Word Wall

Please read this as if you were Japanese and upside down. (Thus from the bottom right to the top left.) If that's too tricky, just trust Kev when he tells us that this says, "I love Princess Jasmine, Didi, Buzz Lightyear and Mommy and Daddy." That's right, he's making words. Nonsense words, but who cares!?!?

As an aside, please note how sparkly clean my tile looks. That's a first.

Cherub Cheek

Really, there are no words for the sweetness that is Kev.

When he grows up...

...he tells us he is going to be a zookeeper so he can feed the elephants. I'm not sure if he knows that the zookeepers also have to deal with what comes out the other end, but we can save that for a bit older.

Anyway, here's our little zookeeper practicing his zookeeping skills. From front to back, the big cat exhibit, the hippo exhibit, the Buzz Lightyear exhibit and the cast of the movie Aladdin exhibit. It would seem he's hoping to work for Disney, no?

Our Very Own Olympian - For Real This Time!

While the world was watching Whistler (<- mad alliteration skillz there, Amiya would be proud!), Amiya was reading her little heart out. The second grade ather school had a contest to encourage the kids to read. Simple enough - for every 15 books you read, you advance a medal level. 15 for bronze, 30 for silver, 45 for gold. After 45, no more medals (except if you are a Russian prima donna, then you are allowed to award yourself platinum), but you then are competing against your classmates for most books read.

In the period of 12 days of the competition, Amiya read 72 books. Some were chapter books and 5 chapters equalled one book, some were picture books. But all the chicky did was read. And read. And read some more. So much so that her blog about reading is on hiatus - no time to write, only time to read!

Because we are going to be out of town on the day of the awards ceremony, her teacher had her come up to class at the end of the day and announced in front of her entire class that Amiya read the most books and got a special award.

Amiya was very excited - she didn't think she had won.

Can you see the surprise on her face here? That's because not only did she get a certificate, but she also got a homework pass for one free assignment. That's right. One free assignment. That about made Amiya's day. Anything to get out of homework!

And finally, with her certificate by the classroom's Olympic poster. The medals aren't in yet, so she'll get hers when she's back, but really, that's just gravy when a homework coupon is in the equation, right?

Citizen of the Month

These pics are just eye candy for a proud Mommy.

Amiya was Citizen of the Month this month for her class. We're proud of her, but we'd be proud of her anyway. She's a good little kid.

Listening to the opening remarks and very happy to be there.
Getting her ribbon pinned on by the Principal.

Birthday, Part II: Princess Jasmine Proves Dream Do Come True

The day after Kev's party, we headed over to Disney. Because we were redeeming our Give a Day, Get a Day vouchers, we all got buttons to wear to make it known that we were volunteers. In addition, Kev got a birthday button - imagine the delight!

Our first stop, The Magic Carpet ride, of course!

After that, a short wait in line to see Princess Jasmine. Kev was beside himself in anticipation. But when the time came to go see PJ herself, overwhelmed with elation, Kev was unable to make eye contact or even muster the courage to walk forward. We helped, of course, while every grown-up around smiled at his antics.

Aladdin was a bit taken aback that Kev wasn't there for him - it would seem boys gravitate towards him, girls towards Jasmine. Anyway, once it all got sorted that Kev was there for Jasmine and Aladdin was just gravy, it was all good.

The standard pose.

Then, the surprise:

Oh.

Words cannot express.

But lipstick can!!!

We were not able to wash his face until several days later.

After being smooched by PJ, we ambled over to a store selling trinkets and dolls with PJ emblazoned upon them. Kev bought himself a PJ doll with a gift card a friend had given him for his birthday.

Since this day, PJ has rarely left his side.

An analogy to illustrate how strong the love is:

PJ:Kevalin :: Lamb:Mary

We've even been awoken in the middle of the night because PJ has escaped Kev's loving grasp.

We also got to see Woody and Jessie. Kev, hand on heart, is pining for his PJ, not taking an oath.

