Happy 5th Birthday to Arjun!

I can't believe our little baby Arjun turned 5 yesterday!  He's growing up so fast!  Neil and I always tell him to stop growing and stay our baby forever! Although, I have to admit, we're both so curious to see where he's headed in life!  He is such a sweet, affectionate, charismatic, and also a bit naughty and stubborn little boy!

His PreK teacher, Ms. P, recently shared the most endearing sentiments with us.  She said that he is a ray of sunshine in their class and such a special child she has the privilege of teaching.  She said she has never had a student like him before.  He engages everyone he interacts with and brings a smile to everyone's face, including his peers, teachers, and administrators.  Daddy and I were also impressed to learn he somehow managed to persuade his classmates to vote for his favorite thing in the world as their classroom unit of study for the fall semester: washing machines and laundromats!  Yep, their study theme these past few months has been all about washing machines!  They even transformed their classroom into a Laundromat for all the school and parents to see, and each student in the class dressed up as a washing machine for the school's Halloween celebrations!  This school year has been nothing short of magical for Arjun, to say the least!

Arjun's Classroom Birthday Celebration!

Daddy reading Arjun's favorite story to his class: Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems

Arjun's classmates singing Happy Birthday to him!

Mrs. Fitzgerald (Head of Preschool) sharing sweet sentiments about Arjun on his birthday!

Arjun's Actual Birthday

Wishing Arjun a very Happy 5th Birthday from his family with yummy donuts for breakfast in the morning! We love you, Juju!!

Arjun's Birthday Party at Pump It Up!

Arjun sure had a fun birthday party bouncing and playing at Pump It Up with all his PreK friends and his family!

Arjun and his best friend in PreK, Alex.

Birthday Boy!

Krishbhai helping Arjun blow out his birthday candles,
as always! :)

3rd Annual Diwali Charity Banquet 2017!

We had a lot of Diwali celebrations this year and a lot to reflect on and be thankful for this past year of 2017!

This year, the charity banquet benefited Bonton Farms, a small urban farm located in an impoverished South Dallas community, called Bonton, that is a food desert (an urban area where it is difficult to buy affordable or good quality fresh food).  The farm is providing jobs in the community and fresh, healthy produce for local residents.  This spring, our little dancers will take a field trip to visit the farm and help plant crops and learn about the farming process!

The boys were in separate dances again this year for Roma Foi's Annual Diwali Charity Banquet.  Krish participated in the older kids' group, "The Diwali Diyas and Dhols", while Arjun was in the younger kids' age group, "The Little Diyas".  Krish performed to a garba-style song called Nagada Sang Dhol (with advanced moves this year!) and Arjun performed to a cute song called Happy Diwali which is was absolutely perfect for a Diwali celebration and performance!  Both boys were super excited to perform and thoroughly enjoyed preparing during the weekly practices leading up to performance day!  They also had a lot of cousins and friends participating this year, including Dhruv, Ariyan, Nyla, Shaan, Simrin, Reian and Niam.  All the kids did a fantastic and impressive job during their dances, and Mommy and Daddy couldn't be more proud!  Thank you to Roma Foi and Kina Auntie for their hard work and putting together another wonderful Diwali program!

Jana Gana Mana on Violin performed by Kina Auntie's daughters.

Arjun's Dance - Happy Diwali

Sevak's Bhangra Dance

Krish's Dance - Nagada Sang Dhol

Krish's Dance - closeup!

 

Mommy, Roma Foi, and Kina Auntie

Daddy and Devak!

Mommy, Binal Kaki, Shefali Foi and
Roma Foi!

Lila and Diya's Visit to Dallas in July!

This past July (2017), Lila and Diya came to visit in Dallas!  With Kyna and Shreya here now, it was quite a second cousins' reunion!  We missed Keshav and Vidya this time!  Together, the kids had a blast swimming, playing at playgrounds, playing games around the house, having sleepovers, running massage parlors, and celebrating Rakshabandhan and Ba's Retirement!  The boys were sad to see their cousins leave, but are super excited for our next reunion in Colorado this summer!

Lila and Diya joined Krish and Cannon at BDB Camp on Friday!

Celebrating Rakshabandan between Kyna, Lila, Diya, Shreya and Krish & Arjun! Also celebrating between Anu Foi and Daddy and Divyang Kaka!

Diya putting a chandlo on Arjun after tying a rakhi.

Diya feeding Krish sweets. (Lindt chocolates!)

Sweet cousins!

 Celebrating Ba's Retirement!  The kids all made a bucket list for Ba by submitting their ideas on Popsicle sticks!

Niru Foi and Siddharth Fua come to visit too!

Sweet cousins, again!

Gotta have pizza after swimming!