Welcome to SophistiKated Cuties!

mustache

My name is Kate (shocker from the title, I know).  I grew up in a rural village where imagination was your best friend.  Thank God for siblings. We obsessed over forts, mud paint, and Ninja Turtles.  This picture perfectly sums up my childhood (I am the one with the curly mullet rocking the blue one-piece):

childhood

I must have liked the whole country thing, because I moved away to a small college, also located in the middle of a cornfield.  There, I studied elementary education.  This is where I first started tapping into my ‘sophisticated’ side. I incorporated all of my childhood favorites into class: Play-Doh, bubbles, Dr. Seuss, fingerpaint, etc. and watched as my students and classmates enjoyed them too.

After college, I took my new kid skills out into the world. I have been a nanny for seven years now (eek time flies!). I enjoy my work and am lucky to be surrounded by such supportive and loving families.

I love having a job where it is perfectly acceptable to name your car (Stella of course!), wear yoga pants, and ‘play’ with your food on the regular. The cuties know that my favorites are summer, candy corn, Disney’s Cinderella, purple, and mustaches. (Coffee too!)  I include these passions into our days as much as possible.  It’s so fun watching the kiddos discover their passions too.  I’m always looking for new ideas to share with them.  Even when they fail, learning is always worth it.  This is our biggest food fail to date: Bunny turned Donnie Darko.

fail

I have always been a total oinker; I just LOVE trying new foods and recipes. I grew up with excellent cooks in my family, at least on one side (kidding Mom…sorta). Naturally, one of my favorite things about my job is making tasty treats with my kiddos. I hope to instill this love of food exploration in my cuties.

fruit kabob

Kid crafting is also a highlight of most of our days. I originally started my facebook blog, SophistiKated Cuties, as a way to share ideas, that and because Pinterest overwhelms me.  Some ideas I’ve created, modified or borrowed (why reinvent the wheel?), but all have been executed by me with real kids on real budgets.  This summer, these ice cream cones were our favorite!

cones

Not trying to paint the picture that life is perfect here, just that we are embracing the imperfections and making memories for life.

Hope you enjoy!

“The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be ignited.”
-Plutarch