Go-Go Mommy

Mommy Knits for Poppy

It turns out that I like to create and I like to work with my hands.  While I would love to be able to paint masterpieces or produce sculptures to rival Rodin, I have found that it just isn't in the cards for me.  At the same time, I found a medium that is... knitting.  

Knitting challenges me to decipher code, it lets me work in a strict pattern so I know exactly what I will create or I can choose to improvise my own combination of patterns so I can be surprised at the result. Knitting let's me refocus my mind - taking me away from any craziness going on around me (and with Poppy and Sweet Pea that can sometimes be a lot) and narrowing my thoughts to the task at hand. And finally, at the end of my project, I can then share the fruits of my labor with those I love most.  I find comfort in the fact that a piece of me will be with the person who will be wearing or using something I made even when I cannot be there with them.

Here's a little something that was going to be a baby gift but turned out to be big enough to fit Poppy.  Looks like I'd better get back to actually knitting something for the baby!  If you like this hat, the pattern is in a book called Oneskein by Leigh Radford (shown below).  Happy knitting!

Best Summer Tunes for Screaming Car Trips

Ah.... what could be better than a few extra days off for the holiday weekend, enjoying time with friends, good food, and chillin' out with Bob, Marley that is?!  Yes, Bob's memories live on in an awesome music CD devoted to bringing the sounds of summer and Bob to kids called "B is for Bob" and you can check it out here.

As soon as I put our CD on in the car for our trip, Poppy and Sweet Pea started automatically quieting down so they could sway to the rhythms of the songs.  After the first song, "Three Little Birds", I asked Poppy what she thought of the music and her comment was; "Mom, I like it but please let me keep daydreaming." I don't know about your toddler car but any CD that keep my little minds busy with lovely thoughts and a mellow-like-Bob atmosphere is definitely a keeper for the Go-Go family!

Hope you get a copy this summer to enjoy a relaxing atmosphere for yourselves.  As for me, not only do I anticipate many more "B is for Bob" sessions, I can't wait to break it out in the middle of winter to bring these lovely summer memories back!

Friday's Findings: A Photographer that is Part of the Family

Living in a new area is giving me a chance to meet new people and make new friends.  Sometimes it's overwhelming knowing who to turn to ask those everyday questions like:  Where can I find a good pediatric dentist?; Who has the best sales on party/holiday goods?; and Do you know a great family photographer?

I found the last question, however, easily answered when I met the mother of one of Poppy's newest best friends.  

It's strange when you meet someone that is so good natured and easy-going right off the bat.  Stranger still when you get to know each other a little better and find out that you share the same birthday.  And maybe the strangest of all when, through casual conversation, you find that that person is living and working in one of your ultimate dream jobs: family photography.

Her name is Jessica Galeazzi and you can read her blog here or view her website here.  With two kids of her own (miraculously close to Poppy's and Sweet Pea's ages - yeah for playdate time), she really knows how to just have fun with kids and grown ups alike which allows her to truly capture the personality of her subjects.  One look at her photographs and you'll see when I mean.  

Jessica just has that "photographer's eye" that I wish I had.  Viewing things from a new perspective and getting just the right expression of sweetness and charm in her shot.  If you're in California's East Bay Area and are looking for a good photographer, have I got the friend for you!

A Girly Playdate

What better way to celebrate having new friends over for a playdate than to share beautifully made desserts?  I certainly can't think of a better way to say: "We really appreciate having you here and I would love to be able to make something like this myself but since I have two girls under 5, it's best just to go right to the source."  And I think these raspberry mousse delicacies speak for themselves! 


I found a wonderful local bakery called City of D'Lights, and it is truly a perfect bakery to stop by if you are ever in the area.  They have a wonderful coffee house selection along with the most delicious looking pastries, cakes, and cookies.   When you combine this incredible selection with its cozy atmosphere and colorful artwork, the result is a great find for the recently relocated Go-Go house.  It's sure to be a regular haunt for our food-lovin' household! 

BTW, the playdate went so well the girls didn't want to stop playing to eat, but once they saw these "Princess Cakes" they didn't need any more coaxing!

