JP’s BOO BASH!

The boys were super excited to be invited to a BOO BASH hosted by one of their friends at school. It was so cute to hear them both debate over who was “more” of JP’s friend on the drive to the party. JP’s Mom really out did herself! She made the most adorable mummies, had crafts and treats…everyone had a huantingly good time! Thanks for hosting and inviting us!

Tiger and his best buddy, Charlie. šŸ™‚ He is such a sweet kiddo!

Crossing our fingers that Nishad doesn’t put this on his Christmas list!

Race Car Driver meets Goldy locks!

Tigerriffic!

Mr. Tiger is now 3! Born on October 30th, weighing in at 9lbs, 14 oz, his been a joy from the start! His grin, love of song and dance and occasional “expressive dismay” remind me of myself. Like his Mommy, he is a crusader of underdogs, and likes to advocate for those that aren’t represented, or haven’t found their voice. Like his Daddy, he is smart and so compassionate. Like his big brother, he LOVES a good laugh, thrill ride or tickle. In his own way, he adds an element of tenderness and sheer joy in discovering every day miracles that often leaves us speechless and filled with an abundant amount of love.
Tiger simply LOVES life. He truly lives in the moment and lives it to it’s fullest. We are learning from him, and slowly putting into practice his way of life. Often we allow obstacles to keep us from savoring the moments as we just become too busy. This is changing though- partly because of Tiger’s daily reminders by the way he lives his life. WE want to live with the amount of wonder and joy that he holds in his heart for every day happenings! This means that while we love our friends, we simply can not see them regularly. With school taking so much of my time, our “family time” is limited. When we do occasionally get a free day, we NEED to soak it up with the kids. We are at our best when we can simply enjoy each others company. Thank you, Tiger, for guiding us along the way!
Tiger designed and created his own birthday cake with a detailed description of how it should look. Ashish and I went to his school (he’s now officially in pre-school as ‘graduated’ from the Toddler Community last Spring) and celebrated his milestone with his friends. He adores his teacher and the assistant. He often tells us how he LOVES his school! He’s working on sounds now and is itching to read like his big brother– all in time. He made mini-pizzas for his entire classroom for his birthday. He was thrilled to go shopping for all the ingredients knowing he would be baking up a storm in the class. For his birthday gift to his classroom, he picked out “Hungry Planet.” This is an great book that I think they’ll be able to incorporate into their classroom geography section.

Tiger is SO annimated! It doesn’t matter if you give him a gift, a hug or show him a grain of rice- He reacts with such delight! He picked to eat dinner at Space Ailiens. He was fine until the aileen made an appearance– it IS rather scary looking in a freakish way. Of course he polished off his cheese pizza with a birthday sundae after playing in the game room.

Happy Birthday, Tiger! No gift we could ever give you could compare to the gifts you have so freely given us and taught us. We love you!

5 Alarm Birthday!

Nishad requested to have his birthday party at a place we went to this summer- The Minneapolis Fire Hall and Museum. We had so much fun this summer, and being that he has raved about being a fireman since he was 2, it was a dream come true for him. A BIG BOY party with some very BIG TRUCKS…FIRETRUCKS! He had a blast, and we still hear from parents about the party today…Good times!

My beautiful friend and the kids, reeeeved up for a firetruck ride down the streets of Minneapolis!

Another hit at the party that the kids were totally ‘fired-up’ about!

Nishad’s buddy, soaking up all there is to learn at this hands on museum!

“How do you suppose we tackle this fire?”

Nishad and his birthday buddy…”cousin” Emma šŸ™‚ I am SO glad we’ve maintained being friends though the years. Not only do I love this family, but it has been such a treat to watch the kids grow-up from the day their were born…at the same hospital. God intended for Andrea (Emma’s Mommy) and I to meet. This I know!

Tiger was SO excited and happy for his big brother!

“Come Get Fired-up with the Chief!”
Dear sweet Nishad, Happy 5th Birthday!
Many More Dreams to come my Love!

Thanks to all that came!

Waddling to some Fun!

Tiger and I spent some time together waddling around the Twin Cities- looking for some Fall fun! Every year we parade up and down Grand Avenue, going trick or treating, but this year Nishad didn’t want to go. He replied, “I don’t want to go trick or treating…it’s all JUNK that you get.” Well, THAT IS what I tell him about candy. It’s not JUNK FOOD…It’s merely JUNK as it has no nutritional value and therefore it isn’t food. I guess he was REALLY listening. While I was EXTREMELY PROUD of this, I was a little sad. It’s not like we had to eat the JUNK! We could just have fun being together as a family. Alas, it was a Mommy and Tiger day– which worked out great because Tiger and I simply don’t get to spend enough time together, one-on-one. After a very late lunch on Grand avenue, we headed over to Como Zoo’s Halloween Celebration: Zoo Bash! This is always a lot of fun…and it’s a fundraiser for the zoo we’ve come to love and visit so much! There were character penguins this year! Tiger was so excited. One penguin said, “Hey you are my cousin!” So then every time Tiger would see a character penguin or a picture of a penguin in the zoo, he would announce, “There is my cousin!” We even saw some fish…that we thought would be fun to pose with…under the condition that our favorite little penguin didn’t eat them! Happy Halloween!!