Kev's Room

When V went out of town last November, I had a painting party and a bunch of my girlfriend's and I painted Kev's room two different shades of blue. I had big aspirations to paint a faux chair rail of circles, too, but let's get real. So, my Dad put up a lime green chair rail instead. LOVE IT! The colors are based on the monkey/surf bedding I got for him at Target and the whole room is finally almost finished. I still have to do a bit of touch-up painting here and there and decide if he's going to have a rocker in there long enough that I need to redo the cover for that chair cushion. I'm also going to move his Nemo/turtle picture from the wall it's currently on to above the closet - it's too busy where it is.

Anyway, here's his room in all its' almost-finished glory. Thanks Mom and Dad for your sewing/chair rail installing expertise and to my girlfriends for your toil!

The monkey and the bedding that inspired it all.

The wall mural that I painted for exactly $0.00! Gotta love that - I had all the paints and brushes already in our craft closet. My monkey and elephant are a little bit wonky, but those were Daddy-requested additions at the last minute!

Grandma sewed the valance, I sewed the changing pad table and both the window curtains and the changing pad curtain.

For his bed, my Dad cut the legs off of Amiya's bunk, I painted it and it became Kev's bed. We wanted to clear out Amiya's room a bit so she got a new, smaller bed and her previous bed went to a neighbor who was furnishing an apartment. This has worked out so well for Kev - he is getting used to a big boy bed without us worrying about him falling out all the time. It's adorable to see him get in and out - he face plants everytime, but giggles while doing it.

Wondering why the pictures are so high? Because if they are even inches lower, Kev stands on the rails of his bed and knocks them down. The monkey bit makes sense now, right?

Now his room is pretty open and really cool to be in. The colors are bright, but it's also sort of serene. He likes it a lot, especially now that the animals are all back up - we constantly have to point and list all the animals in the various art around the room. So cute!

Pop Goes the Birthday Bubble

And the birthday euphoria is gone.

Gone is the scent of glitter hairspray.

Gone is the aroma of chana bhatura.

Gone is the perfume of buttercream.

In their place, the pungent smell of the smear Kev left on my leg when he slid off my lap at 7:15 this morning.

Mother's Day gifts had better be a.m.a.z.i.n.g. from this kid when he grows up. He takes poop art to a whole new level.

Happy Wednesday morning to you. I hope yours is starting off less offensively than mine.

Happy Birthday Baby!

Someone turned five today.

I'm a bit teary about the whole thing. I guess parents always feel that way, but I remember all too well seeing this little girl, no bigger than a loaf of bread, 5 years ago. And now, she's almost too heavy to lift up and too smart for her own good.

So anyway, it's/it was her day today. She's asleep now, totally zonked from all the excitement.

Amiya chose to have an adventure with her friend Aubrey, instead of a party. So, we started the day with pancakes - Amiya's choice - she wanted a candle in her stack, but I said it was too early for that! Before pancakes she tackled her stack of presents:

Her favorite gift was the new series of Rainbow Fairy books from Grandma and Grandpa!

After pancakes, we headed to the Girl Salon with Aubrey. The girls got Princess hair-dos with lots of glitter!

Aubrey knew the words to all the songs! The stylists thought she was pretty cute!

Gettin' glittered! I think this might have been Amiya's favorite part - she was so excited about the glitter spray!

And the future is set - she looooooooved getting her nails done.

Aubrey didn't mind the nail part either!

Amiya said they needed to relax a bit after all the hard work: getting their nails done, hair done and concocting lip glosses and lotions. Check out Amiya's smile - that's genuine happiness there!

The girls were gettin' down on the runway in their saris. It was cute to see them on the runway because they really had no clue what it was about! Practicing their namastes at Miss Sue's when we went to pick-up Kev.
Dinner out with Gabe and Aubrey! Amiya wanted to wear her sari to an Indian restaurant on her birthday, so out we went! Amiya ate her weight in chana once again!

Triple trouble all in row! Gabe, Amiya and Aubrey

The birthday girl and her "Indian Girl" cake as she calls it. She helped me with the flowers and leaves last night and today kept telling me how much she loved it.
The cake full on - I wanted something fun and bright and very Indian. This is what this non-Indian came up with. The figure on top is of polymer clay and meant to look a bit like Amiya - although the dreads weren't quite Amiya. The sari matched what Amiya was wearing. The cookies were a bit for Amiya and a bit for Kev who was very excited to see elephants.

After dinner, tummies full, ready for bed!

