We Are Doing Fine

Hello dears! The time has gone so fast. Life is just way too fast too, many things happened, work, home, deals... We as well had really bad news about the demise of our family's (in Kazakhstan) best friend  in the early February. I was extremely saddened by this news, as so many childhood memories were linked to him and his family. I pray his soul rests in peace.
Just like everyone of you I suppose, I sometimes want to just stop and take a deep breath and reassure myself that everything is going to be just fine.
Well, let's see what we have been up to these days. Actually, nothing remarkable:) All the more enjoyable as little A is having vacations now and spending more time at home. So I have to invent various activities for him to keep him entertained (and busy too).
Here we did some yarn pasting, which in the end turned to a fun "yarn-spreading-all-over-the-drawing-room" activity, lol. Little A LOVES crafting a lot!

A couple of weeks ago we visited a garden and were surprised by the presence of the owls! Can you see its' round head and body? They were 2 or 3 of them, really cute, and little A was delighted to see real owls at last. So was I! Moreover, I never thought they lived in our hot climate here.

On weekends I usually take A out to the park. There we are free to do whatever comes in mind (after swings and slides of course).

Here is Little A's rainbow as he called when I asked what he drew on the sand :) Some school kids joined us for a spontaneous stone activity last weekend. The right most picture is what one of the boys made: sun and a flower. What made me especially happy is that the boys themselves came to us and started participating , gathering more pebbles, I could see they were very interested and curious.

When I get cravings of some homemade baked goodness, I start ... baking! So easy, nah? :)) I once again made the small apple crust pies.

 And just yesterday tried my hand on baked Indian samosas! All vegetarian :) They turned out really great this time, soft and tasty. Baked samosa recipe is from here.

I suppose that's all for today.. and oh yea! Forgot to say that we watched the Beauty and the Beast movie... I am still under its' spell! Such a beautiful movie, dynamic yet romantic... :) I can watch it again.

Things to Cherish and Value

I know I have been sounding rather upset and sad in my previous posts. But I know that you all understand and share the same feelings as I. However, after discussing the same with D several times over the last weekend, I had to go on and carry on to take of my little boy, because he is the one who needs our care and love right here right now, and thank god we are able to give these and more to him.
I kept myself busy last weekend completing the old projects and making new ones. Here is a glimpse of our New Year tree in all its spontaneity and  variety of ornaments and decor.

This little Gnome is sitting joyfully on the branches - a gift from my parents.

You must have seen these all over the internet. I fell in love with the idea of making my own gnome or a nisse. This was a half an hour project - made of a sock, felt and yarn. I want to make one for my parents as well.

I have at last finished this felt Russian doll (Matryoshka). She is not perfect but I am glad I attempted this  felt ornament.

It is time to display my latest cross stitch - a Santa carrying a little new year tree. Perhaps, I will leave it in this loop only, not framing this time. The cross stitch required a black outlining -  I don't have time to do this and, to tell the truth, I like it the way it is.

Stars, stars everywhere! By the way, I used little A's play dough cutters to make these cookies (after thorough washing of course) :)) since I am yet to buy steel cookie cutters. The recipe I used is this Shortbread Cookies with addition of some milk and ginger to the dough. They came out very tasty and crispy.

So that's all about how I am trying to get into a better mood. I wish that all of you dear friends had peaceful, joyful, cozy holidays and spent all the great moments with your loved ones. Cherish each and every such moment!

Life's Challenges and Gifts

I am not in a position to critisize and judge, but you would agree that events which happen all around the world sooner or later echo in other parts. I am not feeling any change since the US election result came up, but I know that it would reflect in some of the areas of our lives at some point of time.
Indian government has also surprised us with a sudden scrapping of 500 and 1000 banknotes in order to extract black money from turnover. It created a real panic and hurdle among people as not everyone had proper information what it was all about and why. Right now things are better and getting calm and in order slowly.
Politics, economics and world problems aside we continue our lives because this is what we have to do for our families, we have to move on and continue dreaming, hoping and believing.
And honestly speaking, I don't care as of now about these big things, because our family has got a real challenge to deal with. On Tuesday I received a bad news from my dad that my mom broke her shoulder joint bone. She is going to be operated today, and the surgery is not the easy one. I cannot tell how much scared and worried for her I am because she is not young of course (not old either) and the fraction itself is dangerous but surgery I dread more actually... I pray she stands the operation well and gets fine very soon! She promised she would be fine my summer for sure. My little mom... I miss you so much, and I am sorry I can't be with you right now when you and dad need me so much... I rely on our good friends and family whoever are left in the city to take care of this situation. My papa is a great help to her these days! And I know he always tries to cheer her and me up. He made smile many times yesterday when I was talking to him on the phone.
November is my and my dad's birthday month, and our dates are just back to back. :) How cool is this? :) Next month, December, is also wonderful and magical, and I have started preparing some handmade New year decorations which I will showcase a little later.
Recently I have started following some of the wonderful upcycle ideas by Jill of Creating my Way to Success, and here is what I came up with: my first sock puppy. Hmm, looks slightly creepy but kind of naive too, maybe because of the colour. I have some more bright and cheerful socks to upcycle, so more sock animals to come.