At the end of the day, two exhausted kiddos. We'd walked a lot, rode a lot, held hands a lot and laughed a lot. The walk to the car was excruciating for Kev and he fell asleep within two seconds of being on the road.

A great birthday for our little man! (And a great birthday for the rest of us, too!)

Birthday Part I

Somebody just turned 4. Can't even believe it. Weren't we just here?

Anyway, it was a Buzz Lightyear theme - although I have been informed that if he could have changed it, Princess Jasmine would beat out Buzz.

We had a very sweet party for Kev - a bounce house (his one request), a rocket craft, a Mr. Potato Head table and some army guys in a sand box. Very preschoolish and (with the exception of the bounce house) very inexpensive. The kids bounced, had lunch and bounced some more.

We have no more than 3 pictures of the party - that's the only thing that didn't turn out like I wanted - I forgot to take pictures!

So, here's the two that are worth sharing:

Our two little Space Rangers. Both in Toy Story attire - before the party, pre-bouncing.

Kev, with his cake. Again, pre-bouncing.

Here's what Kev's cake looked like up close and personal. Please don't mind the wonky fondant work on the left or the sloping cake. The moon's lack of gravity really messed with my perfect work. And that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

The cake was made to be like a samoa Girl Scout cookie - and it tasted just like it. The grown-ups had this cake. Leftovers were sent packing - no need for those in our house!




These were the cupcakes for the kids. They were vanilla (from a box) with vanilla frosting (from a tub). That's what the kids like, so why stress over homemade? Plus cupcakes make easy work of feeding a million Space Rangers quickly.
These were the cookies in the goody bags. I have recently discovered flickr groups of cookie decorators - so the ideas are fresh and fabulous - these are based off of CeRae's design.

This is post-party. Things always get a little dicey post party, don't they?

The day of his actual birthday, Kev decorated his own little teeny-tiny cake so we could sing after dinner.


Opening his present from us - a Zambi elephant. Love at first sight!

Tomorrow: Birthday, Part II: Princess Jasmine proves Dreams Do Come True

Unofficial Science Fair

So, yesterday I told you how the science fair bug has bitten my little chicky and my rooster, too. So much so, in fact, that this past weekend they played science fair the entire day on Saturday. We were issued tickets (hair rubber bands) and could not attend if we misplaced them. We were given stern warnings about being on time - science waits for no parent. This was serious business.

Vinay and I arrived at the ticketing window with hair rubber bands in place. We were granted admission to the fair.

There was just one exhibit: a towering marble run. The hypothesis was unclear and the experimental methods murky. Thankfully no human or animal subjects were harmed in the conducting of said experiment.

Once the marble run was complete, it became clear that what was disguised as science, was truly just a desperate attempt to get us to attend yet another dance performance.
Here, Kev dancing in his usual 'walk-very-quickly' way. The music: Frosty the Snowman.

And then Primary Investigator Amiya, dancing around the marble run totem. Musical selection: Frosty the Snowman.

Somehow, I don't think this experiment is going to garner her a ribbon.

Official Science Fair

Amiya's teacher this year has been very strong in science - something that Vinay appreciates. The concepts that are being taught are not always concrete, but the students seem to have a good grasp of the abstract - not always easy with mixed ability levels, elementary school science supplies and an educational climate that focuses on testing the Rs instead of a broad-scope curriculum. So, in a nutshell, yeah for science and yeah for Amiya's teacher this year.

Amiya's class and her neighboring class conducted an experiment this year to determine which shape aluminum foil boat would hold the most weights - diamond, rectangle or triangle. The students went through the scientific method and then presented their results with text, graphs and graphics.

The work was strong enough to earn a spot in the regional science fair. So, off the Guptas went one Thursday evening to the Sun Dome at USF to check it out.

