Class Clown

Lots of little boys are silly.  Potty talk is always funny to them, as is being naked, falling down, and acting generally unruly at any and all given opportunities.  Joey is no exception to this boy stereotype.  In-fact, I think he's the poster child for all things silly.  He's had a great sense of humor and funny little way about him for as long as I can remember, and turning 4 years old has not stopped him from calling everything stinky, skunky, or banana. (each time followed by a loud belly laugh & usually a fall to the ground!)

I've gone back to teaching within the last month, and I've been blessed with not missing a minute with my funny boy.  That's right... I'm his preschool teacher for 4 glorious hours every morning of the week. (Don't worry... he's moving up to the Pre-K in a week, so he'll get to entertain another set of classmates and a different teacher very soon.)

Since Joey's been home with me for the past 4 years, he's been allowed to be silly much of the time.  That means falling down, making up words, adding stinky to every sentence that comes out of his mouth, etc. etc. etc.  However, we've had to have many talks about how we behave differently at school than we do at home, and Joey has quickly learned that being the class clown is far more exciting than following directions from his "mommy/teacher." (his school nick-name for me) 

So while the other children are sitting at tables quietly building, coloring, or manipulating small toys in an organized format, my son is tossing himself off the chair, knocking down block towers, or calling himself "banana-head."  And all the other children laugh of course, just encouraging him to do it more.

Last week we did watercolor paintings during art time.  I showed the children many different pictures to inspire them.  Some chose to paint themselves, their family, a favorite place, or object.  As I went around the room to write a caption on every one's paper I got responses like, "This is me swimming at the beach," or "I painted a mommy bird in a nest."  Joey's response: "Banana-skunky-stink-bread."  The three other children sitting at his table laughed which just encouraged him to say it again.  And again.  And again.  I couldn't actually write that on my son's painting, for fear of what the other parents might think as they viewed our classroom artwork in the hallway, but I also didn't want to squash his enthusiasm, and perhaps he really did paint a picture of banana bread.  So that's what I wrote.  Minus the skunky-stink part.

There are worse things I suppose, than having a child who is too silly for his own good.  I do wonder what Elementary School days will be like for Joey though.  Perhaps he'll chill out by then and save his silliness for at home or outside.  Highly unlikely I suppose.  I'm pretty sure we're going to be having a lot of parent-teacher conferences, and possibly some "Joey had to visit the principal's office today to talk about appropriate behaviors for school."  Yes, I see a lot of "appropriate behavior" talks in my future.  Perhaps I'll be able to win over his teachers with some of my famous banana-skunky-stink-bread...

Kids Say The Darndest Things...

I titled this post after the infamous Bill Cosby show, because I think it to myself at least once a day lately.  I think it's not until you become a parent and spend a good 70% of your time conversing with people less than 3 feet tall that you don't realize how funny their little minds are.

A couple of silly things my kids (and those around them) have said lately:

• While putting Joey to bed I asked him what he wants me to pack in his lunch box for school tomorrow.  His response: A Blueberry Pie.
• A conversation between siblings: Joey: What's your name? Olivia: Sissy. Joey: Who do you love? Olivia: Sissy. Joey: What's your favorite color? Sissy.  This went on for several more questions until Joey and I were laughing so hard he couldn't ask anymore.
• While drumming on the bottom of a flipped over big tin garbage can last week Joey suddenly started chanting my swear word of choice.  That's right... my son was drumming right along saying, "f***, f***, f***, f***" to the beat.  Even better?  His 2 year old cousin quickly chimed in and the two of them were loudly drumming and swearing in unison.  I didn't actually witness this happening, but was later told about it by my mother in-law.  Awesome.  Thanks Joey for ratting out your potty-mouthed mother.
• My sister and I work at the same preschool as of this week, so we carpool the 25 minutes to work with all the kids in the car. (my three, and her one)  As we are driving along my nephew Jack (3.5yrs) declares, "I see a bunny over there!"  Joey quickly responds, "Where?!?!"  Jack answers, "You missed it Joey." Less than 30 seconds later Jack says, "I saw a cow out there!" Hoping for a glimpse Joey excitedly says, "Where?!?!" Jack's response, "You missed it again Joey."  Then it was the bunny again, and so on and so forth.  My sister and I sat in the front seat shaking with silent laughter while Jack continued to point out a myriad of animals that we didn't actually drive by while Joey missed seeing each and every one, never even catching on the fact that Jack didn't see any animals either.  It was probably the highlight of my Kids Say The Darndest Things post...

That's it for now.  What have your kids said lately???  Leave me a comment to tell me to be entered to win a prize.  Just kidding, there is no prize.  But a comment would be nice just to let me know you're out there. ;)

OK Dresses

My sweet friend Christine made these cute dresses for the girls for their birthday.  She is so super fancy that she even personalized them with her embroidery machine!  These little tie-top dresses are the perfect summer dress, easy to slip on at any time, for any occasion.

When Olivia and Katelyn were born and I called my Grandma to tell her the news, she told me that she would just call them the "OK Kids."  Here are a couple shots of the girls acting silly in their OK dresses after we got home from the pool one night:

"Smile, Katelyn:"

Then she smiled really big!

A lot of pictures I take of Olivia turn out this way... she was actually doing "ring around the rosie" here...

"We all fall down!"



Sissy!

Apparently these dresses are perfect couch-jumping attire.  Actually, pretty much any item of clothing is perfect for jumping off couches according to my children.

