August round up…

August has been quite eventful, especially the latter half…

A trip to Mysore during the 2nd weekend…  celebrated Raksha Bandhan and Independence day. While we were there the kids had a good time at the nearby park. Though the play area is not maintained, the kids love playing with whatever still exists

Rakhsha bandhan..

Going for the slide...

Raring to go..

Then, the next weekend … it was an impromptu trip to the Golden temple at Sripuram near Vellore. Honestly speaking I had not heard of this temple before. After the PT meeting that Saturday , we all got together and left just after 1 PM. The trip was a good one.. the drive was comfortable coz of the relatively less or non existent traffic on the highway when compared to the B’lore Mysore one.

After the toll gate before Vellore, we took a right… a  route through a village to reach Sripuram. The rural scene was comforting and we could feel the freshness in the air. Felt so very nice We decided to go to the temple later..so we just passed by it and went on to Vellore. After finding an accommodation in Vellore, we freshened up and returned to the temple, just in time to get entry. No entry after 8 PM. After security checks, strictly no mobiles or cameras are allowed, we had to walk quite a bit in order to reach near the Sanctum Sanctorum. The deity is Sri Lakhsmi Narayani.

The entire temple is covered in layers of gold and is a sight to behold, especially when it is lit up… thats one reason why we chose to visit the temple after dusk. Later, read up on the net and realized that we had walked along a star shaped pathway to reach the Sanctum Sanctorum.

The next day, we decided to have it relaxed and cancelled the plan to visit the Vellore fort. Also, Adi had been suffering from fever since the previous evening and we didn’t want to strain him out. We again proceeded towards the temple. There, outside the temple, we went around looking at the stuff being sold … bought some girly things and then headed back. Once again on the road through the villages… couple of times we stopped to click some pics of the serene surroundings

The drive back was also good and we reached home by evening… in time to prepare for the week ahead

The last weekend of August was a hectic one… busy preparing for Adi’s bday and the festival. Celebrated Gauri pooja and Adi’s 4th bday on Wednesday, the 31st of August and Ganesh Chaturthi on Thursday, the 1st of Sep.

Here are some snapshots..

Gauri pooja at sis1's place..

Cutting the cake...

Yummm!

Ooh..aaah..

Ganesh pooja

Hope you enjoyed looking the pics

D day!

The countdown was almost similar to the last year’s

The day dawned bright n nice Ammu woke up as soon as I called out her name!! 20 minutes earlier that usual.. And sprang out of the bed in just a couple of minutes. No drowsiness.. no laziness. She wished good morning to everyone cheerfully and went about doing her things as quickly as possible. She wanted to have enough time to ‘dress up’. And I was wishfully thinking.. why cant it be like this everyday All you moms nodding head in agreement?

So the princess was all dressed up, had her breakfast and went down on time! I even clicked a few pics of her in her gorgeous dress!! I hope she has an exciting n happy day Apparently, she has told her friends in advance and was excitedly describing what her best friend is going to give her… complete with details of wrapping n all Waiting to hear her story today…

At home…  before getting ready for office, I spent some time decorating the living room with streamers and the ‘Happy birthday’ banner. Generally we do it in the evening but this time I thought of giving the kids a surprise when they come home. I’m sure they’ll be excited!! Adi was excited and wanted to get the cake and cut it yesterday itself

Evening… it will be a family get together as usual. We’ll be missing sis1 who’s in Kolkata for a workshop and she too will be missing this for sure… she didnt even want to go… for this reason. But such is life

The princess will be in another gorgeous dress that her Thata bought for her from Mysore… and of course Adi too!! he’s maha excited about his new dress as well!! G’pas wont’t think twice when splurging for these tiny tots Right? Everything’s set for the evening… the cake, the gifts, the menu just a simple one . I hope it will be fun and exciting for the kids!!

Happy Birthday darling!! Hope and wish your days in the year ahead will be filled with fun and cheer and good health!!!

