Lets go Blue Jays!

Aug 2^nd weekend: Ballgames are fun. Since the time Megha turned 4, Anand took her for the opening Jays game at the Rogers Centre. I went there a couple of times and decided not to take Tanush there because it gets really hot and loud. Since he is turning 4 in a week, we all went there for the game.

It was a fun riding the train, though it’s the same train I take every day. Tanush especially loved it. Megha is just happy playing “Staring Contest”!

There were fun things to do at the stadium including face painting, which, both kids loved.

When the game began though, Tanush was ok until he finished the fries and chicken nuggets and then he wanted to go back in because it was so hot. He also drank his ‘haapdik” (Apple juice).

Megha is so well behaved, asking all the right questions about the game (half of which I myself don’t know!). here the kids are on their way to running the bases.

Camping!

Aug 1^st weekend: We went for 2 night, 3 day camping trip to Jellystone camping ground close to Niagara Falls. This is my first ever overnight camping trip and so is for the kids. Since this is my first time, I wasn’t sure what to expect but like always, Anand got everything prepared so well that we didn’t fall short of anything.

Here Anand set up the tent. It looks small but its surprisingly spacious inside. All 4 of us comfortably sleeping with still plenty of room left over. He chose a perfect spot! The picnic bench was all setup bu Anand.

We missed buying marshmallows to roast over the fire but we did sit around it for a long time. We also went for mini-gold, parks within the campground and the swimming pool.

This also happens to be Anand’s birthday…so we also had cake cutting J

Jack...

Tanush cracks me up all the time! 2 weeks ago, we were going for our first overnight camping trip. Just as Anand was pulling out of the parking lot, someone cut us off and Anand swore, jackass. Soon after we told the kids, sorry, jackass is not a good word…and Tanush promptly said, “Jack is not a bad word momma, Julia’s brother’s name is Jack”.

Summer Bliss

I made a deal with the kids that we would be making Ice Cream at home, all through the summer.
2 weekends ago, we made Mango Ice cream using the Kesar mango Pulp.

This weekend (yesterday) was Megha's turn to pick the flavor of the week and she picked Vanilla....
With a little supervision, kids made this from start to Finish.

Recipe:
Heat 500 ml Half and Half with 1C sugar. Once done, gently fold 500 ml whipping scream and 500 ml almond milk. Let it chill for a bit in fridge.

Stir in 1 tsp of vanilla extract and pop the liquid into the ice cream maker....thats it. 20 mins later, the slush is ready and another 2-3 hours later in the freezer, the yummy ice cream is ready.

and oh, they did pop in a few chocolate chips, maker it even more delicious.
Here, kids are watching the ice cream making doing its thing/.

Also, they kept complaining that they were bored and wanted to watch iPad. I gave them something fun to do (cleaning up the fridge with Saje cleanser, cleaned up the windows and the cupboards!)...one shot 2 birds?? Fridge is sparkling clean now...win win.

On to the Blue belt!

Megha has been training in Taekwondo for the past year and a bit. Its only twice a week for 45 mins lessons but that itself is a lot for a 7 year old who also has her soccer, swimming and dance going on.

She made us incredibly proud 2 days ago when she passed her orange belt and moved on to Blue(Starting with White, Yellow, Orange and now Blue). 3 nights before the test date, she came announcing that she will be taking part in the belt testing. She was 2 tapes away from the testing and it was a pleasant surprise….i would forever cry the tears of joy at all her achievements.

Anand was working night shift and he couldn’t come for the test. That means, I will have to keep tanush entertained (and quite)when the belt testing is going on. The best way to do that is to get him some snacks. So I packed a fairly big container…he finished it off right as Megha’s turn for testing came…sigh…and started fussing…sigh.

His snacks included chips, goldfish, cheese, yogurt, gummies, juice, water.

Megha, 7 or 27?

3rd week in July:
Megha loves to hear stories from when I was a little girl. We (Megha, Tanush and I and when Anand is not working, him as well) sit down to eat our supper on the dining table. We made it a rule that all 4 of us would sit there and eat, without TV. Best decision ever.

Other day, I was telling her about one of the incidences from childhood. I must have been about 6 or 7 years old; I remember it was in grade 2. This was in the playground at my school. I think it was lunch break; some other kid was eating ice cream and I shamelessly asked for it from it.
So then, another friend of mine went and told my mom, who in turn told my dad...oh it was a bad bad day.
As soon as tanush heard it, he said, "naughty mommy". But Megha was like, its ok momma, mistake happen, important thing is not to ask for it again. I did tell her how bad a decision it was 1) asking food from others 2)from a stranger at that...

megha went on to defend my actions saying i must have been hungry....love you baby girl.

A Day out with Thomas the Tank Engine

July 2nd weekend. 

