Second Time Around

You know how they say that a younger sibling can sometimes pick things up more quickly because of trying to keep up with their older sibling?

Well it's true...

We now have 2 mini biker chicks in the family. Mizan is pushing off and pedaling on her own, and I couldn't be happier. I was pretty proud last night when hubby said to the girls "Who knew mommy would be the one to teach you both how to ride?? This is great!"
Yes, yes it is :)



In knit news, I have taken startitis to a whole new level of crazy. I have 4 projects on the needles now, and none of them - not a one - is "blowing my hair back" (props to Tanya for a perfectly fitting phrase). Not sure what it is; just the inevitable slump I suppose.

I had a nice small group knit at my house today. Just what I needed, some long overdue girl time. I really enjoy the little tidbits that I pick up from my knit buddies - and let's face it, can you have too much time with an intelligent bunch of people who totally "get" your obsession? I don't think so.

This gorgeous Goddess FO by Sarah did spark some total knit envy though. Um, it's cashmere, the color is divine, and it's modeled so well, what's not to love?

So...Any thoughts on how to get myself jazzed about my current works in progress? I'm sure I don't need to cast on another single thing, lest the UFO's stifle me in my sleep - I just need to get re-excited about what's already been begun. Shout me out in the comments!

1,000 Words

Last weekend, the birthday celebration continued at the Carriage Light Tea house. I'll let the photos speak for themselves:

If you have little girls, or you just want to get some girlfriends together and FEEL like a little girl again, I highly recommend an afternoon of high tea and dress up.

These Are the Good Old Days

There are some parenting milestones that sneak up on you and take your breath away. Case in point, over the last seven days our most recent adventure went something like this...

Took the training wheels off on Thursday, and went for a practice ride. Lots of falling.

Went for another practice ride on Friday, more falling.

Rested on Saturday (in deference to birthday things to attend to).

Celebrated turning 6 on Sunday.

More practice on Tuesday, more falling...but noticeably less falling.

Practice rained out on Wednesday.

And Thursday?

Well Thursday, there was this

Useful YouTube

I got caught up in the long line of Cat Bordhi's videos on YouTube recently. She's got a VERY entertaining teaching style, and some fantastic tips. This video is just one example but you can search for her by name on YouTube. I especially liked her "jungle" demonstration of the magic cast on for Toe Up socks.

Hope you find something helpful via the links out there too.

Short & Sweet

In our house, the roles are reversed from the conventional mom/dad scenarios we're all used to. Mommy is the primary bread-winner and daddy is the primary caretaker (including heading up the bulk of the homeschooling duties). I could talk for days on end about what a great benefit this is to our two girls, and how it is shaping they way they view the world and their places in it, but I'll save that for another day (or you can email me and we can go on and on...). I also travel a lot for business, so as far as my girls know, working means that sometimes you spend time in your home office and sometimes you spend time in your far away office. We've developed some nice traditions around this sometimes unstable schedule to help the girls feel more involved and not make any of this seem too strange.

Enter my stylist and my speech writer. When I'm packing up my clothes to start a trip, Mizan (aka Ms. Fashionista) will insist on certain items of clothing that will help me "look pretty" and "be confident" and will "help with my meetings". After my clothes are selected, we then move to hair styling. This often results in me standing in front of the mirror with clips and bobbles dangling from my locks in a glorious array of pinks, purples and yellows (apparently these do NOT need to match my business attire, this is fashion). But the primping doesn't stop there. Even though most of this prep work takes place several hours or even a day or two before my departure, Mizan still insists that I put on jewelry, deodorant, lotion and the perfume of her choice right away...for practice you understand - the dress rehearsal is critical to a good performance.

I have often explained to the girls the high level elements of my job - mommy meets with different people to learn their business and then offer them a service that her company provides that can help them and the people they serve. This is where my speech writer comes in. Adachi (aka The Academic) has asked me, "Mommy, during these meetings, do you have to make a speech?". I tell her yes, only we grown ups often call it a presentation. She prefers speech. Well, lucky for me, she's an ace at writing speeches, and many times she will write one for me and tuck it into my laptop bag. I truly marvel at the way her mind works; she takes all the complexities of what I do, and what I'm being asked to communicate and boils it down to the very basics. Here's an example of a recent speech she wrote for me.

Let me know if you'd like to employ their services. I have it on good authority that they will work for strawberry popsicles.