Water Festival, Fatigue, Family and Fire {Time Capsule}

A cold rainy day, the last drops of rainy season are falling!

The kids are busy building rockets and reading new-to-us-again books. We stored some kids books in a packing box for the last few months, opening it again this week felt so exciting.

So glad they can keep themselves entertained a bit more independently. I've been feeling so tired last few months (and I think there is a medical reason). Last week we had relatives staying and they did all the cooking and kids stuff so I just rested, mostly even too tired to read.

While family were here Soeun made a bonfire in the yard and the kids enjoyed cooking bread on sticks.

We totally missed all the boat race festivities in town, but we did have a couple of homeschooling families over one morning.

Regular routine in an irregular time period {Time capsule}

So far this blog feels like my favourite way to record what's happening, so here is our time capsule for mid July-ish until early October-ish.

Finished up at preschool but not yet started official homeschooling. We are getting used to all being at home together and still setting up things/unpacking in the house. It’s like deschooling, or homeschooling preschool or maybe even just playing and reading at home with the kids. 

Our ducklings are enjoying our flooded yard.

Within in this irregular time period there are some regular things that happen. Including but not limited to:

- one afternoon week we open the laptop and turn on Skype to talk to family members in other countries. We don't always end up catching them, but we have that regular afternoon when it might happen.

-Soeun is doing Psalms in a weekday cell group and Revelation for sermons. We have just set up an office for him so he can focus better. Bought a bookshelf, unpacked most of his books! We have a code word he uses to tell us he is going to work and can't play- because the kid always want to play with him.

The vacant lot opposite us fills up with water at this time of year. Apparently a good place to take your water buffalo. 

-weekly morning playdates with a group of people we have just started getting to know. Although a few of them I have sort of known for awhile, others just moved here. It feels like the 3rd wave of playdates since I moved to Siem Reap. The group that used to meet weekly when I arrived pretty much all left town around June 2016. Then I was meeting weekly with one or two others for awhile, but then all our kids were at preschool and we didn't meet as much, and then we moved we meant we couldn't do weekdays anymore. But now, post preschool we are getting to know some others from House Church and also starting to form a homeschool community. 3 years ago I asked on Fb if there were any homeschool families and got no response. As of the weekend we I know of 5 others!

Since we finished up at preschool in June its been nice to be able to use the market near our house regularly, I end up going every few days. The transition time between when we moved but hadn't yet stopped going to preschool didn't really allow me to shop at a market.

Soeun had to unexpectedly leave one night to go and stay at church overnight with all the water... 

Current favourites. From the 1960s and 70s, new to us via American friends. 

Out the front door.

Grand Finale of preschool {Time capsule}

Surprise! We found a water melon growing near out steps.

A time capsule of this transition which turned out to be surprisingly delightful.

It came sooner than I expected, and I felt happy instead of stressed. Taking the kids out of preschool has been looming before us for a while. We needed somewhere fun and safe for them to play over the last couple of years but now things have progressed and it’s time to get used to being at home together as we plan to try homeschooling.

The kids were going to be at preschool until the end of August...but in early June about 4 or 5 things came together and we realised we would finish up in June. It had been such a lifesaver, we put our eldest in in desperation- he needed more climbing and friends than we could find elsewhere.  So I thought taking them out would be hard, but when it was the right time it felt like we suddenly didn’t need it anymore.

Such a big relief- the thing I was dreading disappeared.

Dress up day at preschool

It was Fairy Tale Dress up day on the Thursday. Our son was so excited, he came up with the idea to dress up as the big bad wolf. He begged me to buy a grey t shirt to go with his grey shorts, he found socks to put on his arms and worked out a mask. We painted it together on the Wednesday afternoon. It was fun to see him having so much fun planning his costume. Painting with him at home also made me less stressed about homeschooling. Yes it was messy, but so thankful we have been given some paints and paint brushes, and he has so much fun painting. That was one of the things I like about preschool- they do so much fun messy stuff there, which the kids love and I don’t have to set up or clean up.

