Sleep

I love to sleep,

I sleep so long.

But only after,

I listen to a happy song.

I snuggle inside,

I feel so cozy.

Hugging my blue blanket,

That is soft and fuzzy!

I dream about,

Being a great teacher.

My dreams are about,

What will be my future!!?

Sleeping is my thing,

Sleeping is my hobby.

If I do not sleep well,

I get a little crazy.

Practice Makes It Perfect!

It was a beautiful spring morning. Allison Hollister finished eating her favorite breakfast, which is French toast. She packed her lunch box, folder and books and put them in her school bag. She then ran to the bus stop and met her best friend Carla Ravell. “Hey Carla!” Allison yelled. Carla wished her back. They both started chatting until Bus 3 pulled up. They got a seat together and continued talking about school and friends. When they reached school, they walked into the classroom and prepared themselves for the day. Their fourth grade teacher Miss Anderson entered the room, greeted the kids and clapped her hands and said, “Class! I have an announcement to make. This Friday, we will have a test.” Some kids groaned. “It is SLAT – Student Level Assessment Test. I have a study guide to help you prepare. Please go through it and see if there is anything you do not know. Be well rested and do your best. Anybody have any questions?” A boy named Marcus raised his hand. “Why are we doing this?” he asked. “Good question Marcus. We do this to see where every fourth grade student stands in their knowledge level. If students need any improvement in any subject, we would know. In addition, the top performer will get a reward. Allison, please pass out the study guides.” Allison passed the study guides out. The day went by quickly. Allison kept thinking about the test all day long.

Allison is an intelligent girl. She is smart, focused, grasps things easily and works hard to improve in areas where she is weak. For example, she had trouble understanding a topic on “magnetism and electricity” in science. She had a lot of questions, but did not have enough time to get them answered in class. She went home and asked her mom if she could take her to the library to get a book on electricity. Her mom was more than happy to give her a ride. She read the book, asked her mom for some answers and finally was very happy to have understood the concept. Allison is very enthusiastic and tries to be the best in everything she does.   

That evening, Allison sat down at her desk at home. She finished her homework and started looking at the study guide for SLAT. She looked at the first problem. “Janice has 7 marbles. Hanna has 23. How many should Hanna give to Janice so they have equal marbles?” She wrote down 8. The rest of the problems were easy. She then went through the ELA and science sections. She found them easy too. She felt confident that she could get through the test very easily. She studied hard every evening of that week. It was finally the day before the test. Allison was wrapping up her work, when her seventh grade sister Megan walked into her room. “Hey, mom and I are going to the mall to see the movie Apollo 18. Wanna come?” asked Megan. But Allison wanted to finish her dinner early and have a good night sleep, so she could be well rested for the next day. She gently replied, “Can we please go to the movie after my test tomorrow? I would like to sleep early today.” Megan agreed.

The next day, Allison woke up bright and early. She got ready and reached the school. The test is scheduled for later in the afternoon. All the students, including the smartest ones, were very nervous. At lunch, Allison talked to Carla about some of the questions she saw in the study guide. Carla was confident that she could do well too. It was finally time for the test. “And you may start now!” exclaimed Miss Anderson. Everyone was working hard and aiming for a full score. After 3 days, Miss Anderson handed back the test scores. Allison was the only one who achieved 100%. Everyone in the class congratulated her for her outstanding achievement. Allison was very happy that her hard work paid off.

That evening, Allison, Megan and mom headed toward New Jersey Shore Mall where a lot of people walked in and out carrying shopping bags. “Let’s stop for food. We can go to the Big Cheese. I heard it is a great place. Dad’s coming too,” said mom. Just then, Allison’s dad came rushing through. They finished eating and found a seat at the theater. They had popcorn and lemonade and enjoyed the movie. When they went home, Allison went into her room and laid down thinking about what other challenges are in store for her. She then reminded herself of the great saying “Practice makes it perfect!” It sure does!!

Making Crafts

Making crafts is so much fun,
The best part is to get it done.

Get your materials, get ready to go,
Put your focus into it and do what you know.

Try your best and do what you need,
Before you know you will be the best indeed!

