My legacy

I often think about what I will leave my kids. Then pause and think about what my parents have given me and of all those things what I couldn't have done without. The basics - food, shelter, clothing not withstanding.
From my father I learnt to always be punctual - be it work, a class. I am always on time and I get very rattled if I am late. When it comes to parties and meeting people - I have un-learnt my Dad's good habbit, since we have bore the brunt of that more times than I can count.

I have also learnt from him, the art of filling forms and writing legibly. He was always very insistent about this and now, even if I am at the Doctor's office, I make sure that I fill out everything properly. As he would've said, if they cannot read what you have read, they will not think you worthy.

My Dad also showed us attention to detail. He is someone who does things meticulously. You should see the suitcases he packs! So well organized and proper. Everything is where it should be. This is also true for important files, always organizes them well. When I go for my visa interview, he always gives more documents than are needed to carry. Once, I have had to use one of his documents and I was very happy that he had given it to me, though I had vehemently refused then.

From my Mother I have learnt to be compassionate, to understand others sufferings. I say learnt - but I am not very good with this 'understanding' business. Hopefully as I mature, it will come?

From her, I have also learnt to be strong. My Mother is one of the strongest woman, one will ever meet. Strongest and most tenacious. I have never heard her complain about her job, home and all the events, organizations and other things she has always been involved in. There was never a day when we didn't have hot, fresh, home cooked food. She worked 14 hours shifts as a Doctor, but still had time for us. Of course all this wouldn't have been possible, without my Dad and Grand Dad being so supportive and adjusting. 
She may have served her plate for dinner, but if a patient came knocking on our door, she would first tend to the patient and then have dinner. The best part - she always did everything with a smile. She never looked tired or worn out.

If I can even show my kids half of the things their grand parents taught me, then I would consider my job well done. I hope I can leave them with good manners, virtues, compassion, strength and most of all love for all and sincerity of purpose. I hope I can show N how to be a good and caring husband, this he will undoubtedly learn from G, because G is one of the most supportive husbands out there. I listen to the woes of my friends and see their relationships and I am thankful. I hope I can show M to stand up for herself, like me and my Mom and Sister.
So will I be able to leave this legacy for my kids? I might not leave them riches or money, but can show them the above through my actions and deeds. Here's hoping that I can.

Thing 1, Thing 2

It is not cool being on Facebook, but cooler still to not be! That's what I read on...guess where..no, not facebook, twitter. Cracked me up!

So here's what's new in the fun household. Fun is a euphemism for crazy.
And before you go about judging my parental skills or the lack off, I am not thinking too highly of myself either, so keep your opinions to yourself!

M is almost potty trained - ALMOST. N on the other hand is fascinated by underpants, but is still learning the ropes. This is one of the most challenging change we have had to do. I feel so bad for them, empathize with them alot even, imagine to have to change completely where you've peed for the last 2.5 years, the only way you know, to have that taken away from you? It's such a huge change for them. So I absolutely understand their reluctance, and I am so proud of how well they're doing. Good job my little fire crackers.

They are learning to express their manners in words, so much that if I hand them their milk, they say 'thank you'. It's such a cute thing and I feel offended that my kid is saying thank you for something so basic, but it feels nice. And when they prompt each other to say 'thank you', 'please', 'sorry', 'you're welcome' - it's more sweet.

Since N is having trouble understanding what we ask him to do - another euphimism - I am often seen shaking my head and saying ' why doesn't he listen'. M is seen doing the same while playing with him and if he doesn't follow the rules of the game, M says 'N no listen, Papa no listen'. I wonder where she picked up 'Papa no listen' . Hmm!

N while playing the 'jump-on-your-blanket' game got really really mad at M because she got bored of the game. So I volunteered and after 20 seconds of jumping, N lost his patience with me and howled again for M, who sat on the sofa reading her book, completely oblivious to the commotion around her.

N behaves like a typical brother with M, when M has her toys laid out in a certain form, N will purposely go and scatter the toys, so M will get mad at him. I think this is just his way of getting her attention.

N gives the best hugs and kisses - I just have to make a puppy face and he'll come hopping to give me a kiss.

Barney is still a favorite, though we are gradually opening up to the idea of Elmo and Caillou.

