girl and her bike

Adelle learned to ride her bike in about 5 minutes without her parents while playing at a friends house.

Since then it is hard to keep her off her two wheeler. She prefers to ride bare foot and helmetless so she feel the wind in her hair. I usually do force her to wear a helmet but not when the sun is setting on her beautiful blonde hair.

Just being around this girl makes me feel free.

good saturdays

The best part about this performance was when Tess dedicated her song to her Dad.

She was the first one to perform that evening and feeling a little nervous so Tom was trying some of his very Tom-esque way of calming her pre-performance nerves (a little gentle reverse psychology/sarcasm)

Tess: I'm nervous. I don't think I can do this. Can we just go?

Tom: Really? You're nervous? I guess we don't really know if you can sing well or not so that makes sense that you are nervous. We know that I sing well, but you're right we aren't sure if you do.

Tess: eyes roll, annoyance peaks, she is called up to sing

Tess had never dedicated a song before that night and gave us no indication that she was planning on it. We then heard..."testing, testing, 1, 2...Okay, I'd like to dedicate this song, to my Dad...because he can't sing."

Oh snap.

Tom was so proud.

My brothers, one in particular, provided me with a healthy dose of sarcasm my whole life which I think actually served me well (although painful at times). I am grateful to them and love them for it. Somehow in the moment of Tess's unsolicited dedication I feel extremely comforted that she was well on her way, at the early age of 9, of holding her own in any setting. She is beautifully sensitive and sharp.