Health and Fitness

I've been shying away from my workouts more often than I'd like to admit but that has been the reality. So now after feeling miserable about the extra jiggles I'm back again on the quest to embracing the healthy and active life style...i'm trying to clean up my diet and slowly build my endurance. The weather is just adding to the misery...I'm waiting for spring to go back to my boot camp classes but until then the plan is to build up my mileage on the dreadmill. I'm hoping to get upto 10 miles this spring. Last sunday I did 5.2 miles. I was thrilled because I really didnt think I would last that long. Not at the pace I'd have liked but what i realised in the last week is that I can choose to either huff and puff at my previously 'comfortable' pace and not last very long or take a step back slow down a bit and work on building back my endurance. As much as I hate that, it is exactly what I did.Yesterday I did 4.15 miles - added a bit of interval training so my ego wasn't bruised all that much. I'm hoping to increase my mileage every week..which reminds me, time to get a new pair of shoes..might make a stop at the running store this weekend.

My secret childhood wish ..

I love this picture. One big reason - Growing up I always envied my friends with big brothers. I always secretly wished for one and thought that if I had an older brother in addition to big Sis and little bro, it wd have been perfect. Sean and Rhea are at each other's throat a lot but can't deny how close they already are..they are each other's best buddy..and are always looking out for each other..

Here's wishing and praying that it always stays that way!

Aal izz well !

So the ‘it’ thing now is the movie 3 idiots. We saw it the day after New Year’s. It was the first time we were going for a Hindi movie as a family. The bonus was that it was a kid friendly movie as well. Sean and Rhea thoroughly enjoyed the trip to the theatre. With the big bucket of pop corn, their favorite candy and the sugary sodas…what’s not to love…the movie was just the cherry on the sugar loaded extravaganza that lasted a whole 3 hours :)Both of them enjoyed the songs and sat through the entire show with no complaints. They really didn’t have any time to complain since they were downing the ‘goods’ at record time which surprisingly Mom and Dad were surprisingly getting them (that’s a first) They were living the dream !!
So fast forward to this weekend and I got the CD and the kids have been listening to the tracks while ‘trapped’ or ‘securely belted’ as the case maybe in the mobile and forcefully shuttled around town for various errands. Yesterday Sean and Dad got back from tennis and we had to leave for church soon so I prodded him to the bathroom so he can take a quick shower. I love our little humbug of a boy..he has an amazing sense of humor and comic timing…what do we hearafter the showers were turned on…he’s singing out loud ‘All iz well…’ complete with the dance moves and everything grinning ear to ear…so that became the mantra of the night….if there was any crabbiness….we would say ‘All iz well!’ and there was an immediate smile on the face. After getting back from church.. Rhea was being especially difficult (what do you expect…she missed her afternoon nap). She was getting upset about something and calling out for us. We send the ‘Happy Messenger’ from downstairs to cheer her. Sean went to her and said ‘Rhea, All is well!!!’ she started laughing…its amazing how something so small really lifted everyone’s spirits…

So that’s the Joseph family motto going fwd….so sing it with me…AAL IZZ WELL!!!

You don't like me?

Yesterday morning, while the boys went for tennis,the girls hung out at home…well, mom was cooking and daughter was watching ‘Sleeping Beauty’. I took a few minutes break from the kitchen and I sat down with Rhea. The morning sun was on my face and I moved from the couch to the love seat. Rhea was so engrossed in her movie I didn’t think she even noticed me moving to the other side. A few seconds later, she looked at me and said ‘You don’t like me?’ My heart just about stopped….i felt so horrible…she thought that I moved to the other side because I didn’t want to sit with her. I’m sure that’s what happens in class everyday. I gave her the biggest hug ever and told her that I loved her so so much! And that I moved because the sun was on my face. She was happy to hear that. Later on in the day when I came back for yet another one of my ‘quick breaks’ I again sat on the other side and she looked at me with a big smile and pointed to sun on the couch next to her and said ‘Mommy, the sun is here’.

Aaww my baby! She is such a smartie and growing up so fast!!

Merry Christmas!

