6 years 10 months 7 days

Day 2502. Time flies! Tomorrow it's the last day of this first academic school year for the triplets! Wow! Even this week has gone by quickly. Most of their classes have ended before this week so there was less activity for them this week. And Randy hasn't taken any pictures so I only have one picture so far but hope to get more from Tammy's and Emmy's school as they've done three field trips this week.

On Monday Tammy and Emmy had their last regular school day and so they took all their school stuff back home that they still had there. As for me, I taught from 11 to noon, then again from 3:30 to 4:30 pm and at 8 pm.

On Tuesday Tammy's and Emmy's school class went to an indoor playground; that's where the picture was taken. They had lots of fun there. In the afternoon, Tammy went to her dance classes. She was hoping to get her costume back that we had left at the theater on Saturday, thinking that it was only rented. After we found out she could keep it, we were eager to get it back. Unfortunately her teacher wasn't there but Randy picked it up today. The boys were home with me. I had no students on Tuesday but was busy doing office work for Mali as well as preparing for our trip next week.

Wednesday was the last day of the 10-day heat wave. We'd been suffering with intense heat at our house that made even sleeping difficult. It reminded me of Mali. Except that we don't have cold water come out of the fausset in Mali. The kids and I were taking cold showers every few hours that Sammy enjoyed especially. 

Tammy and Emmy did a school field trip to a castle outside of Vienna where they had fun. After a short night of little sleep, I already had to get up at 9:30 am to teach at 10 am, then I had another student at 11:30 am. Randy left just before 1 pm to pick up Sammy and take him to his last horse-riding therapy session. I had to leave just after 1 pm to take two buses and pick up Tammy and Emmy at 1:50 pm and take them home. I wasn't feeling well at all as the heat and lack of sleep were really getting to me. Once we got home just after 2:30 pm, I had to lie down and had a nap. I was supposed to leave at 3:30 pm to go to my tennis class (the kids' class had already ended) but I was simply not up for that. After I got up, I made the kids' sandwiches and cut up their fruit, and at 6 pm I sat down to teach until 7 pm. I was glad not to have an evening student. That way there was no time pressure. The kids took their bath, then we did story time, I prayed for them and they went to bed. And I was very relieved that it had started raining, finally bringing the much-needed relief from the heat.

And that meant being able to sleep better last night even though I couldn't fall asleep for the longest time. At least my third alarm went off at 10:45, so I did get some extra sleep this morning.

After I was done teaching at 12:10 pm, I went to the kitchen to cook. Randy had just enough time to eat before leaving after 1 pm to pick up Tammy and Emmy. Today they had done a picknick on the shore of the Danube where there was also a playground. I'm glad they had cooler weather today, even though the sun was shining brightly with no cloud in the sky. As for me, I left just before 1:30 pm to pick up Sammy from school like I do every day except for Wednesday. We were home by 2 pm, then I got ready for my 2:30 pm student. Randy and the kids returned home just as I was starting to teach. Randy then left with Sammy to go pick up his new shoes. I finished at 3:20 pm, then helped the kids and made their sandwiches. At 4 pm I had my next student that I taught until 5:20 pm. Again I was busy with the kids as Randy had left to pick up Emmy's backpack that another kid had accidentally taken home. That way I did not have the time to cut up their fruit. At 6 pm I had my next student. After I was done at 7 pm, I cut up their fruit and gave it to them to eat. I also cut up vegetables for my salad. Then I went downstairs with the kids for piano practice. Back upstairs it was bathtub time, then story time. Emmy was eager to watch the historic world cup soccer match Austria-Spain at 9 pm - the first time in 44 years that Austria had gotten that far. I set up a computer right next to mine for him to watch the game. Tammy watched with him at first but then went to bed. Randy left to pick up her costume from her dance school. Thankfully Sammy went to sleep even without Daddy sitting next to him. When he returned, he sat down with Emmy and together they watched the remaining soccer match. Austria lost 0:3. Emmy was very disappointed. At 11 pm he went to bed. Randy went to bed a little later, while I continued working on my computer. Now it's going on 1:30 am, and I still have to do the dishes. Tomorrow I have to get up early.