Fabulous India Trip - August 2011 - Part 6

Day 24 - The End of Trip

On Tuesday, all of us woke up early to get ready to see Sunidhi's school. Kaustubh's dad, Raju mama dropped Sunidhi and Kaustubh at their school. After we said bye to them, he brought us back. We then got ready to go to the planetarium and science museum. Kaustubh's grandma (Bhanu ammamma), ammamma, Pranav and I went in an auto to the museum. In the museum, there were cool games on science. There was one game where you press a button and put a ball in the tube. The ball starts flying because of the air that comes out of the tube. There is also this other game where you climb up the ladder and drop a ball off a ramp and the ball goes down in several loops without falling. There is also a set of 3 mirrors and you have to put your nose on the edge of one specific mirror and move your arms up and down like a bird and on the other mirrors it looks like you are flying. There are more such cool things to see and learn. We drank maaza and ate samosas. We then got tickets for the planetarium. In there, we saw a show on the moon, the earth, planets and stars. There was a lot of details and explanation about them. Then we went to the Birla Mandir too. It is a nice temple. We went to the top where we could see the whole city of Hyderabad. Then we came home and waited for Sunidhi to come home. We played in Kaustubh's house and after dinner we went to Sunidhi's house. We did something called "sand art" where there were a few stickers on a picture of an owl and we had to pour colored sand on the sticky part where we took the stickers off. Once it was complete, it looked very colorful. Then we slept.

On Wednesday, we played in Kaustubh's house until Sunidhi came home. In the evening, after Sunidhi came, we went to my mom's school playground. We all played there for some time. There was a gigantic slide which I loved. We ate dinner at Kaustubh's house and went to Sunidhi's house for a sleepover.

On Thursday, after lunch, daddy came and we took a train to Akash's house. Akash gave us candies. We took an auto to Pavan mama's parents' house. We thought of going to an exhibition but then it started raining. Daddy ordered pizza with panneer on it. We ate and slept over there.

On Friday, we went to Saranya's house. We went out to a restaurant called Hyderabad house and ate some good food. There were this flat skinny chapathis which were very good. When Saranya and Aishwarya akka came, we watched my dance program video. Then we ate spring rolls and soup for dinner. It was very yummy. We slept over there and the next day we went on a bus back to Kaustubh's house.

On Saturday, we were planning to go to Eat street. But daddy took us to another thathagaru's house. We ate pooris. We came back to Kaustubh's house.

On Sunday, we got a call from daddy saying that there was a big hurricane in Boston. So, we postponed our trip which was supposed to be on Monday to Wednesday. That day thathagaru came from PPalli. Sunidhi came over and we took 2 autos to go to Eat street. We rode in a train that goes round and round. We went on a carousal and some roller coasters. We saw bull fighting. After that, we got on a boat to go to Buddha statue. While we were on that island, thathagaru was getting popcorn for us and it started raining heavily. We rushed back to the boat which would take us to Eat street. We ate Raj kachori, pani puri, french fries, pizza, cotton candy and icecream with chocolate syrup. Our tummies were full. Sasmith mama came to pick us up in his car. There was not enough space, so Sunidhi sat in the trunk of the car. That was fun. We slept at Sunidhi's house.

On Monday, Sunidhi took a day off from school to go to the IMax theatre. We all went with ammamma and thathagaru. We played video games and then we went to NTR gardens. We walked along the trails and played in the park.
We came back home after that.

On Tuesday, we left for Abhilash's house in an auto. We were very sad to leave Kaustubh, Sunidhi, Sumedha and other cousins. We got there and ate dinner and slept.

On Wednesday, we left to the airport to take our flight back to Boston. When we got there, we came to know that we did not have confirmed seats. So, we had to reschedule our flight to the next day. We went back to Abhilash house. Daddy's grandma got sick and had to go to the hospital.

Thursday was Ganesh Chathurthi. Abhilash's daddy, Pranav and I went to the shop to buy colored Vinayaka statue, fruits, veggies and leaves for decoration. We came back and did the pooja. Later in the afternoon, we packed our suitcases to leave and went to the airport. That was our last day in India. We took the flight to Boston and reached home on Friday.

We miss all our cousins there. We had lots of fun during this trip to India. We would like to go back and play with our cousins again.

