Showing posts with label celebration. Show all posts
Showing posts with label celebration. Show all posts

August 16, 2012

Anushka turns Seven

Seven Wonders of the World. The Saptarishis. Sapta Swara. Secret Seven.
Do you know any more?

You turn seven today, my sweety pie. I am not sure how much you will recall of the year that went by, when you grow up to be seventeen. Here is a summary for the future:


About you at 7:
 
To eat: Bhindi 7 days a week is your idea of a great menu. You added mild Masale Bhaat to your list of likes, you eat almost all veggies and fruits , but still go easy on spice/ chillies. You are not much into junk but have discovered Fanta! ( still only a party indulgence)

To read: You love reading about  the earth, the environ and animals. You enjoyed Samhita’s Mahabharatha as much as you liked Dr Suess. You read to Aditi when she lets you. You amaze me with your memory. You learnt to recite Miller of the Dee so well and so quickly.

To do:  Kenken, anagrams on miniclip, maths questions, association games, Uno, art/ craft of any kind, skating, cycling, swimming, chess, hoola hoop, badminton, dribbling the ball ( they have all been part of your year). Key board, dancing, singing , traveling (Hampi, Goa, Hyderabad, among others), writing ( progressively lesser) and unfortunately watching TV ( Chota bheem has been dislodged and Amazing Spies are your favorite)

At School:  You enjoy school and fit in well. You have begun folk dance and continue chess. You are not particularly athletic. Your teachers' review of you has been great as a good student and more importantly a concerned classmate. You won the general proficiency award/ Golden Child recognition to prove that.

Socially: Your friend T remains your most cherished one. But you are beginning to make new good friends too as your bday list shows.
Physically: You have lost around 4 - 5 teeth and grown even taller. You got your first pair of specs. And then post a review, few months later, the doc said you did not need glasses.

With family: You are a very loving and lovable accommodating child, a wonderful grandkid and exemplary Akka.

Being Amma, here is my two bit of gyaan-
- Stop bruising yourself so often- be more alert and aware, but don't stop dreaming and questioning
- Be less diplomatic- take a stand, even if it is to disagree with me ( except I have the final word as of now)
- Stay happy always and learn to chill out a bit more. Just so that I know you are seven and not thirty seven.

And you know what? .......ok- let me say it - Love you too much!!
Amma.

June 11, 2012

What a weekend!

It was Dad's birthday on Saturday and Amma and Anush baked a lovely Banana cake for the world's best grandpa. More on the place we went for dinner later.

We attended a mehendi function, an engagement, a house warming and  met up (blog) friends from Hbad - utbt and from Delhi- nm over the weekend!

My mom's friend from 35 yrs ago paid us a visit.

 A very tiring but exciting weekend.

December 30, 2011

Here we go or come?

Tata 2011.


A full year, with loads of happy times and some tense moments.


Office


Won a couple of brands that have been on the wanted list for long. Handling more accounts. A trip to Paris that did not work out and one to Sri Lanka that gave my purse a workout. Had a lot of logistics glitches to sort out - SAPped out was more like it.


Family


Over all good times. Though we had a trying time when we discovered our cook was a thief and went through a couple of maid changes as well. All elders and kids with nagging illnesses this entire year but thank God only the cold cough types


Kids


Both enjoying their new schools, growing up to be independent spirited young ladies inbetween some cycling, keybaord, chess, cooking, swimming and just being kids


Navy


Going along, doing well, sometimes wondering what...great we cleared the housing loan, now let us explore some new stuff


Travel


A source of joy and aches as well- we have had a number of short trips ( Nandi Hills, Lepakshi, Mekedathu, Mysore...) and longer ones were the Sai Vishram beach one and the Badami Hampi trip. Sri Lanka was pure retail therapy for me.


Blogging/ Writing


Mister Muthu comes to an end, as does TON. Story telling sessions made a strong start. Hope to see more of that in 2012. Lots of blogger friends made and fun meets had. Going fairly strong at ST...


Self


Inching slowly towards a fitter me. Finally.


Welcome 2012

December 07, 2011

Cuppy Cakes

Went to Cake wala and was delighted by the spread and the prices. Not as yummy as Merwans, Mumbai but getting there and a lovely display to actually watch the master baker/ cake artists in action.

Here is a blog that my Blore baker friends may find useful and others will find interesting.

And here are some reportedly awesome cupcake ladies.... apart from our own Sin-a-Mon who now retails out of Chai patty as well.

October 28, 2011

A Happy Diwali Indeed!

We had a great Diwali though kids again had cough.

Went to Chintamani for a day trip and also celebrated with family and building friends in Blore.

