Ahh the sweet smell of spring time, April showers bring May flowers. For us over here we are waiting for a few more showers to make everything a bit more lush green. Normally April in Chiang Mai is suppose to be unbearably hot, however this year it has been unseasonably chilly (relatively) and the intense heat has not yet sufficated us. Can’t say I am disappointed.
(My U12 Basketball team. These girls were so fun to work with! We took home Silver in the Championship. Great work ladies.
The kids have been busy as usual, school, activities, driving me crazy at times..haha. March seemed to be the month of doctor appointments and hospital visits.
For whatever reason my kids seem to loose their teeth at very late stages in their development and due to this, Emma has still been carrying around her baby teeth that should have been out a while ago. Her stubborn baby teeth have left her permant chops with no where to go but sideways (which will make for a some nice mouth hardware as the years progress). This in mind we had to take some drastic measures and help her teeth out, and what an interesting procedure that was.
On the quiet night of March 17th the dentist gave Emma a wonderful mask full of Nitrogen Oxide to calm her hysterical nerves down so they could do their job extracting her chicklets.
(here is Em’s sore mouth with three teeth gone and lots of room for her adult teeth to drop down. It was not pretty but she was a trooper)
(heres what the tooth fairy came to collect. As you can see the huge tooth had no plans on coming out for a while as the roots are big, I was so shocked)
Ev’s Field Trip to the TV Station… Awesome!
(Ev’s class was learning about communication so Jeremy (Ev’s teacher) arranged a tour of a big TV station in Chiang Mai, the kids were amazed along with myself)
(here Ev is getting a feel for the camera. I was shocked the TV personal let the kids take over the cameras and explore their capabilities)
Quick Video
Ev was loving this. Listen to how Everett’s teacher says his name ~ makes me smilie
(Ev preferred being behind the camera than being interviewed on screen. Here Ev is taking orders from the upstairs production team that told him who to focus on and for how long. Pretty cool stuff)
(Ev is now at the upstairs switch board with all these colorful buttons to push and make the real production guys day putting them all back in working order)
(This was comical. After the TV station we walked to a tribal radio station. At the station they had a record player that most of the kids had no idea what it was or even records for that matter. Feeling old ~ not as old as when Em said to me “Mom you are from the olden times, geez they had typewritters back in your time.” She said it with such a serious face.
(ceremonies are huge part of the culture here and it is very respectable to always present a gift to the elders. This man could not get enough pictures with the kids)Authors Week…
Each year the school invites authors from around the globe to share their stories with the students. At the end of the exciting week the children dress up as a book character for a parade around the school followed by a tea reception in the audotorium. It was a fun morning.
(Everett went as Thing 3 from Dr. Seuss with blue hair and all (it was raining so the blue hair ran a bit 🙂 Easton was Nate from one of his favorite books)
(Em Thing 1 ~ blue hair as well… looked pretty funky. East as Nate and Ev of course Thing 3)
A few RANDOM pictures….
(here is a picture of a rice field we pass everyday to school, I love the little shack surrounded by green. You can also see the mountains in the background which make for a beautiful back drop. We are waiting for the rain to make everything all nice and green. There was a bit of a haze this day because of all the farmers burning their fields, an age old practice in the North)
(we happened to get in the middle of a parade in town one afternoon. The floats were beautiful and so was the accompanying music)
(each week Everett and a few of his classmates venture off to the school farm to learn about sustainable living, planting and play with the various farm animals. I love how they get transported on a sling (bicycle in some respect) back and forth… fun to be a kid and hats off to the peddlers who taxi the kids around the school campus)
(it still impresses me what a vehicle is capable of..haha 🙂 I have no idea what is under the tarp but the truck was swaying down the road)
(if you look closely to the dangling object from Umoe our gardeners stick it is a cobra snake. Yes snakes live here in Thailand and it is apart of life, so that is why Umoe works here so he can find the slithering creatures and dispose of them 🙂
(Em and East participated in the school drama production of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” It was a great show with many hours logged at rehersal even though the kids part was 5 min long as squirrels. Proud of you guys for making the commitment)
A weekend of fun 🙂
(One advantage to having friends who own the best activities center is the kids want to go all the time…haha . The drift karts are a blast though. This particular weekend was for Em’s friend Rigpy. Rigpy is a boarder at school and has been since she was in the second grade while her family lives in Tibet. I feel for Rigpy and the loneliness she feels at times having no family and always being tied to the school soooo she likes to hang out here)
The Dam for the day.
(Trent with his buddy James took the kids to the Dam for the afternoon. The drive out is only 25 min and once parked you have to take a long tail boat across the Dam to the floating houseboats for some good eats and lots of diving into the water. A great day for the kids)
(one, two, three my babes can fly)
(poor innocent children being shocked by ice cold water. Emma and Rigpy wised up while the Dad’s tricked the little ones which made for a great photo… thanks!)East is Admitted!
(We met with the specialist a few times to discuss Easton’s tonsils and adenoids with the final decision that they had to be removed. The doctor turned to me and said “how about this weekend or next?” No messing around here. The surgeon suggested we do the surgery on a Sunday morning because it was nice and slow in the hospital which would make Easton feel more relaxed. On Saturday March 19th we got cozy for the night to be woken up at 7am to say it was time for the procedure to begin)
(East was in great spirits, a bit nervous but he knew he would be breathing alot better when it was all said and done. East and I bunked into the private suite for 2 nights and 3 days. The hospital staff was great)
(This is not an everyday picture. The gross lump of fleshy substance is the left tonsil that was extracted out of Easton’s throat. The right one (in another dish) was about the same size. The doctor said they were very large and we did the right thing to have the tonsils removed to help Easton’s breathing)
(East and his bro and sis helping pass time during East’s healing process. Our patient was not talking much after the surgery all he wanted was to watch movies and eat grape popsicles ~ he was sooo tough)
(24 hours after his throat was invaded he was walking himself to the washroom and feeling good)
(the IV is coming out. I had to take this picture to show that the nurses here still wear the cute little nurses caps and traditional uniforms… still so simple here)
Easton’s recovery was so much better than all of us anticipated, he was one tough young man through it all. A few days after his surgery at school there was a disco and nothing can keep my kids away. It was a blast and Ev one a prize during a dance contest and Easton squared off with one of his best mates ~ it was awesome.
Great video of Easton busting his moves
Easton’s danced off with Piers with everyone cheering him on. It was a very fun disco!)
It is non stop in our house so I will continue to update when I get a chance. Easton and Everett’s birthdays are around the corner and Emma’s huge project that she has been working on for months, will be presenting to over 800 people next week which will take off some pressure.
I hope you are enjoying spring and until next time.
With love
Trent. Jody. Emma. Easton. Everett
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