The kids and I were going through the Pottery barn catalogue and there was a picture of Max from 'Where the wild things are'. They both immediately recognized him. Made me glad.

Now I get some answers to the question of 'what did you do in school today'. The answers are mostly limited to 'sat on the carpet', 'Dhamen, dhamik carpet' , 'miss 'lm tananan'. Sometimes if there is a birthday celebration in school, they will tell me they ate cake. A big progress from when my question was followed by silence!

The kids have new trikes, it's such fun for them, but not so much for me, because they'll ride it downhill on the street next to ours, and then on the way back I am told 'No want it'. So I have to lug both the bikes back while they hop, skip, jump home.

N loves picking his clothes out everyday. I cannot say I liked this new found love for choosing his outfit everyday, but it's gotten better, we've made our peace with it and we can get him to wear the school designated colors on MOST days. It's so unfair that the child cannot pick his clothes out. If he wants to lounge about in jammies, he should be allowed to. So after school and weekends we let him wear what he wants, if its blue shirt and red pants, so be it! He has imagination and he should be allowed to use it. Why does the school have a uniform - that's a rhetorical question, BTW!

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I know I have been lousy at posting, sorry to anybody who still reads this blog. I have no excuse, I will try and be better. Thanks for reading!

Conversations with Mom and Sister

Me: Mom I really like cousin A, if I knew an appropriate girl, I would hook them up.
Mom: O, how about Cousin B for cousin A.
Me: Mom!!! I have to like Cousin B for that to happen.
Mom: $$$$

Mom: Both your Sister and you inherited the not so good qualities from your Dad Me. None of our good qualities.
Sister: What good qualities are you talking off?
Sister and Me : Hysterically laughing.
Mom: $$$$


Mom: Your Dad thinks he's right about everything.
Me: But HE is right.
Mom and Sister: Speaks the one who thinks she is more correct than her father also!
Me: $$$$

COMMAND F this time

...since I use a MAC now ;)

A while back I wrote about trying to find some things/people online. One of those things have been found and it was definitely very unexpected.
Recap on the things I was searching for - my friend Mandavi has not yet been found. I am back in touch with Jagriti, it has been a while since she and I communicated.

Drum roll please >>> The last piece - Oshin - some gentle soul decided to post the videos on you tube and with English subtitles! What could be better?!!!

Here's the link - Oshin

OK! Off now, I have my work cutout for me.

Regress

The kids now watch a lot more TV.
I am feeding them now as opposed to them eating on their own.
They have written on the walls a couple of times.

That was in order of importance.

Till about the time the kids were 19-20 months old, we were very strict about TV watching and wouldn't let them watch TV. We were disciplined ourselves and our TV was limited to news or sports when the kids were around. Then the kids started falling sick and we started showing them barney on TV to be able to get some work done, while we worked from home on sick days. Well, I had hoped to curb this habit, but I am so far unsuccessful. It is so easy to give in to their demands (not requests) for barney. I am still working on this.

Eating on their own - so the problem is that when the kids Indian food, they don't do the 'pluck roti-dip in dal/veggie-add dry veggie'. It's just the roti. So I decided to feed them and push them along to teach them the whole process. So far, it's one big colossal fail! I think I worry less about this than TV.

Wall scribbling - I had been so proud of my kids that they never scribbled on walls and were so good and meticulous about finding paper to write on. They are still very good, but they have scribbled on two walls (very lightly and I have even removed one of the stains). But they scribble on things they consider their own - their table, their books. Being the neat and clean freak-it bothers me when they scribble on anything but scrap paper.

M'ism of yesterday

Yesterday we were all in the car, a van passes us by. M points out 'Truck' so I tell her 'M it's not a truck, it is a van' (stressing on the van)
Later the same van crosses us again, this time N points out 'Truck', M tells him 'N it is not a truck, it's a VAAAN'.

Olympics 2012 and where we are

Like many others we sat glued to the TV watching the in-impressive Dany Boyle directed 30th Olympics opening ceremony. The part till the industrial revolution was good, but then the NHS and dream sequence may have been visually appealing, but it felt short on keeping me entertained. Thanks for making a blink and you may miss appearance JK Rowling, but how could Dany Boyle forget Enid Blyton? They could've had a Nody driving his yellow-red car somewhere. Oh well.

