Kiddie Upgrade

When the elder one and the MIL set off to home town a week before us to attend some functions, my younger one who is 2.5 yrs old was particularly delighted..

She had exclusivity to not only the parents but also to all her elder brothers toys and other booties.

When her own set of crayons which are all in bits and pieces and make sure to make a mark on our walls, were misplaced - she was overjoyed when I handed her over her brothers set - of course used and hand me downs.

But she was more than happy. And started her favorite pass time of peeling the cover off the crayons.

Me: "Miss A, please don't make tiny bits of these too else I will buy a new set for your bro and not you."

And tap came her reply -

"That's fine. you can buy it for him.. I have no problem. I will take his.."

What confidence.. And I couldn't help but laugh.. Kids these days.. are these like the AI versions?? ;)

Leaving you with a pic of my 2 darlings.

Summer Camp Special- Part 1

Kids these days have the option of so many activities for their vacation - be it sports camp, swimming, robotics, crafts , calligraphy and what not.. But is it as enjoyable as playing all day long in the open grounds, climbing trees, aiming at mangoes and jamuns, swimming in the natural water bodies like ponds and rivers, attending temple festivals, and the many wedding or any other ceremonies.. we cannot say for our generation haven't enjoyed the current summer camps and our kids wouldn't know the pleasure of our times.

We used to make snakes and mini mattresses from leaves of coconut trees, suck the nectar from form the banana flower, play for hours with touch me nots and many other such special plants n weeds.

Grandpa always used to put swings for us either in the cow shed or on one of the trees.We would also help granny makes papads and pickles.Those were really good old days.. Sadly we don't realize they are so priceless when we are young. N like old wine these memories get sweeter with time. Don't you agree?

Leaving you with some pics of my kids summer creations

Toscano

I still feel really nice when I have the home to myself. I hear some people really feel sad or bored to be alone in a home but for me its  luxury I get say once in 2-3 years. With 2 monkeys and a mother in law as full time occupants of my home, me n hubby sometimes even think of checking into some hotel so we can get some peaceful sleep.. And ya may be catch up on  some other stuff as well.


Yesterday was one of those days when the 2 elder Ms are packed off to hometown and it was just the hubby and younger M that I had to manage. I had just  boiled the pasta when hubby dear planned to go out for dinner and the mood was for a place with karaoke /live music.Since I was in the mood for pasta we zeroed in on Toscano Italiano :)

The food was lip-smacking.. The sweet potato croquette was yum. My Lo didn't try it as she thought it is hot dog and kept saying i wont eat the dog .:D  There was no live music as the singer was off it seems. So we had to adjust with just candle light dinner with some recorded music. But it sure was a nice evening and a must visit for foodies kinda place:)

The girl child

She is the apple of my eye the love of my life

chattering away like a parrot, the gleam of every eye..

The house feels all empty and barren like a desert

when she is not around to squeal in pure jeer..

She has all the freedom to pull even grandpas hair

The granny promises that the golden rose she will get to wear..

She is like a little princess till the time has flown

Once she finishes school she knows the terrible adult pain

when everyone around her just wants her married and off

she starts doubting that was this true love at all?

She feels like a guinea pig who was adorned for the D day

When she has to be showcased in front of anyone they say

After the bitterness settles she  knows this is the true world

with tears and dreams crushed inside she agrees to tie the knot

Ambition, dreams and wings all come perishing down..

why do u love the girl child if you dont make her ur own?? 

Princess september

After a long time say 4 or 5 years i visited my bog and i say it does feel nice to read how things were then. There is kind of a chilling and calm feeling in your heart when you read - nostalgia.  It made me so happy i penned down these posts.

After a gap of about 5 years - I pen down again this time not as a single women, not as a wife  but as a mother not of only little V but as a mother of two :)
God granted my wish for a beautiful daughter and our princess september is here

Adopt a plant

Little Sadhana (my 6 yr old friend*)is very happy.. she is getting a baby sister this Thursday.. She is thrilled at the concept of baby-sitting her sister and so very excited about it..

