34 months 16 days

Day 1050. Soon it's midnight, and I'm exhausted, but what's new. I'm just thankful that they fell asleep pretty quickly tonight and have been sleeping since.

This morning Emmy was up by 7:30, and by 8 am we all got up. They had already had 2 bars and a squeezie by then. After breakfast I went downstairs with them, where we read a Bible story together. I gave Tammy the paper and crayons she wanted, while Sammy wanted to play the piano that was still sitting out. Then I went upstairs, just in time for the cleaning lady who arrived at 9 am. It kept me busy for a while, tidying up, puttying away clothes and other stuff so she could do her job. I always love it, when she comes, for everything to be nice and clean again. It's too bad we can't afford her coming more often.

After I was done, I sat down at the computer to work. At 11:15 I went to the kitchen to cook. She was just finishing up upstairs and was about to go downstairs. The kids came upstairs before noon, but at noon we sat down to eat. They all ate well today and then had icecream. Then we put them straight to bed, as we had to leave the house early. It was nearly 1 pm. And they fell asleep relatively quickly. The cleaning lady left, and I was gonna take a nap, as I was really tired, it just never happened. I was given more new students, and so I ended up using my one hour to find out more about those students and prepare. I probably should have taken the nap.

At 2:15 I turned the ocean off, and the kids got up. At 2:30 we left the house. We had a long trip across town ahead of us. We took the subway to the end, and then the tram. Then we still had quite a walk. Somehow we arrived early today; it was only 3:15 pm. My Mom was already there. Emmy walked up the stairs with her, while I took Tammy in the stroller, and Randy Sammy. It was the kids' 3-year-old checkup. We registered and sat down in the waiting room. Paul had called me while we were on the tram, informing me of the latest crisis, and I was still dealing with that in the waiting room. The kids were playing with the stuff in the room, and Sammy was the most interested in the TV screen that showed what number was called next and where. The wait time was not too bad.

We went inside and took their clothes off. Emmy went first getting weighed and measured. He was a little skeptical, when she looked into his ears, but had no problems otherwise. Tammy came next and had no problems at all. Sammy however cried the whole time. Then it turned out they still needed the second Hepatitis shot to complete the immunization. That changed everything. They were all crying after the shot, but not really for that long. We put their clothes back on and went back to the waiting room.  There was a kid in a stroller watching songs on a phone, and since they knew that song, Emmy went  to him to watch as well, and then Tammy joined him. I was finishing up the paperwork, and then we all left. Emmy walked down the stairs with Grandma again.

Once outside we had to say our good-byes again. Then Grandma got into her car, while we were walking to the pharmacy, where we picked up a few items. Emmy was holding my hand and walking, while the other two were in strollers. He continued walking holding my hand after the pharmacy.

As we were approaching the tram stop, somehow it came up that a very good icecream shop was right there, one I was already going to as a child, as we were in my old neighborhood. And so we all ended up going there for some good icecream - a first for the kids. It was just after 4:30 pm, when we sat down by a table on the sidewalk. I ended up ordering a "Donald Duck" icecream for the kids to share, and the icecream cup I've eaten there all my life. Randy was smart, knowing he would be helping them eat theirs, which was the case. It was fun doing this together.

At 5:15 we paid and left to walk to the tram stop. They wanted to watch Peppa Pig, of course, and continued doing so on the tram. After we got off, we walked to the subway, where they sat down on seats and continued watching. By 6 pm we were back home. They wanted to continue watching, but it was enough. They went on the balcony with Randy, while I started making their dinner. And they came by to get some bread with cheese or salami. At 6:30 we all sat down at the table to eat, including corn on the cob. They then continued eating in the bathtub, while having fun. By 7:45 they were all in bed.

I sat down by them, and by 8:15 I was able to leave already. I did not go to the kitchen but sat down by my computer. I have 4 first-time students tomorrow, and so I spent the next 2 hours preparing for the 2 students in the morning. Then I finally got something to eat, ate, and then started working on the pictures and blog. Just before midnight Emmy woke up crying for me, and so I finished working while sitting b him. It's a long day tomorrow, so I need to go to bed.