Birthday season is now open

The first few November birthdays are rolling in.. let's count the number of November folks in the immediate family.

Me, my sis and my mom

San and her dad

Jr. and LO

and my parents wedding anniversary falls in the middle of this! 

We just call all over the globe or get calls from all over wishing each other.. It is a festive month.  The kids celebrated on Sunday with as large a group of friends. 

It was great to watch them be happy and in the moment. Also this year their behaviours are noticeably different and you can also see it in their friends. They are all acting more mature for their age and they are so "polite" for a change.

Last year  3/4 friends of Jr. would respond "I know" if you told them "Hi you look really pretty in that dress!". This year it is "Thank you uncle". That is a good thing! The little one's friends still have a few years to go!

Here are some shots from the birthday that will bring back memories when we look at them 10 years from now.

The lipstick was uncalled for.. but my girls would simply not listen to me..

A thoughtful Jr. gets ready to bowl her turn..

 The little one bowled like a pro given her tiny frame!

Notes to self:

1. Never pick places that have dark walls and have ceilings that suck the light out of your flash or pictures for a birthday party. While the kids have fun, the photographer in me is truly tormented. Had to use every bit of my 24 years of Photography experience to get anything out of this place. 

2. Take enough shots of my head in different angles to photoshop next years photos. The rate at which the hair is disappearing.. will need Adobe's help to fix that problem!

 

Think this semblence of a hairstyle will last me another 6 months at this rate. Should send pictures of my head from the last six months to the scientists who study carbon footprints from analyzing colors in satellite images of the earth and predict when certain forests will disappear or when certain glaciers will disappear.. they should be able to provide an accurate timescale for when my hair will disappear!

We had a blast and it was great to see the kids so happy!

In other news, this year I gifted myself a nice present (Camera related of course) to celebrate my big birthday. Made it look like it came from San through Amazon....  Husbands who are desperately trying to get approval for big ticket birthday gifts, try this method! It has better than 50/50 odds of working. She was thinking of getting mad, then she changed her mind, smiled and said "Fine! Be Happy!"

Starting to like 2012 finally.. when it is almost over!

It is time to make the most of what is left...

The Devil is in the details...

This year the kids made me proud. Told them that we were on a shoestring budget for costumes when Daddy was going through the whole "job change" phase because that was the weekend we went shopping for costumes. 

They dressed up as a cat and a devil. The devil costume will be retired this year finally as it barely fit the little one. She made the most of it in return for a promise that next year she gets a snow white costume.. a new one!

Here they are posing before stepping out!

They went trick or treating with their classmates while we (me and my parents) gave out candy to the countable kids who showed up at our door. 

Unless we get streetlights, don't think anyone is going to come to this street for candy! Well, the street itself is spooky to start with... so one would think it will make a great Halloween street.. but NO!

The candy collection is impressive and that means the adult has to control himself and stay away from the bags of candy over the next few days!

By now I am used to Halloween. It takes you a good 10 years to get used to a festival you cannot grasp!

A weekend in Pictures

This weekend saw a lot of activity in spite of me being down Friday and Saturday. 

Everything that happened in and out of the house was a cheerful experience.

We did the Varalakshmi pooja dinner Friday and the whole house was full of people, standing room only at one point. It was great to see the smiling faces in huddled conversations and the kids running around gleefully (if there is such a word).

Then we attended a surprise birthday party for my friend who turned 40. Yes, this year is "no one escapes the big Four O" year for our batch. There are only 4 guys I know from our batch who are waiting to celebrate within the next few months. The cake.. Oh What a cake! We have seen a lot of unique cakes over the years but this cake takes the cake!

Came home for some rest and took my parents to Shoreline park so they could watch the geese, pelicans, etc. and get some sun. It was good to get some fresh air and sit on a park bench and get more grounded with the thought processes. Kind of like going into your hard drive and killing all those threads that are running in the background!

After a long time we skipped Yoga entirely on the weekend. The body needed a lot more water and rebalancing before being confident that there wont be any dizziness once in the room. Sometimes, got to give a break when a break is due!

This morning we went and attended a "Kalyana Utsavam" at a friends house. It is a function where they conduct a marriage ceremony for the god and goddess just like the real wedding ceremony for the bride and groom. It is kind of like the "wedding rehearsal" that people conduct in marriages here which gives a "what to expect when your kids get married" before the actual wedding. The priest did a good job of explaining what was being done in a step by step way, something that more priests need to do to set the context for today's generation so they appreciate the reasoning behind the customs.

My parents enjoyed it thoroughly because they don't get to attend outside functions during their visit here but in India they are going to some function or other on a weekly basis. For me, it was great attending a function after a long time where I was not the one doing the prayer! Sometimes it is good to be in the audience.

Then more rest after some heavy food and off we went to get haircuts, an activity that was postponed by the parents demand that it wait till all the functions were done..

Both the kids now sport short hair. A big help once school starts in a few weeks as we will be going crazy with the post swim class hair dry routine and the early morning "combing" ritual which will take an extra 5 minutes.

Now an eventful weekend comes to a close and we begin yet another busy week for everyone in the family!

Happy Monday, here we come!