I have learnt a lot from her.. She has introduced me to her world of Disney, pbskids, nick and more.. I must say these sites r really amusing and the games are quite entertaining... i do have a lot of fun on these sites..

She is a very sweet child and ever willing to help her mom/me with the household chores of cooking and cleaning..Charming n smart, she is my favourite accomplice.One of the recent incidents she handled smartly is, when after dinner she was served dessert n she asked for a second helping. Her mom hinted that she shouldn't waste it.. however half way through little Sadhana got fed up n noticed that her mom was yet to take the dessert.. She quickly commented.. "mom, u needn't trouble urself to fetch the dessert.. i can share mine with u.." how sweet rt?? But the naughty look on her face did give her away.. n we all had a hearty laugh..

i wished i had heard of his line when i was a kid..It wud have saved me so much energy, resisting n pleading to be let without eating the spinach n beets..i wud gladly share them.. :-)

As she is not permitted to keep pets by her dad, Sadhana has very smartly deviated the channel towards having a pet plant.. she has a small pot with white n yellow chrysanthemums and tends n nurtures it lovingly..

I too had been thinking for a while about gardening and my roommate in India also loved the idea n we used to plan to get a plant.. however it never materialised for us..And last Friday, to my ecstasy, the guests who were invited over for dinner at our place landed with a pot of white chrysanthemums :-) I am trying my best to make them feel at home.. Hope the climate too obliges n my flowers keep blooming the way they are now.. (in pic)

* it was amusing to note that some of u thought sadhana is my daughter.. he he!! wud love to mother a kid like her.. :-) but guess its not the right time yet ;-)

Butterfly!!

Recently i hapenned to visit a butterfly museum along with few friends n a bunch of kids.. As its spring break here, the museum was packed with kids..
After the initial struggle for parking , tickets n all we went in.. The National Historic Museum consisted of a museum for chemistry, the skeletons of dinosaurs,elephants etc., a moving section about the Roman Civilization, a gems n minerals display and the Butterfly Museum..

What attracted me most can be guessed from the name of this post namely, the butterflies..

First we were walked through the different stages of the life of a butterfly.. that is the egg, the caterpillar(or larva),the pupa and finally the adult butterfly.
The picture above shows the final 2 stages ie the pupa(green in color) and on the top layer an adult butterfly sprouting out..it was a mesmerising view to c the butterfly freeing itself from the pupa stage n taking the form of a butterfly.. We were really lucky that we cud c a butterfly metamorphosis live.. However we couldn't capture a video for u from the beginning being awestruck.. n i got this after we realised n started the video shoot.

video bein processed.. pl wait.

Next we entered the butterfly world. A dome shaped Eco-system full of plans and greens n butterflies..

This particular butterfly attracted us a lot.. In flashes we cud c the bright blue wings dashing by.. But whenever we tried to capture it, it was nowhere in sight.. After a while of observation we realised it was this same butterfly (pic on left) that looked brown n not so attractive from outside which looked so attractive n colorful on the inside(pic on right)

How very true of the lines "Looks are deceptive!!" Isn't it??

sculpeeeeeeee

This week we have been really busy with a little spiritual work n stuff.. But hopefully I'll be free again by Monday.. But last evening our busy schedule resulted in some quality time spent with a bunch of kids in their clay modelling class..

My husband's nephews aged 10 n 8 are so inspired by him that they blabbered out his talents to their art teacher and she invited him to take a class for the kids.. I ought to mention she was tremendously impressed by his masterpiece ganesha shown in picture..

So we set off with our little clay models,(Check them out!)N i trailed behind him. ;-) The kids were excited as they were being introduced to a new kind of clay the sculpey which cud be baked in the oven and not their unusual play doh.N our little nephews were the proudest of all showing off saying "wow!did my uncle make that!!" It was really sweet to see the kids marvel in wonder n their eyes grow wide as the clay giraffe and ganesha took shape..Interesting were the comments we heard from them too.. our little nephew was telling his friend " hey u need to mould putting more of the clay just like god made your big head.." N also were they very enthusiastic to ask their new teacher whether their model was done alright.. how his one nod of approval made their little faces bloom like flowers.. n in the end each one had his/her initials written on their clay model and sent out to the oven..

