photo challenge signs

This is for the weekly challenge on http://www.photochallengeblog.blogspot.com/

Okay these are not the most creative signs out there. These part few weeks have been crazy and I just can't let go of any one thing in my life to slow down. This is the best I could do for this weeks challenge. Below are some signs before we got to the lava beds national park and the signs to help me remember the names of the caves. This was an awesome trip and I would recommend it to people that have boys and are adventurous, not afraid to get dirty or the dark. Who am I kidding you cannot separate boys and dirt right ! ! ! Enjoy !

You know there is a reason for signs. It gives us information we need. The sign below is a sign I drive by often but never really took the time to read. I finally decided to take the kids to this awesome smelling place and what do you think happened. I showed up on a Monday and they were closed. Figures ah ! I did go back the next day. It pays to read, really read everything. You can see more pictures and a post about lavender ridge in an older post. Also if you click on my image above it will take you to all my pics. Thanks for looking.

In life you take a test before you learn a lesson...

In school you learn a lesson and then you take a test ... Life is tough and so is motherhood/parenthood. After all kids do not come with a manual. Today I took Pravan away for the day and Todd had Priyasha. Still with a 3.5 yr age difference it is hard to tell which kid is harder. They are both hard in different ways. Pravan and I had quality time together. We did a few errands and then stopped at home depot. You see I buy the tools for hubby just so that I can use them. He is pretty handy and does the stuff I demand him to do. It is those times when the queen of instant gratification needs it done immediately that I take matters into my own hands. Going to home depot was a treat for me. I love that store. Today they had a kids clinic and the kids made a flag pole holder. It is so cute. They hand out aprons and a pin for each project completed. They do this on the first Saturday of every month. Check it out on their website. http://www.homedepotclinics.com/?cm_sp=THD_Marketing-_-Projectcenter-_-Makeover-_-0708-_-Left-_-Promo1-_-Local-_-Clinic Just enter your zipcode and see what they offer. Pravan had a blast doing this. He was so focused and excited that he got to use a hammer all by himself. He hit the helpers fingers a few times and I felt awful. The guy was so patient and gentle and did not complain about getting beaten up. Pravan had a good time. We then went to jump man jump to a birthday party and it was nice having just one kid. He did not hurt himself this time and we had a good time together. I then had to stop at the part store and get some treats for his party that is coming up. We then realized that the store was closing down and everything was 50% off. This shopping plaza is still new and yet there are about three stores closing their doors. The economy is just not doing well. So while we were in the party store Pravan did his potty dance and I said that we were going to leave and finish our shopping since nature calls once again. The lady was so kind and let him use the store bathroom. I continues to shop and then Pravan found a flower lollipop and he wanted it. i did not want to get it and asked him to put it back. HE whined and said " but I want it " I told him that I refused to pay for it and if he took it he would go to jail. I forgot about that and paid for our stuff. We left the store and when we got to the car I turned around to get Pravan into the car. He had tears in his eyes and said " I accidentally forgot to put the lollipop back " " Will I go to jail ? It was an accident ! ' I was not sure if I should be mad or if I should laugh. I asked him to buckle up and he really started to cry now. I said don't worry about and then I drove to the store. I park far away so I can get some exercise by walking further than I need to. So we drove over to the store and I double parked. the poor kid was scared. I assured him that it will be okay and then I asked him to go into the store and return the candy. I handed it to the lady and said " I'm sorry , it was an accident " The lady smiled and thanked him for coming back. That was a proud mom moment . Although it was my job to teach him right from wrong I knew he wanted to do the right thing and that was the point I was trying to drive across to him. It was not about the price of the lollipop or that it was candy but the fact that he simply cannot get everything he wants. I think I drove that point home. Have a great day !

first Friday in Aug

Can you believe it is August already. Wow the count down begins to Pravan's sixth birthday and school. Only 12 days to his b-day and 26 more days of freedom before school starts. Wow where has the summer gone. Today was a busy day. My pc took it's time uploading pictures and I am still not done. Well should I really cringe at the speed of technology or should the speed of my fingers at the click happy syndrome slow down. Yeah ! right . Click happy continues.

The kids had a relaxing afternoon at the pool at a friends house. Maya is a sweet lady that loves to entertain and does a fabulous job at it. We had a great time at her place. The weekend will be busy with a workshop at Home Depot and b-day party. We have another party next Saturday as well, then it is Pravan's party. Wow one party after the next. The kids will be in sugar heaven.

Okay you make it a great weekend and I will fill you in on mine. There are more pics on www.flickr.com/photossausa

Enjoy !

