Picnic

Today Arun and I had some company for a morning walk; our friend and neighbor Krista and Lucas came with us! We walked down to see the cows at the dairy farm that is only two blocks away- then we roamed the streets, avoiding people that pay no attention to the posted speed limit. After we headed over to the park, where we planned on meeting Laurie with Sean and Baby Sage. Sean was in his glory climbing all over everything while Lucas chased him everywhere. Arun was happy exploring wood chips and Baby Sage was enjoying her nap. Lucas was ready to nap, so we said bye-bye to them and hung out a bit more before it was time to leave to go pick-up Nishad from school. It was so nice to see Krista, Lucas, Laurie, Sean and Baby Sage. I’m looking forward to seeing them again soon!

Nishad had a great day at school! Brenda told me that he went poop, too. Woo-hoo! I think he digs their potty. Nishad was excited telling me that he was working on the pink tower. I said, “Wow. What did your teacher say?” He replied, “Brenda told me good job!”

On the way to pick him up, Arun and I stopped at Pancho’s and picked up some Mexican food for lunch. It was way to beautiful to be inside today! I surprised Nishad by telling him we were going to have a picnic! He was very excited and even suggesting having one on the lawn of the school. In a hop, skip and a jump, we were at Mission Hills Park. We enjoyed our Mexican food and then played at the park. Plymouth has one of the best park systems. I especially love that all of their parks are tobacco free zones. No nasty cigarettes around on the ground, or icky smell and second hand smoke.

Off to School; Coffee Please

What a beautiful Monday! The boys and I woke up at 6:30AM, had breakfast and Ashish and Nishad prepared to go to “work.” Ashish called me after he dropped him off at his classroom- a few tears today. Arun and I had some one on one time and then he took his morning nap. I sat down with a cup of coffee and just relaxed. I feel like my work has paid off. Nishad is in an excellent pre-school and he is as prepared as can be. Now I can focus more on Arun so that he can be as prepared as Nishad.

When I went to pick Nishad up today, his teacher said that he was fine. I said, “Say goodbye to Brenda.” He turned and blew her a kiss! She said, “I caught that one!” Cute. The two of them seem to already have such a nice repore.

On the way home, he went on and on about how they had fresh pizza for snack today. He said that he ate with another lurka (boy in Hindi) at the snack table and they talked about dump trucks together. We often are often silly with Nishad and give him “puppy licks” all over his face. Today, while I was unbuckling him from his car seat, I said, “Oh, I love you so much I’m going to give you puppy licks!” He stopped me dead in my tracks with his reply of, “Lips are not for puppy licks, Mamma.” Oh, I was so taken aback! …haha I said, “You’re right.”

While eating lunch together, he said, “So, tell me about your day? Are you having a good day?” There was a fly in the house, which I told Nishad we would tackle after we ate. The fly landed on the table and he dropped his head down as if to speak to it eye-to-eye, “Fly! This is NOT your environment. This is our home. You belong outside.” Amen to that! 🙂

After lunch the boys had nap. I was able to stretch and do a very light workout, which I haven’t been able to do in months. You have to start somewhere!

For dinner we had Mexican pot-pies with fresh cut veggies. Nishad *loves* broccoli, cucumbers and tomatoes from our garden. He eats them right off the stem! I love that!

Arun enjoyed working on the art-card alphabet today with me. More than the pictures, colors and sounds, I think he enjoyed taking the cards out of the box and putting them back in. Yesterday I asked him, “Are you making a mess?” (Trying to keep in mind that what is a mess for me, is learning for him…) He looked at me and shrugged his shoulders and babbled a sound that sounded like, “What mess?” Ashish and I were chuckling about that.

Baked Goods



Last weekend Nishad, Ashish and I made a blackberry swirl pie, complete with homemade crust. Nishad picked out the recipe right from the pages of Better Homes and Garden Magazine. My Aunt Beverly gave me a subscription to the magazine as she knows how I enjoy gardening, decorating and baking! …Thanks, Aunt Beverly! As you can see, I’m enjoying the magazine.
I personally would have liked to attempt the buttermilk pie recipe. The crust was a simple and easy recipe to follow in which produced great results. I especially am found of the crust recipe as it doesn’t have any lard in it (yes, people still do use lard in their pie crust). The pie itself was a bit too sweet for my liking. Also, I think I would have preferred the recipe to us blueberries instead of blackberries. Honestly, the texture was a bit off and it felt odd to sink my teeth into blackberry seeds.
I also ‘invented’ a new recipe of my own last weekend; Stuffed Enchiladas Kumar-Style! They were divine. In fact, they were so good we made them again and doubled the recipe. We froze a separate portion for a quick weeknight meal.
Kumar Enchiladas
1 can black beans
1 sm. can of corn or 3 fresh corn cob kernels
1 med. red onion diced
1/2 can diced tomatoes or 1 fresh tomato diced
1/3 c. fresh chopped cilantro
1/2 teaspoon Mexican oregano
1 small lime- cut in half, use half to squeeze juice from for mixture and the other half for garnish
salt & peeper to taste
*optional, jalapeno pepper or chillies to taste, diced
1 package flour tortillas
sour cream to top off with
Toss everything together in one bowl- mix!
Warm up tortillas
Coat the bottom of a baking pan (again, your choice) with a thin layer of sauce.
Dip the tortillas in the sauce and ‘stuff’ & roll them up, tucking the ends inside
Pour reaming sauce over stuffed enchiladas
Left over mixture can be used on top of enchiladas
Bake at 400 degrees for 40-45 minutes
Top with sour cream
Garnish with a slice of lime
YUM!