We have a white christmas thanks to all of the snow from the last few days! Today morning the kids woke up bright and early and came down wanting to open the gifts! Mom and Dad were still sleepy after the long night but seeing the excitement on their faces was priceless. A cuppa coffee did the trick and we were around the tree with camera and video in hand to bottle up Sean and Rhea's hysterics :) They already started guessing which gift was theirs and what was in it. So Rhea went in first and she got a Princess treasure chest with 3 beautiful princess gowns complete with tiaras, necklaces and shoes. Her eyes were as wide as saucers and we had to remind her that she still had more to gifts open. The next one had 2 movies - Sleeping Beauty and Tinkerbelle just like she wanted. The bonus of course was the cinderella book with the CD of the book complete with the songs. She was super excited! Next came Sean's turn and he got...drum rolls please..the Nintendo DSi. It also came with a Star wars game. He was beyond thrilled. He wanted to dive into it immediately and master the features. This i think is a good distraction from the usual TV fest or not...will know soon :) Aji got a beautiful watch and Armani Code and I got cash to Shop! Yay!

The rest of the morning was spent making the Buche de Noel cake that i was taking to Anishchayan's place and calling up near and dear ones to wish them a very merry Christmas!

We went to Anishchayan's place a bit early. Sarah got a DS lite and we had got her two games and Suzanna was beyong thrilled with her gift certificate to Hollister.

After a nice Naadan feast and Biriyani and the works and chocolate laden dessert we came back home around 11ish and called it a night...

Christmas Eve in Washington!

First of all, the title because I just love the namesake song...its one of my favorites. I wish I could embed it in here with this post..that would be Super!

That said, Christmas is finally here! Yay!! We went for the Vigil Mass at 5:30pm today and as soon as we got back home, the kids were very excited and wanted to put baby Jesus in the Nativity set. Usually I do that only after midnight but seeing Sean and Rhea so excited we lay baby Jesus in his crib.

They were both so hyper and was eager about the next big event of the night...Santa's arrival. It was the easiest night to get them to bed...since they had got Santa's letter telling them to go to bed early and they didnt want to disappont him lest he 'forgets' their presents :) So after keeping Oreo cookies and a big glass of milk they both went to bed early.

Few minutes later, we could still hear them chattering exicitedly about Santa. Quote of the night from Rhea - Seany, sleep fast Santa is coming soon!!!

Today afternoon, Sean got his letter from Santa and needless to say he was super excited. He was quite puzzled how the elves would know to make a DSi since it is a very hard thing to make. We did convince him that the elves are pretty handy when it comes to making things and they should not run into any issues :) He seemed pretty convinced. Ha Ha or is it Ho Ho Ho :)

Here is a transcript of the letter Sean received from Santa,


Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas, Sean!

Everyone here at the North Pole is very busy preparing for Christmas Eve. I've been checking my list and then I had my elves check it twice,and I see that you have been a good boy this year!

I know you are six years old and have been very busy! You have been working hard on your homework and Kumon and have become such a good reader. I especially enjoy all the stories you write in your class projects. You have also been working very hard on your tennis. I am very proud of you!

Even though some days it has been difficult to be a good boy, I see that
you have tried very, very hard! This is why the elves and I have made something special just for you!

Christmas is such a special day. Give thanks to Jesus on his birthday for all the wonderful things he has blessed you with. Please be sure to be in bed early on Christmas eve. The reindeers and I will soon be on our way to visit your house in South Riding just after midnight to deliver your gifts!

Keep on being a good boy and listen to your parents and teachers and watch out for your little sister. Also, tell your friend Joey to be good.

Merry Christmas to you and your family!

Love,

Saint Nicholas

Why are you calling me?

That was what Sean asked his friend Joon from school who called today. It was hilarious. Just a little bit of background. First off, it was the very first time he was getting a call from any of his first grade friends. We havent given our home phone number for the school or class directory just Aji's cell number. So it was even more surprising when Aji got a call from this 'Joon' as he was rushing out the door this morning. You could sense the excitement in Sean's face when Aji asked him if he knows 'Joon' from class but the first thing he said on the phone to his bud was 'Why are you calling me?'. After that of course he chatted away for the next 30-45 secs. They said thair bye byes and he turned to me and said 'Mom, Joon called me because he is my best friend!' That I thought was so so cute!

As far as his first reaction...in a few years from now he maybe glued to the phone and his friends all the waking hours of the day...i very much prefer the reaction from today :) although i know its not going to last that long..

Time to relax and enjoy!

That's exactly what the kids did yesterday since schools were closed due to snow. Sean's school ofcourse opens only after New Years so he is having a relaxed and chilled out time. He does have to do Kumon but otherwise its Tv time, play time, snack time. I have relaxed the 'candy' rules so they have been having a jolly good time. I had bought Egg Nog Ice cream last friday and yesterday both Sean and Rhea wanted to have ice cream with sprinkles. I couldn't bear to have ice cream when there is 3 feet of snow just outside our windows...it just makes me go Brrr...but they seemed to enjoy it and even went for seconds..


