34 months 7 days

Day 1041. Once again Emmy was up early and coming to me to open squeezies or sausage packaging. I opened a squeezie for Tammy, but she couldn't even drink that. About two days ago she showed me her tongue after having said that her mouth was hurting, and there was a big blister on it on the side. Yesterday she barely ate anything, and today she's not eaten anything because of it, even though she's tried. We had already planned to go to the Healing Rooms today, and now we had a third reason to go there. The Healing Rooms opened 5 years ago, and I've never been there. When I lived in Kansas City, I actually prayed in the Healing Rooms there myself.

After breakfast we got everyone and everything ready and left the house at 9 am to take the train and then the tram to go to the church, where they are located. We got there at 10 am. I had registered online for one person and was thankful that I could take the two kids with me as well. What I didn't know was that we'd be there until 12:15. The pastor greeted us and then let us go upstairs to the toddler room, so they could play there. They stayed there, while I went to a room with a few other people, where we were given a short teaching on healing. Then we all went to a soaking room with live worship. Sonja was one of the people praying in the room, and it was great to see her again. I picked a beanie bag that I moved close to a wall and lay down on it. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the music and God's presence, which soon led to tears, as so much is weighing on me right now. I don't know how long was in there for, probably about half an hour, when Randy and the kids came to the room. The kids all sat down with me and sat there quietly, watching and listening. It's as if they knew that was the right behavior in this atmosphere.

After a few minutes somebody came to get us and take us to the room, where they're praying for people. We were led to three ladies I didn't know, though one of them knew me. They first prayed for Tammy, then me, then Sammy. Then we left and were led to another room, where we were waiting until everybody got there. The person talking to us there is someone I've known a long time and hold dear, so it was nice to get a chance to talk to him for a few minutes. The kids were getting a little restless, and so Randy left with them to return to the toddler room. We finished the feedback session, then I left to join them in the room, so we could leave. We put their shoes on and went downstairs, when I noticed that Tammy's rabbit wasn't there. She'd already lost hers in Mexico, so she still had her brothers' rabbits. We started looking everywhere, but could not find it. She was crying, when we had to leave without it. I hope they'll find it, and we can get it back tomorrow.

Even though it was already 12:15, we proceeded with the original plan of going downtown to go to McDonald's and then the big event/children's festival that was on from noon to 4 pm - inconvenient times for little kids. It was unbelievable how full the tram and subway was, and it bothered the kids having all these people around them like sardines. After we got off the subway, we walked to McDonald's. They only had one high chair, and it was in use, and so Sammy stayed in the stroller to eat. Tammy tried to eat fries, but was crying in pain and couldn't do it. She could drink the milkshake. Once we were done, we put them back into the strollers and walked to the park right there, where the kids' festival was.

It was already after 1 pm, so really late for them to go somewhere instead of going to bed. Sammy looked really tired. We were walking by booths with stuff and of kids doing all kinds of crafts, when I heard the Kasperl music. They had been asking to go see Kasperl again all day, and I couldn't believe our luck that we were getting there just as it started! I picked up the pace and followed the sound to the stage, where they were playing. It was really crowded, but I ended up getting good seats, where they could see. They were really excited to see Kasperl and watched intently. Sammy was too tired, and Randy put him into the stroller and walked around with him so he could sleep.

After Kasperl was done, we continued walking to find the air castle to jump on. When we found it, it was a huge slide. The kids were excited and ready to line up to get on it. However, a lady there asked their age and then told us they were too young. They started crying and Tammy threw a fit. I pointed to the playground and the slide there, and that's where we went. Soon she was all smiles again and enjoying going down the slide there. Emmy soon got into the jeep on springs that moves and enjoyed it, and then all three were there. Then it was time to move on. I still thought they was an air castle to jump on somewhere, and so we kept walking, only to find out there wasn't one. We walked by kids painting again, and they said they wanted to do that. There was no line, so I picked up a plate with paint on it, gave them brushes, and they got started painting. Tammy is usually better at it and enjoys it more, but Emmy impressed me, when he drew a perfect circle right away. Neither one had painted with brushes before, but they did a great job. Once they were done we put the painting into the stroller, put the kids in, and walked back to the subway. It was already 2:30 pm, so extremely late for them. We had to take two subways, and the kids were watching Peppa Pig the whole time, which is just what's needed, when they're this tired.

We got home at 3:15 and put them straight to bed. They were all asleep fast. I sat down at the computer to work, but soon had to close my eyes as well. As for Randy, he left for another grocery store run. I didn't want the kids to sleep too long, this late in the day, but did not set an alarm. It was nearly 5 pm, when I woke up. Emmy was right there, Sammy was awake too, and then Tammy as well, though she didn't want to get out of bed. I went downstairs with all three of them, taking a snack for them with me. Randy was not back yet. Emmy ate it all by himself, with the other two not wanting to eat. I got the piano out that Sammy loves so much, while the other two wanted to do the Peppa Pig sticker book. After a while we could hear that Randy was back. He then came downstairs and took my place, while I went upstairs to work.

It was already 5:30 pm, so time was short. I wanted to have dinner at 7 pm, but Randy came upstairs with them just before 6:30. I quickly put some food on their plates, but not one of them wanted to eat. They wanted to blow bubbles on the balcony instead. And so it ended up being about 7 pm, when they did sit down to eat. Still, nobody wanted to eat, and I took all the food to the bathtub, where Sammy was the only one eating well. Emmy ate a little, Tammy was waiting for icecream, but couldn't eat that either, so Emmy had to eat it by himself (Sammy didn't want it). They came out of the water early, as someone had pooped into it. We got them ready for bed, and it was close to 8 pm, before they were all in bed.

I sat down by them. Sammy fell asleep fast, and fell asleep with his new braces for the first time. This was the third night I had put them on. The last two nights I had to take them off after half an hour both times. Tonight he had them on for over an hour before he woke up and cried and wanted them off. He never had those issues with the last braces. Tammy was also having a hard time being in pain, and when I left at 8:30 to make myself something to eat, she and Emmy cried. I finally had to come back, and then she was soon asleep. Randy returned to take my place, with Emmy throwing a fit and crying, as he wanted me to stay. Eventually he stopped crying and fell asleep. I was able to finish making my food, eat, and then go back to work, working until just after midnight.