Fabulous India Trip - August 2011 - Part 5

Day 15 - Day 23
Sunday and Monday were lazy days. Monday, Aug 15th, was India Independence Day. On this day in 1947, India got freedom from the British. Since all the shops are closed, we just stayed home and played. It was so hot those days, so we stayed in the A/C rooms. On Tuesday, we went to a few shops and bought dresses for mom. We came back and ate dinner. On Wednesday, we just stayed home. On Thursday, Bharathi ammamma came to PPalli and we went to do some saree shopping. In the evening, a rikshaw came and took us for a ride. A rikshaw is like a tricycle which pulls people sitting on a wooden platform in the back. It felt bumpy. We had noodles for dinner and we were so tired, we went right to sleep. On Friday, we went to a picture printing shop. We also went to a shop where they sell steel vessels. We took a rikshaw to go to the shop to pick up the stitched dresses. We took an auto to go to an aunty's place. Thathagaru picked us up in his car and we went back to the shop to pick up some remaining dresses. While we were there it started raining. Then we went back home. The next day Pranav and I took pictures with ammamma and thathagaru all around the house. Bamma came from Ongole to go with us to Hyderabad. A car came to drive us to Hyderabad. The road was very bumpy and in one place, our luggage from the top of the car hit a sign near the railway tracks and the whole thing, including the rods attached to the car, fell down. It took one hour to fix it. We started again. I ate mangoes and pomegranate in the car. We passed and saw the Nagarjuna Sagar Dam. It was cool to see the dam. Right after we passed that, we went to a fancy restaurant. I ate Chinese pulao and Manchurian. It got dark by the time we reached Hyderabad. We slept in Abhilash's house. On Sunday morning, we started to go to Kaustubh's house for lunch. Halfway thru, we noticed that we forgot our passports. So, we went back to get them. And we finally reached Kaustubh's house. We did a puzzle and took a few pictures. We ate lunch and my mom had to take her flight back to Boston. Thathagaru and daddy dropped her off at the airport. While coming back, daddy got us burgers and while eating we watched the dance performance video.

We walked over to Sunidhi's house. We played duck, duck, goose. We slept over at Sunidhi's house. We woke up the next morning and by the time we woke up, ammamma went to Kaustubh's house to get all our clothes and stuff. We took bath. It was Krishna Ashtami that day. Sunidhi and Kaustubh did not have school. Sumedha's baby sitter made noodles for all of us. We ate and played a bit. We ate lunch and waited for Sumedha to sleep so we could go to Kaustubh's house. At one point, we thought she was sleeping and tried to get out. When we got out the door, we started dancing. But Sumedha saw us and came out to dance too. So that did not work. We tried another plan by putting the shoes at the back door and sneaking out from there. We walked back to Kautubh's house. I ate pomegranate. Pranav ate a banana. We played and slept there. Sunidhi went back to her house.

Fabulous India Trip - August 2011 - Part 4

Day 10 - Day 14
We woke up early in the morning and took a taxi to Tirumala. It was on a big hill. It is made up of 7 hills. The ride to the top was very quick. It looked like everything on the ground was getting smaller as we were going up. After we rested for a while, we went shopping. We stayed there overnight. The next morning we went to the temple. We saw Venkateshwara Swamy there. Then we went down the hill and went to a place called Kanipakam where there is Ganapathi. Then we went to another place called Sripuram where there is a Golden temple. It was covered in gold. It was beautiful. We then went back home. It was late in the night.
On Friday, it was Lakshmi Puja. It was very hot and there was no power. We were all sweating head to toe. We finished the puja, ate lunch and then went to Ongole. We went to my dad's house and Saketh's grandparent's house. That evening we went shopping. The next day I did a dance which was unexpected. We met another cousin, Pranav there. He is 8 years old. We named one as Pranav B and the other one as Pranav A. We went to a restaurant called "Ramya" for lunch. Pranav A and Pranav B played a lot and got along together. They became best friends. Pranav A showed Pranav B a car game on dad's phone. We went to another grandma's house and spent some time. She is Bharathi ammamma. We ate kaarappoosa. Daddy and bamma came over. And then we went to another grandma's house. That night we went back to ammamma's house.

Fabulous India Trip - August 2011 - Part 3

Day 7 - Saturday
On Sunday evening we were going to have a get-together with all our cousins and some of my grandparents' friends. In preparation, we went to see the function hall. It was in a beach resort in Chirala on the coast of Bay of Bengal. It was very nice. It had a great dinner hall and it had a big spacious A/C auditorium. It was very hot that day. There was a humungous swimming pool in front of the hall. It was right on the beach and the view was awesome from the hall. There were tall trees all around. There were some cottages so people can stay there overnight. After checking the hall, we went back home.