Oh! What a life!

After work yesterday I made truffles. Sean is the resident chocoholic and he was behind me the whole time i was making it wanting to taste a bite. I held him off until I finished and gave him a taste...he was absolutely thrilled...

Truffles
The first thing he asked me today morning...yep...can i have one now mommy?

Give Thanks!

It's that time of the year when you really take a moment to appreciate the people that make your everyday life a little easier. Of course you appreciate your family and friends but this is also the time when we do a little something to appreciate the kids teachers and the other support staff, in my case my cleaning lady who I really look forward to every 2 weeks to straighten out the house, my hair stylist who does a fantastic job, my beauty parlour ladies who are more like friends since i've been going to them for over 7 years now. Every year at Christmas I give them a gift, since last year I have started to give them some of my home baked goodies. Today was cleaning day and Gloria got this (see below) in addition to her holiday cheque.

Candied Almonds and Truffles

I also made a trip to get my eyebrows done and I delivered some truffles and 'Food for the gods'. See below.


I have a hair appt on Christmas eve and Maggie will get some of the bars and some candied almonds. She is middle eastern and I'm sure she will appreciate the fruits and nuts.

Rhea's teachers are getting gift cards and a boxof truffles this year. They are all packed so I will drop them off tomorrow. Sean's teacher will get her gift after school opens. They closed early for Christmas break due to the big snow storm. This means I'll have to do some more baking...all of the goodies will be wiped clean by then :) And I will also be dropping some for our neighbors.

Rhea's holiday party at school!

Rhea had her holiday party at school this past Friday. Daddy went to this one. He was a little late but got there in enough time to join in the festivities. They had songs and the kids decorated cookies which rhey then gobbled up. She got a letter from Santa! Yeah confirming that she has indeed been a good girl and will be getting some special gifts on Christmas Day!! Needless to say she is thrilled...

here are some pictures from Friday and a transcript of Santa's letter..

Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas, Rhea!

Everyone here at the North Pole is very busy preparing for
Christmas Eve. I've been checking my list and then I had my elves check it twice,
and I see that you have been a good girl this year! I am very proud of you!

I know you are three years old and getting so big! Even though
some days it has been difficult to be a good girl, I see that
you have tried very, very hard! This is why the elves and I have
made something special just for you!
The reindeers and I will soon be on our way to visit your house in South Riding just after midnight to deliver your gifts. Please be sure to be in bed early as Christmas is such a busy day!
Keep on being a good girl and Merry Christmas to you
and your family!

Love,

Saint Nicholas

A very productive Sunday!

One of the good things about getting snowed in...there's only so much you can do at home and you are forced to gravitate all of the otehr projects that you have been procrastinating. The big one for me was the basement and specifically the kids toys. Their toys starting from Sean's baby years were all in the basement. More than half of which they dont even take a look at. I've been meaning to sort through them and get rid of some for a while now. So Sunday was the day for that. I made 3 piles - Keep, Throw and 'Good to sell'. All of the Mc Donald toys went to the Throw pile along with the ones with parts missing or parts with the main toy missing...yeah they are entirely different :) We had puzzles with pieces all over and to figure out if we have all the pieces, I sat through and put them together...without a their boxes i had no clue what they looked like assembled but puzzle time turned out to be quite a good break in thye midst of all the toy sorting. I put away all of the toys we can give away or do a yard sale with. Sean already proclaimed that all money from the yard sales go to him :) The basement looks so much cleaner now and it just has the toys that the kids play with now. I think this is going to be an excercise that I have to do atleast every year or maybe even every 2 years. Since they are out of the baby and toddler years they wont outgrow their toys as fast and ofcourse the toys are not that bulky either (atleast for Sean), so that's always good for space management :) I should have taken a before and after picture....what a world of difference! esp after the vaccuming and febreezing...it does need a coat of paint and i'm hoping we'll get to that sooner.

The rest of Sunday was spent on laundry. 5 loads washed folded and put away. Phew! Everyone has clothes in their closet...that is a great feeling :)

Most of the time our weekend just whiz past since those are the only 2 days to get everything done. Since we were stuck inside the house this weekend it was great to tackle a few of the projects that were on the back burner. I really wish there were more days like sunday to tackle the 'back burner' projects!

