Day 951. Last night I went to bed at 1:10 am. Half an hour earlier Emmy had come to the top of the stairs calling for me, and he agreed to wait for me in our bed. When I walked into the bedroom, he actually talked to me instead of being in a deep sleep, and so I lay down with him, and after a few minutes he agreed to go back to his bed.
When I woke up in the morning, Tammy was in bed with us, and then Emmy came as well. They were up for good at 7:30, and at 7:45 I got up as well to make breakfast. I got Sammy out of bed who'd been letting us know for a while he wanted to join us, then I went to the kitchen to start making their food. Randy got up to change their diapers.
We sat down to eat, then we cleaned them up and dressed them and went downstairs, where we read a Bible story. Then I took my computer and went upstairs to work. First I cleaned up and wanted to make our favorite dish, only to find out that we were missing an ingredient. So I had to change the menu and started doing office work. Just after 11:30 I went to the kitchen to cook, using the already cooked pasta for the new dish. Randy and the kids came upstairs just before noon, before it was ready. A few minutes later we sat down at the table to eat. Everyone was eating fine at first, but they didn't eat it all. They wanted the new dessert, that all three ate together. Then we cleaned them up and dressed them, and by 12:45 the boys were in bed. It took Emmy until 1:10 pm to fall asleep, and since I walked away, Sammy then also fell asleep. He'd barely just fallen asleep, when Tammy came upstairs at 1:15 pm. Yesterday was such a nightmare with her never sleeping, I was really hoping she'd sleep as usual today. I returned to her side after she had mumbled something, and sat there, when she fell asleep at 1:35. I was relieved and went back to work.
At 2:15 Emmy walked into the room and lay down with me. Then Sammy also started fussing. Randy got Sammy, and Emmy also wanted to get up and go downstairs with them, and so all the boys went downstairs. I started making their dinner-to-go. At 3 pm Tammy woke up, and I took her downstairs with some snacks, then continued getting everything ready. Half an hour later they all came upstairs, and we dressed them for church. At 4 pm we left the house.
We walked to the subway and then the train station and took the train. Emmy had been in Randy's double stroller, which is rare, but sat on a seat on the train and then went into the single stroller with Tammy, as usual. We got off and went to the tram stop. The kids could see for themselves that the chestnut seller was gone. I had taken packaged ready-to-eat chestnuts with me that I gave them instead. We got on the train, where they had to stay in the stroller, as it was full. After getting off, we pushed the strollers up the hill to the church.
We got to church a few minutes before the service started and went straight to the front, parked the strollers, and got them out. Tammy went straight all the way to the stairs of the stage, where the flags were. The music started, and she got herself the bands she wanted, as well as fabric, and waved it all around. Emmy just sat on the stairs and watched everything for the longest time. I had Sammy at first, but then Randy left with him to give him a new diaper. Since Emmy was just sitting there, I was having fun with Tammy, dancing with her and throwing her around. She couldn't get enough of it! Once Randy returned, I took Sammy again, and Tammy realized that our fun time was over.
The way we do it is that when one person has Sammy and takes care of him, the other person is reponsible for the other two. That system has proven itself. I was having fun with Sammy, while Randy ran after the other two who started going up a staircase they shouldn't. Then they ended up having fun with some young ladies in the area who'd pick them up and turn on the spot with them. They kept running away and back to them. A short while later Emmy came to me asking to go upstairs, and as it was after 5:30, it was definitely time for that.
We walked up the stairs to get to the toddler room, where they were not quite the first kids there. I got their lunch boxes out, then Randy returned to the sanctuary, and the kids started playing. The toys were more interesting than the food. Tammy and Emmy found the railtracks again and started putting them together. I came over to help them and made them a perfect circle. Later we made a bigger track for them to use, and Emmy wanted to make the train as long as possible. They were having fun! Emmy has been asking for us to buy a train like that. Sammy was interested in a box in the shelf and knelt in front of it to explore the contents.
