Day 1252. This morning my alarm was set for 8 am. There was some kid-activity before, but it was only after the alarm that everyone got up. We had breakfast, got them all ready, and left the house at 9 am to take the 9:20 train. It was a few degrees below freezing, so pretty cold. After the train, we waited for the tram that we rode for two stops. Then it was just a short walk to the swimming pool. It was their second lesson of this class and our second time at that pool (besides getting the date wrong and going there last week). We were glad to walk into the building and get out of the cold.
We paid the entry fee, got keys for the lockers and walked into the changing room. During our vacation it had become clear thatTammy's bathing suit had become too little, and so she was excited to put her new one on today - of course it's Peppa Pig. Then we showered and went inside. Thank God, there was the teacher and the equipment. The kids were looking forward to the class. Three weeks ago Emmy had had to sit on a bench and watch us or rather videos because of his burned hand. Today they were eager to swim, and the teacher said she could see a difference, when I told her they'd been swimming every day for 6 days in a row.
We started with a greeting song with their names in it, and did a few songs in the course of the class, moving them in the water. They did a lot of free swimming today, picking up ducks and taking them to the other side of the pool, and also lying on their backs and moving their legs up and down. She not only had swim rings on them, but also had them lie on the boards and move their legs to swim. They were all having fun, and then it was already time for the closing son. 30 minutes sure go by fast.
Because we bought tickets, we could actually have stayed at the pool which some kids were doing, and our kids wanted to stay as well. However, Randy was picking another item up at 2 pm, and so he wanted to leave so we'd not get home too late. Emmy was crying really hard because of it, and we told him we'd stay longer next time. It was only just after 10:30.
We showered off and went back to the changing room, where we got them dressed one after another, which takes some time. Then we returned our keys and put their coats and hats back on, loaded them into the strollers and headed back out into the cold. At least the sun had started coming out, and so some of the ice that we'd seen in the morning started disappearing in the course of the day. We walked back to the tram stop and rode the tram for 4 stops, which is where the McDonald's is. Last week they were sick and asleep, when I picked up some food there. Today they were excited to go to McDonald's again, as it's been a while. And I like that particular one. It's not crazy busy, so that we always find a table, and it's the perfect kind of table. Sammy still just about fits into a baby chair, which is perfect for him to eat. Once he gets his wheelchair, any day now, we can just roll him to the table. I ordered the food on the electronic board, then Randy went to pick it up, and we all sat down to eat and have a good time. They like the gifts they have now, children's games with the characters they know. We had lots of fun together, then we bundled them back up to go home. Of course each one of them had a free McDonald's balloon.
We took the subway for one stop and then had to wait for the train. By 12:40 we were back home. I let them watch videos and was so tired I lay down and fell asleep a little. At 1:15 I put them to bed. Randy had already left for his pickup. Once the boys were asleep and Tammy on her way, I left them and lay down again to take a much-needed nap myself. It was about 1:50, when I looked at the time for the last time. At 2:30 Sammy woke up already and woke me up. When I got him out of bed, Emmy was awake took, but he went back to sleep after I had picked up Sammy. I put Sammy on the floor to let him play, and then Randy was back, and I was able to fall back asleep. It was 3:30, when I woke up again, and I was still pretty tired. I was just thankful it was Sunday so that I had been able to sleep like that without having to watch the time and prepare lessons. The kids were all up, and Randy was giving them snacks. They were again playing with the new workbench Randy had picked up yesterday. Emmy took the McDonald's puzzle downstairs to do, while the other two were hard at work at the workbench. Randy then went downstairs to help Emmy, while I started making their dinner-to-go boxes. Then we started dressing them and left the house at 4:30 pm to go to church.
We hadn't been at church for a while because of vacation and sickness and the like, and so I was looking forward to it, and so were the kids. It was the coldest day yet this winter. We took the 4:50 train, got some chestnuts, and got on the tram to take us to church. We had some time on there, and Sammy enjoyed pushing the door button and making it light up and beep. After we got off, we still had to walk up a hill to get to church.
We got there at 5:30, just as worship was starting. Church actually starts at 5 pm with the announcements, and we try to get there by that time, even though they're boring for the kids. The kids ran straight to the front and to the fabric, and Tammy ended up collecting all the fabric together. She really likes organizing, just like her Mom. She wasn't too happy, though, when Emmy wouldn't give her that one piece of fabric that was still missing.
I had Sammy who was enjoying the music, and I kept busy and happy. The kids soon asked to go upstairs, and at 5:45 we already did. We took their food with us. It was Randy's turn to enjoy the service, so he returned to the sanctuary. I took Sammy to the toy kitchen, where he started playing, while I was holding him up so he wouldn't fall. Tammy and Emmy then both came to me with books to read to them, and I first read Emmy's with him, and then Tammy's with her. They continued playing, and at 6 pm the teaching started.
We all sat down on the floor on a round carpet and started with the starting song, then there was an individual greeting song for each child, where they each hugged the hand puppet sheep. After they'd had a mirror to see themselves in it, they each got a Bible, and we did the Bible song, where they hold up their Bibles high into the air. Then the teaching started. The teacher had a covered up basked that each child got to take an object out of without seeing anything. It was all things God had created. The she started making man out of playdoh. We all did a song, then the kids got to sit down at the table to make things with playdoh as well.
I sat down at a table with Sammy so he could eat. After a few bites he already pointed at the shelf with the boxes of toys that he likes playing with, and I put him on the floor so he could play there. He knelt in front of the box and raised up to get things out of it. It was mainly Duplos, and so he started getting them out, and soon Tammy joined him and started building with them. Emmy also joined us and got the cars out, playing with them. And suddenly it was already time to tidy up. Randy had already joined us in the room. We put the toys away, put their shoes on, and left to return to the sanctuary.
Sammy had been asking for Anna, as usual, but I already knew that she wasn't there and told him. We walked to the lobby, where we put their coats on, then left to go home.
We walked back to the tram stop. The kids had their food boxes, and Tammy and Emmy were watching videos. On the tram I kept putting food into their mouths, while they were watching, and did the same for Sammy who had my phone. When we got off the tram, we had just missed our train, and so we had over 20 minutes to wait for the next one. We stayed in the hall, where I let Sammy play with the ticket machine; he loves pushing around on the touch screen and creating reactions/noises. And I still continued feeding him and his siblings, even though my fingers started freezing up. We got on the 7:56 train and were home not long after 8 pm.
We immediately started getting them ready for bed. They insisted on me reading a Bible story to them, which I did, then I prayed for them and put them to bed. It was just after 9 pm. I sat down by them, and they still kept talking for a while. Once Randy had finished making his food, he took my place, and I got myself something to eat. After having eaten, I started working on the pictures and then writing. Now it's nearly 2 am and time to go to bed.
