Happy Thanksgiving

GOBBLE ! GOBBLE ! Happy Turkey Day. As you read this we are driving to Los Angeles. We are on our way to Disney land.The kids are thrilled and so am I as this is my first trip except for the one in Paris. I made the kids a simple autograph book and I will post that next week with the autographs in them. Since we will be on the road today we had our turkey dinner on Sunday. I just could not go without turkey. There is only one year since Todd and I have be married in the past 10 years that we did not have turkey. That was in Nov of 2000 when Bush was elected the 43rd President. We were on a trip to Africa to break the news of our marriage to my family. We were married in April that year and it was a secret from my family until that trip. I remember being on the beach on Thanksgiving and reading about the President in the paper. Now you know why Pravan was wearing a Chefs hat while riding his bike in the previous post. He helped me baste the turkey and then went out to ride a little. Usually it is just us during the holiday season but I still cook a spread as I enjoy doing that. This year it was not very fancy as were not going to be at home for very long after this dinner. Priyasha is such a homemaker and insisted on helping a lot. Most time Pravan loves to be in the kitchen but on Sunday Pravan was reading and doing school work. He did help a little. Priyasha even helped me make the cranberry sauce. We also had time to do a craft. I searched around and sound some stuff to use to create a turkey. We painted a paper plate brown, cut out some feathers, beak and glued on eyes. I stapled the feathers onto the body and Pravan wrote down things he was thankful for and I wrote stuff down that Priyasha told me. Her first thing to be thankful for was the bird. She kept saying turkey, thankful for turkey. Boy am I thankful for turkey too. Can you imagine if the pilgrims gave a donkey or something as a peace offering Guess what we will all be eating ??? That's right ! I wish you and your family a happy thanksgiving. I will be away until next Monday. Next week I will have a ton of things to post. Stay safe !

smitten by the kittens

Last night Pravan boy scout den was supposed to meet at the humane society. It was on the other end of town and it was very hard to find. Sadly only one other scout showed up. He had his sister with him and Priyasha tagged along as always. All the kids had a blast. I was overwhelmed. There were so many stray cats there. Surprisingly it was very clean and tidy in there. There was no smell at all. They had hand sanitizer at every cage so if we touched a cat we had to sanitize before we went to the next cage. They even had bunnies, gerbils, mice and rats. They sometimes have snakes and lizards as well. At any given time they house between 600-800 cats and 200-300 dogs. Isn't that crazy. I wish I could bring some cats home but I already have one. We have pepper and we had Salty who was eaten by the coyotes.

Pravan does not want to go back to the shelter as he thinks it is so sad to see the cats and dogs with no homes. Priyasha was sad when she saw the puppies. She told the man " the puppies miss their mommies " The man said " yes they do but they need new mommies now " It was so cute to watch the delight and excitement on the kids faces. I had a good time and can see why animals can be therapeutic to the elderly and the sick.

The Humane Society is a no profit organization and depend on donations etc. If you have kids please take a trip down there and have them experience this and maybe donate a bag of food or litter. It costs them about $100 to neuter each cat and dog. It is a non kill shelter and make sure every animal finds a home eventually which can take up to a year. They also have a large laundry are with lots of machines to wash the linen and beds. It is insane. I had never expected it to be what I saw. They also are looking for volunteers. If you can then this would be a good thing to do at least once. Just a thought.

Salty

Pepper. Yeah she is smart and usually does Pravan's homework.

Pepper is suprisingly a good hunter. She has no claws but still has her natural instinct as a hunter.

Salty was the neigborhood explorer. She roamed around and had claws so she was able to jump the fence. The one night she did not return home. On the way to the shelter Pravan said " I wish we see Salty there, maybe someone found her and took her there." It was wishful thinking. I do not think she was so lucky. Poor kitty !

Priyasha when she was 4 months old with Mia. This is my in laws cat in Vermont. Thanks for stopping by.