Snowed in weekend

The biggest Dec snow storm in DC history moved in on us Friday night and was here to stay until Sunday morning. We were tiotally bombarded with Snow...I havent seen so much ever...upward of 2 feet. It was beautiful outside...a winter wonderland.

We did get out briefly on saturday for couple of hours and the kids had a fantastic time playing in the snow.




When it was finally over we received close to 2 feet of snow. This is the deck.


Sunday Aji and our neighbor again cleaned up the drive way but we swtill have a lot of snow that I'm bet is going to stay for a few more days...

Tis the Season..

For indulgences that is...I've been putting off any kind of holiday baking until today. I gave in and made the most scrumptious candied almonds.



i've already snackwd on enought to have gained 3 pounds :( Must stay away from them...

School Night and a special dinner treat!

Couple of weeks back we went to the mall and they wwere selling corn dogs and funnel cakes...true fair food. Of course the kids were hungry and Aji got them corn dogs. It wwas their first time eating it and they absolutely loved it. What's not to love....Hot Dogs are one of Sean's favorite foods and so corn dogs only meant something better than that. I was very surprised that Rhea enjoyed it as well. Finally something both of them liked! Ever since that day Sean has been telling us that the school cafeteria serves corn dogs once a week and that he wants to eat from there. We've been trying to keep him away from the cafeteria food as much as possible so this weekend I told him that I'll make him corn dogs. At first he didnt believe me and since I didnt have corn meal at home we put it off and I promised him Corn Dogs for dinner Monday night. Today I picked him from swchool and the first thing he said was 'Its corn dogs for dinner tonight Mommy!'. So we went to the store got the corn meal. After snacks and home work I dropped him off at church for CCD and promised hot and crisp hot dogs when he got home. He was so excited when he got home and had like 3.5 corn dogs...he wanted to finish the last one but was way too full.

Guess what he's taking for lunch tomorrow ...That's right...Corn dog it is :)

Movie Night

This past weekend the kids wanted to have movie night. It was all impromptu and since it was cold and frigid outside and it seemed the perfect way to spend the evening. The refrigerator was totally empty and I really didnt feel like slaving out in the kitchen. So since everyone was Ok with 'Sandwich' for dinner, I did a quick run to subway. After dinner we all sat down, the kids picked out 'Polar Express' of course tis the season...



i thought of making 'Movie night' a bit more special for them...so i let them have dessert in front of the TV. They absolutely enjoyed the Ooey gooey S'mores..

Summer Treats

Strawberry Smoothie - Sean's recipe



One of our all time favorite dinners - Steamed Mussels with herb french bread

Summer Travels

First came Vegas ....our first vacaton sans kids....what can i say...it was fantastic...

here are the pics:








Then came our family trip to Niagara...3 generations on a road trip...it was a lot of fun and the kids really bonded with appachan and ammachi..

First Time Visitors!

This month we had a few first time visitors to our home. Needless to say we were very excited and so happy to have them all visiting us! All of them visited were here in the last couple of weeks. We had Aji’s cousin Joppen visiting us from Canada. He had a conference in New Jersey and took a couple of days off after the conference and visited us. He got here Friday afternoon and spent the night at Anishchayan's place. Saturday he went sightseeing in DC came to our house in the evening.



Joe chetan, was also in town the same week. He wasn't sure if he would be able to make it since he was pretty busy with work. Saturday morning he called us to say he will be able to make it. Yay!


Saturday was a busy day.Rhea had swim lessons that morning so I took her for that. Sean had soccer at noon for which Aji took him and we told Joe chetan that we'll pick him at 4:00pm. I did my cooking in between all this. Aji was a bit late to start from here but managed to pick up Joe chetan and get home by 6:30pm. Soon after Joppen, Anishchayan and family came over. We had a great night of fun and laughter and after dinner, it was dessert time and I brought the chocolate cheesecake, the mimickers and the chocolate dipped strawberries. As I was serving the dessert, Aji sneaked out of his seat and couple of minutes later reappeared with cake, lighted candle et all. My birthday was 2 days later and boy did he get me on this one. I did not see this coming at all...what a surprise!!! The kids were all excited and I was so embarrassed, I wanted to hide under the table. I was just not prepared for all the attention. It was a good surprise so I tried to enjoy the moment the best I could.