A big thanks from Vinay and I to everyone who called, sent an email, sent a card or spent some time with Amiya today! She has told us both that it was a very, very special birthday - so special that instead of doing our usual 3 favorite things at bedtime, we had to do 5.

Happy Birthday Amiya!

Not my doing.

The following sequence of photographs shows you Kev's reaction to Daddy's special ice cream cone.

Allow me to set the scene. Dinner, weekday night, Gupta household. Family members around the table. Dinner was grilled meat, baked potato, vegetables and a small ice cream for dessert. For nothing on earth would Kev eat the baked potato. Nothing. Enter Daddy's special ice cream cone. Baked potato in a cake cone.

I am not responsible. Kev, when you read this one day, please know that this was all Daddy's doing.

"I won. I still got my ice cream."

"Hmm, that's an odd texture for ice cream."

"And the temperature isn't quite right..." "What in the ???"
"Oh, you didn't."
"Look! Look at this! What is this?"
"I can't do it. I just can't."
"I can't believe you Daddy. I'm so disappointed in you."

Eager Beaver

The little man loves to "cook". He stirs the same 2 cubic inches of batter for 4 seconds before losing interest, but if it involves parental-approved climbing of furniture, he's all about it. At left you can see him giving his review of the blueberry muffins we made together. "A little too much flour, Mommy and maybe just a pinch more cinnamon." I think that's what the hand gesture means at least.

If you say the words "go" and "outside" to Kev, he's ready .2 seconds later.* Today we see him ready to help get groceries. In my pink crocs. Without pants.

Sadly that's not considered all that odd in Florida.

*Unless he is involved with a book that contains a picture of an elephant. Then he will not put the book down even with promises of ice cream, chocolate, chocolate milk or the playground. Elephants trump all.

Little Miss

Here is her engineering solution to keeping a pencil next to her job chart. Oddly, it works.
And finally, here you can see her quizzing Daddy on the different types of dinosaurs.

More Spring Cookies

These are kind of difficult to see because of the lighting, but these are chocolate roll out cookies with white, dusty rose and moss green icings.

The basket cookie is the most difficult to see the details, but the basket has a weave to it like an actual basket would.

These are all for the class I'm teaching next week - one more set to design and then I will return the blog to its' normal focus - the wee ones!

Spring Cookies

So, Kev spent the morning at a friend's house while Mommy had almost 3 full hours to herself. I cleaned the kitchen (well), did some laundry, and got stuff set to make those spring cookies that have been on my list for 1.25 months now!

Here's how some of them turned out:

I would have a fantastic square cookie to show you, except while I was getting Amiya from the front door after school, Kev managed to pilfer it. He was strapped into his high chair and the cookies were a good three feet away from him, but when I came back, this is what I found:


He doesn't look like he feels a whole lotta remorse, does he? Instead he looks a little annoyed that I'm up in his cookie business.

Mini Denise Austin

So, it's in the 80s today and Amiya is home from school wanting to go outside and play. No problem as long as she stays within our backyard and I am working in the kitchen/living room to keep one eye on her all the time. I can't be in the kitchen right now as there is laundry to fold (in the bedroom) and some computer stuff to take care of (in the den), so she is stuck indoors.

We compromised with this:

It's a kids' workout video that we found at the library last week. She was into it for about 10 minutes and then over it. (Isn't that the case with all workout videos?) But she's excited to do it again tomorrow when Mommy promised to do it with her.

To Do Ta Da!

You may recall my saying how I was inspired by a fellow blogger's list of projects to complete and so I made my own for February. February was a very, very busy month and it could have been a complete minefield of stress, but I think this list notion is really very good. I got a lot done and I was kept focused because I stared at this pretty little list every.single.time I went to the kitchen for water, grapes, graham crackers, cereal, quesadillas, mac 'n cheese, blueberries, grapes, peanuts, etc. Basically all day long as the wee ones have turned into eating machines.

Here's the updated version:

That's right - I got everything but three things done! Whoohoo! Say it with me! Whoohoo! It was very nice (cathartic might be a bit too much, but you see where I'm going) to draw a vine and some leaves and be done with another thing on the list!