For the past few years, we’ve been visiting St. Thomas (small town) every summer. I remember the first time, when Tanush was still inutero J

You never get too old for the famous British train Thomas the Tank Engine J

They have beautiful indoor stadium where they had all sorts of fun things to do. While Megha couldn’t get enough of the bouncy castle, Tanush was happy playing with the trains. The boy loves his trains!

We have to persuade both the kids away as neither wanted to drop what they are doing. Kids had fun at the puppet show and Bob the Builder show (I was tired and yawning and hoping no one is noticing how much I yarn). They tried to keep it as lively as possible, though, if you are not under 10, you probably wont really enjoy puppet shows.

Kids had fun, that’s all matters.

We then proceeded for lunch (the usual Poutine and hotdogs) and headed out to board the train. Tanush immensely enjoyed the ride, waving at the traffic, at the toot-tooing Thomas. Megha, well, Megha I think is getting a bit old for Thomas J (though, I love Thomas anyday).

Tanush here cannot take his eyes off Thomas. Things like the twinkle in his eyes makes it all worth it (the long ride, the hot sun and the whole nine yards). 

Selfie time..

Bubbles have always been a favourite part of the trip for me. Here is Megha with her jumbo bubbles.

Here is Anand being a kid, as I said, you are never too old for this stuff J

Tanush enjoying his favourite strawberry ice cream; he only loves that. This was actually cherry ice cream but its pink and can easily pass as strawberry.

Megha enjoying her own favorite chocolate icecream. I remember last year we made a mental note not to buy more than 2 sccops as kids don’t finish at least half of theirs.

But then, mental notes are only helpful if you remember them; we forgot. Again. We bought 4 sccops and half of it melted as kids didn’t eat beyond their half (it’s a pretty big scoop).

We returned home and I made fish and chips...the real deep fried one's :)

Ice creams, lemonades, hot sun, Poutine, hotdogs, beer, splash-pads, family....what more can one ask for? A million dollar lottery right here. 

Fish Fillet

I am slowly starting to get Megha and Tanush interested in cooking. Since about 2 years, Megha (then 5) could fix for herself a small breakfast of cold milk and cereal. Her and Tanush both love cooking beside me. 2 nights ago, we made fish (Tilapia).

Since I have moved on to OPOS (One Pot One Shot) technique, developed by chef Rama Krishnan, I find myself spending less time in kitchen while being able to whip up more and more verities of food.

2L pressure cooker (my magic Pot):

Layer 1: 3 tbsp water + 3 tbsp oil

Layer 2: Tilapia fille sprinkled with salt, pepper and a little lemon juice.

On high for 2 whistles. Release pressure manually. Serve with broccoli and cheese.

2L cooker is standardised as per OPOS method, 1/4C water in the 2L cooker. You should get the first whistle within 2 mins. This is just for the first time to get the standardization right. After this, use the same heat setting for all dishes.

Tanush’s first sleepover:

1^st week in July

We went to visit our family in Atlanta. Kids had so much fun with their cousin. Megha even played cricket and is getting very good at it. Here are the kids playing while building jenga.

We also visited 6 flags. Here is Tanush right before Anand and I were leaving for the hotel. Tanush insisted that he wanted to spend the night at my sister in laws’ along with my nephew. He was too excited (and hence the bad picture as he was jumping) and I was too nervous.

June 2019 Father’s Day:

Every year, I look forward for Mother’s Day (because Anand makes me Mimosa’s all day starting at 8 AM!) and Father’s Day because I love cooking for Anand.

This Father’s day, we went to Troy’s Diner, our favorite family diner in Milton followed by a nice trek in Kelso Conservation park. Wow it was quite a work out going in that conservation park! It was very beautiful though.

Kids made some cute crafts. We were planning on making a little show for Anand from our favourite book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar but we didnt have enough time to plan and execute. Perhaps next year. 

I cooked some yum food that he liked. His lunch was chicken biryani, prawns curry, small fish curry, chicken dry, boondi raita, carrot halwa.

As it stands!

June 2019. I try to change the décor of the kids bathroom at least once every 18 months to 2 years; As it stands, ours is Monkey theme. Kids love their matching-everything and even buy mouth wash (apologies for the very bad lightning; there is no sunlight in this room and I cant seem to get the lighting properly here no matter what).

After Tanush was born and close to an year old, I made the life style shift to more natural alternatives to some of the common issues like cold/cough/fever/pains.

I love this new shelf that I bought for the Essential oils. Apart from looking good, it helps me keep everything in plain sight for easy access.

June 1st Weekend

June 2019:

It’s been a busy weekend at the Reddiar’s! Saturday started off with Tanush’s first soccer lesson. Oh he loved it! It’s hard to guess when he would suddenly get shy though, even if it’s while playing. He did take well to his coach. He even scored the last goal!