But here's what caught my attention - Saudi Arabia sent female athletes for the first time. Probably I shouldn't be one to talk - my own country disrespects woman and has woman's rights on paper only. To think that this is being celebrated, made me pause and wonder how we can treat our fellow humans so badly. How is it that we are still celebrating this feat - woman participants from all countries. Shouldn't this be a given by now? How it doesn't rake at the minds of men, who claim to be the superior sex, that they are ill treating their fellow human so badly. How that is the future that is being messed with. It is the 21st century and yet here we are talking about the equality of sexes to be able to compete in sports, to represent your nation, to hold the flag. I wonder if there is pride that these women feel when they hold the flag. I often times wonder how/what I would've done.

USA Olympics team on the other hand has more female athletes than male ones. Made me very happy to note that, to note that talent won over sex.

On lighter note, how handsome are David Beckham and Daniel Craig. Left my mouth hanging. The queen was quite the sport, partaking in that video.

NBC's olympics coverage leaves much to be desired, they only cover the US team, when they do cover the last part of another team's performance, they have nothing to say, like literally mouth shut ! They cannot stop gushing over their athletes and god forbid they say anything negative about them. We were watching the woman gymnastics team perform, and the team had a fair amount of deductions, but the commentators didn't tell us where the deductions could've been, nothing. I don't think they are not knowledgeable, they just don't know how to comment.

Here's wishing all the athletes lots of successes. Cannot wait to see how Saina Nehwal does today and Kashyap Parupalli tomorrow. Good luck guys!!!

Container Garden

Last week I went to the nursery and I eyed this amazing container garden, once I had seen it, I vowed to make one of my own. So I set about getting the plants I wanted and the perfect pot and gravel. I didn't experiment too much with the plants I wanted, since I didn't want to spend a bomb on my first container garden.

This is the final result:

The plants I chose:

Sempervivum

echeveria 

cotyledon which should hopefully have little flowers sometime

And a cacti I couldn't identify.
I am not known to have a green thumb, so I am hoping since this variety doesn't need too much water, it should be able to survive my black them. Will keep you posted.

Not funny

Over the weekend, I couldn't stop reading about this incident. It is a shocking and most appalling thing to happen to anyone. I had goose bums all over me, every single time I have been eve-teased, touched inappropriately came flashing back to me and I was in intense rage.

My post though is not about the incident. It is about the use of the word rape in common language today. It makes me cringe anytime someone uses the word to describe a bad situation. Because no one with an ounce of decency could use the word so flippantly.

DISCLAIMER: I am not a prude, I can take most 'jokes' with sex connotations. Mind you though, about sex, not about rape. And there is a difference, if you didn't know that, get off my blog and while you're at it, get off the face of the earth.

Here's an example of what a man said when describing an interview  'I had an interview with 7 people one room, I felt like I was being raped.'
Or another one, when talking about a tedious programming process : '...brutally rape of my mind..'


Do you find these sentences and usage of the word offensive? I do. Because the act of rape is not something to be taken lightly. I find is horrifying that someone can use the word with such nonchalance. Like it is an everyday matter and not something sinister, mean and evil. Please tell me what you think. I really want to know if I am alone in this.

Road Tripping

After a really long time, the family took a vacation. We did a road trip to see my sister's family.

The plan was set into motion by the great master who wants to drive all the time - The GG. I shivered as I looked up the distance - 900 miles each way. Google said 14 hours! I almost fainted, had a huge argument and then went to sleep. A few days later, G broached the subject again and this time, since I had done some thinking, I told him 'Let's do this'. G had the biggest silly boy grin on his face.

So we started thinking how we were going to keep 2.5 yo twins entertained for 14 hours and not let them get stir crazy. We equipped ourselves with lots of food, fruits and snacks, nursery rhymes and barney videos. We bought extra long cables for the ipad and kindle and we were set. We also decided to take frequent stops and let the kids decide on how long we could drive.

The trip has been done and I am super excited to tell you that the road trip was a resounding success!! We divided the trip into two parts each way, 7 hours of drive time in each. The kids didn't complain more than once each, they ate random stuff, nothing nutritious, but I wasn't trying to each Mom of the year trophy either, so I was okay with it. We played 'spot the truck' games, sang songs and played peek-a-boo. When we ran out of things, they watched videos. All in all everyone was happy and we made it back in one piece.