Day 8 - Sunday
Today was going to be a big day as all our cousins are coming to my ammamma's place. They started arriving at around 8AM. As soon as Sunidhi, Sumedha and Kausthubh came, we all took bath and got ready to eat breakfast and play. We had 3 options for breakfast - idli, dosa and poori. I ate Poori because I liked the yellow curry with it. There were 3 little baby cats in the backyard. We all went to see them. Then we rode on the bicycle, which was my mom's, when she was little. We all took turns. Lots of grandmas and grandpas started arriving. Then my other cousins Ananya, who is 6 years old and Amay, who is 10 came. We all played games that I got from USA. We had lots of fun. We all ate lunch together as a group. Then it was time to get ready for the party. Ananya's mom and Sunidhi's mom painted our nails with nice pretty colors - purple, pink and silver. Amay put lipstick on his cheek and forehead, just for fun. We wore nice party dresses like Chudidhars, pavadas and evening gown. The boys wore sharvanis. We went in a lot of different cars to the function hall. I went with Sumedha, Ananya and their moms and Pranav came with us. During the car ride, we talked about our schools.
We all reached there on time. Some of our relatives helped set up the stage by putting up the flowers and a poster that had my pictures with dance poses. Ammamma designed this. It looked fantastic. I did some dances, sang songs and played on the recorder. Sunidhi and Sumedha sang some songs too. Kausthubh said slokas and Ananya did a dance. A couple of friends did some dances too. It was like a talent show. Thathagaru gave prizes to all of us. I got a cool barbie doll and a trophy too. Then we had dinner. I ate bondas for snack, fried rice, roti and curry and some sweet for dinner. There was icecream too, but I could not eat as I was full. We went up to the cottages to change into our pajamas. We were all so tired. We went right to sleep.

Day 9 - Monday
We woke up early to go to the beach. We changed into our swimming suits and put sunscreen on. We then walked over to the beach. We first went into the water and splashed around for a while. Then we played a hopping game. We then washed ourselves in the shower outside and went into the swimming pool. We swam and had a couple of races. Daddy helped Pranav swim. We then got out and dried ourselves. We then took bath. We all ate roti for breakfast. Sumedha ate a banana. Thathagaru came to pick us up and took us all back home. We all played tag and other games. We ate lunch and continued playing. Ananya and Amay left in the evening. Sunidhi and Sumedha left in the night. We watched TV for a while and slept.

I can never forget these 2 days. They were memorable. We had so much fun as a group. I wish I could have played with them longer. I bet they had fun with me too.

Fabulous India Trip - August 2011 - Part 2

Day 3 - Tuesday
Today we did more shopping. We also bought dance jewelry. We picked out more dresses and went to our cousins Sunidhi and Sumedha's place in a taxi. We played a lot of games. I tried to teach Connect Four to Sunidhi. We played a game where we all sat in a circle and one person ran around and dropped a cloth behind somebody. When the person said "look", we all looked behind and whoever had the cloth now tried to tag the person who put it. It was a nice game. We had dinner at their house. Madhura attha, who is Sunidhi's mom, made Pav Bhaji. It was delicious. Sasmith mama, who is Sunidhi's dad, gave us all a ride on his scooter. Sunidhi and I sat in the back, while Pranav and Sumedha stood in the front. It was fantastic. We took pictures while eating and playing. Then we went home in a taxi.

Day 4 - Wednesday
Today, we just took rest. From all the previous days, we did so much shopping that we were so tired. So, we stayed at Abhilash's house and played games. Later in the evening, we all went to Chennai shopping mall. It was gigantic. There were so many varieties of clothes. After Abhilash came home from school, I showed him my "Illusions" book. He liked it.

Day 5 - Thursday
Today, we went to 2 other places. First, we went to my dad's cousin sister's place. There was a 5 year old boy there with who we played outside. Then, we went to Aishwarya and Saranya akka's house. We ate yummy chinese food for dinner. Pranav fell asleep and did not eat much. It was a long drive back to Abhilash's house.

Day 6 - Friday
Today morning, we started our next leg of the journey. It was to my mom's place where ammamma and thathagaru live. First, it was a 6 hour journey to a place called Vijayawada where we went to see our apartment. It was on the 9th floor and the view from there was awesome with lot of fields around. Ammamma, thathagaru and Lalitha ammamma came to meet us there. They brought some snacks for us. We ate those snacks and then started another 2 hour journey to ammamma's place. On the way, we ate dinner at a restaurant and finally reached home. It was night time, so we all slept immediately.

