Momma's Little Hip Hop Dancer

I mentioned it a couple blog posts ago, The Son recently performed with his Hip Hop class from the YMCA at the Y's annual "Good Kids Campaign Dinner." He had the best time. He started out a bit nervous but did a fantastic job and ended saying, "I want to do that again." For those of you who know us or have been long time readers, you know that The Husband and I met doing a musical many years ago so we like to think performing is in The Son's genes...

Here's a few pictures for you:

This is evidently an Official Hip Hop Pose. Momma's little thug, I'm oh so proud.

A family shot before the kids went on to perform. Like my dress? Goodwill $5!


Here's a few of the kids waiting to go on, they're all carrying Chicken Noodle Soup for the Y's canned food drive and because one of the songs they danced to was called "Chicken Noodle Soup."



Here's a few of the kids on stage, I was bummed that I couldn't get closer but you can at least see that in this first shot, The Son is in like with all the other kids, (he started out in the back row) as the pictures progress, you might notice that he ends up front and center, in front of everyone. It totally cracked me up. I don't know where he gets that need for attention (looks around sheepishly.)




The second song they danced to was a hip hop version of "Awesome God." I am not very religious but it was a cool song and very appropriate for kids hip hop at the YMCA. The funny thing is though that our little heathen thought it was "Awesome Guy" not God. "Our guy is an awesome guy, he reigns from heaven above, with wisdom power and love, our guy is an awesome guy." LMAO! The Husband set him straight on the correct words. He agreed that that made a lot more sense. ha ha!

All in all, we had a really fun night and the next day I received lots of positive feedback about The Son's performance and stage presence. I think I see an acting career in his future... after the career as a paleontologist and an astronomer of course.

Have a great afternoon everyone. I'm off to the Y for a nice run before I have to pick up The Son and then teach swim lessons and art class. I think this is the last week for art class. Phew! It's been tricky right after swimming... Happy blogging, stay healthy!

First dip in the outdoor pool!

We've been spending a lot of time at the Y's outdoor pool these days. It's fun for The Son and relaxing for me. I usually take him there after my workouts and his summer camp. We pack our lunches and snacks and eat lunch together and then he gets a chance to play with lots of different friends, in and out of the water. The water temperature is still a bit cold but when the beautiful sun shines, everyone is happy and warm.

I took a few pictures last week of his first dip in the outdoor pool. It wasn't particularly sunny on this day so I apologize for the slightly grey pictures.

"Cowabunga!"




First time down the big slide!



Oh Yeah! It's a little cold!

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great day!

So, guess where we're going today? Enjoy your day everyone!

I'm baaaack...

Sort of.

Last week, I ran the "Kitchen Chemistry" camp at our Y and was SO busy but this week, I had this lovely plan that I would get all of my blog post for the week finished this morning and schedule them to go up each day at 6 AM. I LOVE when I do that, it makes me feel so productive but instead I...

- Took The Son to his first half day of "Dinosaur Week" of camp.

- Watched the Executive Director of our Y tell some idiot that he couldn't smoke a cigarette out in front of the Y after he heard The Son comment that he smelled smoke. It was a little bit thrilling I must admit.

- Got gas in my car.

- Came home and did dishes

- Checked my facebook and played a round of "Typing Maniac."

- Marinated a london broil in Balsamic Cherry Marinade from my Eating Well cookbook for The Husband to grill for dinner tonight.

- Marinated some chicken in this marinade (SO DARN GOOD! don't be afraid of the "liquid smoke") for us to grill tonight and eat for lunch this week.

- Uploaded pictures

- lamented that it was already 11:30 and I have to pack lunches and my swim stuff in order to work tonight and that it's already time to leave to pick The Son up from camp.

So, there you have it, none of my posts for the week are done. I should tell you that I lost another 2.2 pounds last week and my grand total is 55.8! I am loving it! I should have done a Living Healthy post regarding it but you'll have to count those recipe links as this week's Living Healthy post and let me just say that that chicken marinade is FANTASTIC! I especially love it grilled and served cold for lunch. If you like smoky flavored things, you'll like it too, plus, it's easy and healthy!

I have been mentioning that we made The Husband a special Father's Day gift and I'll post those pictures for you, just to get it out of the way. A few weeks before Father's Day, The Son and I went to one of those paint your own pottery places. He made this for his Daddy:



And I made this for myself:Each piece was $20 which included everything from start to finish. It was a little more than I anticipated but we were there for three hours so all in all, it was worth it. The Husband loved his gift and I'll most likely be going there again for difficult to buy for men/grandfathers in our life. (Disregard that past statement if you're MY Dad...)

