Benny Ben turns 2!

He may be 2 today, but he will always be our Baby Ben!  We love you our happy, silly, sneaky, smart, lovable boy!

Auntie Raji was here from NYC to help celebrate Ben's birthday:

Family Picture 1 is entitled "Bunny in face"

Family Picture 2 is entitled "One picture too many for Nate"

 We celebrated Ben's birthday with the Arnolds and Ludlows.  We had brunch on the Kirkland waterfront and then went to a children's play - A Little Mermaid.

Iyer and Ludlow kiddos: Nate, Ben, Matt, Grace, Cameron, Riley

Kelby joined in for this pic!

 And today we celebrated with our traditional dinner at Red Robin followed by rainbow chip cake w/ m&m's.

So happy to see Daddy at Red Robin!

Happy birthday dear Benny Ben!  You are a blessing!

Spring has sprung!

It's time for a little April catch up!

Mesh took off the same week the kids and I had Spring Break so we had a lovely staycation going to parks, playing outside, and heading down to Gig Harbor for a night.  Here we are at the Point Defiance Zoo, the Harbor and our all time favorite place-Ben & Jerry's.  Staycation was great!

With the ones I dreamed of when I was little in my favorite place to dream...the end of the dock on the harbor (of course the dock was a bit shorter back then). :)

Ben tired out from all the fun!

Here's some other fun we had in the April sun and showers:

Ri helping mom attempt to fix up the yard. 

Nate at Pizza and Picaso night at a local art studio.

Nate's first tball game!

Nate and Ri at the first soccer practice of the season.

Riley and her friend Isabella at a beach/park play date. So sweet!

Sunshine!

And Noni has arrived!! Lots of fun times to be had this weekend with our Nonistar!

Short video:  Ben loves his Dora book!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! 

Love, The Iyers

Dyeing Easter eggs

Science Fair!

Nate participated in the Grand Ridge Science Fair this year!  He had a great time coming up with the topic "How many sides can a polygon have?", exploring the topic by drawing polygons and then using google w/ mom's help, and coming to the conclusion that there is no limit.  Then he lobs this discovery at me, "Mom, the more sides a polygon has, the more it looks like a circle."  I admited to him that I never knew that before and told him stories about how I always worked hard but math came pretty easy for me until I got into college. Then I used to stare at the page because none of it made any sense at all but luckily my dear friend and roomie Janine and Ramesh from down the hall were there to help me and I worked hard and made it through.  My round about point was that things won't always come easy so whats more important is the effort and process but he stopped me in my rambling and said he was probably going to be like Neen and Dad. Hahaha! I think so too! :) Note to self: not every moment needs to be a teachable moment.  Sometimes it's okay to give a high-5, a "you rock" and move on!

The night of the science fair was great!  In addition to the kids amazing projects on display (we loved the one where Nate's buddy and his brother took samples from various things and tested to see how dirty they were...warning-your cell phone and wii controler are dirtier than a toilet seat-ewww!) and there were many fun activities for kids of all ages to try! 

 Board in progress!

 Proudly standing by his board on display.

Can't forget little sister and little brother!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Love, 

The Irish Iyers & O'Meshie

Happy 4th Riley!

Our wonderful Riley Isabel is 4 years-old today!  We celebrated our sweet, smart, sassy girl with dinner at Red Robin earlier in the week and today we had a party at the bounce house with her friends.  We all had a blast!  We love you Rileybel, thank you for bringing such joyous laughter and creative energy into the Iyer house!

Nate announcing it's time for cupcakes!

Mesh is such a great dad and an easy target! ;)

Family Time

When you are part of a family with young children, almost all of your free time is spent as family time.  Lots of that time is spent preparing, cleaning, managing, etc but a lot of the time is spent playing, laughing, bonding.  You appreciate it, know that you are blessed, but there is so much time together that you don't always slow down to just BE IN THE PRESENT and enjoy the sweet moments of togetherness.

Three years ago today, Ramesh and Raji lost their dad, Radha lost her husband, Josh and I lost our father-in-law, the kids lost their Badappa, and heaven welcomed a great soul.  Today we had a wonderful day full of family time and throughout the day, we thought of our Dad/Badappa and we remembered to be in the present.

On our way to Seattle to see the play The Frog Prince.

Checking out dad's office for the first time. 

Badappa is very much a part of our kids' lives.  We keep his memory alive by the pictures of him we have up in the house, the stories we tell of him when they are going to bed at night, and in Ben and Mesh sharing his middle name "Subramaniam".

Ram was a magnificent father, the kind of dad that broke into a wide grin when his children walked in the room because he always felt such an enourmous amount of love and pride for them.  As the wife of his son, I am forever grateful for the wonderful dad that he was to my husband.  Mesh learned by example how to make our kids feel like the center of the universe; how to love unconditionally. Thank you Ram.  We love you.

And now since I'm crying and this video makes me giggle, features Ben "Subu" Iyer, and shows Mesh being a sweet Dad...I leave you with this short video and challenge you to find a sweeter voice.