Mother's Day Weekend

We spent Mother's Day enjoying Shake at the Lake and celebrating our cousin Raghu's graduation from Emory. Georgia Shakespeare hosts a free play at Piedmont Park each year for the few and the patient audience members who are willing to wake up early and wait in line the same morning of the performance.

Saturday afternoon, we headed out to the park to catch the show. Luckily, Raghu's girlfriend, Carly, is on the Production Staff and held wristbands for our crew so that we didn't need to sit in the morning heat only to return later that night. She's the best!

This year, the play was A Midsummer Night's Dream (William Shakespeare, of course)- love it! Although many of Ram's family members were unfamiliar with the play, I have loved it for over 15 years, so I was excited to share it with Bunny. She enjoyed trying to figure out all the plot lines, why Demetrius and Lysander both want to marry Hermia and then change their minds and both want to be with Helena ('Did they choose to like long hair and not short?' She wondered.) "Where was the magic?" "What is a love potion?" And "why do they keep saying words like blood, hate, and kill?" She didn't catch the word 'ass,' and I have to say that I was a little unsure if I should burst out in laughter or just chuckle to myself at the scenes involving Titiana and Bottom, which were depicted quite over the top! All in all, Bunny really enjoyed herself and the play.

Ram walked the entire lake patting Julesy to sleep, and thankfully he blessed us by remaining asleep until the end. Wonderful way to enjoy a perfectly warm evening in Atlanta!

The play's plot summary in Italiano (fun!) care of IMDb: Monte Atena, nella campagna toscana, agli inizi del Novecento. Egeo, notabile locale, vorrebbe che la figlia Ermia sposasse Demetrio, giovane benestante, ma la ragazza ama, ricambiata, Lisandro. Perciò i due giovani amanti decidono di fuggire nella foresta, dove si sono recati anche lo stesso Demetrio ed Elena, che lo ama inutilmente. Il tutto sullo sfondo dei preparativi per le nozze del duca Teseo con Ippolita. Le vicende si intrecciano con quelle di una scalcagnata compagnia di comici che spera di recitare alla presenza del duca e con le schermaglie fra Oberon e Titania, re e regina di elfi e fate della foresta. Le scorribande amorose si complicheranno maggiormente a causa del maldestro intervento del folletto Puck, paggio di Oberon. Alla fine, come nelle migliori tradizioni, tutto si aggiusta e le nozze celebrate.......saranno tre !

Sunday afternoon, the family and other friends gathered for a backyard lunch. Two days of too much great Indian food and cake crashed my healthy salads diet and ended in a stomach ache. I'm sure it was worth it, as I sure paid for it last night during my 3.5 mile jog.

Julesy's floor bed graduation!

As a treat for Mother's Day, Ram asked me how I wanted to spend my day- as if he needed to ask! Initially, I had an early morning family hike in mind, but as the morning ran away from us, all I really wanted to do was clean and rearrange the house!

We moved a few things around, and as I was revamping Julesy's closet, I opened up the storage and brought out the toddler bed awaiting him. This little gymnast has been climbing onto everything, the latest of which has been Bunny's bed. Climbing that bed and trying to jump on it has nearly killed me of a heart attack too many times this past week, so I though maybe if he had a little height to his floor bed, he'd go for his own bed instead of his sister's.

Here's Julesy enjoying his new bed, while sweet Daddy sleeps on the floor beside him. We've loved every minute of our floor bed experience with Jules. There were nights, when sleep deprived I dreamed of putting the crib together and caging our little man in, but the next morning I found myself so grateful that I'd resisted the urge. The past 14.5 months have convinced me that I'll never have a crib in my home again. I've loved that when he needs us, he's simply made his way out of his bedroom and come into ours to let us know he's awake and there's something that needs our attention. Yes, Jules has probably found a way to get into things much earlier than most kids his age as a result, but that's part of the point, after all!

And... we're back!

I must have completely forgotten about this blog. Or perhaps I was just enjoying life too much! I'm not a huge "journal" type of person, but then I realized- I can later print this out and it would be such fun for the kids (and I) to read at some later date. So here we go, I'm going to try to get back on the horse!

A quick update: Ram and I quickly joined the healthy binge bandwagon this past month. I'm trying my hardest to get a work-out in everyday on top of the regular miles I walk with the kids, and Ram's doing the same. And we've put ourselves on a healthy salad diet. That is, we must eat at least one salad as a meal per day. I'm very excited!! This week I've walked, cycled, pilated, and run some of this body off (I hope!). I guess the next feasible step would be to buy a scale, from which I've normally tried to stay as far away as I can get.

Ram's doing fantastic at Sutherland, enjoying every deal he's pushing. Offshore wind farms are by far the most exciting topic to him at the moment (well, aside from the Braves, as always), and I have to agree. They are truly exciting. I love reading about them with him!

I've taken a position with EurAupair, which I am loving. Here's my new blog for all of those goings-ons (http://euraupairatlanta.blogspot.com/).