Fabulous India Trip - August 2011 - Part 1

Day 1 - Sunday
Today, at 6AM, we landed in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India. We took a taxi from the airport to my dad's uncle's place. I saw my cousin Abhilash there. I also saw my dad's grandparents. For lunch, we went to a restaurant called Tabla with my cousin. Tabla means an instrument which is like a drum. The sad part was I did not eat as I fell asleep. Afterwards, we went to buy a saree for my bharathanatyam dance dress. It was a pattu saree which we had to give for stitching the next day. I picked dry orange color with red border. Then we went home and took rest.

Day 2 - Monday
Today we went shopping for dresses for my mom and myself. We also went to the dance dress tailor for the measurements, so he can get that ready. We ate a late lunch at a Chinese fast food restaurant. Then we took an auto to go to our cousin's place. An auto is a motor vehicle with 3 wheels and open on the sides with no doors. It cannot carry much weight. Around 5 people can sit in this auto. I met several cousins there including Spoorthi akka, Kausthubh who is 6, Sunidhi who is 8 and Sumedha who is 2. Pranav slept on his way there. He woke up after some time and played a lot with Kausthubh with all his toy cars. Like Pranav, Kausthubh too loves cars. He has a big collection of several different types of small toy cars. We all went to a very nice restaurant called 1947. The food there was awesome. It rained heavily that day. After dinner, Sunidhi's dad dropped us at Abhilash's house.

The Art Contest

Mary Colman is 8 years old. She lives in Canton, a Boston suburb, with her parents and 13 year old brother Michael. She goes to 3rd grade in her town school. Since she lives very close by, she usually walks to school, whenever the weather is good.

One day, as she reached school, she went to room 106 and her teacher, Ms. Drup said, “Hi Mary, do pages 64 and 65 in your math journal.” “OK. Thanks”, said Mary. She went over to her desk and took out her math journal. That day’s lesson was on multiplication. She is very good at math. All the problems seemed very easy. She finished all her work in 5 minutes. She then double checked and waited for the other kids to finish.
“Now kids,” Ms.Drup said. “Let’s correct the pages we did. Jessica, please tell me what 9x12 is.”
“Sure. It is 108,” said Jessica.
“Good work! Marcus, what is 10x10?” asked Ms. Drup.
“Um-Um...”
“Ring”
“Lunchtime!” yelled the kids.

At lunch, Mary sat next to her friends, Sabrina and Brianna. Her friend Olivia sat across from her. Mary’s mom packed her a cheese-burger, an apple, and a chocolate chip cookie. They all talked about what they were going to do for the weekend. After lunch, they went out to recess for 15 minutes and played on the swings. The 4 friends were swinging as high as the sky and they all loved that experience. The students then came back inside for their reading time. Ms.Drup read chapter 8 of Ramona’s World. When the children were going home, Mary saw a sign on the wall. It said:

Art Contest.
We accept any type of artwork.
Theme is NATURE.
Send in your artwork by March 27, 2011.

Mary was so excited! She loves art. This would be the first ever opportunity to show her art skills. She ran home and told her mom about it. Her mom asked her to think about what kind of paints and colors she wanted to use. Mary decided to use watercolors. She took out a 17inch x11inch sized paper. She started painting trees and leaves when her brother, Michael, asked her, “Hey Mary. What are you doing?”
“Just, trying to do something for the art show.”
“OK. See ya!” Michael left Mary alone so she could focus on her work.
Mary continued drawing grass, birds, flowers, rocks, mountains, hills and valleys.
She made a few attempts before she finalized what picture she wanted to submit for the contest. She showed her rough work to her mom, who suggested a few changes here and there. She then made a final copy and painted the picture with bright beautiful watercolors. The next morning, she gave the artwork to the principal, Mrs. Oster. “Thanks Mary. Bye!” she said.