I hope you all had a great holiday weekend, I'll be back tomorrow with another post and I'll try to get back around to visiting all my blogs that I've missed because of camp. Life is busy but good!

Oh the lies...

and the deception... and the sneakiness...

The Son is growing up. And not in a good way. The Husband and I recently had our first ever "caught him in a lie" experience. It through me for a loop and although it was and is pretty hilarious, it still made me realize that my Baby Boy is growing up fast.

"Parent's Night Out" (PNO) at the YMCA, is The Night we look forward too all month. Free babysitting at the Y for three full hours! The Son loves it too and never forgives me if I forget to sign him up. I don't know exactly what they do with the kids while we're gone but it must be shangri la up in there because he doesn't want to come home when it's over.

So this past Saturday we got all prettied up, and proceeded to drive The Son over to the Y so that The Husband and I could go out on our date. The Y has rules that children are not supposed to bring items from home when going to Kids' Corner (when the parents work out) or during PNO. The Son knows this rule but doesn't like it. In all fairness to him, not all the parent's obey the rule so he does see other children bringing personal items from home but... not. my. kid. Generally, I am a rule follower AND I don't want to have to deal with the aftermath if he takes something and it gets lost or broken. So anyway, as we're driving over there, the Son says,

"You know, the great thing about PNO and the Y is, I don't have to bring anything but myself!"

That should have been our first clue that something was up. We get to the Y, I get him out of the car seat and he skips on into the building. As I bent down to say goodbye to him, I noticed that his hand was pressed up against his belly in a strange way and I instantly realized that he was hiding something under his shirt. A Bakugan card! The same Bakugan card that we told him he could not bring to the Y! I was shocked! The Son had never lied to me before, well, at least not this kind of lie that required planning and a set-up and down right devious behavior on his part! As soon as he was caught he started to cry. I told him I was very angry and disappointed. I knew I should march him right back out to the car and turn around and drive home but I just couldn't do it. The Husband (who was waiting in the car for me) and I really wanted to go out on our date. We really only get this one short date a month unless The MIL is visiting. So, I told The Son, who was still crying, that he was very lucky that Momma and Daddy wanted to go out on our date so badly and that he had to pull himself together and we would talk about this incident later. I took the offending Bakugan card, gave him a hug and sent him on his way.

When I got out to the car, I explained it all to The Husband who was equally shocked. Eventually, we got a big laugh out of the whole thing especially the "You know the great thing about PNO..." set up that The Son had tried to lay on us eariler. At least he's smart enough to lay his ground work, right? We didn't deal with the incident that night because it's pretty much bed time when PNO is over but the next day, we took away all his Bakugan toys and tv shows for two days which, for The Son was like a lifetime. I think he learned his lesson.

This time.

I'm sure there's much more to come and we'll be learning right along with him. Give me strength.

Sneaky? Who me?

Pre-K Graduation... I hope you like pictures!

Last Wednesday, The Son "graduated" from Pre-K. I'd like to start off by saying that I am really not into the caps and gowns for Pre-K or Kindergarten graduation. Personally, I think they should be saved for high school, college and graduate degrees (of which The Son will surely have many ;) ) That being said, his school does the cap and gown thing so I had to embrace it... they do look awfully cute.

I started off with a few pictures on our front step. It was kind of sunny so he's a little bit squinty. The Son has very sensitive eyes. (rolling my eyes)



Here he is on his first day, back in September. See, he was a little squinty there too...


A few more inside pictures before we headed out. This Boy is obsessed with giving the "thumb's up" sign in every. picture. You know I had to get one of these...


The graduation was held outside in the camp pavilion which worked out beautifully. Here's The Son as they entered and sat down. He looks a bit nervous and I could tell he was scared. His teachers, both on separate occasions had told me what a good singer he is and how he was definitely "the leader" with the songs in the class. I came to realize that by "the leader" they really meant, he is the only one who is going to sing at the graduation.

...I guess he felt the pressure.

The Pledge of Allegiance was said...

And numerous songs were sung...

...with great emotion...

Certificates (let's not call them diplomas, shall we?) were handed out...


And much love and proudness (yes, I know that's not a word.) abounded.



The Son was given a few gifts, the most exciting being a Hot Wheels car that changes color with hot or cold water. He's already gotten another one and keeps forgetting that he put them in the freezer to change color. Silly kid...

