Category: celebration

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A wedding and a vacation – I

Most New Years on their arrival, find us vegging out in front of the telly. However, 2011 came upon us while we were celebrating a wedding. Though it was scheduled for the 1st we landed a day in advance. If you’re wondering why, I’ll just say that the wedding was in Mahabaleshwar. Got it? For people in Pune/Mumbai Mahabi is really no big deal. However, for our vacation-starved family, it was no less than a trip to Kashmir’s Gulmarg.
I’ve been to Mahabi twice earlier but this was the first time I actually saw more of it than the bit that lives in a glass of Strawberry shake at MAPRO farms. I must confess though that bit remains quite my favourite. If you haven’t sampled their fresh strawberries with cream or the shake your life is incomplete.

Colours of Mahabaleshwar
The colours of Mahabaleshwar for me will always be the fresh reds of the strawberries, the rich scarlet of beetroots and the bright orange of carrots. There was a pleasant chill in the daytime sun when we arrived. However, what made the trip special was simply the fact that we were together for a holiday after I don’t know how long. I can’t even remember when we last went out together – just the four of us. That’s what special about holiday destinations and tourist spots. Of course they have the sunset points and sunrise points, the caves and forts, orchards and farms.. but what sets them apart is the happy holiday feel. And we were part of it all. The Husband was relaxed for change (All must be well at Mahindra, I presume) and game for a holiday. The kids were thrilled and could barely sit still.
As a friend pointed out.. The Husband has eyes for nothing else
Predictably enough we headed out to MAPRO to begin our ‘sightseeing’. I stuck to the time tested fresh SB shake, The Husband, on his last binge before he went on a ‘strict diet’ in 2011 (or so he claimed), opted for SBs with fresh rich cream and some icecream thrown in for good measure. Naisha took on the safe icecream (when will she learn to experiment!) while Hrit opted for mango icecream… yes he ate mango ice cream sitting bang in a Strawberry farm. When I pointed out to him that Mahabaleshwar didn’t grow mangoes, it grew SBs he refused to change his mind with an uncompromising, “So what? Lucknow grows mangoes, na,” which was of course irrefutable logic.
We’ll huff n we’ll puff and we’ll finally get home
At the Venna Lake
I don’t know if I’ve mentioned earlier but my kids are water crazy. One look at the lake and they went berserk. The husband wasn’t too keen on the boat ride but where was the choice? Off we went. Naisha took the oars within a few minutes of being on the lake while Hrit confessed to being ‘too scared’. Finally encouraged by Naisha he took the oars too and the two of them proceeded to row us home with gusto. “I’ll eat three rotis today,” averred Naisha flexing her hands as we disembarked.
Savvy shoppers with their precious buys
I was of course interested in a spot of shopping and so we headed to the Mahabi market that comprised of about two dozen small shops. We saw some gorgeous vases which I longed to pick up but the guy at the shop refused to bargain and we left in a huff. Now I’m feeling totally silly because I did so want them….another reason to go back. We finally got home with two hats for the kids, a pair of glares worth all of Rs 30 and some shiny stones (which proved of great value in keeping the kids busy in the hotel room during the endless wedding ceremonies they didn’t need to attend). Hrit fell so madly in love with his glares that he refused to take them off. He wore them all through the wedding, at the dandiya night, at the reception, through the pheras and even at bedtime. When I forbade him from taking off his glasses he promptly wore the glares over his glasses.
Back at the hotel it was time to get ready for the pre-wedding dandiya night. But that’s another post.
So Happy New Year everyone, our beginning was pretty good, how was yours?
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Now that’s what I call a rocking Christmas

