Proud, Protective and passed out

Hello friends. I have been absent for a while but I have been following a lot of your blogs. There is a lot going on in my life right now. All good things but a few minor adjustments. I have taken on more tasks and as a result my blogging has taken a back seat. I have so much to share with you. So stay posted as I have lots of good things to show you. Priyasha will be three years old or as she used to say " I am two going on twenty " Now she has changed that to " I am three going on twenty three " OH so cute. I am planning her party and it is going to be a blast. I cannot wait to show you all she and I have been working on. For now I uploaded loads of pics and wanted to share these that go back to Pravan's fame. That day it aired on TV I had several unexpected guests but it was a pleasant surprise. A few of Pravan's friends showed up and were able to watch him on TV. Here are some pictures for you to enjoy. Thanks for stopping by and as always I appreciate your thoughts and comments.

When Pravan saw himself on TV he was so embarrassed and shy. He is in blue, can you tell ?

We had his friend Dylan and his sister Raya who is Priyasha's BFF. They are holding each other. They we have Joshua and Bethany who are siblings and both are Pravan and Priyasha's friends.

When his friends left he wanted to watch it again and since I had it recorded Pravan and his sister watched it one more time.

After dinner Pravan got to dig into his cookie basket and gobble up cookies.These cookies were from a gourmet cookie shop and were presented to him with the award.They were yummy !!!!!

Pravan is very protective of his award. He asks me to shine the glass with glass cleaner almost everyday and this is a pic of him the night he was on TV and he took the award to bed with him.

Passed Out, Protective and Proud !!!!

Thanks for reading our proud parent story.

Free Spirit !!!

In the Spotlight

Here is the video that is posted online. I have more pics to post of Pravan celebrating with his friends. This has been a whirlwind of a week and I have been spinning my wheels. It's all good just no breaks in my day. I will upload sometime soon. I am off to take Pravan to his cub scout banquet dinner. Thanks for stopping by.

http://www.krnv.com/Global/story.asp?S=9869833&nav=menu113_4_1

Pravan's first television interview

Today was a very special day. Pravan was awarded a good class act award by the channel 4 news people. This was a huge surprise for him and he was unaware of it until a short while before the class was visited by the news team. Pravan is actively involved in helping people. For the past five years I have hosted an annual Easter Egg Hunt all on my own with a little help from other moms. It started out with about 9 woman in my backyard in 2004. The following year I was talked into doing it again and so I did except it was much bigger. I hosted it at the playground. Each year after that it was expected and I willingly hosted. Last year we had over 50 families join us and as long as I am in Reno I will continue to host it and help others along the way. This year it will be much bigger as Pravan is a cub scout and the cub scout group will help me with more activities and it will be a blast.

In 2006 I delivered a beautiful little baby girl on March 07 and still after a C-section I hosted the hunt a month later.In 2008 Pravan and I decided to help out an organization and we picked the food bank. I learned that the food bank had a backpack program that stuffed the less fortunate kids backpack with food and none of the other kids were aware. This way no child would go hungry. They also help a lot of other people in need.

We asked people to bring three items of food to get a ticket for a chance to win something. I walked the stores and got sponsorships for this and we were able to get a barrel full of food. This year we will do the food drive again. Pravan has also given away lots of stuffed animals to the fire department to help the kids whose houses are on fire and who may have lost everything. He also donated a tom of stuff to Big Brother's , Big Sisters club. Pravan also came up with the idea to use both sides of the paper to save trees, which would save the environment and not to mention energy conservation and money.

Who said a small child could not make a difference. Every little bit helps one small gesture at a time. Thank you to Shelby Sheehan the News 4 reporter for interviewing Pravan and recognizing his efforts to help at such a young age. Below are lots of pics of how the interview unfolded and some of the egg hunt last year.

Pravan with his contribution last year.

Priyasha following in her brother's footsteps.

They are so close and can conquer the world together or alone.

This was what Pravan received as his recognition for his good deeds. This is an amazing achievement for him.

Shelby Sheehan introduces herself as the kids listen attentively and Mr Chronister the school Principle watches proudly with the other ladies from the news room.

Pravan was called up and Shelby shakes his hand.

Her first conversation with Pravan.

Shelby hands him the good class act award. He is clearly mesmerized.

Proud Pravan posing for the news camera.

In the spotlight and loving it. He was so confident and excited.

The real interview begins.

I was amazed at how he carried himself and how well he answered her questions.As you can see I videoed it as well as took many pictures to share with the world.

He is so proud and so am I and Todd.

Pravan talked about all his good deeds.

Final statement. He said " This is my first time on the news and first time meeting a news lady " It was so adorable. She said " it was a pleasure to meet such a handsome young man in his buttoned down short and

slacks "

It was such an honor to meet Shelby Sheehan in person.

Mrs Ferguson with us. She is a wonderful teacher and Pravan is excelling in her class and is loving all the extra work she gives him as he is so advanced. She tries to keep him challenged and he is doing third and fourth grade level math. He is a math whiz for sure.

