An Iowa Mom

Mom Of The Year Award?

How many nights in a row ... feeding my children cereal for dinner ... does it take to qualify me for the Mom of the Year Award?

A Bit Of An Iowa Dad Advice ...

An Iowa Dad has asked me to pass on a little piece of advice for the husband's of Bloggyville.

Early on a Saturday morning in early December NEVER SAY THE FOLLOWING WORDS OUT LOUD:  "Shit, what the hell am I going to do all day today? ... There is NO college football on!"

To a woman, that is code for:  "Oh honey, there is nothing more I'd rather do than to paint your bedroom and bathroom ... even if it takes me ALL weekend!"

Pictures coming soon ...  I don't want to share until all the stuff is back up and the paint is still to fresh to put holes in the walls.  :)

One Year Post Insanity

It's been one year since An Iowa Dad and I completely lost our minds.  It was one year ago that we walked into a local bank and signed away our lives.  When you hear that, what do YOU think?  They spent 45 minutes signing a never ending pile of papers while the realtor and home mortgage consultant tried to explain the details of each page before both An Iowa Mom and An Iowa Dad could scribble their John Hancock and date it.

THE INTERNET: Hmmmm ... obviously, they bought a house. 

AN IOWA MOM: Well ... yes, we did.  However, we already owned a perfectly good home that we hadn't sold. 

THE INTERNET:  That sucks, An Iowa Dad must have gotten transferred for his job and they needed to move ASAP.  It's too bad they didn't sell their house.  If the company transferred them, surely, they'll buy it.

AN IOWA MOM:  Yeah, nice thought.  But no ... no job transfer.  We just decided to move ... in December, right before Christmas, before our existing house sold.  Doesn't everyone do that?

THE INTERNET:  I get it now.  They have 4 growing kids.  They needed a bigger house with more room for their family.  That makes complete sense.  Doing what you need to do for your children.  What thoughtful parents, risking everything so their children don't have to share bedrooms any longer.  I am liking An Iowa Mom better already.

AN IOWA MOM:  I'm flattered you think enough of me to actually entertain the thought of me purchasing a second home before the first one was even sold, solely for the reason that my sweetie pie's would no longer have to share a bedroom with a sibling ... but ... HA!  Not the case.  The second home is actually not much larger than the first ... and the kiddos will still be required to split a room with one of their siblings.

THE INTERNET:  DUH ... why didn't I get this before?  Their neighbors BLOW and they feel the desperate need to GET OUT.  Get out while they can.  So obvious ... I can't believe I didn't get this before now.

AN IOWA MOM:    You'd think ... BUT, we LOVE(d) all of our neighbors and actually the second house was only about 2 blocks from the first.

THE INTERNET:  What the fuck?  Are you INSANE???  Why the hell would you move, especially before your current house sold?  What in God's name is wrong with you????

AN IOWA MOM:  CONGRATULATIONS!!!  You finally got it.  We were fucking nuts.  A house two blocks away, pretty much the same size, though the new house has a much larger yard (very important for a family with 4 small children I might add).  We took the risk.  Bought it, uprooted our entire family 5 days before Christmas, to move across the neighborhood for virtually no reason except ... we wanted to ... because we are INSANE ... INSANE I TELL YOU!

One year later ... I laugh at our craziness.  We did finally sell the other house only 3 months after purchasing the one we are currently in and all worked out.  My children are so happy, as they have made another great group of friends.  So, not only do they still have their "old" group just 2 blocks away, they now have a "new" group and LOVE IT!  They take the "old" and bring in the "new" and they've got a fabulous football team that plays in our backyard almost everyday after school ... and it brings a smile to my face with every "hike" and "tackle" ... and I know we did the right thing. 

Home Sweet Home ... it is ... insanity or not!

NINE WEIRD THINGS ABOUT ME ...

The Green 3 has tagged me to list Nine Weird Things About Me.  I don't know how in the world I'm going to do this ... how could there possibly be NINE weird things about Moi ... HA!  Here goes:

1.  When I make Kraft Mac and Cheese, I make it with about a cup and a half of milk rather than 1/4 cup.  Making it more like Mac and Cheese Soup.  Yummy ... my mouth is watering.

2.  Clothes that are left in the dryer too long (longer than 4 or 5 hours is "too" long in my eyes), can not be placed on the "dewrinkle" setting and then removed and folded.  If they are left in the dryer too long, they MUST be rewashed.

3.  I always sleep with my feet sticking out of the covers with no socks on, regardless of how cold it is.

4.  I have difficulty "seeing", and have owned 3 different pairs of glasses, but have failed to wear any of them more than 5 days.  Should get contacts, but I haven't.  Weird?  I don't know, maybe?

5.  I am addicted to fast food and eat it almost every single day.  Today was Arby's.  Yesterday McDonalds.  It's a sickness ... I've tried to stop, but I just can't.

6.  The Mac and Cheese Soup I mentioned in #1 ... is usually made every morning for my breakfast.  I love it.

7.  Since Rosie O'Donnell has replaced Meredith on THE VIEW, I've been so upset.  I don't like Rosie (or Joy) and USUALLY don't agree with anything that comes out of her (their) mouths, however Joy is sometimes pretty darn funny, yet I still watch every single stinking day.  I don't understand why ... it's WEIRD!

8.  I like to bust out in song in the middle of my kitchen while my children are eating or doing homework ... usually a country song in an Opera voice ... I love to irritate them because I'm a really REALLY bad singer and it drives them crazy.  It's great when their friends are here.  I get such satisfaction out of watching their cute little faces turn the most gorgeous shade of red ... either from embarrassing them in front of their friends, or from screaming at me at the top of their lungs for me to STOP.  HA!

9.  I TiVo every single episode of Dog the Bounty Hunter.  Even though I swore I'd never admit that to ANYONE ... I just told all of Bloggerville.  I absolutely LOVE that show ... I don't know why ... maybe because I'M WEIRD.

I tag Blue House ... :)

 

Smells Like Home!

I may be the last woman alive to discover the Bath and Body Works Wallflower Collection ... but if I can inform just one "in the dark" woman, my job will be done.

OH MY GOD!  These are awesome.  A "smelly" home (in a good way) has always been up there on my priority list.  Come on, with 3 boys AND a dog (I'm leave all of us "girls" out of the equation, of course) ... having a house that smells good, takes effort ... or it used to anyway.

I've spent hundreds of dollars on the "smellies" at the grocery store ... you know the ones, Glad Plugin's, etc ...)  They worked, I guess, for the most part, or so I thought.  Then, I'm surfing the net and see the Bath and Body Works Wallflowers.  "Hhhhmmmmm" I think to myself.  "Maybe, just maybe, they'll be different, not that I NEED anything different, but maybe they'll be different."

Today was the first day I left house since they were delivered and deposited amongst my home.  Walking into this place was like a dream.  A DREAM I TELL YOU!!!  The aroma was like a little piece of heaven. It was not overwhelming and all purfumey.  It was subtle and pleasant.  The most impressive part, there was not a wallflower plugged into the room I had entered.  So now, with no candles lit in everyroom ... my house smells like spiced cider ... and I love it.  I have a refill supply for my 6 wallflowers in Vanilla ... we'll see how that goes in about 6 - 8 weeks.  :)

Hope you all love them as much as I do.  Enjoy!