Happy Birthday to me!
Last weekend Aji's cousin from California was in D.C for a conference. We came to know about it only on Friday and he wanted to stop by. He said that he was staying with a friend. We suggested Tea or Dinner and he opted for Tea. Maybe he had already made dinner plans with pals. Since it was an action packed weekend - swimming, soccer I didn’t plan for anything big. Saturday morning rolled around and Aji took Rhea for swimming. Around noonish Sean started showing symptoms of UTI so Aji took him to urgent care and sure enough it was. By the time he came home, Joboy chetan and his friend and wife (Regi and Geetha) and Geetha's sister Latha and her husband Tomsy stopped by. They made a quick stop at ANishchayan's place and Anishchayan and Suzanna brought them to our place. We had a great time with them...I had make egg puffs which they thoroughly enjoyed. They even took the leftovers for their son who LOVES puffs. I had also made a crumb cake which was also enjoyed by all. We took chicken spring rolls and coconut macaroons also along with tea. We chatted quite a bit and then we suggested that they stay back for drinks and dinner. They didn’t seem to mind the drinks part but had to get back to the Latha's place since all the kids were there and were supposed to go to a birthday party. Tomsy and Latha left to take the kids to the party, Anishchayan and fly left for church and they had a friend over for dinner.

The Shakers!
So once the movers left the shakers took the party to the deck. The bar was open and Glenfiddich was the star of the show and definitely helped to take everyone's humor and wit to a whole new level. Luckily I had some cutlets and almonds to accompany the wine and scotch. Much fun was had by all and the party dispersed around 8:00pm since they had to pick up the kids.

What a fun last few weekends it has been. We really hope we have more family coming to this part of town! It’s always a joy to have near and dear ones for company!

Surfer Dude!

Sean started his summer swim lessons this weekend. He has started liking the water and was very excited about the class this week. He loves 'The Backyardigans' show on TV and there was an episode where all of them go surfing. After Sean got dressed her pretended to stand on a surf board and stretched his arms out to balance himself on the board wwhile surfing. He really had the surfer dude look going on (and the goggles). See for yourselves!


Master of the waves!!

Home and Garden Edition

Bye Bye Winter...Hello Spring....Oh My, Summer's almost here ..

It's been while since i did any writing..work was ultra hectic.In the meantime Winter's gone buh bye...spring and its showers and allergies are still lingering and summer is almost here.Yay!

We're almost done with our spring gardening...we planted a lot of perennials this year. We did Lavenders, sweet tufts, dahlias, lillies and a few other whose name escape my mind..I also added some annuals (petunias and gerber daisies) for an instant boost of color. The peonies from last year bloomed this year..well, the pink one, the burgundy buckeye has one bud...hopefully it will bloom soon.


Peony

The butterfly bush has new leaves and the crape myrtles have thick foliage..can't wait for the blooms in summer.

Lavender,Crape Myrtle, Petunia


Side Yard

The roses are in full bloom and oh so lovely!



The dahlias are out - all 8 of them. They should bloom in summer..


The Lillies are slowly sprouting. I have planted 18 of them ...and almost 5-6 of them have come to life...they are in season so I'm hoping they will be out in time and have some blooms this year.

I also did some herbs - coriander, rosemary, basil, mint and thyme.

We have a bunny rabbit in our back yard and today i noticed that it had eaten all of my cilantro plant not a leaf wwas spared...I had a made a trinity with the rosemary,basil and cilantro and in the picture you can see that the whole haed of cilantro has been eaten up. I really hope my herbs survive the attack of the rabbit this season...otherwise i might have to resort to setting bunny traps and maybe roasting that little fellow with a marinade of all my herbs...so you better watch out..you bunny who thinks you are smart to eat my cilantro..



My first vegetable a container tomato plant. It already has baby tomatoes!


Gerber Daisies on the deck!

Can you say that I'm thrilled at the way the yard has shaped up this year :) That's me grinning ear to ear.

Since this is a Home and Garden edition and I've done a comprehensive garden edition, let me get on to the Home edition now...just couple of my culinary adventures.

Last weekend I made fresh pasta for the first time and it was delish. it was easier than i thought and i made a yummy bologonese sauce to go with it. The kids loved it which is always an added bouns!

We were hoping to go strawberry picking this week and i had plans to make a strawberry rhubarb pie. Well, Sean came down with fever so we had to ditch the farm trip. I still wanted to make the pie so off to the store i went and this was the end result...the crust was nice and flaky and the filling was juicy and yummy!