Tom and Jerry Syndrome

Today most of the day was consumed a doctor's appointment, picking up prescriptions and insurance companies. Pravan was scheduled to see an allergist and I really did not know what to expect. It was an early start for all of us and the busy day started. The nurse told Pravan that she was going to scratch his back and he said " I don't have an itch " That was so funny. She scratched my arm so I would know what it felt like. It was like a pinch. She then asked Pravan to lay on his tummy and drew spots on his back. She made about 50 marks on his back and the poor kid cried out " OW ' " OW " about 50 times. He did not cry until he had to lay there for 30 min and then it started to itch. He was not allowed to scratch at all and it was heart wrenching to watch him cry. We read some books and talked about transformers to get his mind of the itching.

When the results came back it was Tom and Jerry syndrome. He is allergic to cats and mice, dust mites and several weeds and trees. The poor kid. No wonder he can go through a whole box of tissues in a day. Well now we know and we can fix it. Hopefully the prescription and several other measures will help. I will be spraying the house with dust mite spray as well as a cat dander spray and he now has a special allergy pillow and will also have a humidity gage in his room to ensure the humidity is below 40 % at any given time to prevent dust mites for breeding.

I did have several errands to run and I feel like I took too many chances with the kids today. At the shopping centre the shopping cart refused to move after a certain distance. It was literally stuck and I had a ton of groceries in it. The kids almost went flying out of the cart when it stalled. That was scary. My car was not too far away but we went kind of in the middle of the road. I dragged the cart as much as I could so we would not get hit by a car. I still had the dilemma of getting to the car. The easiest was to go get the car but I could not leave the kids alone. Plan B I approached a lady walking by and asked her to watch the kids while I got the car. She was a sweetheart and I was only gone a minute. Then at Costco we were having lunch and Priyasha had to pee. Yes another pee moment. What was I to do. I asked Pravan to stay put and not talk to anybody. I ran to the bathroom and when I returned Pravan was still there. The lady across from him told me that he was a good boy and did not even talk to her when spoke to him. PROUD MOM MOMENT!!! I was relieved but then he needed to go and he did not need to 2 min earlier. I pointed to where the bathroom was and he went all by himself. He ran all the way there and all the way back. It was a zoo in the store and I was impressed he did not run into any one or hurt himself.

Well it was an eventful day that will come to with a reward of brownies and raspberries. If you have not tried it give it try. The combination is to die for and if you a sweeter treat why not add ice cream. Bake brownies, cut into bite size squares, add raspberries and blue berries. Stir well. Serve with ice cream. Mmmhhhh ! GOOD

Back to Reality !

Wow what a trip. There were awwhh! moments, pee moments, stop it moments, breathtaking moments, simply marvelous moments, take a nap moments, incredible view moments, cut it out guys moments, pee moments , oh boy moments,scary moments, "quiet guys" moment, and pee moments. Did I say pee moments. Oh my goodness I have been to so many bathrooms on this trip. Boy do kids have small bladders. On top of the bathroom visits we had to pull off on the highway several times for Priyasha to pee in the portable potty. She did have a pull up on but refused to pee in it. It actually stressed her when she needed to pee and there was no safe place to pull over. This would be the downside of an intelligent child that potty trains herself before age two. The most exciting thing on the trip was seeing a fox as we drove along the upper Klamath Lake in Oregon. We turned around and pulled over and were able to get some great pictures of him. We stopped at the Lava National park and it was quiet incredible to explore a real cave. It was so dark and cold and scary in there even with four flash lights. It is an experience we will not forget. Fear of the unknown can put the heart in overdrive. Crater Lake is breathtakingly gorgeous. I cannot believe how blue the water was. All that water just from snow melt. Nature is awesome. Crater Lake is the deepest in the United States and it is something you should see if possible. Pravan was disappointed that the volcano did not erupt as we were looking at it.Todd and I on the other hand were glad.Pravan was afraid to get out of the car and said that we should take a picture from the car in case it erupted we will be able to drive away fast. A little misconception in a five year olds' mind based on what he has seen on television. It was so cute. Priyasha called every mountain we drove by a volcano for the rest of the trip. We also had a chance to drive close to Mount Shasta. We would have had better views but the smoke from the California fires ruined that.We did not have time to visit Lassen National park on this trip but we will visit it agian soon since it is only about 3 hours away. Pravan has a black book with a list of things he wants to do in his life.I write them down for him with a date of when he said it and cross it off with a date he accomplished it. He would like to go to Hawaii soemday and see the volcanoes there. I hope he will continue to write stuff in this book . I am overwhelmed and exhausted this week. I still need to upload all the pictures and then you can see my trip through my eyes. We got some beautiful priceless shots. Hope you have a restful week.