Then the music started which meant, come to the circle since the program was about to start. I had to encourage Emmy to come who did not want to leave the train tracks. He took at least the train with him. Tammy jumped right in, doing the actions to the song to the best of her abilities. Then we did the greeting song, then they got mirrors and then Bibles. They love the Bible song, and all three did the actions for that one. There was also one other song with actions today, and Tammy not only tried to do the movements but also to sing. I love her enthusiasm! The teacher handed out some cards with pictures on it that we talked about. Then we always repeated a phrase, thanking God for something, and Tammy repeated it. In the end there were some papers to color, and Tammy once again gave her all, covering the paper in different colors. Emmy ´just drew a few lines and that was it. Sammy was with me eating at that point. The other two never ate much. After they were done, they returned to their train tracks. Tammy then moved on to the play kitchen and had fun there. Sammy found the box with train tracks and emptied it out. Randy arrived at 6:45 pm and joined the boys on the floor. Sammy rolled over and hit his head and cried, and the picture of him in Randy's arms was taken right after that. I picked him up to comfort him, but he wanted his Daddy.
Then the tidy-up song started. Emmy and Sammy were just with me at the table eating some food, while Randy was changing Tammy's diaper, and Emmy started crying, when he saw the other parents break up his train tracks to put it all away. I told him we were about to go home, and that we could also get a train if he wanted to. That comforted him a little bit. Once Randy returned, we put their shoes on and left to return to the sanctuary.
We started down the staircase, when Emmy spotted Anna and started shouting her name really loud, then Emmy did too. They were happy to see her, so was Sammy. The other two ran off right away, while Sammy stretched his arms out to Anna who took him. The kids saw Sonja in the front and wanted to be with her, but she was handing out communion. So we stayed nearby and watched for a while, then we walked to the back again. She wasn't gonna be available for a while. After a few minutes we joined the line for communion. I had Emmy on my shoulders and encouraged Tammy to stay with us. Before reaching the communion tables, there were two pairs of people praying for those in line, like in a fire tunnel. I picked up Tammy, holding her with my left arm, and holding Emmy's feet with my right arm, as he was still on my shoulders. They started praying for the three of us, and I could feel the sweet presence of Holy Spirit. How wonderful! I don't get to just worship or get prayed for at all any more. Once we reached the table, Sonja put the bread into Randy's hand, as I had no hand free. We walked away and took communion together. We were standing in the back of the church, when I suddenly saw a tiny, little mouse by a door there. It ran from one end to the middle, where a hole was and disappeared into it. I told the kids, and then the mouse came back out, ran along the back wall of the sanctuary and disappeared into another hole. This time they had all seen it and were excited! They wanted the mouse to come back, but it never did. We still all thought it had been really funny, and they still talked about it once we got home.
It was getting late, and they wanted to see Sonja, so we made our way to the front and sat down on the stairs near her. She could see us. Tammy and Emmy started having fun with Anna and other people there, jumping off the stairs. I had Sammy and had him jump off as well, which he enjoyed. Finally Sonja was done. We walked over to her. She had something else to do but took a minute to say hello and good-bye. She picked up Emmy, and Sammy leaned forward to her from my arms. She also picked up Tammy, and then we said goodbye, even though Emmy was disappointed.
We made our way to the back of the church, put their coats on, and while I was waiting for Randy, the kids saw Sonja one more time who gave them a cookie each. They had hardly eaten anything yet, so it was welcome. It was already after 7:30 pm. We said goodbye again and left the building.
We quickly walked to the tram stop and were happy, when it came pretty soon. We still had a chance to make the 8 pm train. They wanted to watch Peppa Pig, and I let them. We got off the tram and quickly went up to the train, where ended up even still having a few minutes. The kids continued watching. Once on the train, they watched and ate at the same time. We then got off and walked home, where we arrived at 8:20, which was later than usual.
We took their clothes off, let them eat more of their boxes, then got them ready for bed. By 8:45 they were all in bed. Tammy wanted me to rock her again, and Emmy took my hand. Sammy fell asleep first. Emmy is the one who needed the longest. At 9:10 I was able to walk away from them and go to the kitchen to make my soup. I took it downstairs to eat, then started doing office work. One time Emmy was crying for me, and I had to go upstairs to rock him, then put him to bed, and I was soon able to walk away again. Now it's after 1 am, which is way too late, as the alarm will wake me at 7 am.