Our son worked hard writing and drawing on the Thursday afternoon, he was excited to make cards for his teachers. We also made granola for them in our toaster oven. Both our kids were given huge handmade cards with finger prints and photos of their class. I went early to pick up and got some photos of them near the world map with friends.

Some of the books we bought in the last week of preschool.

 Choosing a new-to-us book to take home was a feature of those last few days. A bookshop just opened up near preschool, full of English language kids books!!! As we won’t be in town much after this, I let the kids choose a book each 3 days in a row. Exciting, festive! Added to our Peppa collection, got our first Mr Man book and, our sons new favourite , our first Enid Blyton. I didn’t know if he would be ready for so many words and so little pictures but he LOVES it. I’m reading it to him for the second time now, he keeps asking for it again.

June skies are amazing

I was glad our son already had an idea about homeschool from when we visited a friend in February. All the other kids are going to different schools, or continuing on at the same school. He is just staying home to play and read books for now, but he calls it homeschool, and he is really excited about it. Yay!

Tuk tuk ride home on final day of preschool

I'm still being asked to read this book everyday almost a month after we bought it! I thought it would be too many words and not enough pictures but he loves it. The word "tiresome" has entered his vocab. 'oh Mummy, you are tiresome"

The first week after preschool we were up to Psalm 19 so that matched the amazing sunsets we were having. At the start of the week we had some kitchen shelves made for the pantry, I spent the next few days unpacking our kitchen boxes while Soeun and the kids went to visit Grandma. One child came back with a sore face after falling down some stairs! On the way back they had a boat ride at sunset. The next Sunday I went to house church and discovered a homeschooling family is moving near where we live (where no other expats live... yet?) Exciting times.

Soeun's sunset boat ride photo

Where our non cautious child met her swollen mouth.

New shelves, unpacking boxes we packed back in October.

Goodbye season, Hello season

Contrasts at this time of year: dark stormy clouds and brilliant sunshiny green leaves

Goodbye expat friends, particularity one who was part of both Bible study group and the initial playgroup I was part of when we first moved to Siem Reap. Boo.

Hello families with kids on our side of town! Recently been getting to know 2 families from preschool who have kids our kids love playing with. A European family and another Khmer/Barang family. Yay.

Goodbye preschool. We first started there as it has one of the only outdoor play areas and our toddler boy needed to climb and run. We kept going because  its  a safe fun place for our kids, and it gives me time to get stuff done. Such a great mix of Khmer and expat families. Boo.

Hello new home based lifestyle. Since we moved its been getting harder to go into town each day, it will be good to cut out the travel and rush. Now we have space at home for the kids to play so we don't need preschool like we did a year ago. Yay.


Goodbye to turning up to expat women's Bible study group easily. Its held near preschool at the same time as the kids are at preschool.
Hello more space and time to have playdates with people from the expat house church who I'd like to get to know more.

Goodbye shopping mostly at supermarkets with tired kids and a tuk tuk. Since we moved out of town its been hard to get to the market.
Hello going back to walking to the local market, buying meat and veggies easily and getting to know our community.

Time capsule

My favourite way to peek into my past is currently using this blog, so I’m motivated to jot down things how they are now (in these few months)  before this “normal” travels into the past as well.

The most fun

Rockets, playing the mud, building things and using their torches (flashlights) are how the kids love filling their afternoons and evenings. During hot days they don’t get to play outside much until it starts getting dark. Recently it’s been dinner early then out to play until bath time. 

Morning routine

What was previously reserved for holidays is currently our daily routine! Pre-kids, and pre-moving to SR tuk tuk rides were for special occasions, and travelling alongside the river in SR with all its greenery was only ever done when we were having a break from the capital city. Sitting together, without the distraction of housework and toys sometimes ends up being the time the kids start asking me questions, or telling me things. Only a few months left and this will end!