Wordless Wednesday!

B’day + Surprise Gift = Sooper happy!!

My entry for this weeks theme ‘Happy’ at Thursday Challenge!

I was thinking of giving it a miss this time as I had done one on the same theme a couple of weeks back! But then I thought why miss the chance of feeling happy all over again looking at some happy happy pics in the archive Finally decided on this one

Ammu happily riding her bicycle , a surprise gift from me on her b’day in 2010!! The bicycle had been kept at home since a week, covered with bedsheets n all. And an ironing board kept in front of it. Whenever she got curious, we managed to tell her something or the other! We did manage to give her a huge surprise on the D-day!! The look on her face was priceless

My Natkhat Nandlal :)

Who else… the ever active, restless, never tiring Adi Upto something every single moment!!

On our way to Mysore…

Barely into the trip, out of our area … onto Hosur road

Adi: ‘Where is Mysore?’ Ammu would at least wait until we crossed Bannerghata road

He was least interested in going by the car. It was our first drive to Mysore in our car!

Adi Looking at the colourful private buses that passed by : I want to go in the pink bus, I want to go in the yellow bus, I want to go in the Green bus.. and so on.

Adi excited at the train passing by: I want to go in the trrraaaaiiinnnn  Trains excite him the most, doesnt matter if it is going to Bangalore and not to Mysore!

I was distracting him and keeping him occupied with the Sun, the clouds and the hills… His reactions…

‘I like the clouds… I’ll catch them and take them with me to Mysore ‘

‘The Sun is coming with me only Bomma ‘

‘See the hill Bomma…. Wowwww!!’ Just like I say to make things sound interesting to him

‘Dinosaur is my friend… he’ll play with me!’ About the dinosaur in a park at Mandya.

At Mysore…

‘It will bite me Mamma …’ trying to move away when we showed him a butterfly

We both could’nt help laughing at this reaction .. such a contrast from his response to a dinosaur!!

While eating… after a few morsels… flexing his tiny muscles…

‘Look Mamma/Bomma/Thata/Baba/Didi… I’m getting shakti !!!’

These are his cute n endearing words. I’m sure I’ve missed some. And his antics keep us on our toes each moment. I feel my words will not do justice to the cuddly bundle of enthusiasm, inquisitiveness and intelligence!! After initial disappointment at some of his antics, its these qualities that shine through and help us accept him for what he is and what he does!!

So here’s to my natkhat nandlal  for giving us the most beautiful… most eventful 3 years of our lives And for flooring us each time with your gorgeous smile… check the header

Wishing you the best of everything… that life can offer! Loads of laughter, happiness, bonding and of course the natkhat moments, without which our lives will be dull and without flavour!!

Excitedly, Ammu arranged the balloons around him!

The birthday cake

Making a wish!!

Adi turned 3 on 31st August, 2010.

A Special Tuesday!!

The countdown had begun in earnest, on 1st of July. But it intensified greatly yesterday

Mamma, now it is morning or afternoon?

Mamma, what is the time now? When will it be tomorrow?

At 8 PM: Mamma, now it is evening or night?

And it didnt stop at that.

While going to bed: mamma, why it wont be morning soon?

In the middle of the night: Mamma, is it morning now?

And, she sprang up from bed… all smiles… as soon as she heard ‘Ammu its your birthday today!’

Six years! …time seems to have just flown!!

Here’s a tiny recap

Wish you a very happy birthday Ammu

May the excitement and the sparkle in your eyes stay on!

May you spread warmth and cheer to all around you!!

May God bless you with bliss and contentment!!!

To the birthday girl!!

There was this little kid. She used to learn by just observing … be it dance, rhymes, songs… But she was not interested in going to school. She just wanted to be… in her dreamland perhaps! The first day her mom took her to school, she just refused to utter even a single word , let alone the rhymes that she would recite so nicely at home. She sheepishly recollects her first day at school… her mom had to literally drag her to school.

Celebrations!!