All smiles !!!!! It was clearly a day Pravan will always remember and will keep doing good in the years to come.We are very proud parents and now the world too can see. This will be on the local news channel tomorrow Feb 18 on channel 4 at 5pm. For all my cyber friends I will post a link to the news website as you will be able to view the video as well. I will update with that tomorrow. Thank you for stopping by and reading about his achievements.

Free Spirit !!!!

I heart you !!!!!

Today was a busy day for me , yet a very productive one. I watched two other kids and was very successful in getting all three girls to nap at the same time. While they napped I baked some cookies with the sugar cookie dough I made earlier in the day. I also am very proud of myself as I did not eat any cookies as I worked out today. I did my favorite body sculpting class and then 45 min of cardio on the elliptical machine.

Tomorrow is early release and I will be helping in the classroom. I baked these heart shaped cookies and Pravan dusted it with cocoa and drizzled it with chocolate. He is a great helper in the kitchen. He unwrapped all the Hershey kisses, counted the cookies and then helped all the way. He is a little boy after all and his favorite part was licking the spoon when we were all done. He said " mommy we should do chocolate licking photo shoots more often " I paid for all this sugar he inhaled. I had to let him run around in the backyard for a while to work it all off. The kid must have ran at least 20 times the length of the backyard and still had so much energy to spare. If only we could borrow some then I would never need to sleep and be able to do so much more in a day.

Pravan is excited for his valentine party as his teacher is serving heart shaped pizza and I will take in these delicious cookies. He wrote on each of the transformer cards and did a great job. He also told me that the I am the kids favorite class mom as I always have a treat when I go into the class. That warmed my heart and it is true I have a treat every time I go in and that is at least once a week. They work hard and deserve it although it is not always sweets. I very often bring fruits on a stick but I make it fun. Thanks for stopping by and Happy Valentines Day !!! Hug your loved ones and remember that you can never say " I LOVE YOU " often enough.

Free Spirit !!!!

My absence

Hello I am thrilled that I now have 11 followers and I love that I can see the count from the different countries. I love you ladies and appreciate you all stopping you. I have not been blogging for a while now and I have my reasons. Everything is fine, so do not worry. I just need to get back on the horse and start blogging more. I am trying to figure out how to upload 12x12 layouts as I do not have a big scanner. If you already do this please let me know how to do it so it looks like it is upright rather than laying flat. I have been very busy re-organizing the house and cleaning from inside out. I find that I feel more peaceful and relaxed yet not much has changed as far as my schedule. I have been following the flylady on http://www.flylady.org/ I have been reading her e-mails and we now have the house fairy that visits. You can find her here :http://www.housefairy.org/ The kids love it as they view her videos and truly believe. I also believe that the kids want more quality time with me so they get rewarded with something I type up on the PC. For eg. tea party with mommy or a game of candy land. You get the idea. My kids finally understand that we all work as a team in this family and if they do their share then I have less to do and that frees me up to play with them. Don't get me wrong, my kids are not perfect by any means and I still use bribery and threats but positive discipline is key. No good deed go unrewarded and it does not always have to be a toy or candy. Getting back to what is most important like quality time together is what the point and focus is and my kids value that more than candy or a toy and for that I feel blessed. The last month or so has been all about being organized and I have a long way to go but a little everyday. In 15 min you can do a lot and this way I am no longer overwhelmed and feel like there is so much to do. Check out the sites and you to will be a lot more relaxed and most importantly be caught up with the house work. I have forgotten how much I like to blog and I will get back to it now. Thanks for stopping by. Hope you all are well. Hugs and kisses to you all. MWAH !!!!! Free Spirit !!!

I've been tagged

I have been tagged and I feel so loved. This is maybe my third award.Thank you so much Nat. Nat is very creative and also has a website with lots of challenges. http://nat9248.blogspot.com/ http://www.readysetscrap.com.au/ Now the rules are: Link to those who award it; Post the award; list 5 other nominees deserving of the award. So here are my 5 deserving bloggers Shirley http://cardartetc.blogspot.com/ Connie http://connieemeraldeyez.blogspot.com/ Tracey http://tj-runningwithscissors.blogspot.com/ Jami http://westamphappy.blogspot.com/ Melissa http://dezinegirl-melissa.blogspot.com/ Please check out these blogs. I love these woman and they all inspire me. Thanks for stopping by. Free Spirit !

e: Challenge #3 2009 - GIRLS (set by Amy)

DRAMA QUEEN !!!!!!!

This is for my photo challenge group. They have a new and improved site that is a forum and is more interactive now. I am behind on the challenges but decided to jump in and add some pictures. This week is on girls and here is my submission. Whenever Priyasha is upset this is how she cries and it is hilarious.

Thanks for looking.

Today history was made

This morning the kids got up and were all excited to see the activities on the television towards the Presidents inauguration. It truly is a great moment in the history of not just the United States but the world around us. So many people have waited so long to see a black man step into power like this and lead us into a better future. It was not long ago that a black person in this country could not be seated in a bus anywhere they chose or walk into a restaurant and get equal service and TODAY we had the opportunity to witness PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA reach the highest power and swear his presidential oath of office.This brings the hopes of more jobs and better security and most importantly to end the war and bring home the troops. His goal to bring home all the dads and moms back to the responsibilities they abandoned to serve this country will be a blessed,joyous and proud moment that so many long to see.