Isn’t it funny how sometimes nothing goes according to plan yet everything turns out fine. And so it was that we had a wonderful Christmas party.
First it was the venue. We wanted to have the party in the society clubhouse but were denied permission because no ‘religious’ functions were allowed. It’s not like we were planning on having mass or anythingL. We were told we could have a party but not a ‘Christmas Party’. So it shouldn’t be on the 24th, there should be no Santa, no tree, no gifts. We found another venue before we lost our heads over the mindless suggestions. A friend’s place it had to be.
Preparations for the party got underway. The cake was ordered, the sandwiches sampled (I enjoyed that part.. he he), the decorations were bought and the gifts chosen. We were on track.
Then some legal work came up and we had to be in Mumbai right on the 24th. Sigh! Considering it was Government work we had no idea how long it would take. Anyway we were up at 5.30 and on our way by 6.30 so we could get back by the evening. Four hours on the road, three very very long hours at the Registry office (where the kids drove us up the wall) and then another four hours on the road and we were back home. Rush rush rush … bath, dry hair, dress up and walk out all in half hour and we were at the party right in time.
Then the guy who was supposed to deliver sandwiches backed out. Dominoes came to our rescue with prompt service and super hot pizzas.
The Christmas Tree looked beautiful. The red and white balloons, the streamers, the carols and above all the kids dressed in their brilliant reds turned everything Christmasy. The home was warm and cosy. We’re glad we were ditched by the clubhouse.
We started off with musical chairs. It was a funny kind of ‘ruleless’ game. The kids cris- crossed across and between the chairs. They ran around them and wouldn’t stop even when the music stopped. They sat when they wanted to. They refused to be eliminated — the eliminated ones simply carried their chairs and got back in the game.
Then we thought we’d try the ‘statue’ game.. where they had to freeze when the music stopped. It was the same story all over again and so we left them to dance while we caught up with each other.
Next morning Santa delivered the long-awaited gifts and was thanked over and over again with promises of being good ‘all of next year’. The evening was time for a family get-together. While Hrit watched the telly Santa hopped over again and deposited the gifts right under his nose without him catching a glimpse of the much loved old man. The poor boy has been going nuts trying to figure out how he did it. Pat on the back for smart mama J.
Then surprise surprise my 9-year-old niece managed to put the twins to sleep while we adults had a peaceful dinner.
I made up for my sad Diwali with a rocking Christmas. Happiness is complete.
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Angels, Demons and Santa

 

Pic: Google imges

It’s Santa season. All of December I take a back seat and every threat and bribe is channeled through him. “Drink up your milk or Santa won’t get you a gift”, “Keep your specs on or Santa won’t get a gift for you”, “Too much TV and Santa won’t..”, on and on.

My ever thoughtful daughter wondered what I was getting for Christmas..
N: Mama what is santa getting for you?
Me: I don’t know. What do you think he should get?
N: (After much thought) I think I’ll ask him to get you ten nailpaints. (Point to be noted: 10 is the hugest number in her imagination and nail paints the ideal gift)
Me: But I hardly wear nail paint, what’ll I do with ten?
N: ummmm… then I think I’ll ask him to get you a pink laptop.

Indeed the ideal gift!
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Pic: Google images

One specially bad day when I was low on patience and H was completely out of control I introduced him to the angel and demon. I told him they both lived in his head. Each time he did something naughty the devil would become stronger and each time he did something nice the angel would become stronger. Finally one of the two would take over completely depending on how he behaved.

To my surprise he took it all a bit too seriously. Now when he does something naughty all I have to do is feel his head pretending to look for horns, or his bottom to ‘check’ for a tail. And he completely freaks out. Heh heh heh… Gotcha H boy.

Ah the pleasures of motherhood.

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Getting artsy craftsy

I’d actually been meaning to do this post on kid crafts for Diwali. I’d written part of it too then just felt too lazy and gave it up. Thanks to Mindfulmeanderer  here I am doing it finally. Thanks Shruti for the push.

Designer Diyas

What we need: Plain diyas (they come at a rupee a piece), Acrylic paints, Rangeela glitter tubes.
What we did: We began with washing off the diyas so they absorb less paint. Then I got the kids to paint them.. you’ll see a lot of blues because my son was the more enthusiastic one! Then we did some simple designs with the glitter tubes. The nozzles are quite kid friendly but I did lend a hand.

We also did some diyas with sequins. The kids used toothpicks to apply fevicol and then stuck on the sequins. Kept them busy for hours while I got my cleaning done.

 

Diya streamers
What we need: Sheets of plain white paper, Oil pastels or water colours, Rangeela glitter tubes, Gota/ribbon
What we did: I drew a simple diya then cut it out. (I folded the paper over before cutting it out so I got multiple cutouts in one go). Then I got the kids to colour/paint them. Oil pastels work better than regular crayons. Then we outlined them with the glitter tubes and left them to dry. Finally, we punched holes and strung them out on the gota or ribbon.

Diwali cards

What we need: Paper, Oil pastels
What we did: I drew simple designs.. diyas, flowers, stars … sometimes I threw in a basic border and got them to colour it. Simple.
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