She was not very interested in academics. She just wanted to play… play. Very unlike her elder siblings. She had this weird aspiration… of being a shepherd.  She talked dreamily of being able to go into the fields and let the sheep graze while she could lazy all she wanted and daydream to her heart’s content She regretted the fact that she got admission to the school just based on the merit of her siblings. If not for that… she would have been as free as a bird… no going to school na But tough luck… she had siblings who cared about academics and who made sure, time and again, that she didnt veer off into dreamland!!

So… three cheers to the dreamer girl on her birthday!! Wish you a great birthday and happiness always!! And here’s wishing that all your dreams come true!!! Not the weird ones that you are getting these days!Maybe i’ll make another post about those

If you are wondering who this kid is… she is my kid sis  she is a good 7 years younger than me… so she’s the eternal kid sis!! She’s Ammu’s and Adi’s favourite… and probably, they’ll like her more when they read this Wat say Jinn?

Images courtesy… the friendly neighbourhood Google

The year gone by..n..the year ahead!

On birthdays..its mostly about the year ahead…. Wishes and blessings for a great new year! …and seldom about the year gone by

This birthday, however, is different…a kind of milestone; both, for me and Ammu. The past year has been full of activities and accomplishments, some expected and some just out of the blue.

On the personal front, my committments (read financial ) are doubled as I now own a house; a humble apartment in this great city of opportunities. The best part is that I’m now spared from the hassles of house hunting and relocating every few (2 – 3) years. I have gone through this, thrice in this city and it is something that i loathe.  I’m glad and grateful that we finally have a ‘permanent residence’ to call our own. Hope this will give me more time to concentrate on my daughter and also my own personal and professional growth.

This past year has also been significant on the professional front; I did my CSTE certification with good scores, did a company sponsored ‘Internal Auditor’ certification, wrote a best practices paper that got published on the company website… remains to be seen if I can surpass these in the current year ..

As for Ammu, the past year was the start of her formal schooling. It was exciting for her, she bagged prizes on ‘sports day’ and ‘flowers day’ competitions. In fact, she took active interest in all the creative assignments and the excitement was very evident to us. Speaking of academics, she scored good marks/grades and got promoted to UKG…

This year, she started ‘full day’ school exactly on her birthday. This ia a great milestone as it marks the beginning of a new phase, a major one that will last another 15 years or so…

And how can i not mention Adi!…our super cool guy!!…with a super naughty twinkle in his eyes!!!

He’ll start preschool this year and am sure he’ll enjoy it thoroughly…and also give some tough time to his buddies and teachers at school. I’m also sure that no one will complain…coz he’s absolutely sweet and adorable …and does all the cute things at just the right time!…wonder from where he learnt these skills!!

Here’s wishing my kids ‘happy learning’ and a ‘happy journey’…hoping that they’ll find the right people; buddies and teachers/guides, who will help them enjoy their journey and steer them towards worthy goals. I hope school/learning/academics, will be a fulfilling, enriching experience for them…something they’ll cherish and look forward to as they go along..

Birthdays!

Birthdays…are wonderful and full of excitement

@ preschool …it should be your ‘happy bday’ whenever you feel like it…to be surrounded by balloons and fave people … celebrations not complete without cutting a cake

@ school days…waiting eagerly for the happy b’ day..to wear ‘colour’ dress to the school and distibute little chocolates/toffees to everyone..

@ college…waiting to show off the new clothes/accessories, eager to party with friends and have a bash

@ marriage…looking forward to a romantic day filled with cute and loving surprises

@ kids…looking forward to their bdays..to be a part of their excitement and wonder…to become a child again

My darling had a grand birthday this year..thanks to all her fave people who made it possible! She wore her light pink dress to school and distributed pink lollipops and pink pencils to her friends and classmates!! She was happy and excited .. and radiated her happiness to everyone around her.

Here’s wishing my baby a life of bliss and contentment!! May she radiate smiles and happiness wherever she goes.