Songkran 2015

We didn't have a big Songkran party like we normally do since...well...we don't have the amount of Thailand friends that we did in Utah...or a yard to throw water.  BUT we didn't have to worry about the weather not being warm enough to play outside.  That was a definite plus.

First, I dressed up the kids in their Thai clothes from their grandparents.  My mom wanted pictures of them in their Thai clothes.

Willing participation was low.

I didn't edit these pictures but maybe some day when they go in a scrapbook, I'll get them looking a bit nicer.  For now, they are a  little dark but that's not hurting anyone.

Is he posing or scratching his head?  We're going with posing.

 Interest started to wane and so Zach took the lens cap and well....put it on.  The picture after this one was just blackness.

About to pick his nose or deep in thought?  We're going with deep in thought.

Then it was Sydney's turn.  There was a protest.

After some nursing and sweet talk, I got her to realize that I wasn't murdering her with a dress.

*wink*

The next order of business was to let Aaron know that he was coming home to a water fight.  My Facebook friends agreed that it wouldn't be sporting to shoot him without any warning.  This was on the door when he came home.

We waited....and some of us did a little dancing.  By some of us, I mean, Zach.

I held a baby and waited.  He couldn't shoot a woman with a baby, right?  Tactical advantage.

No pictures of the ensuing water gun battle.  But there was giggling and running through the house and hiding behind furniture and using children as fire walls.  Very small ineffective fire walls.

Then it was time to go outside and play in some water.  We went out on our patio and I filled up a bucket with water. 

Look how excited he looks in that picture. He can barely contain himself.

Once he figured out what we were doing, he got right into it.

Now he was smiles!  I might have been feeling excited also.

I didn't know whether he would cry or enjoy getting water dumped on him but I decided to give it a gamble and see what happened.  I got those water balls (from his Easter basket) and squeezed them out over him.

He squealed and giggled and wanted a turn.  I let him try them out.  He tried to get the camera man (Aaron...who couldn't get wet due to bandages).

Mostly we played with water toys.  Rocks and bowls and stacking cups with holes.  He appreciated the chance to play at our "water table" and experiment with different 

As he was pouring water into my hands, I remembered that on Songkran, children will pour scented water onto the hands of their parents and ask for a blessing from their parents and to show respect.

We were only playing with holes in a cup though so...NO BLESSINGS FOR ZACH!

The next day I went and got Thai food from an amazing restaurant near us.  Super delicious.  And I figured if the Thai people can celebrate all week, so can I.

Happy Songkran!!!  May your year be filled with blessings and good fortune.  May you do kind deeds to ease other's suffering and may you be cleansed of all your misfortune.

Sensory Bin: Beans and Fluff Balls

Being a mom of two kids is hard.  Sometimes I miss being able to give Zach 100% of my time but the other part of me knows that it is best for him that I'm not constantly hoovering.

Every couple days I get some time where I can give him constant undivided attention while his sister sleeps.  And today, we decided that we would play with beans and fluff balls.

Totally a throw back to my days at the preschool.  I love that I'm able to use so much of what I learned at school and work to help my baby bear grow and play.

We did some scooping and some good old separating colors.  The little blue tweezers actually came in some medical kits that Aaron came home from the hospital with for wound care.  I didn't need all of them and so I turned a part into a tool for fine motor skills.

Uncle Markus Surprise Visit

My brother Markus was going through Las Vegas on a road trip with some friends.  He asked if he would be able to crash at my place with a friend for the night.  I, of course, said YES YOU MAY!!

He was in the hospital the night that Sydney was born but he couldn't go and see her because they would only let in two people to see her and my mom had to be one of them because she had a bracelet.  So my dad got to see Sydney but my brothers only got to hang out with me.

I'm not going to lie....I remember them being in the room after the surgery but I don't remember AT ALL how long they were there, what we talked about, or when they left.  

And the next time he was in town, Sydney was still in the NICU.  So this was the first time that he got to hold the pocket princess.

She liked him.  She liked him quite a bit.  He was the perfect nice warm chest to take a nap on.

Zach also got to enjoy his uncle Markus.