The families had snacks and chatted and good times were had by all. I was very pleased with The Son's schooling at our YMCA and would recommend the program to anyone. His teachers were wonderful and I'm very glad that we'll still be able to see them since we're at the Y all the time. They would be missed otherwise. It was a great year! He's ready for Kindergarten... I'm not sure I am, but he certainly is.


Let the summer fun begin...

A mini-tri report and Healthy Living!

Well, it's been almost a week since I participated in our YMCA's mini-triathlon. It was a good time and I'm really glad that I did it. It wasn't a traditional triathlon where you competed against other participants but really a challenge that you simply complete the tasks and I guess in a way, compete against yourself for your own goals. We were asked to: swim (in the pool) for 20 minutes, Complete a 40 minute spin class, (Some participants rode bikes outside for 40 minutes) and run a 5K at the park across from the Y.

I knew that I could do it and my main focus was to run the entire 5K... no walking. Because I usually run on the treadmill, it's definitely a challenge for me to run outside, I really need to work on that.

I was in the third wave of participants. I had a swim lane to myself because my neighbor who was supposed to "race" with me was unable to get off from work. (She's a nurse who we've come to realize took care of my mother in the hospital before she died, we never met each other since she works third shift but I find it very interesting that we moved across the street from each other just a few months after my mom's death... anyway...) I knew that I had to take it easy during the swim so as not to burn myself out. I am not a swimmer, I am a swim INSTRUCTOR and I can swim well, but I don't have the stamina to swim lap after lap after lap. I did a little freestyle and just about every other stroke there is, just to keep swimming the full 20 minutes.

They blew the whistle to signal the end of the swim portion. I hopped out and ran to the locker room. Some people kept their wet swimsuit on under their biking/running clothes but... yuck! I knew I wouldn't be able to focus on doing my best if I was uncomfortable Can you say "high maintenance?, I had to put on dry clothes. I had purchased a super absorbent swim towel (kind of like a "Sham-Wow) and that was very helpful to getting me changed in approximately 2 minutes.

I ran up to the spin studio and hopped on a bike. I have tried spinning before and I have to say, I just don't think it's my thing. My butt bones hurt SO bad. They tell me this gets less and less as you continue to spin but I certainly haven't experienced that yet. I'll keep going once in a while as I like to switch things up in my exercise routine now and again. The instructor and the other volunteers in the spin studio were SO helpful in getting our bikes adjusted and even though I'm sure they knew I wasn't really a "spinner" they didn't make me feel uncomfortable at all. It was great!

When they gave us the signal to get off our bikes, my legs were really feeling wiggly. I decided that I would walk over to the park instead of running, just to regroup. My ultimate goal was to run the full 5K at the park. I made it over and started running. It's a nice path to run on. A little bit of hills, but nothing major at all. Each loop is .5 miles so I knew I had to do six laps around. I managed to run the entire thing. I did stop very briefly each loop around to get a sip or two of water but that's only because I'm clumsy and I can't run and drink at the same time. As I ran, people who had finished in waves one and two were clapping and cheering us on. It was a very supportive atmosphere. I was feeling the love and all the supporters certainly helped me keep running even though I really wanted to walk.

The Son and The Husband showed up at the park when I was heading into my fourth loop around so they were able to get some pictures. When I finished, I decided to walk one more lap around for a cool down and after that, I headed into the center of the park very pleased with what I had accomplished. It was a great day! I went home and took a three-hour nap and we celebrated that evening with dinner out and a family movie. Good times had by all!

So not cute but here you go...





So now onto my...

Healthy Living with
CityMomma/CountryMomma
report for the week...

I didn't lose any weight this week! WHAT? I just about died when I got on the scale... this is the first time since January that I haven't lost a little something. It's OK though because I didn't gain either and I know that I didn't really do anything wrong, and it's gotten me back in to really focusing on the things I am putting in my body. I will admit that although I am pretty strict, I have been getting a little lackadaisical with the measuring and weighing. I also haven't been tracking my foods, so those little tastes of treats here and there might be getting out of control. I've recommitted to writing it all down! Also, I think that there might be days when I'm not eating enough. I know that I need to stay consistently within my target calorie range. I know that I'll have a much better week next week and I'll show bigger numbers on the scale. It's all good!

Today is The Son's last day of school. I will be heading to the gym for my weights, my run and some extra cardio today. Our schedule is going to be changing and the next few weeks might be a little tricky as to when I can fit in my work outs. They'll be fit in for sure but I have to get my new summer schedule going.

Have a great Friday everyone. Enjoy your weekend!

A little scare at the Y last night...

