Ek hazaaro me meri behna hai

Today is Raksha Bandhan - a festival to celebrate the pious bond between a brother and a sister. Sisters tie rakhi to their brothers and brothers promise to always stand by their sisters through thick and thin, protecting them against all odds throughout their lives. Well, I have my own questions regarding this. Why should brothers only take the responsibility of standing by their sisters? Shouldn't sisters too make a promise to be there for their brothers and stand by them? What about those girls who don't have a brother? Does that mean they should get a feeling that since they don't have a brother so no one will be there for them?

Having a daughter and a son in a family is indeed an ideal combination. But we never ever wanted our girls to grow up feeling the need of having a brother in their lives. They should have such a strong bond that they don't feel the need of having anyone else in their lives. Anvesha and Anvika don't have a brother, but that does not mean they cannot celebrate Raksha Bandhan. Right from the time Anvika was born we have been celebrating Rakhi with them. It's not about feminism, it's basically questioning the meaning of the festival itself. It's not about a brother protecting his sister, rather siblings protecting each other. 

So on this special day, Anvesha and Anvika tied Rakhi to each other- making a promise that they will protect each other throughout their lives. 

Having or not having a brother doesn't really matter. What matters the most is the special bond that siblings share and grow up knowing that their sibling will stand by them no matter what. And it's that promise that we celebrate as Rakhi.

Quack Quack Party

My butterfly # 2 turned two last week. "Quack quack" was amongst the first few words that she learnt to speak and this girl would jump with joy seeing the ducks at the pond every time we went to feed the ducks. So this year we decided to have a ducky theme for her second birthday party. I absolutely loooovvveeeed putting this theme together and give it a final look. I am so glad it turned out the way I had imagined. Anvika was so thrilled to see all the duckies on her birthday.

To begin with I first made the backdrop frame from pvc pipes. The overall theme was yellow and blue and the whole party decor involved so many DIYs. I absolutely love hosting kids birthday parties. It gives me so much satisfaction seeing my girls' expression when they see the final outcome. I will continue to host the perfect theme parties for my girls year after year. Yes, they will grow up soon and will no longer need me to host their birthday party. They might be even embarrassed to see me around, so thats the reason I want to enjoy this phase of life where I have a say in deciding the theme and overall look.

Here's the final look of the cake backdrop. I think I did a decent job in putting it all together.

Anvika has a collection of duckies in all shape and sizes and we made good use of them on her birthday. We hosted the party at Ebright Creek park. It was a fun filled afternoon. Here's the birthday girl in her lovely red dress.

She was a little overwhelmed seeing so many people and it took us a while to get few good pictures of her.

Finally the birthday cake :)

For the goody bags I decided to give a wooden birdhouse to the kiddos as a thank you gesture

 which they could paint. By the way, these goody bags were decorated keeping the theme in mind :)

The kids loved the bubble machine as there were gazillion of bubbles to pop.

Here's some pinata fun.....

Thanks to everyone who took out time to attend Anvika's birthday party and a very very happy birthday to my darling Anvika.  I absolutely love quacking with you:)

Happy Birthday my Butterfly # 2- ANVIKA

Dear Anvika,

A very happy birthday to you my love. You've been with us for 2 yrs now and I really can't imagine our life without you.  You live by your name, ANVIKA, meaning powerful and complete. You are the perfect kick of happiness and spice to our lives.  You are bossy- yes you are!! Even though you boss around your big sister, pull her hair, even bite her at at times and forcefully sit on her car seat instead of your own, we love you all the more sweetheart.

Here are few things I never want to forget about you. I never want to forget how you smell when you sleep- a mix of baby and a little girl- of sweetness and a little dirt. I never want to forget the way you say, "okay" when we ask you to do something, or the way you wrap you arms around me to hug me. I even don't want to forget the way you will hit and push your big sister- Anvesha and then act like you did not do anything wrong. I never want to forget the fact that you are your sister's tail. You want to do everything that your sister does. All this adds up to the sister bond that you girls share- really.

You are my fearless fighter and I know for sure you are going to light up the world on fire and I will be there to cheer you in every step.

A very happy 2nd birthday to my butterfly # 2. This song is especially for you