Day 2421. It was a long day! The kids were up early, but my own alarm went off at 9:30 am. At 10 am I left the house with Tammy and Emmy. We rode the subway downtown doing reading practice, then walked to their music school. At 10:30 am their class started; there was only one other student there.
The teacher started with the greeting song, then she asked the kids what they had done during their Easter break. After that, it was time to start with the finger warm-up. Next, she had them sing and play a few old songs, and they each got to choose one song to play for everyone else. Then she quickly moved on to a new song and had them mark the chords and the skips. They then just played the chords in the left hand. Finally, it was time to sing the new song up front before story time. This time the teacher told the story, and the kids helped. For once it was a new story. After that the only thing left to do was to get their stickers and stamps. Since they had missed the last class before Easter break, they now had 4 weeks of stamps they got, one for every day that they practiced.
We left the school, walked to the subway and took the other line to a third line to meet up with Randy and Sammy at the McDonald's in Simmering, which was quite a distance. Randy and Sammy were there early, and Sammy was very disappointed that his African friend had a day off and wasn't there. I ordered the food on my phone for all of us so that Randy and Sammy could start eating. It was 12:15 pm before we got there, and Tammy and Emmy were already very hungry.
Tammy had Freddie with her, her class's mascot that a different child gets to take home every weekend, so we had to take lots of pictures with him that she will show in school on Monday. We had a good time eating, then Randy and Sammy left as Sammy's music class is at 1:30 pm. As for Tammy and Emmy and I, Emmy was asking for us to go to the icecream place right next to McDonald's. He hadn't behaved well at all but we still had time to kill, so we went there. We ordered the smallest icecream they had, and then Emmy ate the least, not even eating half, while Tammy ate it all. Then we paid and left.
We rode the subway for a few stops, then we had already arrived. The next item on our list for the day was Royal Rangers, the Christian boys-/girlsscouts. We got there early but quite a few people were already there. Latecomers had to eat liquorice but everyone was allowed to try one. The kids tried but spit it out. Then they got balloons to tie them onto their legs for the first game. Then I left to go home. They had over two hours there, going to a nearby playground where they learned to use a knife to carve, had a Bible study and ate snacks. Then they got to enjoy the playground.
I was lucky that I made the 1:30 pm train and was home by 1:45 pm. It didn't take long until I got so tired that all I could do was to lie down and take a nap. Randy and Sammy returned home just before 3 pm, and I got up to get ready to leave the house. We left just after 3 pm to take the 3:20 pm train, then we took the subway, and just after 3:30 pm we got to the place where I had dropped the kids off. Nobody was there. I then called the leader who told me they'd had so much fun that they had stayed at the playground longer. It was after 4 pm before they finally got back to us but that was perfect as we would have been too early otherwise anyway.
When they arrived, they had Royal Rangers shirts on that they had been given. They were very proud of them. They'd already had their RR scarf before. We then got on the subway going west where they showed me the sticks they had carved and told me all about what they had done. After we got off the subway, we took the bus, then we walked to the restaurant where we were going to celebrate Grandma's birthday. We got there ten minutes early but my Mom and her husband were already there, and we sat down by them. Emmy had been pretty tired on the way there, then it was Tammy who was pretty tired but they both got over it. Sammy wanted to sit with Grandma so he sat with her for a while. The boys were really hungry and impatient for the food to arrive and happy when it did. Emmy wanted pasta, and it was a rather small portion. Both his siblings wanted some too even though we had ordered pizza for the rest of us. We had a good time eating and talking with Grandma. Most everyone else was on the other end of the table and out of reach for talking.
Before dessert arrived, it was time to give Grandma her gifts. The kids were really impatient to do so and initiated it. We all sang HAPPY BIRTHDAY for her, then our kids started with giving her her gifts. We had five gifts for her that she opened and appreciated. Tammy and Emmy had both painted and drawn on a white mug for her. The kids were eating their desserts while Grandma was opening all her presents.
They were starting to get tired after a very long day so just after 7 pm we started saying our good-byes. We then walked to the tram and rode it downtown where we got on the subway home. We arrived just after 8 pm which was bedtime. They put their pj's on, brushed their teeth, said their daily Bible verse to memorize, I prayed for them, and they went to bed. Then I sat down at my computer to relax for a while before starting to work on the many pictures. Of course it was late as usual before I went to bed.
On Sundays I get woken up a lot as the kids shout and fight and come to me. I got up at 11 am to cook lunch and have the kids do their homework for their maths club. They hadn't been there in a few weeks so it was very necessary to do some work. I was shocked to find out they had forgotten even basics they had learned a long time ago. In between taking care of the food I was helping them, as well as after we were done eating. At 12:30 pm Randy left with them to take them to their club. Sammy and I stayed home and played. Randy returned at 1:30 pm and left with Sammy at 2 pm. They picked up the other two at 2:30 pm and then went to the playground with them and their friend from the club.
It was nice to be home alone but I had to prepare for my 2:30 pm student. I only teach on Sunday when there is really no other way. I taught until 3:30 pm then prepared the new chore list for the coming week for the kids, as well as the two Bible verses for them to memorize this week. Lastly I prepared two short Bible teachings to do with them after they had returned home.
By about 4 pm they were back home. They had an icecream then we went downstairs and did our little family service together. I was teaching on worship and on prayer, and we prayed for family members who don't know Jesus personally. After we were done, we did piano practice then reading practice, and then they were hungry so it was time for me to go to the kitchen to make their sandwiches and then cut up their fruit. After they had eaten, they still had a maths worksheet to do for school. Tammy was fast, as usual, while Emmy needed more time. Once they were done, it was bathtub time. After that, they said the Bible verse of the day by heart, then we did story and prayer time and they went to bed after having brushed their teeth. I then went to the kitchen to get myself something to eat and take a break before going back to work. Now it's 1:30 am, and I still have to take care of the kitchen.