Navy bought a larger plasma TV and he got me a Blackberry Bold as well. First time I recall us timing such purchases with Diwali.

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Aditi loves to say" Pataassss!!" She was fine handling sparklers.

Anush actually lit flower pots and chakras herself this time with me overseeing of course.

We enjoyed the terrace view of the fireworks in the city skyline.

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Kala tikka. My grandma with my kids.

Dressing up, rangoli, murukku, diyas, sweets all happened with much gusto.

Pink and Blue brand of ghagras for kids are nice. Easy on the pocket too.

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1100th post this one. Not bad huh?

October 07, 2011

Golu 2011- The Finale





And so the festival draws to a close this year. We made a small beginning last year and took it to a larger scale this year. However it remained simple....

With a mix of kitschy dolls and also knick knacks from across the country which are part of our regular decor as well.

We had guests galore and some were generous with their time and some with their skills.



Next year, maybe we could do a theme and create one scene/set possibly. Completely inspired by this gentleman's work .

October 05, 2011

Jungles and Movement



Our building gardener gave us a patch of his lawn grass and we used it for our animal kingdom. This is one grassland where wild and domestic animals live together. Possibly because they are all the same size!!



Anushka's train set and Aditi's cars became a lively side piece. From my collection a vehicle mobile added a touch of Indian rustic.

October 04, 2011

Ram jaane



Ram- Sita- Lakshman- Hanuman. Had some trouble deciding how to place them. Instinctively felt that Hanuman would not be near Sita. Saw some calendar art on the web and decided to go with this placement. Though traditionally the wife stands to the husband's right.
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Please visit Saffron tree for an interview with Karadi Tales and do leave behind comments/ queries for them.


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Anushka was awarded by Shruti for her colourful Artsy Craftsy peacock.

She was pleased to hear that- " Aunty liked my work!"

Colours dekor has featured our Sea theme birthday.

Many thanks ladies.

October 03, 2011

A Starry Day

Had a people and fun filled weekend. Celebrated Golu and Aditi's star birthday yesterday with family and a few friends.


The cake followed a Dassera plus birthday theme- hence was festive with buntings and Krishna, Bheem and Chutki which Anushka decided was Aditi since Chutki would have been bigger.


Only downside, both kids have again got cold cough. We will need to recheck with the doc. And so our visits to others' Golus remain pending.


The other S and her kid A visited us from the blogsphere and we had a really good time.

September 29, 2011

Announcing with Band Baaja ..........Golu 2011!!!


In the picture, 3 sets of music bands in wood and clay, elephant series puzzle, national leaders

Golu or Kolu or as the Japanese call it Hina Matsuri is here.
And my appa graciously sourced and set up a seven step stand for us to decorate.
So unlike last time, we have a proper stand and a larger surface area to play with.

Anush and even Aditi had fun unwrapping dolls, old and new. We set it up and the girls are painting a few earthen diyas daily.

In Bangalore, I am told Jaynaagr, Gandhi Bazaar and Malleswaram are best bets for Golu Bommais as is Mysore. Hopefully I get to visit one of them over the next weekend to add to the collection.

September 27, 2011

Aditi's Second birthday

Here is Aditi's birthday in pictures:
Decor: Scrap cloth Bunting, paper wish bunting, tissue paper flowers, yellow balloons and flowers, yellow dress code


Food: Dhokla, Poha, Corn- pineapple salad, Popcorn, Gold fingers, Custard, 2 cakes( mango and duckie), juice, melon eggs and Tomato peel flowers




Clothes: 3 sunny frocks and one traditional one


Activities: Lemon and spoon, lion plate art, yellow collage with stickers, pin the tail



Gifts: The goody bag itself was a goody courtesy S and the NGO initiative she and her family support. Included wooden tops, smiley ball, Anushka's Puppets of India- a book and a golden yellow pen.

We also had a cake cutting session in school for Aditi, which her big sis attended.

August 11, 2011

Star of the Day

Anush's Tamil Star Birthday is today, her sixth one. She received a cross word book from her grandparents .

We also gave her a copy of the book that she 'wrote' and illustrated almost a year ago, soon after hr fifth birthday. I am glad, we atleast got it printed in time for her birthday.

Dear Anush
You are our little star and the guiding light for your sister. May you always smile and shine!
And you know what...?
Amma

July 15, 2011

Hear me out!

In our building we have a young girl who is hearing impaired.

She plays with the rest of kids. They speak in signs and smiles. Like Singing hands.
Everyone tries to include her without thinking too much about it.

It is often said that Kids can be brutal/ cruel even.

But kids are also really large hearted aren't they?


