3 years 4 months 19 days

Day 1236. This morning Sammy woke up first, not Emmanuel, and it was only 7:30. At 8:20 my phone rang. It was the company IKEA had given the job of replacing our kitchen counter tops. Another kitchen problem had come up last June, and it took them months to fix it. And the kitchen counter tops buckling up where they meet, well, it took until today for that to be taken care of. What great timing, the day before our departure! They called me to ask whether they could already come at that time rather than later. We agreed and got up. Less than half an hour later they arrived.

I had gone to bed at 3 am and was extremely tired. I talked to the two men who'd come to fix our kitchen, while our kids were having breakfast. They went to work, and of course the kids were curious. Except for Sammy who was scared and clinging to me sitting next to him. It was hard to get him to eat. After they were done eating, I cleaned them up and dressed them, and they went downstairs with Randy. As for me, I was teaching from 10 to 12, and it was unusual for me not to be rushed but to still have over half an hour until then. I did appreciate the extra time.

After I was done teaching just before noon, I got yesterday's leftovers out of the fridge and put it into the microwave that was sitting on the floor by the dining room table. The table itself was also full of kitchen stuff. The workers were still hard at work but looked like they'd made good progress. The kids came upstairs, and we sat down to eat, as I had made enough space to be able to put the plates on the table. Sammy was still looking to the kitchen with big eyes and holding on to my arm in fear. In fact, the workers were already close to finishing and left just before 1 pm. Tammy and Emmy wanted to watch videos, and so Sammy was the only one to eat icecream. However, I had told Tammy last night she was not gonna get to watch videos today if she didn't stop her behavior, and she hadn't. I reminded her of that, so she started crying and protesting. I let Emmy watch and did not allow her to. She finally gave up and asked to have the headset that tells stories. She then sat down in bed with it. Once Sammy was done and watching children's songs while standing in Emmy's bed, she joined him there as well.

At 1:15 it was time to put them all to bed for a nap. Thankfully they could sleep as long as they wanted to today, after they'd had to get up early the last two days. Sammy fell asleep first, then Emmy, and by 1:45 I left them, which now works even when Tammy is not yet asleep. Today she was. At 2 pm Christine from the Caritas came with an apprentice, and a few minutes later I finally got to lie down myself and close my eyes. Before I was asleep I could already hear Sammy whine. Randy had left to pick up something for the kitchen, as they had torn up the bottom of my wallpaper backsplash. I was glad, when Christine picked up Sammy and took him downstairs. Then Emmy came into the room and lay down next to me, and we both fell asleep. When my alarm went off at 2:50, it also woke us both up. Emmy left to go downstairs to be with Christine, while I started getting ready for my 3 pm lesson. However, after having waited for my student for a while, her Mom told me that she wasn't coming. I have to say that that was not unwelcome news. I finally had a chance to start packing! And it was time for Tammy to get up who then also went downstairs. I made good progress packing, and took something to drink and a snack to them downstairs. As it was Christine's last day with us for who knows how long, I wanted to take her picture with the kids, and that' s my only picture of today, and it turned out well.

I returned upstairs and did teach my other two lessons from 4 to 6 pm. Christine had to leave a few minutes after I was done. The kids had come upstairs with her and asked to watch Pinocchio, which they did. I went to the kitchen and started making their dinner. Randy had done some work in the kitchen, but it was still a mess and I had to make some room to be able to work. It was close to 6:45 before we sat down at the table to eat. Then they continued in the bathtub. We got them out and ready for bed, but I was in no rush. I was getting a few more things to pack that were right by their beds, as it would have been hard to do once they were asleep. And so it was close to 9 pm before they were in bed after the bedtime story and prayer. And then two of them had a dirty diaper, and Tammy kept asking for food. She'd had plenty of opportunity to eat earlier, and they were all drinking milk in bed anyway. I was glad, when Emmy who is usually the only one to not want to let me leave said I could go much earlier than usual. Randy had already eaten and sat down by them, while I left to get something to eat. I grabbed something quick, ate, and then it was time for some serious packing.

We both started working some time after 10 pm. We packed three big suitcases plus some little ones, and then I went to the kitchen to make sandwiches for lunch on the train tomorrow. We continued working for a while. Now it's nearly 1 am, and all I have left to do is to clean up the kitchen. Randy is also about to go to bed. Please pray for a safe trip tomorrow!