And then we arrive at preschool. I often run into other parents, many from families who are also have one Khmer parent and one expat parent. Sometimes the parents are people were friends with before we all started at preschool, others I just started getting to know at drop off and pick up after hearing our kids talk about their kids at home. One family we actually met the first time in a supermarket. Another is a friend’s nanny’s other client from a couple of years ago. Other than Khmer the nationalities include but not limited too- Canadian, English , Australian, Irish, Philipino , Austrian and German.  Hoping we can stay in contact with some families when we finish up at preschool.

I still want to get a full size gas oven one day- but a toaster oven does the job for now.

A rush of new things

The size of our last house moved deceived me. It looked small, only a few kilometres away but we are still in transition. A rush of new things reminded me the other weekend.

First (proper) time to have friends over was so refreshing! We used to have weekly play dates at our old house, so it feels great to start having people over again. I don’t like to have people over until I’m settled in.....but I don’t feel settled in until I’ve had people over. One of the many moving house stresses.

A roof over our front door/outside steps- just in time for rainy season! Soeun installed a light too, we have been eating outside and then cleaning up in the dark. 

A mini electric oven joined the family- so bran loaf and zucchini slice cooking have resumed!

Bible Reading

After clearing out the Revelation sermons from my phone there was space for ones on the book of Isaiah. To help me I’ve also got Kirk Patston’s Surprising Salvation, and Howard Pesketts’s  Bible study book.

Weekly Psalm reading is in action at the moment! On Sunday the Khmer congregation read it chorally. At home we read bits of it in both languages throughout the week, here and there as we have time and concentration. Sunday just gone we read Psalm 12 at church, so this week at home we are reading Psalm 13. The kids can read numbers and some letters so they like trying to find it in the Bible.

4 people 4 days- our KNY staycation

Some of the kids books on repeat during Hot Season staycation

One of our favourite things to do is to stay home alone. With traveling obligations, workman and relatives who live with us we hadn't been able to do it for awhile. Over Khmer New Year last month we had a chance and it was GREAT!!! There were 4 days with just the 4 of us at home.

We had just been given/lent some new-to-us kids books. The Astronaut book looks innocent but it launched our son into a huge rocket obsession!!! And the poetry book - at first I thought they would get bored as there were more words than pictures on the page..but the words were so amazing they were laughing and quoting the poems all week.

The kids are old enough to play and eat without too much help from us, but young enough not to know that everyone else was either travelling or having a huge water fight. Old enough for us to have relaxing time at home with them, and young enough not to be asking to go out....

My first scorpion sting!!!

From Facebook last month.......

"Can't sleep cos in pain.
Get up to get ibuprofen.
Get stung by scorpion.
Wasn't the painkiller run I was hoping for...
But my Primary Cultural Informant and Everyone on Natural Cambodia fb group told me I'm not going to die, so that's something."

Kid free time is town these days

It has been such a cool time capsule experience to read some of my old blog posts from about a decade ago and remember how life was then, it's made me want blog more about our current days.

There were a few great months last year when I rode my bike back and to preschool in the mornings. From July last year until around November I had the mornings at home to myself. Being at home was time to get everything done in the kitchen and on the computer. Pre kids I used to ride all the time so it was fun to be able to do it again. And so so great to be at home without the kids for a couple of hours, cooking dinner was much quicker. Then in the afternoons we sometimes had people over or went to visit friends.

Since we moved there isn't really enough time to come back home while the kids are at preschool. Kind of frustrating, but it turns out I still can have some time to myself, just not cooking dinner- but we seem to have survived.  Some days I go food shopping or other errands, sometimes I see friends or do stuff with books and online (not much internet at home). There are a few friends who I only had spent time with on playdates before, but since moving I've met up with them in town sans kids for breakfast or a walk (a walk along the river!! I love living in Siem Reap!!I missed walking in my first years here in PP).

Weekday afternoon playdates have become much less of a feature since we moved. We used to visit or be visited weekly, but living a bit further out that can't happen. We haven't had expat kids over yet, and we mostly only go out to play on Saturdays now. So I haven't seen friends for awhile.. hopefully soon! There are a few leaving Cambodia in June, hoping for at least one more playdate.