An Iowa Mom

A Day Full Of Surprises!

Happy 7th Birthday Drew-Be-Doo!  I can't believe it's been that long since you've come into this world, yet I can barely imagine our life before you became a part of it.

Your day is going to be full of fun filled surprises, and I'll try to update this post with photos when I take them.  :)

When you woke up this morning you could hardly contain yourself as everyone shouted and sang Happy Birthday, I LOVED serving you birthday cake for breakfast ... and I know you LOVED eating it.

Mom and Dad are going to surprise you at school this afternoon and bring you McDonalds and eat lunch with you and all of your friends.  We don't get to do this nearly as often as we'd like and we know that you will be so happy.

Normally you have to endure the long bus ride home.  Today, we are going to surprise you and pick you up from school.  This is something you ask for almost every day and I am unable to do it since the girls are napping at this time, so I know you'll be in heaven.

When you walk in the door ... surprised will not be the word for what you'll be when you see your new Nintendo Wii.  Yes!!!  I found one!

Drewy, I am just as excited to give you all of these birthday surprises as you'll be to receive them.  You are the sweetest, most caring child I know and I love you!

Happy Birthday!

I Would Have Rethought The Whole Thing ...

When I made the decision to bargain with my almost 7 year old regarding his birthday, I never realized I would have had as much trouble as I did finding a Nintendo Wii.  When I counted the number of places I went ... I decided to participate in Thursday Thirteen ...

1.  Southside Target
2.  Southside Walmart
3.  Southside Video Games Etc.
4.  Game Stop
5.  Coralville Walmart
6.  Coralville Video Games Etc.
7.  Coralville Target
8.  Coralville Best Buy
9.  Northside Walmart
10.  Northside Target
11.  Sam's Club
12.  Northside Video Games Etc.
13.  Northside Best Buy

Did I find the Nintendo Wii?  Yes.
Where did I find the Nintendo Wii???  The last place I went!!

TOYS R US ... on the southside.  I passed it going to the very first place I tried on my list above.

No kidding.

 

But I have it in my grubby little hands, I'll be holding up to my end of the bargain!

I think having a birthday party for 12 seven year olds may have been a little easier ... and a lot less irritating.

WFMW: Potty Training Time

Do you know what time it is?  Yes, today is Day 1 of potty training our last child.  I have mixed feelings about this...

I am soooo not in the mood to train another child to use the potty.  Not up for following around a 2 year old in her daily endeavors, asking her if she needs to go "potty on the big girl potty".  Washing 10 pairs of panties today over and over again after each accident is not something I'm truly looking forward to.

But ...

Not having to stop 8 times a day to change a diaper sounds very appealing.  No longer having to purchase diapers, oh yeah, what will I do with the extra money.  (I know Green3, I could save it.)  Just the fact it will be the FIRST time in TEN years that we won't have a child in diapers is enough for me to do the happy dance and start throwing potty parties everytime Molly tinkles in the pot.

When it comes to potty training, I don't use pull ups.  I don't revert back to diapers.  When the decision has been made, by both me and in this case Molly, we go at it full force and we don't look back.  This is our process:

• The two of us together go to my favorite super store (Target). 
• I let Molly pick out her "big girl" underwear and she carries them to the register.
• The "big girl" underwear are the only thing we purchase and I make a really big deal about it.
• On the day we are to begin, we put the diapers away (to be used at night/nap).
• We stay in our "big girl" underwear from that day forward.
• When Molly goes on the potty, I jump up and down like a fool, clap my hands and hoot and hollar.
• If we go somewhere, I do not pack a pull up ... instead I pack extra clothes ... and don't forget socks.  Very important.

When I used the process above, my kids were trained within 2 to 3 days.  Drew only took 1 day and 1 accident in his big boy underwear to know that he didn't want that to happen again.

With Emily, I used Pull Ups because I trained her about a week after we moved into our new house and I was paranoid of her having an accident on the carpet.  (With Molly, I'm looking for accidents on the carpet as a great excuse to tear out the carpet and install hard wood throughout.)  Using the pull ups ... it took us about 2 weeks to fully train Emily, and it only worked when I broke down and used my process above.  I just don't think it's as uncomfortable as it needs to be in Pull Ups when they go in their undies.  I even tried the ones that are supposed to get really cold when the wet ... just didn't have the same effect as real panties.

So, if and when you are ready to potty train.  Go for the big girl (or boy) underwear and don't look back.  If you do use my process, I'd like to know how it works for you.  It works for me.  I hope it works for Molly!

For other great tips, visit Rocks In My Dryer!

Wordless Wednesday: Apparently It Does Tricks Too!

Tackle It Tuesday: Time Management

Okay!  If I don't plan my day down to the minute I am just way off schedule and don't get anything accomplished.  Summer came and went, as did my schedule.  So, now that we are back in school, and Emily started preschool ... I needed to come up with a way to organize our days so that we actually get done what needs to be done.

Now, if I didn't have my hand in about 100 projects, this wouldn't be a huge issue for us.  However, I find the kids like knowing what's going to happen each day and their behavior is always much better when we are on a schedule.

Today, I put together ours for this school year.  I usually type it all out and print it, but this time I used The Cozi Calendar.  If you haven't used Cozi yet, you don't know what you're missing.  I suggest you go check it out.  Using Cozi, I have my schedule on my computer, accessible from any computer, AND I print it out week by week to keep on my fridge.  Since we have so many people to keep track of ... we are color coordinated making it easy to see what each person is supposed to be doing.

I follow our schedule to a T and get so much more accomplished ... I'm glad it's done.

This was a Tackle It Tuesday that couldn't afford to wait.  It's done now and we are ready to start tomorrow!!

Go see what other's are "tackling" today!

Wonder What The Neighbors Are Thinking?

Frankly, I wish I cared.  Actually, I'm glad I don't care.  The one thing I try to keep in mind when my kids want to do certain things is that they only have ONE childhood.  ONE set of childhood memories.  And I want them to be good ones.

If Drew wants to dress up as a Power Ranger on a hot August afternoon and then ride around on a tractor designed for a 3 year old ... who am I to stop him?  He's not hurting anything.  He's having a blast.  That's what a childhood is for, am I right?  Now, if he were 25 dressed up as a Power Ranger and riding around on a tractor, I may think a bit differently ... but for now, he's perfectly fine.

One of my kind and open minded neighbors walked by and made a comment to both me and Drew about his choice of clothing ... words that are not even worth repeating.  Why she had a problem with it, I don't know.  I don't think it's any of her business and I feel sorry for her children who are obviously not going to be able to have the kind of fun kids like to have ... because she'll be too worried about what people think.

It's a shame, really!

Perspective

I find my husband extremely sexy ...

when he's doing the things I want him to do!