Get out the Sweater!

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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

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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.

Phot-o-Rama

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I decided to get my camera out yesterday and take some pictures of the boys- particularly Arun as I haven’t had a chance to snap any of him lately and Nishad was feeling under the weather. My camera replacement for my D80 and new lens arrived about a week ago, so it was long over do for testing! We also picked-up a desk-top for my work at home. This enables me to take my lap top on-site for jobs, if need be. It’s one fast computer! I’m adjusting to a new keyboard…always feels funky the first few weeks.

I’m happy to report that Nishad is feeling a lot better. He hasn’t had a fever today. We even went to Maple Grove where we went to Borders. I let him pick out a few books; He selected a Curious George book (which he only knows as “Bunder“) and “Fish is Fish” by Leo Lionni. I let Nishad help pick out Jenesis‘ birthday gift (for this Saturday). We went to one of my favorite stores to browse, “Good Things” and then headed to Trader Joe’s for some grocery shopping. After we picked up our Chinese take out from P.F. Chang’s via request of Nishad, and headed home. Of course, we couldn’t avoid all the suits walking around with flags on their labels and police/security escorts. We were reading in Borders, sitting on the floor, when one of them popped his head around the corner and smiled, “That sounds like a nice book!” Why they were swarming like bees in Maple Grove is beyond me. However, I thought it was funny to see a plane flying above us with a banner that read, “Ron Paul: r EVOL ution” with ‘love’ flipped backwards and in red font.

After two days of staying home, I think Nishad really misses his school. I’m sure he’ll be well enough to attend tomorrow. We weren’t about to send him until he had a day of just recovery.

Overstayed Welcome, RNC!

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I have always watched both the Democratic National Convention as well as the Republican National Convention. This year was no different. I was particularly interested being that it’s in my own back yard, so-to-say.

Regardless of who the next president or vice president is, they need to work with both sides of the isle and independents, the green party, etc. I was very put off by the mocking comments and hateful speeches that were aimed at not only at Obama and his party, but Democrats as a whole. The RNC was busy getting down and dirty, while the DNC continues to rise above.

As a democrat, I felt as though they were angry and hateful. If anything, us Dems should be angry after what the republicans have done to our country. But, we aren’t…anymore. Why? Because ‘hope’ is on the way. There is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Now, I don’t expect Obama to walk on water or perform any miracles. However, I do expect change. A change that far out weighs anything of Bush’s legacy.

I found it ironic that Gullini would mock the many ‘community organizers’ that work tirelessly in this country~ doing exactly what republicans don’t want the government to do. I also found the chanting of “Drill Baby, Now! Baby Drill, Now!” to be one step away from a gladiator appearing in a center ring, with a king poached above him ready to give the thumbs up or thumbs down signal while a hungry lion paces behind steel bars awaiting to enter the arena. Texas surely would have completed that picture with their hats if only they had a big BBQ spare rib hanging out of their mouths with a shot gun in their hand as they do a little barn-yard dance. Yee-haw! I don’t recall Michelle Obama snickering and smiling a cheap shots and jokes…ever, unlike Cindy Barbie Doll Mc Cain (Kelly coined that first!). Gullini also spoke about how no one mentioned certain words at the DNC because he thinks that they were afraid they were not politically correct and that they would offend people. Mr. Gullini, let me express to you that you offend me.

While the DNC was about unity~ across party lines, peace and respect, the RNC was about an Ax to grind. They are apparently very desperate. I couldn’t have been more disappointed. This year is the first year that I had to walk away and turn off the television. There is already enough mean people and things in the world. We don’t need more of the same old stuff.

24-Hr Rule

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At the start of Nishad’s first full week of school, he caught a bug. Ashish dropped him off at 8:15AM and by the time I went to pick him up at 11:30AM, he had a fever of 100.1 (under the arm). His teacher said that she just couldn’t understand why he wasn’t himself. He sat in her lap and that’s when she felt how warm he was. Our little trooper. I’m sure it has to do with this crazy weather we’ve been having. That and the fact that he is now exposed to a whole new community.

While Nishad was at school today, I cleaned like I was never able to before. Arun and I had some great one-on-one time. I could tell he was looking for Nishad. He would crawl into the closest, crawl into the office, the bathroom, look up the stairs…

Speaking of stairs… We were all getting ready to have breakfast, when I said, “Where is Arun?” We heard faint little giggles of our happy camper, but we didn’t see him. We’ll he decided to take it upon his own to crawl up the flight of stairs by himself! We found him at the top, crawling between bedrooms, laughing and smiling. his chest was perched out like a little bird- he was very proud to show us that Nishad is not the only big boy in the house anymore! Ah!! 🙂