Makes me think we have to get him to play ball outside as often as possible. While he is surely competitive, it would help if he knows his way around football.

Sunday started off with lots of house work, cooking, cleaning, working on my cook-book videos etc. At 1, we went to get a picture taken for Megha for her dance (Jazz) recital. I messed up with the time and we went a little late. We still could get her individual picture taken though. I think she looks really sweet. She slowly is starting to get into makeup and all. She would ask me for my press powders/ bronzer. Her favourite part of the makeup ritual is the lipstick and the blush though. Megha is growing up so fast! I still recall 4 summers ago on her very ballet recital.

We went out for ice cream after. It’s a little mom and pop ice-cream shop on the main street; Jay’s. Tanush took a fancy Spiderman ice-cream and Megha was more comfortable with her usual chocolate. This girl cannot get enough of the chocolate!

We also went to get Tanush’s haircut done at Cookie-Cutters. He loves that place and the staff are really sweet with him. He loves the way his hair looks with gel on; I am planning on buying some gel for him sometime soon.

The day ended with a little bike/scooter ride on the sidewalk. This weather is so beautiful. I love it.

Junior Kindergarten orientation for Tanush

05/23/2019

Time goes by way too fast and Tanush is now ready to join JK in the same school Megha is. Whats more, Megha's  JK/SK teacher told us that she will request Tanush to be in her class! He made a little butterfly craft at daycare that day and he took it to give it to his teacher (Mrs M was delighted to have it).

In front of the school.

Inside the school

Inside his room. This may or may not be his actual room but all rooms look fairly similar to this room.

Tanush isnt as keen on joining JK. He fully doesnt articulate why. His mind was much at ease when we visited the classroom though. He did play a little. we went to the washrooms he will be using and he was delighted to find that the toilets were kid-sized and he has nothing to worry about. Here is where he washes his hands; water fountain is right beside this sink.

I think he is going to be OK after a few days of tears.

here is the Kindie-pen where he would be spending a lot of time. It is safe to say, he was a lot less relieved after his visit to school about school.

Pizza and Cupcakes

2nd weekend may 2019

I love the leisurely afternoons/ evenings when the kids and I have absolutely nothing to do. We make our Moisturiser now (a recipe I will share with you later). Last weekend, we made pizza on Saturday and cupcakes on Sunday.

I get the dough from Superstore. Megha’s favorite topping has always been just pepperoni/ Cheese. Tanush is a little more open to new sauces. In this particular pizza, you see corn/cheese Tostitos dipping sauce, pepperoni and cheese.

Here is the finished product. They both look and taste fantastic.

I’ve been baking for more than 10 years now. Only recently though I started making my own frosting. Kids helped, actually, I helped and they made the cupcakes.

Megha mixing up the wet ingredients.

Tanush stirring the dry ingredients.

With 2 kids helping, it is but natural that all our cupcake sizes are different. We are working on it!

The frosting here is simple vanilla butter cream. Megha piping the frosting here (in the bags and tips that Anand got me for Christmas).

Tanush very happy with his creation.

Finished product, happy kids, happy momma. 

Essential Oils for kids Cold/coughs

We are big time into Essential oils now. I’ve been slowly moving away from OTC medications to more natural alternatives. It’s been about 2 years since I made the shift but only about 4 months ago I diligently started using them, completely replacing some of my trusted OTC medications. One such homeopathic medication I relied on was Camilia (for colds). Our relationship with Camilia cold drops recently ended as it doesn’t seem to provide the same level of comfort as it once did. I suppose this happens when the body gets used to certain medication.

I extensively diffuse/ topically use the oils now. We treat/comfort a variety of boo boo’s with essential oils. Let’s talk the most common issue, Cold/ cough and flu like symptoms. Megha is getting better as her immune system is slowly improving (as she is getting older) but Tanush still suffers from frequent colds.

My favourite oils to turn to for topical application for colds/coughs are Eucalyptus, Peppermint, Sage, Lemon and Tea Tree. I take 2 tbsp of coconut oil or Zarbees chest rub and add 2 drops of each oils that I just mentioned. I also tend to add lavender as it tends to have soothing effect. It takes about 20 mins for Tanush and Megha to go from fussy, grumpy, congested selves to cheery, relaxed, healthier selves. I just rub the oils (diluted with coconut oil or zarbees chest rub) on chest, feet, back (around the spine area).

I also diffuse the same oils.  

Every night without fail, I also diffuse Lavender in both the diffuser's in their respective rooms. 

Artistic Tanush

Tanush can make a toy out of everything! I mean, EVERYTHING!
Over the weekend, he took styrofoam DYI Christmas ornament into a scarecrow. He simply stuck sketch pens and I am thrilled to say that he said he made a scarecrow!

Look at the joyful hands :)