I teach swimming lessons at the YMCA on Wednesday nights. The Son and I have a routine where, I pick him up from school, have a quick snack with him, change him into his swimsuit and take him to Kids' Corner so that I can teach my lesson at 4. He comes to the pool at 5 and plays in the shallow end (roped off) until his lesson at 5:30 and then he swims again at 6:00. There are plenty of lifeguards and parents around and he's a good swimmer so I don't worry about that, I also check on him probably every 5 minutes or so as I am teaching because the way the pool is situated, it's easy to do that. Not to mention that my supervisor knows to look out for him too, we all watch out for each other's kids, it's one of the perks of working at the Y.

Last night, I couldn't find him. I realized that there was no way he was under the water because there were just too many kids/parents and supervision in general for that to be the case. Also, the water is about 2 feet deep and it just wasn't possible in that situation. So then I thought he went to the bathroom. The child refuses to go in the Women's locker room if I'm not with him and as the minutes passed and he didn't come out, I told one of my coworkers who was teaching another older class in the water near me. She sent one of her students into the Men's locker room to check for The Son. No son. OK, now I was starting to panic...really panic. It had been about 15 minutes since I last saw him... we finally realized that we hadn't checked the teacher/supply room and sent the older boy into that room. Sure enough, he was in there crying. He had gone in to see if he could fine "more toys" to play with and the door closed behind him and he couldn't open it. It's a heavy door. He was crying and crying and really scared. He told me that he had been in there for like "two hours, " poor little guy. Now, the thing is, he's not supposed to go in there without asking even though the children of other teachers do. He isn't really even supposed to have toys in the pool while I'm teaching so I don't even know what he was thinking. Sometimes being a "Y-brat" makes a boy too big for his britches or in this case, too big for his swimsuit. Anyway, he learned his lesson but never fully recovered and had a terrible swim lesson. Because of his bad swim lesson, he wasn't allowed to play after the lesson and he fell asleep on the floor of my supervisor's office. He got up too early and was just plain exhausted after such a busy day.

I managed to carry him up to the locker room where he slept on a bench while I showered and got changed and then I showered him up and got him into his PJs. He apologized for his naughty behavoir and said that, he was "disappointed in himself." and that he's going to do better next week...

that remains to be seen of course... I'll keep you posted.

Have a good Thursday everyone, we have another busy day today. Gymnastics, weight loss meeting/Kids' Corner, lunch at the Y and scrapbooking class... home to relax at 5! Thanks for stopping by!

I saved a life.

Well, you may have noticed that I haven't been blogging much as of late. I've just been kind of not in the blog mood, it happens to the best of us, right? Well, after last night, I have something to blog about for sure! 

I saved a life last night after teaching swimming lessons! Really, I did. I teach until 6:45 on Wednesday nights and my son gets in the pool to swim at 5:30 while I teach lessons. After I finish, The Son and I swim together for another half hour or so, having fun, doing mini lessons, (He's getting REALLY good) basically just goofing around. So, last night, we're playing and we were doing the "frog song" with another bunch of little boys. It basically just involves me singing this very annoying cute song about frogs on a log jumping into the pool. The. Kids. Love. It. We played that for a while and then The Son and I went to the deeper end to practice his actual swimming. I don't know how long he was swimming when I noticed that one of the little boys who was playing "frogs" with us, and who is actually one of my very beginning swim students was behind me in the deep end, barely struggling to get his head out of the water to take a breath every few seconds. I FREAKED out! I grabbed The Son because he can't stand there either and then grabbed the struggling boy who clung onto me for dear life. He's been scared in swimming lessons as it is, I don't think this is going to help him. After I rescued him, I had both boys, one on each hip, I had to point out to the "lifeguards" what had happened. The were both young teen boys, one blonde and one brunette. I turn to Mr. Blonde and scream, "This kid is over here, practically drowning and no one is paying any attention to him!" Mr. Blonde says to me in a really snotty way ....wait for it...wait for it...

"I'm not responsible for that side of the pool." 

Well, you can imagine how livid I was at that response, I said, "OK, well, when he drowns, you be sure to tell that to his mother!" 

I then told the "lifeguard" on the other side of the pool, (I guess he's the one who was "responsible") Mr. Brunette, just looked kind of shocked and dumbfounded at what had happened but at least he didn't have a snotty retort. 

I dragged the little boys over to the shallow end and told them to play there. I then went and talked to the supervisor of the lifeguards. I was so upset and angry that I was shaking and I'm sure I didn't make a pretty picture standing there freaking out in my dripping wet swimsuit but I don't really care. 

