells and tambourines and drums. They were pretty excited and got some out and started playing with them, just like other kids were doing. However, the owner/director of the school came and told them all to put them back, that they were for later. Tammy and Emmy stayed in the front, and Emmy even liked being the only one on the stage, at the center of attention.
Then the program finally started. Tammy had sat down on a cube in the middle of the room, for some reason, but then moved to the front, when it started. Emmy stayed near us at first. The director started the program, and some students played Christmas songs on instruments. Then the teachers played a few songs, and then they played songs for everyone to sing along. They actually handed out papers with the words to the songs to everyone. I had Sammy who crumpled up the paper. They also handed out the instruments, and Emmy was excited to get a drum, while the other two had bells. The program was a little long for the many little kids, including kids younger than ours. The director had told them they needed to sing the songs to attract Santa Claus. Before the last song - Jingle Bells - she told them it was Santa's favorite song, and they should sing it really loud for him to come. The kids had been asking when Santa was coming all morning. When the song ended, she suddenly pointed at the window, saying that there was Santa. There was a little courtyard outside, and in fact, we watched Santa walk through it and to the window by the stage. He had two big sacks full of gifts with him that he handed through the window, then he came inside. Our kids were mesmerized, as they were watching him walk in and wave at everybody. Emmy waved back. Santa sat down, and the director started handing him one gift after another. Santa then read the name on it, and that child would come forward to get his/her gift. The parents had had to buy, wrap and bring the gifts to the school earlier.
Tammy's name was called very early. She went straight to the front and up the stage and stood by Santa, who gave her the gift. You could tell she was nervous, as she put her thumb in her mouth. Santa then turned to me so I could take a picture. Then Tammy came back down and to me and opened the gift. When she saw Everest (Paw Patrol), she immediately hugged her, she was so excited.
After Tammy had come off the stage, Emmy climbed up there when the next name was called. He stood by Santa Claus, but it was not his gift that was next. He was sent off the stage and burst into tears running to me. I guess he thought he was not getting anything. I held him and comforted him and told him that his turn was coming. It took him a while to calm down.
Sammy's name was called next, and Randy took him to the front. Santa took Sammy into his arms, but Sammy was less than happy. He was close to crying and let us know he did not want to be with this strange man. Randy took him and his gift back to our seats, where he opened it. As Sammy loves buttons so very much, it was a gameshow buzzer that made sounds as well as lit up. He kept pushing it over and over. Thankfully it was so loud in the room that it didn't bother anyone.
Emmy's name was one of the last ones to be called. He finally got to go forward and up the stage to receive his gift. The box was twice the size of the other two. He was impatient to open it up and was very excited, when he found Chase (also Paw Patrol) inside. In the evening he went to bed with it and every time he got up during the night, he took Chase with him.
The gift distribution and program was over, and the director encouraged everyone to come forward for a group picture. Emmy was someone hidden, so I don't have one where you can see all three kids. Then they encouraged individual pictures with Santa, and I think it turned out pretty nice.
It was time to go home. They got a few more cookies, and we put their coats and shoes back on to go home. It was already 12:15 pm, when we left there. Sammy had the buzzer with him and kept hitting it. I told him he needed to push it, not hit it. We got on the subway, and I was disappointed that Sammy STILL wanted to push the button to open the doors, even though he had his own one now. I had hoped it would replace the door buttons, as it sometimes annoys people to hear the constant beep of him pushing.
We got home at 12:40. I went straight to work making a quick meal, while the kids continued watching Pw Patrol. We sat down to eat, and they all ate everything, but didn't want any ice-cream. It was high time for them to lie down for their nap. After we had cleaned them up and dressed them, they did. I was very tired as well and sat with them until the boys were asleep. Tammy however was not, when I walked away to lie down myself. She fussed a little bit, so that I had to get up to go to her just as I was about to fall asleep. Unfortunately it happened two more times that I was woken up just before I was falling asleep, which was annoying.
By 3:30 pm everybody was awake. I went to the kitchen to start making their dinner-to-go box. Randy had gone downstairs with Sammy and soon came upstairs. After I was done in the kitchen, I picked out clothes for them to wear for church. Just after 4:30 we left the house to take the 4:50 train.
