(I want to…) Be A Brainy Yak

Katie (8/31/09) Hi. I’m Katie the youngest in the fam.  I am married to a fourth grade teacher, whom I’ve known since I was six years old. We never spoke to each other growing up, though, just a head nod in the hallways all through school. It wasn’t until we both ran the Los Angeles Marathon ( I was 26 years old) that we decided it was probably time to hear how the other person sounded…not bad we thought. So, we went with it and now we are running the hardest but most fun marathon ever together, the marathon of raising kids. We have a boy, Jake, who just turned two this past Saturday. Yeah, he was screaming two at a local boutique today. Luckily, there is a Starbucks next door. “Can I please have a venti black iced tea unsweetened?” I’m also pregnant and due April Fool’s Day. I have apparently decided to eat like I’m eating for two football players this time – not kickers either, we’re talking offensive lineman! We also have a very overweight black lab, Mac, who is camped out in front of  the fridge tonight whining at it because there is a roasted chicken I brought home from the store today. He is in major denial it seems.

Before staying home, I was a teacher and absolutely loved it! Although, I had no intention of becoming one – I was trying to choose my majors by which outfit seemed the cutest. Horticulture almost won out because of the fabulous hats they wear while gardening. It’s a good thing that path didn’t take, I have no flowers nor plants alive in my house. My husband is threatening to buy plastic flowers because I kill everything. Anyway, I taught Reading Recovery, First Grade, and Title I Reading. The year I became pregnant with Jake, I was teaching at a nearby university while working on my doctorate in Reading. I’ll finish someday, but right now I am getting a doctorate in raising kids…are there cliff notes for this?

 So, that brings me to Brainy Yak. Quite frankly, my mom and my sisters are three of my favorite people in the world. Who can say that about all their co-workers?  We are passionate about parents, children, and literacy. This is a new angle for us….praying it is a good step towards getting our message out there. We’ll see……

Kitri (8/31/09) – Let me introduce myself.  I am ¼ of Brainy Yak a company we are so in love with and trying desperately to get off the ground.  I am a daughter and sister to the other ¾ of Brainy Yak and I am totally crazy about each of them.  We regularly take on the world for one another and are happy to do it.  Let me start by saying I don’t know what I would do without any one of them.  I am a teacher by trade and grew up in my mom’s classroom helping her put up and take down bulletin boards, cut out a million pieces of paper that would become priceless art to a kindergartner and listened to her spend some nights on the phone talking to one of her kindergartner’s parents giving them helpful information to further their child’s education. All to say this is a huge part of why I loved learning to become a teacher and continue to learn now as a mom (my children’s first and most important teacher).  I am a mom to two kids, my daughter Sawyer age 9 and my son Luke age 5 almost 6.  They are both in school now 3^rd grade for Sawyer and Luke started Kindergarten, it just takes my breath away how fast time is going.  I am the wife of a husband who travels a lot and has been doing so now for 8 years.    We  love each other dearly but it is by the grace of God alone that we are 15 years and counting as a  married couple.  I have a dog Paulie who is getting up there in years and spends most of her time peeing in the house and letting off a gas explosion at least every 10 minutes (the glade automatic air freshener has nothing on her)  despite all that she begs to go for her  W-A-L-K  everyday and you gotta love her spirit.  Pico is our cat and she is the most peaceful being in our household until 3:00 am when she hollers to have her bowl refilled.  We just added 2 Beta fish this weekend, Jacob and Speedy and so far so good.  Only one mishap trying to get them in their Beta homes, Speedy decided to do a stunt jump into the toilet and after many swipes barehanded in the toilet and wailing tears from Luke that his fish is dead, I am happy to report that both seem content and upright as of bedtime tonight.  Well enough about me,  Brainy Yak evolved from four educated women all in various stages in life who are immensely passionate about reading, literacy and children.  We all bring something different to the table, after hundreds of Starbucks coffee meetings we are giving ourselves another year to get our Beloved Brainy Yak up and running.

Kayce (8/31/09):  To start with…here’s a little tidbit about me.  I am a mom to three kids:  Levy is 7, Logan is 6, and Leah is 3.   I married my college sweetheart  almost 14 years ago.  Besides our three kids, the other living things in our house consist of our 130 pound Newfoundland named Bubba.  My husband and I had a period of time in our marriage where we just couldn’t help but make a poor decision and, coincidentally, Bubba came along during that time.   He really is the sweetest dog you will ever meet, however he’s really big and slobbery, not to mention he thinks he’s a lap dog.    We also have a cat named Tiger.  We’ve lost Tiger 4 times.   Not proud of that fact because I would like to think of ourselves as responsible pet owners.  It is, however, just a fact.

I am a stay-at-home mom but I also like to think of myself as an entrepreneur.  That is why my sisters and mom and I are trying to get our “little family business” off the ground.  I graduated from Texas A&M with an undergraduate degree in Environmental Design.  I am truly the oddball of the Brainy Yak group.  Unlike the three of them, I didn’t go to school to learn how to become a teacher (Truth be told, that just happens automatically when you have kids, whether you have an education degree or not).   I have a love for drawing and design, so it felt right to go into architecture.  Then I furthered my education and got my Masters of Landscape Architecture degree.   I like to be a part of the creative design of any new product we happen to come up with, and I also like to illustrate the books we write.   I am also the token “non-educator” of the group.  If the other three are getting way too technical or start to use all their educational acronyms and jargon…it’s my job to “dumb them down” so I can understand their “education lingo” or to remind them that certain simple concepts to them are NOT easy concepts or even obvious to every parent.  To tell you the truth, I’ve never met 3 smarter women.  I am blessed beyond all my wildest imaginations to have them in my life…not to mention being partnered up with them as we embark on this little adventure we call “Brainy Yak”. 

We started Brainy Yak a number of years ago.  It’s a concept that we all believe in with all our hearts.  We have floundered a bit along the way with many different parts of Brainy Yak and we have refined our purpose over and over.  We are at a point in our venture that we need to step forward and get it off the ground!  We need to tell ourselves and believe that we indeed are “Ready for Take-off!”  And so here goes our story…

Coming soon!  Our Brainy Yak Blog will begin on Monday (Aug. 31, 2009) about and written by four women/moms/sisters/wives/entrepreneurs trying to start a business while keeping the rest of our lives in “balance”.   Included in our blog will be some great parent tips on helping a child succeed in school.  Whew…gotta run…quick trip to Starbucks before picking up kids at school!  See ya’ll on Monday!