I am more than likely to be persona non grata with the lifeguards but I don't need a bunch if 17 year old kids as friends anyway, the adult guards will understand. Also let me say that the incident wouldn't have happened with most of the guards we have, at least I don't believe that it would have. 

I got back in the pool with The Son and we played for a little while longer after I had shown the other boy where it was safe for him to play. It was an exciting night to say the least. I'm so glad that no one was hurt and that I was able to help the child.  Who knows what would have happened if I hadn't been. Poor kid, he's one of my favorite students and I really hope this doesn't set him back. 

Oh! You also might ask where his mom was, she was on the pool deck reading. I won't even go into that because I do like the woman but you can make your own judgments there. 

Have a great day everyone, we're off to the pumpkin patch/apple orchard with some friends! 

The first day of Pre-K!

The Son had his first day of Pre-K on Wednesday. He's been to pre-school before, for the past two years in fact. He loves pre-school and it's been very good for him. He needs that socialization especially considering that he's an only child. (Who knows if he'll always be? ;) ) Pennsylvania does not have a state Pre-K so he attends three half days at...where else...our local Y. If you read this blog regularly, you know, we do just about everything at the Y. We heart the Y! 

Here's the obligatory first day of school pose on the front step. I just noticed that if you look closely at the second photo, you can see my reflection in the side windows. 

Driving to school, the "thumbs-up" was to signify that he would in fact be a good boy at school today...we can only hope. 

Walking up and going in. It's funny how we do this numerous times a week but on this day, even The Son felt like it was special. He's growing up so fast, it's hard to believe. I know all you parents out there can relate. 

He found his name and placed it on the attendance poster.

Got the nametag on! 

He ended up having a great day and is excited to go back today. When I picked him up, he was so proud to show me what he did...this is a picture of a Giganotasaurus. NOT a T-Rex as I was so quickly chastised for assuming.

A few things I really like about this drawing are that: 

#1 -  it is probably the second drawing he's ever done that actually kind of looks like what he says it is and isn't a bunch of scribbles. The first drawing is here and yes, for the one person who guessed, it is Wall-E, his third favorite obsession just short of his shark obsession and dinosaur obsession. 

#2 - the drawing has a story to go with it. Evidently, the Giganotasaurus, is standing on stilts to avoid the lava that's coming to get him. The reddish color on the side is the lava and the reddish color near his mouth is blood because he's a carnivore you know. 

#3- Last, but by no means least. Miss Sue, The Son's teacher told me that he did this during a "coloring center" they were supposed to color a picture but MY son decided to turn the picture over and make his own picture instead. That's my free-thinking, mismatched shoe wearing guy for ya! Thankfully, Miss Sue wasn't upset that he did that, I would have been really angry if she had since the coloring wasn't for a specific project or anything. 

So all in all, it was a great day for him, he had fun, he was well-behaved (although I'm sure sooner or later we'll have a day or two when he isn't) and he was happy to see me when I picked him up. Let's hope today goes as well. The Husband is picking him up and I "get" to spend my alone time cleaning the house in joyful anticipation of a visit from The MIL! Lucky me. 

(Just to be clear, the visit from the MIL IS actually joyfully anticipated...the cleaning...not so much and I'm not just saying that because she reads this blog on occasion...really, I'm not.) 

Sunday Social.

Another busy day here in Southern Chester County, Pennsylvania! Could we ever have a weekend with nothing scheduled? I doubt it. Today we're going to a "reverse surprise party" for my boss Cheryl at the Y. Her husband has retired and wants to move to Rhode Island and unfortunately, she's decided she has to go with him. I guess 30 some years of marriage will do that to you. ;) Anyway, I say "reverse surprise party" because she will already be at the house where the party  is being held (for a meeting with senior teachers) and we are all just going to show up there. It should be a lot of fun. I'm sad to see her leave, she's a really good person, great with the kids and a very encouraging and understanding boss. She's taught me everything I know...about teaching swimming that is. 

The Husband will finally be able to meet lots of the people I work with, The Son of course already knows them all. My boss recently told me I was turning him into a "Y-Brat" but she meant it in a good way. I know The Son enjoys being a part of the Y family and in all honesty, I do too. It's  a good place to work! 

I'm taking my famous deviled eggs to share and I might even decide to be brave and post a tutorial, revealing my very complicated secret deviled egg recipe just as long as no one in my real life circle of friends EVER steals it and decides to bring them to a party we will both be attending. There will be deviled egg hell to pay if that ever happens. 

I'm off to start boiling eggs! Have a good Sunday everyone!