Too busy to blog!

Wow! We haven't blogged in over 2 months! What have we been doing?

April and the first half of May we were busy with finishing our homeschooling. We wanted to finish well, before our family started arriving! We also had Katy's dance recital and guitar recital and Noah was practicing to test for his next belt in karate which he passed.

May 19th, Santu and Shruti arrived (Raf's cousin and wife from India) and they stayed until June 6th. We learned to cook Indian vegetarian meals while they were here : curry chickpeas, curry cauliflower, dal, basmati rice, curried egg, a spinach paneer, spicy zucchini and tomatoes, etc... I can't begin to tell you how much cilantro, cumin, cayenne, coriander, red onion, garlic, and ginger, were used on a daily basis! :-) When we weren't cooking or shopping we enjoyed some outings to the Space and Rocket Center, a weekend in Atlanta, the Aquarium in Chattanooga, the Botanical Gardens, etc...In between we played cards, drank tea, played Yahtzee, talked, learned more about Indian culture, etc.

June 2nd, Buchu Pisi(aunt), arrived from Calcutta! The next few days were a flurry as we had Santu and Shruti here, Buchu here, Nana came up from B'ham, Mimi and Papa came for an evening , and we all celebrated VJ's second birthday!

By the second week in June, Buchu was our only guest, but it was VBS week at church. Katy and Noah loved it, but it makes for tiring days. Then, that Saturday, Katy's sweet dance instructor (for the past 4 years) got married. The wedding was fairytale like. Beautiful. Nana visited for a few days this week also.

The third week in June we enjoyed some sweet slow paced days with Buchu and then Nana brought Tim and Veronica(family from Germany) up to visit a few days. They were a lovely couple and we really wish we had a few days more with them. Raf and Noah took them to the Space and Rocket Center while Buchu Pisi, Katy, Nana, and I all prepared shrimp curry, basmati rice, cucumber raita, and Katy's lovely chocolate, chocolate chip cookies! VJ was napping so he'd have plenty of energy for mischief making in the evening. The next day we all took a trip to Cathedral Cavern then Tim and Veronica and Nana left. The next day, June 20th, Buchu left for California for 2 weeks. She returns July 3rd and goes back to India the 15th.

So, this 4th week of June, much to the delight of the kids, we were able to go to the pool on two different days. Katy and Noah also had friends over, and got to visit friends.

VJ had his check-up. We only had to spend two hours in the waiting room full of sick kids for the doctor to tell us VJ is a healthy 2yo! :-) He is 24#10oz, and 34" tall. He has 62 words and is starting to put two words together(like "let's go"). He is running and climbing like a monkey. Those few months of physical therapy in the fall did the trick. His mischief level is a little high! AH, a two year old. It takes all of us to keep him out of mischief some days. But, he is so precious, so loving, so willing to warm up to whoever is visiting.

Ok, that's the update! We are blessed. Pictures coming soon...