My posts have been dwindling here of late. We have been busy unpacking and settling in our new residence. The move has been faster than our previous move, so I suppose it's progress!  Kids are extremely busy with their live and online classes, violin / piano / vocal / orchestras and many other extracurricular activities. Our new neighborhood is lovely. We have a new maid and a gardener. Sorry, no pictures of our new home yet.

We also have new additions in our family. Kids brought home four Budgies last week and we are enjoying their company immensely :-). They are VERY lively, noisy and playful, offering us hours of entertainment, lol. Thanks to a fellow homeschooling mom/blogger and my FB friend Annie, we know a bit more about raising them than when compared to when we brought them home from the pet store.

Recently kids got an opportunity to work with a potter in Pottery Town and made a quick pottery project on the pottery wheel. We have arranged for the potter to offer a series of projects for the kids to make. We plan to involve other kids for a fun interactive creative sessions.

Potter Murali getting ready to show a demo...

Potter Murali

DD making her piece

DS is completing his piece

End result

DD is trying out a new Latin online program as opposed to continuing with Lukeion this semester. She loved Lukeion classes and the teacher, but the timing and pace was a bit too much to handle for DD with her already full plate. She is enjoying the new program so far and she may have something to share as a comparison of both programs which I will post here. DS is also trying Latin through Lone Pine and so far has been enjoying the course.

Kids completed their Aeromodelling course last week. They had to learn some woodworking to be able to create their models (as opposed to creating them from pre-made kits). The young mom and engineering mentor who taught them the course was wonderful with both kids and the kids loved both their practical and theory time with her. She had some very interesting things to report about both children at the end of the course. Kids want to go back to doing some advanced courses with her in the future weeks. 

One of the models the kids made....

DS is in the polishing the mirror stage of his telescope this month and it has been a very slow process. He also attended a wonderful Advanced Astrophotography talk by an astrophotographer from Germany. Since the star party season begins here this month, DS is very much looking forward to those gatherings. DD is preparing for yet another concert in Delhi, this time an Italian Opera. She is pretty thrilled about playing in the Opera as this will be her first Opera concert. And, DS is looking forward to his Christmas concert this yr for both Piano and Violin.

What else is new? My DS has taken a strong liking to drinking coffee!! Apparently he was consuming coffee regularly during his rainforest trip along with his colleagues(adults). What started off as something to taste from my cup has now turned him begging for a small cup of coffee in the cafes:). Bad parent, you say! It is not a big deal in India where many young kids are exposed to coffee. I began drinking coffee in my elementary years. BUT I had not exposed my kids to caffeine at an younger age with the hope that I could delay their exposure until college years! Well, as my DS says often...he IS in college:). Hopefully he will learn to consume it in moderation.

Enjoying a cup of cappuccino...

We are getting ready to celebrate Golu / Navrathri this week. It will be a simpler affair then the previous year due to extreme busy schedules the kids are carrying this semester. Will post pictures soon....

Happy Navrathri !!