It was a cute evening spent with abt 8-9 kids and it was really a pleasure to c them trying on their own to make other creatures after their stint with the giraffe.. This post wud have been best narrated by my husband but just like Watson narrates all Sherlock Holmes stories, i take up the role to present it to you all :)

Ice Cream Social..

Even though i have known diya for 24 years on earth, she doesn't seem to grow up much.. for she always tends to make friends with kids if given a choice between kids n the ladies of her age who like talking abt make-up n other gossips..
So now when she has changed her status from Ms to Mrs., it becomes all the more difficult, for as u can guess, people expect her to behave u know with maturity(Not that she can't..) But she chose to keep an exception in some places like her next door neighbours from chennai.. She enjoys the company of the little gal sadhana who is 6, to her mom who is a homemaker like herself.. Instead of talking about recipes, n vegetable markets, diya likes to discuss poems n story books with sadhana.. As it has always been the little gal n diya become thick friends soon..
N it becomes kind of a routine for sadhana to drop in every evening to share her school stories for the day..
N for the last few days all sadhana has to tell me is about her ice cream social scheduled for friday, the 26Th January at her school.. She said it would be great fun, n sumhow lured us into attending it..
With a curiosity to visit an American school, n get to c a few more kids, i set out with her family to the Emerson elementary school.. The school was a cute place with lawns and play area.. Not to mention the jumping jacks the kids.. with all balloons n face art n all that..
Sadhana was very excited to show us around but alas all she could show us was the cafeteria where the ice cream stalls where put up, for her classrooms n the other sections of the buildings were locked up at that hour.. The kids were all making merry, licking ice creams n punching each other with balloons..
It was nice to see fair cute kids with blue hazy eyes.. i really thought of the song chubby cheeks, dimple chins.. for the kids actually had chubby rose cheeks.. N a complexion i really envy..
From sadhana i learnt a lot about schools here.. I was surprised at how much attention the teachers n parents give to crafts. Right from kinder garden, kids are taught glass painting, clay modelling, carpentry.. Believe me I'm not joking...
Also the parents don't need to run around from school to school, to decide which ones are good for their little ones, for here, as a thumb rule, they need to go to the school nearest to the home.. Not to mention the fact that there are no Uniforms..isn't that cool..
Also the strict driving rules when ur around a school bus..School buses are designed with special stop signs at the sides which will straighten up to render the driver at the back to stop.. Oh giving a break to school stuff, i got my instruction permit last week n driving classes will begin soon, the details of which will be posted in soon!!

Kids are Angels

As i sit jobless here, my mom in law n her cousin who lives a few blocks away with her daughter and family, volunteered to give me cooking lessons.. (Oh not the most interesting of my activities.. but i agreed as i thought it wud be fun n some activity afterall)

So we fixed up a day n went to that aunt's place. she was all set to make plum cake n her grandson a cute little boy of 8 was all enthusiastic about breaking the eggs and blending the dough.. we had become buddies after 2-3 visits and he cheerfully greeted me. Although he speaks to us in english he addresses me n my husband as mai n mamu in our native language..

So as he strated off breaking eggs, i stood by him helping him.(The other ladies were busy with the more important arrangements 4 our much awaited cake.Also this was the easiest task to choose from.he he!!) But as he was an ametuer,the dough kept splatterring n that too mostly on me.. blow my light blue tee. :-( he appologised n asked me to come n stand by the other side.. i promptly did so n we resumed our process of lovingly blending the cake(those are his words ;-)) but alas.. again the cake splattered n again on me.. he looked at me n said "mai, i'm sorry but i think its ur bad day!!"then after a while he said"No mai, i think the cake loves u, thats y its always coming to u!!"

now isnt that an optimistic approach?? comin from a boy of 8, it really sounded gr8 to me..here i was moaning n whining about being bored and away from home n he was talkin about the half filled glass!!! u made my day little one.. this one is 4 u!!!