In addition, I am in the process of making an up-cycled clothes purse/clutch/wallet. I absolutely had no plan of HOW to stitch this purse, how to cut pieces properly, so it is rather tacky and totally handmade looking. I am also not sure how to close it and what kind of handles to attach, but I am in love with the idea of re-purposing old clothes. I have also started making T-shirt yarn and probably will make a storage bag - they are really useful around the house.

 To sum up my today's blog post on a positive note, here is a little gift my D got from his colleagues from Russia yesterday. Can you say how happy I am? I have two Russian dolls now! One is a nesting doll with two more inside her, and this one contained a VERY Russian surprise - a small bottle of vodka :P

 So, cheers to life, to our families, to their and our health!

Indian Flowers to Cheer You Up

The summer here is slowly getting to its end. The day has become shorter, and by this I mean that it starts getting visually darker outside already at 6 pm. The nights have finally gained much awaited freshness, however, the afternoons are still hot and humid.
For various reasons I have been feeling sad and low in the past few days. It is not that I have any huge problems in life right now (touch wood) or my life is tough or whatever. Sad news of what is happening around the world, especially in Syria, made me reflect on what is really important in life and what is not, and every day I try to spend being grateful for a peaceful sky above, and the fact that my kid has a privilege of worry and fear free childhood days. Additionally, last week D said that he watched an awareness video about dangers of sepsis, especially in young children, and gave me a link to this blog A Mother Without  A Child and added: "Please, try not to cry". I cannot tell how sad the story of this young woman is. Her writing, the words she uses to describe the loss of her little son and how she is dealing with it (or trying to) couldn't have left my eyes dry.
Since the day I read these blog posts I had been thinking about it everyday, and reconsidered how I sometimes deal with my little A's tantrums and crankiness, and his refusals to listen  to my requests. I should be more patient and more understanding even when it is hard to be. I thought that as much as I love him I still sometimes underestimate how much he is dependent on us and how much we mean to him. Our routine can make us believe that the things are always the way they are and will always be, but it is not true. Everyday is unknown and unpredictable, so I would like simply to enjoy these moments with my family and give as much love as I possibly can...
It was a Green colour celebration at little A's class today, so I dressed him in a green shirt and neon green shoes. Unfortunately my boy was resisting to go to school when we approached it, started crying when he understood I had to go. Finally the teacher came to pick him from the reception and he went with her, still weeping, but in a better mood as she promised a toffee. I know he was fine afterwards, playing with other kids, engaged in activities and so on...However my hearts aches each time I have to leave him like this.
My own mood was lifted up by the abundance of various blooming trees when I reached office. Somehow I didn't notice this yesterday.

 I am not aware of how some of the flowers are called, so you could suggest :) Thank you, and I hope you are having happy and joyful days wherever you are.

Have a wonderful weekend, my friends!

Bonjour!

Nothing much has been happening here. All usual mundane stuff, busy home-spent weekend, busy week ahead, plans for coming up weekend again. Days are rolling and rolling. Little A continues his playschool in a same positive mood, thank god. He learned quite much in just 2 weeks of attending it. W,e in our turn, teach him some things at home too, like colors, counting etc. I try to involve him in Russian books' reading everyday and we learned many Russian words too.  I hope that this trend will continue till his speech establishes properly.

D and I joined French language classes... Hence the post title "Bonjour!" :) Phew! The language is awesome but I barely get time to revise and repeat and learn new lessons. It's been also only two weeks (we joined classes the same day as A joined school) but learned quite a few phrases, and we can read and write (slowly).

