I'm cheap!

You knew that already?

Wow, you're very perceptive!  And here I thought I had fooled you all.  Oh well!  But let me expand on that.  I hate paying a lot for clothes.  Especially when it comes to the kids.  No, I like when they look nice but I refuse to pay a lot for their clothes.  We live in Pennsylvania where we actually have seasons.  So the kids only wear the clothes for, maybe 5 months at time and by the next year, they have out grown them.  So I tend to shop frugally.

To purchase clothes for the kids, I shop at a few consignment stores in the area; Once Upon A Child and Tomorrow's Child.  I love these stores because you can find some great pieces for two or three dollars.  I'm not even joking.  I can even pick up jeans and shirts for the boys for a few bucks.  But for Claire, I go all out and spend up to eight dollars some times.  I know, I'm crazy, right!  But seriously, I take no interest in spending tons of money on things that we'll only need for a few months.  And I just love finding bargains!

About four or five times a year, I occasionally find that I have an hour or two to go shopping on my own.  I head straight to the consignment shop to purchase clothes for the kids.  Unfortunately, that doesn't mean John.  Unless I can find Hollister, American Outfitter or Aeropostale, he's not having any part of it.  But for the three little ones, I'm still good.  Nothing makes me happier than to leave the store with 20+ items for under $100.00.  Okay, I lie.  Some things do make me happier but I don't want to get into that right now.  My blog is still PG!

Jacob never cooperates

The boys are easy to shop for.  Jeans and t-shirts go a long way.  But for Claire, dresses.  If I find something beautiful for her at these stores, I buy it.  Last Fall, I found the dress that you're seeing.  It wasn't the Season but I thought ahead and figured that she could wear it this Summer.  To tell you the truth, I bought four Summer dresses for her that day.  I couldn't stop myself.  And further more, if I find something that is gorgeous but is a few years away from fitting her, I still buy it.

Claire is my personal Barbie Doll!  God and Claire's Mother saw fit to leave this girl in my hands.  All of my children mean the world to me.  But being my only girl, I do put Claire up on a pedestal and treat her like royalty.  So while I can put the boys in jeans and such, I make sure that Claire has pretty clothes just in case she wants to "dress up".  Mostly, she'll never wear the dresses and prefers to wear jeans and casual cothes like the boys.  But if we are going out, she'll want to look the part.

Fred now works at the college that he attended for years and years and years.  The school was having a celebration/graduation(?) for the LGBT students on campus.  Fred was invited and so was his Family.  It was a casual affair and not fancy at all.  Good thing too because I'm sure I couldn't scrounge up anything formal for the boys to wear.  But I remembered that I had dresses for Claire stored in the attic.  I pulled them out and she chose this one.  Good choice!

Getting tired of me photographing her.

We attended the function and the kids, being the only kids there, were bored out of their skulls although I found it interesting.  (Excuse me while I be an old man here for a second).  Never in "my day" would there ever be such a function for Gay students.  But bravo to them that such a thing was held.  Although I found it funny listening to the stories of overcoming obstacles because they're Gay.  I almost laughed out loud thinking that they wouldn't have made it one day when I went to school.  The same way the older Gay population laughs at me when I talk about my struggles.  I confess, I got it pretty easy and that's only because of those who came before me and made it so.

Now she's totally over me using her to practice.

So at one point, I took the kids out and we walked the campus.  It was a gorgeous day and they needed to run.  But still, I made them pose for me.  This would be the first time, since getting my Canon, that it was warm enough, and I wasn't depressed..., to get out there and practice with the kids.

Aren't they cute!

I took several shots of them on these steps.

They're actually laughing at me.  Sometimes I'm kinda bossy and order the kids around.  Johnny is mocking how I speak to them and they're having a laugh at my expense.  As long as I get my shots, mock away!  Plus, this was his actual birthday so I couldn't very well yell at him then.  It was bad enough that I dragged him to this function.

The following is pure bragging.

Look, I know damn well that that these kids are gorgeous.  That's why I chose adoption.  I wasn't risking it with genetics.  You never know what you're gonna come up with!  Sometimes when people say, "Oh, your kids are so cute".  I say, "Thanks, I bought 'em that way".  I love seeing the expressions on their faces.  They don't know whether it's appropriate to laugh or not.  It's hysterical!  I'll do anything to amuse myself.

My Monkey Boy

I just love these kids

And the only explanation as to why I have them is that "somewhere in my youth or childhood, I must have done something good".

I really wish he would tie those shoes.  When did that become fashionable?

Princess Claire

Fred said to make the photos larger.  Lauren said to change up the background to see if I would like it.  I can tell you, for "now", I like it very much.  Thanks Lauren!  And I hope that you had a wonderful birthday yesterday.

My kids' cheap dad, m.