So MsA came back on Friday afternoon. I can’t believe how excited I was. I felt tears prickling at my eyes, a few times through out the day and especially when I was driving to the school to pick her up. The last few minutes are always the longest. I spoke to some other mums while waiting for the buses to arrive and they were all in the same state. I think not being able to communicate with the children made it harder. But, I have to say that MsA’s school, kept sending regular updates and that was a relief. And on the first night, we found out that a friend was on parent duty, that put our minds at ease too.
The buses arrived and when the kids started getting off the buses, there were so many smiles and so many tears. I swear, they all looked so grown up suddenly. MsA, hugged me and I didn’t want to let go! She was the one to break the hug, to look for her bag. She went on calmly to look for her bag and then remembered that she had forgotten a bag of wet clothes on the bus. I was just amazed to see this responsible big girl, who remembered everything. Whatever happened to the scatterbrain that used to forget/lose something or the other at school, everyday.
We went to pick up MsAn, straight after and the joy on the sisters’ faces, when they saw each other, was priceless. I had to take photos. MsAn was immediately territorial about her sister- you see, some of her friends wanted a hug too. And she wasn’t going to allow that.
 

We went out to get hot chocolates and MsA told us camp stories of all the activities they did- they made candles, played games(she described in great detail about some game which involved a Ping-Pong ball and water, but I have forgotten about it), saw reptiles, had a camp-fire, toasted marshmallows and so on. She claims to have tried different foods and loved it. Her favourite part was getting a dessert every night. She woke up at 5 am on the first morning, got in the shower and when she came out, she checked the time to realise that it was too early in the morning. She loved the whole experience but when we were sitting at the dining table for her dinner, her wise words were,” I am happy to have my life back.”
Before leaving for the camp, I had asked her what she wanted for dinner, when she got back and her answer was, “Pizza”. After she came back, I asked her what she wanted for dinner, she replied whatever you cook. I gave her a couple of options and she settled on “Kadhi-rice”

  

I cannot tell you how happy it made me that she picked home-cooked food instead of a takeaway. The camp has done her well. As I said before, she seems to have grown up overnight. She is also very tired, we stayed in most of today, so she could rest before going back to school, tomorrow.

More later..
T

Two days back, when we were on our way home, from seeing MsA off for her school camp, we spotted this beauty! What makes this rainbow so special is – 

1) the timing – when we really needed cheering up.

2) it wasn’t a rainy day! 

It was almost like, it was there, specially for us!!! Have a look at our magical rainbow 😊

  

Also check out this old post about the other rainbows that I shared 🙂

More later..

Love

Trish

  

MsA is away for her first school camp..first overnight school camp. Its the first time, she’s away from home and from both of us. The last and the only time, I was away from her, was when MsAn was born and that was hard! But, most of the time, I was drugged or in labour, so time passed quickly. But this time, I am at home and its weird, not hearing her constant chatter. MsAn is alternating between being excited about being the only child at home, amusing us with her cuteness and extra cuddles and being sad, missing her sister.

Its also SP’s birthday today and its the first time in 8 years that MsA is not with us. She made us promise that we will go out on Sunday night to celebrate 😀
We did go out for dinner tonight and MsAn loved all the attention that we showered on her. Oh! And she insisted its her birthday and we indulged 🙂
More later,
Love
T

I was busy, yesterday – so doing a makeup post tonight.
I spent the morning at work, then gym and then had to get MsA organised for camp. She requested for a beanie to match her jumper, and I started making it. But MsAn woke up with a nightmare and I fell asleep trying to settle her, so couldn’t finish the beanie 😦
I worked out with a new friend yesterday. She pushed me and I am sore today. The worst part about doing a lower body workout is, climbing stairs the next day! I am not kidding! My legs are so sore, they hurt, even if MsAn touches them!
A long walk is what I need to stretch those muscles. May be tomorrow. But!! First thing on the cards is a long sleep-in – I am going to make the most of no-school drop off!
Time to go spend time with the birthday boy now 🙂
More later,
Love
Trish

Its a long weekend here in Melbourne- for the Queen’s birthday. For us, this long weekend has been one of gluttony. I have been on a diet for the longest time, but in the last 6 months, I have watched what I eat, very closely. However, I let it go this weekend.
Saturday started with work, as usual. I came home and SP and I have decided to do a DIY on our landscaping, so we got started on that after lunch. We have 7 cubic meters of soil in our front yard. Our first task is to move it all to the backyard. Its back-breaking work. We plodded along, slowly and steadily, filling tubs of soil, putting them in a wheelbarrow and taking it to the backyard. By the end of the day, we had made little progress and a small dent in the mountain of soil. But we were exhausted and ended up ordering biryani for dinner.. OMG! Spicy hyderabadi biryani with Mirchi ka Salan and mint raita..OMG! It was like a match made in heaven. Obviously, we ate till we were ready to burst.
Sunday morning, we woke up ready to tackle the mountain, but the weather had turned and what was meant to be a sunny day, was now a cold, windy day. That’s just the perfect trigger for an asthma attack. SP asked me to stay in and he did a few trips with the wheelbarrow, until, it was time to pick up Ms.A from her class and he stopped. We decided to turn it into a shopping day, as Ms.A is going away on a camp, this week. More gluttony followed at the mall, in the form of kebabs, donuts, coffee and juice. We came home, got changed and went out again, this time to SP’s friend’s place for dinner. Yup! You guessed it..more food! The girls were tired after the long day and fell asleep in the car, on the way home. SP and I decided to celebrate with a movie and watched Dil Dhadakane Do. I had heard(read) mixed reviews about the movie, but so didn’t know what to expect from it. Overall, I think it was a good watch. However, I think the actors were under-utilitised and the since there were so many characters, there were so many ends left untied at the end. I think, I enjoyed it more, because, I was watching it with SP.. 😀
Monday started with a much deserved sleep-in. We got out of bed, only around 10-ish..and then lazed around some more. I had booked the girls in for make-up swimming lessons, so that SP could watch them. They were both waiting to show off their swimming to daddy. It was so cute, when we got to the Swim school, Ms.An announced to everyone in sight, ” I’ve got my dad today” and then later, ” I have got my mummy and I have got my daddy.” They both did so well and I loved watching SP’s face, as he watched them swim.
The girls were famished, by the time we got home and we ate Dosa and chutney for lunch. Nothing makes me happier, that when the girls enjoy the same food that we do and when I have cooked it for them. We spent the rest of the day, doing pretty much nothing. Oh, actually, that’s not right. I packed Ms.A’s bag. My princess is going away on a 3 day camp- her first overnight camp. She keeps alternating between “I am so excited” and “But I will miss you guys”.
And now, I will stop typing, because there is a tray of home-made nachos that has my name on it!
I told you, it is weekend of gluttony!
More soon,
Love
T

