Turning 12

My 'Little Angel' turned 12 few days ago.
I haven't shared much on this space for a long time.
It's time to do a comeback.

Here are few images of her art work...
These were made on old novel papers by burning the edges with an incense stick.

Summer and crafty bits

Some of the fun crafty bits A and I enjoyed doing this summer...

Tree made by real twigs, dry flowers, beans and dals...

Ducks in the pond using small stones and ready made arty ducks...

Little chef at home!!!

I have a new chef at home now...
She loves to experiment on us whatever she learnt in her cookery class at school...
The newest recipe has been this...

Crispy Crackers (all you need is)...

Few packets of Crackers
Grated Carrots
Chopped Onion
Chopped Tomatoes
Cheese spread of your choice (I have used chilli flakes flavoured)
Coriander/ Dill leaves for garnishing

Mix all the ingredients and spread it on top of the crackers.

This is how the crackers looked when done...

Diwali

Diya made by Anvitha...

Ranting...

There is one thing A keeps ranting about all the time...that nobody seriously considers her to be their friend. And she has enough incidences to quote to support her ideas!

Incidence One:
During her skating practice, her coach usually keeps a race between two students at the end of the class. She was competing with a girl who was behind her, A was happy she was in the first place. The other students cheered for the other girl. In the end the other girl won the race. This left A furious. She started crying. I thought A was weeping because she did not win. But... it was the cheering part that had hurt her not losing! Because her friends cheered for the other girl A thought that they were not her friends!

Incidence Two:
For the upcoming friendship day few kids brought friendship rings and exchanged it in class. A asked one of them to share one with her but they refused. That's it, the decision was made. "They don't consider me as their friends!"

Incidence Three:
She was chosen as the assistant class monitor. When she accidentally blurted this out I said "Wow! Congrats." But she didn't seem to be happy about the whole idea of being an assistant. She wanted to be the main monitor. The process for choosing the monitor also went against her idea. The whole class was asked who should be the class monitor. Fifteen hands went up for the main monitor and seven for A! Two of her 'so called friends' didn't raise their hands. So again, the conclusion is arrived at. They are not my friends!

She is not even seven years old and such burst of emotions!

Something for Earth Day

My daughter's entry for the Earth Day Poster Competition...

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Yes, That's the book I am reading to my daughter these days.

The story though interesting, she laughs in excitement when she knows that her mouth starts watering at the mention of all different kinds of chocolates that Mr. Wonka is capable of making in his factory: the colour- changing caramel chocolates, most delicious chewing- gums and sugar balloons.

Of course, we are yet to complete the book. But I am letting her make all the predictions about who wins the 'Golden Ticket' to see Wonka's factory. As she first saw the ticket given in the book, she was happy that she was the lucky one! But once I told her that the ticket's place must be inside a chocolate and not a book she was disappointed. She says it's too difficult for Charlie to get the ticket as his chance is 'one- time'. And I had a nice time contradicting it.

Today, truth about the Golden Ticket will be revealed to her and am waiting for her reaction.

Happy Birthday...

Yes, she turned six this November.

Here is a glimpse...

The pictures are little hazy:(

Battle of the Books...

My girl is getting ready for her regular "Battle of the Books" competition.
 It's a quiz wherein the children will be given few stories to be read and they will answer questions related to those stories.
The circular from the school goes something like this which I can't resist posting:

"TV. If kids are entertained by two letters, imagine the fun they'll have with twenty six.
Open your child's imagination. Open a book"... Anonymous.

The best part of children's story books are their illustrations. I have just fallen in love with the illustrations more than the stories. Have a look at one of them:

Time for some serious Science Project...

So we chose to discuss about the 'Colour Wheel' for A's 'Science Spectrum'.

Here are a few images from her project:

Of course, she didn't explain the whole thing which is written but only the experiment.

But she did enjoy the attention which she got by the approaching students.

Some more colours in your way...

My first formal drawing lesson...

"It's taught by my teacher please don't copy it".

Grade One mania

She was waiting for these days from past two months- i.e to go to Grade 1.
At last she's there.
But, on the actual day when it all started, she wanted to be with amma and appa!
She had had so much fun during her summer break, that 'study' and 'school' went out of her list of 'to- do-things':)

There are two more reasons why she doesn't like it now:
One, she has to stay in school till evening. Her complaint for this goes something like this- " I am too tired. I have to stay till evening. My whole body is sweaty. I feel terribly hungry. You know how much difficulty we go through after the classes are over. We have to stand in the line to go to our respective buses, and it is too hot. You don't understand anything. You only know to send me to school".

Reason two, she doesn't get to eat her lunch with appa. Night, as usual, by the time appa comes home she will be fast asleep. The only time she gets to see her appa is morning when he is dropping her to the bus stop.

Such hardships of life!!!Ufff:)

Holidays

These are the things that kept my daughter busy for a day at her grandparents' house.

A day well spent!!!

This day was completely dedicated to my daughter; to give her a sense of 'Holiday' that she was asking for from so many days.

A quiet drive 12kms away from Shimoga, Karnataka on the Teerthahalli road we found the 'Sakkare bayalu' elephant training camp. It's a popular destination among the locals around the area. Reason: More than being the elephant training camp it's a place where one gets to watch the elephants bathing!
Located next to the backwaters of Gajanur Dam, it offers a perfect setting for both nature and animal lovers.
Nestled in the camp are around 30 elephants who are bathed everyday and left in the jungle and brought back to the camp at night.
A's greatest concern looking at the elephants was "How come they are able to bring out sooo much potty?:)"
So she was hesitant to get into the water where they were bathed.

Spending the early morning hours at the camp, watching the backwaters on that partially cloudy day we returned to Shimoga to visit the much forgotten Shivappa Nayaka Palace. Of course, this place was least interesting for my girl.

From there taking the Sagar (10kms) route we entered the Tyavarekoppa Zoo and Animal Safari. 10kms away from Shimoga towards Sagar road, the place is famous for its Lion and Tiger safari. Lucky as we were, we could see almost 4-6 Tigers taking a stroll next to our van!!! That was the first time we all witnessed a Tiger from so close. Of course, my dearest daughter as usual was petrified of the Tiger and started a downpour of tears:( The subsequent visit to the zoo was a comforting experience for her. Spotting the Emus and the Ostriches (as she is fascinated with Australia somehow) she was joyous.

It was indeed a perfect holiday for her.