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It was the birthday of Anush's cousin, the inspiration for a book by an extended family member.
More on the book later.


We celebrated at the Indira Nagar Little Italy- AWESOME. Anush also made her own pizza from rolling it out to baking it ....

May 04, 2011

My Day !

I was flooded with gifts- flowers, sunglasses, a new cassette - CD- DVD- radio player, DVDs, clothes and cards, cake- cookies and wishes on FB, on the blog and in person/ over phone. Just when I thought it could not get better- we went for dinner to NH 8 - highly recco for veg Rajasthani food barring rotis all was stuff good.


Anush is attending Summer Fun at Swingers and is really having a ball!


Went to Kobe's sizzlers a few days back. Am note sure I like sizzlers anymore( barring the brownie one of course) though teh place and stuff was nice enough.



And here is an Anushism that left us in splits- we were attending a family do on Monday
Anush to her thaatha- " Thaathu, you are looking so smart! " Thaatu was in a gorgeous white kurta- pyjama.


Enter Navy in a white shirt and a mismatched off white dhoti. " Appa thaathu is looking so smart and you are looking so funny....." Navy will never forget to wear a contrast shirt now on with his dhoti.

April 07, 2011

Happy Birthday!

Dear Navy, This morning I think your girls ( all three of them) let you know just how much you are loved. Here is hoping that even if life gives you a few lemons, you enjoy the lemon juice! Happy Birthday big baby! Love you always, as always, Art.

January 17, 2011

This Pongal Weekend

We had a wonderful Pongal/ Sankranti spent across both sets of grandfolks.

Enjoying both kinds of pongals, watching the milk boil over, shouting PongalO Pongal, serving rice balls to well decorated cows, making sugar dolls, messing about with colourful rangoli and of course wearing new clothes and having fun and enjoying the togetherness - that is what the weekend was all about.I must mention I missed Chennai, especially the lovely kolams that our active building would put up early in the morning.

January 03, 2011

Ring in the New with the Old!

We rang in the New Year with family and friends and attended a lovely terrace party in the Bangalore chill.

Then we went to Lepakshi to herald the new year and were completely wowed by the stories in stone.

A gigantic Nandi,  a floating pillar, a magnificent Ligan with a seven headed naag, the three legged dance teacher of the apsaras, the story of Sri Kala Hasti, roof murals, Sita's foot print( the size of her big toe was my foot size), a large 'Bombay Thali' in stone, a cow in three poses- absolutely educative and enchanting


On to Chintamani for a day and back in Bangalore. Time well spent with both sets of grandparents.


Do catch my first review of 2011 at ST. It was a book that really moved me. And do leave your comments on an earlier post on the pop up 10. Thought that you may have missed it in the Holiday season.


And yes there is an avaraikai fest at Sajjan Rao circle- one of a kind event. The akki roti from there was awesome.

December 29, 2010

Just another year...

This has been an eventful year for me ( bit more than ever)

A location change after 10 years ( turned out fine)
A work style change ( a lot of adjustment)
A School change for the kid ( all for the good)
From own to rented house ( not too bad)
A bit of working out ( Yes!!)
Almost no cooking ( this I miss)
Being a Mother of 2 in the full sense( the best thing ever)
Being almost a full owner of our second home( most of the loan paid off)
Being a reviewer for ST ( yeah to that)
Beginning my second series for Chandamama while MM will also continue ( Yipee to that)
Meeting some old friends and some more blogger friends
Doing a lot of weekend outings and activities with the kids


Thank you 2010!! Welcome 2011.Happy New Year Folks ! See you on the other side.
This year just flows into the next one.............

December 24, 2010

Anushka's Letter to Santa

Anush wrote her first letter for Santa and placed it in the balcony in a stocking since we do not have a chimney. If we were to keep it inside the house with all the doors secured, Santa will not be able to retrieve it!! Now Santa has to work on a suitable reply.
Anush and her grandpa went to the Aero Museum in HAL. Very interesting and engaging is what my father and his grandchild had to say about their space odyssey. Anush was talking about heat shields and parachutes and bomb planes and safe landings all through the evening!!

October 22, 2010

Blessed!

Yesterday went to Chennai and realised how good the weather here in Blore is!

Made time to visit Tulika and met the Sandhya there and got a few books- look out for the reviews soon.

There is a sari/ silk exhibition at Palace grounds and an organic produce fair at Lal bagh this weekend. I really want to go.

Here are some snaps from the dinner we hosted for family for Aditi's Ayush Homam



I let this one stay since it is the only snap I have in her flouncy girly pink frock!







Do check out my post here at the insightful papertigers' blog. I loved doing this. You can participate too. And of course leave comments there.