Mary was very happy that she could submit a piece of her own for the art contest. The next day was the assembly to see who won the contest. Mrs. Oster got on stage. She cleared her throat and began, “Hello children! Our art contest is a big success. Several of you have participated and submitted excellent pieces of your imagination on nature. We had a panel of judges who went over each and every piece of art work. They had a tough time to choose the winners. In my opinion, each one of you is a winner. You took the time and effort to come up with such masterpieces. But we had to choose only 3 winners. And I will give out their names now. The Third place goes to Patrick Maguire. Please give a huge round of applause.” There was a lot of clapping from the audience.
“Now,” continued Mrs. Oster. “The Second place goes to Brandon Sico. Another round of applause, please.”
Again there was lot of clapping after which, the audience went silent to hear the first place winner. Mrs. Oster paused for a moment and announced, “The First place winner’s work was very neat, simple, and the illustration was very clear. All the elements of nature were excellently captured with the right colors. It was an awesome scenery to look at. And now…I present the first place winner…Mary Colman!!!”
There was a thunderous applause from the audience and Mary could not believe what she had just heard. She ran up to the stage to get her award. The panel of judges congratulated her. She thanked all of them and waved to the audience before getting down, to hug her family and friends. They were all very happy for her.

This was the best moment of her life! This day and event was a motivation and inspiration to do many more good pieces of art work. She would never ever forget that day. She wanted to be an artist in life and wanted to take more art classes to improve her skills.
Whenever she found some free time, she would just pick up a paper and think of something to draw.

Fantastic Day

Last Saturday was BigHelp's republic day event. I spent most of the day participating in Spelling and Math Bee and I also did a dance called "Swagatham Krishna". Saketh also participated in the bees but in a lower level. One of our teammates could not make it to the event on time, so we had to do the dance without her. Then, when we were changing after the dance, we saw her. I felt bad that she had to miss it.

Lesson: Always be on time. Some of the moments are so precious that you don't want to miss them.

Summer Sights

Summer Sights are here,
There are many things to hear.

The birds are chirping,
The crowd is clapping.

The coldness went away,
The sun is shining today.

What could be so fun,
If we did not have a run.

On this beautiful day,
Oh, dont go away!

School

School is a place,
Where students go,
To learn new things,
Or what they already know.

School is a place,
Where teachers work hard,
To teach all students,
No matter how tough they are.

My Christmas Vacation

My Christmas break is going well so far. Even though I like school better than staying home, it has been the opposite these days. Let me tell you how. It all started when my mom told me that she was going to stay home every day of my vacation. Then as the break started, we started playing all sorts of games together, like Monopoly, Blokus, Candy Land, Chinese Checkers, Air Hockey, Billiards, Checkers, and more! We are exploring all kinds of games in the house. My little brother Pranav too has been playing with us very well. He seems to now understand how to play board games. Dad joins us in playing Blokus.
Now it's coming to New Years' and I can't wait to see what is in store. We are going to Saketh's house.

Happy New Year!
Stay Cool!
Holiday Lover.

PS. I got jingling snowman friends (ear rings) for my mom from holiday shopping in my school.

Missing The Year

The year goes by really fast.
It doesn't have a chance to say,
Good Bye or I'll miss you.
Never at least a single day.
It changes every 365 days,
It makes a big difference every time.
To leave it or another,
It is like a nanometer to a dime.

Vacation is done - School is fun

Vacation is almost done,
The kids will soon be in school.
They will meet their new teachers,
It will be really fun and cool.
The parents are so worried,
what the little ones will do.
Teachers take good care,
They look forward to see you!

The sleepover at Alexa's

After one rainy afternoon, Alexa and Fiona were getting ready to play a nice game of soccer. Their friend Polly wanted to join them. She had a purple soccer ball. "Let's play", yelled Fiona. "Yup!", said Alexa. "Comin!" called Polly. Then they remembered that the field was wet. While they were stretching, they had to touch the grass. "Yuck!", said Polly as grossly as she could. After, they decided they would play some other time when the field is dry. So, they planned to go to Alexa's house for a snack and a sleepover. They called their parents to see if they could go. They agreed and said "Ok, we will see you tomorrow".

They all love Macaroni and Cheese for dinner. So, Alexa's mom made it for them and then they had ice cream for dessert. They played a game called "Monopoly". They also played Bingo and Checkers. They talked about interesting things in school and discussed their summer plans. After a while, they felt sleepy and they slept.

The next day, they all got ready and had breakfast. They had pancakes with maple syrup. The field was dry. So, they ran out to play some soccer. They practiced passing the ball and dribbling. Some other friends in the neighborhood joined them and they all had a joyful time playing together.

Alexa, Fiona and Polly went back in for a shower. Meanwhile, Alexa's mom cooked their favorite lunch, which was Chicken noodle soup and sandwich.

Alexa thanked Fiona and Polly for coming over. They decided to meet more often for sleepovers.

Lesson: It is nice to have wonderful friends.

Spring is Fun!