Locks of Love

I have been thinking about getting my hair cut lately just to keep it healthy. I have cut my hair twice this year already. Every time I am at the salon they ask me what I want to do and I say I want a new look and I want to look sexy and hip. Well I have always chickened out and never sliced off too much. Last week a friend of mine had talked to me about Locks of Love but I was not so sure that I wanted to cut off that much. I thought about it for a while and today I took the leap. We recently discovered that my husbands aunt was diagnosed with breast cancer. That was very difficult news to deal with. It was caught in the very early stages during her annual mammogram.See you ladies need to keep that mammogram appointment. It is important. She has her surgery scheduled early next week and then under go radiation for 5-8 weeks everyday. Linda we are thinking about you and we love you and you are strong and you will fight this. I am still learning more about this condition but know lots of people have been through it. Someone out there will benefit from my donation. I am thankful to have hair and was very pleased to give it up. I need some time to get used to the new look. Did you know it takes at least 6-10 pony tails to make a hair piece Why is the minimum length 10 inches?A. The manufacturing process uses up to two inches, leaving only eight inches (jaw length). Most of the children who receive hairpieces from Locks of Love are little girls, and most want long hair. When we need to provide a hairpiece to a boy, we use some of the shorter lengths that have been separated by hand from each donated ponytail. To learn more and to donate your hair please visit : http://www.locksoflove.org/ I will now mail of my pony tail to the lock of love location in Florida. They say it takes 90 day to send out a thank you card. I really do not care about that but it sure would be nice if I could make a certificate of some sort up and stick it in my scrapbook. Priyasha was all confused as to why some kids do not have hair and she said that I will not be the Queen anymore if I cut my hair. I always tell her that she is a pretty princess and her long hair is beautiful. Now her hair is down the middle of her back and she is only 2.5 yrs old. She hopes to do this someday to help some kids. Yes Todd is the king and Pravan is the prince. I am still the queen she says as I helped out at least one child or adult. Someday she will do the same.

The salon I had my hair cut at. This was the most expensive hair cut I have ever had. It was at an upscale spa in the south end of Reno. I was nervous when I got there and then I sat down and waited for about 30 secs. A nice lady offered me a drink. My choices were coffee, tea, water or wine. I immediately yelled out " a glass of wine please " I then looked at her said " Oh wait it is not even ten am" I panicked and was embarrassed and asked for coffee. I rarely drink coffee but I am a tea snob and unless you boil the water, swirl it in the teapot etc etc I will not enjoy it. The coffee was not bad but I wished I had not asked for it. It was even served in a real cute coffee mug. I was impressed.

BEFORE !!!!!

This is the last time for a long time that I will have to dry my hair like this. okay she is cutting it off OMG !!!!!!

13 inches is what she cut off. It is hard even for me to believe.

TaDA !!!!!! I actually did it !!!!

Are you ready ? Okay drum roll pleeeeeeassseeee !!!!!

My six year old took the following picture. A budding photographer I'd say .

Thank you for checking this post out. If you can donate some hair then please help all those kids and adults out there that need a boost in their self confidence and self esteem. If you know of a child you can request that your hair go to that child through their case manager. Do the next best thing for yourself and do a monthly breast exam and keep those appointments. Do a buddy check once a month. Pick a buddy and schedule one day a month to remind each other to do a breast exam. Put it down on your calendar today.

Two wonderful suprises

I received this wonderful award from Shirley. http://cardartetc.blogspot.com/She used to live in Reno NV and now lives in kannopolis NC. She found me through the blogging world and since then we have communicated through e-mail. Shirley is so sweet and creative. She has helped me help the kids with their postcard tour around the world by posting on her blog and she has made the kids beautiful cards. I will have to take some pics and post soon. Shirley I am honored to receive my very first award and two at the same time. Thanks sweetie. The cyber world and all my cyber friends are growing and I love meeting all you wonderful ladies. Thanks for being you ! If you have never been to my site please please send us a postcard and post about it on your blog. See at top of blog for details. The following in not in any particular order. Okay so I added one more person. I am a rebel and break the rules! The rules are I am to: A. Display the award on my site, B. Hyperlink back to Tasha's blog, C. Give the award to 8 more people D.then notify them of receiving the award and E. Advise them to pick it up at my site. Below is a translation of the Portuguese words and the rules for the award:Translating the words on the above award from Portuguese to English: "This blog award invests and believes in proximity - (creating friendships)!" [meaning, that blogging makes us 'close' -being close through proxy]. These are the other words to be included with the award: These blogs are exceedingly charming. These bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbon of these awards are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these bloggers! Deliver this award to 8 bloggers who must choose 8 more and include this written text into the body of their award.Accordingly I award the following 8 (10) people: 1.Dawn I met Dawn http://dawn-in-nz.blogspot.com/through SCS and she has been a good friend to me. She too has helped me with postcards and my dislike to remain still long enough to read. Thank you Dawn for the encouragement.Dawn loves taking pictures and has lots of it and you can see New Zealand through her eyes. 2.Becky Roberts http://inkingidaho.blogspot.com/ she is a very talented lady with loads of crafting ideas. I visit her blog often. check her out for some creative ideas. She is very good about answering any questions and getting back to you. Thanks Becky for your help. 3.Tracy Jackson http://tj-runningwithscissors.blogspot.com/ Tracy is from England and is so sweet. She is a hard working mom and a very talented lady. She bites of more than she can chew but she never chokes and always swallows. All her new projects get done and she seems so organized yet terribly busy. Tracy not sure how she do it sweetie. Love all that you do. Tracy also posted on her blog about our postcard tour. Thanks Tracy. 4.Jami http://westamphappy.blogspot.com/ another sweet mom who is an army wife based in South Korea but is from the U.S. Met her through SCS as well and she was so sweet to post about the postcard tour on her blog. Another creative lady with goodies on her blog. Check her out. 5.Nicole from Canada http://luvatfirstscrap.blogspot.com/ I met lovely Nicole on http://www.photochallengeblog.blogspot.com/ She is part of my photography group and loves digital scrapbooking. She is very good at it and has helped me along the way. Thanks Nicole. She has also helped with the postcard tour. Check her out ! 6.Melissa http://dezinegirl-melissa.blogspot.com/ Met this nice lady on the photo challenge blog as well. We connected as her kids are similar to the age of my kids. She is also married to an Indian man and we have compared some notes about the culture even though he is from India and I am Indian from South Africa. She is a wonderful mom, wife and woman and love reading about her trails and errors as mom as well. Check her out. 7.Jessica http://handmadeboutique.blogspot.com/ A very busy lady. Met Jessie on SCS and she is so wonderful and sweet and extremely talented. She hosts several swaps on http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/ I have participated on several and we have talked almost every other day through private messages, the forum and e-mail. Check out her latest craze with diaper cakes. Love them. 8.Kristen Mosbarger http://kristinmosbargerphotography.blogspot.com/ This is a truly strong mom that I admire. I met her through the photography group and love to read her blog about her family and her darling children. Kristen is contributing in a huge way to the Autism foundation. Kristen you are a great mom and I love your stories. Thanks for sharing.