Bunny is blowing me away with just how incredible she is doing at school, in swim class, in life, etc. She began staying through the afternoons on Wednesdays in April, which is such a big deal for a 4-year old. We are still loving Montessori In Town, and I'm so glad to have found a school that I consider a long-term home for us!! Her latest work that I love are her metal inset pieces. To see her progression in the precision with which she works is what makes me so proud. She works so diligently on these! I will try to post some of her fabulous work up soon. As far as swimming goes, my baby can seriously swim! She's doggy- paddled as far as 8-9 feet from me to the wall. She received her first ribbon for swimming from her instructor, Bridget, and I cannot tell you how proud she was to share this with Daddy!

And Julesy, well, he's a one year old! He started in on the journey of walking over the past two weeks. Yes, it's finally arrived, on perfect time. He is so proud of himself, and he gets such a kick out of standing up and falling down, standing up, toddling, and falling down again! He just finished his first series of BabySigns, and he's signing so much these days! It is great! We're still practicing Elimination Communication with him, and he loves to sing our homemade signing songs while on the potty. He's up to six teeth- and they are sharp ones! One of his other, unfortunate favorite past times is trying to get a rise out of Daddy and me by biting us. That little stinker. It's true, and it's seriously painful!! But I have to admit, I have a hard time not smiling or laughing afterward because that doll baby gives me his look and I melt. So there it is, yes I guess I'm inadvertently encouraging this behavior.

Life is beautiful! Peaceful! Full of blessings! I'm one lucky mama, wife, woman!

A Lovely October Thus Far...

Aside from the two and a half week killer sickness that struck the kids and me, I have really enjoyed our family time this month! We've managed to visit the Botanical Gardens, pumpkin patch, Imagine It! Children's Museum, the Greek Festival, Concerts on the Square, and a Braves game. My, oh My! Have we been busy! I think the cabin fever resulting from sickness just boiled over and we needed some fresh air- and lots of it !!

Must Recreate !!

I absolutely love J Crew's August catalog cover. I plan to recreate this shot !!

Welcome home!

1111 Clairmont Rd., Decatur, GA 30030

Offered at $132,500; this beautifully renovated 2 Bd/ 1 Ba condo boasts custom craftsman built-in bookshelves, handcrafted Ionic columns, fully functioning wet bar, spacious and outfitted walk- in closets, large jetted soaking tub, hardwood floors, Schlage hardware, and like new appliances. This condo is right outside of the city of Decatur line, therefore you will pay much lower [unincorporated county] real estate taxes. Property includes individual indoor storage unit, deeded parking space, access to outdoor pool and private walking trails.  All appliances, Washer/ Dryer, rugs, dining and accessories included in full price offer. Truly a turn key home.

Homeowners' Association recently completed extensive plumbing systems replacement project throughout community. This particular unit's pipes are upgraded copper. Long time residents and "owners only" policy ensure both homes and grounds are safe, well- kept, and friendly. Beautifully maintained landscaping includes a dog walk, multiple picnic & grilling areas, and new sidewalk renovations. 

Area: Close to the intersection of North Decatur Road and Clairemont Road, you'll be within walking distance to all your everyday conveniences: Publix/ Rainbow Natural Foods, Blockbuster, coffee/ ice cream shops, restaurants, bookstores, dry cleaning, and Cliff/Marta bus routes. The YMCA provides excellent childcare and plenty of fitness opportunities right across the street to boot! Within a mile of Emory University/ Law/ Hospital/ CDC Clifton Campuses and Emory Village to the North. Stroll less than a mile to the South to reach charming Downtown Decatur. Looking for amazing dining and night life hot spots? Head East on Ponce to find the heart of Virginia Highlands only 3.5 miles away. 

Located in the award- winning Fernbank Elementary School District, feeds into historic Druid Hills High (featured in Remember the Titans); High school currently undergoing further renovations including brand new expanded parking area. Within 2 miles of both Arbor Montessori and Paideia School as well. 

Must see to appreciate. Honestly- a hidden jewel!

Sample Costs

HOA: $265/ mo.

Cable: Free

Ga Power: $55/ mo.*

Ga Natural Gas: $45/ mo.*

*Costs incurred when occupying the home all day. If you work away from home during the day, costs would be even less!

Please contact Elizabeth at teamsunkara@gmail.com for more information or to arrange a showing of this property.

Please note seller repainted master bedroom to Restoration Hardware's Atmosphere Blue post photography (depicted below).

Please note seller repainted 2nd bedroom to Restoration Hardware's Buttercream post photography. 

We're F-R-E-E !!

Wow, last week sure threw me for an exhaustion loop. Bun and Jules both came down with a terrible bug, fevers, congestion, crying, screaming, sleeplessness, then overwhelming fatigue, and an earache to boot. I'm so glad the storm has passed for the most part!

I meant to post these a while ago, but what with being caught in mountains of laundry and sweet crying babes, I let go of the posting for a while to focus on family healing. 

Bunny and I walked off to our first "honey suckle search" last week! I love observing her in these wonderful first experiences. She had a ball choosing her honey suckles and gently pulling the delicate threads through to that tiny drop of sweetness. Julian came along for the ride of course, and he enjoyed himself just as much I think. Until of course, we ran out of diaps and Mama got dirty ;) Then it was time to head home...