Day 2574. The first week of school is over, and they all had a great start.
On Wednesday Samuel's school class celebrated his birthday with him, and they had cake for everyone. When I picked him up, he was playing with a memory game, and I took his picture. He was wearing his new shirt from the public transportation system on.
I had a student from 10 to 11 am, then I cooked lunch. Randy now leaves home a little later to get Tammy and Emmy, as they finish school 10 minutes later at exactly 2 pm. That means they come home around 2:45 pm. Just after 3:30 pm I left with Tammy and Emmy as we have three more tennis lessons on Wednesday afternoon. Tammy didn't want to go at all but then she did have fun. I also enjoyed playing tennis; we had a new coach as our regular one has an injury.
By 5:30 pm we were back home. I quickly made their dinner, then taught from 6 to 7 pm. After that it was bathtub time, story time and prayer time followed by bed time. It's back to bed by 8 pm or just after. This week I haven't had any 8 pm students yet, so I was able to make my salad and have dinner without being rushed.
Thursday
On Thursday I was able to sleep a little longer as I had a student from 11 am to noon. Randy left a little earlier as they needed to be back by 2:30. They were actually back by 2:15, and at 2:30 we all left the house together and rode the subway downtown, then walked to the dentist's office. The kids and I had a check-up, and we already knew that Sammy needed a filling. Randy had taken him to the dentist a week ago because of it but it was a different doctor who had not done it .
We didn't have to wait but were immediately led to the room our young, female doctor was in. Sammy was pretty tense and whining as he knew that she was going to do a felling. He was clutching my hand hard. Emmy climbed on the chair first, and his teeth were fine. Tammy was next, and she didn't have any cavities either. They had both had fillings before, while it was the very first time for Sammy. He was next. Randy and the other kids went outside.
Sammy was very nervous but thankfully the dentist is really great. She was calming him down, and I was right next to Sammy on the other side and holding his hand. I was also speaking to him, and that way she was able to do the filling. She went slowly and kept telling him what she was doing. It worked very well, thank God. Afterwards I told Sammy how proud I was of him.
We were back home just before it was 5 pm. I made their dinner, then taught from 6 to 7 pm. After that we started our evening routine.
Friday
On Friday I taught from 10 to 11 am, then I had a Zoom meeting until 12:30 pm. Randy picked up Sammy at that time, then left again just before 1:30 pm to pick them up at 2 pm. This year they don't go home earlier on Fridays.
The afternoon was spent with preparations for their birthday party on Sunday. I made three cakes and put them into the fridge to assemble tomorrow. I also organized all the stuff for the party and made the party favor bags for all three kids and their invitees. Tammy then came and helped me, choosing what friend receives what gift. It all took some time, but now there are 34 party favor bags ready for the 14 or so kids that will be at the party.
From 5 to 6 pm I had a student; I made the kids sandwiches before and cut up their fruit after. We also did piano practice which we hadn't done every day this week as their class only starts up next week.
Saturday
Emmy was up first this morning, at only 6:20 am, soon Sammy was up as well. My alarm went off at 8:50 am. I got up and made sandwiches for everyone for lunch to take with us and made myself breakfast. At 9:40 am Tammy and I left the house. Randy and the boys left the house at 10 am. They took Emmy to soccer practice that started at 10:30 am, then Randy went to the grocery store with Sammy before going home. At 12 pm they picked up Emmy again and went straight to the Danube island to get to the Royal Rangers gathering late.
Tammy and I rode the subway downtown, then we took a bus and walked a few steps to Saint Peter's Church. We had been there once, some time in the beginning of the year, to watch an opera for children and found out about the choir then. Tammy was immediately sold but we had to wait until now since our Saturday mornings were already occupied.
There were already a few other children waiting there. Then a lady arrived and said she was filling in today. She didn't have a key so she had to use another entrance and open the door for us from the inside. Then we went to the basement where they had a room with chairs and a grand piano. Everyone took a seat. Tammy was extremely shy and wouldn't even tell her name when it was her turn to tell the teacher. The teacher was an opera singer who fills in from time to time. The new leader of the choir, an Italian man, was also there but just watching today. He's gonna start next week.
Most children were already part of the choir. The teacher started with warm up exercises that Tammy participated in. Then she got a binder out and picked a song to do with the children. Several children already knew it, so they went along with the teacher while the others were out of the game. They didn't know the words, nor did they know the melody. And so Tammy sat down and just listened and watched. It was a little frustrating. Then the teacher had them act as well as sing. At first Tammy stood with them to also walk in a circle but then she sat down as she couldn't sing the song. It had not been a good experience for her but I'm hopeful that the regular teacher will be much better.
After an hour it was over. We took our scooters and rode them to the subway, then we took two subways to get to the Royal Rangers gathering. After getting off the subway, we rode our scooters across a bridge and down the path until we found the group. They were just eating their food; Tammy had eaten her sandwich on the way there. It was noon, so earlier than expected. I then left her there and rode my scooter back to the subway and home. Randy and the boys got there about 12:30 pm and they all stayed there until the end at 2 pm. They formed teams, and each team built a raft. Then they put them into the water and watched which ones swam and which one went the furthest.
It was 2:45 pm by the time they got home. They spent some time on their tablets but also did reading for school to get points. They were very motivated, reading and collecting points. As for me, I had a student from 6 to 7 pm, and I had lots of preparations for the birthday party tomorrow. After they had gone to bed and I had eaten dinner, I started working on their cake. I made a chocolate butter cream and put the three separate cakes together. I increased the difficulty level a little this year by the way I put the pieces of the third cake on the two cakes on the bottom. Next came the fondant, and I did better than ever before handling it. It was smooth and clean and unbroken after I had put it on the cake. I was very happy. Then I went on to working on the decorations meade with fondant. I already had the soccer field and just put it on, but I made all the signs. Emmy's theme is soccer, so the middle is his part. Sammy's is (public) transportation, so the right side is his, and Tammy's is the pink part, her theme being butterflies.
While I was working on the cake, Randy finished everything downstairs where the party is going to take place. I also put another "Happy Birthday" sign together that we then put up together. Tomorrow morning Randy will be blowing up all the balloons and I'll be finishing the cake, putting all the decorations on top, then we have to get everything ready downstairs.
Now it's 1:30 am, and I only have a few more things left to do.
