30 months 25 days

Day 939. Last night I went to bed at 1:45, but it was still a while before I could finally fall asleep. I found Tammy in our bed and moved her to her own bed. She came back, and the boys needed me too, and so it was closer to 2:30 before I got to sleep. We allowed Tammy to stay with us, so we'd all get some sleep, and Emmy also came at same point. It was 6:30, when he woke up and stayed up. Tammy continued sleeping until after 7 am, but Sammy was soon awake and crying, so he joined us in bed. After Tammy woke up, I also got up at 7:15.

I made breakfast and we all sat down at the table to eat. It's always a challenge to get them to eat though. Right now Emmy is the best eater, and Tammy the worst. After breakfast I cleaned them up and dressed them, and we went downstairs to read the Bible. Once Randy came I returned upstairs to work. I cleaned up and put stuff from our trip away, then sat down at the computer to work a little. At 10 am I started making lunch, and by 10:30 I put the casserole into the oven. Then I returned to my computer. I read an article on the current situation in Mali that was pretty discouraging. I'd been eager to call Paul to get an update to everything, and I was able to reach him. We ended up talking for 45 minutes, which is rare, but I got enough material for the next newsletter. By the time I hung up it was nearly lunch time.

A few minutes later Randy and the kids came upstairs. The food was already on the table to cool off. We took their clothes off and sat down to eat. It was my favorite dish, and Emmy always says that it's his as well, even though he didn't quite eat everything on his plate. Sammy didn't want to eat at all at first but later started eating. Tammy ate little as always. Then they had pudding. I cleaned them up and dressed them, and the boys were in bed by 12:50. I sat down by them, and by 1:05 they were asleep. I could already hear Tammy come up as well and stayed in the seat. The short night was finally catching up on me. I gave her the milk she wanted, sat a few minutes, and then walked away. I could hear her a few more minutes before she fell asleep. I continued working on the computer, getting more and more tired. At 2:10 I stopped to close my eyes for a few minutes.

15 minutes later Emmy and Tammy walked into the room, and Sammy was up too. I asked Randy to give me until 3 pm, and he went downstairs with the kids. I closed my eyes again until I was woken up by the alarm at 3 pm. I was still so very tired! I got some snacks to take downstairs, and also took my computer downstairs. Then Randy left to go to the grocery store, which was way overdue. This morning I had to borrow two eggs from the neighbor and tell the kids that we had no more milk.

After eating some snacks they already asked to watch Peppa Pig, and I let them while working on the computer next to them. Sammy was happily by himself on the floor, playing there for a long time. But then he made his way to us, wanting me to pick him up, and I did. That's when work was over, even though I tried to work with one hand at first. Then I took him to the swing, where he was giggling while I had him fly high and turn and turn and turn. He was in there for a while, then I told the other two that they were watching the last episode, and then I stopped it. Tammy then asked to do some drawing, and the other two were excited about that as well. Tammy did the most drawing, drawing long lines across the paper, and she was really into it. Emmy was more interested in telling Mommy what to draw. And Sammy still does a lot of drawing on himself and putting the crayon into his mouth.

Emmy left first and started having fun with me. I made them put up the crayons, and Tammy moved on to some cooking in their kitchen. Then she brought me a few books to read, and both Emmy and Sammy joined in at different times.

It was after 5 pm, when Randy returned from his 2-hour grocery shopping trip. It still took him some time to put everything away. At 5:30 I went upstairs to make dinner, which was already 15 minutes later than usual, while Randy then walked downstairs to be with them. Sammy was already crying. I started making dinner, making an omelet again, as well as some bread with salami, ham and cheese and cut up fruit. Randy had bought oranges. I recently found out that they do like oranges now, and they loved eating them tonight.

The lost 15 minutes meant no tidy-up time downstairs. Randy came upstairs with them instead, and everyone sat down to eat. It didn't take long until they got up, and I took the rest of the food to the bathtub for them. They ate some there, but a lot remained in the bowls. Then we got them out and ready for bed. By 7:05 they were all in bed, and I sat down by them. Tammy lay on me for a while, while I was holding Emmy's hand. We were talking, then I started singing. Tammy returned to her bed. By 7:40 they were asleep, and I was able to leave.

I went to the kitchen to get some food, then went downstairs to eat. After having eaten I returned to work until bedtime.