food for talk

 Dinner table conversations are not as old fashion as we think, they give structure and routine for kids to thrive in family life and make memories of their own.

My husband is a man of few words, forget about sentences from him, so I always start the conversation, and I am the one who is the victim of their lack of  participation, not answering what i ask or wanted to eat while watching TV or total silence.

I tried a lot of ways to make this family communicate,
my son participated when i ask questions like
how was your day?
what is your favorite thing about today? 
what is your worst thing about today?
what are you thankful of?
but my daughter thinks they are boring and I am asking the same questions everyday over and over! and i should stop!
so i had enough of this torture with silence at dinner table from these family members for months and started looking for other ways and finally found and bought the food for talk cards!!!







Now they want to keep on sitting and talk, we don't know until now the man of the house has so many shades hiding beneath his silence (my husband), i found out my daughter (15 now) knows wide range of topics and a wise young lady and she is interested to TALK WITH US NOW! my son (8 now) is such a joker and dreamer!
we can't wait to pickup the card and start the dinner every night and getting to know each other!!
   i am proud of myself that i didn't give up and the box is sitting in the middle of the table now as a miracle worker.

Great idea and a lovely find.

{written by me, photo from amazon.com}

Ramayana

Years back i wrote a post about a lovely find 

that is a children's book called

The little book of Hindu deities

same author Sanjay patel adapted and painstakingly illustrated this 2500 year old story Called Ramayana!!

 

 visually stunning, brilliant colors, a fun way to read and tell an epic story for younger ones.
My son got so exited when i show him the book and 
I fell in love with the Illustrations and details and colors!!
while i am reading this book to my son, he is so engaged and if I get distracted and started marveling at the Illustrations, he keep on reminded me to turn the page that he wanted to know what next:) and we can't wait to finish the entire story!!

{pictures from ghee happy}

girls Hair do

My daughter got super busy now a days.

Morning at 6:40 is the bus and i pick her up at 7:30 at night from tennis matches, home work until 10:30 average, taking bath and read a little of her favorite up to date book and 0ff to bed, and starts all over again in the morning.


i am missing her terribly, one day i felt she is living with us but she is not visible and i don't want to confuse her with my emotions  but spend quality time with her. 
kids schedules change year after year and parents must change along with them and figure it out what is best for both sides to spend time together, obviously as an adult it's parents fault if they don't figure it out not the kids.
meanwhile i stumble upon Mindy who is a mom of 5 girls and she put her hair styling talent in YouTube and i just fell in love of those hair styles and ask my daughter if i can fix her hair in the morning that little time with her is more than enough for me to interact with her.
slowing down a little and enjoy simple pleasures in life.
My daughter is a very understanding girl and said, why not! 





I am ready with my kit, i am not wasting my time running for bobby pin or hair band or spray, that creates stress rather than quality time so i am well prepared for morning hair do.
i watch the video night before ready with new style just to impress my soon to be 14 year old daughter.

 Mindy's videos are very practical because she is a mom too! and these styles doesn't take more than 5 minutes, 
and bonding with your daughter is priceless! 

A mother's treasure is her daughter.  ~Catherine Pulsifer

text by me
hair style videos are from youtube

keep remember!

Source: icanread.tumblr.com via Natalie on Pinterest

Source: s88.photobucket.com via Natalie on Pinterest

Every day guidance

i know i am special, i don't need somebody to remind me that......

i have everything a person could dream of yet restless, don't know why? 

this book is a guide to put me in perspective. 

one article a day filled with surprises and realizations. 

Mark guides me like a soul friend.

gentle and wonderful way

great book.

Goodies for Free!!!! part 2

In goodies for free article i mention about academic earth for free class room videos from top college professors in America. but to day i have even exciting information to share with you all for our kids and for adults as well.

that is Khan Academy

this is online micro tutorials stored on YouTube, teaching mathematics, history, finance, physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy, and economics.

this is best for everybody who wants to learn in a easy manner. teaching style is unbelievable!

Salman Khan is the founder and faculty in the videos.

I stumbled upon with this info through  TED .

Goodies for Free!!!!

In life, every single incident, every single day, every single opportunity, gadgets make you smart! If you use it wisely with tons of curiosity.

what if the info is free, much better right!

there is a great power using internet with gratitude.

I never imagined that i am going to sit in a class room of the best universities in America, like Yale, Harvard, Stanford, NYU name a few that filled with smart people, but i am smart enough to know that there is a chance to hear the lectures online for free through 

http://academicearth.org/

i am a big fan of American libraries and the service they provide to the residents with top notch technology and access, but at the same time i can't deny the kindle revolution but the thing is you have to buy the books, it's not free like libraries so i search for solution and, drum roll please !!!!

 the place where you can download over 33,000 Free ebooks to read on your PC, ipad, kindle, Sony reader, i phone.

don't you love them for their hard work for my convenience, with all my heart thank you guys!!!! 

http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page

About movies, I am a big, super, gigantic, nut case kinda fan of Netflix!!! it's not free but i love love love the service and access to almost every electronic i own and the quality of it. Netflix is my personal movie library that sort out by my interests and recommends to me the world best movies and documentaries which i love to watch.

but there is a free Sony site that has a simple collection of Hollywood movies and shows 

http://www.crackle.com/ 

 when you are living in a foreign country and don't know your neighbors customs but you have to mingle with them, you need to learn their way, by all means with proper etiquette. there is nothing wrong with it, but where?

your house needs a repair, something to fix and don't know how and you need answer, in that case just go to funny videos on

http://www.howcast.com/videos/875-How-To-Write-a-Thank-You-Letter 

or interesting articles on

http://www.ehow.com/ 

when you have a i phone, i pad or some device which needs wi-fi but don't know where the free spots are when you are traveling, one site offers the list throughout America where you could get that service.http://www.wififreespot.com/

i don't know when i enter in to 2011 but i am glad to born in the right time, right place, and the best technologically advanced era of the human history!!!!

clean freak approval !