There’s a meme going on Facebook about asking your kids 20-odd questions and recording their ‘unprompted’ response. I love doing those things. I had done a series of these with Ms.A when she was 3 and 4 years old. Here’s the newest one :

Childs Name: MsA
Age: 8

1. What is something Mummy always says to you?
A : ummmm You say No for getting stuff that you know that I will be bored out of in, like, 2 hours or even 5 minutes.

2. What makes Mummy happy?
A : If I do my homework like a good girl and clean my room or let you take lots of photos tongue emoticon

3. What makes Mummy sad?
A :umm if I be naughty, don’t take of my sister, make my room a pig-sty and not do my homework like a good girl.

4. How does Mummy make you laugh?
A: By saying something funny

5. What was Mummy like as a child?
A: You looked cute, when I saw that photo of you, but I actually don’t know how you were as a child.

6. How old is Mummy?
A:35

7. How tall is Mummy?
A:I would say 5 inches ! :O

8. What is Mummy’s favourite thing to do?
A: crochet

9. What does Mummy do when you’re not here?
A: Take care of the house, take care of Nanya, go on facebook and do your assignment. (Spot on!!)

10. If Mummy becomes famous what will it be for?
A: Cooking!! no! Crochet! Cooking and Crochet.

11. What is Mummy really good at?
A: Cooking.

12. What is Mummy not very good at?
A: umm, lets think- playing with a toy.

13. What is Mummy’s job?
A: Toy Library.

14. What makes you proud of Mummy?
A :If she does a really cool achievement.

15. What is Mummy’s favourite food?
A :ummm..what is your favourite food ? I think your favourite food would be ME!!!

16. What do you & Mummy do together?
A: Kiss, hug

17. How are you & Mummy the same?
A :We both like shopping sprees.

18. If your Mummy was a cartoon character who would she be?
A: She would be a MUMMY! (LOL!)

19. How are you & Mummy different?
A: I like ‘ Every witch way’ , but you don’t so much.

20. How do you know Mummy loves you?
A :because you tell me that even if you scream, you still love me! (So, she actually listens, when I talk!)

21. What does Mummy like best about Daddy?
A :That he is your husband.

22. Where is Mummy’s favourite place to go?
A: hmm Thai at PC ( a restaurant) ..Nooo. India, India India.

23. How old was Mummy when she had you?
A : 27, I think ! wait no..25..27?

This was fun..I tried to get MsAn to answer the same questions for me, but she told me very clearly..” I am not playing this game with you ” LOL! Oh well!

Happy Sunday everyone 🙂

I started doing arts and crafts with MsA from a very young age, but somehow sitting down quietly and doing some cutting pasting or art and craft with MsAn hasn’t happened. She is either too restless or I am too run down to plan anything. But, she surprised me with this a couple of weeks back. 

 
Our local shopping centre was offering an hour of childminding for an hour, so parents could go shopping and a gf and I decided to try it out. We dropped MsAn n her little friend MsM there and went window shopping.  They were there for all of 30 minutes, as MsM was upset, but MsAn handed me this cute bookmark that she made for me . ❤️

So, we came home and I pulled out the kiddie craft supplies, and we have been having a few craft sessions on our day off!  MsAn calls her day away from daycare, her day off and is super excited about spending special time with mummy on that day. 

I’ll share some pics of her artwork after our next art session.

Love,

Trish!

  

…a cup of low-cal hot chocolate with my name on it! Mmmm…love Jarrah hot chocolate!

SP conspired with a friend to order this mug for me for Mother’s Day! I Absolutely love it!!! It’s got my name on one side and an owl on the other side!!! Yes the ‘owl’ craze continues!
  
Isn’t she pretty?? 

…spotting a new shoot.

   

A friend gave me this plant, almost 4 years back. It was growing well and then suddenly it stopped growing, much to my dismay. I tried planting it and cutting offshoots to start a new one, but it just doesn’t grow. This time, again, I tried something different. I trimmed the creeper, gave the cutting to my friend, Shaz and guess what, her plant is thriving. I replanted mine in a $2 tea-pot from the Op-shop that Shaz got for me, when I was in my tea-pot obsessed phase and I waited for mine to grow crazy, too. But, it didn’t happen. On the contrary, all I had left was this one leaf and it was starting to die too. And then, I spotted this little spunk, totally made my day 🙂