An Iowa Mom

Win A Shawn Colvin CD

It wasn't too long ago that I was asked to review the Shawn Colvin LIVE CD. I am embarrassed to admit that I had never even heard of Shawn Colvin. Really.

I'm a country music lover and and haven't heard of her? What the heck? Then I realize that she will be performing with Buddy Miller, Emmylou Harris & Patty Griffin this summer.. And I feel even more stupid. DUH!

Anyway ... the CD arrived in my mailbox and I immediately placed it in the CD player, curiously wondering who this Shawn Colvin was. Hello? I can't believe I hadn't heard of her before. I absolutely love the CD and it has a permanent spot in my CD changer.

I am not kidding. And I'm not being paid to say so ...

Her music is of the folk genre. It is so calm and soothing. This disk, which features songs from the past 20 years of her career, is going to be an absolute favorite of mine when it comes to sitting outside with a nice glass of wine to relax and wind down after a hectic day. And in the winter months, perfect for some background music during those warm bubble baths.

I fully recommend everyone check it out. I'm pretty confident you'll thank me for it. For more information, to listen to three songs on the CD and a chance to win an autographed guitar, visit her site.

Be sure to come back here and leave a comment though ... because I have been given a copy of the CD to give away to you! All you have to do is leave a comment to enter. An additional entry will be awarded to those of you who take the time to listen to the three songs she shares on her site, and if you state which song you like best in your comment ... it will count as two.

I will choose the winner on July 15th.

What's A Mother To Do?

Many would probably disagree with me, but I feel like I've been a mother for a LONG time.  Mind you, I've only spent 11 of my years as a parent, but man ... some days, it feels more like 111 years. 

I'm just sayin'. 

So with that, ya know, 111 years of parenting I've got under my belt I have an itsy bitsy problem.  As I sit here at 9:00 on this beautiful, sunny, breezy yet warm Monday morning ... I find myself in a bit of a pickle ...

Last night, or I should probably say ... this morning seeing that it was actually 1:30 AM ... I wake to the sounds of voices.  More like screams.  Angry screams.  It was my boys ... yelling at each other.  I get up and follow the sounds which lead me to the basement.  It was here that I find my 11 year old and 8 year old side by side on the sofa with Wii controllers in their hands.  Fighting over what was fair and what was not in the game they were playing.

Did you catching the 1:30 AM thing I wrote it the previous paragraph?

Yeah.

To say that I was angry is an understatement, but I was too tired to do anything about it except shock the hell out of them by standing there, gritting my teeth and uttering, "Get your butts upstairs RIGHT NOW!"  I don't think they were expecting me to crash their party ... so that part was pretty funny ... to me anyway.

So, here is the deal.  It's 9:00 now ... and they are both still sound asleep. 

  

Should I let them sleep?  Because I'm sure they're still tired.

Or wake their asses up?  Because they should have been asleep long before 1:30 AM?

What do you think?

My Life In Pictures ...

So yesterday morning, I woke up (or should I say I was woken up) ... and there was no straight up pop in the house.  Plenty of that diet crap, but none of the good stuff.  Big Daddy, thinking he was funny, wouldn't agree to grab me one from Casey's before he left for work. 

Now many of you have been reading me long enough to know that when Big Daddy refuses to do something for me that I want him to ... he must pay.  The man must be punished.  That's just the way it is.  A simple fact of life.

It was decided upon that this would be the perfect thing:

Once Big Daddy caught a glimpse of his sweet girls with these tattoos ... he'd never deny me a pop again?  Right? 

Wrong.

He barely noticed they were there.

And then, just to get these photos, I had to endure pouty kids wanting a picture done BY THEMSELVES.  As in 'individual'.  Because, ya know, having them pose together in just one photo is torture and down right inhuman on my part.  What was I thinking?

And then, while photos were being taken ... one little girl spied her little sister trying to swipe her favorite watering can.

Obviously we couldn't have any of that nonsense, so she swiftly stole it back.

I'm happy to report that at least ONE of us was then content with life.

Seriously, I should have just gotten in my car ... all by myself ... enjoyed the 3 minutes of silence ... and gotten my own damn pop.

It would have been a hell of a lot easier.

Ya wanna know what else is really easy?  Voting for me.  Please do.  I'm losing BIG TIME now and there are only 12 days left to vote.  It only takes 15 seconds ... if that! Thanks!

It's Not You ... It's Me.

Oh man.  I have really been in a funk lately, huh?  I know that one of my pet peeves is when bloggers that I read, constantly pull the famous line of, "Oh, I know I haven't blogged in a while!"  Now, I understand that bloggers need to do this every once in a while ... because LIFE HAPPENS ... but when every single blog post starts with that ... it's down right annoying.  So annoying, that I usually unsubscribe.

What?  You don't know that kind of blog I'm talking about?  Really.

Let me give you an example.

Uuummm, let's see .... Hhhhhmmmm ....

Oh yeah!

MINE.

Seems like every single stinkin' post starts with, "Sorry it's been so long since my last post!" ...

And like I said, I have no excuse other than I'm just in a little bit of a bloggy slump.

Hang in there with me.  I know things will turn around shortly.  Don't give up on me.  Don't click that unsubscribe button.  It would make me so sad.  And you don't want to make me cry, do you?

Do you???

I didn't think so.

I Just Knew She Would Pull This Off ...

Remember a couple of weeks ago, when I was asking you to go and vote for me in that one poll or contest or whatever the heck it is?  You lovely people commented that I was in the lead.  A huge lead.  And I told you that Jody, over at Iowa Geek, would surely pull something out of her hat and quietly take lead without anyone noticing she'd done so ... until it was too late? 