I like design, and everything about design. i don't mind putting extra buck or two, if I am impressed by the design. color comes along with it and so the functionality. i can't settle for less.

who wouldn't appreciate innovation? and
innovator's passion behind it?

since we live in cold place wall to wall carpet is a practical requirement, but maintaining that, is a headache, kids and dust always put me in busy housekeeping mode, after cleaning the carpet looking at it and thinking or wondering, is that really clean? recently i got the answer from Dyson and the resounding answer is NO!!! my carpet looks clean but really not clean!!!

huge difference, thank god we don't have any allergies!!

 

this is a winning sucker! my birthday gift;)

 love at first site when i saw the ad, ad itself though don't have any plans to buy, when it's time to buy vacuum, i check the web and fall for the web design and then went to store, color is damn good (notice my blog header color:) but i simply backed up because of the price, it is too much for a vacuum, but love is love, if there is or there isn't, shouldn't be other doubts, so to test if it is love or attraction, i break up from the idea of owning it, from then on i can't date with any other vacuums they are so dull, unattractive, not powerful, boring to use, old fashioned, after a year of separation it is conformed, me and Dyson meant to be together and enjoy housekeeping for the rest of our lives, that adulation still there so i have to have it!
love is definitely heedless.
my daughter thinks i am nuts to be happy by receiving, vacuum cleaner as a gift!
what did she know, still kid, it's a clean freaks love affair;)

girls fantasy

Recently my daughters fantasy came true in an unusual way. her dad returned from Vegas trip with a trophy just for her! it's a water jug in a trophy shape. it's a ceramic materiel with straw hole and awesome eye catchy colors and design, palm trees with pairs and Las Vegas name written all over it. oh! i forgot the wide mouth with lid, in any way you see, it's a girls fantasy came true! and she is in 
ecstasy.

she fell in love with Nanna all over again.

 there is no need to tell her to drink a lot of water as long as that cute thing survives!

{images taken by ME}

soaps.......soaps.....soaps

People around me always compliment me that i smell really good, that credit totally goes to the soaps and body washes i use. one day my son returned from pre-school and came to hug me he is kinda grumpy from nap on the way home and my smell hit him so hard and he become alert and said "Amma! you smell yummy"!! that's the power of the soaps i use;) i collect them! (i know i know they are just soaps) i love to give them as a gift, and receive as a gift.

                                    I got this cutie from my hubby two days back from his sin city trip

i bought the deep memories of fragrances of flowers and fondness of such smells along with me from India.  most of the places in India, woman plant  jasmine shrub in their backyard. summer jasmines are most memorable fragrances of mine. i never wear them like most Indian women wear in their head, but i still remember the summer evening breeze brings the fragrance of these delicate white blooms. Jasmine in Cleveland weather! no way! so i substitute it with body wash:)  

Lavender, jasmine, cherry blossom are the ultimate favorites of mine.

I keep an eye on THISE particular shop that i shop very often to steal their deals.

 I love good design, contemporary package with old fashion fragrances, so all in all i liked bath&body works and TJMaxx shops for best of the best body washes  with out  breaking my bank. tjmaxx offers cool luxury stuff around the world  to spoil your self. but offer is limited and you may not get same thing again so buy and keep when you find the one you like. 
 

                                                     soap petals for bathtub luxury or what!!

                                                                       Oh! my my 

                                      soap monkeys for bath room decor, also great gift item


Image source: petals, heart, monkeys, body wash

that's how a pumpkin grows

That's How A Pumpkin Grows from fashionbuddha on Vimeo.

kids are much smarter than parents, now a days, i don't have any doubt about it, their imaginations are much visual than ours. My daughters reaction about her brother is "how come he knows that already"? if she feels that way just being 7years apart, imagine how i feel being 27years apart from him. Since Christmas  he is in to songs and singing loudly around the house and having fun singing. so i am searching catchy songs for him and i love this one!

children's book

OK! if you are from India and living abroad and you have children and trying to introduce indian gods and semi gods to your kids, you are in the right place and this is my shopping find for your kids. I bought this book about 4 years back to my daughter, since then she, now my son are crazy about it, they have their  fair portion of quarrel to share that book. I think that's the only caution i have to give before you buy this cute, i mean perky book of Hindu mythology. i am so excited to share this with you!!

look at his eyes hahahahah!! so cute :)

If you are not a Hindu and wanted to introduce world mythology to your kids or yourself this is so funny, adorable, colorful, enthusiastic book you ever read. (if you are the first timer to Hindu gods, they are pretty confusing to track :) because there are soooo many of them) parents of Hindu culture around the world finding hard explaining to kids and telling the stories of mythology because children are attracted to cartoons faster than our boring storytelling and scolding once in a while if they are not paying attention. I bet a lot of parents like me wanted a fun way to accomplish that and sanjay patel  put brilliant effort and we have to thank him while kids enjoying this book. (notice artist's eyes and Ganesha's eyes in the bottom :))

                                        if you want to buy this book

i think a lot of orthodox crowd already bugging him about the cartooning the gods and the take it easy language he used but they should know one thing his effort for our kids is priceless and according to his web site he never even been in India and he created a book this good, as a gift for us, isn't it more than enough. there is one more gift from him that is free;) is desktop images of Ganesha and Kali and they are so adorable.

photo source : gheehappy

cute bags for kids

i always look for adorable stuff and also affordable for gifts. when i stumble to this page i was so in love with those bags. aren't they cute :).. perfect find for grand parents and aunts to spoil there loved ones.

 

skip hop