Heat Wave

Oh boy it has been a hot week. In the 90's everyday. Yesterday we spent about 6 hours at the pool. It was so hot and everyoen was in the water or in the shade. The kids were exhausted and I was more tired than usual. I could barely stay awake last night to finish my martini and watch my soaps. I had to go to bed. Today is another hot day and it is perfect to do the laundry. I have a clothes line in the backyard and I hang up my clothes. I have to remember to pick them in 20 mins unless I want stiff cardboards instead of a soft dry towel. I love the smell of freshly laundry sheets and towels. Hubby is home today and he has Pravan fpr most of the day. They were out this morning doing errands and now they are both at the pool. Priyasha is enjoying an ice cream and a movie and I am stealing some mommy time. I have been busy packing this morning. We are going on a spontaneous trip to Crater Lake. It is in Oregon which is a ten hour drive from us. Pravan loves volcanoes and this will be a fun trip for the kids and us. I will get my photo fix as there will be many many photo opportunities. Looking forward to it. I will be back to post more next week. Have a great weekend.

Lazy 5 water park

Today it was about 95 degrees and I had planned on taking the kids to this water park. I discovered this morning that I had no bread in the house so I could not make sandwiches. I then realized I was running low on other essentials like maple syrup and dish soap. I had to squeeze a trip to the grocery store in somehow. Since I am always so early I stopped at the store and bought all my dry groceries and then we went to the park.I picked up lunchables and a sandwich for myself.I met Candice and her kids there at the park .The kids had a good time. They ran and splashed and tried to get me wet as well. It was all fun until the water just stopped. Usually they take a break for about a min and that gets the kids all excited and waiting in anticipation. Pravan tries to stand on a hole to cover it up and not let the water spray and it works. Well this time it stopped and we were soon told that they had to shut down because the pump had broken. All our fun came to a screeching halt. We did get free passes for our next visit. I got the kids ice cream to cool of as it was so hot. It was an exhausting day. Tomorrow we plan on going to the pool. Loving this summer.

Lavendar Ridge Farm

Just about 4 miles from my house along the Truckee River is a lavender nursery. I have been meaning to go there for a while now. Finally I decided to take the kids there and do a photo shoot. They make all kinds of lavender products form scented sachets, lip balm, lotions, potions, soaps and even ice cream. The kids had a blast running up and down the lavender isles. Is was quiet a site to see so many lavender bushes. We also observed the workers pick the flowers to make the products. They work fast. We also saw many many bees. They were busy working too. As long as we did not bother them they did the same for us. I will have to post some pictures later. As a treat before we left I ordered some ice cream and the owner being as sweet as she is could not resist the joy on the kids faces and gave us complimentary ice cream. It was pretty potent and the kids liked it. Very interesting taste. I thought I was just eating the flower.

We had a great time. It smelled wonderful and the chimes and waterfall made it relaxing.

negative space photo challenge

2006 pictures

Okay so I cheated this time for the challenge. It has been an overwhelming week and I did take pictures and some were specific for the challenge like my daughter on the swing. I was browsing through my thousands of pictures and found these and thought that they would be great for the challenge. This is the annual Reno Balloon Races .Traditionally every year in September we get the kids up at 4am. I make hot chocolate in a huge thermos and pack some blankets. We head out in our jammies and watch the dawn patrol. It is an amazing event to witness and the kids especially Pravan looks forward to this. Hope these work and I had the right idea when taking the pictures.

Okay so I have too many. Some are from 2006 and some are from 2007 when mm y mom visited us from South Africa. Sorry could not narrow it down. It is a wekness I have. Looking forward to feed back.

2007 pictures

Monday Madness

The weekend is over and the madness has not left. Yesterday we went to a birthday party at Jump Man Jump. It is a place with bounce house's and lots of energetic kids. My son was playing a game with a bunch of grown ups and kids and all was going well. Then he wrestled with another kid over a ball. He refused to let the ball go and he fell to the ground and hit his head. I was not to far away and saw him laying on the ground. I went to comfort him and when I picked him up he collapsed in my arms. He got all stiff on me and his eyes rolled back into his head. It was very scary but he snapped right back. This was his third head injury since January. i am surprised he has not had a concussion as yet. I took the necessary pre-cautions watching over him through he night and waking him up several times to make sure he was okay. This morning I made an appointment to get his head examined by his paediatrician. He passed all the tests and was told to be more careful as he could bruise his brain. I love that little boy and he just gives me too many little heart attacks. I probably will restrict some activities for a while. Now he is doing well and playing just as hard. I watched two other kids today as my friend Suzanne needed to go to physical therapy. Her arm hurt her for a while and she discovered she has calcification on her arm and it is painful. Tomorrow I will watch another friends two kids as she had to go to a specialist. Lately all my friends have health issues and I feel like the old woman in a shoe. I can't seem to keep track of how many kids I have in the house. Until tomorrow.