Here, our budding scientist in front of the class' display:


We had many conversations as we were walking around - Vinay's conversations with Amiya focused on the science used, the questions posed, the ideas probed. My conversations with Amiya focused on the presentations - this one has too many colors, this one is messy, this one is lined up nicely, this one is typed. Of the two topics, Amiya will struggle far more with presentation than she will with science. And since doing well at this event seems to mean a lot to Amiya, she's going to have to think about that.

Because her class did well enough to make it to regionals, they were all invited to the awards ceremony that evening. As a group, they went up on stage to get their class ribbon.

Somehow, Amiya led the charge and got to hold the ribbon while walking across the stage. I hop she didn't elbow her way in there - it's awfully hard to curb your enthusiasm when getting a big fancy ribbon.

So the science bug has bitten my chicky. And my little rooster, too. More on that tomorrow.

In the Spirit of the Olympic Games

I present to you, seven future Olympians.

These are the kids who came to our house for an Opening Ceremony party - we played Olympic bingo, colored shirts with the mascots, had an Olympics inspired meal and watched 14% of the Opening Ceremony. It'd be great if the cermony would start at the time NBC advertised it to start. However, as there was plenty of popcorn in the house, the kids weathered the delay nicely.

Please be prepared for the Olympics in 2022. You are seeing future medalists - there will surely be gold medals in giggling, laughing, running, creating havoc and inducing chaos.

Disney or Bust

I never really knew what that saying meant - probably still don't. But, it seems appropriate after our day yesterday.

Rewind to Friday. Amiya had a pajama party for the Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony. It was a lot of fun and a lot of chaos. I may post some pictures so you can share in the merriment, but first I've got to see if the other parents are ok with their kids being chez cyber Gupta. Regardless, Amiya conned me into staying up to watch ALL of the ceremony on Friday night. Such a mistake on my part - we were up until midnight and it was, sadly, very anti-climactic. Don't get me wrong - I thought the opening ceremony itself was very, very nice. None of the grandeur of Beijing's - and it was perfectly Canadian. But I sort of felt like for it to match Amiya's level of excitement, the cauldron would have had to be in our living room with Wayne Gretzky standing on our rug. I digress. Suffice it to say, it was a very, very late night and a very, very short sleep.




Mere hours after falling asleep after the torch on Friday night, Vinay suggested in front of the kids that we go to Disney. Right then. At that very moment. Did I already say it was in front of the kids??? Guess who skipped right on by that section in parenting 101?



So, with an hour's notice, off we went to DisneyWorld.



I should give some back story, in an effort to be fair to Vinay:



1. He is brilliant and very crowd-savvy. He reasoned (probably correctly) that a great number of tourists from the Midwest and the East Coast would be snowed in, so numbers would be down. He also thought that since it is flippin' freezin' in Florida, a lot of the Florida residents wouldn't go, too. So, less people at Disney means a better day at Disney.



2. Three of the four Guptas have participated in the Give a Day, Get a Day program. Vinay read to kids at the Boys and Girls Club, Amiya and I made blankets for earthquake survivors in Haiti.

Therefore, 3 of 4 Guptas have a free ticket to a day at a Disney park. Being Florida residents, means we can upgrade that ticket to a 4 day pass for a very, very small amount. So, we were planning on buying a 4 day ticket for Kev, upping our to 4 day passes and spending 4 random days at Disney for a very, very, very small amount. The only catch is that the tickets have to be used by May. So, Vinay wasn't crazy to think we should go while the going is good.

Except that he was crazy because A. he asked in front of the kids and B. it is cold out. No kidding all the Florida residents stayed home. It is cold out. Lemme say it again. It is cold out.

On our way to Orlando, it became abundantly clear that Amiya's very, very late bedtime + incurable nasal congestion were going to make for a very sick chick if she spent the day out of doors. So, Mommy played the role of bad cop and said, "Ixnay on the isneyDay." Much unhappiness ensued, especially from Kev who repeated about 4 million times his desire to go ride on the tea cups.

So. Disney or bust?

Bust.

