3 years 5 months 10 days

Day 1258. I did not write a blog these past two days, as it was two days full of teaching and without us going anywhere. Except for Sammy who had his weekly physiotherapy session on Thursday afternoon, his first one this year. Hopefully it will be regular again now. Randy took him there. I had students, and so Tammy and Emmy were watching stuff, while I was teaching, until Randy and Sammy returned. I not only taught all afternoon, but also from 8 to 10 pm.

And Thursday was a special day because I finally heard Sammy say his own name, for the very first time. One other time recently I had thought he had said his name, but I wasn't sure. This time it was certain, as he also said it a second time. Tammy has been trying to get him to say her name, the only one now he hasn't said yet, but no success so far. In any case, it was very exciting to hear him say his name.

Yesterday I taught in the morning and in the afternoon. After my last afternoon lesson I took the time to call Paul in Mali to catch up with him, as we had our bi-annual board meeting at 9 pm. He was excited to get to see our kids, and I was excited to see him. It was great talking to him, and I received some valuable information and updates. It did put me behind on our schedule, but then I wasn't teaching that night, and there was enough of a buffer until 9 pm. However, all the kids were still awake, when the online meeting started, and so Randy sat with them, just two meters away, so that he could hear everything being said. It took them a while to fall asleep, but by the time the meeting ended at 10 pm, they were all asleep.

I've been extremely tired all day today. It was hard getting up this morning, and I did as late as possible. I dressed the kids who went downstairs with Randy, while I started teaching at 10 am. I then taught for two hours and finished a few minutes before noon, just as the kids were coming upstairs. They've been putting on underwear more frequently recently, no diapers, after breakfast, trying to stay dry until lunch time, but it often doesn't work out quite yet.

When they came upstairs today, they were eager to help me with the pizza. As I had so little time to cook, we had one of our quick meals. Randy had bought a family-sized pizza, and the kids helped me add cheese and salami to it and had great fun doing so.

At about 12:20 we sat down to eat, and everyone enjoyed the food and most had icecream after. Then the kids continued watching Pinocchio until it was bedtime at 1:15 pm. They were crying, when I stopped the video. Randy left for a quick grocery store run, while I sat down by them. It took some encouragement for them to quiet down and fall asleep, and I was able to walk away with Tammy still being awake. I was so very tired that all I wanted was to sleep, but then I ended up doing other stuff, and by the time I finally closed my eyes, Sammy was already waking up after having slept for an hour. It was 2:30. And so I never got to sleep. At 2:45 I got up again. Tammy and Emmy were also waking up, and so I started dressing them and getting them ready so we could make the 3:20 train.

It was tight, but we made it. We only took one stroller with Sammy in it. It was windy and very cold. We were really surprised, when the train was an old one, as the S-train really never uses old trains any more. The kids now panick every time they see an old train (with stairs), and so I have to lift the crying kids into the train.

After we got off the train, we bought some chestnuts, then took the subway to get to church. The kids were enjoying taking the escalators, while Randy was taking the elevators with Sammy. We walked through the mall to get to church, where we arrived a few minutes before the service started. Randy took Sammy to go change his diaper, while I went to the front of the sanctuary with the other two.

I was enjoying worship, while the kids were playing and running around. Once Randy returned, he thought they were too wild. I was just tired and holding Sammy. The kids wanted to go to the baby room, and after not quite half an hour we left the room to do just that.

Someone made the TV work for us so we could follow the service, but it only worked for two minutes. And so we sat alone in room with toys, where the kids were playing. We might as well have been home. It was frustrating to not know what was going on in the service, and I was just tired and lay down on the couch. At 5 pm we decided there was no point in us being there, and we had already briefly seen a couple of people before the service. And so we left to go home.

We walked by all the entertainment stuff they had there, and the kids went into the room with stuff for smaller kids. I took a picture of them in a car, but we were only in there for a few minutes and did not actually do any activity there.

Just after 6 pm we were back home. I was extremely tired, but powered on. The kids were watching videos, while I started making dinner. Then we sat down at the table to eat, and they continued eating in the bathtub, while having fun. We then got them ready for bed, and they were eager to have me read Bible stories to them - from the New and Old Testament. They always want me to read another one. Sometimes I do, but either way, they get upset, when I stop reading. I then prayed for them and flew them into bed. It was about 8:15 pm.

I sat down by them, but not for long. Randy soon took my place, as the boys wanted Daddy, though Tammy wanted me to stay. She was overruled. I got myself something to eat as well, and started working. The kids were still up for a while before they finally fell asleep. Now it's 12:30 am, and I'd very much like to make it to bed before 2 am today.