On a crafty side, I have been rather slow but on purpose. I said myself not to rush into completing the  blankie but to enjoy making it, one square at a time. I am using a 7 mm aluminium crochet hook of a Russian company "Gamma". These have been the best crochet hooks to work with.

I also managed to create few so to say "side projects". One of them is a long-planned crochet owl!!! Little A picked up that owl сraze his mommy has (we have owls everywhere around the house, including my jewelry, and numerous owls in children's books, lol), so he became very happy when I gave him this:

Should I say that having another owl in our rooms brings enormous joy to me as well :) I have to make few more, probably, as X-mas gifts. In plans to create an autumn leaf garland using this awesome (fast and easy) crochet fall leaves pattern. One leaf  takes hardly 10 minutes to complete. Once I am done with the garland I will definitely showcase it. 

This weekend I should as well buy material for A's cape and a few skeins of yarn for my blanket because some ran out already. Going to be occupied with homely deals as usual. :)

Have a great week!

Big changes for little A

Hello my dear friends! I do hope you all are well and cozy in your homes and your loved ones are fine too. I can smell the Autumn in the air even here, when it's humid and plus 30 :) 1st of September is a Knowledge day across Russia and other CIS countries, when all the kids start a new study year, and many have their first day of school.
We also have started a really big phase in our lives - little A joined a playschool this Monday :) We were a little late for the 1st of September (as per the Russian tradition) because of the viral everyone caught (including A).
Aww... but how it sounds?! He started a playschool! Just a couple of years ago he could only lie down, feed and sleep, and now he is all grown up and dressed in a uniform, feeling independent in his play class. I feel immensely happy and sad at the same time - he is growing up really fast. But he has also become so much interesting now. He speaks a lot, making short sentences. He speaks three languages, Hindi, Russian and English. Calls me "mommy", calls D "papa" - with a stress on the last syllable. Only parents can talk about their kids all the time.
Well, I am glad that little A took this beginning positively - he loves being out in playschool, and teacher said that he is calm in the class, understands and responds to her. He is a little shy with other kids, but will start making friends soon I am sure.

To our surprise the playschool has a Romanian teacher, who happened to be married to an Indian and has been living here for 5 years! And she never met any other foreigners like her before :) We both felt so connected right away and exchanged contacts. 

We (especially me :P) Have become more busy now. I like it though, to get my little A ready for kindergarten, prepare breakfast for him and so on. Feels like I  am a really real mom now :) Hehe. I might share few recipes of his breakfast. What you used to give in a lunchbox for your kids? I would like his meals to be healthy and nutritious.
Here is an example of how I (it  is not me in the picture though) used to dress up when starting my formal schooling at the end of Soviet era. Pretty, isn't it? How different times are now, and my own child has already totally different experience overall, moreover in the Indian kindergarten. I hope he keeps enjoying this fun and learn journey.


Happy day to all! 

Walks in the Rose Garden

Hello and how are you my dears? Phew, the month of March is getting over soon! Where the days are being swallowed? The week starts and it's already mid of it... Not enough hours in a day and not enough days in a week.. Can we invent just one more and call it suppose Extraday? Eh? No I guess this is just imagination...
On a serious note... These days I always think of what is really important in life and what we shall let go... Seeing horrible and scary things happening
around the world, which show that life of someone (including animals) means nothing, what are we left with? Can we make a change?
I am dreading the moment my D turns on the TV... news... nothing positive at all there, he says too... the world will have to come to an end some day... We fear for our little son because things are not looking so good in terms of child safety in India, but then where is safe? No guarantee anywhere. If I was not a parent now it would have been easier to simply live life, but when you have a child all you think of is how to keep him happy and healthy. At the same time one shall be happy too in order to provide a good environment at home, where everyone feels secure and cozy.
Hence I would really prefer concentrating (as mush as selfish it sounds) on my family. Thinking about what happens tomorrow is useless, having fear of all the bad and negative is similarly pointless... That's why I have (and make) one choice which is family.
As I had written before we always visit gardens on weekends. Lately we have been liking the Rose Garden a lot. It has a vast area, beautiful roses to admire, and fountains. The latest is little A's favourite - he loves water in any form and calls it "mam, mam" in Hindi (meaning "water" as here it is called for little kids). Here is the last to last weekend walk, when the weather was slightly cloudy.

I love this kind of color - cream, creamy pink and orange... Next time we visit Rose Garden, I will take more photos of these beautiful flowers.

