Day 2274. Yesterday I got up at 9:30 am and got ready to leave the house which we we did less than half an hour later. Tammy, Emmy and I took our scooters, took the subway, then rode to the music school. At 10:30 am their class started. Two kids were missing, so there was only one other student besides our two. The teacher started with the greeting song after having talked about the weather. Then they did the finger warmup. Next she went through the last song in the book that they have practiced at home, then she went on to the next page, a new page. They learned what "staccato" means and how to play it. They were very excited about it and let the teacher know that they already knew that it was called "staccato" before she even told anyone. After they had marked the skips on the page, it was storytime. They were all excited, and they helped the teacher tell the story as they already knew it well. Then they got stamps for every day they had practiced and a sticker for attendance. The class was over, and we left.
We rode to the subway and took it to McDonald's where Randy and Sammy were already waiting for us. It was already noon. I ordered, then we ate. We had fun but I was under time pressure, as I had a 1 pm student. At 12:30 I left with Tammy and Emmy to go home. They wanted to go to the playground but everything was wet anyway. Randy and Sammy took the subway downtown and went straight to the music school, where Sammy played with the foam blocks until the class started.
By 12:45 pm I was home with Tammy and Emmy. They started watching a Christmas movie, while I turned my computer on to get ready for my 1 pm student. It was tight but I just about got ready in time. I was also very tired.
I then taught for 3 hours. I was really glad when I was done by 4 pm. We had planned to go to church, but I was simply too exhausted to get up and leave right away. Instead, I continued working on the computer, then I did maths club homework with the kids. Sammy was enjoying playing the drums downstairs and singing, and Randy took a video.
Once they got hungry, I made their sandwiches, then cut up their fruit. After having eaten and the bathtub, we had plenty of time to read Bible stories before they went to bed.
This morning the kids were unusually quiet, really trying to allow me to sleep which was the first time ever. Eventually they went downstairs, then it was really quiet to sleep. But not for long. At 10:40 am Emmy came to me crying and complaining about what his sister had done. It's nearly always Emmy who wakes me up. I still stayed in bed for a while, then I got up and soon went to the kitchen to make lunch as they were already hungry. Before it was even noon, we had all finished eating. Only Sammy hadn't eaten a thing, and he didn't eat anything for the rest of the day. He wasn't feeling well. He slept in the afternoon and fell asleep again two hours before bedtime; his body was a little warmer than usual.
Just before 12:30 pm Randy left with Tammy and Emmy to take them to their maths club and returned an hour later. While he was gone, I talked to Paul in Mali which always excites Sammy who also said hello to him.
At 2 pm I left the house to go pick up Tammy and Emmy. I took my scooter with me. This time, the teacher had left the door open so that I could go in and watch the last few minutes of the class. They were doing the memorization exercise where they see what the abascus looks like on the screen for a second and then have to recreate it on the abacus on the board. Tammy came to the board twice, and Emmy once while I was watching. Once the class was over, I still took a picture of Emmy with Max in front of the board as he has to write Max's diary before handing him in on Thursday. Then we left.
As usual, they didn't want to go straight home but go to the nearby playground. They played and climbed around for a while, then we made our way to the subway. On the train home, they did their reading practice.
Back home, the plan had been to put on our new Christmas pj's and take our Christmas picture. This year we hadn't done a photoshoot around November 6th (their would-have-been birthday) as I couldn't find the photographer's contact information plus the other one I knew was too expensive. However, Sammy was asleep so we went downstairs to do piano practice instead.
After piano practice, I went back upstairs where I went to work on the computer. I had so many things to get done that I didn't even know where to start. Eventually the kids got hungry, so I went to the kitchen to make their sandwiches and chicken soup for them. Then I cut up their fruit. After the bathtub, we still had time to read Bible stories. Then I prayed for them, and they went to bed, while I went to the kitchen to make something to eat for myself.
