Party time, taking some things for granted

This is our fourth year at the annual IBM Christmas party for Children. Those of you who have been reading this blog long enough know that each year we put a caricature comparison of the kids done by the same Artist year after year..

This year is no exception!




Big Al actually remembered the kids this year! This year they have finally outgrown those same tee's they wore three years in a row. Both of them have mature faces now!

We also did the usual face painting, cookie decorating, getting balloons etc.




For the first time we attended the magic show and it was a ton of fun. Have never seen the kids this animated or happy in public in a long time. At Disney it was awe and wonder struck faces. Here is was pure glee!




Jr. gave me a nice pose. The little one erased part of her X-mas tree and was refusing to pose.. she is turning into a mini me. Cannot stay still in any place for more than a few seconds... she was just whizzing through the whole thing!







They do a really great job of decorating the place each year with a different type of tree (one year is green, one year is white, etc.) and the whole thing is extremely well organized!




We are all aware of the real Santa. Still the allure of sitting on Grandpa Claus and getting a picture is fun! The kids loved it.




If you do look at the youtube video link in this post, have tried to explain the issue on the video in the Youtube description. If you have any pointers towards the real problem or a fix, please let me know...

Another year has almost rolled by and is coming to a close. It has been a tough year that is coming to a close. Counting days at work, at home, over the phone with relatives..

Hope we count down the remaining days without any major issues!


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Party wear

We went to a company party. We were supposed to dress "business casual".. so while dad got the entire family all dressed up based on the "business" word, the rest of the folk at the party were focussed on the "casual"!

Dad did move a few eyes when he walked in wearing his tuxedo. It was quite a feat, trying to fit into an outfit after six years. Came home and had stomach cramps. After all, you cannot hold your tummy in pants a full two inches smaller than your current waist size, that too for two full hours. By the time we put on seat belts in the van on our way back, the pant buttons were off!

We did have a great photo shoot though!




My darlings were thrilled to dress up as usual!!

The tux episode has sparked a renewed interest to actually do some physical exercise, eat more salad and less ghee fried jeera rice, buttered up tortillas, etc. and basically fit into that tux without the extra effort by end of this year!

Hmmm... only time will tell!


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Sweet November

November is definitely a festive month in the house.




All four of us, my sister, my father in law are November borns. Add to that my parents wedding day, which happens to be today! and we are perpetually making calls wishing people back and forth between India and the US.

We had "The Amazing Magic Vijay" perform Magic in our living room for the birthday. This was the best idea that San has had for a birthday party yet! The house was saved from sugar high kids, thanks to the Magic Show. They sat in the same place for more than an hour! They even formed a straight line to collect their animal shaped ballons, a feat that topped the magic show, in my opinion.

Here is a picture of the little one, with what would be the kid's equivalent to a hangover, the next morning..




My little ones are growing up! Sigh!!

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What are you waiting for?

We are at a Halloween party. After the pumpkins are carved, the little ones have paraded, diapers changed, milk bottles finished, eyes rubbed by tiny tired little hands and ready to go out the door so we can put the kids to bed and await awakening troubles on a Monday morning, when Jr. is still waiting...

She had the look of a person who felt that the proceedings were incomplete. Granted that she had fun playing with her sister, cousins and a bunch of friends, ate good food, was a princess, etc. but there was something bothering her!

When questioned further, we realized that she was actually waiting for the ceremonial "goody bag". Well what is so ceremonial about a goody bag? I will explain!

The fact that she was innocently expecting a goody bag at a halloween party was misunderstood by the adults as a sign of weekness. But is it really?

The poor thing was admonished for wanting a goody bag at every function, when in reality we have conditioned her to associate the end of any party with the collection of afforementioned bag! "Not fair" cried Daddy!

Flashback to the early eighties.....................(yeah, lots of dots means long flashback).......

We are at a wedding which has just finished (this is day 2 of a three day south Indian wedding).

Me : Amma (mom), let's go home. At least let me go home. It is boring here
Mom: Wait, we cannot just leave yet
Me : Why? There is a cricket match going on. Srikanth will have hit a few sixers and probably gotten out by now!
Mom: We have to get the "thamboolam". xyz said she will give us one and only then we can go!
Me : (thinking) God damn "thamboola pai" with the little saathukudi(grapefruit? gooseberry?), two betel leaves and a rasiklal betel nut packet! Is it really worth waiting for!

My mom taught me that, this bag with the fruit, leaves and nuts was a token of respect from the families in the wedding to the guest. It also signified a "send off" of sorts to the guests! I do not know the religious significance of this "thamboolam" tradition..(surprisingly Wiki didn't come up with anything!).

The goody bag at parties in the US is the modern day "thamboolam" and we are just carrying on a tradition, albeit slightly differently.

The only unfortunate thing is that we did not give Jr., clear direction on what parties ended with the goody bag. In India, we get the "fruit and nut bag" for weddings, first birthday ceremonies (aayush homam's), baby showers (seemandhams), confirmations (upanayanams) etc. There is no clear pattern to this people!

I think Jr. is beyond blame here.

Finally, the goody bag for this post. Proudly presenting, this years princess and darling devil..





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Sketch book

Went to Chuck E. Cheese (also known in our house as Kaakaa Kiss by the little one) for a birthday party.

As is customary now with every CEC visit, we took a sketch portrait.

Except, this one came out good..




Thinking of changing profile photo to this one now..

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