Spring blooms as you see,
We all say "Hoo hoo hee!".
Everyone goes out to play,
Every single, single day.
Winter runs down the street,
We have friends that we can meet.
Come join in with us too,
We have fun things planned for you.
We play games, oh so fun,
We go out, and jump and run.
Spring is happy, winter is sad.
Now I hope, you aren't so mad.
Goodbye skating and skiing,
Welcome soccer and swimming.
More fun stuff on the way,
Lots of joy everyday.

My Baby Brother

Once upon a time, there was a girl named Anvitha. She really wanted a cute little baby brother to play and have fun with. "Mom", said Anvitha, "Can I please have a brother with shiny, soft hair?". "Sure", said mother with a smile on her face, "what do you want to name him?". "I want to name him Pranav", said Anvitha. "When are you going to the hospital?" she asked. "I will go tomorrow", said mother. "Who will be with me?" asked Anvitha. "Grandma will be with you", said mom.
Anvitha slept that night thinking about the little brother and how she can play with him. Mother went to the hospital at 5.15 the next morning. After my brother was born, mother had to stay in the hospital for a few days. I was very excited to see my brother with thick hair and cute little feet and hands. He looked exactly like me. But he was too small to play with. Soon, baby and mom were home. He started growing very fast. And soon, he became very playful and naughty.
At last, Anvitha said with a smile "I Love Pranav".

March Comes In Like a Lion And Goes Out Like a Lamb

Do you know what the saying "March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb" means? If you don't, I will tell you.
Lions are rough and fierce. And so is winter.
When it is March, it is still winter. As it begins, it is snowy, slushy, rainy, wet and freezing. The temperature is about 20 degrees F to 40 degrees F. Do you like it or not? I dont't. Remember it is like a lion.

Towards the middle, it is almost spring. Soon, it is March 20th. "Yippee!!". It is getting warmer. I start to like it. Now the temperature is in the middle of 40 degrees F and 60 degrees F. Remember, it is now more like a lamb because it is very mild and soft.

Do you know what the exciting part is? It will be summer soon. We will be all joyful. Won't you? I will. Now, we can enjoy swimming, summer sports and other favorite hobbies. I hope you all have some fun over vacation.

The Easter PlayDate

One fine day, Julee just woke up. It is almost April and spring is in the air. Julee got out of her bed and looked at her calendar. “It’s Easter!” shouted Julee. She was so excited. She went to her mother’s room and whispered, “Mom, today is Easter!”. “Okay, Okay”, said Mother, in a sleepy voice. “Did you hide the Easter eggs?” asked Julee. “Oops, I forgot!”, said Mother. “What???” yelled Julee. “Ssshhh!” whispered her mother. But by that time her little brother, Dan, woke up. “Waaaa, Waaaa” cried Dan. “See??” shouted the mother. “Sorry mom!”, said Julee.

Then the kids brushed, ate their cereal and took bath. They started doing an Easter word search. “Kids, come down, the Easter eggs are ready!” called their mother from downstairs. “It’s time to work together, Dan” said Julee. They ran downstairs and began hunting for the eggs. They searched the living room, family room and finally found the first one in the book shelf in the library, the second one under the dining table and the third one in the kitchen pantry. They found some more in their backyard. They put all their eggs in the Easter baskets, which had “Happy Easter Dan and Julee!” written on them.

That afternoon, Dan and Julee had a play date with their friend, Kate, who lives next door. Their mother packed some Easter presents for Kate and her pet parrot named Singo. After they played for a while, they exchanged gifts and talked about their Easter egg hunt. They talked about how much fun it is to hunt for Easter eggs every year. Then they had yummy blueberries and whipped cream for snack. Kate loved the Webkinz that Julee gave her. They played with it for some time. Then they all played with the Monopoly that Kate gave Dan and Julee. Then Singo said hello to the kids. Everyone was amazed at how a parrot could talk. They shared some interesting facts that they learned in school about parrots.

They were having loads of excitement and fun. “Kate, can you please teach Dan and Julee how to play Pictureka?” said Kate’s mother. “Just a minute”, said Kate. She went upstairs to her room to find the game. She searched in her toy bin and found it at the very bottom of the bin. She brought it downstairs and then all of them were ready to start playing. Kate explained all the rules of the game and how to play. Towards the end of the game, Dan became cranky because he was too sleepy. He started making a mess by throwing away all the game cards around the room. His mother took him away and put him to bed. Kate and Julee resumed playing the game. “I love this game!” exclaimed Julee. Kate was winning so far. But after some time, Julee started playing well and she went into the lead.