9.Tony Klar http://www.stamphappens.com/

This is wonderful stay at home mom that homeschools her children. She is a woman with greta organizational skills ans has a library system to the toys her kids play with. She is one patient woman. Check out her cool blog with lots of stamping ideas.

Photo Challenge # 26 weather

In Reno the weather is very unpredictable. This shot is from a morning after 80 degree temps. It is very windy here lately it has been smoky from the California fires. This is the best I could do. Thanks for stopping by !

Riding Solo

Pravan got his first bike when he was three years old. He very quickly learned how to ride uphill, downhill, turn around, go super fast and even do some tricks. He did all of this with the aid of training wheels. He placed his trust in them and was never excited to take them off. In the summer of 2007 Todd removed the wheels and would take him practicing. Pravan did well for about a minute before he realized that dad was no longer holding the bike. He would then stop pedaling and fall to the ground and cry. They would out the training wheels back on before coming home so he can have fun riding with some support.

I wanted very much for him to ride without training wheels and he really had no desire. This past summer 2008 we removed the training wheels and refused to put them back on. Pravan then refused to ride the bike. I guess Todd really did not mind it. I thought that he was behind the other kids until I learned that so many of his buddies could not do it as well.

Yesterday Todd was cleaning the garage and Pravan got into his bike and decided to try again. I spent all day cooking and stayed in my jammies. I had no idea what they were doing. Todd rang the doorbell and when I answered he proudly announced that Pravan is riding all by himself up the side walk in the neighborhood. I was in shocked. I armed myself with the camera and headed to see his achievement. I got some priceless pictures and realized that Pravan will achieve anything his heart desires but in his own time. Yesterday a light bulb went off for him and for mom as well. We are so proud of him and treated him to ice-cream for over coming his fear. He truly is growing and gaining more self confidence.

Changes in a year

Last year this time of year my mom was visiting me from South Africa. I spent some of my time making lots of items to sell at an event in the golf community we live in. It is an annual tradition now and it is called the Sip n Shop. Last year I was a vendor and earned my money toward my dream camera. I knew then that it would take a long time to earn it all. Well a year later and I still hope that Santa will be kind to me.

Last year Pravan had no issues with sitting with Santa and this year he did not want to be anywhere close to him. Priyasha just surprised us and she could not get enough of Santa. He hugged him this year and told him what she wanted. I was thrilled. Tonight we had a tree lighting ceremony and Santa was there with the kids.I dropped the kids off in kids corner and mingled with the neighbors and sipped wine. It was great having that break. hubby joined me and we both socialised before picking up the kids.

Here are some shot of Priyasha with Santa. You can see a world of difference if you go and check out this link. Brace yourselves as you will burst out laughing.

http://twoworldsunite.blogspot.com/2008_09_28_archive.html

Here you see the true essence of Believing in Santa. I just love the look on her face and I was truly amazed at how she embraced him. The magic of Christmas !!!!!

Here is one horrible shot I got of the nice Christmas carolers. It was busy and it was hard to get good shots but this will give you an idea what we experienced.

Thanks for stopping by. Next weekend we will meet Santa for real and getto ask him for what is on out list and I look forward to getting some great shots.