Friday's Findings

Instead of the old "Photo Friday", I decided it was time to expand the category so I can include more than just photos.  Please feel free to comment and share your own "findings" every Friday!

Today's Find: Sweet Pea can now participate in jokes!

While sitting next to each other in the shopping cart at Costco:

Poppy:  Why did the elf run out of the kitchen?

Sweet Pea:  (Shrugging shoulders with hands raised and palms up) I don't know. 

(Said in absolutely the sweetest, cutest, baby voice you could ever imagine.)

Poppy:  Because the recipe said "crack one egg and beat it"!

(Followed by belly-shaking laughter by both girls..)

And somehow, it remained funny the next 8 times it was repeated:)!

National Chocolate Cake Day

January 27th is National Chocolate Cake Day... need I say more?  Visit this page to review some fun ways to celebrate as you homeschool your children or if you just want a fun picture to color on the computer - I had a blast with it!

http://allrecipes.com/Feeling creative?  Go to one of my new favorite sites called All Recipes.  You'll find hundreds of chocolate cake recipes from real people.  You'll even find reviews and star-ratings for each recipe so you can get a variety of opinions on whatever recipe you are thinking of trying.  Some reviewers even tell how they changed the recipe which is inspiring too.  I could spend hours reading about all the yummy recipes on this site but if you don't have the time (and with Poppy and Sweet Pea I never do) here's a link to the top 20 chocolate cake recipes.

If you don't feel like messing up the kitchen or don't have time to run out for ingredients, why not treat yourself and head to your favorite bakery to pick up a little chocolate cake today?  While I no longer live near Cupertino, CA, I must say that if I did, tomorrow would definitely include a detour to La Patisserie on Stevens Creek Boulevard.  You could ask my mother-in-law (who, by the way makes the most incredible carrot cake on the planet) that this is a bakery that is head and shoulders above the rest.  Whenever my in-laws come into town, we seem to find some reason to have something to celebrate just so we have an excuse to stop by and pick up one of their most popular cakes which just happens to be entirely make of chocolate.  I'm talking chocolate cake, chocolate icing, chocolate filling...what could be better?!  I know, maybe their individual desserts....

Whatever your chocolate cake obsession, enjoy and happy Chocolate Cake Day!

Ode to Cheerios

Some time back I remember

a day in late November

when every moment I seemed to be

a Cheerio Pick-Up Club member.

As I wandered through the market with my pack

and pulled items from shelves and off of the rack

a stray Cheerio or two I would see

as the items I tried neatly to stack.

Thus causing me to bend over and place

the strays in my pocket with untold grace

before someone might see the debris

and show a scowl on an unforgiving face.

These strays stayed stray a week or more

as I left them in my coat pocket by the door

and hurried to unpack my groceries

to make dinner for our party of four.

Much later on another day

when the banshees were screaming and raising hay

when my nerves pricked raw clearly 

left me sore and for sanity I pray.

The sun was warm, the weather bright

and that jacket I left a fortnight

was in my hand for the laundry 

when I reached in and pulled out a heartwarming sight.

Those Cheerios dropped so long ago

lay in my hand like a forgotten beaux

their beauty bright with days I'll miss

when my little ones will too soon grow and go.

Princess Sweet Pea Update

Our trip to Michigan for the holidays was a little long and pretty cold, but very beneficial for Sweet Pea.  Although still "the shy one" of the two (it's hard not to be considered shy when compared to our outgoing Poppy), she really blossomed when it came to her vocabulary.  In fact, now that we are home again I'm wondering how I will get a word in edgewise once the two of them get going!

Her latest vocabulary:

"Ah do"  still means "excuse me."

"Soup, soup" when pointing at the tv translates into "I'd like to watch Ratatouille."

"Ciderellellella"  is, of course, "Cinderella"

"Ohhhweee" is reserved for when she thinks something is really great.

Everything else is pretty much normal:  requests like "park slide, park slide"  (she's a fast talker so most requests come in doubles), "milk or juice, milk or juice"  and the never ending "mama, mama, mama".  

And my MIL says that she still has a very "dirty laugh": the conspiratorial kind that just makes you want to join in too.  I love you Sweet Pea!