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...

Pumpkinography 2012

This year took the kids to a new pumpkin patch, let the little one play for a few minutes on the "jumpy thingys" and got two pumpkins. One for Jr. to carve and one for Team "daddy and the little one" to carve. 

We did an okay job till daddy ruined the flying witch by detaching one side of the entire thing. Fortunately Balaji had enough small nails to get the witches hat and broom nailed back into the pumpkin. However, the nail head actually shows up in the photograph like bones in an x-ray! The other pumpkin came out great. Both Jr. and the little one are getting good at carving straight lines and small curves. 

We are happy with the end result though and it goes out on display outside the house tomorrow.

Here is the entire linup of pumpkins carved by all kids.

The kids have been convinced to go low budget on the costumes and the older one is going as a cat and the little one is going to be a devil again. She is proud to reuse the costume on condition that she gets to spend the money on something else at Target. Knowing she will spend money at Target anyways, it is a win win deal for daddy!

Pumpkin picking at a local patch and carving it at Balaji's has definitely become a family tradition to the point where the kids ask for it like a routine and look forward to it for a week in advance! Guess this is how family traditions start..

Portrait Festival

Yes, every year during Golu season Daddy Narayanan organizes what is called the Portrait festival where the two girls have to pose for portraits after their dress up routine.

This years Portraits below..

Next year we have to custom stitch stuff for Jr. She has outgrown readymade Paavaadai sizes as of this year!

That means yours truly is growing old and needs new camera equipment to cheer him up! Certain fokls who are traveling in India right now need to make note of above statement...