The kids had a blast with their cousins, and they were showered with so much love from their Aunt and Uncle. It was a very relaxing trip for us too, since the kids were pretty much on their own, they would play with their cousins, wake up and go to them and didn't even bother to wake us up. Aaah, fun times.

Here are some pics from the road trip.

We did a lot of kids things - lots of swimming and splashing in splash parks, went to a country fair where they rode lots of rides (the train was their favorite), children's museum which was a blast and even got our teeth cleaned by our personal dentist ;), saw July 4th fire works and they even held sparklers and were not scared at all.

All in all a very successful road trip and I am so thankful to G for making me do it. Now I probably won't have such a negative reaction when he broaches up the trip to New Mexico that we are thinking about :D

Anyahaseyo!

Anu introduced me to Korean Dramas and now I am hooked, there is no looking back.
I love everything about these shows, the lifestyle, the culture, the soju (alcohol) drinking accompanied with anju (snacks).

So far I have seen
Lie to me
Coffee Prince
Coffee House
Fireworks
Capital Scandal

and bits of
Summer Scent
Protect the boss
Boys over flowers

And movies:
My girlfriend is an agent
Relation of face, mind and love.

I have to say I am in love in Kang Ji-hwan. Isn't he cute. So most of the shows I have seen so far,  and all the movies have him. He's not just hot, but a really good actor. I don't feel like he's getting his due though.

So I compiled a list of things I find common in KDs:

1. the guy is always rich and the girl is from a poor family, but not helpless 
2. there are always 2 guys, nobody likes the girl in the beginning and then all fall for her.
3. this is always the story of second love.
4. if the guy is rich, he must drive a german car.
5. karoke is very popular
6. of course drinking and eating
7. if one can speak english, one is looked upon.
8. skin looking good is very important
9. If a guy or girl has been seen naked by someone or there's a kiss between two people, you can be sure they are the ones who will end up together.
10. Rolling up of sleeves is a very common phenomenon.
11. Grabbing girls by the arm is very common and it's super cute too.
12. Everybody is so thin.

So far those are my observations. I love how innocent the dramas are. I am falling in love with S.Korean culture too. So like India, they have words for relationships, it's not just Uncle and Auntie. There is a lot of respect among peers and people maintain space. I do find it funny that if someone is a Director or Chairman, they are always referred by their title. So it's Director Cho or Chairman Park. 

I cannot wait to watch My fair lady, after I finish Prosecutor Princess. Yipee!!

2.5 years

Puchhi and Gunnu are now 2.5 year old. Who are they you ask? Puchhi is M and Gunnu is N. Those are the names we gave them when they were still inside my belly. Gunnu is the cute version of Gundu because well that's what he is. Puchhi because I had imagined my sweet little M to be an angel. Of course God didn't listen to me there.

So..they're talking more now, demanding more. M loves to say 'yes' now. A VERY big milestone. N is still getting there. The most emphatic yes I get from M is when she has pooped and if I ask her she'll say the biggest brightest 'YES'. Or if she spots ice cream. N will just grin knowingly when he sees ice cream..he knows it's coming.

M has somehow caught onto saying 'No mommy no, stop it.' It was cute and funny at first..but now it just sounds rude. So at first I tried asking her to say 'Please stop it', like that was not so rude. So now she's finally stopping her self when she wants to say 'Stop it' and instead says 'Please don't'.

N on the other hand is using his hands now for expressing displeasure. He will pull M's hair or push her. But the good thing is he knows he has done something bad and will say sorry or hug her.

We went to the Nasher Sculpture Garden this weekend with bestie A. The kids had a blast and they didn't throw any fits or get bored, they just did what we asked them to do mostly and actually ate lunch also somewhat peacefully.
Nasher had a sculpture of a woman who was embarrassed and she is shown covering her face with her arms. N and M took this interpretation "Aunty ear hurt".

Apparently I talk to my mom the most on the phone, everytime the phone rings, they're saying 'Nani phone?'

Barney is still the favorite most show, followed by the gummy bear song.

N is getting better at throwing the ball and can catch a ball that has bounced once, meaning the force has been halved and he can gauge the speed and direction better.