The fun continued until it was time for both of them to go to their close buddy, Amy’s birthday party. They both got ready and headed to the party. “Welcome to my birthday party”, said Amy in a sweet voice. “Happy Birthday, Amy!” shouted Kate and Julee. All the kids had already gathered around the table for the cake cutting. The cake was strawberry shortcake and was decorated with pink flowers and hearts. It had peaches and strawberries on top. Amy cut the cake while everyone sang the birthday song. The kids ate pizza, cake and played “Musical Chairs”, “Tailing the Donkey” and “Limbo”. Then they tried to hit the Horse Piñata. Everyone collected candy, ate 2 pieces and thanked Amy for the wonderful party.

When Julee and Dan came home, their mother helped them take bath, and put on their pajamas. They were very tired after a full day of fun activities. They got onto their beds and said good night to each other and their mom, and slipped into their dreams. It was an awesome Easter day for both Julee and Dan.

Amy's New Pet

Amy wanted a new pet. But when she asked her parents, they said no. She waited and waited. She couldn't decide which pet to get. Amy couldn't stop thinking about it. She knew that her parents would say no everytime she asked for it. "Please mom, can I get a pet", asked Amy again. "No honey", said mother. She begged and begged. The next day, Amy went over to her friend Nicole' house for a playdate. Nicole had a pet parrot named Singo. "Why did you name her Singo?", Amy asked. "I named her Singo because she has a beautiful voice when she sings", said Nicole. After the playdate, Amy went back home and told her mother that she would like a pet parrot. "Oh, ok, you can have a pet parrot, that is easy", said her mom. When she got her singing pet, the family loved it. They lived happily ever after.

Ryan and his lost tooth

Once upon a time there was a boy named Ryan. He is nine years old, but he did not lose a tooth yet. "Mom, when am I going to lose my first tooth?", Ryan asked. "Oh, you will lose it soon", said mother. He waited and waited. "It sure is going to take a long time", thought Ryan. The next morning he ate an apple for breakfast. "Crunch, crunch, crunch", sang Ryan. "TTTTT", his tooth fell on the table. "My tooth! My tooth! I lost my tooth!". Ryan was so excited. He told his mom and all his friends about his lost tooth. "Great!" shouted his friends. They were all very happy for him. That night, the tooth fairy came and gave him 15 dollars. That day was his best day in his life.

Note: This is based on my real experience when I lost my first tooth when I bit into an apple.

How to keep a pet dog!

1. Keep the dog nice and safe.
2. If it is hungry, give it some dog food. Mix the right amount of water and food. Make sure you do it at the same time every day.
3. Give it some toys to play with. Include the bone too.
4. Take it for a walk so it can spend some time outside. It is good to do in summer.
5. Keep the dog nice and clean. Give bath everyday. Do not keep it dirty.
6. Have fun with the dog!!!

Kate And Lily's Playdate

Kate and Lily were friends. They went to the same school and they were in the same class. One day Kate said to Lily, "Why don't we have a play date one day?. "Oh sure, why don't we have it this Sunday." So they both made an agenda of what they want to do when they meet. Finally, they had their playdate. They played with dolls, stuffed animals, and they played outside. After they both got home, they didn't have another playdate for three months. But they still see each other at school and always think about having another playdate.

Lesson: If you want a friend, be a friend.

Winter Snow

The winter snow,
Falls and falls,
It never stops.
Until you plow,
We slip and slide.
It's so much fun,
Outside in the snow.
Building snowman with friends,
Drinking hot chocolate with family,
That is how I like to spend my time in the snow.

Sam's First Day Of School

It was Sam's first day of school.He was very nervous.
"Don't worry Sam", said his mother. "You'll be alright", said his father. When he caught the bus, Sam looked in his bag. "My lunch, my lunch! Stop, stop!" cried Sam. When he got to school, he told his teacher about the problem. "I see, I see. We will look for it", said the teacher. "Probably, you can look in all the pockets of your bag, Sam", suggested the teacher. Sam looked in all the pockets and finally, he found his lunch box in the third pocket. "Hurray! My problem is solved", shouted Sam and thanked his teacher. Sam was very happy!

Lesson: If you can't find something, relax and think about it. If you still can't find it, ask for help.
Date: 12/23/09