Then Markus got shaved and dressed up so that I could practice taking some pictures.  I've been off and on with my camera this last year with the new baby and hospital and everything.  I want to slowly get back into the swing of things.

(Please enjoy my yet unorganized bookshelf...eventually we'll move in)

I'm suddenly remembering why I upload to Flickr first before putting them on the blog.  Blogger really degrades the quality of the photo.

We loved having Markus around for 24 hours.  We're going to get to see him and Daniel in a month when they drive down to Texas for the summer.  Should be awesome, as always.

Anderson Grandparent Visit

My parents were in the United States for 10 days in April.  They decided to fly out to Utah for General Conference weekend to try and be in the Conference center for the announcement of the Thailand Temple.  They didn't end up going to the session that the new temples were announced but my mom said that that was a good thing because when they DID end up making the announcement, I guess my family was a little less than reverent.  It was a good thing that they were in the privacy of their own home in Draper.

After Conference and visiting with my dad's parents in Utah, they decided to take a drive down our way to visit with their grandchildren.  My dad hadn't seen Sydney since the day she was born.  She'd grownup since he had last seen her.  Already doubled in size!!

We decided that while the weather was nice, we would go on a little outing to a nearby duck pond.  By nearby, I mean that it was a 5 minute walk.  We didn't want to go anywhere TOO crazy.

My dad and I took turns picture taking.  I would take his big camera so that he could play with Zach.

My dad's picture of a mallard.

The attractive goose.  Isn't this a beautiful goose?

My mom running around with Zach.  She wasn't feeling so great but she wanted to play with Zach.

Zach was all smiles running around.  He loves being outside.

Zach did not mind all of the snuggles on bit.  He loves to cuddle into a soft Grandma.

This is a pictures of Zach in the middle of falling over.  As you can see, he is quite distressed.

He was even trying to get me to play...which was a little hard with the baby strapped to me.  I was trying to keep her safe from the cold wind.  Yes...even in Vegas you can get some cold spring wind.

Zach didn't want to be pushed home.  He wanted to do the pushing.  My mom helped him out.

At home, my dad snapped this cute picture of a little tiny.  She looked a little surprised to have her picture taken.  She should probably get used to it.

It was a quick little day and a half trip for my parents but it was good to see them and let them play with the grand kids.  We probably won't see them until Sydney's baby blessing.  Living far away is hard but we manage to make every trip count.

Quick Trip to the Pond

A couple days after I went to the park with my parents, Aaron wanted to go too.  He wanted to try and get his walking strength up as much as possible before going into the hospital again and he thought that this would be a fun family way to do that.

We even brought the dogs with us!

Zach loves to see the ducks.  We kept him strapped in while he was at the pier since Aaron can't jump in after him if he falls in and I can't jump in with Sydney strapped to me.

Over on the shore, we let Zach out to dig in the wet dirt.  It had been raining the days before so the ground was still a little damp under the trees.

He picked up dirt and wanted to come and show it to me.  I love that he loves being outside and elbows deep in nature.  That's how I was as a kid and I love to share that with him.

A really fun quick trip.  We're really happy that we live so close to a little duck pond that we can enjoy with our family.

White Board Town

Years ago, my brother bought this giant piece of white board at home depot.  He needed some of it but not all of it for a project and asked if I wanted some. I used it at the preschool and at Cub Scouts and in Primary.  It was a very versatile board to have.

Yesterday I was trying to think of a way to make Zach roads to drive his cars but also have a good flat surface to build a town with blocks.  Then I remembered this board.  I pulled it out and I drew some roads and a park and a helicopter pad.  Then I built the beginnings of a town.

When Zach woke up from his nap, he found this invitation to play.

He was pretty excited and played with the cars first.  Driving them on the roads while snacking down on some animal crackers.

Then a rock was introduced and it destroyed the hospital.  Horrible meteor shower.  Many lives were lost.

Zach started building up the city scape.

Somehow this car got on top of the meteor.  Many innocent imaginary  lives were lost.

After this, I put down the camera and we had a good time building and tearing down and rebuilding and driving around.  We loved White Board Town.