Day 2365. Last night was unusual in that Tammy and Emmy both came into our bed but didn't stay long. Today I had to get up even earlier than usual, and I got up before my alarm went off as the kids woke me up. At 9:30 am we left the house together, i.e. Tammy, Emmy and I. We took the subway downtown, then walked to their music school. The day of their piano competition they'd been practicing for for two months had come.
It was 9:45 am by the time we arrived. The kids were allowed 10 minutes at a piano before their competition so Tammy went to our classroom and her piano and played all her 8 pieces one last time. I pointed out to her where she was making mistakes so she wouldn't make them once inside but she did make them all.
After she had played in the back room, we went back to the front and to the door to the only big room where the expensive grand piano is located. There were two of the three judges in there, one being a piano teacher of their music school, the other one must have been from another school as this was a city-wide competition. The third judge, their teacher and the founder of the school, wasn't there yet. Once she got there, she showed me where to sit and Tammy was up first.
The judges asked her what she was going to play which put her at a loss. She had 8 short pieces to play, all with different titles, and there was no way she could name them all. She sat at the piano speechless, and I felt bad for her. Thankfully they let it got and told her to start. She made the mistakes she started making recently in her first piece, made the same mistake she's been making in her second piece and completely messed up her third one. Nobody had put her seat in the right place in the beginning. It was too far away which is why Tammy ended up standing and playing. I then stopped my recording and went up to her and moved the seat closer so she could sit down. Then she continued playing. She made one little mistake in the fourth piece, then made so many in the fifth one when she had always played that one perfectly at home. She made one little mistake in the sixth one. The seventh one was technically not so good, and the last one was perfect. Thank God! I believe she was quite nervous, which I was as well.
Tammy bowed and together we left the room. The judges needed a few minutes to talk and write. While waiting, I told Emmanuel that they had asked Tammy to say her name and what she was playing. Then we were called inside.
Emmanuel went to the piano, bowed and said, "I am Emmanuel and I'm playing the book." I had to laugh on the inside. Yes, all eight pieces were out of the same book. Then Emmy sat down and started playing. He played confidently and played well. He said he wasn't nervous, and he sure came across that way. I was amazed when he played piece after piece without making any mistake. But then he did. He messed up quite bad when playing one of the pieces that he had always played perfectly at home. But that remained his only mistake. When he was done, he bowed again, with a big grin on his face. Then we left the room together.
We were done, put our shoes and coats on, and left to go back home. It wasn't even 10:30 am yet, and by 10:45 am we were back home. I was so very tired I just wanted to lie down and sleep until lunch, but of course it was nearly noon before I closed my eyes, and a few minutes later Emmy already came to wake me up as he was hungry. I got up, warmed up the leftover lentil-tomato soup and made grilled-cheese sandwiches to go with it. Then we all sat down to eat. After lunch, Randy started getting Sammy ready to leave the house with him which they did at 1 pm. He was Pumuckl again and going ahead to another carnival party where the rest of us were going to join them later.
We had another half hour at home before it was our turn to leave. We took the subway downtown again to go to the music school for the second time today, this time for the award ceremony that started at 2 pm. We got there exactly at that time. We took our coats and shoes off, then waited for only a short time before we were all called into the big room again. We walked to the front left of the room together. Everyone was standing. The founder of the school then said a few words, then the other teacher from this school took over to lead through the ceremony. She then called Tammy's name first, followed by another boy's name. Together those two were 5th and 6th place, so last place. They both got a certificate of participation, nothing else. I had prepared the kids in advance for the possibility of being in last place, especially given that they were the youngest to play. Tammy seemed okay with it, also later. Next she called up Emmanuel, fourth place, with an honorable mention. He got a certificate and a beautiful, heavy medal. Then the third, second and first place were called, and they all got trophies. It had been close for Emmy but there's another chance for a trophy next year.
After the beginners' group, the intermediate players were called up, then a group picture was taken with all the ones who had participated. Then the ceremony was over. I took a picture of Tammy and Emmy, then one with their teacher who was very proud of them. We exchanged a few words with her, then it was time to get going. Emmy changed into his spiderman costume, while Tammy was already wearing her costume. Then we left.
We had to walk to the tram stop, and it was pretty cold today, around freezing. We took the tram, then another tram, then walked to the building where the party was taking place. It was the local district government organizing this party. It had started at 2 pm but we got there at 2:45 pm which was pretty good.
There were about 200 children inside, and it was for children only, without parents. Because of Sammy, Randy and I were allowed to stay. We found the two of them right away. Randy said he'd been on the jumping castle. I then found out that there were all those stations where the kids were winning play money that they could then exchange for candy. Sammy hadn't gotten any yet, so it was time for me to change that.
But then all the kids were called into the big room to watch a dance performance so we went in there. A dance studio was actually in charge of organizing the party so three groups of kids from their studio where showing their dance/choreography. Then everyone was free to leave again to do whatever they wanted.
I went with Tammy and Emmy to find out what stations there were. We saw the obstacle course and both kids did it but there was no money to win. Later Sammy also got to crawl through a tunnel and jump off onto the mat. Emmy then went to the jumping castle while Tammy lined up at the stations. The lines were rather long, and Emmy did not want to wait that long. Tammy, however, got very excited about all the money she had won. And Emmy was disappointed that he had none. It was time for Sammy to win some.
And so I took Sammy and we went from station to station. Everyone was understanding when he went to the front of the line. He was also excited about the money he was winning. At the very end, Emmy was finally winning some money but very little so he only got little candy while Tammy got a lot. I also took Sammy to the exchange table where he chose M&Ms that he ate right away. They did have snacks and drinks for the kids to get any time they wanted to, and all three kids had the traditional carnival donuts.
Tammy still wanted her face painted, as did Sammy. She gave Sammy some red dots (freckles) and Tammy a butterfly. Sammy had received a glitter tattoo on his arm before the rest of us got there, but I put one on Tammy's arm as the lady doing it wasn't there any more.
Randy was about ready to go, and I had been extremely tired all day long anyway, plus the party was about over. Emmy exchanged his candy, then we got our coats to leave. It was nearly 5 pm, the ending time, and parents were arriving to pick up their kids.
We left the building and walked to the bus stop. We took the bus to the subway and rode the subway home. Emmy started acting up again and giving us a hard time. Just after 5:30 pm we were back home. Even though the kids had had lots of snacks, they were ready to have dinner - leftover McDonald's food. They ate, and I cut up their fruit for them to eat. Then I lay down being extremely tired. Just before 7 pm I actually fell asleep for a moment but it was time for the bathtub. After the bathtub, they were getting ready for bed, and we still read a story even though Emmy was acting up again. He must have been pretty tired. He acted up for a while. It was 8:30 pm before it finally got quiet. I was getting myself something to eat and took a break before getting back to work. I had lots of pictures, including yesterdays to go through and edit. And so it's 1:15 am once again, and I still have to clean up the kitchen. Unfortunately I have a very early morning tomorrow.