M doesn't like playing catch as much as she likes kicking it. Definitely got more leg eye co-ordination than her mom.

N has gotten out of his phase of calling me by my name. It was cute and I miss it. But I don't encourage him.

They're getting more confident in the play ground and are not averse to trying new things, but they are always very careful and I am thankful for that. I see other kids running around without a fear and then I see mine, gingerly climbing and I think would I prefer that, then I think not. I like that they are careful and like to test the waters before they jump in.

So far the 2s haven't been terrible at all. They're been terrific if anything. Keeping fingers crossed.

Pet Peeve #456778

I see a number of people post about positive thoughts and positivity on Facebook and Twitter, but I know these people and they have not a single positive bone in their body. They never emulate these thoughts in their day to day lives, so what is this about? Why is my FB storyline getting filled with such silly 'pasted from elsewhere' posts? How much I love to hate social networking!


:)

5 Floors

She ran from the class, constantly looking at the time, willing her legs to carry her home faster. It took all of seven minutes, but she knew it was seven minutes too late. She cursed her professor for keeping them five minutes extra in the class. She reached the apartment complex and sure enough the motorcycle was already in it's spot and she had missed sharing one minute with the most handsome guy on the planet. With a heavy heart she dragged herself to the elevator and pressed the right button. She stood there waiting, turning every so often to make sure the motor cycle was his.

She gave herself a wry smile, she didn't even know his name. She had heard his voice and it was just as sexy. The elevator came and she went up, promising herself she would be on time the next day.

He stood by the window in his apartment, the windows here didn't open, and they were tinted, so she couldn't see him, but he saw her. Saw the dejected look that came to her face when she saw his bike parked in the parking lot. He smiled to himself, he didn't know her name, but she was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. The only thing he knew about her was that she was a student, unlike him, she loved to wear sneakers and she had quite a collection of those, she dressed casually like all students but she carried herself well. He looked forward to the 1 minute ride in the elevator they shared sometimes. He had tried once to have a conversation with her, but a little boy had entered and she and the little fellow started talking about some comic book they both liked.

He walked out to his door and stood there to see if he would catch a glimpse of her when the elevator came up. He stood for five minutes, eventually it came up, the door opened and his neighbor came out and waved bye to her. She saw him then, and impulsively he raised his arm and waved her bye, hoping his face conveyed to her that she would never see him again. She looked perplexed, but before she could react, the doors shut and he could hear the hum of the elevator.

He walked back in, picked up his already packed up bags and his keys and left the building. He had a flight to catch and a wedding to get to, his own wedding. A bride of not his picking, but his parents and that was all.

Restrooming the book

A lot of us like to read in the potty. Newspapers, Magazines, books and now from smart phones and tablets. It just makes a necessary yet boring process more enjoyable. I know of some people who sit long after the deed is done so they can finish what they're reading.

I do this too - but I only take my books to the RR and not the books I get from the library or the books I borrow from friends. I won't let a magazine that has been in the RR come back into the normal circulation of books around the coffee table because it's just dirty to me. The one thing that I am extremely mindful of is not to take a borrowed book to the RR, it's not mine to defile. There's something unsanitary about that whole act.

So the other day, I visited a friend and she had borrowed a book from me. I had to use the RR and I went in and guess what - there sat my book next to the pot. I was transfixed for a moment, not knowing what to do, I had an urge to dump the book in hand sanitizer liquid sitting on the counter as well (this was also a major cause for concern - but i digress). I stood there wondering what I can do, if I can even do anything.

When I came back home, I went to the study and looked at all the books critically. Had someone taken them to the RR and defiled them? Had the book I had just borrowed from another friend been there too? And the ones from the local library? Suddenly imaginary germs and creepy crawlies were materializing on the books in front of me. I felt a chill and walked away. I am at a loss, I cannot toss the books, but I think this weekend I will put them out in the sun - my Mom always said that sun rays have therapeutic qualities. So maybe airing the books will make things better for me? Of course I will use gloves to carry the books out!

Seinfeld had an episode about this, when George takes a book from the bookstore, goes to the restroom and tries to put it back on the shelf. Of course the store wouldn't allow it and he has to buy the book, then he tries to get rid of it, but is unsuccessful, since the book has been flagged. If it were up to me, I would 'flag' George and not let him enter the store, but who's listening to me!

