3 years 5 months 11 days

Day 1259. Thank God, no alarm clock this morning. Emmy is my alarm clock anyway; he's been getting up consistently at 7:30 am, which is way too early for me, as my typical bedtime is 2 am. He got himself a squeezie, then asked to have the headset that tells stories. He put it on and lay back down next to me. After a while he asked to watch Kasperl. By then Sammy was up and listening to children's songs, but Tammy was still asleep. I still let him watch it, and once Tammy was up, she joined her brother.

Around 9 am Randy got up to make breakfast and change their diapers. After breakfast I dressed them, and at 10:15 we left the house together. It was a really cold day, just below freezing, and snow had fallen during the night. We took the subway, then had to take a tram. We'd just missed one and had to wait 9 minutes for the next one, so we were all freezing. We only had one stroller for Sammy, so no more warm sacks of lamb wool the kids could put their legs into.

Finally the tram arrived, we rode it for 3 stops, and arrived at the movie theater. It was their very first time going to one and watching an actual movie. We didn't have to wait long to get our tickets. Tammy saw the popcorn and wanted some, so we all shared a bag during the movie. We parked the stroller with all our coats and went inside the movie theater. It was about half full, and we could choose any seat we wanted to. We found nice seats in the very middle. We only needed four seats anyway, as Sammy was with me for most of the time, though he also sat on the seat next to me for some of the time. I had actually only reserved three tickets, because I wasn't sure Sammy could sit in a 75 minute-long movie, but then we decided to all go, as he'd be crying the whole time if he had to stay outside. He got a little antsy a few times, as he's not into watching movies, but on the whole it went really well.

As for the other two kids, they loved the movie. It was a German movie called "Keinohrhase und Zweiohrküken".  It was a cute movie, just right for their age. At 12:15 it was over. We put our coats back on and went back to the tram stop. We rode it for only one stop and then walked to the McDonald's there. I went to the board to place the order, while Randy and the kids took the elevator up to where they had a big room with lots of tables. After I had ordered, I went upstairs as well, and Randy went back downstairs to pick up the food. We had a really nice table and had lots of fun together. We could tell the difference to when we go after swimming, as they'd eaten all that popcorn and were not as hungry as usual.

We then dressed them again and walked to the subway. We rode it for one stop, then got on another one, and today there was no watching videos. I think they knew themselves they had not behaved so well, as they did not even ask to watch videos.

At 1:45 we were back home, and it was nap time. I put them to bed, but they were rather restless. I was so extremely tired that  I had no patience left for that kind of behavior. I soon left and let Randy sit by them. I did come back briefly, however. It was about 2:30, when I finally got to lie down, and as Emmy was still not asleep, but the other two were, I let him come join me in bed. It took him a little time, but then he finally fell asleep, and then I could too. What happened next is a blurr, as I was so very tired. All the kids woke up at different times, and Randy took them downstairs. It was too late to go to church, and I had already said at lunch time that I was way too tired to go tonight. It was about 4:30, when I looked at the clock.

I then enjoyed my next 90+ minutes of being able to work in peace since the kids were downstairs. It was about 6:20 pm, when they came upstairs, when I went to the kitchen to make their dinner. Then we sat down to eat, and they continued eating in the bathtub. We then got them ready for bed, and I sat down to read them a Bible story or two. I usually end up reading several as they want me to go on and on. They really enjoy those Bible stories in comic form, which brings me joy as well, to see how eager they are to hear more of God's word. I then prayed for them and put them to bed.  It was about 8:15 pm. I sat down by them for a while, then Randy took my place. However, they were all rather awake tonight and giving us a hard time instead of falling asleep. Tammy fell asleep first, but Sammy needed the longest. For him it works best for neither one of us to sit there, but we can only walk away if the other two are already asleep. It was nearly 9 pm before Randy was able to leave. Sammy was upset first, but quickly fell asleep.

After having made and eaten my salad, I went back to work. I only took one picture today, at the movie theater, and it didn't turn out. Now it's after midnight, and I still have to clean up the kitchen.