But we did hang out in Orlando for the afternoon - we had lunch at IHOP. Maybe the stickiest IHOP ever, but ah, do the kids love it. What's not to love about 4 flavors of pancake syrup, right?

And then we headed over to Downtown Disney which is nothing more than a lot of toys in various stores, coupled with statues of random Disney characters and a heavenly-smelling Ghirardelli shop. We walked around for a bit, ducking into stores when it was too cold or too windy. Window-shopping and explaining to Amiya (several times) that although the LEGO Taj Mahal kit is exciting and looks really cool and "yes, you're right, it would be appropriate since you're half-Indian," it's $379.00 price tag is a little more than we were going to spend. After much sulking, a ride on the merry-go-round seemed to buoy her spirits:

Kev was in heaven. Many times.

There was Buzz:

And an elephant:


And Mr. Potato Head:

The cool thing about one of the stores is that if you wander inside, there is a table full of Mr. Potato Head parts. The kids loved playing with it and now Mr. Potato Head at our house is enjoying a resurgence of popularity. It's quite a Valentine's gift to see your three year old bring the spud over with a wonky face and proclaim "It's YOU Mommy!" Gee, thanks Buddy.

Anyway, despite not making it to the park itself, we still had fun. So our bust wasn't all bust, I guess?

Home Makeover Gupta Edition

Since my loving husband had a brief trip out of town and I always tackle a redecorating project while he's out of town, I got out the paint and forced my parents to work. Poor parents. They just got done with a long two week stint with Habitat for Humanity and I make them put their work clothes on once again.


We painted a part of our master bath, redid the entire playroom and made it into more of a den (yeah for grown-up spaces) and my Mom revamped my kitchen cabinets - all was much needed and now that it's done, much appreciated! I'm lucky to have great parents. I am also aware that is not coincidental that they hit the road before I could line up more jobs.


This painting has been with Vinay and I for years - even longer - it has been with my guy longer than I have. And that's obvious because reds, oranges, yellow and tan have never been my preferred color palate. But, since it was something that he picked out all by himself, I felt it deserved to always be on display wherever we lived. So much of what we have is my choice - this has to stay. Before Home Makeover week at our house, it was a simple painting in a wood natural wood frame on a white wall. The colors I chose for the room come from this painting.

See, Vinay? See??? I let you have some input around here!

Anyway, two and a half walls were painted the color you see surrounding the monkey god above (he really is a god in India, don't think I'm being blasphemous. I save that for non-printed discourse.) and the remaining 1.5 walls were painted a barely there beige that I happen to love and that is not objectionable to my white-wall-lovin' husband. You can see the difference in the wall colors above, as well as the monkey god in his place above the door and the monkey son hamming it up.
I like to refer to this area as the kid area - blocks, animals, more blocks, toys (on shelves - Mommy can control the mayhem!), books, table, and the sit & spin. These walls were white, marked up and generally just a little too scruffy. So, painted they were and now they pop with the white trim. The shelves and brackets were white, too. My plan was to leave them that way, but my Mom was insistent that they should be painted. As always, Mother knows best. They look fantastic this way - and even though they are still filled with all sorts of odds and ends, they go with the room. Love it! And of course, Amiya's family portrait remains. It has to. No. matter. what.
Here's the "grown-up" corner of the room - even though it's being inhabited by two rugrats. The cabinet and table (with tulips on it) were formerly natural wood. We painted and painted and painted some more to make them go with the space. They look so much better being black and again, really tie the room together. They hide our (always messy) computer work space and provide a table top for writing needs. Somehow Vinay has already stored something underneath the desk (not the garbage can, but on the other side of the chair) - but it won't be there long. A great purge is about to begin. (But that's for another post.) The red storage baskets above the computer have been with us for years and hold collections of K'Nex, play food stuff and random toys. The window valance is also older than old - notice that the colors tie in with the monkey god? That's right. I've had a plan for a loooooooong time. But my favorite part of this corner is the artwork on the walls. The red paintings on top are from early 2006 - Amiya painted them when she was 3. The one on the left is called 'Kevalin' and the one on the right 'Places.' She has always been very abstract. (I'm being completely facetious there.) Kev just painted the lower paintings - the one on the left is 'Elephant' and the right is 'Pear, Banana, Orange and Cheetoh.'