President Barack Obama is going to be a very different kind of leader.He and Michele will be working right along side each and everyone of us in shaping the future and making it a better place not just here in America but all around the world. I was very happy to see that he is much more down to earth and not inaccessible as most important people seem to be. Walking down the street after being sworn in when security advised against it was brave but to him it was am important thing to do. His need to be up close and personal the way he chooses is very admirable. This country is in good hand and BIG CHANGE IS COMING !!!!!!!!!!

I know that today was a remarkable day in history and having my kids be a part of it all is amazing. We could not travel to Washington for many reasons and watching it on CNN.com was nowhere nearly as exciting as being one of the two million braving the low temperatures so the next best thing was the comfort of my own living room. I just could not resist and had to take pics of the kids in front of the TV screen. Pravan embraces technology with two arms and asked that I record the show as he had to leave for school. I did and Priyasha and I watched it again with him when he got home from school.

We are all about to witness many important changes to come and with his guidance we will make this a better, stonger country and world just once step at a time. Thanks for taking the time to read this.

Free Spirit !

Conked out

This has been a very uneventful week so far and I am still not 100% back to myself so I have been taking it easy. Today I decided to feed the kids spaghetti and meatballs. That seems to be their favorite food lately. I then got a phone call from Pravan's cub scout leader and started chatting with her. Pravan was next to me listening to my conversation but Priyasha was at the dinner table. You was unusually quiet and when I checked on her this is what how I found her .........

She has not even done this as a baby on her high chair. She skipped her nap today. I was having too much fun with her and did not want her to nap. I must have been on drugs or something. That does not happen often.

Here she straightened up when the flash went off.

This is her falling over as she was so tired. She started to cry as she was cranky and off course she has mismatched jammies on her she says

" I can do it mytelf " Hey she is entitled to her own fashion statement after all.

Below is another time around the holidays when she conked out.

She adjusted herself into a more comfortable position when the flash went off.

I hope to get back to blogging more regularly soon. Thanks for stopping by.

Free Spirit !!!

Happy Happy New Year " remember to back up" Protect your precious memories

I have heard them say " When all else fails, PRAY " My faith in GOD has been renewed and I feel as if I have been re-born again. ON Xmas eve my external hard drive crashed and I had about 60 000 pictures on there. I was so afraid to leave my pictures on my laptop that I purchased a 500 GB external hard drive and then removed my pictures from the laptop. I should never have done that. Back up means you have copies of your work in more than one place. It is recommended that you save your work on your computer and back up to an external hard drive and then you back up the hard drive to another hard drive. You can never have it in too many places. It is also recommended that you copy all your pics to DVDs. I am going to organize my pic in a better way. Here is what I suggest you do to protect your memories: *Make one folder on PC called photos *make one folder for each year that you have pics * organize pics by month Some people have other ways that work like themes, holidays, people etc. Find a method that works for you. Just remember you need to pick one and stick with it. For me it works better to organize according to the calendar. If I need Easter pics I go to the March or April folder and if it is Xmas I know to look in December folder. Then you drag each month to the year it belongs to. * You then back up to the external hard drive and back up once more. Yes this is a very long process but if you stay organized it will be easier to locate what you need when you need it. I try to edit my pics as soon I download the camera. If you are like me then you may need to download everyday or at least once a week. That way you have fewer pics to edit. Do not be afraid to invest in software to help. There are many out there. I like to use Photoshop Lightroom. It is a high end product and it is not for everyone. ACDSEE is another good one. You can also use Kodak software. You can download for free :http://www.kodak.com/global/en/service/software/easyshare/en/dln_ekn026079.jhtml?pq-path=4509 This is a very user friendly software and you can edit with one click. A lot of woman I know use photoshop. There are many versions of this and you need to find what fits your pocketbook and your needs. If you have any questions or need any help at all please drop me a line. I cannot tell you how happy I am that Geek Squad was able to save my pics considering my drive was smoking.I prayed and prayed and GOD heard my pitiful cries. I believe , do you ? I have been so torn about religion for so long as I grew up Hindu and married a Catholic yet we do not follow any one way. My poor kids are lacking in this road. I have talked about it to a few friends that are from South Africa in hopes they will be able to guide me and understand. They all recommended praying. You do not need to go to church or fast like most Hindu's believe. All you need to do is close my eyes and pray because he can hear you no matter where you are. That makes sense now. I may not get dressed up and go to church on a Sunday morning or meditate in a temple but I will pray now and I know that is all it takes and he will never forsake any one. Thank you so much for your patience and support. Thanks for your kind words Melissa and to you Shirley. I truly feel so much better and alive. MY sinus infection is not completely cleared but happy a re-charge to my soul and mind emotionally and mentally will help me recover to 150% again physically in no time. I sure do miss being int 10Th gear. This time I will promise not to over do it and if I cut some corners it will be okay. Now I know that. Free Spirit !