I did not sew two dresses for Amiya (low on the priority list - the girl has a lot of clothes already and honestly, my sewing/time/dollar can't compete with the dresses I can grab at Target for $9), I did not make spring cookies (on the list for March!) and I did not host a Pink & Brown Card Party (postponed until March due to a head cold). I did however host a fab birthday party for Kev, read both The Memory Keeper's Daughter and Water for Elephants as well as participate in a book discussion for each. I gave out (late) cookie notes (aka Valentine's) to my Mommy friends in Tampa to say how much I appreciate them, I sewed an apron, taught a cooking class on Thai food, planted flowers in the front yard, made three big 'ol cakes and more cupcakes than I care to admit, hosted a Valentine's party here for the wee ones and made shortcakes with Amiya's class at school on V-Day. And finally, I sewed an apron for myself and I spent a very enjoyable day at Dinosaur World with Amiya.

That's a bit in a short month and it feels good to have done it all! So thanks, Karen, for your project list idea - it is wonderful and worthwhile!

Here's March:

Less items on the list but a couple are doozies!

• Amiya's birthday. Simple this year!
• Drop In & Decorate. My first (and only) fundraiser for The 3 Day this year.
• Pink & Brown Card Party.
• Minnie Mouse Cake. For a friend.
• Tot Swap. Every week Kev participates in a little swap amongst three families. I host once in March.
• Spring Cookies. Must be done before Drop In & Decorate.
• 3 Aprons. I'm a bit in love with aprons lately. Can you tell?
• USF Book Club. We're reading A Long Way Gone. Horrific, but compelling.
• The Panhandle! A weekend with the Bumpas in the Florida Panhandle.
• Moms Book Club. We're reading The Dive From Clausen's Pier. I read this several years ago and loved it. We'll see if I still feel the same.
• Playgroup 2/26. We're hosting!
• Finish Kev's Room. I'm painting a mural. Just who do I think I am?
• Stroller Bag. I've had it cut out since he was 3 months old. Pathetic, eh?
• Lunper. It's a St. Patty's Day lunch/supper combo for the wee ones!

We'll see how I do! Decoration ideas for this month's list courtesy of Amiya who tells me March is all about St. Patty's Day and rainbows! "And why not?" I say!

Big Girl

Who told Amiya that it's ok to lose a tooth?

Here's her last official photograph with her full set of baby teeth:

It's a little bit mug-shotish, but she was really unhappy with the tooth just hanging in there and wanted me to pull it out. In a surprising moment of Mommy clarity, I had the good sense (and the charged batteries) to take a picture.

I've blown up her smile from the above mug-shot so you can see which tooth it is (indicated by lower black arrow). And since I was in photoshop and painting arrows anyway, I thought I'd point out the spot of spaghetti sauce that the child did not wash off her nose despite three trips to the bathroom to do just that. I digress.

She's been having this wobbly tooth for about two weeks now, but it got to be very annoying on Tuesday, so I took yet another peek at it and determined that with a kleenex cover and one swift twist out it would come. She handled the entire process remarkably well except for the after blood - however one red lifesaver and she claims the blood taste "just disappeared!"

Said tooth went under her pillow that night in a very unceremonious ziploc bag. (Grandma has made this child 1,847,562 pillows and not one has a pocket for teeth. Grandma could you work on this?!?! Please?!?!) The Tooth Fairy forgot was detained by fierce lightning and tornadoes in Florida Tuesday night, so back it went on Wednesday night. Four quarters was the bounty and Amiya could not be happier.

I will add a picture of her new smile when it becomes available (they are in short supply this weekend, it seems to be a hormonal swing for our girl!), but it's honestly not much different as her grown up tooth is almost 75% in already.

And as a further complication to this whole losing teeth thing, Amiya has decided she wants to be a vegetarian. It would seem that eating meat is very hazardous to loose teeth, so she ixnayed all meat while still with the wobbly one. Now that it's out, it's all about not eating endangered species. We are trying to explain to her that chicken is hardly endangered, but you know our girl. So, we're letting her be a vegetarian, but putting down some guidelines about snacks (gotta' be nuts or fruit) and that she can't be a selective vegetarian. When this whole thing started she was going to be a vegetarian except for chicken nuggets and hot dogs. Guess how long that lasted?

High Chair Musical

You may know that Amiya is, like many wee ones her age, 99% obsessed with the movie "High School Musical." Kev presents the adapted version "High Chair Musical" for the toddler crowd. All theatrics performed by Kev himself.

*Please note that the stills are in the order that they are actually occur in during the production.

I want that. I need that. Tears. Tears work a lot.

A bit stunned. That didn't work. Quick. Need new plan.

That's right. Kickin' it up a notch.
Bring it down a bit, maybe I overplayed that last one.
Nope, back up to full force.

Shit. She's not even paying attention.

I'm outta tears. Let me see if I can squeeze one out.

I give up. I've met my match.