We got a new couch - not to worry about the state of our marriage Vinay did know about the couch ahead of time. We have company coming in a a few months and need a place to sleep, so we had this ordered prior to embarking on this entire project. It's a good couch - it's quite firm, which should make for interesting sleeping, but hopefully it also means it will hold up well to children.

In the above picture, you can see my favorite part of the whole room. Five simple pictures, printed in sepia, matted with red to pick up the colors in the room. Two pictures of the kids together, one each of them individually and Vinay and I right in the middle. It's perhaps a bit egocentric of me to put only our immediate family up there - I plan to rectify that in the coming months. Maybe. I love the simple way they all line up and I love each of the pictures individually for what they show and the moment they were taken.

Because the couch is right at the window, the sun hits the couch during the day. Amiya spent most of Wednesday afternoon on the couch like a cat taking a nap. And, full disclosure, I spent most of this afternoon in that very same spot. 's nice.

Oh yeah, and I love the little ones who are on the couch. Even if they crash the color scheme by dragging that lime green blanket into the room. I can look past that heinous offense, it's the kind of Mom I am.

And maybe the best part of all is that I didn't spend more than 100 smackaroos on the whole thing (not including the couch, obviously). A whole new room, looking much more tied together than the mishmash it used to be. Vinay has been chillin' with a movie tonight and the kids and I have been in here all night reading and playing. Perfect for a rainy night and the end of a very, very busy week. It's great to have a room where we can be together without the TV involved - a little bit grown-up, a little bit kid. Perfect.

Oh yeah, and we also did one other project. It's a game to see how long it takes Vinay to notice it. So far he's been home for 72+ hours. How long do you think it will take?

On Raising A Boy

Today, Kev was using the bathroom and whilst in the middle of emptying his thimble sized bladder, the bathroom door started to close.


Oh!


Hark!


Alas!


Let us begin again.

Today, Kev was using the bathroom and whilst in the middle of emptying his thimble sized bladder, the bathroom door started to close.

Therefore, I will be washing the bathroom rug (again) and mopping the bathroom floor (again, done once already, needs another pass) because it was more important to stop the door from closing mid-stream than it was to finish his business and then reopen the door.

I will spare you the pictures. You're welcome.

Simple Needs

Do words even matter when there's photographic evidence of his joy? All he needed this particular night was footie pajamas with elephants on them and a mop cloth for his head. All was right with the world, all was good for Kev.

Courage

Dear Amiya,

You had a very hard day at school on Monday. Your teacher was frustrated with you because you were disorganized. And you were, in fact, disorganized. This is a problem for you and something you need to work harder to fix.

In her frustration, your teacher said something to you that was unkind and hurtful - moreso in tone than in words. You didn't make it from the classroom to the car without crying. You were very upset. You kept saying how you had never gotten in trouble, how you have never caused problems and you couldn't understand why she yelled at you.

You came home, dried up and told me what happened. The details won't be important by the time you read this. You were disorganized, your teacher unthoughtful. The responsibility lies with both of you.

You wanted me to write a note to the teacher and say the consequence was unfair. I wouldn't. I agree that there should be a consequence for perpetual disorganization. The consequence stands.

You wanted me to write a note and tell the teacher that your feelings were hurt. I told you that I wouldn't. That sometimes feelings can get even more hurt when we write important things down, instead of talking about them face to face.

You wanted me to tell your teacher how she had hurt your feelings. I wouldn't do that either. But I told you I would practice with you so that you would feel confident enough to stand up for yourself.

And so we did. We practiced a lot. We took out all the extra details. We boiled it down to, "Mrs. Xxxxx, when you yelled, "Completely and honestly, I just don't care" at me yesterday, my feelings were very hurt."