So dear friends who I lend books from - rest assured I will not take your book to the RR - but if you borrow a book from me - there is a really good change it's been to my RR, but please don't take it to yours? I wonder if this is something we all think about and it's one of those things that bothers us but we try and ignore it? To be honest, it's not the first time I have thought of this, but the first time, it's really bothered me.

Which brings me to the best part about this whole post - EBOOKS!!! They are the solution to this whole nasty affair. I am sure when epub, ibooks etc were created, they had this nasty problem on their mind ;)

As for that friend - she can keep the book and she is flagged - not lending her books anymore.

Tornadoes and an almost twister

I NEVER want a repeat performance of what we witnessed yesterday. But we live in the glorious state of Texas and such and more is bound to happen, if not again this tornado season, then the next one.

So this was the first time that a tornado was rummaging through my neighborhood and the kids and I weren't together. I was in such a panic mode. For 2 hours I was stuck to the news channel on my computer at work. My heart telling me to run to the kids in the Montessori and my brain telling me to stay put. Neither was it safe to drive in that condition, nor would I have helped the chaos.
The challenges at the school were pretty big, they had to wake up napping kids, carry some, make some run to the the bathrooms and closets and contain them there. I spoke to Ms E and Ms J at the school and they were so good spirited about it, I know it must've been a HUGE challenge, not to talk of the responsibility that was on their shoulders. So proud of them and so happy.
I asked the kids later if they were in the bathroom at school, and their reaction was 'bathoon?' and they walked up the bathroom at home. Oh well!

The images from Forney, Tx are heart wrenching, one of the house only has the bathtub and the wall adjacent to it remaining, thankfully the family is safe because they were in the bath tub taking shelter. The entire house was gutted. There are other house, which though partially standing will have to be built from scratch. One of the schools is closed and there are about 10,000 or so houses without electricity still.

Nature yet again brought me to my knees yesterday. Not something I want to live through again.G and I sat last night and made sure our papers were all still in the bag which is the bag we pick, get the kids and run to safety. This tornado made everything so surreal.

God bless all those families who were not as lucky as us.

My Mom moment

I have read about other Moms facing this and it was time I faced it too.

This past weekend, we were at a get together which had a good outdoor space, where the kids could run around. So M and N were having a lot of fun running around, chasing imaginary things and each other and playing tag. A little while later, N got interested in a group of boys playing - they were probably 4-5 years old. N and M go upto them and statrt talking in their language which I don't think kids of that age get - they've probably forgotten it. So all of them ignore these two and run off, except this one boy who stands there listening to N jabber. Out of the blue, he pushes N and N gets angry and says to him 'No push', so the boy this time pushes both M and N. I was a little distance away, so I walked upto this boy, and I repeated what N had said except I added some vowels and prepositions ' Please don't push'. The little boy moved away and I looked around for any parents, but no one seemed to claim to know the boy.

Later G and I were discussing this and G told me I was being over protective. But I wasn't, I told him, I would've reprimanded N too if he pushed anyone, I make him apologize immediately to M when he pushes her or pulls her hair. It's just the right thing to do. Am I wrong? Should I not have said anything to the little boy, should I have let N handle the situation?

Downton Abbey

I am in love - with the show and I have a massive crush on Dan Stevens.
If you haven't seen the show, you MUST, if you like Jane Austen style of writing and era. I love strong female leads and guys who support that, this just sits right up there.

I wrote a post not so long ago and it was written hastily and I didn't clarify, so I will clarify now. I love Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, Emily Bronte, Margaret Mitchell and most recently found Georgette Heyer. Love all the above writers, and the reason is simple. I love the era they write about, the charm, the simpleness of the times and the romance is so subdued - it's more between the lines, in the nuances, unlike today's books about those times (Jude Deveraux) where it's just about damsel in distress. It's really not a surprise, I LOVE books with strong female leads, it's what I like the most and I cannot imagine the kind of woman who waits for things to happen to her.

So Downton Abbey is the same and I am in love. There is this story about the Earls and Duchess and then the servants and maids, how different and yet similar. It's a story about love, greed, passion, families, war, children, parents and just anything else you can think of. Have I yet got you interested?

