Happy Diwali 2017!

This year, the Shah family celebrated Diwali in various ways from celebrating at the boys' school and conducting our annual Dhanteras Pooja and Chopra Poojan with a traditional dinner with Dada and Ba to having a Diwali and Birthday party for Ba at home with all of our Dallas family members!

First we celebrated at Krish and Arjun's school where Mommy led the Lower School and Preschool Diwali celebrations this year!  It was an awesome experience planning the programs, decorating the LS and Preschool entrances with beautiful peacock Rangoli designs (since the peacock is the unofficial mascot of Greenhill), sharing the story and traditions of Diwali with all of our schoolmates and dressing up teachers and administrators in traditional Indian saris and kurtas!  We also shared traditional Indian food snacks like samosas, plantain chips, and mango juice, and many classes, including Arjun's, painted diyas or created their own Rangoli art with Rangoli powder or colored rice!  

Ms. Anita drawing out the peacock design in chalk.

Mrs. Whitfield's class learning about Rangoli  while we
worked on it.

Mommy and Ms. Anita filling in with Rangoli!

The beautiful peacock in a flower.  SO proud
of our work!

Krish helping his art teacher, Mrs. Aidela draw out the design
for the Lower School peacock Rangoli display.

The beautiful finished product!

Susmita, Mrs. Fitzgerald (Head of PS) and I

Mom, Mrs. LaMendola, and I

Mrs. Whitfield's class' Rangoli artwork

Raina's Dad reading Arjun's PreK class the Diwali story 

PreK students painting their diyas!

Ms. Gio and Mr. Browne - PS teachers all dressed up!

Mr. Simpson (Head of LS) with faculty and
students

Krish reading his portion of the Diwali
presentation to the 2nd grade class!

Arjun and Kaia :)

Mommy and Arjun with his Head of School,
Mrs. Fitzgerald in front of the PS Rangoli display!

It was an amazing experience being so involved with the boys and their school for two weeks and being able to share our culture and traditions with all our schoolmates!  I look forward to being involved again next year!

This year we also hosted a little Diwali/Birthday party at home for the first time with all of our Dallas cousins and their little ones!  We got to celebrate Ba's birthday and do sparklers in celebration of Diwali!  I made a nontraditional Diwali meal consisting of sweet potato black bean quinoa burgers, coconut lentil soup, and a quinoa energy salad.  Everyone seemed to like it, so I'll take it as a hit!

Dhruv doing sparklers!

Shreya doing sparklers!

Mommy and Arjun!

Ami Mami and Aayush!

Anupa, Nilaybhai, Dhruv and wiggly Devak!

Dada, Ba, Krish and Arjun!

Dada, Ba, Kyna and Shreya!

Deepa, Vijay and Tatva!

In addition to our many Diwali firsts this year, the boys are participating in the third Annual Diwali Charity Banquet and Show they participate in every year.  They have been practicing their Bollywood routines since September and are really looking forward to performing next weekend!  Of course we, as parents, can't wait to watch!  Their routines have been getting more advanced every year, and it is a family tradition we look forward to every year!  Stay tuned for the post!

Happy Halloween 2017!

This Halloween we enjoyed watching Krish AND Arjun participate in Greenhill's Annual Halloween Parade now that Arjun has joined big brother at Greenhill!  The parade is one of the many fun traditions at Greenhill led by their Head of School, Scott Griggs (as Professor Dumbledore this year!) and the HS Marching Band.  Participants include US Seniors, Lower School, Preschool, and Administration and Staff.  After the parade, we enjoy watching the kids sing in their Halloween Sing Along either on the Meadow or in the gym.  It is so much fun seeing all the kids and faculty dressed up in their different costumes!  I honestly don't know who has more fun: the kids or the parents!

This year Arjun had to be so stoked because his entire class dressed up as his most favorite thing in the whole world: washing machines!  In PreK and K, they make their costumes in class, and since Arjun's class is currently working on their Tie-Dye Laundromat unit, the class made their own tie-dye washing machine costumes!  They were incredibly cute!

After the school Halloween Parade and Sing Along, we got ready to go Trick-or-Treating in our new neighborhood!  Our school friends, Cannon and Piper joined us, and the kids had a blast driving in the truck and trick-or-treating together.  We also appreciated the opportunity to meet some of our new neighbors!  This year, Krish dressed up as a basketball hoop and Arjun (with the help of Mommy and Daddy) made his own washing machine costume at home this year!  He sure was living his dream dressing up as a washing machine.  Everyone loved his costume, and he got a lot of compliments while trick-or-treating!

Krish's Harry Potter 7th Birthday Party!

Last February, we celebrated Krish's 7th birthday at our new home Harry Potter style!  Krish had started reading the Harry Potter series the year before in Kindergarten and fell in love with it just like his Daddy and I did back at A&M.  In fact, Neil and I relived our fond Harry Potter memories and threw the best Harry Potter-themed birthday party for Krish that we could think of!

The party was complete with a Sorting Hat Ceremony (with House color-filled cupcakes), Honeydukes Sweet Shop, Olivander's Wand Shop--where the wand chooses the wizard and a [balloon] levitation lesson given by Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape's Potions Class, and a Quidditch tournament played using homemade Quidditch hoops!  In attendance were, Harry, himself, Ron, Hagrid, Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape, Parvati and Padma Patil, Professor Trelawney and all of Harry's classmates and friends!

The Sorting Hat Ceremony - Happy Birthday Song!

Ba's Appetizer Buffet - The Leaky Cauldron!

Professor Dumbledore and Parvati Patil explaining the rules of
Quidditch to the 1st Years

Professor Snape conducting a Potions Lesson

Quidditch in Action!

Harry and Ron!
(Krish and his buddy, Ariyan!)

Hogwarts 1st Years: Neville,Harry, Ron, and Hermione!
Best of Friends; Best of Schoolmates

The celebration was truly magical with Harry Potter theme music playing, potions brewing in Snape's dungeon, and Chocolate Frogs, Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Chocolate Golden Snitches and of course Butterbeer being enjoyed by all!  It was definitely a day we will never forget and hopefully the most magical birthday for our sweet Krish!  Now we can't wait to have a similar celebration when Arjun becomes a Harry Potter fan!

Arjun and His BF Caroline!

Arjun says his best friend from his 3 Year Old Class at Wesley Prep last year is Caroline!  She is a sweet friend to Arjun and they had many, many exciting play dates together last spring!  She makes us think of the song, "Sweet Caroline".  Here are some highlights from their fun times together!