It was really cold, felt even colder than in the morning. We took the train, then got some fresh, hot chestnuts and ran to make it on the tram. Sammy had his button with him, but still wanted to push the tram door button. After we got off, we walked up the hill to church, where we arrived just before 5:30 pm. The service starts at 5 pm, but they do announcements etc. first, and worship had actually not started yet. We walked to our usual spot up front, and the kids went to the front, where the fabric and streamers were lying. Sammy is always excited to see Anna, but it's usually at the very end. Today, however, she came to us upfront, and Sammy was really excited and went into her arms. It wasn't long though before he was asking for Mommy again. Tammy soon came to me to ask for us to go upstairs. At 5:50 we did.
Today it was my turn to stay with the kids. Tammy found herself three dolls that she took on a walk with two strollers. She told me that it was Tammy and Emmy in the one stroller, and Sammy in the other. Sammy wanted to play in the kitchen, of course, and I sat down with him there. Just after 5 pm it was time for the program. We all sat down on the floor in a circle. First we did a general greeting song with actions, then the individual one, where the hand puppet lamb kisses each child. Then she distributed Bibles, and we did the Bible song. Then they turned the lights off and she lit three candles on the advent wreath, an Austrian tradition. She talked for a little bit and then got a star out that another parent held up in the sky. She then started walking and had all the kids follow her. I finally also got up to follow with Sammy. The star led the kids to a nativity set up in the corner. After a few more minutes the program was over. She took all the kids to the tables, where she gave them candy, while everybody was supposed to start eating their dinner. Sammy didn't want to eat anything at all, and the other two only took a bite of two, that was it. Sammy saw the boxes of toys right there and sat down in front of it. He opened it and started getting stuff out, as well as putting it in. He did really well and enjoyed himself. But as time went on he asked more and more assertively for Anna. I told him we'd go as soon as Daddy arrived.
And then another parent came in from the older kids' group. She was organizing a Christmas special with the kids next Sunday. She had fabric she brought with her and distributed it to the kids, then turned on music and asked them to do different things, dancing with the fabric. They're doing that next week. Then she got out costumes. Tammy got a sheep costume put on first, then Emmy. They loved it. By then Sammy could not wait any longer to go see Anna, so I took him and left with him, while Randy finished up with the other two. When we got to the bottom of the stairs, Anna was there. I put Sammy on the floor and let him crawl to Anna. He was excited to see her again. Soon Emmy and Tammy came down the stairs as well and ran to Anna. The service was still going on, so we went into the lobby. They were opening up the café and had food, and while we were undecided at first, we ended up staying for food. We sat down at the table and got plates of lamb and pork with bread and salad. Tammy wanted no meat and only ate bread. Sammy had it all, and Emmy ate meat as well. They enjoyed trying out the different drinks that were there. Anna joined us at the table. After we were done eating, we started dressing them to go home. We were not able to make the 8 pm train unfortunately, but still left at that time, after having tried to find Sonja, only to find out she was sick.
When we left the building, it was snowing outside. We walked to the tram stop, where the display said it was 17 minutes until the tram would come. That was really long! But we would still make the 8:30 train, and so we stayed and waited. Tammy and Emmy were watching Paw Patrol, while Sammy was playing with me and with his button. On the tram he was playing with the door button again. Once we got off the tram, we went straight to the train platform, and the train arrived shortly after.
By 8:45 we were back home. We got them ready for bed, opened the advent calendars, and by 9:20 they were all in bed. I had only had some meat and still needed to have my salad, so Randy agreed to sit in the chair by them, while I went to the kitchen to make my salad. It still took a while for Sammy and Tammy to fall asleep. By the time I sat down to eat at 10 pm, they were all asleep.
After having eaten, I started working on the pictures, but there were a lot of them, and so it took a long time. I finally realized I was not able to finish everything tonight. I finished the pictures from the Christmas party and then started writing my report. I was done by 2 am, but then still had to clean up the kitchen. I was pretty tired. By 2:20 I was in bed, and some time after 2:30 I fell asleep.