When you woke up the next morning, I was sure you were going to say we should drop the whole thing. I thought you would be nervous or scared, but you weren't. And that's when I knew how important this was for you.

So we went in and we waited. And we waited and waited. She was late. But when she finally made it in, we stood with her in a corner. She looked at me, expecting me to talk. I looked at you to make it clear that you were the important person in the conversation at that moment.

You looked your teacher in the eye, way up where she was because she wouldn't bend down to talk on your level. And you said what you felt and you stood your ground in a respectful and appropriate manner. We talked about how all the grown-ups understand the organization issue and that we thought the consequence was appropriate. We also talked about how quickly words and tone can hurt someone and how we have to use them carefully.

You won't read this for many, many years. But someday you will. I want you to know two things:

1. We would have talked to the teacher for you had you not had the courage. Daddy and I want you to stand up for yourself, but we will always, always have your back if you can't.

2. You are strong. It isn't easy to tell someone when they've hurt your feelings or to stand up to someone in a position of power. Lots of grown-ups have trouble doing this and you're learning how to do this while so young. We hope you always have the confidence to stand up for yourself or another, in a respectful way. More of us should have that same skill.

You learned a lot from this experience. And it isn't only to make sure your papers are in the right spots. It's so good to be your parent, Amiya - we're learning just as much as you.

Love,
Mommy and Daddy

Conflict and Resolution

Conflict:

So a little schmuck in Amiya's class told her that Santa is really just parents and she shouldn't believe in Santa anymore. Amiya told me about this one morning over winter break while we were elbow-deep in flour and spices in the kitchen. (Note to self - bake more with children - they share all kinds of details while mixing and kneading.)

I was flummoxed, verklempt, distraught. She is only 6! It is not time for this, not at all! Her specific question went something like, "Mom, I want to know. Is Santa real?"

I summoned all of my semantic skills, my oratorical prowess, my depth of language (all of which don't amount to much) and came back with something like, "Amiya, Santa is as real as you want him to be."

To which she responded, "But Mom, you're avoiding my question." Damn, she's good. "Is Santa real or is it you and Daddy?"

I retorted, "Mommy and Daddy help Santa."

"But is Santa real?"

I gave up. "Amiya, I am not going to answer that question with a yes or a no. Santa is more than just one person - anyone who believes in giving presents and making people happy is part of Team Santa. So, in a way, yes Mommy and Daddy are part of Santa, but we are not all of Santa."

She seemed either placated or intrigued and the subject was dropped. On her part. But not on ours, we, card-carrying members of Team Santa, had to get to work.

Marlene, a good friend, suggested the movie Elf. Score! She thought it was funny and gross (one in the same when you're 6?), but it got her thinking.

We read books. We talked about believing in something that you can't always see. We visited Santa at the zoo where she buttered Santa up by asking how he was doing and what he was hoping for under the tree.

Up until this point it was touch and go. She wasn't saying much and we weren't directing her either way. If she chose to not believe at this point, ok, we'll roll with that. But since she seemed to want to still believe, we followed her lead.

Resolution:

On Christmas Eve morning, Amiya and Vinay went for a bike ride - just the two of them. They dropped cookies at a friend's house and then rode to Panera for a Daddy/Daughter hot cocoa break. Upon returning home, Amiya was absolutely thrilled and said it was the best morning ever. Weekends are usually the four of us - so special one on one time is just that - special.

The cogs in my brain started working and I told Vinay that he absolutely positively had to go get a new bike for Amiya. Our plan was to get her a bike for her birthday (she'd outgrown her other bike), but maybe if Santa brought her the bike we could move her closer to the still believing category. So, off he went, scouring local stores for the right-sized bike.

In our family, we have a rule about gifts - the kids get three from Mommy and Daddy and three from Santa. We say one for the mind, one for the body, one for the heart. And Santa knows our rule and follows it, too.