And the last weekends' walk... Little A likes this garden too, and I think that the pleasant noise of the fountains and overall green surroundings calm him down. He runs in front of us, exclaiming happily with every step.

The waxing crescent... It was so bright!

By the time we were leaving the garden the twilight set in, and we were able to witness beautifully lit fountains.

Yes, it is a good place to divert one's mind and to just walk  and spend precious time with the family.
I realized that I had not posted some very interesting events and occasions during the period I was away from blogging. Like5 days in  Moscow, and visitng my home town. Do you think it is late to do? Or would you like to see the Russian capital? Let me know so I can plan the posts for you my friends.

Have a nice day, and may life be secure and safe wherever you are!

Summer Things

Hello friends! That's right - we have no spring in here, but Summer right away... it has got really really hot already, up to +28! It's not a joke because now it will start getting only hotter. Nevertheless we cannot skip doing our daily deals, right?
Last weekend we as usually took a walk in the garden - a Terrace garden this time for our little A to enjoy new surroundings. He is FOND of the stairs and steps! As soon as he sees them anywhere he wants to climb up and down... We are very careful to choose places where he can do it safely. Under our supervision of course.

The garden had many most bright and cute flowers! As usual I don't know their names...

 This is the longest flower bed there... loved how it stretches further...

We stopped to take photos of this tree somewhere on the way; it has no leaves but huge red flowers! I am wondering what fruits it might give? These trees are everywhere in the city now.

Besides wandering around, I try to be productive on a crafty front. Here is what I put in my To accomplish list - a Waffle stitch dining set for little A. I am using tutorial by Kathleen of Miss Abigail's Hope Chest. Loved this stitch, and wanted to learn it after seeing on Sangeetha's post.

Also as we had bought a 3 in 1 microwave oven, I now can bake! Yey! Here are my latest oatmeal, flour, atta, ginger and turmeric muffins. I am glad that baking products and equipment became available in India in recent years. One can afford them easily as well.

This is pretty much it for today... I aim to finish pending projects in nearest future and start new ones as soon as possible. Thank you for all the comments and sharing of your experience on raising a child in many languages. Next post will try to make on what toddler activities I could incorporate in A's routine, and what didn't work for us. Still working on creating a quiet book for him and busy bags for a future trip home.

Have a wonderful day!

Time for Handmade

Hello dear friends! You might have thought  I wrote such title for this post because it is time to Handmade! yey! ...Oops, no... I meant HOW to find time to handmade?
I would not like to give excuses WHY I have no time to do this, there are many many moms who have more than one child, and still they do  hobbies, go to work, keep the house etc. Well, I am not one of them.
After I come home from office in the second half of the day, I get occupied with my little A, whether it is to make him sleep or give him food, or play with him, or read to him, or simply hug and kiss him.. it continues till evening when my D comes from his work, and I first of all make chai for him. We sit together in the drawing room, sipping milky chai, little A running from us towards the door and back, and we play with him, have fun etc...
Then just a few more moments, and it is time for little A to sleep again... And it is already time for us to go to bed too, because we have to get up in the morning and start the new day...
As mush as I am enjoying every single moment of motherhood, I feel slightly frustrated because I am not able to figure how to still do things which I had been doing before becoming a mother. How to manage time, or when to find time to crochet, sew, draw? I definitely would like to sleep at night... hehe.
But that's all right, I am immensely happy that little A is the reason for me having less time for other things. Let's see maybe when he grows up and will start doing many deals on his own, the situation will change. So far he started eating with spoon by himself, and helps me to dress him up and groom :)) Last Tuesday we had a lovely time with crayons! He enjoyed putting those lines on paper, selecting colors, holding the crayons in his little hands, broke few of them though.

At one point he selected these colors, good combination I must say. So well, actually I am having time for hobbies, now - with little A :)

It was  a Republic day on 26th, and we had a holiday.We went out to the park with little A. I love taking photos there, the light is awesome, colors appear so bright. Little A enjoys open ground a lot, he runs away from us in such a funny way - bending his upper body slightly forward, his hair long and fluffy fluttering because of movement, little feet moving fast on the grass.. my happiness in jeans he is! :)

I am planning on the next post about how we are raising a bilingual (multilingual?)child :) Stay tuned!

Wishing a peaceful and enjoyable weekend to all of you dear friends!!! 

P.S.Some of you have left my blog but I totally understand why , however will be missing you... best of all to you too!