This picture melts my heart:

Thrift Store Finds

My kids grow out of and/or ruin their clothes faster than I can get the tags off.  For that reason, I try to get their clothes as cheap as possible.  I've shopped at consignment sales, consignment shops, and thrift stores for my kids attire, and I have to say that the good old thrift shop is where it's at as far as the most bang for your buck.  My general rule of thumb when purchasing previously owned clothes for my kids is if it costs less than what I can buy it on sale at Kohls with a coupon, I buy it.  It also has to (obviously) be in excellent condition. 

In recent experience, I have found that clothes on consignment are priced according to brand name more than they are according to condition.  For example, a 7-seasons ago sweater from the Gymboree covered with pills and probably a small stain is usually priced higher than an entire outfit from Carters new with the tags attached.  And it's for that very reason that I try to avoid shopping at places like that.  Like I said, if I can get something brand new for 3 or 4 bucks a piece at a store like Kohls or Target, there is no way I'm gonna pay 7 or 8 dollars for something used.  Even if it does have a Gymboree label!

This weekend my sister and I took a little trip to one of my favorite places to score quality kids clothes at dirt-cheap prices.  It's a huge thrift store in town with a great selection of kids clothes at a one-price fits all attitude.  They happened to be running a BOGO special on kid's shorts (priced at $1.59each!), and all other items are buy 5 get the 6th for free.  At $2.39 a piece, how can you go wrong?  I managed to get 17 items in all for a total of $31.  (Including 4 2-piece PJ sets that were brand new!) That's less than 2 dollars each on average, and definitely fits into my lowest price rule.  Here are a couple of cute things that I scored for the girls:

I absolutely fell in love with this dress.  It's still a size too big for Katelyn (and about 2 1/2 sizes too big for teeny-tiny Olivia!), but I know we'll get plenty of use out of it in years to come!

Love, love, love the ribbon and lace detail:

Back view:



Denim skirt with leggings and boots this fall?  Um... yes, please!

Another adorable skirt great for lounging around:

I don't want to bore you with pictures of the other 14 items, but let's just say my trip was a huge success.  So, if you are like me and not wanting to pay an arm and a leg for clothes that your kids are going to wear for one season (or maybe not even, if they are anything like my dirty three...) I highly suggest checking out your local thrift shops, Goodwill Stores, and Salvation Army.  Sure, there are a lot of DUDS in these places, but also a lot of treasures to be found!

Zumba: The Experience of a First-Timer

It took me a long time to come around to the idea of joining in a group fitness class at the Y.  We've been Y members for almost a year, and I have spend my mornings there sneaking past the glass-walled fitness class studio to head upstairs and catch up on gossip magazines while listening to Lady Gaga.  Oh, and work out on the elliptical machine, obviously.  That's the main reason I'm there, right?

Recently I have hesitated while walking past all the ladies attending group fitness classes.  They always look like they are having so much fun.  And they are most definitely getting a better workout than my lame-ass is.  "Man, I wish I had the courage to go in there," I'd often say to myself.  But still, I'd head upstairs and work out at my own pace for as long (or short) as I wanted to.  I don't know what it is about group fitness classes that freaks me out.  I'd say it's a combination of insecurities, loss of control, and fear of the unknown.  I don't like when I can't do something, and trying something new is usually accompanied with a lot of, "huh?" and "how do I..."  I'm not a generally insecure person, but when it comes to moving my body in ways that I'm not used to I am totally self-conscious and embarrassed.  Then there is that whole loss of control issue.  When you are in a class, you are pretty much committed to working out the entire time you are there.  There is no, "I'll just do this until I feel out of breath, and then go downstairs for some coffee..." when you are in the middle of shaking what your momma gave you.

Well, I overcame all of those fears today.  I went to my very first group fitness class.  And the class I picked?  Zumba!  Of all classes, this one seemed like the most fun, fast paced, and so packed with other members I wasn't afraid that people would really notice me.  While voicing my fears to a fellow mom and YMCA member a few weeks ago, she encouragingly told me that I should try Zumba because as she put it, "there is always someone else worse than you are."  That was certainly not the case for me.  I can say with pretty much 100% certainty that I was the worst in the class.  The class went left, I went right.  They kicked their leg out in front of them, I twirled in a circle.  They shook their chest back and forth while doing Shakira-esque hip thrusts in the air, and I just looked like a total spaz with all kinds of body parts moving that really shouldn't be.  Seriously.  I was pretty much a disaster on the Zumba floor today.  I can't say I was the only one who didn't have a clue as to what I was doing, but I very well could have been the only one who was not able to get it together by the end of the class.  Getting my arms to do one thing, move my hips, while my feet did something else, all the while staying upright was like mission impossible for me this morning.

I spent the first 15 minutes watching the door, wondering how bad it would be if I left.  Then I decided I wasn't going to give up that easily.  I wasn't going to let Zumba win.  I reminded myself that if it wasn't hard it wouldn't be worth doing, and I kept going.  I actually managed to have fun, smile, and clap on cue.  As for the moves, I'm not sure I'll ever get those.  I just really don't think I'm meant to dance.  But that doesn't mean I can't have fun doing it, right?

So there, Zumba.  I'll be back next week.  Shaking, grooving, and trying hard not to get my steps all mixed up causing me to fall into the lady in front of me. (that did not actually happen today, but it is only because of the grace of God that it didn't!)  Maybe I'll even practice this week and try to find my inner Latina.  Ha!  Just kidding.  I have no inner Latina in me.  None, whatsoever.