Amiya opened her gifts on Christmas morning - she got an outfit for her body, a book for her mind and a horse toy for her heart. And then, amazing but true, she opened the door to the lanai to see a brand new bike, complete with a bell that Santa had taken off of his sleigh to remind her that Santa is about giving. Santa had broken our rule of 3 - it was that element that stood her firmly in the "I believe" category. No one, not even Grandma, breaks the rule of 3. All day long we heard, "I can't believe Santa...." "Santa brought me a bike!" Santa this, Santa that. And so now, Amiya is back where a six year old should be. Believing in magic, and giving, and love.

And someday she might be mad at me, but I'll take that. In the meantime, I'm just happy to have a little kid who believes in something much bigger than herself.

The Truth About Being Married for 9+ Years

Our anniversary came and went in December. Nine years. Can you believe it? I can't - time has flown by. We skipped right past the seven year itch rumor and we're just shy of a decade of wedded bliss. And in that entire, almost-decade long state of marital happiness, Vinay has never once chastised me or told me that I have been derelict in my marital duties.

Until today.

My Mom has been on my case, didn't get to me. A good friend has been on my case, didn't get to me. My Daughter (as an agent of my Mother) has been on my case, didn't get to me. My sister-in-law has been on my case (although just once), didn't get to me.

But when Vinay told me today that I really need to get back to the blog, well. I had to sit up and take notice.

So here I am.

You asked for it!

In no particular order, pictures to get you up to speed.

Kev went to a birthday party where he got a balloon hat shaped like - surprise, surprise! - an elephant. And wow, was he excited. And then wow, was he devastated when it shrunk!

He's learning to write his name. Love it!

And to draw people (before conception which I find especially advanced for a 3 year old).

Here's my little man with a picture of me! I always thought my face had good lines.

Kev and Uncle Mikey on one of his visits. Please note the book title - Love is a Handful of Honey. That's right. Uncle Mikey, ex-Marine, was reading Love is a Handful of Honey.

Amiya (front row, candy-cane socks) and her class doing their holiday performance. They sang "The Everlasting Fruitcake" and it was (completely true, despite being completely biased) the best song of the whole show. She was very cute and very happy to be up there. The girl's got charisma.

Amiya worked hard on gifts for her teachers this year - she chose to make them each a little loaf of apple spice bread and for the first time ever she can really take credit for all the cooking. She did a great job and got rave reviews!

We went caroling for canned goods again this year - above is the original crew, minus a few who were out with a stomach thing.

Amiya, singing at her favorite teacher's house.

Can you see Kev? Second from the left, red sweater, brown shoes? He loved caroling and I still catch him singing jingle bells.

The haul - over 300 canned goods and $150 dollars - all to our school's food pantry. Next year, we're on again - but this time the Dads have to join us!

And then there was Christmas:

Amiya and Kev in front of the tree on Christmas Eve. Amiya was wearing the dress that her cousin Nisha wore as the flower girl in our wedding. I loved seeing her in it and she loved having this connection with her cousin.

Amiya and Grandma. Two peas in a pod. Really. Which brings me to this next picture.

Every Christmas, Amiya, Mom and I get all dressed up and head out for a girls only tea. After dining, we head to the fabulous Tampa Theater for a sing-along showing of White Christmas. Amiya knows every. single. word. of every. single. song. and she sings them all year long. There's one song that is especially popular - "Sisters, sisters, there were never such devoted sisters." Skip back a picture. See those two goofballs? Anytime they have something going, they sing, "Sisters, sisters, yada, yada, yada, yada, yada." I can't deny how cute it is.

Amiya wanted an American Girl doll for Christmas, but I talked her out of that - the chicky doesn't ever play with dolls. Instead, she focused on a much more reasonably priced Madame Alexander doll. Amiya's face absolutely lit up on Christmas Eve when she opened her doll up. And then. Oh, and then. When she found the gift from Grandma with a matching dress for both Priya (her doll) and herself. So, so sweet.

More soon. Promise.