Remember that?

Well ... friends who live inside my computer ... someday you (and Big Daddy) will learn to listen to me.  Because I'm usually right.

Really.

Oh be quiet ... it's my blog, I can say whatever I want. 

Seriously though, I received an email from one of you informing me that Jody is winning now.  Beating me.  And we just can't have THAT now, can we?  It's NOT too late.

You don't have to register for anything.  Nothing to fill out.  It's really easy.  You just go to the voting page and click on An Iowa Mom and then on VOTE.  That's it.  10 seconds or less.  Will you do that for me?  Please?

What do I have to do?

Beg?

Thanks guys!  You rock!

http://gocitykids.parentsconnect.com/parents-picks/des-moines-ia-usa/best-des-moines-local-blog

One Word. Satisfaction.

Maybe it's just me, but I believe there is no better satisfaction for a mother, than this:

An overtired child, who insisted she was NOT tired ... taking a time out for something she had done ... more than likely because she was ... indeed ... exhausted!!

Ya know ... summertime will do that to a four year old.

If I Were A Hat, Where Would I Be?

I've been asking myself that question most of last night and all of this morning.  You see, it seems as though my responsible, sweet, caring eight year old son has misplaced his hat. 

His baseball cap. 

You know ... the one that is a part of his uniform. 

That he has to wear this evening. 

Because he has a game.

And he has no idea where it is.

He's looked.

I've looked.

So, I was thinking ... if I started thinking like a baseball cap ... I'd walk right to it.

As it turns out, I'm obviously not a very good hat thinker, because the freakin' thing is still missing.

The house is clean.  Picked up.  Nothing is out where it shouldn't be. 

The little sucker is hiding.  Probably just to irritate me.  Like everyone else who lives here.

Since I can't seem to locate my son's hat.  And he can't seem to find it either ...

I'm wondering ... If YOU were a hat ... where would YOU be?

Like A Ghost

Last night the boys asked if they could sleep in the basement.  Scanning the calendar and verifying that we had nothing on the agenda for today, I determined that it would be okay.  Let me explain, we can't have ball games or any outings for the following day ... because when they sleep in the basement they usually stay up until all hours of the night playing video games or watching TV and are virtually useless the next day.

Responsible parenting?  Probably not.  But, I never claimed to be a responsible parent.

Anyway, Big Daddy was in a pretty good mood and went down to help them out.  Ya know, getting their blankets and pillows set out just right.  What I saw when he came upstairs is something I've never seen before.  He had turned white as a ghost.  With wide eyes and barely able to speak, he mumbled, "Have you seen the basement?"

Quite honestly, I probably hadn't been down there for two weeks ... but know that I send the kids down there to play daily.  Judging from Big Daddy's face, I knew that it couldn't be good.

I crept down, expecting the worst.

And it was worse than THAT.

"Appalling" is the only word to describe it.

So ... guess what we are doing today?

You got it.  I'm goin' in.

If you don't hear from me in 48 hours ... call 9-1-1.

Oops, She Did It Again!

Do you guys remember a while back when Molly did this? 

Well, she did it again. 

And I was wondering, is being a bratty, conceited, stuck up, bee-otch (sorry, can't bring myself to call my daughter that) not-so-nice girl, learned behavior or something that she could have just been born with?  I am praying it's the latter, because I am pretty confident that I'm NOT that way.  Really.

Here is what happened ...

Emily was outside riding the scooter that I told her she wasn't big enough to ride, but she rode it anyway, because no one ever listens to me.  Needless to say, she wipes out, hurts her leg and suddenly finds herself in the kitchen crying at my feet.  I am not at all embarrassed to say that "I TOLD YOU SO!" escaped from my lips more than once.  Ya know ... because I'm mature like that.

Then Molly enters the room and sees her sister crying.  Being the over dramatic little gal that she is, she falls to the floor to sit by her sister, "Oh Emily!  Did you get hurt?"

Emily nodded with her bottom lip protruding as far outward as humanly possible and tears still spilling from her eyes.

Molly reached out and rubbed Emily's cheek.  "Ooohhhh, did you hurt your face?"

"No." Emily replied.

Molly's nose crinkled and her mouth formed a small snarl, "Then why does your face look like that?"

Isn't she sweet?

Short, Simple and To The Point

I'm not a party person.  Well, let me rephrase that.  I AM a party person ... but only certain kinds of parties.  When a friend and neighbor asked me to host a Pampered Chef party I immediately declined.  I rarely go to these gatherings and have only hosted ONE in all my 30-some odd years.

However, just because I don't enjoy going, doesn't mean I don't like the products they offer.  Because a lot times I do.  This lead me to agree to an "online" party.  Because you all know I'm all about the ONLINE thing, right?  Obviously.

So here is the deal.  I'm hosting this Pampered Chef party ... an online version ... and it ends ... uuummm ... TOMORROW (Wednesday).  So since I know that everyone always needs something from Pampered Chef ... head on over and go shopping for the special something you need.  I mean, there is no time like the present, right?

Use this link so that it counts for my party, okay? 

AN IOWA MOM'S PAMPERED CHEF PARTY!

I have the following and can't live without them:

• Easy Read Measuring Cups
• Small Scoop
• Medium Scoop
• Large Scoop

And these cool gadgets were just brought to my attention from Rachel, and now I have to have them:

Mix 'n Chop
Mix 'n Mash







Have fun shopping around ....  AN IOWA MOM'S PAMPERED CHEF PARTY!  Remember, you will have to order by Wednesday, June 10.

Thanks guys!