Get out the Sweater!

Arun with the birthday girl…

As the temperatures begin to dip and I feel a bit of Autumn in my bones, I can only think of one thing- In less than two months we’ll be in Florida! I actually received an e-mail from “Disney” that reads, “In less than two months, POOF, you’ll magically be here!” Well, I don’t know about magically…but yes, we will be there with bells on. So, why am I talking about Florida now? Well, I have to remind myself that no matter how chilly it gets, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. The ‘warm’ season in Minnesota seems to be getting shorter and shorter. Don’t get me wrong, I love Autumn. However, I’m not ready for Autumn weather. I feel cheated as it is this year…

Me and my projects! Yesterday I started pulling up sod in the front to work on another garden design. I’m pretty sore and sure I don’t have to work out for at least a week! haha. Last night I went to Lowe’s and played around with different ideas, but left empty handed. Today I went to Home Depot, purchased stuff and then had Ashish return it for me. I think I’m just going to tackle this project in phases, like our backyard. I have an overall plan, but it’s going to take me some time to get things to that point. Patience. Gardening is good at teaching one about that. 🙂

Time to switch gears- cake, balloons and a little pink are needed! We went to Otsego County Park and celebrated Jenesis‘ 1st Birthday! Jenesis was dressed to the nines, in an adorable sunflower outfit. Nishad had fun with his friends at the park. Arun every so often stood up and walked…Hey, gotta impress the girls- Jenesis and Vada. We’re glad that the Kodl’s invited us on this special day. It’s so much fun seeing the kiddies grow together! Vada will be the next one in line to turn 1 years old! Oh, how I recall us three Mommies being pregnant last summer!

We came home to find the contractor working away at our new screen door. Ashish and I decided to upgrade the door from our existing one. I’m glad we did. It looks good and adds a touch of elegance to entry. I picked out an etched glass to compliment the other windows in our house. Though it took two weeks because it was a special order, it was worth the wait!

Top 50 Children Books




Today, documenting a bit more of our sweet baby, My Baby Love… I think Baloo (Bear in Hindi) is sharing a secret with him.

Though I think reading any book to your child is better than not reading any, I pride myself in reading books of excellence to our children. Though you will be familiar with some, others may not strike you as familiar. I enjoy seeking out a great book for our children and giving it a new home on our shelf.
Books That Every Parent Should Have In Their Child’s Personal Library Collection:

1. The Tinest Acorn by Marsha T. Danzig
2. The Tale of Three Trees by Angela Elwell Hunt
3. Hurbert (The Caterpillar Who Thought He Was a Mustache) by Wendy Stang and Susan Richards
4. It Looked Like Spilt Milk by Charles G. Shaw
5. The Enchanted Tree by Flavia and Lisa Weedn
6. Belinda the Ballerina by Amy Young
7. Everyone Poops by Taro Gomi
8. The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka
9. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin
10. People by Peter Spier
11. Whoever You Are by Mem Fox
12. One Grain of Rice by Demi
13. You Are Special by Max Lucado
14. Zen Shorts by John J Muth
15. The Spider and The Fly by Tony DiTerlizzi
16. The Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupery
17. The crayon Box that Talked by Shane DeRolf
18. Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge by Mem Fox
19. The Very Quiet Cricket by Eric Carle
20. Papa, Please Get Me the Moon by Eric Carle
21. Goodnight Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann
22. Wacky Wednesday by Dr. Suess
23. Hands Are Not For Hitting by Martine Agassi
24. I Kissed the Baby by Mary Murphy
25. Fish is Fish by Leo Lionni
26. The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstien
30. If You Give a Mouse a Cookie (& other complete works) by Laura Joffe Numeroff
31. A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
32. Narnia by C. S. Lewis
33. Little Cloud by Eric Carle
34. Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
35. Skippyjon Jones by Judy Schachner
36. I Love You Forever by Robert N. Munsch
37. Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willlems
38. The Cat In The Hat by Dr. Seuss
39. Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman
40. One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss
41. Hug by Jez Alborough
42. Hello, Red Fox by Eric Carle
43. Moo, Baa, La La La by Sandra Boynton
44. Guess How Much I Love You? by Sam McBratney
45. Once a Mouse by Marcia Brown
46. I Love You Like Crazy Cakes by Rose Lewis
47. 10 Little Rubber Ducks by Eric Carle
48. God Gave You Us by Lisa Tawn Bergren
49. My Father’s Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett
50. I Ain’t Gonna Pain No More by Karen Beaumont

The above listed books are highly recommended. Not only were a lot of them tested out in the classroom, but more importantly- by Nishad and Arun.