Day 2407. Last day of school before the Easter break. Sammy had an Easter egg hunt at his school (no pictures) while Tammy and Emmy had already done theirs on Wednesday. I lay back down in bed after Randy had left with the last kid. I had set my alarm for 11 am but woke up at 11:23 am and was shocked. It turned out that the alarm was set to a specific day of the week instead of "today". I jumped out of bed, turned my computer on and started teaching at 11:30 am.
Randy left the house at noon to pick up Tammy and Emmy, while I left after having finished teaching to pick up Sammy. Once we were back home, I got to eat lunch. Then I did some work on the computer while Sammy was watching his tablet, but we were also having fun at some point.
At 3:15 pm we left the house and walked to the subway. It was pretty cold. We rode two subways, then waited for Randy and the kids to arrive. Randy had taken them to their tennis class after school, then they had taken the train to where we were meeting. I gave Randy Emmy's sandwich for after his breakdance class, then he and Emmy left to ride the subway to the class. Tammy, Sammy and I rode the same two subways in the opposite direction to go home.
We got home before it was even 4:30 pm which was nice. I had plenty of time to make their sandwiches and get ready for my 5 pm student. Tammy and Sammy were having fun and eathing their sandwiches while I was teaching. When I finished at 6 pm, Randy and Emmy had also just returned. I then went to the kitchen to cut up their fruit for them and gave it to them to eat. Then I prepared for my 8 pm student before going downstairs with them for piano practice. Tammy still did her reading exercise while Emmy quit before he was done. After the bathtub, I prayed for them, and Emmy went to sleep in my bed while I started teaching at 8 pm.
At 9 pm I was done and went to the kitchen to get myself something to eat. I took a break while eating, then went back to work.
Because of the Easter break, there was no piano class on Saturday. That was actually helpful as the kids had their second Royal Rangers gathering at 11 am at the Danube island. Sammy wanted to go as well so Randy was going to take all three and stay there with them. However, it was a cold and windy day, and they had to stay outside for 3 hours. So they all dressed really warm and put their thermo underwear on.
At 10:30 am Randy left the house with them. They rode the subway for one stop, then had to walk for a while to get to the meeting point. The wind nearly blew them off the bridge they had to cross.
Once at the meeting point, there was already an open fire going that they sat down around. However, it was still cold. Sammy was getting more and more miserable because of that until Randy took him home. As for me, I was very much looking forward to a few hours home alone. I ate something I don't usually get for lunch. While I was eating, Randy and Sammy returned home, and I had to improvise for them to get something to eat as they were supposed to have eaten there. They were making "stick bread" that they held into the fire, which is what Tammy and Emmy ate. They also played games and had a devotional.
At 1 pm I started teaching, at 1:30 pm Randy left to pick up Tammy and Emmy again. Sammy was fine watching his tablet for the 20 minutes until I was done teaching. It took Randy and the kids longer than expected to get home as they were helping packing everything up there.
After they had come home, we went downstairs for piano practice and did reading practice. Then I made sandwiches for them, and just after 4 pm we left the house to take the 4:20 pm train. After that, we rode the subway, then walked through the mall to church where we arrived early for the 5 pm service. It was a special service, a family service that was geared towards newcomers and unbelievers. It's our children's favorite type of service. When we walked in, there was already the clown walking around. She then talked to our children who were having fun.
At 5 pm the service started. The kids were sitting up front on the kids' chairs, and Randy sat behind Sammy to make sure he doesn't fall off the chair. I sat two rows behind them. They started with upbeat praise songs with actions that the kids were doing, especially Tammy, and they even danced with the clown. I also danced with Emmy at one point. Then the pastor talked for a little bit, and they did a four-point teaching explaining the gospel. Different people did different points, and it was all done in such a way that a kid could understand. And the kids were loving it. In the end, everyone in the room prayed a prayer of commitment, then it was over.
The kids were ready to run outside and find Easter eggs. Everyone was allowed to keep one Easter egg basket, and the kids were fast finding them. Then they went to the crafts table where they could make armbands with wooden beads and draw the four symbols on them that were shared in the service (the four points). I helped Sammy, making his for him, while he was eating his candy from the basket. Emmy also let somebody else do it for him as he preferred playing ball with people.
But the night wasn't over yet. They had prepared a Superbook episode on the big screen in the other room. Even though our kids had already seen it, they still wanted to watch it so I took them there, then left. We don't usually get to talk to anyone as the kids got to go to bed, plus I often have an 8 pm student on Saturdays. Not tonight. So I was looking forward to talking to people.
I walked into the café where everyone was sitting or standing and talking and immediately got stopped at a high table where a couple was sitting. I've been greeting them every time we come to church but we had never actually talked until today. I ended up having a great conversation with them and getting to know them. Until Randy and the kids walked up to me. Randy wanted to go home even though the kids were complaining that Jesus hadn't risen from the dead yet. It was getting late so it was definitely time to go home. I said good-bye to the couple, and we left. We walked through the mall, took the subway and then the train home.
Once home, it was time to go to bed right away. There wasn't even time for a story because it was too late. They went to bed, while I went to the kitchen to get myself something to eat. I ate and took a break, then went back to work. When I looked at the time and it was after 3 am, I was shocked. At 2 am it was 3 am as we were turning our clocks forward. I then quickly went to bed.
It was Sunday today, and a Sunday with nowhere to go! Hallelujah! I wasn't the only one excited about that, everyone else was too. I wanted to sleep in but got woken up quite often. When I finally looked at the time, I was shocked that it was already 1:30 pm which was of course 12:30 pm just yesterday (because of the time change). Still, that's certainly later than usual. I went straight to the kitchen to make lunch, and at 2 pm we all sat down to eat.
After lunch, everyone got on their devices. I did some work on the computer, then did piano and reading practice with the kids. After that, it was time for me to go upstairs and teach. I taught from 5 to 6 pm, then they were hungry so I made dinner for them. After dinner, it was bathtub time, then we had plenty of time for a Bible story. I prayed for them, and they went to bed. It was close to 8:30 pm. I then went to the kitchen to make myself something to eat and sat down and took a break. Later I went back to work. Now it's 1 am, and I'd better go to bed as I leave the house early tomorrow morning.
