Hudson's First Salon-Hair Cut

I've been cutting Hudson's hair up till now because I didn't feel he'd be able to sit still in the chair long enough for someone else to do it. He also is quite the mamma's boy and gets frightened easily. But on Grandpa's last day here, he wanted to get his hair cut and so did Jackson, so I think that gave Hudson the motivation he needed to be big and brave! He did great and sat there still the whole time, making funny faces. He was quite proud of himself when it was over, and the gel that he got to be like big brother. 

Bye bye curls! :( 

That face was too funny! I think he was anticipating some pain.

All gelled up and looking good!

Jackson had to get his spikes to go with the attitude!

Grandpa's visit #2

Bacon, Trains, Ice cream, and Ghandi,

These were the Grandpa inspired themes of the week…Grandpa brought loads of bacon with him to ensure that his grandsons not only know what it is, but that they hold it in as high a regard as he does. Jackson definitely caught on quickly, offering up his “I LOVE bacon” song and dance every morning. I think we’ll be doing damage control for weeks on that beloved tune being limited to our home only. Not sure our neighbors would find it so cute.

Grandpa also shares a love of trains with the boys. He loves them so much, he insisted on riding the train from Bumbai (as Jackson calls it) to our city, even with his hurt and swollen leg, a back-packing bag, 68 lb suitcase, and large box (the easel) for us. When we finally found him on the train platform, he had a sweet (and tiny) porter carrying the 68 lb suitcase AND box on his head. No joke! This man (about Stacy’s size) carried both on his head through the mob of people, up and down stairs, through the parking lot and to the car. He earned his tip to say the least, and about had a heart attack when he saw how generous of a tip it was. But he seriously saved my dad and me with his help.

Train at the mall

 So we set out one morning on a hunt for a miniature train museum in our city. It’s a hole in the wall type place and while the audio that accompanied the show was quite creepy by any standards, the trains and the miniature city were pretty neat. Grandpa bought the boys their first electric train set and invested many hours into teaching them (especially Hudson) the do’s and don’ts of playing with electric trains. (It was pretty humorous for mom and dad to listen to.) They also got to ride a really nice toy train in one of the malls. They actually rode the same one at a mall back in the States before we moved.

Miniature Train museum

Along with our western food binge this week, we had almost a daily portion of ice cream. Hudson is starting to say at every meal, “I make a happy plate, I get ice cream!”

Enjoying some more ice cream!

The last theme of the week was all about Ghandi. Grandpa is an avid admirer of the man and therefore we had to watch the movie this week and listen to lots of Ghandi quotes! We also visited the palace in our city in which he was on house arrest for 2 years (and where some of his remains are & where his wife and friend passed away). It was a really pretty palace, especially the grounds. We had a little Ghandi everyday thanks to Grandpa. Jackson even picked up on some things. The night after Grandpa left, Jackson was told it was time for bed and he said, “But I haven’t gotten to watch Ghandi yet!”

Dad peaking in Ghandi's window

At Agakhan Palace (where Ghandi was on house arrest)

We had a great time with you Grandpa! Thanks for making the journey to us and blessing us so much!

Grandpa's Visit #1

Grandpa John (Stacy's dad) was able to come out for about 8 days of fun this month. The boys were SO excited about it and when I started talking to them about it more, a couple weeks before he arrived, Hudson's first remark was "Grandpa's gonna tickle me!" He said it with the slyest little grin too, it was so precious. They haven't seen him since last November in Vancouver, so they were excited to get their  tickles and grandpa fun.

Poor grandpa had quite the adventure getting here, with his not fully healed broken leg and hauling all sorts of goodies for us. We owe him big time for being our pack mule (he chose the name) even with a gimpy leg. The biggest excitement was over the two sided art easel he brought them. The boys LOVE it and played with it all week. I think it will be a new daily favorite. I'm sure it will come in handy for homeschooling too.

Grandpa had a quick introduction to the Delhi belly so we rested mostly the first couple days. Partly because of that early sickness and partly because of his aversion to tumeric, he only had maybe 3 Indian meals the whole week. He wasn't a fan to say the least, which didn't bother us too much because that meant we got treated to all the best western food in town the whole week :) But even still, he was a big tired of chicken by the end of the week and craving something beefier. (Aren't we all?)

How Grandpa spent the first couple days recovering from his "Dung" fever

He was a bit afraid of anything yellow after this meal. It's one of our favorites  though and a staple here: Dal, rice, Chapati, and aloo gobi (potato and cauliflower)

One of our many icecream indulgences. This one was the most ridiculous and delicious! 

Proof that they are two peas in a pod.

More proof! Look at those matching expressions.

It's too scary how similar they are!

Hudson was in Ice cream Heaven all week long! He's all for making ice cream and chocolate a daily staple.

Homeschool & Play Time

So Jackson is officially a lower KG drop out! We tried Indian school for a little over a month, hoping that it would be a good outlet for Jackson and offer up some more time on mommy's hand for language study. It ended up being another stresser in our life due to a few factors, so after giving it a good try and praying about it, we decided to pull him out and offer a "homeschool" alternative. What's so funny is he's not even 4 yet! India is intense when it comes to school and they start at a very young age. If his school had been merely organized play time and activities (which we hoped for) it would have worked out, but they were wanting him to sit for an extended period of time to write line after line of letters and numbers. That's hard for a 5 year old boy, much less a 3 year old. 

He still needs the structure and organized activities so we're trying to do a relaxed "home school" in hopes that he will also gain a love for learning and look forward to the real homeschool years we have ahead. It's great for me too, because Hudson loves to sit at the table with us and participate, making it easier for me to study a few Marathi vocabulary words here and there. I basically do a routine of these few elements: Alphabet review then activity, Number/Math review then activity, Story and snack time, Art time. We also are going through the BOB books for beginning readers and we usually do that right before bed while we wait for Hudson to go to sleep. I love the fun-learning environment and it's been really good for me to make sure I'm sitting and doing interactive activities with my kids each day. The last year of transition and me always having other big responsibilities outside of the home has not helped me with my desire to sit and interact with them well each day. So "homeschooling" is proving to help in a lot of ways and we're enjoying it! 

Busy at work during "activity time"

Jackson is more enthusiastic about homeschool than this face lets on!

My caterpillar

Brotherly Love in the midst of tunnel wrestling

Back to wrestling

Having a blast!

This picture displays Jackson's awesome photography skills. I need to get him his own camera soon.