Dan Stevens is the yummiest guy on TV right now for me - sorry John Krasinski - you're second, I know I am very fair.

Spring has sprung!

Yipee!! Although we had mild winters, but it's good to not have to lug our jackets and sweaters and caps and leg warmers with us. (Yes leg warmers are pretty cool and I like them )
So to commemorate the onset of milder and prettier weather outside, we have been going to the park almost everyday and if we haven't been able to then we have been playing in the backyard, enjoying the sounds of birds and dogs, watching cars and waving at them. And doing somethings Mom is not proud of. Like playing with the sprinkler heads.

We did a little gulal holi at home, I wasn't sure at all how the kids would like it, but they were pretty sporting about it and even put it on themselves, each other and us. Below are proofs.

Spring has also brought a lot of weeds with it, I really need a better solution for it. Kids like to be outside, so it's a good thing that we all get the exercise.

Ok, now that I have said a few lines, I will go get some work done.

Happy Spring everyone :)

Things

My 2 year old asked me for a napkin, when I set her down for dinner last night.
We cannot leave house without our jackets anymore - jacket police aka kids are onto us if we do.
We cannot skip parts of a song, we are caught.
We cannot sing along songs, we are told to stop sternly.
We cannot eat desert without sharing.
We cannot go to the park and not feed the ducks.

They can say a lot of words now.
They can skip and hop.
They can fake cry!!! (This is big)
They can tell us when they have pooped (Time for potty training)
They think of themselves as the boss of our phones (Like a friend said, we have to take it from them on loan)
They want to dress and undress themselves. (You would think, we like that, think again)


Last week when G was traveling, I was getting the kids ready, giving them a bath etc. While I dressed N and M was already done, she started cleaning up, putting the dirty clothes into the hamper, keeping the lotion away and even throwing away the soiled diapers. My girl is one big helper and I am amazed at how much she resembles me in wanting things to be in their place the whole time.

G now knows that it is useless to fight M, if she first wants to wear her jacket and then shoes, then that is the order, else there will be unnecessary delay. Me being the brains of the marriage, knew that well before ;)

N knows how to manipulate his Mommy (the smart brains comment above, can be pretty much scrapped). He has me wrapped around his little finger. He will just give the signal that he wants to be held and I will oblige. G and M have the same relationship.
But, really there is a reason for it, N has been sick a lot lately, cough, cold, ear infection have not left his side for over a month. All this leads to his losing weight and being unhappy.

This has been a grueling month for me at work, in a good way, but too much pressure to release untested things into production. It's been taking toll on my general happiness. HEHE.

On the boot camp front, the camp went through major changes and our work outs now are killer! It's really awesome and I can see a lot of changes in myself. I had better lose more weight in this camp, because in the second camp, I didn't lose any. Yeh - sob a tear for me will ya?

I can't believe this is only my second post this year, I am slacking!

Ohhh..before I forget, we took the kids to Chucke Cheese a couple of weeks ago. It was a blast! We had never been, and is this place the bomb for kids or what? It's a pretty cool place, with a lot of fun activities for kids. M couldn't get enough of the slide and N of the rocking animals there.  We had fun watching the kids and our friends kids, who introduced us to the place. We might be going back there today!

Have a good week end folks, until next time.

New Year!!!

Hello 2012! supposedly you are the last year we are supposed to see, supposedly we are all going to perish on 21st Dec 2012. We will just have to see about that now.

So, we had a great NYE, the weather gods, were bountiful and we got a splendid day, the high was 74F that day, so we hung out in the park with the kids for over 2 hours, we walked around one of the prettiest shopping block and then headed to get some pizza. The kids fell asleep in the car after that and G and I drove around Dallas downtown, saw all the party people dressed in skimpy clothes and stilettos and the insane crowds near AAC. It looked like Dallas was a party capital. We got home, put the kids to bed and then saw a fun thriller movie - Super 8. It's a fun watch and the best part is there are good close ups of the monster!

We had a rough ending to last year, the entire family was sick, luckily G had the last week of the year off, so he could stay home and take care of the kids, while I worked. We are still recovering and it is very annoying.

I am smelling nice food, which means it is lunch time! So off I go!